SINGULAR APPARITION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 8986, 17 September 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

SINGULAR APPARITION.

In the current number of the organ of the Society of Physical Research is the following account of the " apparition" of a person " who had been strongly interested in an event which was closely approaching when he died, and seemed to choose the occasion of that event to manifest his continued interest in the friend for whom the performance constituted a crisis.'' The account of the apparition two days after the death of the person seen was written down by Mr. Myers from the verbal account of the " percipient," and corrected and signed by her :—

•'■• - August 4th, 1890. On the evening of Saturday, April 26th, 1590, 1 was engaged with my sister and other friends in giving an amateur performance of "The Antigone" at the Westminster Town Hall. A passage led down to several dressingrooms used by the ladies who were taking part in the representation, and nowhere else. None of the public had any business down this passage; although a friend came to the door of the dressing-room once to speak to some of us. I was passing from one dressingroom to another, a few steps further along the passage, just before going on to the stage, when I saw in the passage, leaning against the door-post of the dressing-room which I had left, a Mr. H., whom I had me; only twice, but whom 1 knew well by sight, and as an acquaintance, though I had heard nothing of him for two years. I held out my hand to him, saying, " Oh, Mr. H., I am so glad to see you." In the excitement of the moment it did not occur to me as odd that he should have come thus to the door of the dressing-room— although this would have been an unlikely thing for a mere: acquaintance to do. There was a brilliant light, and I did not feel the slightest doubt as to his identity. He was a tall, singular-looking man, and used to wear a frock-coat buttoned unusually high round the throat. I just observed this coat, but noticed nothing else about him specially except his face. He was looking at me with a sad expression. When I held out my hand he did uot take it, but shook his head slowly, without a word, and walked away down the passage to the entrance. I did not stop to look at him, or to think over this strange conduct, being in a great hurry to finish dressing in time. Next day, as a number of us were talking over the performance, my sister called out to me, "You will be sorry to hear that Mr. H. is dead." "Surely not," I exclaimed, "for I saw him last night at' The Antigone.'" It turned out that he had been dead two days when I saw the figure.