1934
Feb 14 - Mar 4
9:51 p.m. Dawn hiccups slightly.
(Note: I have heard myself, and so have the other sitters, cracking noises in the ceiling and one or two raps in the cabinet - very slight.)
Lucy: "Have you camera that would take a photograph of Dawn's face, just a small photograph; just one camera."
T. G. H.: "If you say so I will fix it."
Lucy: "Oh, I just thought perhaps I might be able to give you a photograph of herself; if you had a camera there I might not give you anything. You can take your red light over to her face, if you wish."
T. G. H.: "Well, if you wish."
(Red light is produced and all look closely at Dawn's face; we seem to see something; but all are not sure if there is a substance or not.)
9:57 p.m. Singing.
Lucy: "There is quite a large number of people in your midst; and some of these people have come from very much higher spheres than the astral plane, they are very pleasant and seem to enjoy coming here. Your good friend Robert Louis has been here twice. He seems to be a little disappointed when he comes. I have offered to let him take his place as usual, but he either cannot or does not feel he wants to. Perhaps his work is finished. I do not know. I know he has been working with someone else and for that reason he may not care to work at this sitting. Come along and talk to these people."
L. H.: "Gordon is on the floor in trance."
Lucy: "The room is very bright because they are shedding a very beautiful light. They have visited you from the higher spheres. I feel sure that everyone can see the brightness."
Singing. Lucy sings "Angels of Heaven."
L. H.: "The temperature has changed over here; it is getting very cold."
Lucy: "It is cold breezes that you feel; they are the Indians that bring them to you. Yes, they wave their blankets over you and keep away any mixed crowd."
L. H.: "It is quite marked over here, Lucy."
Lucy: "Yes, there is one right behind you waving; they wish to keep the road clear."
9:53 p.m. Walter (speaking through Mercedes after a silence): "Did you follow instructions?"
T. G. H.: "Yes, we did."
Walter: "Raymond was here."
T. G. H.: "That is good news."
Walter: "He still has not been able to link up between this circle and his own circle that he visits on the other side."
T. G. H.: "Is there any reason for that?"
Walter: "Well, he doesn't seem to be able to make the connection. His father is very frail, yes, and I think that from the way he was working that you will very soon hear that he has passed the great divide. I gathered that from his impression he left, he wanted me to say that. That was his message. It was not a message given in words, but that is what I gathered; and so I am passing it to you, and you will hear that he has passed. Will you please ask your recording secretary to record that: the second, and the year, and the hour and the minute. It doesn't mean anything to me, but it might mean a great deal to you.
(She said this at exactly 10:13 p.m. - Mary Maclean)
"Then she says, as though it were coming from Raymond, "We live in perpetual sunlight; we don't have to close our eyes as you do."
(Lucy rambles here about people in this circle closing their eyes and not being able to see. Then she sings "Angels of Light." Lucy then talks of likes and dislikes, and says "Well, I must confess that I did like Ewan"; and she is very disappointed that he is not here. She then speaks to the secretary and gives a message; then she says:
Lucy: "I have a great work before me; the only thing is that it doesn't seem to make very much progress as far as the material work is concerned."
Dawn: "I am not one bit disappointed. I am well satisfied with things as they are, and when you can photograph with that red light ..."
T. G. H.: "Well, I will try."
Dawn: "I would like just what you did last night to be repeated; orders that were given to you last time, and done tonight, repeat them ; it will be quite all right if you do."
T. G. H.: "Did you find things satisfactory tonight?"
Dawn: "Yes, everything seemed to be a very good; but just merely a picture of ectoplasm would not be very satisfactory without something, some one form or figure with it; and so we will leave that to the next. Perhaps you will just get our cords and attachments at your next ..."
T. G. H.: "We would be glad to know that you get proper ectoplasm with this group ..."
(Here some discussion takes place as to whether ectoplasm has been produced without Ewan and it is said that it has been; that he was not present at the last picture.)
Walter (speaking through Dawn): "If the link is not going to be reliable we must learn to do without it."
10:25 p.m. T. G. H.: "When Walter said that there was always such a bright sun shining over there, did he mean that, Lucy?"
Lucy: "Well, not in the way you understand it, friend; not unless you are taken to the planes that some of these mediums are taken to ..."
T. G. H.: "Why are these dark pictures given us, Lucy?"
Lucy: "Of course, we know, friends, that you are very far and removed from the orthodox teaching; that when you make a great change you go straight to the right hand of the Father and cultivate the power of song and play on a harp; and it is just to let you know that these planes are preparatory places which exist so that in the field that I saw - well, I shall say -"
(There is a very loud knock on the cabinet - we have all heard it more than plainly.)
T. G. H.: "Was not that a psychic knock, Lucy?"
Lucy: "Of course it was, friend," (She continues) that idea of purgatory is not so very far wrong because there is a place of preparation and not a place of fire and brimstone."
T. G. H.: "Lucy, has the uproar in Austria and France anything to do with you people ...?"
Lucy: "We have felt the vibrations keenly; and there is a lot of our people have been sent down there to ease conditions. It is very unfortunate, but in no way do I set myself up to be a prophet. As I told you before, because I am only allowed to see a little into the future; but I am sure that you will have more upheavals in your plane in the very near future.
T. G. H.: "Are these upheavals not initiated to some extent on your side by evil, Lucy?"
Lucy: "Yes, they are, friend; a lot of the blame could be laid on our side. It would be very hard for me to explain to you - something like the box of Pandora's; when the lid flew open, the evil spirits flew out.
Dawn: "Yes, there is a great deal of truth in that."
10:30 p.m. Lucy: "And there is someone sitting on the lid just now; and when they rise there will be something happening - man-made laws will soon come to an end.
"Yes, it is all right, friend. I am not going to preach a sermon. (After a short silence) Please close your circle."
[Note by Ada E. Turner.]
On the Wednesday, February 14, I sponged and examined the medium, Dawn, just previous to the sitting, and found no marks of any kind on her skin; but immediately after the séance, when I once more looked closely at the skin upon her breast, I noticed fine lines of tiny white pimples, like spots about the size of pin-heads which appeared attached to the skin, and which did not rub off when touched.
