AN EXCITING SEANCE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1163, 15 June 1894, Page 40

AN EXCITING SEANCE.

The man James Hackett and his sister, Priscilla Hackett, were charged in the Magistrate's Court on May IS with having conspired together to defraud one Frederick JL Vaughan, tho male prisoner being further charged with having pretended to exercise enchantment and give communion "with the spirits of tho dead. The accused, it is alleged, have been for Borne time past practising spiritualism in -various parts of New Zealand, including the City of Wellington and suburbs, the man professing to be a materialising medium and his sister acting as his assistnnt. Among his clients, it appears, was Mr Vaughan, who is an investigator of the philosophy of spiritualism, and who was also imbued with a desire to discover whether the man was an impostor or not, and if he found him wanting in good faith to make the public acquainted with tho fact. Accordingly he attended one or two Be-called seances given by tho Hacketts, including tho last one, which they gave on Wednesday night in a room at Petone engaged for the purpose. About 15 persons were present, including Constable Butler in plain clothes, who had received instructions from his superiors to watch the affair closely, and to seizo anything •which might prove to be material evidence in a case against tho medium and his assistant. A black curtain divided in the centre was stretched across one corner of the room, and in the recess thus formed Hackett ensconced himself for the purpose of bringing before tho company tho "ghosts" of departed individuals. Tho proceedings commenced with the singing of a hymn, and the Lamps having been lowered, a luminous spirit clothed in a gauze-liko material quickly put in an appearance. In response to a question by Mr Vaughan Miss Hackett stated that it was the spirit of her deceased sister " Rosie." Mr Vaughan addressed the spirit in a coaxing manner, urging it to come to him, and as soon as it had got closo enough he immediately seized tight hold of it and called for the lights to be turned up. A scene of considerable confusion ensued. Miss Hackett becamo hysterical; matches were struck, and by their light Mr Yaughan found that he held in his hand nothing but a piece of white muslin, the "spirit" of course, disgusted by such rough handling by a person of rougher day, having decamped to " Borderland," or wh»r*ver such spirits havo their abode. Miss Hackett had meanwhile been urging those present to lower the lights, which she said would injure the medium, who was for that evening supposed to bo "controlled" by the spirit of an Indian, and who was in that character jabbering an Indian language, or what was supposed to be such. However, the lights were not lowered, and Constable Butler immediately proceeded to confiscate tho" properties," which consisted of the muslin aforesaid and a bottle of phosphorised oil, and to arrest the man and woman, the former of whom showed a decided inclination to decamp. That, however, he was not allowed to do, and the pair were brought into Wellington and lodged in the police cells. SPIRITUALISTS IN COURT. When the accused were brought before Mr Martin, S.M., Mr Poynton, who appeared on their behalf, asked for an adjournment till the 25th instant. The * application wa3 granted, and the accused were liberated on two securities of £2» each, and their own recognisances of a similar amount. An interested throng, in pursuit of information regarding the curious and mysterious, gathered in tho Court-room occupied by the Stipendiary Magistrate * on May 25, to hear the evidence adduced in Bupport of the charges preferred against James Hackett and his sister, Priscilla Hackett, who have been giving spiritualistic manifestations in this city lately. There were three charges altogether, one "being against James Hackett for exercising enchantment, and the other twD against the pair for conspiring to defraud F. A. Vaughan, and the other of conspiring to defraud the public. Inspector Pender conducted the case for the prosecution, and Mr Poynton appeared for the accused. The charge of conspiring to defraud Vaughan was taken first. In the course of his evidence Frederick A. Vaughan, a compositor, deposed that ho had an interview with tho prisoners on the subject of spiritualism and seances. He had seen a seance which Hackett had previously given, but was not satisfied about it, and he now arranged to have one held at hia (witness') house on a certain evening. The price Hackett asked for a seance was &>, which witness thought rather high, but got a number to share tho expense. HOW THB SEANCB WAS WORKED. The seance was duly held, about a dozen of his friends, whom he had invited, attending at about 8 o'clock in tho evening. Hackett and his sister were present. The former Drought a black curtain, and it was drawn across a corner of the room, which thus formed a recess. The curtain had a division down tho centre. The visitors were formed in a semi-circle, the lamp was turned down, and they commenced singing. Hackett sat in front of the curtain in the centro of the circle. After they had been singing hymns for a little Tvhile —it was usual to commence proceedings in that way—Hackett went behind the curtain, taking his chair with him. Ho then spoke, directing witness to turn the light down more. After more singing, started spontaneously ono or more commencing a hymn and the others joining in—the curtain divided and a small white patch was visible. The white patch disappeared and then something white appeared at their right. That in turn disappeared and showed "again in tho

