TRANCE LINGUIST

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 July 1933, Page 8

TRANCE LINGUIST

ALSO CHANGES COLOURS

A.young Manchester man who gave up a prosperous business to travel the country as a spiritualist missionary is amazing the people who go to his

seances. He changes the colour and texture of his face, alters the tonal qualities of his voice, speaks Chinese, French, Italian, German, and even African dialects, although he knows only English.

He allows investigators to drive a knife through his hands, but no blood is drawn. Yet he himself knows nothing of the striking phenomena. This man who is puzzling all psychic investigators is Mr. R. W. Gibson. He told a “Sunday Chronicle” representative, in an interview, how he took up his new career. “I have always been interested in spiritualism, but not ..seriously until a few years ago. A little boy had been knocked down by a car in the street in front of me. I picked him up and took him to hospital. When the doctors decided that a blood transfusion was necessary I volunteered to i>e the donor. “The poor boy died in spite of it. but shortly afterwards I was visited by Ihe spirit of the dead lad. and the message he gave made me decide to give up everything for spiritualism. “At that time I had a lish and chip shop in Manchester, and I was making about £35 a week; my family and friends were there, too. But I gave it all up, and now I travel all over Hie country helping people through my

si *a nc.es. Ai Mr. Gibson's seances, it is claimml. Ibe spirit -makes a “physical” appearance through his mediumship, ’•banging the colour and texture of his face to resemble those of the various spirit entities with whom he is in I ouch. To prove that his state of trance is absolutely genuine Mr. Gibson issues a challenge at all his meetings to scion!ific investigators. Al. a. recent, meeting at Lancaster, that challenge was accepted and one of (he audience drove a rusty knifeblade almost through his hands sever-

al Limes. “There were no marks when 1 came out of the trance,” Mr. Gibson said, “and the wounds did not bleed. "One of my greatest friends is Mr. Walter Chadwick, of Thomson Street, Manchester. In 1921 he was working

at Trafford Park and through an accident lost tho sight of both eyes. Operation after operation failed to lestore his vision, and then he came to one of my meetings.” Here the story was taken up by Airs A. Lee, Mr. Gibson's assistant.

“Mr. Gibson walked up to Mr. Chadwick. and called him by name although he had not known him previously.

“He told Mr. Chadwick to go back to the hospital where the operations 'had been done and to insist that still another should be performed. At that time Mr. Gibson was controlled by the spirit of a famous doctor, and the doc-

tor promised to superintend the operatl”‘Mr. Chadwick had another operation and a piece of steel was discovered embedded in the nose pressing down on the nerves controlling sight t The steel was removed and Mr. Chad wick recovered his sight,