DEPARTED "SPIRITS."

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11028, 17 March 1914, Page 3

DEPARTED "SPIRITS."

HOW THEY MATERIALISED. WHEN THE MATCH WAS LIGHTED. GRABBING AT A " GHOST." (Sydney "Telegraph.'') For some time past Mr Lh.'irlos Bailey, who holds a great reputation--among tho spiritualists, especially m Melbourne, as a " medium," has been giving seances in Sydney at Leign. House, in Castlereagh Street. under a salaried engagement to Mr 11. Towns, to give a lecture on , Sunday evening, and also two seances o'jcu week. One of these seances is termed "an " apport seance," during which Mr Bailey claims that lie has pioduce;l live birds from India, a bird's nest from the same country, and archasological tablets from Babylon. On another night in the week he gives a " materialised seailce," when he briugs before his audience departed people. 1 lie.se materialised spirits appear in the dark in luminous form, and the audience have no difficulty in seeing them. The incidents recorded below are vouched for not only by Mr Towns, but also by three other men who were present at the seance.

BAILEY IN THE CABINET. "Mr Bailev was under engagement to me." said Mr Towns last t.ight, " and by reason of his assurances, combined with those of other people, I at first believed that his ' apports ' and 'materialised spirits' were genuine. Lately''l began to suspect fraud, so'l determined to investigate the seance this evening by grabbing the form of the departed spirit. If I could pass ray hand through the spirit niy doubts would be lulled to rest. If my hand could clutch .the spirit—well, .1 would know that there was fraud somewher 1 ?. " On this occasion there were fortyfive people present, who had paid an admission fee of 5s each. When we first entered the room there was plenty of light. There were chairs around the walls of tho room, with two rows of chairs in the centre. Bailey took bis position ' in what he called a' 'cabinet This was merely one of the corners of the room screened off by two red curtains, which could bo drawn apart to show tho medium. When we first saw Bailey he was sitting on a fchair in this so-called cabinet, and he addressed the explaining what was about to take place. He said ;o us, ' I would like you people to understand that it would be dangerous to the health of the medium to produce a light or make any noise while lie is iu the trance. Any sudden shock would bring death to the medium. He gave us clearly to understand that his life was in our, hands. He also explained that the spirits of departed people would appear before them, clothed and visible to the naked eye. He would be in a trance, and during that trance he would cause the spirits to appear. \ " He told us to put out the lights, and then said ' Sing something.' I led off with the hymn, ' Shall We Gather at the River?' At his suggestion Ave joined hands so as to complete what .he called ' a magnetic circle.' A FEMININE SPIRIT APPEARS.-

" After we had sung two verses the curtains at the cabinet were drawn aside by Bailey and'at the same moment a 'spirit' appeared, in a luminousform. "We could see that it was shaped like a woman, though the facial features were not distinguishable: '' A member of the audience asked, ' Who is this lady ?' " Mr Bailey in deep tones replied, ' This is the departed spirit of a lady who was once* in a convent at Geelong.' . . "A ladv asked: 'Can the spirit talk?' ~

"Mr Bailey said, 'No. Some mediums produce spirits who speak, but that is very rare. lam only a physical medium.' " ■ Continuing, Mr Towns said that Bailey produced the luminous forms of four other. " spirits." One of these was a. child, but this they could hardly distinguish. Another of the luminous personages was described as a dancer wild died in Sydney a few years ago. This "spirit" did what Mr Towns described as "a fantastic wriggle, and performed a jig before the audience."

SEIZING THE SPIRIT. The final scene was exciting in the extreme. Mr Towns describes it in the following words:—"When Bailey announced tlie last ' spirit' I was ' sitting near the cabinet,' and I made a grab at the ghostly apparition; _My hand came in contact with some flimsy material like mosquito netting. At the same moment I called for a light, and Mr Cherry struck a match which, however, remained alight only a few seconds. It- sufficed to 6how that I had hold of one end of the mosquito netting, and that tiailey was pulling hard at the other'end with one hand, while with the other he was trying to put on his elastic-side boot, which he had apparently taken off under cover of the* darkness. Another ipatcli was struck and the gas was lighted. There was at once intense excitement, in the midst of which I exclaimed, 'Bailey, I have got you this time.' Bailey thrust the .mosquito netting under his coat, and buttoned it up, placing his arm across it. I called out to ..the people, 'Search this man! If. he has any material, hidden under his coat he is a fraud; if not, then I will proclaim his genuineness.' Some of the audience cried out, 'Don't insult him; don't handle him roughly.' Meanwhile. Bailey was pushing- h'ard to-reach the door, and the crowd thronged tightly around him. Bailey called out, ' Don't touch me, or I .will have you up for assault.' Some of the people said, ' Give the man a chance to explain.' I offered to let-Bailey go into the corner and make any explanation he desired. But he refused. ~He threw open the door J and ran down the stairs, without his hat. He fled up the street, (phased by some of the men, and also by some of the women, and took refuge in a residence in the city."

An attempt was made by a representative of the " Daily Telegraph " to secure an interview with Mr Bailey, hut admission to the house in which he took refuge was refused.