"I signified my willingness to hear from the spirit, whereupon the Doctor said, 'Old boy, I'm not quite as dead as you think.' Then he mentioned the name of Joseph Touhill. Now, this circumstance deeply impressed me, because the language was so characteristic of the dead burglar, it having been customary with him to address me as 'Old boy.' Mind-reading will have to be rejected as an explanation, because the Doctor subsequently read a name that was on a pellet that I had not opened, and knew nothing about until I subsequently read it. I picked up the pellet from the desk where I had put it with a number of others, and handed it to Mayor Ellert, who, without examining it, deposited it in his vest-pocket. Then came rappings on the table, and the medium said: 'Behind you stands the spirit of the man whose name is on that paper. He was an eminent person, and he died far away from here. He is waving a flag over your head, and on it is written the name of Victor Hugo.' "The name was correct. Subsequently the Doctor correctly read the name of William Cullen Bryant, which I had also written. The Doctor quoted the spirit of the poet as saying that he was delighted that I was interested in demonstrating that there was a world of spirits. Dr. Schlesinger's feats are bewildering to the human mind. If he is a mere trickster he possesses in a marvelous way the skill to disguise his character, for his appearance and demeanor are those peculiar to fanaticism or strong faith in a cause. "THEO. F. BONNET." MR. M'CLOSKEY'S VERSION. The following is the narrative of Mr. H. H. McCloskey, a resident of Merced at the time of the seance, but now a San Francisco lawyer:-- "I did not attend the little seance at the Mayor's office by appointment. I was on my way to finish up some business and catch the 4-o'clock boat, when District Attorney Barnes suggested that I drop in and see the fun. Intending to remain but a few moments, I accepted the invitation, and have no reason to regret having done so. As to what happened there, while I remember perfectly well what was done, and kept careful note of all that I saw, I am unable to account for it on any other hypothesis than that the Doctor was, as he claims to be, a spiritual medium. At the same time I am not prepared to admit that much. "What I saw I saw clearly; it was real and devoid of illusion. There being no one present but the Mayor and thoroughly reputable gentlemen, collusion by which a portion of the events of that afternoon might be accounted for is, of course, out of the question; and neither collusion, mind-reading, nor anything else could account for all that occurred.