A Wonderful Foreigner.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 706, 23 December 1876, Page 2 (Supplement)

A Wonderful Foreigner.

Tur ' Now York Suuday Mercury ' saya : Some remarkable facts were told one of our reporters tha other day in connection with the pres -nee in New York of a Frenchman named Jaques Caroine, whose skill with the divining rod has earned him no little celebrity among the superstitious of his own countrymen. About threo years aj»o, in the valley of the Meuse, tivo miles from Seraing, in Belgium, a new shaft for a projected coal miaa was commenced. Tha stock company were satisfied that an excellent quality of mineral lav beneath them. Two of their number, MM. Oaauvin and Garnior, weie apprehensive that obstacloa might bo encountered ia sinking the shaft, approaching as it did the north westeily spur of the Vorges, which would materially detract from the subsequent profit of the enterprise. M. : Chauvin dreaded water. M. Gamier was afraid of a deep band of igneous rock. Their partners laughed at them. They sent sc cretly to a village near Nordlingou iv Wortemberg, for a man namsd Jaques Careme, famous for hisdivinatians by means of rhabdomancy. Careme was placed over the spot where ground had been broken for the shtft. 'He held in his hands a straight staff cut two ; one extremity of the oae half waAjflfl lowed out, the other hilf was s h*rpafl^^JH rounded at the end, and this end was itMKcn in the hollow and the pointed stick could ro- I tate in a cavity liku a ball in a socket.' 1 Almost as soon as ho placed himself in [ position there was a violent action of the! stick in the cavity. Fie boldly asserted I that there was a tremendous quantity of water below. The two partners sold out of the company. The shaft was pro- I ceeded wifcn. At the depth of 150 feet an enormous fissure or gullet was encountered, almost wide enough for a man to pass through. From this gullet a stream of water rushed in upon the sinkers with the force of a cat or act. All progress for a time was prevented. M. Coulson, the most cxpereucrd sinker in Europe, directed operations. Heavy pumping machinery was erected, and a drift was constructed to carry thu water to the r>vor. There had never been seen in Europe such powerful pumping apparatus, Taere were four 30-inch pumps, and they discharged water at the rsfco of 7,500 gallons por miaut«. Notwithstanding their exceptional powers, they were quite inadequate. Tho water flowed in, in greater force and volume than ever. The company made up their minds that it was useless longer to struggle against; a condition of things that appeared to be irresistible. Shortly afterwards, Jacques Oaremo, by means of his singular divining rods, discovered tha perpotrators of a mys;erious murder. The two culprits confessad the crime, and according to sentence, were broken on the wheel in tho Place dcs Teraux, Seraiog The triumph of hit art made Careme for a time the popular idol. Naturally, however, criminal! of all classes regarded him with tho deepest averiion. At any moment he might be induced to exerciae his skill in detecting their orirnet. They, therefore, formed a conspiracy to murder him, but receiving timely warning hs suddenly quitted the country. During the early part of last win tor he arrived ia New York, and proceed cJ to Sag Harbour, where ho has a married aistor. On Christmas Eve a neighbour named Ayton, while absent from home, had his house broken into, and a quantity of wearing apparel stolon. The fact was mentioned to Caremr ' Perhaps I may be able to discover the thief,' ho quietly said. On roaching the room where the theft had been comtnitteJ, tha rods revolved rapidly in his hand, and they continued to rotate in hU finger* as long as he ramataed withiu, and also wbca ho came outside and continued in a certain direction, but ceased to tain if he diverged from it in the slightest degreo. Guided by his roi, Carema went from lano to lane in the direotion of Amaganser, There ho entered a oottage, and asserted with warmth, contrary to the asseveration of tho oocupant, that tho thief had eatared hit room some, time during the previous day. The man. ■aid that was impossiblo, as he had been from home, and tho door had boon looked, 1 Then ths window was open.,' s«id Qarame oonlidently. Sara enough, th.6 *?iudo.w had been open T_ ue honw had been entered, and an q!d f*«hioned gojd watch, the gift of a former employer, stolen from a bureau, drawer in the little bedroom. Johnston, the owner of tho watch, now Joined. Oareme in the qaeit, and, he gaged with opan mouth at the queer popformanoes of the rhabdomaaoer and his whirling atioks. Tho track led to East Hampton, and to a dilapidated-looking hut in that pltoa. The s'ioki roiated violently as Oaromo approichod tho door and knoolced, whon a voice insido cried ' Who's thero? 1 Cueme wa,j so n^uoh agiUted that ho nearly fainted,. The dew w as opened. Tha thief stood before thorn • Secure the man,' said Carerae, 'it is he.' Tha follow, after the raos- pwtivo cjenjaj, wa.l finally overcome by b,is. superstitious fears and eon* fcisjod th,3 burglaries. Tho oloih.es and the watch were produced, and on tho thief's promising future reformation with teara in his eyes he was not givon up to justice, On the 4 h dsy of June, Us* a wealthy family in Hjoktvill^, Long Itlan-3, missad from tha family safe a quantity of valuable jewellery, consisting of diamond rings, gold, braaelets, watches, ohaiai, &c, to ttav«luQ of orer 7, 0Q3 dollars. The safe wo.? iataoli. Tho lock was pe> fact. The key was in aita keeping. It was evidently no burglar's work ; nor could tho two, eorvabts, have had any hand ia the robbery. No ono could have opened the safe unless they kngw th,o cofubina'.iou, \ Thflre wera only tqat persons who l^uew it '. —the father a, ad mathar, and tb,a ton and | daughter, b,jth the last named of whom ' have attaiqed their majority. Gaorge, the j sou, ia a steady, religions, young man, a atriofc ' - teetotaller, aud a patroa of young men's CarUtun Associations. He h»d a free scooss • to the safe and ics con'enta at ail times. So had ins «ia s«r. They \\m] nq inJuoem.enfc for »b«tr.\otiu» by qteaUh whAt tioy could havo ■ pqsaes9Qd tWmielves of opaaly. Brides, tho k iy of the sale h^d been loaked up in tha old gent!«m»n'a writing desk for three wjekj, and had been last u«ed iv the p.oaenoa of ' the daughter when placing a bracelet tha.il had beon reoantiy repairod the ia.fe.' " ! A D"»^ of gjma oxparienoe was consulted. Ha was gro»tly perplexed, fclis suspioions not unnaturally foil upon someone of the six inmates of tho house. H.e finally dismissed that Ihsory as untenable. ' Som« of the ftirjily must bo sommmbuluts,' he lftughin«ly su|ggoitod. Ho could discover ■ oo traoo of the jawellery in any of the New York or Btookliu stares where such valuables ■ would bd likely to fina their \yay, and. he assured the family that it was a oaio which time and perseverance alone coild sjlve, Tho «nbJ3ot maanwhile was kept a profqund ' secret. The two servants were plaond uudar •Iricti oipqin^o. Qao-gs, tho Don, had boan '■ to Sag Harbour on bxuiuca* on the first day of the current month, and ho casually heard - •omo of the dotaila of Caremu'a discovery of the stolen clothes and watch He datorminoii to boo the rhaWLominc jr. He hihald a quiet I littlo m»q, with » viofrt eye and ft h*ir, i with small artistic fl igors, and a neck Iks o I ' women, B o apoko English rcmark*bly well i for a foreigner, but wa* an wilting to eqter < into details respecting hu own porformanoea ' in Qoranny and DjJgmiu 110 said it was a ] i divinely-iiopaited power, and, therefore • pot ft «übjeot for self-glorification. The story j

