Untitled

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10659, 12 May 1906, Page 5 (Supplement)

WELL-K^^^^^^^^^^^^^H Another "^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H trickerj^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H linf^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l attendec^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l made "^^^^^^^^^^^^^^fl the officia^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H the Mark^^^^^^^^^^^H Admiral W. Usborne^^^^^^^^^^H caught Mr Crnddock, <*^^^^^^^^H known mediums tlu^^^^^^^^H world, impersonating spirit^^^^^^^^J 'Ihe story, told graphicali^^^^^^H Colonel Mark Maybe w, is as ft^^^^^H "Being anxious to witness t^^^^^l menon of materialisation, my w^^^^^f Were taken by some friends ol^^^^| Mr Craddock's house at Pinnedl^^^^H part m a seance. We weiu_^^^^^H confidence, and witliout a slutf^^^^^H picion, and by the time the "cRH|^H over we were forced to tho eoncuWH| •that the whole thing was unadulterated fraud. "The room m front of us was pitch dark, and, behind the circle, dt was sliglhtly. illumined by a red photographic lantern. After an address by the medium m supposed trance, voices of an unquestionably 'ventriloquial' character began. They could easily be recognised as the medium's voice disguised. FALSE BEARD. "After somewhat lengthy intervals, forms, purporting to be relations of sitters, came round the circle, illumining their faces with luminous screens. Most of these bore a striking resemblance to one another, and were 'lakes' of a, most obvious character — the false beard, moustache, etc., being badly stuck on — and Would have done poor credit to a fourthrate marionette show. "One or two forms, pretending to be relations I had never had, came, to me, and a little child called to my wife, calling her .'mother' — we have never lost a cluld I My wife and I were forced to agree that tho performance was a fraud. "We went again the week after, and the same characters were impersonated, i.e., Dr Graem, Dr Arnold, Sister Amy, La belle Cerise, and Joey Grimaldi, Again the same miserable farce took place, which .could only And. its paiallel m tlie gullibility of some of, the sitters, one lady remarking to her husband, us a ' form came to them, 'Why, it' 6 your father!' and he, the husband, answeied, 'Why, 6o it is— no, it isn't, it's mother 1' " 'Joey' informed me that one of tlie spirits present was my mother, who,*! am glad to say, is alive, aud, for her, very well. I therefore determined to expose what I was convinced was fraudulent, and liaving obtained an invitation for my wife, ' self, and my friend, the Hon. Dudley Carieton (late 9tb Lancers), we attended last Sunday afternoon at Pinner, paying thirty shillings. " EXPOSING THE FRAUD. "The usual impersonations were made. 'Joey' announced that- Mr Colleton's mother was present — Lady Dorchester being alive and well! A small piece ol mirror was lianded round, and we were asked to believe it was a. spirit-light. "An old' person, With a stuck ( -on white board, went to one or two, and tlie.n. there came to me a form with a turnedup white moustache, evidently stage property. He came quite close, and I iniinediaitely seized him by the arms. He struggled violently, and, unable to get away, threw himself backwards into the cabinet, pulling me with lum. "I called for light from ,Mr Garleton, who carried a small electric lantern, - and I found the person I had seized was Mr Craddock! Some confusion followed and the medium was recognised 'by the light. "A Mr Rodd wlio was present saw him remove Ms false moustache and place it m his pocket. I then released lum, and his wile concealed him behind the curtain. He. then pretended to go under control of Dr Graem, who expressed disapproval of the proceedings. "Real 1 - Admiral Moore, who- was 'm charge,' now assumed command, with tlu approval of all, and appointed a search committee to search the medium and' hii wife. , "SPIRIT' LIGHTS. "The dooi was locked and the key given to Admiral Moore. The lamp was lighted and I found a small electric torch, evidently used for 'spirit' lights, m a. drawer m the cabinet, which, when examined by several before the seance, had been empty. The medium, how» ever, refused to be searched, and ordered us out. "Mrs Craddock attacked Admiral Moore with the fire shovel m her attempts to get the key from him. Admiral Moore again demanded a search from Craddock, who placed himself m a fighting attitude and threatened to 'set about' any one who touched him. "Everything possible was done^foi some time to get the medium to submit to a search, but although the admiral begged him for the sake of his wife arid .child and his reputation, he resolutely refused. The adnjiral then told him we could only conclude that he was a fraud, to which he said : 'Call me what you like, you shall not search me now.' The offered a test seance at a future date.