[Letter from Dr. Hamilton to Dr. Harold H. U. Cross - San Francisco:]
Mentions request for copy of photograph to publish in forthcoming book.
"... As we are hoping shortly to publish a work relating our experimental findings, together with numerous illustrations, we do not wish in any way to embarrass publication rights, especially as these photographs have been obtained under extremely great difficulties; and, as you are well aware, are very rare products, especially since they are produced under the strictest possible conditions safeguarding their authenticity and genuineness.
"... If, therefore, you wish to publish it, it should be stipulated as subject to my permission, which would of course prevent any possible interference with our rights for its future use.
"... Under these conditions I am forwarding you a copy of "Katie King" which is, in all probability, the photograph referred to by Mrs. Cannon. Its half-tone qualities would necessitate a photogravure of very fine screen produced upon glazed paper. Should you see fit to use it I enclose also a descriptive paragraph to go with the illustration."
February 15, 1934.
Present: Jack MacDonald; Lillian Hamilton; Jim Hamilton; T. G. Hamilton; M. Hamilton (recorder).
8:50 p.m. sitting commences.
9:50 p.m. sitting ends.
As usual, Sterge speaks first.
Sterge: "I waited longer to come through: I find it more beneficial to wait until he (medium) is a attuned and ready for me; and I suffer if I come before he is smoothed out and ready. I must wait until the puddle is dried up before I walk across it, otherwise I soil my Golden slippers ... I am working over here on my music ... I work over here and I am learning ... I have learned a great deal. We have our instruments here and we have our concerts. Sometimes they take place in your midst, and sometimes some of you who are sensitive may reach up to the vibrations ... sometimes you are touched by certain feelings and you get the same reactions, apparently out of nothing, as you get out of a great piece of music. At such times, perhaps, you are in vibratory touch with our music. Sometimes our concerts are held in your own rooms and the musicians would appear to you to be sitting clear through your walls ... we have this music which you do reach up to and which you do catch vibratorily as I have said ..."
Robert: "Good evening ... (chats while he establishes a stronger control). There! That's pretty good! I've got myself right in as tight as that piece of food in the doctor's mouth! (T. G. H.(?) picking his teeth).
T. G. H. is called to the phone. He does not return.
Robert: "It seems to me away back in the dim distance that when we were wee tots I've promised ye a story in the form of a play. Well, I think grandpa will treat ye if ye're good children ... Well, now, I think we'd better decide on a title, too. Supposing we call it "The Spy".
L. H.: "That sounds very intriguing, Robert."
Robert: "Ah, ha, that's a very diplomatic remark. I can see the disease is affecting all members of our circle ... Well, I think we'll make this one a comedy. Of course, it's no' going to be very long. We'll make it a comedy-romance. Is that all right? Oh, I hear your heart going ker-plop, ker-plop, ker-ploppity-plop! That suits fine!
"I think we'll set the stage in Paris - that's a good romantic place, ye ken. Supposing we set the time as any time, say the very near past; or, more satisfactory would be, remote from the present. Now, the characters are: Prefect of Police Galaice. Ye've never heard of that name before?"
M. H.: "I have not."
Robert: "Neither have I. Then there is the Foreign Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I suppose ye'd better call him, M. Dupon; and last, and quite the reverse from the least, we have the romantic element bound up within the slender, tremendously beautiful, superlatively talented and gifted daughter of the Prefect of Police, her name is Blance Baclanova - she's got two names, ye ken! And the hero, that star of valour, vigorous manhood, gentleness, and bravery, the life-lines of whose very palms are studded with genius - Gene Henri, the son of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Were ever characters more glamorous? The answer is a loud 'No'. Were ever characters more impossible? The answer is still a loud 'No'. Was ever playwright more impossible. The answer is still a loud 'No'. Where the cash receipts tremendous on the occasion of the first reading and presentation of the play? The answer is an echo, 'No'. And what was the play about? We'll ask the audience to see if they don't know.
"Now that we know all about this play, we'll proceed.
"In this play, ladies and gentlemen, we probe into the secrets of international politics, we dip into intrigues with foreign nations; together with the author we stand behind the great folk of the day and catch a glimpse of the brilliancy and glory of the court and the vainglory of the government and the pomp of the politicians. Now we'll shoot the man who said that! (I hope ye're not taking all this too seriously, else the effect would be tremendous.)
"It is a one act play; the scene opens with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prefect of Police discussing matters. It seems it has been rumored that Russia has been trying to gain French political secrets, and to this end they have employed after the traditional action of fiction and actually the most useless of spies, a beautiful woman. A plain nincompoop of a woman can find out four times as much as a beautiful woman - all she finds out is the amorous intrigues of the court. (This is just by the way). There are going to be a lot a parenthetical remarks in this play. Perhaps we'd better make the play parenthetical to the remarks.
"Well, at least it is suspected that there is a spy in the government, and it is the duty of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and of the Prefect of Police to locate the person at once. And so they, although they're in the same government, yet actually they've no' got a great fondness for one another, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs would like to have the Prefect of Police at the wrong end of a discharging gun, while the Prefect of Police would be very gratified if the Minister's would have a lapse of memory and cease functioning for a few hours. Each is loathe to tell the other his plans, but each assures the other that he has brilliant schemes. The fond parents, having conceived their children, cannot conceive that they have conceived sufficiently, and so they each conceive a plan of setting the children independently to catch the spy and so obtain the discomfiture of his political opponent. From there on the blood thickens ..."
"Now, I think we've played enough tonight. I've had a lot of fun. It will probably be something like that, only not as foolish as that perhaps. It's going to be a play for fun - but of course, if the governments of France and Russia should take this as a personal affront, we must present an apology."
Medium now become silent. Robert then continues:
"Prayer is a sort of raising the pitch of your desires, hopes and aspirations, so that you may be in tune with a greater rhythm which comes from the great spiritual founts which are away and beyond us. It is only by complete absence of self within our prayer that we may reach within ourselves the desired pitch. No prayer made for selfish motives ever reached beyond one's self. In praying for power to help others we reach down to them and up to some greater power to help us up. If however, our prayer is purely selfish, our hands are cupped in front of us and we find ourselves in the position of shaking hands with ourselves. We must reach up and down. We want strength to raise others; we want vision to see and to know where to guide them.
