Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.) _Price, 50 cents_ Do the Dead Return? A Startling Story from Life Crown Publishing Company San Francisco 1900 [Illustration: DR. LOUIS SCHLESINGER.] DO THE DEAD RETURN? A TRUE STORY OF STARTLING SEANCES IN SAN FRANCISCO _NOTICE_ _This work is copyrighted. Editors are warned not to make unlawful abridgments._ CROWN PUBLISHING COMPANY SAN FRANCISCO 1900 COPYRIGHT, 1900 BY CROWN PUBLISHING CO. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION 5 THE AUTHOR'S STORY 7 THE "EXAMINER" SEANCE 14 SOME STARTLING DAYLIGHT SEANCES 19 CHARACTER OF THE NARRATORS 55 INTRODUCTION. Before this little volume is read a few words of explanation should be carefully weighed, for otherwise the reader might go away with many false impressions. The author desires to say that every word here printed is absolutely and literally true. Nothing has been added or suppressed, but the entire truth has been expressed, usually in the exact language of the distinguished gentlemen whose narratives make the bulk of the book. In most instances the witnesses summoned wrote their accounts with their own hands, and the original manuscripts are still preserved. Though many years have passed since the events recorded herein transpired, all who witnessed the phenomena are still alive, and all are well-known and reputable citizens of San Francisco. It was only a few days ago that the author met Captain W. S. Barnes, who was District Attorney of the City and County of San Francisco in 1893 (the date of the occurrences with which the book deals), and he said: "What I saw in the presence of the medium has puzzled me all these years. I can truthfully say that the things that took place at Mayor Ellert's office are the most wonderful events that I have ever come upon. They are absolutely beyond my understanding." The circumstances with which the narrative deals are an important contribution to the history of psychic research, and they are presented for what they are worth while the witnesses and actors in the story are alive. THE AUTHOR. _San Francisco, September, 1900._ CHAPTER I. THE AUTHOR'S STORY. In the autumn of 1891, the author of this narrative was business manager of the Modesto (California) _Daily News_. One afternoon while he was engaged in an important consultation with the late Senator J. D. Spencer, one of the owners of the _News_, there was a knock at the door of the editorial rooms. In a twinkling an old gentleman entered; he was a venerable-looking, long-bearded man, with Hebraic features.