Evening Star Newspaper, December 15, 1894, Page 18

18 cr “THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1894—TWENTY-FOUR we PAGES. Copyrighted.) Fifty years ago Serena Ann lived in Braintree, and Christinas-keeping was not yet much the Zashion in New England. Serena Ann waa ten years old, and she had never seen a Christmas tree, hung up her stccking or hai a Christmas present even. Serena Ann's father was a farmer; she had a mother, and an Aunt Love, her mother’s sister, who lived with them, and was to be married iu February, and a ther Ebenezer. Elcnexer was two years older than Serena Ann, and went to the district school win- ters. Serena Ann herself went to school oni in the summer. She was a delicate little girl, and the sckool house was too far away for her to walk in cold weather. So she staid ‘xt home, and her mother heard her spell every day, and she did sums on a piece of old slate, and was read- ing the Bible through, a chapter every morning. S> her education was not ne- glected. One night in the first week in December Serena Ann was sitting beside the fire, with the plece of broken slate on her lap, trying t> do a sum about ten greyhounds running a race, and how long it would take for one to catch up with the other, when Ebenezer came home from school. There was a light snow falling, and Ebenezer was powdered with it. He came in stamping his cowhide shoes and shaking himself Ike a dog. Aunt Love was sew- ing green velvet on her wedding pelisse, and Mrs. Bagley was paring apples for sauce. “Don’t stamp so, Ebenezer,” said she. “And don’t shake the snow on my pelisse,” cried Aunt Love. Aunt Love was very pretty, with smooth brown hair and pink cheeks, “I've got to get the snow off,” panted | Ebene: “Oh, mother—!" “You ought to get it off in the shed, then,” said his . Mother! ‘And not si mother. ke it all over the clean floor i your aunt's pelisse. “Oh, moth my Morse says he’s go- ing to hi is stocking the night be- fore Chri Then Se Aun lcoked up Piece of slate and her greyhounds. 1 doi want to hear any such non- said Mrs. Bagley. says his folks are going to put some- thing in it for him.’ “Tf th t to be so silly, they can.” *t I hang up my stocking’ #," said his mother, “you can hang it up all you want to, but you won't get any- thing in it. You have all the presents your Smiled at Each Other Above Her Hend. father ean afford to give you, right along. Now go out in the shed and bring in an ——- of that apple-tree wood for the fire. And Ebenezer went out disconsoiately. Serena Ann puiled her moth apron. ‘Mother, can't I hang up my stocking?” she whispered. “You can hang it up, but I shall tell you what I did Ebenezer. You won't get any- thing in it. J shan't treat one of you any better than I do the other.” “I never hung up my stocking since I was born,” said Serena Ann, plaintively. “Neither did I,” said her mother. “I never thought of such a thing wher I was & little girl. Now, ‘tend to your sum. And Serena Ann attended to her sum; but the thought of Christmas seemed to gain upon her childish mind much faster than one greyhound upon the other. She could not quite give up the hope that possibly, if she did hang up her stocking, somebody might put something in it. If not her mother, Aunt Love, or her father might, or even Joshua Simmons, the young man whom Aunt Love was going to marry; he jometimes gave her a peppermint. And after all her mother was a pretty tender one, and she might relent. So Serena Ann hung up her stocking the night before Christmas. It is quite possible if Mrs. Bagley had seen that poor little blue yarn stocking hanging in the chimney corner she might have siipped at least a bunch of raisins, and & cinnamon stick or two, into it, and Aunt Love might have tucked in a bit of blue ribbon. But nobody saw it, for Serena Ann, with the want of calculation of her | innocent heart, slipped out after everybody Was in bed and hung it soldi, At breakfast the next Ann's mouth drooped piti » and she did not 1 morning Serena fully at the cor- lid nc much, stily girl to act-so, aid Ebenezer. E He felt a Ann's injury to be his own. fo out In the shed and bring in some nore of that letree wood, if you've fin- i ye t.”" said his mother, and she sent Serena Ann upstairs to make nas the door closed, Aunt Love to her sister. »pose Joshua and Serene Ann to Boston with us,” sald " she sata. ll make up to her having anything in her stocking. I riy for b na Ann is a good she took said n's mother, “but it’s ¥ custom, and I don’t know how to it. I suppose she would be tickled uth to go and Joshua, She or Went to Bos once; Ebenezer's ant down and get nt Love, “for ith the chaise." was called and teld, to e Was to go to hér mother, krent deal to her furnt- nd shoes, veurning her life as when Tin betw s in buc n 3 w nd her fa so pink and fediant with bliss that A Love and Joshua looked at her and smiled at each other « her head. Serena Ann, moreover, had, tightiy gras; ed in rd. her mother’ attk purso, and It co 1 two ninepence: one of whi Her father had given them to her y she started. made up her mind, as they jogged along over the froasn read, De for hergel ' THe EVENING STAR from her | It wo to} ne led brown | HER FIRST HAISTMAS, SfeING CO BY ee MARY: EWVILKINS WRITTEN FRR that she would spend her ninepence for an apron for her mother instead of anything for herself, because she could not go to Boston in a chaise. When they reached the city they stopped at the Sign of the Lamb, where Joshua Stmmons put up his team; then they all went shopping down Hanover street, where the fashionable stores were at that time. Serena Ann enjoyed buying Aunt Love's and Joshua Simmons’ wedding furniture quite as much as they did. She thought there was never anything quite so hani- some as their haircloth sofa, and mahog- any card table, and looking glass, and she trudged after them to all the shops where they priced articles