"True individuality is when we think not of ourselves but of our other and every fellow-individuals.
"If you try to convince a man that he is wrong, reason with him, and if he will not listen to reason do not sneer at him. If he fails to see the strength and uprightness and vision of your reason then how do you expect him to listen when you malform your reason with a sneer?"
"... I must go. Good night."
Medium is again silent for a brief moment. Sterge then speaks:
"Your friend was very funny tonight. He was laughing. He seemed to have a good time ..."
"Your boy is here tonight and is very happy. He has walked around to each one of you and touched you. He tells me to say to you that he is very happy. He says, 'It strikes me she'll be a year older."
M. H.: "That's right. I have a birthday next week."
Sterge: "He's got something, a parcel, he's hiding behind his back. He says silence is the price of sight, so what am I to do? He says 'no', he won't say anymore. He just laughs when I ask him what it is. He says, "Jimmy, if you were not so small I would attend to you!" He says "I pose for you when you try to draw me." He says he is putting that in the cupboard in his room and you (M. H.) are not to look there! I must go. Au revoir."
February 18, 1934.
H. Reed; Ethel Muir; T. G. H.; J. A. Hamilton; Ada Turner; Mr. Barrie; Mr. Snyder; Lillian M. Hamilton; H. Green; Harold Turner.
9:15 p.m. Sitting commenced. In about ten minutes trance came on.
Ewan: (evidently to Harold): "Come on."
Frank (controlling Gordon): "It's foolish to be afraid. It's criminal. You'll never get anywhere as long as you're afraid!"
Ewan: "Will you kindly tell Ewan to go and hang himself with a good thick rope. If you have a good bit of cord I could do with it right now. Come on (to Norman). I am going to tell you (the group) that he's going away on a voyage of discovery. Ask him of all the places he's going."
Frank/Gordon: "You can go to hell without me."
Ewan: "He's going down among the dead men. Those that have not got any bodies - you can't keep alive without a body. Norman has gone a long way; and down there they have just a wee tiny thing that they call a soul. As long as you have a mite left you have always a chance to grow bigger. He (Norman) can't make out where he has gone to. Now come (to Norman), tell us about those great big wings you saw. He went to a great big place, too big for him to see. All are round it was great big wings, and he couldn't look but there were eyes there."
Norman: "I could not see anything. It was dark and lots were there watching me. Those are the people that were watching me. They were awful. They watched me all the time. They were cowardly people."
Ewan: "They had wings like bats; wings with points to them ."
Norman: "There was no roof to the place. I could see the stars."
Ewan: "The bats can't get far from the earth. Come, I will take you to another place. Come, we will go down to the bottom of the ocean, down, down. (Remarked Ewan dramatically). I have got him very far away and he can't get out of it. The water pressure on his eyes and his nose and his ears is terrible; and when Norman comes back to you after having had a thousand million tons pressure to flatten him he will become cured by the salt seas and dried under the hot sun, and washed up from the sands of a dismal beach. Now (to Norman) Parchment; give us your record! What did you go to beneath the sea?"
Norman (in exhausted condition): "I'm not sure - I saw things - I saw that they were not human. They never had been human. They were hairless and squeegee (wet and soggy). They kept touching me and it felt as if being touched with wet rubber gloves, and they had the biggest eyes I ever saw; eyes of fig blue. They had human bodies. They were not evil, and they did not hate; but they were curious about me. I don't think I went through water."
Ewan: "Norman has gone into a deeper trance than ever. (This referring to another trance state into which Norman had passed.) Take care of him. He has gone right away. I can't help it. It gives me a kind of satisfaction. He is so pliable. He is good all right. You better take care of him. And where did you go at that time (as Norman is gasping)? Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink."
Ewan offers him some to refresh himself. Norman seems utterly exhausted and gasps: "What am I here for? I don't know; I don't know anything. I don't know anything."
Ewan: "You're a chip off the old block. Now I am going to take a big piece (that is, Norman being a chip of the old block, "Ham": Ewan is going to take a big piece out of Norman - a piece of bacon, and he proceeds metaphorically to put it in his mouth and eat it, saying to us "You talk to Norman.")
Norman sighing desperately.
Ewan: "There is some fat I can't swallow. It's attached to a piece of rind. The lean parts made a terrible noise when they were thrown in the frying pan. Yes, it was a sad sight that I got. It was sad to see how the rasher of ham gave up the ghost. Now,(to Norman) you're gone."
"Katie is mad because Mercedes is not here. Had Norman been here she would have been able to talk through him."
Norman recovers. "Katie says" remarks Norman "she has another message. She wants to know when Mercedes is coming. I (Norman) am very upset."
Ewan now introduces another play: "Yes, this disappearance of Norman. It's a bad business, "Ham". Has he any friends? No man has gone right down where he had to go; right down below and through the next floor. Don't blame me. Who is to blame? It is up to "Ham". Now put your hand in your pocket when you are asked to recover Norman: for he has Norman in the hollow of his hand. The "Queen of Sheba" has such a soft spot in her heart she tries to sing and drown me out. I've given you credit for your heart (to Lillian Hamilton), if not for your good intelligence. I can't tell you how worried I am about this. Norman's gone down to Davie Jones' locker. He's gone over the river where angel bands are meeting and greeting him. There is someone there. Yes, "Ham" is there. I'll tell you it's Katie. She's a good looker when she's all dolled up. The "Queen of Sheba" is not so sly. She has a way of looking at the fellow in the dark. Don't laugh, Lady."
"She has a rash temper. Oh say, he is gone (Norman). No pulse now, Ham. You will have to get rid of the body - quite a problem . Don't be nervous. Keep your nerve, and get rid of the body. I've had a lot of experience."
Here Harold is inspected: lying on the right side, legs to the front of the cabinet; head between the chairs, extending outside of the chair circle.
10:15 p.m. Ewan: "Come back, Norman, come back." He calls again, and Norman gets up. "Sit down on your chair. What did you go away like that for, Norman?"
Norman: "I can't remember."
Ewan: "After you took that glass from that girl."
Norman: "Who was that girl? She took me somewhere. It was cold. There were diamonds, flowers, fruit: the fruit was hard. She sang to me. I saw her face; I think she has red hair, wavy, long down to the waist; big blue eyes."
