Show I I A HUMAN BATTERY I I i I Scientists Puzzled by a German Servant Girl I lgjl iJW1J I Berlin June 2The psychologists of I Europe are deeply interested in a strange case which has just developed near the small town of Kufs In Upper Franconia and investigations about to be made will doubtless result In proving I prov-ing to the world the existence of a greater human wonder than the famed Eusafia Paladlno whose mystical powers pow-ers have defied scientific explanation for more than 20 years The Kufs curiosity is a peasant girl named Barbara Roeschlau a typical I flaxenhaired blueeyed stoutlImbed daughter of Germany stolid looking and uninteresting until recent happenings made her the center of Interest in psychological exploration All her life she has lived near Kufs and has never been 20 miles away from home Her surroundings have always been primitive prim-itive her education is limited and her knowledge of the outside world is practically a blank To accuse her of charlatanism under these circumstances circum-stances would be futile but some scientists sci-entists have a habit of resorting to this charge when unable to satisfactorily satisfac-torily explain human mysteries of the kind The Roeschlau girl is undoubtedly possessed of some electrical power of considerable force It displayed itself fpr The first time about six weeks ago and since then it has appeared at irregular ir-regular intervals It should be understood under-stood that she does not fall into trances or Indulge In any of the theatrics of spiritualistic mediums In fact she never heard of spiritualism trance queens or kindred matters and the exhibitions of her power have been wholly involuntary She is greatly distressed about hei elf andbeing superstitious su-perstitious like others of her class she firmly believes that she is possessed of some evil sotrit Six months ago she left her fathers home to work as a domestic servant for a family named Hoffman living in Kufs She proved to be an efficient worker until her peculiar malady asserted as-serted itself She was sitting in the kitchen conversing with a friend and knitting when a knife suddenly jumped from a table and flying across the room struck the girl who was talking talk-ing with Barbara upon the face Both of the girls jumped up and in a few minutes every metal object in the Kitchen began to clatter Small pans and knives and forks flew through the air all of them coming toward Barbara Bar-bara Mrs Hoffman entered the room to discover the reason of the disturbance and was struck on the head by a tin dipper Barbara and the other girl ran into the street and then the disturbance disturb-ance ceased Barbara was greatly excited ex-cited by the unusual happenings and I being on the verge of hysterics her i mistress told her to go to bed She was all right the next morning and nothing happened for several days Almost a week later when she was lighting the flre early in the morning a good sized stone flew toward her and struck her on the forehead The kitchen utensils began to dance again and in response to the girls screams both Mr and Mrs Hoffmann ran into the kitchen and found her lying upon the floor In a paroxysm of fright She was In a state of exhaustion for sometime some-time aft r this but in a few days was able to attend to her duties again The reason of the commotion was a mystery to her employer and he sup nosed that she was given to nansr I tricks to escape working He had a I conference with his brother on the I matter and they determined to watch her Nothing of note occurred for several f sev-eral days but finally when she was cleaning up the yard late one afternoon I after-noon the disturbances began in an un I a large pig trough standing nearby turned upside down After these occurrences Mr Hoff manrt consulted his family physician Dr Wolfram and after several examinations ex-aminations the doctor concluded that it wail some unusual force possessed by the girl that produced the phenomena phe-nomena Dr Wolfram has written an elaborate report of his findings in thg < case and as he is thoroughly reputable and Is knokn personally by many physicians in this city no doubt is cast upqn his statements In his investigations Dr Wolfram discovered that when the girl visited at different houses nothing unusual haooened as she seemed to lose her strange powers One explanation advanced ad-vanced for this is that Hoffmanns house is Invested with a current of i y rf U l r f f I f i l 1 = 1 1 f if n r r F f f BARBARA ROESCHXANS QUEER POWER ATTRACTS THINGS FROM ALL DIRECTIONS expected way An empty beer cask I when she moved toward it toppled over on Itsslde and began to roll after I her She started to run and trot behind be-hind a water barrel This was verv heavy but it started to roll over and I natural electricity and that the animal electricity of the girl produces a positive posi-tive and negative current the same as I with the weather under certain atmospheric atmos-pheric conditions Another explanation Is that the ex citement of making a visit and seeing new faces affects her temperament and for the thus being subdues her power The fact that the electrical force asserts as-serts itself at irregular intervals can only be attributed to the emotions of the girl but to all appearances these are subject to few changes as her life is uneventful her physical health excellent ex-cellent and her nerves in splendid condition con-dition It is believed that she could be made to do more wonderful things than the Paladlno woman and without resorting resort-ing to methods which might cause suspicion sus-picion of fraud Mile Paladino goes into a trance before exhibiting her powers and the room is invariably darkened Under these conditions she can operate the keys of a piano at the opposite end of a room cause chairs and tables to fly through the air and deliver whatfeels like sharp blows upon the heads of her audlpnie But with the German girl no trance is necessary and strive as she will to fleht off the cower it exerts itself In spite of her The fact that It was Ijrceful enough in one instance to move a barrel of water weighing 200 or 300 pounds and in the open air proves that it is more of a wonder than the power of the Italian woman It is possible that Barbara will oe brought Berlin where thorough investigations can be made by the physicians phy-sicians and scientists who