As the extraordinary performances of the White Mahatma at the Lyceum Theatre, during her present visit, have been the cause of so much talk, and diverse opinions are expressed as to their genuineness or otherwise, our representative waited upon Mr. Bell, and had an interesting chat with that gentleman, who was quite willing to answer the questions put. The question in the public mind is, How much of the White Mahatma's performance is due to genuine divination, and how much to thought-reading, or is the whole or any part of it trickery "We give it'us a performance," said Mr. Bell, and by so doing we save a great analy arguments; but the results that are obtained nightly by the Mahatms must have set educated people thinking that there might, or must foun "*If," our representative queried, it is not prying too much into the secrets of your art would you mind saying to what you attribute the Mahatma's power? How fro the-thoughts of people conveyed to her?"
"That," replied Mr. Bell, @ ques: tion to which I cannot give a satisfuciory answer. The faculty of thought transference is at present indefinable and irreducible to the control of scientific laws, because of the immaturity of the spirit-intellect of mankind. We have heard something of the waves of ether conveying impulses for good or evil from one brain to another. We can recognise that this theory of thought-transference, with one in a lied to as of ater seven floating i hypnotic sleep, must be very closely tremulousness of infinite delicacy through all the realms of space, and conveying every shape of mental vibration from point to point.
"It may be that the White Mahatma's brain in the hypnotic sleep is brought toa state of great perfection, xo much so that she is able to distinguish impressions conveyed to her from the brains of other people who are in sympathy with her. We mean, by sympathy, there must be a mysterious current of magnetism linked between the two. One may understand in this wa: violin to a piano; strike the no on the piano and then lightly touch the string on the olm, and it is felt to vibrate, because it is in unison, so that with the White Mahatma a person may not got a question answered, through not being mentally and physically attuned with her, They are not in sympathy."
"When the White Mahatma answers a question, does she," asked our representative, simply read the questioner's thoughts, or does she divine by her own intuition the answers she gives?"
That is where she makes many mistakes," was the reply, "through simply giving back the questioner's thoughts, For instance, 'Who stole my watch?" At the same time the questioner imagines he knows the thief. The White Mahatma goes so faras to describe the very person he is thinking about; still we do get marvel-Jous results. At' Calcutta the question was asked, Will Bravo win the Viceroy's Cup? 'The answer was' 'No! the horse will die before the race.' The horse did die before the race, At Ballarat in Australia a young man named Gumma was missing for fourteen days. The police made an unavailing search for him. The White Mahatma described the direction he tool and said she saw him fall down an unused shaft, and that she could see him lying at the bottom, in the water, with his face out of the water. He was found exactly as described by the White Mahatma.
"At Kimberley, South Africa," the speaker went on, the question was asked, What would be the next sensation in Kimberley?' Theanswer was, 'Part of De Beers office will be blown up with dynamite.' 'The date! The. date!" was shouted from the audience. 'August ith,' replied the Mahatma, The otlices were' blown up on that date. Whilst in Bangalore I received no fewer than twenty-two telegrams congratulating the White Mahatma on her correct forecast of the exact days of the reliefs of Kimberley and Ladysmith which she prophesied in Bombay more than two months previous to the occurrence. In Madras she also gave the exact date that Lord Roberts would occupy Bloemfontein, But these are only few out of thousands of predictions that have come true during the sixteen years the White Mahatma has given her exhibition.
"This is a sceptical world. The ordinary observer cannot on the face of it regard an exhibition such as the White Mahatma's from the standpoint of the scientist. I have always noticed in comection with this entertainment, that the most sceptical are the least educated. The man without knowledge argoes everything from his own theory and stands by it, let the facts be what they may. 'The educated man, on the other hand, knowing what great possibilities are opening up in new fields of research, keeps his mind open and clear from prejudice, and is willing to be convinced so long as' that is effected by an appeal to his intelligence. Edison, to whom we have given three sdances, and Stead, who has received a like number, m Deli in our work."
Does she," was asked by our representative, become exhausted by her con-
"When we were in England, yes; but there we used to answer eighty or a hundred questions nightly; that was during my paper fight with 'Mr. Labouchore. He gave us altogether a hundred and tirenty columns in 'Truth,' commeneing by calling somnomancy a fraud. He, through the agency of Maskelyne and Stuart Cumberland, gave three so-called exposes of it which were read to our audiences nightly. The fight terminated by Mr. Labouchere saying, It is a very clever trick.'"
Tue Ada Delroy company wound up a short but very successful season on Saturday night at the Lyceum, and left for the South by the 1-C. S. Taisang on Sunday morning. They were unfortunate in being here at the same time as Warren's very popular Circu "Wor Curr, Mate? may be a rough form of salutation, but the kindliness of its, intent cannot be questioned; therefore it may not be out of place to adopt it here. Those who may be suffering from bad health can be speedily relieved from their misery by the aid of Holloway's Pills and Ointment. They are equally good for the old, young, or middle-aged. For weakness, lassitude, fever, diarrhoea, dysentery, measles, croup and similar complaints, these medicines cannot be equalled; whilst for skin diseases, sores, ulcers, scrofula and old wounds, they have effected cures in eases declared hopeless, eminent medical men. Full directions as to the use of these remarkable remedies are given to purzhasere.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.