T. G. H.: "Pink-blue eyes."
Norman: "Dark blue eyes."
Ewan commenced teasing Norman.
Norman: "She had a blue dress on."
Ewan: "Yes, blew with the wind."
Norman: "A man was with her. Her hands were little; they were very small. The fingers were longer than the palm and they were almost wrong. She told me something. It was her finger you got in the picture; she told me. She had a small mouth."
Ewan: "Pink lips, like a cupid's bow."
Norman: "I was to remember something about her next time."
Ewan: "Oh, the hussy."
February 20, 1934.
[Letter from Harold H. U. Cross - Ph. D - thanking for response to former letter and photographs sent - mention of a lovely photograph - (probably of Katie King) - Sir William Crookes was (not?) allowed to photograph her - Stanley de Brath indicates that the bigoted Crookes family have destroyed even his more prosaic photos - Cross is a writer of popular level - appealing to 'plumber's assistants' - his own words - his book is not a textbook type of book.]
February 21, 1934.
8:53 p.m. Sitting commences.
Singing "The Lord Is My Shepherd", "Abide with Me." Four hymns are sung.
Mercedes: "Good evening."
L. H.: "Ewan is in trance. Norman is in trance."
Mercedes: "Sit up, sit up, sit up."
Nothing more said.
9:10 p.m. Dawn tells of a performance going on in the center of the circle; she says that four people have carried in a chair, a beautiful chair, carved, glittering, silvery with floral decorations all over it, and that children have been dancing round it. She does not know who is to sit in it, for no one has said.
9:20 p.m. Dawn says that evidently no one will sit in it for it has a rope of flowers strung across the front and no one has said a word as to the significance of the beautiful chair which is very high at the back.
(There are two very loud knocks)
T. G. H.: "Is that a signal? What do you mean by that?"
(It has come again, twice each time.)
L. H.: "The mediums are all in trance."
9:30 p.m. Walter (through Ewan) tells everybody to sing loudly. He beats time by thumping on the floor; and if they attempt to stop he rallies them again until almost everyone is exhausted. A terrible racket is going on which he will not permit stopped; this continues steadily for five minutes. It is really terrible.
Then Dawn speaks and says, "I will see that you all get your just reward" , and "You may not know it, my friends, but the vibrations have been raised very high." (She has been very quiet during this racket).
Walter/Ewan: "Who have you got to thank for that? Come on, come on, answer ..."
Dawn: "The gentleman and lady who were singing so lustily."
Walter: "What could they have done without me, I ask you that?"
Walter says that Lucy is peeved; that she has been put in the background and she doesn't like it; but that it is good for her to have to take second place. He starts joking all around, and accuses "Ham" of patting his head; also Sun Yan of trying to put his hand in his (Walter's) pocket; says he caught that there, and it must be recorded that Sun Yan was fishing in his pocket for something.
Lucy says she is not permitted to say what the chair is for.
Walter says: "Ham's temper gets up very quickly, and she had better say it."
T. G. H.: "How are you getting on?"
Walter: "I can tell you that poor Lucy is alarmed. She has got to take a back seat; she can't even say "Good evening." She can't even say "Ham"; no, not a thing can she say. Well, there is a greater than Lucy has got control of Mercedes."
Walter/Ewan: "Still, you are a good old scout, you know, Ham; you don't know what is said about you half the time; I think it is the great big soul of the man; but whether it is the magnanimity of the fellow, or whether it is because he just doesn't plumb understand it, (laughter), sometimes when I look at all of those taps and tubes I think he must be a great genius; and sometimes when I say three or four times "Ham, will you take that chair away," and he cannot understand me, well, I think he is a stupid ass. Well, you have gone and done it to Dawn tonight, Ham."
T. G. H.: "I haven't done anything to her."
Walter: "Well, who is responsible for her when she comes into this room, me or you; who has got to answer for her if she doesn't come out, Faith? No, it is you, Ham. You are the one that takes the responsibility and nobody else is going to be blamed for your dirty work; and she is in a terrible condition right now, I tell you ..."
T. G. H.: "Well, what would you suggest, Walter?"
Walter: "Well, tonight, right now, her blood pressure is 714 1/2 or thereabouts; you ought to be ready for an explosion any moment (everybody laughs). She is in an awful shape, I tell you."
T. G. H.: "I should think she was, if that is the case."
Walter: "And it is going steadily upwards."
T. G. H.: "She must have a marvelous constitution."
Walter: "Well, she has got it reinforced."
T. G. H.: "By what?"
Walter: "With ectoplasm. It is that kind. It is the toughest we can get; the crucial moment will come, Ham, when you have to take it off. What are you going to do then? Just gather up the fragments, I suppose."
T. G. H.: "Oh, we will have to keep a few pieces to show the jury."
Walter: "Yes, it will be pretty awkward for you, Ham. The jury will want to come into the room and witness to what happened; the only explanation I can think of for you is that she got blown up by that pipe from the tank."
T. G. H.: "No, you couldn't tell the jury that if the body was burst."
Walter: "Well, it will sure be quite a story, that, poor Ham. You were all sitting here for a friend called "Walter". You're quite aware that the medium "Dawn" had not only sat in the attitude of expectancy, but that it would all be put down in the evidence ..."
(He tells of Dawn jumping up and rushing downstairs and applying the cut out pipe to her mouth, and receiving "the full force of my ingenuity", as he calls it; he tells a long story and asks, "Do you know what the verdict will be, Ham? No, well, the judge will say, "If he deserves hanging for nothing else, he deserves it for that," and it might be that the sentence could be reduced to a perpetual imprisonment - that means going on in prison for always ...")
T. G. H.: "That would not be very long, in my case."
Walter: "Yes, but when you come over here you would have to bring your prison with you, you see. I would say I did not have the key, and will not let you out."
T. G. H.: "Then I would be in a bad way."
Walter: "Well, Ham, we have talked and talked for four or five seconds, and I would think they were all quite relaxed by now, wouldn't you?"
9:55 p.m. "Yes, I will put in a good word for you, Ham." Say, that hand is in my pocket again."
(A lot of merriment starts up, singing "Sailing", everybody laughing, and very noisy for five minutes).
