The New York herald., 1922-03-19
Does Richard Harding Davis Gui<
10 Daily CareerofLit Hope?

! TARDLY any one doubts the old
saying Truth is stranger than
fiction" Yet always there is some
thing of surprise in any new proof that
the philosopher who coined the phrase was
indeed wise.
tales of the psychic and of constantly
newer manifestations of what some call
the spirits, and others, less convinced but
still inclined to believe, will designate as
"the unreal" Skeptics put all these ac-
counts of strange and mysterious things
down as "ghost stories"-and call all of
them fiction. But in the most unexpected
place a bit of what might be stubborHly
called "ghost story" has made most seri-
Gus appearance, and there is so much of
the element of unquestionable truth about
1t that it may we'll be credited to the ac-
count of those truths which are, indeed,
stranger than all fiction.
The truth" of this situation is that the
beautiful and vivacious Bessie Mccoy
spondent Richard Harding Davis, believes
most sincerely that she is in daily COM
munication with the husband whose death
was mourned by the English speaking
world some time ago.
Whether or not Mrs. Davis is right
whether she is the victim of hallucina-
tion, there is of course, the very grave
question. But that she sincerely believes
that Richard Harding Davis is watching
over her career, that he speaks to her every
day and advises her and guides her, and
particularly directs the education and
training of little Hope, the beloved daugh-
ter he left behind is undoubted truth.
Mrs. Davis believes it; all who know the
pretty "Yama Yama Girl" who was like
one of her husbands heroines, stepping
out of one of his books to give him just
such romance as he liked to write, do not
doubt for moment that to Mrs. Davis it
all is very much truth.
Went Out of Her Way
To Poke Fun at Ghosts
And that is the strangeness of it-that
OF all people this young woman who is of
the stage, whose fame was built upon her
nimble feet and frolicsome mimicry, who
with her brilliant husband went out of her
way to poke ridicule at those who believed
in the supernatural, should be one of those
suddenly to meet with experiences which
to her mind should prove that the dead
may communicate with the living.
1t is most amazing circumstance that
has resulted. One may, or may not, be-
iieve-not that Mrs. Davis Is sincere. but
that she is right in her convictions But
ones attitude toward the possibilities in
the situation does not .detract from the in
teresting statements little Bessie Mccoy
Davis makes to her friends and the incl
dents she describes.
Those who are familiar with the atti-
tude of mind of the famous war CORE
spondent know that he was bitterly op-
posed to all beliefs in the supernatural,
the occult, the psychic or the unreal"
One of his books is devoted to an exposure
of what he considered the charlatanry of
those who profess to believe in "spritism."
He frequently said that all the funda-
mentals of human existence were opposed to
credence in a bridge connecting the here
with the hereafter. He was impatient with
those who sought to convince him-im-
patient with all but one, a close friend
who will be spoken of later.
But Mrs. Davis declares that her hus-
band, at the very moment of his passage
from this life to that beyond, was per-
suaded that he had been wrong. And in
this moment, the young widow Is certain
he found a most characteristic method of
informing her that he had been wrong-as
she puts it-and that she must have faith
in his presence near her and in his ability
to communicate with her and guide her.
And-increasng the strangeness Of 1t
all-Mrs. Davis is not unsupported. Mrs.
Charles Belmont Davis, her sister-in-law.
and other relatives and intimate friends
have been as convinced as she and with
her. are certain Richard Harding Davis is
as much of the world to-day as he was
when his body lowered between home and
wherever there was war or battle to write
about
Is Somewhat Reminiscent of
The Return of Peter Grimm
It is all reminiscent of the quaint and
delightful character in the play "The Re
turn of Peter Grimm" Those who remember
this play will recall that Peter Grimm was
skeptical when his friend the Doctor de-
clared that he believed those who were