are anxious to find the solution of the mystery his pony could run all around anything I that wore hair and pawed the earth One of his descendants Guy de Gille used to play dice with Charles II at 250 guineas a throw and 1000 on the main He got into bad repute with his royal majesty by always winning the main as well as a majority of the ata 1r fs et throws A descendant of his came to Virginia in the early days and promptly prompt-ly I initiated the surrounding braves Into the mysteries of sevenup I have been told that he would look his opponent straight in the eye and turn jack nine t4ires handrunning His granlaon moved to Kentucky as soon as It was found He had a premonition that It would be the greatest state In the Union and time has proved that as a premonitor he had few equals and no superiors < s > e < J > He flourished in the good old way that has been a distinguishing characteristic charac-teristic of my folks ever since they were folks He would bet a man on the length of two straws or the weight of a stone lying in the road or the speed of two drops of water chasing down a windowpane or anything If as sometimes happened he couldnt pay he would fight He was a man of good judgment however and generally induced the other fellow to do the settling His judgment was evidenced by the fact that he dropped the de from his name He lived In a plain democratic community that was short on style and long on riflebarrels He preferred peace unless there was money to be made by war and he put on just as few frills as he could get along with His son was my grandfather and a better judge of horseflesh good liquor or a neat ankle Kentucky never saw He was a gentleman of the old school was my grandfather and to prove it he once rode his bay horse Prince Hal up the winding staircase of old man Visschers threestory residence resi-dence In those days a winding staircase stair-case was a great thing and Vlsscher was proud of his The marks of the hoofs are on the steps to this day An argument ensued and the doctors of the neighborhood made good money but the two of them died friends J U e This was my grandfathers mode of play Never to gO in on less than a pair of nines never to bet better on two pairs and never to raise a onecard draw Strict adherence to these principles prin-ciples made him prosperous and respected I re-spected o e < S > Olympan Springs were owned by Harry of the West Henry Clay He I would not sell and would not trade Grandfather wanted the springs main ly I because they were pretty It Is a I certainty that he did not intend to drink any of the water In the summer sum-mer of 1S40 Henry Clay came to Kentucky Ken-tucky on his vacation He said that he felt the need of the OJympan water But beyond bathing in It nobody ever saw him fool with it Three nights after his arrival a sociable game began be-gan Even then there was a little hotel at the place and the players occupied a room In the top story where the clicking of the chips I would not make envious the guests who were barred out In the game I were Mr Clay my grandfather Josiah Blackburn John Hardln and Sam Clay a cousin of the statesman I It was a no limit game Those were I days when gentlemen played with gentlemen gen-tlemen and the vulgarism of table stakes was unknown A mans word was as good as his bond and whenever when-ever he bet he was able lo pay The game began on Friday night and ran along with varying luck They were all old hands and had the nerve to back their cards At 12 oclock Saturday Sat-urday night Blackburn quit a little ahead He had been married only two months and was afraid his young wife would think he was dead Sunday morning at 9 oclock someone rapped on the door It was opened and a negro girl stood In the hall She had a clean shirt in her hand and on the bosom was a note from Hardlns wife I For Air John Hardin wherever he can be found The door was closed and play resumed Hardin changed his linen at the table e 0 < S > Sunday afternoon the men were I wan but nobody thought of quitting The cards were dealt toy Mr Clay My grandfather came In for 50 Hardin stayed Sam Clay dropped out Henry Clay stayed My grandfather toqk one card Hardin drew two Mr Clay stood pat My grandfather bet 250 Hardin saw it Clay raised it 250 My grandfather grand-father raised it 500 Hardin dropped out Mr Clay raised back for 1000 My grandfather said he was very sorry for him and came back with an elevation ele-vation of 2500 Mr Clay remarked that It pained him to rob an old and I tried friend particularly one upon whose assistance he counted in the fall election but he was compelled to put up 5000 more that he knew more about poker than any man in the world My grandfather bet him another an-other 5000 In excess that he was mistaken mis-taken Mr Clay stated that he might have made some errors of politics although al-though he could not recall them just then but he had never yet overjudged a hand That meant another boost of 5000 My grandfather sighed pitty ingly < S > 0 < SHe > S-He laid down his hand took a small penknife from his pocket and carefully trimmed his nails He shut up the knife and slowly replaced It He picked up the hand and glanced across the table at his gifted opponent upon whose forehead T xo drops of perspiration perspira-tion were glittering I raise you 35 000 he said gravely I havent that much I money here eli course he said I I and I dont think my bank account I would stand a check for the amount But the Springs property here is valued val-ued at 35000 I will put it up You are the first man that ever made me call What have you got my grandfather grand-father asked hurriedly his iron nerve at last giving way It is your place first to state your hand said Mr Clay j lightly but no matter Woman womj ian i-an lovely woman the full measure allowed al-lowed to a good Mussulman and he j placed four queens face upward on the j table In those days the sequent flush was not played My grandfather with I a sigh of relief for himself and of regret for a gallant adversary showed what I was called an invincible four kings and an ace The Springs have remained I re-mained in our family to this day If that is so I remarked tentatively tentative-ly your granddad must also have had I the gun My Kentucky friend looked I earnestly at his empty glass No I suh he said Those were the days j of gentleman suh suhJAMES JAMES S EVANS |