Walter: "Sun Yan, the man without a voice; we got him going that time."
10:02 p.m. "I think Dawn has gone a long way tonight. When I give you the signal, would you be quite ready for the photograph?"
T. G. H.: "Yes."
Walter: "Well, I am not going to give you the signal. (Laughing)
- at least not for quite a while, anyway, so just keep on being ready; and when the moment comes you will be taken by surprise, as usual. You have got a way, Dr. Hamilton, I have observed on previous occasions, of being rather inclined to slump at the critical moment - your mind doesn't keep up with your Thinker; it seems to be excommunicated from your actions - for that reason you have on various occasions been quite unable to control circumstances - and you have found it impossible to know what to do; I trust that will not be so on this occasion. I trust so, my dear, dear, Dr. Hamilton; can I have some assurance on this point?"
(Everybody is exploding with laughter).
"I would like to have two persons vouch for Dr. Hamilton. I have found by previous experience that I cannot rely on his word alone; I regret to notice that there is not one of your friends present who is prepared to come forward and vouch for you; can you explain that, Ham? ... that is a most lamentable exhibition of ... here boy, here, you ... get up here. I cannot do all the work myself, you great big lazy slob ...."
T. G. H.: "Are you speaking to me now, Walter?"
Walter: "No, to this ... to this ... I am talking to him. He lets me do the whole thing. Now comes the tug of war."
Harold: "I would just as soon not have the rope ..."
Walter: "I know you would - (Ewan tells him he is weak; and that is what comes of being blue, and sneaking into when your back is turned) (he turns and soothes Dawn:)
Walter: "It is all right, Dearie", etc. he takes her hand and speaks as though he were talking to a baby. "Mummy will take care of you and not let the bad man make faces at you, no ....")
10:10 p.m. Then, "A heart of concrete and a mind of stone; come on, come on," Walter says "Can you leave your place, Ham, and come over here? Yes, come over carefully."
T. G. H.: "Yes, what is it?"
Walter: "See that everything is all right."
T. G. H.: (Examines Ewan, who tells him to see that the other mediums are connected up, and to keep them that way.)
T. G. H.: "They are; is that all you wish?"
Walter: "See that they are quite all right."
T. G. H.: "Mercedes is fairly stiff."
Walter: "She is not as stiff as this boy on the floor; he is gone altogether, but you keep a check on them, Ham."
Walter: "Do not be so literal minded, Ham. I was only trying to play a joke on you."
T. G. H.: "Well, I wish you would whistle before you play it, so I will know it is a joke."
Walter (to Dawn): "what have you got to say to that?"
Dawn: "No. NO, ... N. .. O ... (each time getting louder).
Ewan: "No, No, No, for the third time she says 'No'. The NO's have it. Now she has relapsed into a dignified silence ... Light, light, come on ... (There is nothing abnormal.)
Ewan is pounding now, says "Come, Dearie; will you kindly come closer?"
Dawn is coughing, choking quite severely. (Silence)
Ewan: "Dawn cannot speak to you. Mercedes cannot speak to you. I cannot speak to you - so how are we going to give you the instructions? If I could use this confounded fool I could give you some very explicit instructions - clear, so that even you could not misunderstand them, doctor. But I regret to say that I have not got the facility, or the felicity, or the velocity requisite sufficiently to be able to give you specific instructions through Ewan, as they call him. I, Walter, could communicate with you quite definitely, I think, from the condition of this young man. It is really quite amusing, you know, if you could see it from our point of view. Quite amusing, old chap. I have got them completely under my control, completely served up for me, but they cannot be used."
10:20 p.m. "I would not mind wagering a small amount with you, doctor. I would give you 500 guesses and you could not postulate the entity who is now addressing you. I can tell you I am having quite a little fun with this chappy; but I don't think he is feeling so hot as I am. I am working quite hard, you know. It is taking a considerable effort to induce this frail, fragile bulk of conversation. I could picture these words not realizing that they are quite unique in the history of this damn-fool subject of which you are so earnestly ignorant."
Mercedes (Lucy control): "Good evening, friends. I would just like to say that I have carried out my contract
(Lucy, continued)
"I have said I would allow no one to come through Mercedes; we had arranged that together between us. You must remember that with my medium there are many who could have come through her and addressed you and kept you relaxed; but I would not allow them . It is very hard work, friend, to keep away the other entities who are so desirous to communicate with you, but I promised that none would interfere with Walter, and I have kept my word; though it must not happen often, for it would interfere with my medium's health. That is all."
Dawn: "Please be ready at your next sitting. I would like to have your instructions read over before, and followed out. That is all of the instructions, friend, I have got to give you. You will be told to take a flash by some of the other mediums who are here."
T. G. H.: "Would you not give me instructions as to signal?"
Dawn: "I wanted you to use this red light. I would like you to have that ready at your next sitting; and just take it after you have been told to take it. In further pictures to be taken you might get twelve and you might get one ... just the one in one camera, you understand."
Walter (through Ewan): "Yes, he understands, like ...."
Dawn: "He understands perfectly that he will use this camera with the red; that if you are told to take the flashes you will take them with the ordinary cameras; and after you have had all there is to take, then you can take with that camera just whatever you want to without saying anything to anybody. You understand I am not to say "Can I take this? Just take it."
Walter (through Ewan). "Clear as mud."
Dawn: "You see, I cannot tell you because I have ... I am removed ... I am ..."
Walter: "Yes, she is, she is ..."
Dawn: "He understands anyway."
Walter: "You will be just told to get ready, and one will tell you to get ready, and the other will tell you to fire - that is the simplest way we can give it to you; but if you get too tense it will be too simple for you ... one will say "ready" - the other will say "fire"; there might be a lapse of the few seconds."
Dawn: "You see how contrary Walter is."
Walter: "You will take Mercedes out as soon as you close your circle, and give her a drink of water, please, or better still, a drop of wine ..."
10:35 p.m. Circle moves out.
When all have gone Ewan remains in the room with Dr. Hamilton and gives these instructions:
"He says he does not know how he is going to balance the circle, yet, previous to the picture. He has got to retain Ewan's chair next to Lucy's and he does not want Ewan and Norman together; but he is studying it out so as to separate them and avoid the confusion that their present position causes. He will let us know at the beginning of the next meeting."
