THE SPOOKS OF WAIHI

NZ Truth, Issue 1253, 5 December 1929, Page 8

THE SPOOKS OF WAIHI

Maypr Wallnutt Cfelares No.

Seance Was Held

"N.Z. Truth" has received from Mayor Wallnutt, of Waihi, -^ a letter concerning the peculiar occurrences m which Mr. and • Mrs. Collins were concerned, and which were the subject of anarticle m "Truth" of last week. r : Mr. Wallnutt's letter is as follows :

*4 T TAKE it r y oii will permit a, reply %d •*• your article m your issue of November 28 m all fairness. "The true facts •briefily summarised are as follows: On Wednesday morning, November 18, about 5 o'clock, Mr. Collins came to my house and appealed to me as mayor to help him, alleging that he and his wife had been hypnotised by Mr. Barnett, that they had had no sleep for two nights, and that the furniture. had been magnetised. . "After visiting the house and speaking to Mrs. Collins, Mr. Collins and . I decided to see Mr. Barnett at once and advise him to leave the town, as it was quite apparent tome the Collins's were m great fear of his personal influence. "After tramping through heavy rain we located him m another private home. He denied all responsibility and refused to leave the town. "Later, I agreed with -him that he should visit; the Collins home that Wednesday evening, but Mr! Collins said that once he (Mr. Barnett) entered the house he would have them under his influence, and when Mr. Barnett sent his note along Mr. Collins replied m the negative. "At Mr. Collins's request I came to his house that evening as a friend, and did all I could to persuade him that he had the power to throw off this evil obsession. "There was no , seance or 'meeting,' as hinted at m 'Truth.' ■ After ci few .hours both Mr. and Mrs. Collins appeared, to regain their normal state of mind, and Mr. Mac Williams and myself quite naturally advised them to take a short *holiday. • "Next day they both left for Auckland, and were still apparently quite right, m their minds. "In 'Truth' of November 28, l-eferring to Thursday- morning, it is stated: 'That Mrs. Collins's near, neighbor was not the only one m Waihi to foe early astir that morning. , Mrs. Pamplin also had early visits, it m said, from Mayor Wallhutt, and Collins, who called to ask for Barnett. The two men. left, and later Barnett was found m the east end of Waihi, but Collins was not present.' ; "Two important inaccuracies here! tt was on Wednesday morninff, when Collins appealed to me for help, that he and I visited Pamplin's m search of Barnett, and when we eventually found Barnett,; of course, Collins was present, because it was he who ordered Barnett out of the town. Mr. Mac Williams was not present. ! Appealed For Help "The most serious' inaccuracy, however, is that contained m the following black-letter, sentence: 'No doubt Wa.llnutt and Mac Williams -were by this time tecominsr somewhat perturbed. Indirectly they had been associated m ths matter of whatever it was that had disturbed the minds of Mr. and Mrs .Collins to the extent that they had attempted to remove the influence of the lost spirits.' "This is a serious indictment In that it is alleged we had been associated m some manner with the condition of the Collins's, and. its falsify is immediately aoparent when it is recognised that the whole evil visitation to the Col- , tins family had occurred prior to . Mr. Collins appealing to me for help, and prior to either Mr. MaoWilliams or myself going near the ■' family or entering their house. "Another inaccuracy: 'It is -well'?nown, however,- that Mayor Wallnutt tas for many years been the central Ifrure m spiritualistic circles m Waihi.' This is also untrue. "There are no 'spiritualistic circles' m Waihi to my knowledge, neither is there any association or sooietjy.

Some years ago 'there was~a society but I was riot a~mem'ber of it. • '. ' "I do not know Mr. Collins as a spiritualist, and I have never discussed religious subjects with him 1 at anytime. "I am certainly a believer m .the spiritualism as defined fay 1 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle during his lectures m South Africa, for m my opinion, to deny the truth of this beautiful religion is to destroy the whole foundation of all religion. Christianity. \ "■'All the churches.' says Sir Arthur, 'should be; heart and soul on the side of the spiritualists, but instead, they are snarling and snapping at uh all the time.' ' . "If table -rapping, -phenomena hunting, and securing tips for race meetings constitutes a spiritualist, then I am not a spiritualist. "I question' very emphatically whether Mr. Barnett has been reported correctly when it is stated that I Tiad tried to get! him to divine where gold was, and to assist him and his partner.' This is really too ludicrous to take seriously. There are scores of water and other diviners, but Mr. Barnett Is not one of them. "Mr. Barnett, as he will admit, forced his company upon us and said to me: 'I have come to Waihi for your company, and whether you like it or not, I intend to have it.' "He procured a gold wire, some mercury, and a silver chain and worried Mr. Mac Williams and myself to so out and experiment with same. "The article goes on to state: 'When Messrs. Wallnutt and Mac Williams had come to him with their recriminations, he had not attempted to argue with them. Rather he had pitied them.' \ Gold Wire And Mercury ■' "As a matter of fact, we did not gt> to Mr. Barnett with any recrimination*. Mr. Mac Williams met Mr. Barnett on the Thursday morning for the first time since the trouble to Collins, and by himself. Mr. MacWilliamß states that for nearly two hours he attempted to argue with Mr. Barnett and dissuade him from continuing: his particular teaching, but that 'for every two words,' says Mr. Mac Williams. *I managed to get. m, Mr. Barnett got In seven!' Oh, dear no, Mr. Barnett had not 'attempted to argue.' "Another mis-statement: 'He (Mr. Barnett) had implored to be allowed to *| po to the Collins home and call upon jj the divine .",. .' but that 'the two^B Waihi men (Wallnutt and MacWil-™ liams) had refused to allow him to doB "As already stated, | arranged ■ with Mr. Barnett to visit Collins 9 that evening, but the latter vetoed 1 the proposal. Mr. Mac Williams ~ had nothing to do with it at all. "In my opinion, Mr. Barnett la a well-meaning: man, but his methods are objectionable and his teachings . dangerous. . I have seen many cases of religious mania m Waihi. Not one of the persons affected was known as a spiritualist. "Mr. Barnett is not preaching spiritualism. He had gone far beyond it, and has entered upon a phase of doctrine which, like the occurrence of religious mania, is prone, as m the Collins's case, to find the weak spot m the mentality of say, one m ten thousand. "If he has been reported correctly, then he really admits the possibility of such a happening. , "In fairness to Mr. Mac Williams and myself I think full publicity should be given to this reply. ' "Tours faithfully, "W. M. WALLNUTT. "Mayor, Waihi." Protect your clothes against moths, silver-fish, etc. Spray wardrobes with Elytox. Bflfeotive-HffiU not stain,*.