Evening star., 1922-03-26

IN WHITING THE MEsSSa0GE.
are trickin2. but are YOU sure YOU
are tricking?'
"'Well.' answered. 4 anI dead sure.
for instance. that | bought that eel
in the market But even that didn't
shake his opinion that l should be
justified in working the medium
stunt
"ToU have spoken OF the harm that
an author is doing" said the
interviewer What is your opinion
OF him."
He is an absolutely honest man.
thoroughly deluded," Marriott an
swered. His moral sense has be-
come completely deadened. His posi-
tion is precisely that of all the other
notable men and women who have
become converts to spiritism He
is hoodwinked: he cannot detect the
tricksters method. and, therefore. re-
winked. He and l are excellent
friends and whenever he hears of
what he considers an absolutely over
whelming proof of the reality of
psychic communication, he writes and
tells me about it. And l as regularly
write back and tell him how the, par
ticular phenomena is obtained. After
that I hear nothing from him until
he makes a fresh discovery.
Then you hardly consider him a
Sherlock Holmes of the psychic
world" suggested.
HE sin't even Watson" came the
quick reply.
1 asked Marriott to deliver a YER
dict on the "phenomena" secured by
Mrs. Johnson, the so-called trumpet
medium" whose genuineness recently
has been the subject of a. verbally en-
sanguined argument between Sir Ar
thur Conan Doyle and Filson Young.
Mrs. johnson, who flourishes in High
gate. the suburb of London, adjacent
to hilly and high -browed Hampstead.
is the medium through whom Sir
Oliver Lodge believes he communi-
Gates with his dead son. OF late her
effects have been obtained with the
supposed agency of a trumpet. de-
scribed as of zinc and about four feet
long. At her seances spirit" voices
sing in a variety of dialects. At the
beginning of the sitting. the trumpet
Is laid in the center of the circle and
is supposed to remain there through
out, and to be connected with the
medium by means of the "ectoplasm"
from the body of the former while
in a trance condition. Remarkable
messages" are said to have been re-
ceived.
x X X x
CIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. who
~ is greatly impressed with Mrs.
Johnson's alleged powers, recently
prevailed on Filson Young. the well
known novelist and editor, to attend
one of the trumpet mediums seances.
Young, who is something of a man
from Missouri, managed, under cover
OIL Lue QdFkncSS, u 6Sl Aoiu VI tuS
trumpet, which he reports was sup
ported horizontally at its other end,'
and laid it on the floor beside Conan
Doyle's chair. There were no more
spirit voices that afternoon. Doyle
was highly indignant when Young
confessed his intervention, immedi-
ately informed the writer than their
friendship was at an end and has
been belaboring the temeritous edi-
tor in the press ever since.
Mrs. johnson is not sincere" said
Marriott. "She has given me several
seances, though she is not aware of
1t. Professional mediums will no
longer admit me to their seances, SO
l am compelled to attend them by
deputy. This woman, of course, her
self speaks through the trumpet and.
being a clever mimic and something
of a ventriloquist. is able to simu-
late a number Of different dialects
and tricks of speech and also make
them appear to come from different
directions. 1t is stated that fre-
quentiy two voices are heard. This
Z