Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-02-26
Interview with Ouija
By Frederic J. Haskin

Washington, ID. c., Feb. 26-~"Wh
don't You interview ouja7p asked
friend the other day.
We thought il over. Our relations wit
weegee" hive always been rather dis
tant We have met at parties md at th
homes Of ouija fans. But always we hav'
passed the time Of day in a few triflinl
queries, and let it go at that. Certainly
we never expected TO start interviewing
spirit celebrities so long as the earthI,
supply held out.
Still, we reflected, there were advantage.
to this kind Of interview. Ouija, once
cornered, could not plead a previous on
gageinent or a conference, and judging by
bis reputation he would have lot to say.
30 we decided 10 borrow u staid, serious
minded old ouiia and ask him about the
siins-Daniels scrap, and who ought 10 be
The next President, and IL there were any
messages from Cousin Lon, who il either
| dead or IN Chicago. We knew the very
board to borrow. IL belongs TO an elderly
lady who goes in for higher thought and
concentration, and undoubtedly her oliia
has never been asked silly question in
its life
The old lady promptly offered to get
The board and also book on how TO get
the. best results with ouija. We hauled
ouija home, corraled friend to act as
accomplIce, and with the setting arranged,
settled down for the interview.
Elrst, however, we read the book care
| fully. We found out that "the solar
| plexn-that never sleeping brain Of the
individuals the switchboard or re-
oeiving station for the messages" We also
discovered that the great secret why some
individuals can successfully use the board
and some cannot IL that the successful
person must have, SO % speak, diseasedly
sensitive solar plextis. That worried US,
az our solar plexiIs has always been pretty
healthy, and we feared the message germs
might not have any effect For while we
held on the hope that maybe the writer
was mistaken about the solar plexus being
the brain of the soul, but further on We
found that ouiia himself had told her,
he solar plexIs is the spiritual brain.
With this inside information and q warning
that To get best results You must think
high thoughts VIC invited little weegee'
10 the interview.
REMARKABLE LINE or TALK
For the property of a higher thought
sort OF person this otlila bozrd certainly
had remarkable lire Of talk and interest
ing opinions II told us that there would
be big war in 1882. that ouija meant
spirits, and il advised us to forget IT,
when We politely inquired il it had q
message for us.
After rest is condescended TO tell us
that Aunt Harriet, who died some years
ago il very happy, but when we asked |
for Dumas 10 come and tell MS who was
the man IN the iron mask, IL wouldn't !
write anything except, They don't an
swer
WLor ~,ra rn4,,~VnJ 81 Laa-I - -.
menfed ON the rather fippant att itude il 1
seemed to have. "Well," said the old /
lady. Il never tried this board myself /
II the maid board .
Having talked To little woegee" we
decided 10 find out something about his
life history. The messenger at the Patent
Of'1ce was frankly amused at our mission.
WeeJahF he repeated with a huge
grin. 'Yass'ih Try de toy division sub
The toy division was also moved TO
laughter over the password but soon re-
covered sufi, emily for pleasant young
patent examiner 10 get out a collection
)f the patents.
There are about 30 or 40 patents
along this line, y he explained. Some are
,uiia board type, worked by moving
ndex, and Others are planchettes and
lave a pencil To write the message.
he first oliIa board, called little
Wonder, was patented around 1868.
'ince then, the idea has been adapted and
he board improved by numerous in
'entors. mostly toy makers. The ouiia
'oard and similar inventions can be
III the Urited States only as a
oy The Patent Office does not inquire
ato any mystic properties, and il does
OF permit inventors 10 claim or describe
oh AF..s- /
In England, however, inventors often |
o into detail to explain the supernornal
over OF such devices. Fflus, one British
atentee inserts the following on his
atent:
III the persons or persons are of a tenn
erament suitable for the reception of |
or telepathic messages, SEN
,nces may be spelt out obtained from
Ich sources and possibly conveying in
unknown to the operators; the |
rger number OF messages. however, are
ltomatic, l. e, communications from the |
lbiImInal consciousness finding exDres-
on through muscular workings con-
oiled IN method hitherto only I'M |
srfectly understood. III
WHAT IT MEANS.
What does ouija mean. anywav99" we |
iked the Patent Office, for we have Il
ard all sorts of cabalistic meanings at
ched to the queer syllables.
Well, said an obhging clerk. "the |
me IS trademarked just as word, but |
2 understand that it means ives. YES,
ing derived from oui, which is French |
r yes, and ia, which is German. L
This seems plausible, if we discount |
lias own statements that its name Il
snifies The Masters Hand, or The Il
nknown, or that 1t is Hawaiian for Il
Truth. If ouija had not told so many II
ople such different names for itself It II
light be easier TO believe that the word II
yors of the occult. As it is, we fear that
me prosalc toy maker. French perhaps. | II
German, accidentally put these two II
tables together and found the effect
easing, so that he named the board | II
lich answered yes and no, ouija, union II
languages not offensive TO anyone In II
ose days. IlI
The ouija board most used in the
llted States was patented by William |
lid, a Baltimore toy manufacturer. Mr.. /
lid invented his board simply as game
the puzzle or mystic variety He is very II
reful TO say that he does not claim any |
powers for his invention, but. J.
the other hand, he tells the public that So
does not himself. know exactly what
akes the little table move in so un-
my a fashion. =,