Evening star., 1922-10-30
'''Our American Adventure"
'tSome Mediums Do Silly and Obvious Things Which
Are Clearly Bogus, While Others Are Quite Beyond
Possibility of Fraud, Says Sir Arthur.
BY SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.

convinced that Mr. Hewat Mckenzie.
who drew up the report, did her a
serious injustice. I have not only
my own clear observations to support
me and those of my friends. but
have had access to a number of de-
tailed reports from close observers in
Toledo which show results which
could in no way be accounted for by
mere ectoDlasmic TRANSPORTATION of
the mediums face. Thus Mr.. Sud
borough Of Bristol. in a careful and
detailed report. says: THE spirit of
powerfully built Indian chief sud
denly stood in our midst--on his head
war bonnet made of eagle feathers
and round his neck a necklace of
grizzly bear claws. This figure came
so close to US that we could have
touched 1t had we dared. 1t re-
manned In evidence for about two
minutes and then slowly faded
away" This form was no doubt that
Restoration OF Eyes.
One lady. whose husband had be-
come blind before passing over. says:
The first naturalization had was
that of the nerve and Of the con-
gested eyeball. Then came hts eyes,
big, blue and beautiful, as they used
to be-" 1t will be admitted that this
at least must have been an independ-
ent naturalization. Another, in de-
scribing spirit, says: The light was
SO strong as to show the seated form
Of the medium behind the figure"
Another says: II have distinctly seen
the form rise up from the center of
the table" Another says: Dan ma
terialized in uniform and stood at
salute" On several occasions a mother
holding baby had appeared. I have
so keen a sense of the good work
which Mr.. Hewat Mckenzie has done
for psychic science that 1t is repug-
nant to me to disagree with him, but
l am convinced that he has argued
too much from temporary and per-
sonel experiences and not given suf-
hcient weight to general evidence.
and that in SO doing he has done
serious injustice to one Of the great
est mediums that the world has ever
known. Toledo seems to be rich
psychic center, for there is second
medium. Mr.. Johnson, who is said
TO have exceptional powers Of ma
terialization: but he was in California
at the time of our visit. and 50 ii
was impossible to test him.
1t seems that during our Besinnet
seance four enterprising old ladies in
d
stationed themselves under the WIN
dow of the seance room. AS 1t was
pouring rain and as the proceedings
lasted several hours, they certainly
deserved whatever they got-whe;her
information or rheumatism.
Discusses Mediumistic Frauds.
have spoken of the possible short
circuitng OF the control Turing
trance, which lays the unfortunate
medium under suspicion of fraud. 1t
may be the control or il may be the
medium herself acting independently
of the higher centers which are out
of action, being possessed by an out
side entity You will find mediums
do silly and obvious things which are
quite unnecessary and clearly bogus
Then the next moment you may See
some really psychic manipulation,
quite beyond all possibilities of fraud.
l fancy that every student of the oc-
cult has had such experiences Pala-
dino, for example. with whom 1 have
never sat. would think nothing of
kicking the leg of the table to pro-
duce sounds. or putting up her hand
to weigh down a pair of scales. Such
obvious tricks Disconnected Hodgson
and others. who pronounced her to be
a cheat at Cambridge. and vet the
small committee. Fielding, Darlington
and Baggaley, which followed her to
Naples. found ample proofs of her
rea, powers. Yet. even while indors-
ing her. Fielding says: She does silly
little tricks by slipping one hand or
one foot. or kicking you. or pulling
the curtain-all absolutely unlike the
real thing. Even then she is in
real trance. is. l am sure, unaware of
having cheated when she wakes up"
i have already mentioned Howard
Thurston's similar experience with
the same medium. 1t is an important
matter for it illustrates the pitfalls
of psychic research and emphasizes
the fact that SO long as you get
positive results which are certain
you can afford to regard the mega
tive ones as of no consequence. The
present method is to concentrate upon
the negative ones and imagine that
they entirely do away with everything
positive.
Copyright by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1922
for United States and Great Britain.
(To be continued tomorrow