A SPIRITUALISTIC COMEDY.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 22, Issue 67, 29 August 1911, Page 5

A SPIRITUALISTIC COMEDY.

Dr. Forbes Winslow in his recollections relates the following amusing incident at a seance. One I was asked if I would investigate a case of a spiritual fraud in the neighbourhood of Bloomsbury, where a man named B— was creating a certain amount of excitement in tha( neighbourhood by holding seances u which he was alleged to materialist the spirits of departed relatives This neighbourhood was, and is nov the favourite locality for spiritual • ists. It was agreed that three ethei gentlemen should accompany us, ant being convinced as to the fraud a lea' nature of the transaction, it waf thought advisable that we should bt armed with , squirts containing red cochineal.

We entered the room and paid the money. Proceedings commenced will a light seance, during which nothing unusual occurred. After this the room was darkened. There were twp rooms communicating with each other. Suddenly an apparition entered through the door. >'ne of our party pretended that he was. much impressed and agitated, and exclaimed : “ Oh, I recognise my dear darling child ! Oh, come nearer, conn nearer tome!” The medium, evidently not at all suspicious, came a little nearer, but when the apparition had got sufficiently close for me to make sure of my aim, f squirted my cochineal straight at it. There was tremendous consternation, and the remaining lights were put out. I rushed into the adjoining room, tuo spirit having made a precipitate flight. This proved to bo a solid spirit with a considerable amount of substance. A tussle took place between the spirit and myself, aided hji others, evidently on the spirit side ; but it ended by my bringing it into the room, and one of our party turned on the gas again. I bed hit the ” spirit ” in the forehead and* also on his dicky which was made of paper. He l|ad managed, however; to take ,his front oli. but at the same time he could not take o 3 his forehead, on which the cochineal remained. I brought him into the room in full view of the audience, and denounced him as a fraud. The majority of the audience demanded their money I vfent off at once and took a letter to one of the leading newspapers, which appeared the next morning. Evidently the spirits had not been accustomed, to squirts of cochineal. The following week ” Mr. Punch " inserted the 'following couplet: ‘‘Bravo, Dp. Winslow, you our woes'to heal,. Cpch a Spirit, coch-an-eel !” From “ Recollections of Forty Years,” by Dr. Forbes Winslow.