SUPERNORMAL EXPERIENCES

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4010, 28 July 1931, Page 7

SUPERNORMAL EXPERIENCES

, A STRANGE ADVENTURE j The two main things to be satisfied about in the narratives of supernormal experiences are the character and good faith of the participators, and the verification of the evidence (says ‘ John o London’s Weekly’). In the book before us (‘An Adventure With a Preface’) both these things seem to be beyond cavil. The narrative itself is passing strange. Twenty years ago tlie story was first told in a little volume 'called ‘An Adventure’; its authors —the two ladies who experienced the adventure —were “ Miss Morison and “ Miss Lament.” These assumed names hid the identity of two wellknown ladies who wished to remain anonymous because of important scholastic' appointments they held. In a new edition of their book the real names of the two ladies concerned are disclosed. The one is Miss Anno Moberly, whose father was head master of Winchester College, and later Bishop of Salisbury; the other, her friend, is Miss Eleanor Jonrdain, a doctor of the University of Paris, and distinguished for her learning. Miss Moberly was principal of St. Hugh's College, Oxford; she was succeeded in that post by Miss Jonrdain in 1914. Both had a wide circle of friends in scholarly circles. That is one point now disclosed ; the other point accounting for this new and expanded edition is certain strange confirmatory evidence of the narrative which has come to light as the result of years of research. As a preliminary word we may remark that at the time of the experience neither lady had any interest in the occult—on the contrary, they were antagonistic. THE VISION.

Briefly the narrative is as follows: On an August afternoon in 1901 the two ladies went to Versailles. After walking through the palace they went to the Petit Trianon, a place about which they knew little, except that this retreat was closely associated with Mane Antoinette. They walked through tho woods, they strolled through the gardens. It is a curious thing that in the course of their walk in the Trianon groun Is neither of the ladies realised at the time that they were experiencing anything out of the common. It was only when they were back home that tho one lady happened to ask the other if she thought the Petit Trianon was haunted, and at once the reply was “ Yes.”

Haunted and yet not haunted. It was simply that these two ladies, in the year 1901, found themselves walking together in the Trianon of 1789, and there coming upon scenes, coming upon figure after figure unaccountably arisen from that unfamiliar past. They saw, spoke to, and re addressed by persons of the period and in the costumes of ,1789. Some of the figures were apparent to the one lady and not to the other. It is a true, unvarnished record told independently by, Miss Moberly and Miss Jourdain. The chief feature's of their experience on that pleasant afternoon were the impressions of exceptional loneliness, and the extreme silence and stillness of the place. Both ladies admitted to moments of tension and oppression; “yet we were not asleep, nor in a trance, nor even greatly surprised—everything was too natural.” So natural that neither remarked on the circumstances during their walk. “We were walking bnskh during that half-hour or so, talking about other matters, whilst observing with quiet interest our surroundings, which undoubtedly made aiy indelible impression on our minds. Neither of us had previously made any special study of that period of French history or of the place- We had never heard the latter described, and had not even read Baedeker on the subject.” They had lost their bearings; when passing up a lane an extraordinary depression came over Miss Moberly; she wondered why Miss Jourdain did not ask the way from a woman who was shaking a white cloth out of the window of a building at the corner of the Jane. Deep in conversation they walked on past another building. “We looked in at an open doorway and saw the end of a carved staircase, but as no one was about wo did not like to go in. There were three paths in front of us, and as we saw two men a little ahead on the centre one we followed it, and asked them the way. Afterwards we spoke of them as gardeners, because we remembered a wheelbarrow of some kind close by, and the look of a pointed spado, but they were really very grave dignified officials, dressed in long, grey-ish-green coats with small, three-cor-nered hats. They directed us straight on ”

Among the trees they came upon a circular garden kiosk by which a man was sitting. “ There was no greensward, but the ground was covered with rough grass and dead leaves as in a wood. The place was so shut in that we could not see beyond it. Everything suddenly looked unnatural, therefore unpleasant; oven the trees behind the building seemed to have become flat and lifeless, like a wood worked in tapestry. There were no effects of light and shade, and no wind stirred the trees, it was all intensely still." The man sitting by the kiosk, who had on a cloak and a large shady hat, turned his head and looked at the ladies. His expression was so odious that both ladies (as they admitted to each other afterwards) felt genuine alarm. They were relieved to hear someone running up in breathless haste. They looked, but there was no one on the path. Vet suddenly close to them they were addressed by one in great eagerness and greatly excited. ‘ Alesdames, il no faut pas passer par la.’ He then waved his arm, ‘ par ici . . . cherchez la maison.’ Turning to thank him, they found he was not there. (The ladies concluded afterwards that something was going on up the path which it was not desirable they should witness.) That is one incident out of several. Other persons addressed them, or directed them. In oppressive stillness they went up the terrace steps to view a large solidly-built house. “ When we were in the" front entrance hall we were kept waiting for arrival of a French wedding party. They walked arm-in-arm in a long procession round the rooms.” The ladies looked on. greatly interested. We have the narrative' of other happenings. THE SEQUEL. ft was three months later when the two ladies began to compare notes, ior they now felt they had experienced something completely. MB °1 common. it became quite clear that, al-