H COURIER.
i
IV
j
RANDOM -NOTES.
Tho case of Grccei'e Assistant Hoff
man, who when tiken to Bellovtfe IIoe
pital, was found to havo forgotten hie
own natus and Jiis former condition in
lire, is to rece've the attentoa of several
eminent psychologists in Detroit, ono of
tbcm beitg Dr. Roleit A. Robertson,
tho compiler and annotator of the re
markable manuscript left by the late D.
P. Jamiesio, of Detroit, a man who from
boyhood until the time of his death pos
sessed two distinct mental organizations
There is some little similarity botweon
his experiences and those of tho grocery
clerk's.
Hodman, as his name was subsequent
ly learned to be, waB found wandering
nomenon, viz. The atmosphere aiosc
from the earth like an immense cone,
with its apex toward tho moon. This,
set mo to cogitating upon what, I had
prorijusly lejn taught to believe con
ccrning lunar atti notion beinx the prin
cipal causo of tho tidal ware. From the
appjarenco which now presented itsalf
to me, I was lead to imagine that th;s
attraction was tirat exerted upon our
atmosphere, which, being more mobile
than water, Lecame first drawn from the
ocean, thereby diminishing the pres
cute upon the ceneial surface. This
theory, if correct, would more rationally
account for the rise of the tidal wave
upon both hemispheres at the same time
than tho present accepted opinion upon
that subject.
'In nearing the lunar surface, I pro
ccived n hazy appearand, as if from the
about on tho East side in a dazed con
ditjpn. Ho was taken to the hospital, F"sence of an atmosphere, which 8&em-
where ho was unable to tell his own cd 12 miles in depth, and in color a pale
' name or whore lie lived. He spoke liko green. In another moment I found my-
an educated man, and talked rationally self upon the surface-a silent, solitary
' on all subjects save his own individual- spectator of a world upon which, pre-
" ity. He had a vague remembrance of a sumably, no other huaian being had
grocery store, which was located near ever trodden! The sight which presnt-
green fields, and he could dimly recall a ed itself ws that of .blank desolation
a crowded street in which there were Not a blade orgtas3, a tree, shrub, or
many tall tenements. Tho experiment vestige of anything pretainiog to eMier
of driving him about tho city to see if vegetable or animal life was anywhere
he would recognize any familiar objects visible; while the most appalling sounds
was attempted, and he was taken A'led thb surrounding atmosphere.
- through ths East sido and then out to Long, irregular ranges of huge moun-
Ivncebridce. Hishbridce and over tho tains arcse in the cim distance, manyol
river to Jereey. Occasionally he would
see a building that seemed familiar, but
when tho people in it wero approach'd
tliey could not recognize their visitor.
Whilo in this condition, Hoffman wa9
able to play tho piano, and displayed a
ssnsitivo ear for musical harmony.
which arpeared fiilly fifteen mile3 in
height. Between the most extensive
ranges were dosp, dark valleys, while
perpendicular cliffs presented a repel
lent but sublime aspect. Deeply serrat
ed projections, several thousand yards in
depth, of bird, dull and scorched ap-
This faculty seemed to fade as the strug- pearance, wero seen at intervals, wnile
gle between the man as he was and his sharp peaks, like immense chimney
alter ego proceeded. Hia voice ni.J ex- stacks, towered aloft many of them at
preesion changed, and when he left the angles which threatsnoi to hurl them
hospital he was altogether a different ilto tbe yawning abysses, tan thousand
looking man from the man who entered yards beneath!"
it. But this ambitious Ego was not con-
Jamieson's case as related by Dr. Rob- lent with a trip to such a neaiby satell
ertson, wa3 more wonderful than that of ite a3 the moon. It must get further
Hoffman's. The subject was rather pre- away, and, regardless of what might
'cecious as a child, and had mastered the happen to the rigid body in tho tele
elementary principles of mechanical graph office, made a dead set for the
philosophy and chemistry at the of 12. planet Venus.
Ho was apprenticed to a chemist at the "In descending upon this planet," he
age of 17, and by that time had gone &aid, 'I discovered an extensive atmos
deepiy in philosophical research and thv Pere, probably sixty miles in depth, of
occult sciences. One day while visitirg 'considerable density; and in color a light
his parents ho was suddenly stricken green. But how great the contrast as
with what appeared to be catalepsy. "He' compared with the lunar phenomena
lest the power of speech and motion, which I had just before witnes3ed! A
and for four months remained In -.a semi- "gentle breeze floated over the surfaca,
lethargic state. Then he became ab'e unaccompanied by any unnatural sounds
to articulate a few ucmcanicg sounds, or disagreeable effects. The surface in
snd gradually to learn to speak. Uo deed presented a broken and rugged as
had forgotten ibsolutely eyeothing of pact; but baautiful plains and valleys
his pa6t life and hsd to be "taught ths. spread out into the far distance. While
alphabet like a child of 3 or 4 yearn. He-'uiajestic mountains, some of which were
: continued to receive instruction for fi'f" fiilly twelve miles in height, aroseat
, teen years, when,-while eating anneal ho regular intervals not abrupt, dark and
I became uncor.siious and fell from his frowning, but descending in easy grada
t chair. When his senses returned, i tions into immense plateaus, a thousand
about half an hour, he was tho pre- miles in area.