and then back to the one where they found them cheapest and best, and never thought of being tired. But she was glad at noon to go back to the Sign of the Lamb, and have some baked beans and a piece of pumpkin pie. They seemed to her far superior to the baked beans and pie at home. After dinner Joshua Simmpns left them. He had to go a little farther to see about his own wedding suit, and Aunt Love meanwhile was to buy her wedding bonnet and shoes, and Serena Ann make her pur- chases. Then they were to meet at the Sign of the Lamb and go home. Serena Ann went with her aunt from She Almost Cried She Went Along. shop to shop, and watched her try on bon- nets until she finally bought a beautiful one of green uncut velvet trimmed with white plumes and white lutestring rivbon, Then they started to buy the shoes, Aunt Love carrying the bonnet In a large green band- Ox. | There was quite a crowd in Hanover | street that afternoon. A great many ladies were out shopping. Serena Ann could not walk beside her aunt very well, she was so | jostled, so she fell behind. Now and then | She took hold of the skirt of her aunt's blue | delaine gown, so as not to lose her. Nobody ever knew how it happened, but | suddenly, after she had been pushed by the hurrying people and had caught hoid of the blue delaine gown, the lady who wore it looked around and she was rot Aunt Love. She was very pretty, but her hair was black and fell in bunches of curls. instead of smooth braids, over her red cheeks, and her eyes were black instead of blue. Moreover, she was very finely dress- | ed, wearing a velvet pelisse and a rich fur tippet, and bearing before her a great fur muff. The blue delaine gown was the only thing about this strange young lady that in the least resembled Aunt Love. She | stood looking with great surprise at Serena Ann, who looked up at her quite pale with | fright, still keeping fast hold of the blue delaine. Finally the young lady laughed, and then her face, which had appeared rather haughty, looked very sweet. “What 1s the matter,” said she, “and why are you hold- ing to my gown “I—thought you were Aunt Love,” fal- | tered Serena Ann, and the tears began to come. “Were you holding to your aunt's gown?” “Yes, ma'am.” The young lady laughed again. “My name is Miss Pamela Soley,” said shi “Take hold of my hand, and don’t er. and we'll go find your aunt.” So Serena Ann curled he> red mittened hand timidly around the kid gloved fingers of the young lady, ard they went back down Hanover street. They walked on both sides, they looked in every shop, but all in vain. The truth was that poor Aunt Love had missed Serena Ann much sooner, and had started off on a wrong tack in search. When she had discovered that her little niece was not behind her, and looked around in dismay and lost ‘the color out of her pretty pink cheeks, several sym- pathizing ladies had gathered around her, and one had been quite sure she had seen a little girl just like Serena Ann in a lamb’s wool tippet and brown silk hood run down a side street a little way back. So Aunt Love went down the side street, looking and inquiring of everybody. She almost cried as she went along, carnying her big green bandbox, looking in vain for Serena Ann. She did not know what to do, but finally it occurred to her that it was nearly the time for her to meet Joshua Simmons at the Sign of the Lamb, | and that in all probability come benevolent person would have taken Serena Ann thither. So Aunt Love hastened to the Sign of the Lamb, but it took her some We Must Take Her to the Sign of the Lamb, time, for she had wandered quite a dis- tance. But Miss Pamela Soley was not wise enough to think that the best plan was to take Serena Ann to the Sign of the Lamb at once, since they could not find her Aunt Love on Hanover street. She was quite a young lady, in spite of her stately man- ners, and had not had much experience in re: ing lost little girls. She stood still for some time in Hanover street, holding Serena Ann's hand, deliberating what to do. But finally a bright thought. strck Miss Pamela Soley. “My brother Solomon | ts coming for me in our c! ise to take me home to Jamaica Plain, where we live,” said she. “He is going to meet me at the corner just below here in about half an |hour. We will make your purchases, and then we will ask him what to do. My brother Solomon always knows what is | best to do, He is older than I, and carried ;off many honors at Harvard College. Don't cry, Serena Ann. He'll be sure to find your aunt for you.” rena Ann was son.ewhat comforted, for the young lady had a way at once sweet |and “commanding, and she went hand in | hand with her and purchased a beautiful Jackknife for Ebenezer with one nine- pence, and a plece of white nainsook for her mother’s apron with the other. Miss Pamela Soley herself made two purchases ja little rosewood werkbox, with solssors and thimble and ivory bodkin, all com- plete, and a doll in a very handsome span- | gled ‘dress uke a princess. The last pur- chase rather surprised Serena Ann, for |she had thought the young lady too old to play with dolls, but she eyed it admir- ". She had never had a doll herself, pt one Aunt Love made for her out of cob. She sighed when Miss Pamela : the doll, with the rosewood 10x, Gut of sight in her great muff. Solgmon Boley was waiting in the on the corner when his sister ap- | peared with Serena Ann and told her story. | He was a handsome yi man, !n a very fino Taulberry colored cloak, | "We must take her to the Sign of the | Lamb at ouce,” Mfr. Solomon Boley sald, | decidedly, and Miss Pamela and Serena Ann got promptly into the chalse, and they made haste to the Sign of the Lamb. How- exer, just before they reached the taver Miss Pamela remembereé an errand whigh her mother had begged her to do at Mr. Thomas Whitcomb’s store, and had her brother leave her there, saying she would join them in a few