The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-07-07
A "srirltiat," Not d spirlluniist.

more rare than commonly supposed by
the spirltualists. but that they 90
nevertheless occur"
You do not believe. then, that there
are any genuine physical phenomena!,F
mo. There have been reported
quite number OF incidents which
when put together, make out strong
case. but mo conclusi ons can be dell
nitely reached until we can experiment
scientifically along these lines. AS
soon as we obtain the means we VIII
so experiment.. Then we will contrive
of precision for measuring
the physical forces produced. and we
will regulate the conditions under
which the phenomena must sponta-
neously occur. There must be MOTH
ing hidden--no cabinets or darkened
rooms, nor anything which might tend
tofconceal. .s
What phenomena do you class
among the probably genuine?"
"The psychic. or mental, only-that
is. so far as scientific investigation has
gone. These include clairvoyance. ap-
partitions, premonitions telepathy and
such mediumistic phenomena as have
described"
Ghosts Explained.
Ghosts, then, are really seem"
evidence Of phantasms OF the liV-
Ing. the dying and the dead is already
sufficient In quantity and quality TO
suggest that these phenomena are
something supernormal. Understand,
tn ough, that I do not refer to mate
rializations, which purport to be re-
productions OF spirits In physical
forms. But phantasms Of all kinds are
purely mental phenomena. They seem
to be but thoughts Of spirits repro
duced in the mind in the form Of hal
fluctuations. and to be produced by
some outside stimulus applied to II
p erson's thoughts. This Is the most
consistent explanation OF phantasns|
which we can make to date
What is your explanation of what
you term genuine phenomena? sVhat
is the force back of it all?"
How the Dead Communicates.
II do not commit myself as to the
name Of the process. 1t seems to me
quite probable thatiin some cases the
dead communicate with the living by|
stelepnthy. In other cases this seems
entirely improba BILE. All that we kno"
as yet is that we get phenomena which
seem to point more distinctly to the
existence Of spirits than to any other
explanation. You would be surprised
II told you the names of some of the
pletely converted to the 'spiritistic
theory, but who will not publicly admit
it for fear of their regulations"
What would be the effect upon pub
lie morals OF a complete scientific proof
of Immortality"
'tGreater strengthening Of the i'm
portance and value Of tho Individual In
social and political life. 1t was out
Of the belief in the Immortality Of the
soul that modern democracy originated
and gave the world the belief that the
state is subservient to the interests
OF the Individual. Once the individual
is assured of survival otter death, suf-
ferings and pains Will become much
more endurable. Personality will thon
appear as permanent In nature as mat
ter or energy. From my point OF view
this is already evidentially demon
strated quite as effectively as is the
theory Of evolution. and will increase
in strength with the multiplication Of
evidence"
Are separate heaven and hell In
dictated by the spirit messages which
you accept as genuine?"
| They quite uniformly Indicate that
heaven and he'll are simply states Of
mind"
Spirit Bodies Described.
What are the other charac teristtcs
OF so-called spirits, as indicated by
your accepted data?"
Human frailties appear to be rs
rife in that life as In this. There -
| the same sort OF confusion and defects
to get into an abnormal state before
/, they can communicate with US at all.
Human senses do not appear to be
perpetuated but methods OF commu-
! snication appear to be the same as with
i us, also the character Of statements
! made The pre7onderance OF evidence
is that the Spirit body is a fac-simile
of tho human organism, and It can be
conjectured to be ethereal In its ma
1 ture. So far as we can tell there Is
| no difference In the perceptiye faculties
save that they are ethereal and not
4 physical and that their range is far be
You'd ours They seem to be able to
3 see into the future, and In some cases
4 resemble our own process Of inductlve
inference from known facts. In other
cases it is ineSplicable.
THAT n child develops to maturity
in the spirit life is the general CLAIM
really communicate with man. OF
course there are cases where one who
died as child Is still spoken OF as
the thoughts being transformed into {
!, phantasm. The spiritual life Is {
: thought life. taking the form Of 6
reality, Just as in a hallucination.
"The earthly body appears to be real
~ a spiritual body that has arranged
j, /
the outline sof the spirit But II
: tho spirit life there appears to be M
decline as In this life. All of this Il
4 simply what the burden OF our eyl
dence indicates to date and is not my
+ individual belief.
/. Spirit Clothes II Puzzle.
"Phnntasms may be these etherea
, facsimies of human forms perceiva'
: by what Is termed our 'subconsciou
mind. But this is not yet proved
!. The fact that phantasms appear Il
= familiar clothes offers a great puzzle
! and can only be explained, TO date
< by the hallucination hypothesis. whc
{ supDoses them to be teleppthic effect
of the thoughts or the deceased"
"If communication between theSdca
and the living became general, woul
mans whole past and future be un
folded to him"
II doubt it. When deceased person
do apparently communicate they for
n get so much that it seems very doubt
full Wnether we can ever definitel