THE WINNER OF THE NEXT MELBOURNE CUP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6820, 26 September 1883, Page 6

THE WINNER OF THE NEXT MELBOURNE CUP.

MANY of our readers will, peruse with mterest the following narratives, which purpor to throw light on what w.U ; be for thousands the most momentous' question of the daynamelv Who is to be the winner of the AT Cup 9 The account of the first scene in this attempt to penetrate the future is from the Te Aroha Hews About two months ago a party of young people met •within a few miles- of Te Aroha. Amongst them was an amateur mesmerist and also a -young lady, who was' in the highest degree sentitiveto nervous .impressions. We do not exactly know how it came, about; but' at all events, the result was that, at the'request of those present, the young lady was pnt in a' mesmeric sleep, or trance,by tho gentleman above referred to. A variety of questions were asked her, while in this state, all of which 'sh'e answered without hesitation, and in such a manner as to create the utmost ' astonishment amongst • her audience. As keeping the joke she was

asked what horse would , win the Melbourne Gup in November next, to which, after a short pause, she replied, ' Demon ? On being again'questioned she-uttered distinctly, * First Demon.' And now the singular part comes in. None of those present knew the ' names of all the horses entered, or whether j there was such a horse at all; and it was not till some dayß afterwards that they ascertained there was a horse! so christened, m the entry. Moreover, when it first ran it was in tho name of Demon, the prefex ' First being . added afterwards. Again,- at that time the , animal in. question was comparatively unknown, and was not m tbe betting^ then this horse; has won or ran aecond several first-class races in New South Wat a, and at the present time is as good a f avour ite as anything for the Cup. If the m ? " portion of the party knew nothing .of th? torse-mind, it was two month? ago—it was in the highest degree unlikelythatithe clairvoyant, if so 'wo may term, her, d;d ; and the fact of giving the name of any borse engaged is perplexing in itself. As we said before, these are not. facts, drawn from the imagination, but what • actually occurred under the stated > amongst most respectable people within a miles of Te Aroha." . _ .' ■

The above, or itseii,. wouia uui^ much attention. ; But a gentleman in town supplies us with the following facta.:—A' few month 3 since, in a house in Ponsonby, several young people were experimenting. with the planchette. One of them .was a young lady possessing the peculiar or gift of what is known, in spiritualistic circles as niediumship." In a few minutes,, replies to various questions were written, ;and, in a semi-iocular mood, a' gentleman asked what horse would win the Cup. The reply was, "Demon." In this case, also, none of those -present knew of such a "horse being in existence. Next morning, on coming into "town, the gentleman who had been present, made enquiries, and ascertained that, in the list of acceptances for the Melbourne Cup, was a horse called First Demon (late. the Demon). Now, we are positively assured, ,by one in a position to know, that the two incidents have no connection whatever with each, other. The one mentioned in the Te Aroha News occurred in the house of a farmer at Morriusville, whose name is in our knowledge, as well as the names of several persons present at the time. The second incident happened in Ponsonby, and our is himself the gentleman Who made the inquiries the" next day. Whatever may be the outcome, it is certainly singular that ° ccurjences so closely resemble each other should 4iave happened in different localities and in the experience of different people i about the ■■same period.