WATER DIVINING

Southland Times, Issue 20939, 23 November 1929, Page 8

WATER DIVINING

A STRANGE POWER INVERCARGILL STREAMS FOLLOWED INTERESTING EXPERIMENT A very interesting demonstration of water-divining was given yesterday by Mr P. Bridge, Methodist home missionary at Lawrence, who was in Invercargill attending the Methodist Synod. Mr Bridge was asked yesterday by his host, who lives in South Invercargill, to find out whether a known stream of water passed under a certain property. Although the act of divining water imposes a severe strain on the nerves and the muscles, Mr Bridge started out and followed the stream. He found that it did not pass under the property desired, but continued northwards, zig-zagging between Elies road and Doon street. Several other smaller contributory streams were discovered, and Mr Bridge’s wand showed that the main stream he had been tracing was the one which the southwestern bore at the waterworks taps. In all, some six -or seven streams at least interlace, all flowing from the direction of Georgetown towards the water tower. Mr Bridge’s inquiries shqwed that the southwestern bore was not directly in the centre of the stream. Unfortunately, as he had to leave by the afternoon express he was unable to continue following the stream past the waterworks. The main stream is approximately 30 feet wide, but one passing under the centre of the Te Rangi bowling green is only a foot or two in width. A third larger course runs near Elies road, but at Yarrow street appears to strike an impervious reef and is deflected approximately around the Mary street corner. Mr Bridge’s experience makes him sure that within a short distance, it rejoins the main stream.

While Mr Bridge was in the waterworks grounds, a Times reporter interviewed him and was given several interesting facts about the little known art of water-divining which is so strange that many are inclined to treat it as belonging to the realm of the psychic or to more shady things. Yesterday, Mr Bridge was using a Vshaped dry twig, the arms of which were approximately six or nine inches, long. Although originally it was . brittle, after some time it gradually became softened, but later showed cracks and signs of breaking. In using it, Mr Bridge keeps his elbows in to his sides and grips the ends of the prongs in his clenched fists, holding the wand so that the apex is pointing upward. He then ‘.‘concentrates his will against the stick” and paces slowly forward. The “banks” or boundaries of the underground streams are always clearly defined, and as soon as they are reached the wand slowly moves downwards. As soon as the centre is reached, the stick points directly downwards. When underground water is at all near, the wand lies horizontally. The wand also gives a side movement, showing the direction in which the water flows. The Invercargill streams flow towards the north.

Surface water makes no difference at all to the diviner, nor does water in mains. Mr Bridge has stood over the chief Auckland water main and the wand has not made the slightest movement. The water must be forcing its way through the earth and thus generating a type of electricity that acts on the electricity inherent in a certain type of human who is highly charged with it. After divining, Mr Bridge is overwhelmed with a terrible feeling of lassitude. Formerly, when he used to use a long, straight wand, held with the arms outstretched, he used to suffer agony and when he had finished he would be overcome with a desire to vomit. Yet Mr Bridge is a man of, iron strength who has lived a large part of his life roughing it in the bush. The type of wood used makes practically no difference to him, although hazel, usually quoted as being ideal for divining, is useless with him. Macrocarpa and Scotch pines are particularly responsive. Walking sticks will react and so will metals to a certain extent. They are used especially in the divining of other metals. Mr Bridge can locate iron, gold and coal. He can tell the type of ore by the relative influence it has on the different metals he tries, but all the beds of metal must be below the surface and under earth pressure.

Although Mr Bridge did not discover his ability until late in life, he has been successful in locating countless wells and his gift has been of particular value in Central Otago. One of his most important discoveries was the present bores of the Helensville Hot Springs. The springs had always been known to exist, but the flow was very meagre. Mr Bridge used his power of divining and discovered the centre of the underground streams. The bores sunk on his advice are now yielding 140,000 and 40,000 gallons per day respectively. The experience of all diviners shows that depth at which water, oil, and the metals located lie cannot be sensed.

Realizing the scepticism of many people, the reporter put Mr Bridge through a little test to which Mr Bridge very readily agreed because he admitted that before accidentally discovering his own power, he had always thought it was all “bunkum.” Mr Bridge had previously marked the edges and the centre of a stream. His eyes were blindfolded and he was led across the ground some distance from where he had marked the “bank” according to previous indications of the wand. As soon as Mr Bridge, blindfolded, 'reached the marked boundary of the stream, the wand bent, at the marked centre it became vertical and finally straightened out exactly' as the other mark was reached. The reporter then tested the tension- with which the wand was held, the great, force with which the wand twisted in Mr Bridge’s fist and the absolute lack of movement in his tightly strained muscles. All tests made it absolutely certain that the movement of the wand w-as absolutely involuntary and was controlled by external forces. ,