The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-03-16
THEHASKINLETTER
AN INTERVIEW WITH OUIJA
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

ms seems plausible, if we discount
oulJa.s own statements that its name
signifies The Masters Hand" or "The
Unknown, or that it is Hawaiian for
truth. Ii ouija had not told so many
people such different names for itself
II might be easier to believe that the
Woru saVors of the occult AS il is
we fear that some prosaic toy maker
tfehch perhaps, or German, accidental
" put these two syllables together and
round che effect pleasing, so that he
named the board which answered YES
ana no, ouija, a union of languages not
offensive to anyone in those days.
The ouija board most used in the
united States was patented by William
fuld, Baltimore toy manufacturer
Mr., Fuld invented his board simply as
a game of the puzzle or mystic variety
HE Is very careful to say that he does
not claim any remarkable powers for
ms invention, but, on the other hand
he tells the public that he does not him
sell know exactly what makes the little
table move in so uncanny fashion.
rms solomon like verdict is the only
safe one for the inventor, for to deny
outspokenly that his little board held
any kinship with spirits would greatly
lnJure the trade in his best seller while
II he claimed mysterious powers in
league with the bits of wood, then he
llttle ouiJas playful jokes.
rake the recent case of the woman
who was unable to account for the dis
appearance of sum of money Ouiia,
told her that a certain neighbor had
taken it, and this startling advice was
accepted as clue from heaven. The
neighbor was dramatically accused of
theft, and the case went to court one
woman claiming a charge of theft, and
the other after a libel suit. In such an
instance the inventor of ouija is safe
from attack as the cause of it all, as
ne. never claimed that his invention was
infalible.
Most Of ouijas history has been com
edy, so far, and good deal has been
farce, but in a few cases an unac-
countable force Is said to have guided
the board, The outstanding example
of this is the well-known story of Pa
thence Worth, who sent messages to a
81. Louis woman through a ouja board.
The mystery of Patience was that she
talked in the language of seventeenth
century England using words and fig
ures of speech which the medium could
not possibly know, but which were al
most always found in dictionaries of
archaic English. Patience is still a
mystery--a seventeenth century Eng
fish spinster who came to st. Louis
to give her poems to the twentieth CEN
tuiSt anu loi SpCldl tlldlS Will the
medium and her friends, all through the
ouija board.
We had talked to the ouiia board,
and delved into its history, and there
was one more thing we wanted to know
about ouija-how does it work, anyway.
We called up the bureau Of standards,
the governments scientific laboratory.
The chief clerk answered, after his sec
rotary had gurgled our message to him
between fits of giggles, easily heard
over the phone. The chief clerk was
| amused, too, but the third command
ment of the government is, to give a
serious answer to inquiries.
"Of course" he said 1--WE have never
made a study of this matter. Unofficial
| ly, | should say that there is ten
dency for the eye to guide the little
| table toward some letter, The influ
ence of the eye is shown in that it is
almost impossible to get any results
! blindfolded
Yes" he concluded, lit is probably
| the working Of the sUbconscio1s sttfsi. "
! StlN, We wonocr. Thousands Of people
play with the board every night when
! The supper table is cleared off, and
weegee tells them what day Jim will
| come home, and who is playing at the
Main street picture show, Somet times
weegee hits the answer, sometimes he
| fails it is a game. But out Of these
| thousands of ouija fans comes one who
| calls up Patience Worth, 10 upset the
| common sense theories and keep Us
| wandering