minutes. But when Mr. Solomon Soley inquired at the Sign of the Lamb, he found that Joshua Simmons and Aunt Love had driven away in their chaise some half an hour be- fore, and the hostler, who had been told, did not remember that they had merely gone to look about the city a little for the missing child, and were then coming back to the tavern to see if she had in the meantime been brought there. However, another hostler remembered that the lady carried a large green bandbox and was crying. “That was Aunt Love,” said Serena Ann, d_she began to cry, too. E said | Mr. ‘You shall be taken home safely tonight.” Then he turned the chaise around and drove back to the store, where his sister had stopped, and before Serena Ann fairly knew it they were on the road to Braintree. It had grown very cold, and the wind blew. Mr. Solomon got out a great plaid camlet cloak from under the chaise seat and put it on over his mulberry-colored one. Then presently, because Serena Ann began to shiver a little, tucked im between the two as she was, he threw an end of the camlet cloak around her, over her brown silk hood. She was quite warm under that, and also quite hidden from sight. Nobody meeting them would have dreamed that there was a little girl in the chaise. In the meantime, Aunt Love and Joshua Simmons returned to the Sign of the Lamb, and the hostler, who had forgotten they were coming, told her that a gentleman in chaise had been there with the little girl and said he was going to take her home Braintree. “Guess you'll overtake ‘em. said he. “Gentleman was alone in the chaise with the little girl, who wore a mul- berry-colored cloak.” Aunt Love tairly wept for joy. “O! Joshua, I am so thankful,” she cried. “I never could have told Sarah I'd lost Serena Ann. And I haven't got my shoes, but I don’t care. I'll get married in my old ones. Let’s start right away, so we'll overtake them.” Joshua Simmons started up the horse, and the chaise rattled out the tavern yard and down the road toward Braintree. But their chapter of accidents was not quite finished, for as they were crossing Neponset bridge, peering ahead to see if they could catch a glimpse of the other chalse, a gust of wind took off Joshua Simmons’ hat and tossed it into the river. He had a cold in his head, too. Aunt Love pulled off her hood promptly. “Put this said she. “Don’t say a word. If you don’t you'll be laid up with influenza, and the wedding will have to be postponed, and that’s a very bad sign.” “What'll you do? mons, hesitatingly. Aunt Love untied the green bandbox. “Put on this bonnet,” said she. “It'll be so dark when we get home that the neighbors can’t see it.”” So Jcshua put on the hood and Aunt Love the wedding bonnet, and it happened that when they finally overtook Solomon Soley, who had not much the start, and whose horse had got a stone in his shoe once and made a delay, that the occupants of the two chalses looked hard at each other and saw nothing that they were looking for. For Joshua Simmons, who was naturally somewhat ashamed of his woman's head- gear, kept his face turned well away, and both’ Solomon Soley and his sister, Pamela, thought there were two ladies in the chaise, and not the aunt and the young man for whom they were looking. As for Serena Ann, she was fast asleep under the camlet cloak and saw nobody, and her Aunt Love and Joshua never dreamed she was there. Moreover, they were looking for one gentleman in the chaise with her, and here was a yours lady also, He wore a camlet cloak, too, instead of a mulberry cloak, as they had been told. So the two chaises rattled on almost abreast for quite a stretch on the tur: pike, but finally Solomon Soley’s forged | ahead a little, for his horse was fresher. ‘They reached Braintree and when they were within a half mile of the Bagley | farmhouse, Joshua Simmons turned into | another road, which was a litule shorter cut. Aunt Love was impatient to see if | Serena Ann had reached home. And so it | happened, since Solemon Soley'’s horse was | a little faster, that both chaises turned in- to the Bagley yard at the same time, and Serena returned from her Christmas’ out- ing with something more exciting than a flourish of trumpets. Serena Ann herself was tired and sieepy that she could not fairly realize anything. It seemed to her like a dream the chorus of surprise and delight, Mr. Solomon's and Miss Pamela's coming into | the house and getting warm, and eating supper, and borrowing a footstove before they started on their homeward journey, and everything. She scarcely even grasped in its full measure of delight the fact that Miss Pamela presented her with the rose- wood workbox and the doll when she kis: ed her good-bye, but Serena Ann had got- ten one of the pleasantest memories of her ilfe, and had her first Christmas keep- ing. asked Joshua Sim- ee THE MONEY ISN'T THERE. A Pickpocket Who Was Foolish Enough to Steal a Lady's Pocketbook. From the New York Herald. “I just swiped a leather, Jim,” said a pickpocket to another of his profession as he came across him sitting on a bench in Union Square. “Wus it one o’ them purty ones what the women carries ‘round de street in der hands?” “Yes, I swiped it up on Fift’ avener when she was lookin’ inter er windy.” “If yer'd been in de bizniz as long as I hev yer wouldn't er took it. “Why?” Taint wuth { “A feller might strike er big haul tho’ that way some time.” “Not on yer life, he wouldn't. I've swiped a load on ‘em, an’ I never got one yit that I could git a beer out on. Dey don't carry money in dein leathers, Dey’s only er bluff. Try dat one yer've got and see if it's enny good.” Glancing about him warily to make sure that no one was watching him, the pick- pocket opened the purse. He found three samples of silkoline, a patent glove but- toner, a card advertising @ lotion for re- moving blackheads from the face, a sheet of flesh-colored ccurt plaster, some