The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1908-01-31
HEARS SPIRIT VOICES
Sir Oliver Lodge Makes Most
Amazing Statement.
DEATHS BARRIER IS BROKEN
So Declares the Distinguished Eng
Iish Scientist 90 the Physical Re
ity of Written Words from the
Grave-Can Identify GhOstIy Minds.

| UraVe-San IueutItF OhOstAy MINUS.
London, Jan. 3O.-Serous statements by
Sir Oliver Lodge command respectful at
tention. even when he abandons science
for mysticism
It was. therefore with amazement
rather than skepticism, that a meeting
of the Physical Research Society to-day
listened 10 the distinguished scientist
practically affirm that communications
We're received from the dead during secret
and exhaustive tests recently conducted
/ by certain members of that society
! through spiritualistic mediums or auto
matists, as Sir Oliver called them.
Several automausts were concerned in
the tests. the most notable being Mrs.
/ Piper and Mrs. Verrall. Sir Oliver de-
scribed the former as one whose fame
spread to all lands, and who had been
under strict supervision and competent
management for the greater part Of her
physical life. Mrs. VERBAL he designated
as zone of our sanest and acutest iEves-
tigators."
Referring towhat happened at the
seances. Sir Oliver said:
THE most important set Of phenomena
are those of automatic writing and talk
ing. and what do we find? We find that
the late Edmund Quincy, the late Richard
HOdgson and the late F. W. Myers with
others less known. constantly purporting
to communicate with us, with the express
purpose of patiently proving their identity
giving us cross connection between the
different mediums. We also find them an
swering specific questions in a manner
characteristic of their known personal
tiles and givin geyidence of knowledge ep-
propriate TO them. Not easily or early do
We make this admission.
In spite of long conversations with what
purports TO be the surviving intelligence
OF these friends and investigators, we
were by no means convinced of their
identity by mere general conversation.
even when il was Of a friendly and init
maet character, sch as in ordinary case
would have been considered amply suffi-
cient for identification of friends speak
ing say through the telephone or type
writer. We required definite and crucial
proof-a proof different. difficult even to
imagine as we'll as difficult TO supply
The ostensibIe communicates realize the
need of such proof as fully as we do
and have done their best to satisfy the
rational demand. Some of rs think they
succeeded. Others are still doubtful.
Gets Spirit Letters.
Cross rrespOndence-that is, the recep-
ton Of part of a message through one
medium and part through another,
neither portion separately being under
stood by either-is good evidence Of ore
intelligence dominating both automatists,
and if the message is characteristic of
some particular deceased person and is
received as such by people to whom he
was not intimately known then it is fair
proof of the continued intellectual ac-
tivity OF that person.
IF, further. we get from him piece Of
literary criticism which Is eminenty IN
his vein which has not occurred to or
binary people then i say the proof al
ready striking. is tending To become cru
cial. These are the kinds of proofs which
the society has communicated TO it. The
phenomenon of automatic writing strikes
some Of us as if 1t We're in the direct
line of evoutiOnai advance. 1t seems like /
the beginning of a new human faculty.
First of all the evidence led us TO real /
ize the truth OF telepathy, and that was
the first chapter of the new colume we
avt ourselves to explore.
Il am going" continued Sir Oliver. inn /
pressively, "to assume in fact that our |
bodies can under certain exceptional cir |
cumstances be controlled directly or be |
temporarily possessed by another or for
eign intelligence operating either on the /
whole or some limited part of it. The /
question lying behind such an hypothe- !
sis and justifying it or negativiRg it, is /
the root question of identity. the identity ]
of the control Some control undoubtedly 1
exists, and it Is not the normal conscious /
ness of the person owning the body. /
Every one who knows anything about /
the matter is quite certain that this ques- /
ton OF Identity is fundamental one. The I
controlling spirit proves its identity /
mainly by reproducing the speech or writ +
ing facts which belong to his memory /
not the automatists memory. Proof af /
identity viii usually depend on the mem |
DRY OF trifies."
Trifies Good Proof.
The objection raised that eommunica- /
lions too often relate to trivial subjects
shows lack of intelligence, or. at least, |
is due to lack OF thought on the part of
the critic. Our object is to get, not some
thing dignifed but something evidentiai. I
and what evidence of persistent memory
can be better than the recollection OF
trifiing incidents which for some personal
reason happen to have made, a perma-
nent impression?"
Sir Oliver elaborated at some length /
his reasons for attaching Importance to
trifies in this connection, and In the course
of his concluding statements said:
Like excavators boring a tunnel from
opposite ends amid the roar of water
and other noises, we are beginning to
hear now and again the strokes of the
pick-axes of our comrades on the other
side. The boundary between the present
and future States is still substantial, but