"Mr Carleton, Mr Rodd, and my wife give me full leave to state that they toncur m every way m my denunciation of Craddock as a fraud and a trickster. He may have been, may be now, a medium, but I say without . doubt that on this occasion he was caught red-handed impersonating spirits." . After the refusal of search Mrs Craddock returned their money and they leftSEIZED THE GHOST. Rear-Admiral Moore's account of the seizure of Mr Craddock bears out Lieut. Colonel Mark Mayhew's m every respect. He says: — "While the- face of a man was being exhibited by illuminated .slate to Colonel Mayhew j the form was seized by him, a light was turned on, and Mr Craddock was found on the floor m his arms. "When the medium had scrambled into his seat a voice (not his natural one but that which we usually .recognise as the Voice of the control 'Graem') talked volubly of, the iniquity of 'breaking conditions.'

"Mrs Craddock rushed m and there was much confusion, not/ however, sufficient to prevent one of the sitters observing that the medium took •' something from his face and put it m his pocket. The door was locked and the key given to me.

"I now consulted Colonel Mayhew, Mr Carleton, and two other gentlemen. We agreed that the repeated refusal of Mr and Mrs Craddock to allow themselves artd the room to be searched, together with the discovery of the 'Everre_dy,' was sufficient evidence' of the presence of trickery ; and to end a painful scone, of which four .ladies were "unhappy witnesses, I allowed the door to be unlocked, and Mr Craddock to go out. • "I know Mr Craddock to be a medium, for I have seen and heard manifestations when he has' been m trance (four or five phenomena simultaneously) which aro inexplicable by any theory of jugglery known to man, but last night (Sunday) he undoubtedly attempted to amplify his- natural powers by fraudulent means.'' Lieut. -Colonel Mark Mayhew also remarks that this exeprience m no way weakens his convictions as to tho genuineness of his faith held by spiritualists. ' Colonel Mayhew, interviewed last evening by an Exprcsh representative, repeated his conviction- that Mr Craddock had pertain powers as a medium. "But it was pitiful to see how those people believed m what they were shown,", he added. "We were seated m a semi-circle, with our bands joined, and the gentleman next to my wife was ,80 overcome by seeing andi conversing with what he believed was (he spirit of his mother, that, after the 'vision' had disappeared he had to wipe his eyes, and he apologised to my wife for having to lift her hand with his to bis face, for we were not allowed to unlink hands, otherwiso the 'conditions' were broken.

"One character thai appeared was named Abdullah, and it was m every respect an excellent make-up. But, unfortunately for him, Abdullah had to turn his back to us once while speaking to a member of the audience and. both my wife and I distinctly saw Mr Craddock's black lounge suit, the folds of the Arab drapery not being qiii.te closely brought together at the back. "The proceedings opened with hymns and prayers, suitable enough if the affair had been genuine, but m my opinion nothing but blasphemous under the circumstances. AWAITING THE SPIRITS. "An, elderly lady sat at the pianb and played (m the dark, of course) 'Lead kindly Light,' 'Nearer,, My God to Thee,' and other sacred tunes, and we had to keep on singing them until the 'spirits' were ready to come. "Mr Craddock pretended, when m the trance, to be under the control of Dr. Graem, who was supposed to live m Lyons. ' So when he first began speaking his accents was tinged with French. But it soon passed from that into the broadest Lancashire.

"Admiral Moore and myself wore hot acting together. We were strangers to each other until that evening, and it is the more satisfactory to me that I should have been able to prove to one who is so prominent and so widely respected m spiritualistic circles that this seance was a fraud."