sam- ples of scrim and Madras, a list of prices of carpets, a circular showing an illustra- tion of a patent hose supporter, a card of small safety pins, two slabs of chewing gum warranted to cure dyspepsia and a card bearing her address and instructions to take her there if she met with an acci- cent. “That's all dere {s in it,” said the man who had-"swiped” the pocket book, as he turned it upside down and shook it, with a look of disgust on his face. ‘Didn't I tell yer?” remarked the other. ve ‘swiped’ dem tings till I'm tire Dey’re all de same. De women don't carry | nothin’ but trash in "em. De money ain't dere, never! coe A Costly Glass of Water. From the Kansas City Journal. A glass of waier ts a small thing, but it knocked out the strongest man in the world a few days ago. Sandow, like the comic weekly Kentuckian, never drinks water— that is to say, when he fs traveling. An athlete in training is easily affected by any change in diet, so Sandow is in the habit of quenching his thirst with mineral water mixed with light wine. But he was very dry at his hotel Friday, the waiter was slow and the glass of water at his plate was tempting. He yielded to the temptation and has been so ill ever since that his en- gagement at Cnattanooga was canceled, and the company will remain here until Tuesday, while he recuperates. Those who applauded his feats of strength Saturday knew nothing of the efforts required for him not to spoil the'performance, but after the matinee he said to me: “I am so weak I can do nothing. I have no more strength than a child.” -+e4—___ Information, From the Detroit Tribune. “Speak and you are a dead man.” The pistol barrel gleamed under the nose of the patient looking party, who was re- clining on the combination sofa. “Do your worst,” he cried, leaping to his feet. “I will speak. I demand to know how in thunder It is you walk all through this house without failing over the rugs,” But the burglar only laughed mockingly in his face and climbed out of the cellar window. —_—_—-e-_—__ How He Got Blind. From the Dallas Times-Hérafd. Tramp—‘Please help the blind.” Passerby—“How did you become blind?” Tramp—“Looking for work, sir.’ COUES ON GHOSTS A Paychigal Expert Speake of Singu- lar Apparitions. CROWDS OF <PIRITS MAY BE ABOUT US A Word in Regard to Table Tilting and Table Rapping. AN ASTRAL MECHANISM Written for The Eveving Star. = HOSTS ARE E} LE Gis rather un- FA Zab usual attention just L, now, owing to recent successful experl- ments made with apparitions by per- sons engaged in the business of psychical research for sclen- tiie purpose Phantasms of peo- ple, both living and dead, are said to have been seen un- der circumstances such as excluded all doubt as to their reality—for it would ap- pear that the up-to-date spook may be considered real. ‘That is one point in which it differs from the old-fashioned style of phantom, which was a creation of the imagination, The sheeted specter of the Cock Lane school, with clanking chain and attributes disagreeably suggestive of the tomb, has been relegated to the do- main of myth. Its place has been taken by a new type of phantom, which ts actual and authentic, though only studied thus far as a psychological curiosity. What It is, and the conditions under which it ex- ists, nobody knows as yet. The most eminent seeker after truth in this direction of the mysterious unknown is Dr. Elliott Coues. He is perfectly satis- fied that there are such things as ghosts, basing his belief upon the same sort of evidence as is considered to establish any sort of fact on a scientific basis. The problem in his view has nothing to do with the supernatural; nothing that exists 1s supernatural. The question ts simply whether there are not certain phenomena in nature which have not been recognized or understood hitherto. “I will tell you of an actual apparition which was seen by a friend of mine, a man of scientific training, in whose judgment and truthfulness I ‘have absoltite conti- dence,” said Dr. Coues yesterday. “The | witness had just gone to bed, the light being turned out, and was composing him- self for slumber, when he suddenly became | aware of a presence in the room. Furthe more, the impression was conveyed to Ifis | mind that it was tr presence of a certain | , with whom he had | ‘There person lately de been on very inti a was, te terms. in fact, ay overpowering sense of the nea’ ness of the individual referred to. At} about the same moment there arose slowly from the floor a nebulous mass of what looked like shining white vapor, which be- | gan to take shape, as did the smoke from the cusket containing the geni that we opened by the fisherman in the Arabian | Nights tale. The shape gradually a: sumed an outline more distinct until it | presented a radiant image of the person who had died. N re, the lips appea ed to move, and from th an intel- ligible utterance—a messa: . from the departed, 1 am not at liberty to say what that message was. Some Expertenc: “Now, why should I not suppose that this alleged apparition was merely a vision of the night-that my friend feti asleep and Greamed it., Partly, I would reply, be- cause my friend assured me that such a notion was out of the question, He was certainly as wide awake when he saw the phantom appear as when its seeming substance was gradually dissipated before his eyes and finally disappeared. Obvious- ly, his belief to that effect was not suffl- cient evidence; he might even have been awake and the victim of an hallucination. But what determines my faith in the testi- mony is the fact that the phantasm in all important respects resembled others which have been reported upon by many credible witnesses. I do not care to speak of ex- periences of my own in this line, however confirmatory of my conclusions, because in a discussion like this I think it best to avoid taking the stand in defense of the proposition which