Java Stones
Brussels, December 9th, 1859
“Mr. Director,
I read the report of Ida Pfeiffer in the Spiritist Review about
the fallen stones of Java, in the presence of a Dutch high ranking
officer, to whom I was closely connected in 1817; he had lent
me his pistols and was my witness in my first duel. His name
was Michiels, from Maastricht, who became a general in Java.
The letter describing the fact added that the fallen stones, in the
isolated house belonging to the Chéribon district, lasted not less
than twelve days, and neither the General’s guard nor the general
himself have discovered anything during the time he spent
there. The stones, a kind of pumice stone, seemed to be created in
the air, a few feet away from the ceiling. The general had several
baskets filled up with them. The villagers would come for them,
looking for amulets and remedies. The fact is very well known
in Java since it is frequently repeated, particularly the siri spits.
Several boys were stone-chased in the open field, but were not hit.
One could say that these were mocking spirits who were having
fun by scaring people. Evoke the spirit of general Michiels and he
will perhaps explain the fact. Dr. Vanden Kerkhove, who lived
in Java for a long time, has mentioned to me, as I do to you, that the Review is getting more and more interesting by the day, more
moralizing and in high demand in Brussels.”
Yours, etc…
Jobard
The well-known character of Mrs. Ida Pfeiffer and the trait of veracity
of all of her reports leave no doubt as for the reality of the phenomena
above, but one must understand the importance added to the fact by
the letter sent by Mr. Jobard, and considering the education of the main
witness in charge of verifying the phenomena, who would not have any
interest in accrediting the fact if it were regarded as false. To begin with,
the spongy like nature of that rain of stones could lead to the belief in a
volcanic or atmospheric origin, leading the skeptical to say that superstition
had taken the place of a natural phenomenon. If we only had the testimony
of the Javanese such hypothesis would be founded and the stones,
falling in the open field, would undoubtedly support such hypothesis.
However, general Michiels and Dr. Vanden Kerkhove were not
Malang, and their statements certainly hold value. To this very strong
argument it is necessary to add that the stones would not fall in the open
air only, but in a room where, as it seems, they were formed a few feet
from the ceiling. It is the General that states so. Well, we don’t believe that
atmospheric debris has ever been seen formed in the closed environment
of a room. Even by admitting the volcanic or meteorological cause the
same could not be applied to the siri spiting, never spilled by volcanos, at
least to our knowledge. Keeping this hypothesis aside, by the nature of the
phenomena itself, the amount of substances that were formed remains to
be known. The explanation can be found in our August 1859 issue about
the “Furniture from beyond the grave”.
