The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-16
torest IN Mexico Spain hasn t as
much interest in Mexico as formerly
THE RETURN OF WILLIAM STEAD.

oui euijS hlcuHttht p' opi' W ~ - -
formation above the mental level of
five yesr.old cbildreni
The world has heard much lately
about the pledge of the great editor,
William T. Stead. to return in the spirit
and communicate with his friends. The
Tribune printed yesterday 4 special
cable from London describing seance
in which such celebrities as Sir Oliver
Lodge, Major General Alfred Turner,
Lady Luir Mackenzie and Lady Duff
Gordon participated When tho spirit
of Editor Stead was msteriaized by
the aged medium, Cecil Husb, he po-
!itely remarked to Lady Dutt-Gordon
that they had been passengers aboard
the i'll starred Titanic. OF course, Lady
Duff. Gordon and all the world knew
this, and we may concede that 1t was
merely Mr.. Stead IS courteous way OF
opening tho conversation, but IN the
communication that followed he offered
nothing Of any more value than can be
cleaned from the ordinary tea table
chatter. The spirit recalled that the
band aboard the Titanic started to play
ragtime Immediately after the vessel
had crashed into the iceberg, and he
noted the important fact that he aud
Lady Duff Gordon met and exchanged
few words He then proceeded TO state
IN
death with him on that fatal night,
was trying TO communicate with friends
on earth, but had been unable to do
go because no had not progressed far
enough in the spiritualistic science.
This was all the ghost of Mr.. Stead
had to communicate and he wrote IT on
slate like so many other matcriallzed
spirits, who, we should imagine, would
have discovered in tine world beyond
the grave some better or equally good
method OF expressing themselves to
mortals.
Among the spirits materialized was
Sir William De Morgan, the English
buccaneer who raided the Spanish main
during the reign of Charles il. 1t is
said that his spirit answered ques-
tions put by members of the Occult
Circle,'' but we are not told that he
conveyed any useful information. 1T
has been the belief or the delusion of
many million Of human beings since
the world began that those who leave
this life and join the "Choir Invis-
ible" gain a knowledge far above
and beyond the limited ken of this
sphere. If such is the case, why is not
Sir William De Morgan able to tell us
something about the future Of the
Panama canal. for example. 1t was
this same bold sea rover who lay IN
wait for the Spanish traders on the
great highway of commerce that once
trayersed the Isthmus from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, and it was he who
seized the old town of Panama from
the Spanish. We might suppose that
lie was still interested in all questions
pertaining TO the Isthmus and that he
would be able to tell us some Of the
commercial aud political consequences
of the canal
Those who have had some acquaint-
ance with seances Will remember that
usually the spirits rise no higher in the
plane OF intelligence than the medium
through whom their communications
are made. II the medium speaks bad
English. the spirit writing on the slate
contains the medium Is customary er-
rors Of language. The account of the
Occult Circle" scance states that
Cardinal Newman who, according to
some critics, wrote the best English Of
bis day-a day in which Macauley and
DeQuincey also wove their literary
spells-appcared in the charmed circle,
but was unable to express himself at
all. In view of Editor Stead S Aolu-
bility, we may perhaps assume tbatsthis
was another triumph Of newspaper
English.
When such a man as Sir Oliver
Lodge shares III spiritualistic seance
and indorscs its results, any reasonable
person hesitates to denounce the seance
as sheer trickery, but Just as cat may
gaze AT a KING, so an nunDle cTlllc may
well ask if this is not Sir Oliver IS
blind side7 What guarantee had the
members of the Occult Circlc'' that
they were in communication with the
spirit Of Mr. Stead7 Granting that a
spirit did appear and did write upon
the slate, may it not have been the
spirit Of someone elsel In this world
we have class of men who forge
checks and obtain money under false
pretenses. Are all the spirits of the other
world good, or are there multitudes
of them impish and demoniacal' As a
| matter of fact, the chief religions Of
the world have taught the existence Of
| good and bad spirits as well as of good
and bad men. Why is IL not possible,
| therefore, that some impish sprite or
some Puck of the underworld may not
have been passing himself off as Editor
| SteadY
All this by way Of enforcing the
| original question with reference to the
mcager and childish information elic-