I myself am ; dvancing. “I will mention th case of another friend of mine, who saw a considerable number of ghosts at the same time and by daylight. He was lying on a lounge in his library, alone, while the dusk of evening was beginning to gather. Broad awake, he felt all at once a peculiar sensation. A dim light seemed to grow about him und to envelop him, becoming steadily brighter. Being sure that something was going to happen, he waited quietly, and presently he perceived shadowy figures of human beings passing to and fro in the light mist. They became more distinct, and he was erabled to recognize some of them as peo- ple dead, whom he had known in life. it was as {f he had been on the street in a busy throng; but the crowd was of ghosts and not of living people. Ghosts About Us. “I am speaking with not sufficiently pre- cise description, when I refer to a pecu- liar sensation of chill which is experienced by a person whose consclousness passes for a brief time beyond the threshold of ordi- nary physical perception. It fs felt very rarely even by the few individuals who are so organized psychically as to be ghost- seers. When such a feeling comes across you, you may expect to witness phe- nomena which usually are not under hu- man observation. Respecting the nature and causes of these phenomena we know little or nothing as yet; the study of them is in its extremest ir y. Endless que: tions at once before the explorer wh would pursue this untrodden path of knowl- edge. Most interesting o which concerns the relation them all is t of the at nomena described to the of hu- man immortality. May that ail around us are unseen multitudes of gh The room in which we are alone ma crowded with our dvad friends; the ap- parently deserted thoroughfere may be thronged with invisible beings. The pres: ent population of the earth ts but a h ful compared with the billicns who died. “Supposing that my friend was neither dreaming nor the victim of an hallucina- tion, what was the shape which he saw take form out of the shining white vapor in his bed room? Was it a human soul? How pregnant with most intense interest is that question! If there was no decep- tion in the case—and I em convinced that there was ndhe—it is made certain that there 1s an existence beyond the grave. Is that existence everlasting? What ere the conditions under which it ts maintained? Is it nappy or ctherwise? These are ir quiries which ndbody can answer. W know that ro particle of physical matter can be destroyed, though it may be trans- formed into other shapes. Does the same law apply to the consciousness, the soul, the intelligence—call it what you will—that animates the body? “One very interesting discovery oLtained by research in this line is that there is such a thing as the ghost of a living per- son. Furthermore, the-e is no essential difference between the specter of a living individual and the apparition of a dead one. The latter has abandoned the hoy permenently, while the former has left it only temporarily. An tmmense mass of testimony has been adduced to prove that phantasms cf living human beings—that is, s'mulacra representing them in form and teature—do actually appear sometimes, and even at great distances from the per- sons to whom the ghosts belong. Usually such phantasms are projected without tae knowledge of their owners. Table Lifting. “Each one of us carries his owr ghost within him, it might be said. Whether that ghost {s the same thing as the soul or the faculty of intelligence is an unan- swerable question. Ordinarily the ghost is under the control of its possessor, acting in harmony with the physical functions of | in w the body. Apparently, however, it some- times acts independently, and even goes out of the body for a time. It may then make itself visible in the same manner as does the specter of a dead person. I am confident that_many of the alleged ap- pearances of dying individuals to relatives or friends at a distance have actually oc- curred—as, for example, the apparition of @ man drowning at sea, giving notice of his fate weeks or months before news of the event could be obtained through ordi- nary channels, “Phenomena equally mysterious, though of quite a different sort, I have had an cp- portunity to observe in ‘my own house and elsewhere. In my dining room is an oval table of massive oak, weighing about 100 pounds. With the hands of two women laid upon it, no other part of their per- sons touching it, I have on more than cne occasion seen it lift itself and literally caper about the room, whisking the ladies about until their breath was exhausted by the evolutions of the eccentric piece of fur- niture. On demand it would furnish raps, signaling yes and no, telling the number of the house, answering various questions, and even beating out with a loud tattoo’ any tunes that might be demanded. Of course, much discredit has been thrown upon the whole business of table-tilting and table- rapping by frauds. But I can vouch that there was no deception in this instance. Some force which could not possibly have been exerted by either or both of the la- dies under the circumstances was exerted upon the table. I will not go into any dis- cussion of the loud detonations and flashes of light which sometimes accompanied the performance. “Orthodox science says that it 1s not possible to move any object from a distance and without contact. Let us see, to begin with, if that is true. The sun acts upon the earth and upon all the other planets of the solar system from a distance and without contact. A stone thrown up returns to the earth from whatever distance, though there is no ponderable medium of communica- tion. You might say that the atmosphere is a medium of communication, but an ob- ject in vacuo falls by its own weight with- out contact of matter. In that case there is no ponderable or otherwise sensible me- dium for the transfer of