middle of the curtain. It was said to be a spirit form, find he accepted it as such. THE MEDIUM'S DAUGHTER. He asked what spirit it was, and was told by Miss Hackett, who was sitting in the circle, that it was the spirit of the medium's daughter Rosy. Miss Hackett asked the spirit, " Have you your light tonight ?" She then said "If you have, show it." Then a small light appeared in the centro of the white. Another form appeared on the right again, and at the same time one did in the centre also. It was assumed by somoono present that it was tho spirit of a baby, and then some doubt arose as to whose baby it could be. Nothing was said all this time by either of the accused, but the members of the circle conversed. "POPPY" APPEARS ON THE SCENE. Tho two figures disappeared, and then another ono came out which was called "Poppy." Hackett explained that this form was a little spirit that attended Mrs Mellin's spirit circles in Sydney. He (witness) had forgotton to mention that at the start of the seance it was usual to appoint a chairman on such occasions. Ho instructed them not to strike lights, and also to be as harmonious as possible. After " Poppy " appeared, Hackett said that if they turned tho lights out they would get physical manifestations. Miss Hackett up to this time had taken no part in the performance at all. The lights were turned out, and many lights were seen at different times. Ono of them came very close to witness—it was rather a large ono. It appeared to be covered over with muslin. He passed his hand to the right, but felt nothing. Then he passed it to the left, and felt something which appeared to be of the texture of muslin. MOVED BY THE SPIRITS. The lady sitting on his right was very much affected, and she said she felt as if the spirits of her departed relatives were present. Other lights were shown, and then the medium, Hackett, who was supposed to be "under control," announced from behind the curtain that there would bo no further physical manifestations that evening. The lamp was re-lit, and witness collected the sum of ,£3 10s, which he gave to Hackett, and promised the rest the following evening. The meeting was then broken up. Miss Hackett took no active part in the thing so far as he could see, except as one of the circle and asking the spirit Rosy, or Amelia, a question. She sat next the curtain on the left. A number of figures appeared during tho evening, one of which was a large one. This was supposed to be tho medium himself who was under control, and who had been veiled in spirit drapery by the spirits Rosy and another. THE SPIRIT OP THE DEPARTED JOHNSON. Another large spirit appeared—that of a man named Johnson, who had been a friend of tho medium's. Johnson was supposed to have controlled the medium at one time, and ho told Miss Hackett that her brother would get a letter soon. Miss Hackett said ho had told her that before, but they had got no letter. At the earlier part of the proceedings witness asked the medium (Hackett) if the " control" was the Native named Parihaka ? He was not sure whether Hackett or Miss Hackett answered him; but the reply was " No—Mr Hawkins." Some questions were put while a Maori was supposed to have control of Hackett as to the meaning of certain Maori words, and he gave the meanings correctly, so far as witness could see. The money paid Hackett was for tho benefit of having a spiritualistic manifestation at tho house. He paid Hackett .£5 in all, and arranged to meet him again on the following Tuesday at his (witness') house, the money for a seanco being guaranteed. They met at eight o'clock, some of the sitters at the other seance being present and some new ones. THE TASK The curtain was arranged as before, a semi-circle formed, and similar figures made their appearance to those which appeared at the former seance. There were some photographs of spirits taken on the second occasion. He had permission to photograph them/ Mr Winton was present with a camera, and the arrangement with Hackett with regard to obtaining negatives was made while he was "under control." The Magistrate: What do you mean by " under control" ? Witness: Well, as I understand it a medium under control is a person whose soul or spirit has been transplanted by that of a deceased person, who takes " control" of the medium's body. Continuing, witness said that Hackett's sister or daughter, ho was not sure which, was to be photographed, and it was done. [The photograph was here produced. It was simply a long strip of white muslin.] After the photographing the lights were turned out, and Hackett said " Send the medium's sister in." Miss Hackett then went behind tho curtain, and stayed thero a short time. She took no other part in the seanco beyond conversing with the other sitters. The seance broke up, and witness gave Hackett <£s. THE EXPOSURE AT PETONE. At Petone the sameproceedings took place as at previous seances. When one spirit appeared he asked who it was, and Miss Hackett replied it was Rosy, the medium's daughter. It moved about, and witness asked it to come near him. It did so, and he caught hold of it and pulled it. He then found that it was held by someone behind the curtain—Hackett, he thought. When he first caught hold of it, he thought somebody inside the curtain made a blow at him. He called for lights, and found he held the muslin (produced). Mr Martin : That is the spirit ? Witness: Yes, that's it. When he called for lights Miss Hackett shouted, " Don't strike matches." Then she said something to the effect that they had killed her brother. Constable Butler, who was present, seized hold of Hackett, who strove to get at witness, i There was confusion after that, and witness