February 25, 1934.
J. A. Hamilton; Mr. Reed; W. Barrie; Ewan; L. H.; G. Snyder; Ada Turner; Harold Turner; Mercedes; Ethel Muir; Dawn; Mary McLean, Secretary.
A cloud of teleplasm shown in two positions.
Second Katie manifestation.
"Umbrella Teleplasm"
Mediums pass into trance. Mercedes examined by T. G. H. and found to be very rigid.
Dr. Hamilton examines Ewan and reports: "The nerves of Ewan's face are quite contracted; the head is flexed; the mouth contracted on the left side. He is too stiff to get much in the way of reflexes. He is quite unresponsive to pinpricks."
Ewan now speaks: "Dawn will give you the signal. We are not going to interfere with her respiration so she can talk to you quite freely. What we are giving you is a purely mechanical affair. We have got a contraption for contracting the nerves and extracting from them this energy. Have you got that, Ham?" The drawing of this energy causes the contraction of the membranes. This part is quite hard on the mediums. That is the time it is dangerous to give them a shock."
T. G. H.: "Does this contraction ever occur in normal life?"
Ewan control: "No. That kind causes muscular changes. No, this is due to the absolute absence of the condition of contraction of the muscles by the ordinary use of exercise. No, I am absorbing energy from them by this other method. Of course, we get a good deal of energy from exercise; but we can't get the results we get in this manner."
T. G. H.: "But your energies and ours are the same."
Ewan control: "Related, but not the same; not quite the same. You notice when a runner is spent - well, this may look the same but it isn't."
Dawn: "Ready! Go! (There is a silence and she shouts "Go!")
10:45 p.m. First flash is fired.
Ewan control: "Why didn't you go on the first signal?" We are going to give you a series of three photographs. T. G. H. counts to seven, and Dawn shouts "Go!"
10:49 p.m. Second flash taken.
T. G. H. counts again.
Ewan control: "What are you waiting for?"
T. G. H.: "For the signal."
Ewan control: "Go ahead, man."
10:52 p.m. Third flash is fired.
T. G. H.: "Tell us what we got?"
Walter/Ewan: "Oh, I was just drawing a red herring across the trail. I think you will agree with me that we have progressed quite a long way in getting the ectoplasm static - of more stability. I hope to get it in that condition where we can use it for some further experiments. I got through him well tonight. I could not control him well after the second flash. I will come again."
Sitting closed.
Two exposures. "Umbrella" teleplasm. Predictions by Norman and Dawn. Signal by Dawn.
[Photo: Upper Stereo: Caption: "Second exposure 4 minutes after first.]
[Photo: Lower: Caption: "Dawn and Mercedes in cabinet. Norman. All in deep trance. Mr. Reed. - L. H.'s head in left foreground]
[ Photo of umbrella teleplasm - first flash ]
[ Photo ]
[ Photo - four minutes after first flash ]
[ Photo ]
[ Photo - second flash ]
February 28, 1934.
L. H.; W. Barrie; G. Snyder; T. G. H.; J. A. Hamilton; Ada Turner; Harold Turner; Ethel Muir; Ewan; Mercedes; Dawn; Mr. Reed; Mary Maclean, Secretary.
8:57 p.m. Singing "Unto the Hills."
Sitting commences quietly.
9:05 p.m. Palm rubbing and heavy breathing coming from Ewan's direction.
9:15 p.m. Dawn is under complete control. Ewan says this. Through Ewan, Walter commences joking, cracking jokes, mostly at the expense of Dr. Hamilton personally - such remarks as:
"Ham, can you ever forget what a serious business this is?" How serious is it for all of us - for me to come here to talk to you - because I sometimes think you are a little frivolous, Ham. (He seems to be rubbing the floor now). Then:
"Dawn is under complete, complete, control; she is in good shape tonight."
9:17 p.m. Walter: "Just keep your eyes open, and you will see Mercedes will just go over so quick. I have just put her on the alert."
(Mercedes has been giggling, and says she feels so happy). She laughs a great deal. Walter, through Ewan, tells her: "They have got a great big net thing they are going to put over you. Ham, I am just sorry for her. Have you ever seen a flounder in the bottom of a boat, Ham? Well, that is just what she is going to be, wrapped all around her; it is just ready to come down. There is a train starting over there, (he choo-choos, imitating a train)
Walter: "Dawn is getting excited; she is seeking something, a chair I think. Have you got everything ready, Ham?"
T. G. H.: "Yes, I have."
Walter: "Ready for what?" (Laughter) "I want a bath."
9:19 p.m. Walter: "Have you got some cold water here? You know it is kind of warm in here, Ham. How did you like that photograph?"
T. G. H.: "Very much, indeed."
Walter: "It was a good photograph, was it not?"
T. G. H.: "It was very good."
Walter: "It was not as good as I thought it was going to be."
T. G. H.: "It was what you intended giving us, then, was it?"
Walter: "Well, I just don't know how insulting that question was intended to be. It didn't fit like a cap anyway."
T. G. H.: "I wish you would give some explanation of it, Walter."
Walter: "I am going to give you some in-words of thirteen syllables that you cannot question. Well, we are getting on; we are getting on. We are crawling up to the place."
Mercedes: "Good evening."
Walter (through Ewan): "Now, you are going to get some instructions. I have to engage this reluctant ghost. This is rather a shy spirit, Ham, that is coming; yes, a retiring one; he needs to get a lot of courage up before he comes here. Hold out your hands and say "Greetings, good friend."
(This is done)
9:20 p.m. Dr. Hamilton holds out his hands and greets a new arrival.
Walter says the greetings he got were given in a cold voice and so he went away; and he demonstrates to the amusement of everybody how the greetings ought to be given, in a very enthusiastic tone of voice.
L. H.: "I saw a light."
Walter: "That was Katie's light."
L. H.: "Yes."
Walter: "Well, she was here, but she went away again; that was just some of the phosphorescent dust that she shook from her feet as she was going. You can call it that, anyway, it is good enough."
"I want to get this fellow to talk; but he is so retiring that he doesn't like to come into the circle; he is going backwards, and first on one foot and then on the other, and opening his mouth and shutting it again; he has got a complex."
