THE -SUNDAY OREGOXTAX, rORTLAXD, DECEMBER 10. 1923
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Hereward Ccrrington, the noted in
vestigctor, who holds the three
spirit picture instances reported
from the south should be studied
by science.
w
HAT is the unseen power behind
the mystery that is terrorizing
the good folk in' certain rural
Jistricts south of the Mason-Dixon line?
Is some weird spectre actually prowl
ing through the mysterious night hours,
leaving behind evidences of an uncanny
visitation, or is the Ku Klux Klan merely
lilaying another of its fantastic pranks
upon these communities? Whatever the
inswer. the people in remote parts of
Kentucky, Indiana and Mississippi find
themselves frozen in a , grip of terror.
They cannot explain the weird phenomena
oing on about them, buf from recent
happenings hosts of people who never be
fore thought seriously of the presence of
spirits are convinced that there is some
means of communication between the
astral plane and earth. ;
' Prominent among recent evidence is
the uncanny experience of Mrs. Craven
Aubry of Eastview, Harden county, Ken
tucky. One night, when the pale Sep
tember moon illumined the blue fields of
Kentucky, Mrs. Aubry peered from the
window of 'her living room. Save for a
fierce wind which howled and flapped the
crumbling shutters against the rambling
old house, all was quite usual. Autumn
magic charged the air, and Mrs. Aubry
lound herself indulging in thoughts that
bordered upon the sentimental. Just a
year ago, Craven, her beloved mate for
many years, had passed to the great be
yond. Memories of her life with this pal
and husband were particularly poignant
tonight. .
She thought of the twilight hours when
they had talked of their many adventures
together; of the ups-and-downs, the
triumphs and df feats through which they
had passed. Often had they talked of
life's big adventure, of the final climax
which both must some day face. Life
after death? Sometimes they wondered,
but once or twice, Craven,, with lust the
suspic'on of seriousness in his voice; had
promised that if there was any way of
his spirit's returning, he would come
back and give evidence of the fact.
It was just a year now since Mrs. Aubry
faced widowhood and an uncertain old
age. Yet, in all these 12 months, no
fign had come from her departed one.
But the widow was not given to dwelling
upon the morbid,' and, dismissing all
thought of the past from mind, made
ready for bed Sleep that night was
elusive, and despite her resolution she
found herself haunted by memories of
her deceased husband. The howling wind,
'he far-off hoot of an owl, and the bang
ing shutter, len: a melancholy note to the
onely setting. A strange sensation per
vaded the woman, but ultimately sleep
conquered. The, night sped by and Mrs.
Aubry awoke, as usual, to find the new
Lorn day. As had been her custom for
years, sha stepped into the little room
which had served as a dining hall, and
started to arrange breakfast. . On reach
ing the table, however, she stood just as
still as though her body had suJdenly
received the voltage from an electric cur
rent. There, unmistakably and indelibly
HteJ upcn the table corer were the
rraven features of Craven Aubry, de
parted. Who had entered during the
night and left this uncanny imprint where
she must see it? In a state of panic Mrs.
Aubry summoned neighbors. No one
could erase the image, no one could ex
plain it, but the majority were convinced
of its spectral origin, and the more su
perstitious dared not lay a single finger
upon the cloth.
" 'Tis an evil omen," said one. " 'Tis
And How
Manifestation Accept the Tales of Faces
on Tablecloth, Window - pane and Mirror,
While Skeptics Hold
They Are Merely
Accidental.
"35ifVf fi 'i Ai - -Wl lPM M:?flw I Houdini's own spirit hovering over him in a double exposure
'
a warning from Craven," declared others,
but-there the mystery stood.
Then came reports from other distant
communities, and immediately the various
sections began to exchange notes. Squire
Hooper, down in Connersville, Ind., had
had an experience that very week some
what similar to Mrs. Aubry's.
Rising from a good night of undis
turbed slumber, there stared at the squire
from the window pane the spectral hands
and face of a woman! Hooper was a man
oi "sense." Some one had been playing
a trick upon him. He would attend to
the youngsters who so dared trifle with
an upholder of law and order! He would
administer some good thrashings, if need
be. But before starting upon his mission
oi discipline, the squire determined to
wipe the uncanny thing from the window
lest it frighten other members of his fam
ily. He began with soap and ended by
using everything available in the kitchen,
but the ghastly imprint would not be
washed away. Rubi and scrub as he
would, the face and hands remained upon
the glass.
Once again the strange phenomenon
scruck. This time in a remote village in
Mississippi in the hamlet of Natchi
toches, to be precise. This time the liv
ing likeness of a deceased negress ap
peared suddenly and apparently from no
where upon a mirror in her former home!
What was the cause ot this strange
business? How could it be explained?
Hereward Carrington, doctor of phil
osophy and a man who has devoted the
greater part of his life to scientific in
vestigation, within whose charming New
York studio animated conversations are
often carried on with spirits, had this to
say ccjcerning the spirit pictures:
"They are by no means new or uncom
mon. There have been many instances
where pictures like these have appeared
suddenly and apparently fromnowhere.
They are sometimes attributed to natural
phenomena and sometimes ' to spirit
origin. ...
"Not so long ago two remarkable me
diums, the Bangs sisters, carried on a
series of experiments in Chicago before
a body of scientists and research workers.
