THE SEANCES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 594, 24 August 1909, Page 6

THE SEANCES.

TERMB OP CHALLENGE. / V STILL A DIFFERENCE. ' , Mr. Thomas W. Driver, who denies that there is any spiritualistic agency in connection with the "apports" produced by Mr Charles Bailey, medium, at his seances, has ,/- now placed £100 in the hands of the editor of tho "New Zealand Tunes," to support a challenge in the following torms —"(1) Bailey > shall stfrp' to the skin and bo thoroughly examined hy tho medical fraternity of AA cllington in jny presence (2) After such examination he shall bo placed in a sack to bo pro- , vuled with sleeves The sack shall be drawn over Bailey's head, tied, and hermetically sealed. Tho'sleeve wrisis shall also bo tied , and hermetically sealed, tho medium's two hands alone being visible (3) The medium I final] then be placed m a four-sided glass cabinet, and after he is placed in the said cabinet the ddor of the cabinet shall be closed K and hermetically sealed also (4) While tho medium is in this condition, he, Abdul, Selim, t or any other Hindu Fakir shall bring by spiritual agenoy 'the following inside the cibmet, without, the cabinet being in any -. way tampered with One live bird, one nest, and two eggs (5) The whole of the proccedi , mgs—examination, tests, and bringing of 1 'apports'—shall be done in the full light on the open stage, so as to be visible to every one , (6) A comnlittee of repiesentative gentlemen, editors, literati, the clergy, and scientific, shall be appointed (7) The test shall take place in the Town Hall, Wellington, within two weeks from now (8) The public of Wellington shall be admitted at a fee, ahd the money taken at the door shall bo handed over to his Worahip tho Mayor, to bo" disposed of as ho and the committeo shall decide upon ' ' (9) If tho said apports are produced under the above conditions, inside the cabinet, and JA the decision of the committee is in favour of Mr William M'Lean and Charles Bailey, the £200 is theirs to do what they like with it If no apports aro forthcoming in one hour and the decision'is in mv favour, then /tho £200 is mine, to do as I think fit with it (10) On no" account shall Mr M'Lean go near or talk to the medium Bailey from the time the test starts to the time the medium comes out of tho cabinet (11) The bag and glass cabiaet shall be supplied by me, and also on. no account shall Mr. M'Lean or any of his - '' 'Confederates go near tho cabinet " Mr. W. M'Lean In Answer ' These conditions on the part of Mr ~ Driver were refcired last night to Mr William M'Lean, who inaugurated tho seances Mr M'Lean stated .that he had already accepted the original challenge ofiMr Driver, worded as follows'— _ "I claim, unequivocally and without reservation, that the so-called phenomena of Spiritualism are produced entirely by human agenoy, and denounce mediums, one and all, as tricksters The above , sum, will bo wagered that I can fully, completely, and satisfactorily perform any manifestation of so-called spirit power which I am permitted to witness three times Through your paper I challenge Mr. William M'Lean to allow me to test Charles Bailoy_ under rigid teat conditions. A few days "ago Mr. M'Lean )told me Bailey was 'no conjurer.' Let me prove to Wellington and himself that a conjurer v t knows more than he does about a spirit v. medium We have had quite enough theory from the Spiritualists, let us now have some- ■ thing practical" ' j Mr M'Lean , continued that he had deposited his conditions with tho gontlc- *■ - handed over the £100 on his boi half to the editor of The Dominion, and as soon as the gentleman had time ho would, ■ no doubt, make them public He (Mr 1 M'Lean) had lost no time in formuhting his conditions v l Mr. M' Loan's Conditions. ( Briefly, they were that Mr Driver must perform the same feats as had been pei termed by Mr. Bailey, in the samo roomnot in the Town Hall—after the samo exammation, and generally in the samo circumstances as far as^possible He defied j Driver,, to produce similar /" apports " under those conditions From a Spiritualists' .. point of view, it was absurd to suggest that j Bailey should produce his phenomena" in tho Town Hall Tho circumstances must be favourable, to allow the spirits to play their part, and an attendance of forty persons was Hhe largest that'could be assembled K J" tfco " t detriment to tho spirit influences Tho Town Hall, where men made in tho image of God wero allowed to pound one another, was a place entirely unsuitod for the manifestations required Mr M'Lean affirmed that when people came to the seances m a hostile spirit, their< mental state impaired the prospwts of tho' phono- ( 1 mena, If they would como with an open mind, and not create an atmosphere of opposition to tho agencies, the phenomena would be more'strikuig, jfhd it might oven bo possible to produce tho "apports" without darkness Those were fino torces that were engaged, and the/conditions must be mado favourable to their operations If it wero not so, and if the phenomena could/tako' place in any buildinei and before dny number of people, .would it not have betn natural for him to engage tho Town Hull or the Opera Housp in the first mstanco, ami secure the financial advantages which such a course would offer? i Referring to Mr Driver's original chal- ■■ lenge, Mr M'Lean said —"I accept tho definition that tho phenomena aro produced through human agency, ; and the genuine operations axe by ox-carnate spirits who were human, and are still human and not divine I say that Bailoy is no trickster, and we can leave all other mediums alono I admit that huudreds of people calling themselves spiritualistic mediums have been found out to bo frauds, and I myself, with a- great number of leading spiritualist*, have denounced people pretending to bo spiritually istic mediums while thoy have not tlio i slightest mediumistic powor, but wo are' dealing now with only one medium, and I say that Bailey is no conjuror 1 will agree , , that Mr Driver shall test him under rigid conditions He may witness a committee examining Bailey) and 'f tho examination is not to his satisfaction a medic il man present may make a further examination under Mr Driver's instructions," ' * Mr. Driver's Terms Opposed. As Tegards tho conditions proposed by Mr Driver, Mr M'Lean mado it appear that he was not disposed to consider them seriously, claiming, as ho did, that the conditions wero for him to make, ho having accepted Mr Driver's original challengo He disapproved of tho suggestion * that tho medium should bo placed m a glass case, ,„as he was not sure that the "apports" could <■ penetrate through glass The opaqueness ' of glass was of a peculiar quality, magnetism could be transmitted'thiough that substance, but not electricity Other conditions proposed by Mr Driver to which he was opposed weie Nos 5, 6, 7, and 8 Ho was quite satisfied not to go near Bailey, or to speak to him during the seanco It was stated that a suit of clothes is being made for Bailey, which will be entirely pockctless Mr M'Lean will be willing to let Mr Driver, or any othei person, take charge of this suit till the medium has beon stripped and searched ,for purposes of a display Then Bailey will' nut on the pockctless garb, and, in that dress, receive tho apports At a future seance, also, two university professors will bo present, who will conduct tests to show that tho statements made by Bailey under the control of Dr Whitcombo and other learned "control" could not be mado by him in his natural character A Tho reporter was shown four birds, stated to have been produced by Badey from far regions at his Wellington seances The birds, which aro of an unusually small species, appeared to bo acclimatised and well