could not remember details. However, ho told Hackett he had been bowled out in a fearful fraud, and if he gave him back the money he would say nothing more about it. Constable Butler then read a warrant for Hackett's arrest, and proceeded to search him, asking witness to make an inventory of what ho possessed. He did so, and they foimd a bottle of oil and some muslin. Miss Hackett appeared to be fearfully alarmed, and said they had hurt her brother. When arrested, Hackett said "Leave it alono for to-night, and I will acknowledge everything." Witness was the chairman of the seance, and having omitted to mention tho fact that matches should not be struck. Miss Hackett reminded the sitters of tho matter. The " forms " or " figures " he had seen contained lights which he had no doubt were caused by tho bottle (produced) and its contents. When Hackett was arrested there was a good sum of money found on him. HE BELIEVED HE SAW SPIRITS. To Mr Poyntou: At the first seance at the Physiological Society's rooms he saw something in the way of forms, but was not satisfied that they were spirits. Ho consequently got one held at his house, and during the evening ho believed, on looking round, that he saw spirits, but was not sure about it next day. He did not make further investigations for his own satisfaction then, beyond getting photographs taken. On tho occasion that Miss Hackett went behind the curtain ho bolieved she was supposed to have been called by the departed Hawkins, who " controlled" tho medium. He was chairman at tho Petono seance. He did not think he put Miss Hackett's question, "Is that Rosy ?" to the figure when it appeared. At any rate, the figure bowed, which was an indication in the affirmative that it was Rosy. With regard to tho appearance of the spirit of Johnson, Miss Hackett did not seem to believe his statement that a letter would come soon for her brother, and said that previous prophecies about this letter had not been fulfilled.

At 4 o'clock the Court adjourned until next day, when tho case was resumed. Tho cross - examination of Frederick Vaughan, compositor, who had attended Hackett's seance, was concluded. He said that the reason he did not impose test conditions on Hackett's seances was because Hackett had told him ho would not submit to any more "tests" in Wellington. He consequently decided to form his opinion as events happened. Miss Hewitt was present at both seances, and expressed herself satisfied after the first one. He was sure two forms appeared at one time during the seance. They were two feet apart. Ho asked sitters not to strike matches becauso ho had heard it was injurious to the meeting. Someone had suggested the striking of°a match later on in the evening, and that was why he cautioned them. Miss Hewitt did say something about her mother's spirit being present, but he did not recollect what it was. Counsel here asked how Constable Butler came to be at the seanco at Petone. His Worship said that he did not think ho could allow tho question to be asked. How the police got information in regard to crime was a matter of privilege. Cross-examination continued: Witness did not like to bo cheated, and that was why he asked for his money back. He had taken an interest in spiritualism for about ten years. Ho told ono of the sitters at Petone that if it was a fraud he would find out that evening. The lady who sat on his right at one of the seances where " Rosy " appeared said something about having had a daughter named Rosy, and she called the spirit over to her. She said, " Are you my Rosy?" and the form bowed. The next witness was Lily Hewitt, who deposed that she lived at the house of tho last witness. She was at tho first seance and saw several spirits. The first was supposed to be that of Rosy, Hackett's daughter; then there was the spirit of the departed Johnson, whoso figure was a fullsized one Johnson's figure appeared to be much darker than the others, thero not being much light about it. At one of the Seances Mr Marriott was chairman, and Hackett came from behind the curtain and asked to be mesmerised. Marriott passed his hands over Hackett for three minutes, but she did not notice any great effect as a result of his action. The witness gave further evidence, which was practically a recapitulation of the evidence given by Vaughan. She said, though, that before and after every seance she noticed that Hackett appeared rather bulky abcut the body for a man. Had once heard Miss Hackett say that a medium was nearly killed in Sydney through the figures being touched at a seance. At Petone she said she had seen her brother stripped in Sydney, and nothing was found on him. Witness was cross-examined. She did not known the spirit was going to be caught. She thought that if it was caught it would be a fraud. Personally she thought the show wa« a fraud. They had a test seanco at house after tho second seance. Vaughan was the medium, and they had muslin and matches. (Laughter.) There were a few sisters, but not many. It was not successful. Charles William Henderson, printer, next gave evidence. Ho attended two seances, and his impression was that the spirits were simply a rag on a piece of stick. Constable Butler detailed what occurred at Petone, where he arrested Hackett. The case was then adjourned until next day, when it was resumed. Constable Butler, cross-examined by Mr Poynton, said he got a bottle of oil from Hackett's coat pocket. Ho found no wires or anything of that kind. Detective Herbert stated that ho took the bottle of oil, the muslin and curtain given him by Constable Butler to Mr Skey, Government Analyst, on the 25th inst, and got them back tho same day. William Skey, Government Analyst, said he had examined the contents of the bottle, and found them to consist of oil, phoa-

