MR. CHARLE5 BAILEY'S OCCULT POWERS. Spooks or Jugglery—Which ?

Free Lance, Volume X, Issue 477, 21 August 1909, Page 6

MR. CHARLES BAILEY'S OCCULT POWERS. Spooks or Jugglery— Which ?

THIS is the question of the hour in Wellington, and nearly every man you meet has an opinion to offer. Through the courtesy of Mr. William McLean, the Fkee Lance received, an invitation to attend Mr. Bailey's second public seance, on Tuesday night last, and a member of our staff attended in due course. It took place in one of the new buildings in Woodwardstreet, the use of a large unfurnished room being obtained for the purpose. About 35 ladies and gentlemen were present, among the latter hi*! Tig half-a-dozen representatives of the press, one well-known clergyman, the Mayor of Petone, and a number of business men. • • • Mr. Wm McLean acted as chairman, and m a few remarks introduced the medium to his audienceThey sat on chairs disposed round the sides of the room, and the medium placed himself on a chair in the centre. A small shaded lamp stood on a table hard-by for the convenience both of the reporters and of a shorthand-writer who h.ad been specially engaged to take down the expected trance^address. While the preparations for th© test were going forward Mr. Bailey closed his eyes, made a number of deep euspirationa of breath, and then began to speak in a slightly altered voice. • • * It was announced that a spirit known as Dr Whitcombe was in full control, and would conduct the tests. Bailey arose and took off Eis wearing coat, and, speaking as I)r. Whitcombe, he invited the Rev. J. Reed Glasson (Congregational minister), Mr. J. W McEwan (Mayor of Petone), and Mr. John Norton to step forward and satisfy themselves by direct examination whether he had anything concealed about his person. They felt all over his clothes without finding anything suspicious- • • • Then the medium stepped into a kind of sack of black Silesia, with Bleeves which were fastened with tapes at the wriste and sealed with wax. It waa also fastened and sealed at the neck. Over this garment

was drawn a sack of mosquito nettang, which was tied well above the medium's head, and fastened to a string depending from the oeilmg. These articles had been closely examined before the medium entered the room, and no- one was able to discover any opening for imposture about them. • • • Dr Whitcombe made way for an alleged Hindoo spirit, named "Abdul," who spoke through the medium m pidgin-English, and asked for the hghfc to be extinguished and a hymn to be sung while he produced an "Apport" "I got urn!" he called out, and, upon the light being restored, a very small bird, which Abdul called a jungle sparrow, was found to be fluttering about the medium inside the mosquito netting He promised more ''phenomena" later on, and in the meantime gave way to 'Professor Denton," who started with the medium's voice to deliver a lecture on "Eternal Pro gression " It was really a brief summary of the story of evolution, and although the Free Lance representative has often heard Professor Denton lecture' in. the flesh, he was unable to recognise either his voice or style at the seance. • • • As for the lecture itself, it contained nothing novel or striking, but made some allusions to "unbelieving pressmen" which suggested that Mr. Denton took a personal inn terest in Mr. Bailey's doings. There 'were also some slips of grammar and misplaced aitches that were much more likely to emanate from Bailey than from Denton Questions were invited, and some remarkable "scientific facts" were furnished by Professor Denton, such as that all elie planets are inhabited, although astronomers be^eve some of them to be m a state of incandescence. Man received the spark of immortality when he ceased to walk on allfours. Professor Denton wasn't sure how long he had been dead. He declined to locate the missing "Waratah" — spirits, he said, were not omniscient. • » • Then "Abdul" returned, and with the light extinguished he produced two more jungle sparrows and a small nest made out of a reddish fibre. But he was so much annoy ed at somebody suddenly striking a match to look at the sparrows, and at somebody else leaving his chair to* approach near to the medium in the daik, that he wasn't prepared toi give any more phenomena that night. This somebody else who drew near to the medium in the dark told us that he heard a noise within the gauze as if the medium were busy rubbing his leg • • • All that our representative can say as an independent and unpref judioed critic is that the tests were inconclusive for him. He cannot suggest how those living birds came to be there, but he is not satisfied the conditions were rigid enough to exclude all trickery. He has seen Chung Ling Soo perform tricks on the Opera House stage that seemed to him just as wonderful as anything Mr. Bailey did If the medium is willing to convince the public that he is all he professes to be, then he must submit to conditions under which trickery would be absolutely impossible. A committee of experts could be easily selected for the purpose, and every precaution could be ta&en to insure a searching and thorough investigation • • • It is only fair to add that Mr William McLean, whose credit and reputation as a public man and private citizen are unimpeachable, invited the utmost scrutiny, and took a great deal of trouble to make the test as convincing and as satisfactory as he possibly could. There is not the slightest doubt that, as far he he is concerned, every facility will be offered for the closest examination