cocious jouth of fifteen years before. Ho "The lower ranges sparkled with var
was amazed atlhe aged appearance of
his father and mother, and did not rec
ognize at all tho twin children bom
about four years be!ore.
In the manuscript bequeathed to Dr
ious colors, as if from gems set in polish
ed brass, and the brilliant display of
tint? presented a panorama widely differ
ent from anything known to my previ
ous experience. But the mo3t remark-
Robertson, all this is related, and then. u,e feature observed wa3 tho total ab
sence of vegetation not a trace of which
was anywhere visible. The general sur
face, however, was comparatively
smooth, as it froai the action of water,
at no remote period. The rosky crust,
the writer goes on to tell of an experi
ence which Ehows him to have been
possessed of at least an amazingly fei tilt
Imagination. He passed frcm the eic-
'. ond mental state, he sas. to aco'.her.
' in which his eouI seemed to leave his too, appeared rounded, of an iron-gray
' body and soar upward. He was seized color, though in many placeB a light
while in a telegraph oflhe and describes straw rarely white,
his sensations thus: "Minerals were plentifully distributed
"In my ascent from tho earth, a de- and in their combinations produced'
sire to take a final survey of the sphere much of the beautiful colorings every
of former existence seized me, and look- where present especially on the pro
"ing backwards, I discovered that I had je;ting slopes facing the sun. Metallic
just emerged from the atmosphere, and bodies were not so common, or eo di-
had thus, in a mom e nt, as it were soared vesificd, though sufficiently so to impart
fifty miles! variety to the general brilliant effect'.
ence noticed a very strange phe- By this time I began to observe a
t fimn The Courier's Great J
Offer to Subscribers.
J
6
?
READ
'oo-oioc rMOOOJ0TVJ
THE COURIER has arranged to off er free of charge to
ever' one subscribing" this month a year's subscription
to the most popular magazine published in this county.
To everyone sending us two dollars to pajT for one
year's subscription to THE COURIER we will give
a one year's subscription to
Three dollars
for t"wo dollars.
Do not miss this chance. We cannot afford to con
tinue the offer indefinitely. Our object in making it
now is to secure an immediate response which a less
liberal offer might fail to attract.
EttOtO0f Of tMM0t0HMMt0OMMHMIM0MMMOlt0MMMM0mMH
J. Wm MITCHBII. i
WHOLESALE
--AND RETAIL
WALL PAPER.
1338 O street and 143 so. 12th st J
. Telephone 237.
Slgra Fairvtiragarixl Decorating.
MIHMtHO0QtOMMMMMMMMMIHOaOMMHMtHHM0MMO0MMMMOMHM
THE LANSING THEATRE
JOHN DOWDEN, Ju , Manager.
2 Nights only Monday and Tuesday, June 14 and 15.
muvscomEW
L
Showing the great 14-round fight of '97 in countrparts of
Cir1btt smd FitssimMitii(
Your only chance to see this great fisfht. Admission 10.
20 and 30 cents. Seats on sale Saturday morning.
number of very strange looking beings
totally different from anything I bad
noticed hitherto. These creatures were
flitting to and fro in the atmosphere."
The description of the inhabitants of
the planet i9 a remarkable ppecimen of
morbid imagination. Dr. Quincy's
opium eater in his wildest delirium mo
ments never conjured up Buch shapes as
these:
"The creature under consideration is
about eighteen inches in length and fur
ished with three wing-shaped paddles,
which are attached to the upper third of
the body, and at points equidistant upon
a plane perpendicular to tho longer
axis. These are the locomotor organs
and are eleven inches in length, flexible,
muscular and freely movable in all hori
zontal directions. They are firmly at
tached to a cartilaginous collar of elastic
substance.
"The head is placed above and in
the center of the locomotor arrange
ment, and is four inches in diameter, the
long anterior-posterior exceed the lateral
by one inch. Upon the upper forehead
is an oral prominence or orbit slightly
different in color and structure from the
surrounding parts, this is an eye. Lat-