Evening star., 1922-10-18

ence listened to what Sir Arthur
| Conan Doyle had to say with most
| profound respect. Nobody doubts all
that he said except very ignorant
person"
There was hardly a word Of ad-
verse criticism anywhere, and all the
| preposterous theories which bring
psychic research into contempt-the
explanations Of ectoplasm by chewed
paper or wax or other absurdities
were quite absent from the press.
One remarkable result Of the pub
licity given was that whereas ecto-
plasm had apparently never been
taken seriously in America before,
there were now speedy signs that IT
was not a purely European product.
One lady sent me several photographs
taken of herself which showed ecto-
plasmic masses. which in one case
were forming themselves into head
like the heads formed by or near
Eva. Another experimenter sent me
several excellent photographs of ecto-
plasmic rods, very much like those
described by Crawford. Two of the
rods have little claws or suckers.
clearly visible at the end, which are
used, according to Crawford to grip
distant objects, and SO explain the
movements of material things in the
presence of an ectoplasmic medium
London. seen in the full light of a
candle a disk Of wood violently
wabbling and turning with no one
within six feet of it. Had ecto,
plasm been visible to the eye. l.
would no doubt have seen the little
rods which caused the effect though
these rods are probably tran smitters
of force rather than the force itself
1t makes ones heart sick to see the
vi1lainy with which this heaven-sent
so ordained that we may have the
merit of using our own brains and
not be deferred from good because
evil obtrudes itself. We had one
evening at New York with a ma
terializing and voice-producing pair of
mediums. had been warned against
them, but the minister of the Spirit
ualist Church. an excellent man, was
of opinion that they had been mis-
judged, and so We went.
Fake Mediums Seized.
Both my wife and I. together with
two friends whom 1 took Zone of
them Mr.. Stefansson, the famous arc
tic explorer), were of opinion that
the proceedings were very suspicious
and we came away deeply dissatis-
fed, for there were no test conditions
festations as we saw. Some days
afterward these two so-called me-
diums were seized by the New York
police in open fraud / do not think
that any punishment could be too
severe for rogues of this kind. The
old saying that the unforgivable sin
was the sin against the Holy Ghost
seems to me to apply exactly l trust
that the American Spiritualists will
not condone or try to cover up such
scandals. The rotten twigs must
come off.
When the man was doing the direct
voice 1 put my hand on his larynx
and could say with confidence that it
was working and that beyond all
doubt the voice was coming from
himself. I am so distrustful of direct
voice phenomena. and so convinced
that the natural voice can be pro-
jected without apparent movement.
that 1 should never be impressed by
the mere voice alone. but only by the
information which it conveyed. This
on many occasions within my expert
ence has been absolutely final in its
proof. 1t is only when several voices
are speaking simultaneously phe-
nomenon which I have observed with
Mrs. Wriedt, Evan Powell. Mrs. Rob-
ert johnson and others-that one can
safely say that the sounds alone.
apart from the messages. are surely
supernormal.
What I say of the direct voice ap-
plies equally to automatic writing
There also it is the message delivered
and not the mere fact of writing
which iS of consequence. ] cannot
see how one can avoid all the snags
of subconSciouS action and the pos
sible dramatiZation of latent person.
altties. which would account for the
writing itself. 1t is only by the in
formation conveyed. it's accuracy and
it's remoteness from the normal mind
of the medium that We can gain as
surance. But there is no form of
mediumship which is more tricky
and even when We have established
that it is independent of the medium
we still have to guard against pos
sible deception from the spirit control
"a very real source of error.
(To be continued in tomorrow's Star,)
Copyright. 1922. by Sir Arthur Conan DovIn