9:25 p.m. Mercedes: "Take this cloak off this medium, please."
Walter: "There you are. He got the words out at last. Take her up, she is sitting on it. It is far too hot in here. It is terrible."
(He says somebody is going to talk to you and there is the sound of a body rolling heavily from a chair to the floor.)
Walter: "We are making a costume now."
L. H.: "Ewan is standing, turning from side to side with his hands."
9:28 p.m. Ewan: "Be quiet, please, just for a moment. There is one here who wishes to talk to you."
Mercedes: "Good evening. I am here. I just want you to know that I came after all. He made me come here. I don't want to come so I don't - not because I don't like you. It is just, I thought I was required elsewhere. Don't think it is because I didn't like you. No, it is not Katie; you would not know who I am, but he brought me. Walter brought me. Oh, I have been here. I know all about you, know everything you are doing, and everything you are not doing; and I know what you are expecting, and I know what you are getting; and I know what you are not getting."
Walter: "And he knows what you are not going to get, too.
Mercedes: "Oh, you people here - if you could only see the situation from the other side."
T. G. H.: "Tell us of it."
Mercedes: "Well, you see, if you laugh too much, it might be dangerous. Here you sit with all your cameras; but we have a full battery of cameras on you, far more cameras than you have; and the pictures are coming around from hand to hand and causing a great deal of merriment. Yes, we have got some funny ones already of you. Yes, we have got some good ones; the Chief of Police confiscated a lot of them .
Walter: "He said they had a corrupting influence."
Mercedes: "We are going to hold a convention."
Walter: "Could we rent this room of yours, Ham? The Royal Order of Ghosts, assorted - Ham's Collection. Special - "Yes, we have got them all numbered. "Katie", one of our best sellers, taken by Ham on the 24th of October sometime; "Lucy" - another fair specimen; not quite so good - last one not quite up to specifications. "Walter", an elusive spirit. I am sorry we cannot show you something better of him because he's got nothing more to show. "Spurgeon", a prime favorite with the Ladies."
Walter (continued): ... "several good views of his whiskers. "Dear old Conan Doyle" - the daddy of them all. Oh, they have got your names in their collection, Ham; I have seen them all - John King, a ferocious fellow; don't lift this cloth unless your nerves can stand a shock, One-eye behind a rum barrel cannot be seen. Do you know who stands at the door, Ham?"
T. G. H.: "No."
Walter: "I will give you three guesses."
T. G. H.: "Mark."
Walter: "Oh, no. He has got a special place inside."
T. G. H.: "Well, how about Charles? How about Stead?"
Walter: "Oh, that game is over. I have to explain all of these things to Ham, because he is so slow at following up leads I give him. He is trying to get his apparatus going ..."
Mercedes: "All those instructions we are here to give, the one you call Walter, he is shy ..."
Walter: "He has got shy quite suddenly then. (From Ewan). I tried to get him to talk; then he turned around and walked away and licked his lips - question for Ham: can the spirits lick their lips? There is a good subject for discussion for you, Ham."
L. H.: "Something just touched the right side of my face."
Mercedes: "Naughty spirits, those."
Walter: "My little man; you go away now. I have someone else to speak to - this little boy here."
Mercedes: "You want to know what you have got on your face - what you cannot help. You cannot do anything about it. You are keeping it on, you are; you are keeping it on. You think I am going to all that trouble to put that on your face and you want me to take it off? (I think she has been speaking to Harold Turner) "What did you get put on that side for - ?"
Walter: "Because he is a dunce, that is why."
Mercedes: "This other lady on the other side of me has got a lot more on her face than you have, and she is not saying anything."
9:40 p.m. Walter (through Ewan): "Well, it is just too bad that I
have to do all the talking."
Mercedes: "If I get away ... I have to take my box with me; we don't want any deception with it."
T. G. H.: "Your box, where is it?"
Mercedes: "On the table. I left it on the table."
T. G. H.: "What kind of a box is it you have got?"
Mercedes: "Oh, it is just a little invention of my own - there, I have got it. I don't know what I could do without you (speaking to herself).
Mercedes calls "Light."
9:47 p.m. (Ewan continues) "You have to speak very loud, and you have got to say it very often before Ham hears. Did you see anything?"
T. G. H.: "No, I did not."
Walter (through Ewan): "You did not - what did you see?"
T. G. H.: "She was sitting quietly on her chair."
Walter: "Then you did see something ..."
T. G. H.: "I saw no abnormal thing."
Walter: "Was the medium quite normal?"
T. G. H.: "She was in deep trance, seated on her chair."
Walter: "And is a medium in deep trance a normal thing? I ask you that, Ham."
T. G. H.: "No, it is not; but I see them often ..."
Walter: "There you are. Now you admitted, you told an untruth; don't hedge now and tell another. You contradicted yourself right and left, now didn't you?"
T. G. H.: "I saw her asleep ..."
Walter: "Do you sleep like that, Ham?"
T. G. H.: "Well, I hope I do ..."
(Walter, through Ewan, keeps on razzing and chewing at Dr. Hamilton about contradicting himself - then:)
Mercedes: "Better change the mouth piece."
Ewan: "Do you know the reason I like to come and talk through this fellow?"
T. G. H.: "No."
Ewan: "It is because he is such a damn-fool. Dawn is not going to talk to you. I am going to talk to you. I, Walter Stinson(?). Oh, you have got a lot of work to do. I am going to use Ewan. Will you kindly put that chair at his feet?
(Someone moves to do it), and he says "No, I think Ham had better do it ... it keeps his figure down; let him get some exercise."
(Dr. Hamilton places the chair under Ewan's feet.)
Ewan: "Ham, I wish you could set his body up. I am going to talk to you and give you instructions through Mercedes."
Mercedes: "Good evening. I told you already how I was; I am glad to say that Dawn is in good, good condition. I am using this instrument to speak because I can keep Dawn quiet; I just want you to be ready for anything ... or nothing ..."
T. G. H.: "I can take three white and one red."
Mercedes: "You could not take any blue, could you, because my medium Dawn would suit that color. LIGHT."
