OCCASIONAL NOTES FROM THE METROPOLIS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 34, 6 July 1870, Page 5

OCCASIONAL NOTES FROM THE METROPOLIS.

No. IL-^ON^PIRITS. In my but communication I promised your readers a deeper insight to the.mysterious mania which has taken possession of men's minds to such an extent; and having siice been an eyewitness of some of tho womle,rs worked by several of the denizens of “ spirit-land’*—obliging male and female spirits, who have existed without any communication with our material world for many years, until their presence at last serroe to gratify a select circle of believers and their friends—l will endeavour to give a " plain unvarnished statement of facts, '* as they came under my notice at a private stance to which I invited. Lot me promise that Ido not write as a believer in the "beautiful new faith,” as some of tho moat enthusiastic spiritualists terra it. In my opinion it is tho height of absurdity to make a religion of the extraordinary revelations and physical exhibitions to which we are treated. Undoubtedly there is something at present unfathomable in the phenomena which are witnessed ; but if these manifestations are the result of supernatural agency, I certainly incline to the belief that they are the work of mankind's common enemy, the DeviL The subject is exciting a deal of attention In Dunedin, and is the general topic of conversation; and it will no doubt got thoroughly ventilated, for both the believers and their opponents seem pretty obstinate, and ever ready to back up their belief or non-belief with arguments more or leas sound. But your readers will be saying that I am never coming to the phenomena which I have mentioned above as having witnessed, so I must cut short tny preliminary remarks. Well, then, I will oommenee by stating that about twelve or thirteen years ago, there lived in Dunedin a young man named A , who about tho time in question suddenly disappeared, and, although every inquiry was made, no trace of him could be found. He was never afterwards heard of. At the spiritualistic meeting at which I have said I was present, after the spirits (at any rate, we will so call them for the present) had intimated their presence in the room in the usual manner—by the oscillation of the small 100 table round which the circle was seated—the name of A—- was written through (or by) the medium as one of the spirits present. Through the medium, this indiscernible "something” then proceeded to give an account of how A had mot his death. It appeared that on a oold, dark, winter's night, some twelve years ago, he had wandered off tho road into a swamp near the Mataura river, where he got bogged, and died during the night in great pain. It was further written that tho spot where this occurred was about 1000 yards on the southern side of the river ; but, in reply to a question put to it, tho spirit was unable to give any further information as to the locality. This, of course, will prove an obstacle in the way of any search being made to test the truth of the spirit’s affirmations, as the spot indicated might be ten miles up or down the river from any given point. The Cromwellian mind will bo more interested in what I am alxmt to relate, as the person whose spirit next appeared was well known to many in your district—l allude to Mr J. W. Garrett. Through the medium, I asked several questions, ■to. ali of which answers more or less satisfactory were returned. For instance, he (the medium, or the spirit through tho medium’s agency) wrote the names of the two songs which Garrett sang at -the concert held a few evenings prior to His death. I particularly asked the little lad who acted as medium whether he knew anything about Garrett—whether he knew that he had sang at a concert shortly before his death, &o. ; and he distinctly assured me that he was nob aware that he had done so. I then asked the question, and the answer was correctly given, as ( have stated. In reply to a question of mine, as to whether Garrett knew who it was that came to his assistance immediately after the accident, a negative reply was returned. A desire was expressed by the spirit through the medium that tho following inscription, and it only, should be written on the headstone to be erected over his grave : " John William Garrett. Aged 26.” Several other questions were asked and answered, but tho above will servo as example* of the questions and answers. We were then favoured with a visit from the spirits of several other departed human beings, of both sexes, some known to the company assembled, and gome complete strangers to us all. One of the most noticeable of these was a foreign lady, of a very persistent nature, who ultimately took possession of the table, and positively declined to give it up to any other spirit. .As the spirit of this foreign female was very ignorant, she having been a totally uneducated person, no further communication could be had. She was, however, remarkably fond of waltzing, and of a very jolly temperament altogether ; so in order to gratify the spirit of this jovial jade a waltz was played on a musical Instrument, and tho table waltzed round the room in a most comical manner. Further communication with the spirits being thus interrupted in consequence of tho obstinacy displayed by this waltz-loving female, the company adjourned si ns dk. In conclusion, 1 would just remark that if any of your Cromwell readers havo any desire to teat these manifestations for themselves, i have no doubt that any of the Dunedin mediums will ba happy to inform thorn of tho most approved mode of procedure. At the same time I cannot sea any good that would bo derived by prosecuting any further inquiries on the subject; and, judging from tho effect that tho "beautiful now faith” has had on acquaintances of mine, I should say " Whore ignorance is bliss,, 'tis folly to ba wise.” Arcanum.

Mr W. They era, storekeeper, ami Mr J. C. Chappie, auctioneer, wo going to contest the election for the Mayoralty at Alexandra Mr J. Haslett, etoiokeeper, is the only declared candidate at Clyde. Several names have boon mentioned (or tins seat of honour at Queenstown, bat nothing borbaii yy* Xnwn .an f* af»* ritniii ofr vvaU'-rdiVtifii