energy. In Spite of Gravity. “All action of matter upon matter is ac- tion at a distance, for no two particles of matter in the universe are In absolute con- tact. One of the actions of matter upon matter is called attraction. The same force exerted between large bodies, such as the earth and the moon, is termed gravita- tion. The energy of gravitation may be accurately measured, and everybody ad- mits that it is a force. Can we conceive of any force that does not do some work? It would not be a force unless it encountered resistance. If gravity be a universal force, there must be some other force equally universal, against which it acts and which reacts against it. “This force against which gravity acts is levitation. The latter is a principle of na- ture not less universal than gravity; it ex- ists everywhere, operates everywhere and acts upon every particle of matter in the universe with a uniform energy. When acting at infinitesimal distances upon mole- cules of matter, it is known to science un- der the name of repulsion. The molecules of a gas, which have always a tende’ fly apart, will furnish an example. the force of jevitation is acting at consider- able distances upon sensible bodies of mat- ter, it is unknown and unrecognized by science. Levitation is the force which gravity has to overcome und does overcome, as a rule. It fs a living energy, which works as hard to overcome gravity as gravity does to overcome it. “Now, my contention is that mechanical motion contrary to the usual operations of the Inw of gravity sometimes occur without the application of any recognized natural force—that ponderable bodies do sometimes move without any contact or impuise which has thus far been dis- covered. Objects, as in the case of my oak dining table, occasionally appear to be withdrawn temporarily from the opera- tion of the law of gravity. Consider, if you please, that there is not a priori rea- son why an object should not go up in the air any more than for its staying down. It is simply a question of the direction ‘h force is applied. A table levitated conditions I have described is not awn from the force of gravity, for hs as much in the air as on the it w floor. The Different Theories. “In the universe there is no up or down, except in relation to the point of view in which we look at things. People at the Antipodes do not stand on their heads. There is no natural necessity for things to remain on the iloor any more than for them to fall down to the ceiling. Lev tion is simply the expression of a force acting in a direction opposite to that in which we are gecustomed to see gravity act. Three different theories may be ad- vanced to account for the movements of the table. ’ “The belief of the spiritists is that the table is moved by ghosts—that is to say, by disembodied human intelligences, which lift it and hold it in the air. The second theory is that muscular force is exerted unconsciously by the persons who have their hands on the table. The third idea, which I myself entertain, is that motion is communicated to the table by other persons who are near, but who do not touch it. This last is an expression of my theory of what I call ‘telekinesis'—which, being translated, me: simply the exer- tion of force at a distance without con- tact. Myself the only person present,with the two ladies, at the trials of table-tipping to which I have referred, I did not go near the table, but sat and ‘watched the per- formance. How far my own ghost may have been instrumental in the results ob- tained, without any intention on my part to interfere, I cannot say. This is all a matter of surmise, and I only venture to hazard a guess at the correct solution of the mystery. My proposition summed up fs that there is an astral mechanism within us which is able to exert physical effects beyond the confines of the body. The rap gs and tattoos on the table were merely echoes of the workings of our own psychical conscicusnesses.” RENE BACHE. ee ee Impressions. The touth of a Or a word © A And atte Incomple 4 pleture painted with } And w e old tor A chance And life is An angered ord from our Hps is eped word fs left unsaid, He and love's ¢ ark ne and Miu k up the t ten gain— ead of hope 28 0 act or a word or tl But that with unguessed tn ance is fraught, r small things build up to And blazon the ways for ad " see: y i MEREFORD. ——-—-+ 06 — The Lady's Mistake. From the Chicago Record. The Maid—No, sir, my mistress {s not at heme. The Caller (savagely)—“Well, tell her not to sit before the front window with the then.” oo 4 to Nothing. curtains open, Nee From Life. UP-TO-DATE DINNE The Old-Time Christmas Feast and the Modern Host. nee ree HOW IT IS DONE NOWADAYS A Stylish Menu and the Way to Prepare It. SEASONABLE DAINTIES Written Exclusively tor The Evening Star. HE CHRISTMAS I dinner has altered its habits very de- cidedly since Wash- ington Irving dined with the dear old English squire that observed with faith- ful fondness the an- tiquarian customs be- ng to the merry Christmas-tide, We hear no more of pig’s head, garnished with rosemary; of the pea- cock ple, magnificently decorated with an outspread tail of real feathers; of the huge “ancient sirloin,” occupying a distinguish- ed post. It is true, the wassail bowl still holds its place in the Christmas festivities of old Virginia, though in a shadowy way, for there are no roasted apples bebbing about the surface of modern “hristmas punch, And Dame Mince Pie has not quite deserted us, but she does not giggle at us, as of cld, from a loaded table that Is an epitome of an overflowing larder. In short, aestheticism has swooped upon the old- fashioned profusion of Christmas dinners with such success that we now celebrate Christ’s birth in a tolerably gastronomic manrer, A New York woman whose orbit crosses the highest fashionable heavens gives a rueful account of her last year’s efforts te have