IMPLICIT FAITH IN SPIRITUALISM.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18618, 14 July 1930, Page 9

IMPLICIT FAITH IN SPIRITUALISM.

Memorial Service In London. VACANT CHAIR FOR CONAN DOYLE. United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, July 11Six thousand Spiritualists will attend a memorial service on Sunday. An empty chair will be placed on the platform for Sir Arthur, while Lady Doyle will sit on the left of the empty chair, a position she always occupied at her husband’s meetings. At her special request, Mrs Estelle Roberts, clairvoyante, will also be present, though it is regarded as problematical whether Sir Conan Doyle will yet be able to demonstrate sufficiently for the medium to describe him. Lady Doyle states that she looks upon this at the last public demonstration she will attend with her husband. Only the clairvoyante will know whether Sir Conan Doyle’s spirit really is in the chair, but the meeting is regarded as the biggest attempt at clairvoyance ever made, outrivalling the last Armistice service at Queen’s Hall, when Mrs Roberts described and named twenty spirits which were present. THAT SECRET CODE WORD. VIEW OF DIRECT VOICE MEDIUM. “BUILDING MACHINE TO PICK UP MESSAGES.” (Special to the “Herald ”) CHRISTCHURCH, July 13. “The fact that Conan Doyle did not use the code word previously agreed j upon when he is said to have com- ; municated with Mrs Cottrell does not discountenance the message, for there is no guarantee that he would be able |to use it once he had passed over. ! Although he was a leader of the movej ment on this earth that might not i allow him special privileges in the I spirit world.” So said Mr Clive Chapman, a Christchurch medium, to-day, ! when commenting on the message from | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that Mrs V. j May Cottrell, of Napier, is alleged to , have received.

Mr Chapman is a well-known Spiritualist, his book “The Blue Room,” being regarded as one of the most authentic works on direct-voice communication. After reading it, Sir Arthur wrote to Mr Chapman:—“l have just read, at a single sitting, your ‘Blue Room.’ You lead the world in the particular phase of mediumship you have developed. You seem to expect something more, but I really do not know what more one can hope for than loud voices in the light. Well done!”

Mr Chapman said it was impossible to condemn or to affirm Mrs Cottrell’s message. She was a reliable medium who had communicated with the late Lord Northcliffe. “There can be no doubt that Conan Doyle will endeavour to communicate with us,” said Mr Chapman. “It will be necessary, however, to guard against frauds. The news of Conan Doyle’s passing is still so fresh that people’s minds are subconsciously coloured with thoughts of him. This may lead to an honest belief that communication has been established with him, whereas, in reality, the message will be coming from an intervening spirit. “I think that Conan Doyle will be more likely to communicate with direct-voice mediums in London, for then there will be every chance of his voice being identified,” he said.

Mr Chapman pointed out that in the past there had been many instances of fraud messages. With direct-voice mediumship this was almost impossible. He was at present working on a machine with which it was hoped to pick-up and broadcast messages from the spirit world in the same way as concerts were transmitted by wireless.