phoruß and water. Ho had discovered oxide of phosphorus on the muslin. As ho warmed the oil it became very luminous. This was the case for the prosecution. Mr Poynton said he proposed to call Miss Iluekett. Mr Martin : The question is whether she was a dupe or a confederate. Mr Poynton submitted there was nothing to show confederacy. Her remarks were those of an innocent person. If she had been acting a part she would have behaved differently. His Worship: The onus of saying whether she is a dupe or confederate musr, be with a jury. These things have sent \ people to the asylum since I came to Wellington I have had to investigate cases ( of alleged lunacy, and have found a great number whero I have been able to trace the effect to the dealings of so-called spiritualists. It is therefore a very serious charge, and not one I can treat lightly, and I should hesitate a good deal before I took upon myself tho responsibility of dealing with anybody on such a charge. Priscilla Hackett said she was born at the Hutt. Her brother, the other accused, had been absent from home for 18 years, and she never to her knowledge saw him before the 19th of Lost month. He had been eight years in Christchurch and ten years in Sydney. About the 19 th of last month he came to where she and her mother and sister were living at Wanganui. She had never heard anything about spiritualism until then. After he had been there some time tho conversation turned on spiritualism, and he told her he was a medium, and held seances. A sitting ,was held at her sister's, at which her sister, her mother, her brother-in-law, accused and herself were present. A sister of witness' named Amelia had died when witness was an infant, and her brother James had had a little girl Rosie, who died in Christchurch. There was no cabinet at the seance, but the same thing occurred as at tho other seances. Her brother showed her several letters in which ho was recommended as a medium. She did not know what to think about it, but had no reason to believe ho was de • ceiviug her. About a week after that she and her brother came to Wellington ; he was going to Dunedin, but it had not been arranged whether she should go or not. She simply came down here for a holiday. At her sister's house in Wanganui they had been told during a seance that they would get a letter, but no letter had come. That was why bhe made the remark concerning a letter at one of tho seances held at Vaughan's. Her brother and others had told her that if lights wore struck while a medium was " under control " it would do him an injury. Mr Vaughan had also said lights ought not to be struck. At Petone she stopped singing some of tho hymns because she did not know the words. She asked them not to strike lights because she thought it would injure her brother, who had told her of a medium in Sydney being injured by a similar cause. She had never seen . her brother with any muslin. She had seen a bottle like tho one produced at Wanganui, and her brother said he had got it in Sydney for " rubbing on his corns." It was in the day time when she saw it, and it was not luminous then. Her brother had never said anything about this business being humbug. He had always represented it as genuine, and she had no reason to doubt it. She believed these appearances were the spirit of Amelia and Rosie. To Inspector Pender: She had never seen any other muslin than that captured at Petone by Mr Vaughan. She had never noticed her brother being increased in bulk before seances. She had only been at five seances with him. Edith Brown, ticket writer, said she knew Mr Hackett in New South Wales, and before his sister came had sat with him at four seances in Wellington. At two of them the medium was searched by a committee, and the committee said they found nothing upon him. After that the same manifestations took plase as had already been described. She believed they were perfectly genuine. She did not see Miss Hackett until she saw her in Court. William McLean, commission agent, said some time ago he was requested to allow his house to be used for a seance given by Hackett. The seance was held, and at his (Hackett's) request a committee of three was appointed to search him. Two of them were Civil servants and one was a managing clerk for a firm of solicitors. Witness was also in the room. Nothing was found on him. Miss Hackett was not present. No chemical test was applied to his skin. After the searching the Bamo things occurred as had been already described. Witness himself put up the cabinet during the day. Witness had seen perfect materialisation in its highest form; he thought this was imperfect materialisation, but that it was genuine. Witness was also present, as chairman, at a sitting given by Hackett at the Psychological Society's rooms. Miss Hackett was not present. To Inspector Pender: Several forms appeared, and witness examined the muslin they had on them. The muslin he examined at the Society's rooms was not the same as that produced. This closed the case for the defence, and both the accused were then committed for trial, bail being fixed at two sureties of .£35 each, and themselves in a like amount. Inspector Pender said ho would offer no evidence in regard to the other charges, and they were dismissed.