The Washington times., 1922-03-05
ny Uaiversal Service.


not proved their case. His invesd.
CATION was inspired by . belief In
tho acumen and honesty Of SIR
Arthur Conan Doyle. and was
Initiated under his auspices and
with his active cooperation. Sir
Arthur now replies to Mr.. Doug
las. The contr0vorsy has now
spread to the whole pres. and
Is raging violently In various
newspaper.
Sir Arthur's reply takes the
form Of . letter addressed TO Mr..
Douglas. II reads n foliowsi
MY dear Mr.. Douglas: I ad-
V init that am disappointed
at the results Of that quest
in which you asked me 10 be your
guide. When we set forth upon
It had hopes that We might add
your brilliant abilities 10 that
small band whom call Gods
Own Forlorn Hope" Our ambi-
ton In to devote our Ewes TO the
destruction OF that materialism
which We believe to be at the
root Of the worlds troubles, and
at the same time to infuse fresh
vitality into all religions by show
ing that those spiritual forces
upon which they rest are not
PARKWAY dead things, but are
operative at the present moment.
1t Is not an ignoble ambition.
But We have failed to convince
you, and We must take our failure
as good humoredly as We may.
have not been fortunate with
my fellow. penman OF late. One OF
them. who came as my guest 10
his first seance. started playing
tricks upon his fellow -slttsrs.
am sure that you will agree that
a treacherous sitter Is as detest-
able as a treacherous medium.
You have been guilty of no such
breach OF manners and good
sense, but you have turned away
in what your advertisement de.
scribes as a ruthless" frame Of
mind. On the other hand, a third
colleague. hardly less illustrious.
has written to me that a sitting
to which I took him has com.
pletely converted him to the truth
OF my views.
ARE WE ALL LIARS?"
can recall also that Mr..
Gwynne. editor OF the Morning
Post. allowed me 10 state in pub.
lie that had shown him things
beyond his explanation, while the
honored veteran. c.. r. Sims. has
lately admitted that he is to put
It at its lowest. deeply interested
by what he has seen. So, perhaps.
on a balance we have not done SO
badly. after all.
There is one thing which l like
about your conclusions. They are
perfectly definite. You have not
descended to the usual banality
Of saying, We'll. there seems 20
be some ground for investiga-
lions" After seventy years OF
investigation such a verdict be.
comes annoying. But you have
given us something quite con-
crete and intelligible-a real ev.
PLANTATION, and certainly the only
alternative one TO complete accept.
ance.
This exypla nation 10 that We
are all liars-in spite OF your ref
erencs to my intellectual honesty
for our statements are Of such a
nature that mere self.decept!on il
out OF the question. Well we are
a patient folk. Let US put our
honor and our pride to one side.
II this IL a feasible working hy-
pothssis, then It will work. Let
us try.
You came down to my house
In the country. was able to
show you the original Of . long
telegram. 1t was from Prof. Nell
son, Of Iceland. He had that
morning consulted Mrs. Leonard.
a famous medium. and had, as he
thought, como into touch with his
dead wife. As . proof Of truth
she had given him six points
which would appear in the adver.
tisement columns Of the Times
next day. The date OF the tele-
grams official stamp was July 26.
I showed you the Times Of July
IS with all the points correctly
given save that the number Of the
column was wrong. You saw this
with your own eyes. or course
we now have your explanation. It
was lies. But who told the lies7
Obviously the telegraphic clerks
must have been in a conspiracy to
misdate the telegram. What q
wicked world We live in. to be
sure