The New York herald., 1920-01-16
SIR OLIVER LODGE HERE WITH
ETHER THEORY OF LIFE BEYOND
Noted. British Scientist Arrives
with Lady Lodge Aboard
the Lapland.

lotecHeioH dtriNcu III tfilS country yesterday
TO begin a tour of lectures on psychic anc
physical subjects. With Lady Lodge, h,
was a passenger aboard the Lapland, ol
the Red tSar line.
4 In an interview outlining the purposes OF
his visit. Sir Oliver protested that his in
usual sense OF the word, but rather shoult
be referred to as psychical research.
" The next world is merely a phrase, In
my opinion he said. 1T may not be q
different world from this at all. Those
over on the other side speak of trees ant
animals, and so that leads to the hypoth-
esis that we encountered another aspec,
of the one world, an aspect that does not
make any appeal to our present senses and
hence an aspect which we may thought
lessly imagine to be 'non-existent.
but another message Of mine is that
our senses are no criterion of existence
They were evolved for very earthly rea-
sons, not for purposes of philosophy. and
| if we refuse to 60 beyond the direct evil
dence or our senses we shall narrow our
outlook in the universe to hopeless and
almost imbecile extent.
| "Must Reject No Fact.c
I'VE must enlarge our minds to take in
facts of all kinds. All our philosophy must
be based on facts, scrupulously examined
and carefully recorded. No fact is to to
be refused admittance because Of apparent
unlikelihood or impossibility We have
| to find out what is possible not to enter
on an inquiry with closed minds full of
prejudice
| Here Sir Oliver explained that he was
interested in psychic activities purely for
the investigation Of and experiment in
the various phenomena unlike Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle. who. he said, is out as mis-
sionary for spiritism and feels II his duty
to preach about the spirit world beyond.
| The survival OF man can be proven and
that perception will strengthen the hands
of true religion" he continued. Il have
no new religion to preach. All ! say IS
that the essential parts @of the old religion
are all strengthened and supported by the
new evidence The result of accepting
! the facts under investigation is to
strengthen faith and overthrow purely
materialistic contentious on the negative
side.
I'm not against materalism in its
proper place, for. on the positive side
lmateralists have sound case. IL Is
when they deny anything outside their
scope that they make mistake. have
no sympathy with denial OF the material
universe, though admit that the spiritual
universe is so much more important that
la little over emphasis on that side may
be pardoncd. | want people to accept the
ltotality of things and not to neglect one
side in order to emphasize the other. Let
us see life sanely, let us sec IL whole
! Regarding the contention OF many oppo-
nents OF spritualistic dsbhling that the
occult activities are the result OF evil
spirits. Sir Oliver declared that Il the per-
son investigating goes in with good mo-
tiyes and with prayer, as he said nc ano
many others have done. the evil Is Kept
away 1--WE never come across IL, he
added
London Mediums Double Fees.
| One interesting item from the London
spiritualist world that Sir Oliver brought
was that the price of seances with me-
diums has been advanced from half q
guinea to a guinea. This was not that
mediums were "profiteering because OF
tho demand for their services, he ex-
planned, but because people had come to
realize that n half u guinea was poor pay
| for at least two hours service and be
cause the medium can hardly hold more
than two seances a day. Even at the
guinea fee. he admitted, the mediums are
booked up for as much as they can do.
There Is still much to be revealed In
regard to the spirit world, Sir Oliver said
but when the faculty Of communication Is
more generally recognized it may be oi
greater service than at present. During the
war. he said. communication with tn.
spirit world had been a great help to be.
reaved people in England. and Ne himself
| has gotten many such persons in touch
| with their danartad relativee Ha ff
he had received many letters for person,
seeking advice regarding spirit matters
some of them foolish and some OF then
serious. Real induirers have been put ir
touch through him with several mediums
In whom he has confidence, and through
them the questions have been answered
he said.
You can Judge true mediums from
false by their fruits" he said. in answer
/ 10 question regarding the many char.
latans who have posed as spiritualists
myself haven't come across any frsudu.
lent mediums yet. although there ia dan.
ger that when the spiritualist power evap-
crates, as II sometimes does, a weak
minded medium might be tempted to carr,
on fraudulent business for profit.
| Has New Theory of the Ether.
In physics my chief message relate,
TO the ether of space and incidentally to
the structure of the atom of matter. nv
object is to keep the ether firmly In the
forefront of natural philosophy Matter.
ether and mind arc the three Fundamental
entities, without clear apprehension OF
which the problems OF the universe can.
not be solved
| Matter is but an accident in the ether
think. The relations between ether and
matter seem TO me OF the first Importance,
and. although this topic belongs to the
physical side oc things, it has a bearing
on the psychic side also, hence Il is
through the properties OF the ether that
have formed hypothesis as TO tho
manner and nature OF the survival Of
man. Tho material body is left behind at
death tho ETHEREAL body persists"
4 Reiating the incidents of two previous
visits to America. In 1884 and 1897 Sir
! Oliver continued
! Now that the union OF the EnglisI,
speaking race has been brought abou,
by the war-the highest nations jolnlne
together in defence OF our common hui
manitS-1 have been glad to take the first
opportunity to come over again and this
time to know the American people bet.
/ ter
! Il remember in my youth John Fiske
OF Harvard, preaching In London tn,
federation OF the English speaking poo
pies. and his enthusiasm made a great
impression on me. attended his lectures
at University College, London. and de.
cided that when the time was rino for