Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1923-04-14
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLES SPIRIT PICTURES
ST|RS SPECTATORS TO SOBS IN NEW YORK
CLAIMS PHOTO IS A RESPONSE OF WAR man
FACES SHOWN FLOATING ABOVE THRONC

| S.r Arthur Conan Doyle moved his
audience so deeply by spirit" pho
| tograph in the last few minutes Of his
| lecture on spiritism in Carnegie Hall
last night that several women began To-
sob and cried out Historically. SIR
Arthur described it as the greatest spi'
1t I!hotograph ever taken. In it could
be distinctly seen faces floating above
the crowds above the Cenotaph in Lou
don during the two minutes Of silent
prayer for England's war dead.
| Tie lecture vas largely a repetit' ~
OF previous lectures and interviews,
and the photograph was the more un
expected because he had said that the
best photographs would be saved for
Sunday. He had intended to hold this
one over, but either the spirits got out
. of control or the man with the slides
made mistake and Sir Arthur invol
UNFAIRLY or otherwise created a sensa
ton.
J The photographs-there were really
two OF them-were taken in London
at tho time Of the two-minute silence
around the CenOtaph to EngIand's
dead in the war. They were taken by a
Mrs Dean, who is celebl ated as a me-
| dunn and Sir Arthur said the plates
had been carefully guarded and SUP
mitted to such conditions that he was
certain there was no chance for fraud
The darkened hall, and the strange
pictures which had preceded it. show
ing the curious octoplasm, had bull:
up situation for which the pictures
Were fitting climax.
FIRST PICTURE SHOWED
CROWD IN PRAYER
Mrs. Deans first picture was a snap
shot taken just at the beginning of the
two-minute period OF silence. 1t show
ed the crowd bareheaded, held back
I in great circle around the Cenotanh
by the guards in their bearsk;n shak--
! es. Their heads were bowed. as if ir
/ prayer. In the immediate foreground
was little group of persons, heads
bowed together and limned from tho
ofhc~s "hc"t Thorn in faint luminous
ratch Of what Sir Arthur called ecto-
plasm.
| These were few persons of mo-
fiumistic influence who had been
placed in the crowd and asked to pray
he said.
7
FOR the full two minutes of the silenc.
md was the one which so stirred the
audience. When it was flashed upon the
screen there was moment of silence
and then gaSps rose and spread over
the room, and the voices and sobs OF
women could be heard. For. over the
heads OF the crowd in the picture. a
crowd which had almost disappears
because of THE conditions of the ex
po'ure. except for a few distinct fig
| ures. floated countless heads of men
with strained. grim expressions, some
were faint, some were blurs Others
were marked out distinctly on the plate
so thaf they might have been recogni2
ed by those who knew them.
FACES WITH FIXED, STERN GAZE
There was nothing else, but these
heads without even necks or shoulders
and all that could be seen distinctly
wore the fixed stern look of men who
might have been killed in battle. De
spite the opinion Of many persons that
SIR Arthur's pictures might have beer
Ero!uced by natural methods, there
was something about this picture ant
the conditions unGnr which it wa!
| shown that was so eerie. so weird 81
supernatural, that it impressed eve,
the scoffers.
For back in the hall a woman's voic,
could be heard half muffled. as if Sh,
could not get words from her lips, ant
thon came the hysterical cry:
/ Don't you see them? Don't you SEE
tEem?"
aer voice and other gasps from per
sons who had been moved by the pic
ture were the only sounds to be hear,
for time i'm the great hall and ST
Arthur stood still on the stage. hold
ing his pointer and apparently some
what disconnected by the unexpected
effect of his picture. Finally he brok,
the strained silence and said:
SPIRITS OF MEN WHO CAME BACE
ut is no wonder that this pictur,
moves peoples emotions l think it /.
the greatest spirit photograph eve,
taken. the spirits of those men whs
came back that day while this grea
crowd was paying tribute to their sacr
flee Preparations to take these pic
lures had been carefully made. and i
hnd the time I could foil Won all tt,,