“... I see that you are on the Scientific American Committee, but how can it be called an Impartial Committee when you have committed yourself to such statements as that some Spiritualists pass away before they realize how they have been deluded, etc? You have every possible right to hold such an opinion, but you can’t sit on an Impartial Committee afterwards. It becomes biased at once. What I wanted was five good clear-headed men who can push to it without any prejudice at all, like the Dialectical Society[92] of London, who unanimously endorsed the phenomena. “Once more all greetings, (Signed) “A. CONAN DOYLE.” On May 21, 22 and 24 the _Scientific American_ held their first test seances. The permanent sitters were Mr. Walker, Mr. Lescurboura, Mr. J. Malcolm Bird of the Editorial staff of the _Scientific American_, Mr. Owen of the _Times_, Mr. Granville Lehrmann of the American Telephone and Telegraph and Richard I. Worrell, _a friend_ of the medium. Drs. Carrington and Prince of the Committee of Judges sat on Monday. Dr. Prince and myself on Thursday. On Tuesday the Committee was represented by Mr. Frederick Keating, conjuror. The medium, a man by the name of George Valentine of Wilkes-Barre, Penn., claimed to be genuine. He was trapped by being seated on a chair which was so arranged that when he arose an electric light arrangement was fixed in the room adjoining, together with dictographs and a phosphorous button. In the estimation of the Committee, Mr. Valentine was just a common, ordinary trickster. Lady Doyle, Miss Juliet Karcher, Mrs. Houdini, Sir Arthur and I were lunching at the Royal Automobile Club in London, May 11, 1920, and Sir Arthur called attention to the fact that a few days previously they had been sitting at the same table with a powerful medium, and he told me in a very serious tone, which was corroborated by Lady Doyle, that the table started to move all around the place to the astonishment of the waiter, who was not aware of the close proximity of the medium. All the time he was relating it, I watched him closely and saw that both he and Lady Doyle were most sincere and believed what they had told me to be an actual fact. There are times when I almost doubt the sincerity of some of Sir Arthur’s _statements_, even though I do not doubt the sincerity of his belief. I have been over a number of letters which I have received from Sir Arthur during the last few years and selected the following excerpts which show his viewpoint regarding many of the matters we have discussed. “I do not wonder that they put you down as an occult. As I read the accounts I do not see how you do it. You must be a brave man as well as exceptionally dexterous.” “How you get out of the diving suits beats me, but the whole thing beats me completely.”