(Everybody looks at Dawn)
L. H.: "Dawn's upper part is all covered with white. She looks as if she had a white blouse on."
(I saw this also, it looked like a large loose blouse and was very plainly seen - Mary Maclean, Secretary.)
Mercedes: (screams) "SHUT UP". (Continues). "The only instructions I have got to tell you it is not to get too tense, and be ready."
9:48 p.m. Mercedes (continues): "I am going to use that fellow over there, that is why you had to get another chair to support him. Yes, he needs all the support he can get in the next five minutes."
(Mercedes says this in a voice I have not heard before, she sounds as though the voice were mechanical; not a voice really, sort of a tinny sound.)
(Moaning and crying from Ewan)
Mercedes: "This is the one who was going to put Mercedes through her P's and Q's at the beginning of the sitting." (Ewan is crying, stamping his feet and pounding - cries terribly, ends in an unearthly screech.)
Dawn: "Give them light, and put them away; put a little more light on so they will go away ... get it ..."
Mercedes: "I don't want you to sit any longer than your time."
Dawn: "Do you still wish that he be tied up like that?"
Mercedes: "Leave him, and he will come out of it himself. We are trying very hard. We are using all the power that we can get."
Dawn: "I didn't tell you, at the last sitting, that you were to instruct this medium not to sit any other place; and she was sitting somewhere else since she was last here, and it has not helped any."
Dawn: "I would like to tell you that when you are told again to take a flash, you will get, 1, 2, 3, fire; that is the signal for all time; and you will not fire on any other signal. Remember that, and please don't ask the medium what the signal is when we are preparing to give you a picture. Please try and not question them. The signal will always be, 1, 2, 3, fire; and you will not fire on any other signal, unless you fire of your own accord. You can do that if you wish; but we don't promise that everything will be all right if you do; it is always best to do that now and again. Don't say anything about it, just take it. Of course, friend, you must understand that you cannot do that all the time; but if you wish to take a chance on something, I will instruct you that you must not take a flash without me telling you or one of the others telling you; but if I don't say that to you, and you feel you would like to do so, you can. It is just possible you may see something. The pictures will explain themselves when you have the complete set. Please do not make any comments; there will be six; I will not tell you when, or anything further about them , just be ready. That is all that I have to say to you.
T. G. H.: "Do you mean that these two are included in the six?"
Walter/Dawn: "Yes, they will fit in for themselves and I will give you nothing further regarding any other pictures that will come through. You will be able to piece them together yourself. Then at the end of the time you will be told what it represents and what it is connected with. Perhaps you will be able to follow it yourself. It is always wrong to make remarks in the room where your mediums are under control: you do not know whether they are under control deep or not. Talking often registers and brings back results that are not of very much account. I do not know if you quite follow.
T. G. H.: "Yes."
Dawn: (she continues) "In that way you may be misled by ... that are in the brain of the medium through your talking and discussing this and that. Please try to remind that by holding your peace you can discuss these things when you leave the room if you wish. Anything you wish to say to your note-taker that is in charge, say it quietly. You do not have to let the whole world know just then."
"There are two conditions, or two entities, that come through Ewan at the same time; but that perhaps is news to you. He is quite under now, but was partly under before."
(Silence for two minutes)
Dawn: "Your sittings are far too short and too irregular."
T. G. H.: "We do the best we can."
Walter: "Yes, but we do not seem to be able to get a good start-off. Remember to keep to your ninety minutes regular: I am speaking of the long time that lapses between the one sitting and the other. At this rate it is impossible to get results quickly. It is not the spirit friends you must blame; it is your earthly friends. I quite understand it is not easy for everyone to be here; so that is why it takes so long to give you anything; and also as I have said to you many times before, this writing is not helpful to me with this medium. I am not complaining, friends, I will do the best that I can and leave you to do the same. We are getting along famously. I would like to use these other mediums; but it is very difficult to handle ..."
(voice fades off)
"I would like you to get a stick of chalk for me some time."
T. G. H.: "Yes, I have it."
Walter: "Not at the present moment, but I would like to draw something on the back of the cabinet; and you can photograph it, because I cannot leave it on the cabinet."
T. G. H.: "I will perhaps have to put a special camera to do that."
Walter: "No, could you not ... Oh, well, you can get a little camera; it would be very nice. You know that I draw with my left hand, don't you?"
T. G. H.: "No, I didn't know."
Walter: "How would you like to have a picture of me drawing through my medium Dawn? You are all wondering who I am going to draw. I think I will start with Faith."
T. G. H.: "You will want colored chalk for that, Walter."
Walter: "Have you got a blackboard that you could hang on the back of the cabinet, that they use in schools, and the same chalk?"
T. G. H.: "Yes, I'll fix it for you."
Walter: "Now I am going to go away and stand back; don't sit longer than your time, and take the mediums out at once.
T. G. H.: "We have got thirteen minutes yet." (Ewan is moaning heavily.)
Dawn: "So long, friends."
All: "So long, Walter."
(Dawn is now coughing and choking; calls for water, says, "What was that that went down my throat?" Shouts for water again, "What was that, something is sticking in my throat, could you swallow your tonsils, doctor?" she asks.
Sitting ended.
All go out, except Mercedes and Ewan; and she says she has to get him out, as she put him in that box. She will not leave until he is released.
They go out.
March 4, 1934.
G. Snyder; Ewan; J. A. Hamilton; Mr. Reed; W. Barrie; Mercedes; Ethel Muir; Ada Turner; Harold Turner; Dawn; L. H.; T. G. H.; Margaret L. Hamilton, Secretary.
Dawn, Mercedes, Norman, deeply entranced.
Usual preliminary talking by controls through sleeping mediums. Walter prepares for exposure. Mediums under stress. Dawn gives the signal. Ewan C. remarks that they miss the old combination (Victor and Elizabeth now no longer members of the group.) The power not nearly so great as it was.
First flash, "Leaf" formation on back wall of cabinet.
Second flash- teleplasmic "button".
[Photo: Caption: "Small LEAF teleplasm on cabinet wall. Usual preliminary talking by controls through entranced mediums. Walter prepares for an exposure. Mediums under great stress. Dawn gives the signal.
[ Photo of small "leaf" teleplasm ]
[ Photo ]
[ Photo - residue - button on wall four minutes later ]
[ Photo ]
