The Timaru Herald MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1909. A "SPIRITS" BUREAU.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 14045, 1 November 1909, Page 4

The Timaru Herald MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1909. A "SPIRITS" BUREAU.

"Mr W. T. Stead some time ago opened a'bureau for the spirit whom he calls 'Julia,' to enable people 'to communicate with the departed. " Mr Stead reports a considerable conversation with Mr Gladstone, 'Mr W. H. Smith, and Lord Beacohsfield, on the present political situation. Lord Beaconsfield was very cryptic/ and added 'Publish if you like, N but the people wdl think you a 'fool.'" 'Thus ran a cable message ( published • on, Saturday. So far as we can remember, our readers.. havo -not been informed, through our columns at, aiiy rate, of this unique " bureau." There are hundreds, or thousand perhaps, of so-called ' spiritualistic making a good or indifferent .living by professing to act as <. intermediaries, tween the living and tho dead;, but it was left to the' faith and ingenuity of Mr W. T. Stead to' *' syndicate ]"', tho professors of the (Occult.,, Hi% scheme has a mercantile look about; it, ''but inoncj -making was not his "object. This" was to secure n, form of fss Lt il\sb should spread the faith, in the reality of communication with tho dean. .We havo credited tho to_ Mr Stead,' but lie would repudiate th 6 authorsliip, and say the idea of'the bureau emanated from his familiar spirit "Julia." If we mistake |not, !Mr Stead and "Julia" havo,been iirtimato friends for many years. _" Julia ; ' is* tho " Director Jl of the bureau, and she laid down' the'purposes for the bureau is tQ be used,' and the method of working it. It is not to be used for tho purpose of inveslig.ition of tho world beyond 'Or the condition of its inhabitants; bnt only, fqr the purposo of reopening personal' communication between persons one noW hying and one dead, who once Trenf friends on earth, the public interest in the matter being that this is a means* of proving whether such communication can be made. A Jist of mediums ,of, various ways of working is kept; > at tho bureau, and each applicant -who satisfies "Julia" of his or her bona fides as a friendly seeker for personal assurance that a so-called dead friend is still somohow alive, is sent to three of the sydicated mediums in, succession, accompanied by a stenographer, \ihn takes down every word that is said, and a copy of his transcribed, notes is attested by the inquirer,-' who is 'to add whether tho experiment, lias'been a success or a failure. This" 1 is'Mr Stead's own account of the bureau: — "It Will b% Julia's Bureau, not mine, although, of course, I accept the responsibility for seeing that her directions are carried out, . . I would not assume the responsibility of making tho attempt if Julia had not assured me that she will personally decido which cases tho Bureau shall take' in hand. Those who believe that 'Julia is only a phase of my subconsciousness will bo puzzled to explain how it is that she communicates with equal ease through 1110 or through two or three other Sensitives For tho pioper functioninc of the Bureau my personal I attendance will not bo necessary. Nor 1 is Julia alone. Many others arc actively co-operating with her in this effort to bridge tho abyss. If any rehanoo can bo placed'upon assurances and* communications received from the Other Side, both my son and Mr Myers arc actively interested in making this huicdii a success" (These are both deceased persons) Before the bureau was onened Mr Stead, 111 the article quoted above, remarked that "If in only ton percent, ot Such cases the applicant were convinced that ho had obtained authentic communications from beyond the giavc, the experiment would surely ho worth trying. But judging from preliminary experimental tests, tho proportion would lie much greater than ten, per cent." The , Lonaon "Daily Mail" reports . that the" applications number about half a dozen per day, and it is* declared 'that in about 75 per cent, of cases, communication is believed to have been established It will be to learn precisely what Mr Gladstoile^P|

Mr W. H. Smith awl Lord Beaconsfield told Mr Stead' about"" 1 tho present political situation"; but whatever it may havo been, it would .have been more convincing if the "communications" had - 'been, inado to some person who did not know' those deceased statesmen Stead.