Before the very eyes ot spectators spirit
pictures appeared upon blank pieces of
canvas which had been tacked up to re
ceive them. Two pieces of cloth were
placed together and tacked to a frame,
like any ordinary picture might be; then
Sympathetic Students of Spirit
Jill Tryaske would, the Squire 6ouU hot remove the i 1." I Z3 '
W ih face of the woman oft the window-pane. -I &z& f '
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5iv tVjs. 5 '"2"
Another "psychic light" photograph offered as evidence by Mr. Carrington.
Two investigators sat in a dark room and took a flashlight.
the frame was placed in front of a win
dow so that the light might filter through.
As the medium concentrated, gradually,
but surely the features of some deceased
person, recognized as friend or acquaint
ance by many of the spectators, appeared
upon the canva-5. The completed picture
vas beautifully colored and life-like in
every detail, and while it looked as
though it might have been drawn with
crayon the "drawing" material felt like
the dust from a butterfly's wings. It
blew off quite readily, though with care
ful handling the canvases might be pre
served for a long while.
"Very often the natural elements, the
weather, for instance, is responsible for
many so - called 'psychic phenomena.' A
striking example of this occurred some
years ago in Georgia. A young negrees
had been brutally murdered. Her body,
rrepared for burial, was laid out in the
middle of the flocr. A storm was brew
ing; thunder roared and suddenly a great
bolt of lightning flashed through the
room. It was oyer in a second, of course,,
but when the great blue flash bad passed,
the features of the negress, just as she
laid in her coffin, were precipitated upon
the window pane. 1
"While it would be necessary for any
scientific investigator to put the pictures
which have occurred in the south to a
" thorough (-tesj iu order to determine the
- Wv- . W? trslsMi ' .111.. J
lV A "psychic tight" photograph taken during a seance. Mr. Carringlon says
case, it is entirely possible that they
might be of spirit origin."
So much for the spiritualistic theory!
If the whole thing were a hoax there was
but one man to explain the trick. That
was the magician, Henry Houdini. For
Mr. Houdini has exposed more "fake"
mediums than any other living being.
STORY OF THE
(Continued From Page 7. )
took her out to the hemlock tree. She
valked steadiiy, clad in Ely's old clothes,
his puttees and boots, his old mackinaw.
They stood together for very long, while
the barberry iush rustled its naked lacy
branches vainly, boasting in a still litlte
way the wood things have, or tb.e feathery
leaves it was weaving for those boughs.
.Then Pamela Brooke spoke. "Good-bye,
Ely." "...' -: ' : '. '
' She turned " away, her hands in the
pockets of the old mackinaw. Then she
faced Lucien, a curious expression on her
face. ; In her fingers she held a folded,
soiled piece of paper."
"It was in the pocket."
"It's his handwriting, Ely's. . He was
pretty weak see how it shakes." Th8
handwriting wus Ely's. Penciled, frail,
II - ;f ill
negatives were not lampereu wim i
York laboratory are trying to solve
Houdini, as he prefers to be called, is
not a scoffer nor a skeptic. He tells you
frankly when, the subject is broached
that he is eager for a sign from the great
beyond, but that in all his quarter of a
century's investigation of the subject
nothing yet has happened to convince
him that there is such a thing as spirit
communication. And, by the way, he is
the one man whom Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle would like to see "concinved."
"Spirit pictures yes I make them al
most every night!" exclaimed Houdini.
"It is a great trick, if you know how; one
from which some of the so-called 'medi
rms' are reaping a golden harvest. With
professional fakers the X-ray has played
TUNE DIGGERS
wandering. Bui the script was decipher
able, the signature unmistakable. This
was Ely's testament scrawled on a scrap
torn from a letter.
"I want Lucien Mefford to have every
thing that belongs to me.
(Signed) "ELY LUCAS "
"Everything that belongs to me." Th
girl's voice was shaken. ; .
Lucien stood still, every nerve taut' as
frozen: wire. Overhead a vagrant breeze,
born -in ' the south, stirred the hemlock
till it sang..1 Lucien's blood leaped. Ely
was digging up a tune again. The world
was good. Ah, the - world was good.
"Everything that' belongs to me! " he re
peated like a prayer. . '
She went away that day. Lige Walker
drove her, grumbling, in the pung. Cbi-
uuy tvuy. i nvesiigaiors in a I
the light by the spectroscope.
a big part in 'spirit' photograpuy. No
doubt in this instance, the good rural folk
allowed their imagination to run Wot.
"Once while experimenting with some
trick photography we were, playing
around with double exposure and many
other methods in order to get some start
ling results. The camera man began
taking 'stills' of me. Lo, when a certain
batch of pictures were developed, there
appeared over my head on one, the shad
rwy vision of the hands and arms of a
foreign body, but true to all my experi
ences, we found the shadow merely the
reflection of a friend who stood by, with
his arms resting upon a nearby window
sill!"
iiook, chained to a stake, yelped desolate
ly and plunged at his collar. Lucien told
her good-bye at the door. . They said lit
, tie. There was so little to say, out of a
world of words so few that were any use
"I'll coip down after a little," Luciei
stammerea. "When it's summer will you
let me come Pamela?"
"When it's summer Loosh." ' '
The brier warmth of ner fingers in nis
own; a blue, blue tenderness of eyes
and she was gone. But Lucien felt no
emptiness of loss. He stood very straight
in the fringy path between two grayish
' ribbons which were all that remained
of the great snow barriers, and the glow
of all the possessions of the earth was
' bis.
He looked at the house, at the rusty tin
letters whimsily tacked beside the door.
Ely had said that L belonged in Love!
"Shut up, you fool," he said to the dog.
"She's coming back." .'
(Copyright, 1922, by Helen Topping Miller,).