a colonial Christmas dinner. It did not prove to be the charming revival she had expected. The soup was so gen- erously served in the ancestral tureen that when she plunged the ladle into its rich depths she seemed to be drawing upon | the resources of a pond. ‘The turkey was produced in all the brown beauty of its crisp skin and dissected on the table, but the host, who, like mst modern husbands, had long abdicated his hospitable duties and quite forgotten how to carve even so vnresisting a fowl as a spring chicken, haggled legs and wings and “white meat” in an enraged discomfiture quite uncom- fortable to behold. The dinner dragged its loaded, weary length along until the mile- stone of pies was reached—pies pumpkin, pieg custard, pies mince. Then the hoste: met her Waterloo. The cook, unaccus tomed to the manipulation of ‘pastry be- yond the little mits of individual pates, had constructed an “undererust” that was @ triumph of tough indigestibility, and the host looked on with revengeful grins, while his wife, armed with her grandmother’ dull silver pie knife, endeavored to saw into triangualr slices the traditional Christ- mas pie. She survived the strugyle, but the pie pleces reached their several desti- nations in a very mangled condition, An Up-to-Date Menu, This year she hopes to dine in a frame of mind more peacefully appropriate to the season, She has arranged, therefore, served without hard labor on her part and which will leave her more at liberty te echo merry greetings. That is to say, she will have a rational amount of food served from the side, as usual. The time-honored holly will beautify the table and Pelestine soup will give tribute to the season, but, otherwise, the dinner will wander from the old track’ of Christmas cookery: Oysters. Palestine Soup, Fish Zephyres. Braised ‘Turkey. Puree of Vegetables. Mushrooms au gratin, Baked Ham. Benedictine Eggs. Plum Pudding. Mince Rolls. Ice Cream Croquettes, With Port Wine Sauce. Orange Salad. Coffee. The oysters wil) not be served on the half shell, with lemon, but in broad, quaint little goblets, on a bed of crushed ice, dash- ed with Worcestershire sauce, and accom- panied with wafer-like sandwiches of brown bread and butter. Here is the recipe for Palestine soup, which is a very delicate and delicious in- troduction to a holiday dinner: Wash and peel several Jerusalem artichokes, and lay them in a stewpan with a tablespoonful cf butter, a slice of ham, and a small bunch of parsley. Cover closely, and place over a gentle fire for ten minutes, giving an oc- casional shake, to prevent sticking or burn- ing. Then add enough cold water to cover the artichokes entirely, and boil gently till soft. Rub through a sieve, mix the water in which they were boiled with them, add pepper and ealt to taste, and as much boiling milk as will bring the soup to Froper thickness. At the moment of servy- ing, stir in half a pint of cream made hot. Croquettes and Turkey. Fish zephyres: These dainty croquettes should be a delicate golden brown, quite crisp on the outside, and the inside soft and creamy. Any white firm fish will an- swer; {t should be boiled, the bones care- fully removed, and the flesh shredded. The foundation of zephyres, that which binds the ingredients together, is a cream sauce made as follows: _In an enameled saucepan place a table- Spoonful of butter; when this begins to boll stir in gently a desscrtspoonful of four, when quite smooth thin with half a pint of milk or stock, if preferred. season with pepper and salt; when the flour {s entirely cooked and the sauce is perfectly smooth take tt off the fire and stir into it a pint of the fish flakes mixed with half a teaspoonful of grated onion and the same of chopped parsley. After having well mixed the meat snd sauce turn it out to get cold; when it has formed into a ave ready half a pint of grat- d crumbs and two eggs, well i with pepper and’ spit, keeping the beaten czgs separate from the crumbs. Roll the fish jelly into shape; then roll into the grated crumbs, then the beaten eggs and lastly into the crumbs again, Fry in boiling lard, taking cote that the balls are covered.’ Serve on ob- long slices of bread, with ts trimmed off and fried to a light brown in a little butter, unge the zephyres on a dish covered with folded napkin and garnish with fried parsley. Braised turk his should be prepared and stuffed in the usual manner, with veal forcemeat or chestnuts stewed in gravy till tender. After it has been neatly and ly trussed, put in a stewpan, with a few ounces of fresh butter, and turn it about over a brisk fire until nicely browned all over; then place {t in another pan upon a bed of mixed herbs and vegetables that have been cut in small pieces; pour in enough stock to cover the vegetables barely cover them; lay a sheet of buttered paper closely over the turkey; then put on the lid, and cook very gently’ over a mod- erate fire, basting frequently with the Hquid in the pan, until the cooking is sat- isfactorily completed. By the time the turkey is thoroughly done ft will have ab- sorbed the full flavor of the stocl; d the various vegetables, and, consequently, the flesh will be tender, rich and jul But in order to accomplish this most desirable re- sult the process of cookt and great care m: the contents of t € must be slow, t be taken to see that @ pan never reach th bolling point, but only simmer all the time. It 1s by paying strict attention to this, and by browning the bird quickly in th first place, and so rotaining all the nat- ural juices, that bratsing can be rendered vastly superior to boiling or roasting. Serve very hot, press all tho vegetables used in the pan through a sieve and lay them in the dish, No one will know ex- actly what this puree is, but every one will enjoy it. Some Toothxome Dinshen. Mushrooms au gratin. It them lightly, roll them In arrowroot, and fry to # pale brown in butter, Put them In @ deep dish; cover with a rich bechamel sauce fuvored the | | following up-to-date menu, which will be | best mattress. with chopped parsley and Madeira wine; cover with rolled, browned bread crumbs; stick little bits of butter among the bread crumbs; bake to a light brown, and serve boiling hot. “Baked ham.