of the mysterious safe robbery was told. Caremc listened with interest. ' I cannot toil, but perhaps I may be able to assist; m in some way,' skid he That nigut he slept in the Uicksvill© m-umon breakfast next morning he was conducted to the sceno of the robbery, with tho roi's placed between his two extended palms. There was no movement as hi traversed the corridor and nscanded the stairway. But whea he leached the small tafe the rods rotated tremulously, and the man's pulse could be plainly perceived to rise at if he had an access of fever. The same motions and symptoms manifested themselve3 as he proceeded down the back staircase used by the servants. Then tho trail led through a window and into the garden. The robber had come from without ! The trail led by an eccentric circuib to the j I railway station The burghr had left by a train. Three lines of railroad centre at Hicksvillc ; which had he taken ? Careme said he would have to try this by experiment, He must travel every hue and got out at every station until he recovered tho track of the fugitive. His skill had never been before confronted with the difficulties of a railroad, and he was confused. He travelled to JSyosa^t, Cjld Spring, and North port on a kdeeveless errand. Taoa he tried Wcstbury, Jamaica, and Brooklyn, where he BBovored the scent. George, who acflKapained Careme on this extraordinary ■Best, laughed incredulously. It seemed (mere midsummer madness. Bat the ticks I touted, and drome's face was flushed with r excitement. They oame to Fulton Ferry, crossed, and again the trace was lost. Careme was tronbled and perplexed. Just I then, however, a strange thought flashed across the young man's mind. ' Come with me,' said ho, and they proceeded to the corner of Broadway and Wall-street Again the siicks began voiently to rotate. Carane led the way down Wall-street, passed Broad, and still continued onwards. At the door of a certain building ha stopped, aud proceeded up staira. George was so agitated that hi 3 knees could scarcely suppirt him. With f Ual precision tho door of a room was reached and entered The young man's dearest friend wa3 the only inmate. 'This is the mm,' said Cwem\ A wild, exciting, aud painful oceae followed. ' Why, you have not been at Hicksville in two years,' said George. * Yes, I havtV was the guilty confession. The excitement of tho gambler's tabb, heavy losses, betrayal of friendship — these were the silienfc points of the story. He had learned the socret of the combination — had abstracted the key f.om George's pocket, msdo aciit of it, and had another manufactured. Whilo the titter and her mother were residing at hit home in this city the wretched gambler proceeded to Hicktville and while the old gentleman and George w*re in the house proceeded quietly to rifle the safe. Had he been discovered be propoiod to pass the tiling off as a good practicil j >ke, and, of coarse, the explanation would have boon accepted, Some of the goods will be recovered But thoro will be , no exposure.