“I am afraid I must assume that Thomson is aware of that, and
therefore is not acting in good faith, because once in England
the same sort of statement was made, either at Leicester or at
Nottingham I think, and I wrote to a paper to contradict it.
“With all good wishes believe me,
“Faithfully yours,
(Signed) “OLIVER LODGE.”
Sir Arthur personally told me that he was convinced of the genuineness
of the Welsh miners of Cardiff, or Thomas Brothers. Stuart Cumberland
who was infinitely my superior in investigation (he had a start of 20
years) told me that there wasn’t a chance of the Thomas Brothers being
genuine, and related how, owing to the great interest of Sir Arthur
in them, the _London Daily Express_ eventually induced them to hold a
seance before a committee of investigators. Cumberland was to have been
one of the committee, but the mediums refused to allow him to be “Among
those present.” As they refused to proceed if Cumberland was admitted,
it was thought advisable to eliminate him. Before leaving, Cumberland
arranged the musical instruments that were used and instructed the
investigating committee how to detect fraud. The feature of the
seance was the passing along in the circle, of a button and a pair of
suspenders, which were thrown on the knees of a news Editor present.
I ask the common-sense reader what benefit this would be--to project
a button clear across the room and to find a pair of suspenders on a
sitter’s knee? If there is any object lesson in this, please let me
know!
At the seance, Lady Doyle was asked whether she was cold, on answering
in the affirmative a holland jacket which had been worn by the medium
was dropped in her lap. The Thomas Brothers claimed this had been done
by the Spirits. When the seance was over, the medium was found bound
but minus his coat.
When I quizzed Sir Arthur about the manner in which the Thomas Brothers
of Cardiff were bound during a seance which he attended, he told me
that they were secured so tightly that it was impossible for them to
move as they were absolutely helpless. I told him that did not make it
genuine, for any number of mediums had been tied the same way and had
managed to free themselves. He replied that I might be able to release
myself by natural means, but that mediums do not have to, as they
always receive Spiritual help. Maybe so, but I should like, sometime,
to tie them myself and see whether the Spirits could release them under
test conditions.[85]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account