—Those who are accustomed to boil hams should try one baked for a change. None of the juice is lost in the water, and the flesh is as tender as if it were bi ed; the flavor full and mellow. Soak the m in cold water for at least twelve hours; wash it well, dry it and cut off all the rusty parts underneath, trim- ming neatly. Wrap the ham an inch thick in a dough made of flour and water; put the ham thus covered in a baking dish and bake it in a hot even for quite four hours. When done, let it cool a little; then crack off the crust, remove the skin of the ham with it, and dust over with ted bread. Benedictine eggs.—Six very small rounds of white bread toasted, rubbed with oni salted and put in the bottom of the salad bowl; yolks of six hard-boiled eggs, six cold boiled potatoes sliced fine, six cold boiled beets, three truffles sliced fine, some white, crisp celery, two picked cucumbers sliced thin, whites of the eggs chopped fine and a pinch of Hungarian red pepper. ltub the yolks of the eggs to a smooth paste with olive oil; then add all the other ingre- dients in order, except the paprika—the red pepper. Toss and turn them about, and cover with a mayonnaise dashed with pap- rika. Ice-cream croquettes are a charming im!- tation of chicken croquettes in form and color, The brown little pyramids, made firm by a large proportion of chopped blanched almonds, rest on a bed of whipped cream—tinted with port wine—instead of mashed potatoes; the golden color of the crust is produced by pounded roasted al- monds, and the parsley on the apex is copied in shredded green conserves. The orange salad Is to be served and eaten with the coffee—a French fashion. For this, cut four large oranges—peel and all—in slices, Jay them in a glass dish, sprinkle over them a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar, and a wineglassful of brandy or rum. Set the dish on the ice for at least two hours before es LIGHT ON THE GLOVE QUESTION, How One Woman Keeps Well Glovea at Small Expense. From the New York Times, Every woman, particularly every woman of limited income, knows what a hole 1s made in that income by the effort, the ne- cessity, indeed, to be well gloved. As there is no reyal road to learning, so there seems no cheap way to keep one's hands properly covered. It was a decided respite to the eternal glove buying when, last summer, iu the city, for once fashion permitted the ungloved hands hitherto only allowed in village streets and country lanes, A woman who has studied the question from an economic standpoint, and who succeeds in results, says that for hard, cold weather wear there is nothing 80 satisfactory and so cheap in the end as a pair of good dogskin gloves. “I buy one pair every fall,” she says, “for which I pay from $2.50 to $3. These wear through the winter, and I am out every day. I use the pair worn the previous season for rainy days, and fo- any evening errand that needs only hands protected. The rusty finger ends of the last year’s pair I restore very creditably by staining with good black ink, and after it is dry, rub- bing in a little olive oil. “My suede gloves I buy in pairs of the same shade, choosing one of the always pretty shades of gray or tan. In this way 1 am frequently able to remate them, and sometimes restore an entire finger piece. I make it a point to get my gloves large | enough; that helps the wear very much, and this without making the hands look bad. On the contrary,a 61-2 hand squeezed into a 6 glove Is vulgar. Of course, I take great care of my gloves, pulling them off wrong side out, keeping the buttons on to preserve their shape, putting them away in a smooth well-pulled-out condition’ after every wearing, and looking carefully to the saving stitch in time. I mend, as ever} body should and many do, with thread, 8 matching in the cotton and the sha of my glove. And my gloves are reall: smal expense, taking the year through.” +o. Emulating the Astor Guest. From the Pittsburg Dispateh. Margaret Furgerson, aged sixty, had read of John Garvin, the Bowery tramp, who slept in John Jacob Astor's bed last week, and her bosom swelled in emulation. This was the reason that when George Carle went into Lis Led room in his house at 1701 Carson street Saturday night he found the room filled with Margaret's snores, saw Margaret's nose peeking from under the bed clothes and her form pillowed on his He complained at the South Thirteenth station and Mrs. Furgerson’s dream of bliss was broken, “I only wanted to take a bit of a nap,” said Margaret to Magistrate Mulien, and he gave her ten di to sleep it our. ———_ +e+_____ A New Feminine Occupation, From the New York Times, Many women who do not feel like sus- taining the expense of a permanent nurse for their growing children often feel the burden of the escort duty which devolves upon them. One wonders if here is not one more suggestion for that ever-present modern personage, the anxious-to-do-some- thing woman. To accompany a family of children to school or dancing class, to give them a morning in the park, a day in the Metropolitan or Natural History Museum, or to act as their judictous escort on any needed trip of instruction or pleasure would often prove a serious relief to an overburdened mother. a Might Have Be From the Philadelphia Record. Stockly—“I hear that your son went into the office to work this morning.” Jobly—“‘He went into the office to work me. I was out, but I guess I'd been out more if I'd been in.” — — see Dr. Sanguin's Wonderfal Boom. From Life, | “Yes, madam, one bottle will make you look like a different woman——