Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-07-21

| happened to their fellows which rose &c
the surface and disappeared. one grut
insisted that they simply vanished into
nothingness, and another, which did not
wish to believe that this was the end OF
everything, insisted that there must DO
another realm into which their vanished
| companions entered. 1t was agreed then
that the next one TO mount to the surface
should return AND make report of what
there was in the Great Unknown. But
none has ever returned. Yet the devils
darning needle, hatched from the grub Is
continually skimming over the surface OF
the water in vain effort to penetrate its
depths and tell the grub from which he
grew that there is land of light and
Sunshine above the darkness and muck"
We had been talking of the dead sol
diers and the longing that their friends
| must feel for some assurance that they
have not been annihilated, that the heroic
souls live on in some other sphere COM
pleting and fulhlling the life that has been
so cruelty cut off here.
| "Of course | believe there is a future
life" Doctor Mcf'abre remarked "'rhat
| is what my religion teaches me. There
are moments, however. when my faith
does not satisfy my intellect I wish
| there were some way to prove it as you
| can prove mathematical formula"
"Sir Oliver Lodge thinks he has proved
it," said I, land he Is convinced that his
son, killed in battle, has communicated
with him.
"Yes, ! know" Doctor McFabre went
on, but he was eager to be convinced.
have never yet seen any evidence of
future life that would convince man
against his will. Very little of that which
has been offered will stand examination.
and that which is not clearly hallucina-
ton can he explained by well-known and
admitted principles of metaphysics"
Emile Boirac, rector of tho academy
of Dijon, would be inclined to agree with
you" said |. His book on the unknown
or little known forces OF the mind, which
the French Academy of Sciences honored
by the award of the Fanny Emden prize
of 1000 francs has recently been trans.
lated into English. 1t reports the result
of long series of experiments in mag.
netism telepathy, suggestion and spirit.
ualism. Professor Bolrac himself had
some remarkable experiences with sensi-
tive subjects which he explains as due
to mesmerism or hypnotlsm or telepathy.
He says that the automatic writing which
the spiritualistic mediums produce may
be explained at times as the reproduction
of matter within the mind of the medium |
which has been implanted there without
the mediums knowledge. To show that |
this Is possible he cites several cases Of !
persons who have described scenes Of
which they have no recollection. Yet in.
vestigations made by the Psychical Re. |
search Society proved that they had Wis.
tied the scenes which had been impressed |
on their subconsciousness and had later |
come to the surface either in a dream or
when in a semihypnotic state occasioned |
by crystal gazing. Professor Boirac does |
not try to prove anything but simply to |
show that there is a mass of facts which |
need explanation. He says they can be |
explained only by study of them in the |
scientific spirit"
DpOh iIluSl DC worth sleuulnE,' |
said Doctor McFabre.
1T interested a ffteen.year-old girl to |
whom l read parts of it aloud" said l. |
But she was frank enough to admit that |
some Of the passages did not convey any |
meaning to her."
you could not expect her to under
stand it ALL" said The Lady, who had !
joined us few moments before, along
with Dorothy owen.
Yes, but when 1 told her of the ouiia
mediums sometimes use she wanted me
to get one for her right away"
IL have written some woozy things
with ouija board" said Dorothy.
1T is a most curious implement" said |
Doctor McF'abre. Frederic w. II. Myers |
in his book on human personality de.
scribes the case OF a man who had been
hypnotized and told that when he came
out of the trance he must write a sen.
tence with the board. A book was put
in his left hand when he recovered con.
seriousness, and his right hand hidden by
Il screen, was placed on the planchette
While his conscious mind was occupied |
with the book his unseen hand wrote
part Of the sentence"
THAT is not so remarkable as the re.
ported achievements Of ouija board that |
operated in St. Louis" said l.
Can any good thing come out of st.
LOUISE" asked Doctor McFabre, whose |
French ancestry makes him suspicious |
just now Of any place where the Ger.
mans live.
There are people in st. Louis who say |
that this is very great thing" said /. |
Somebody using the planchette has |
written a novel of 100000 words"
why did not he or she use a pen in. |
stead of going to all that trouble?" Dor.
othy wanted to know.
That remains to be explained" said I. |
"But the story on its surface is most in. |
teresting. 1t begins four years ago when |
Mrs. John II. Curran. a woman of a |
nervous temperament, with no literary |