JULIA'S BUREAU.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 651, 30 October 1909, Page 11

JULIA'S BUREAU.

•The bureau run ,by Mr; W. ,T. Stead by the aid of the departed spirit "Julia," to which reference is made in-this morning's cable .message; is not a new institution. It. has been opened since the end of April last, and' apparently Mr. Stead had tested the powers of, his other-world correspondent before. advancing to the point when he. qualified to. seek conversation with' Mr.'-Gladstone, - Mr. / W. '■■ H.' Smith, Lord Beaconsfield, and others concerning the burning : political question', of the day., ' It .is nro, d good . many years sinco Mr. Stead first' discovered that■•'.he- • could, as he 'believed, hold >conimuhication with tho invisible " Julia," and durin; the intervening years he has been satisfied that hd was ; in .constant communication with her, but it is evident that he is gradually finding her practical value. The "Daily, Mail" some' little time ago published tho following i description of the extraordinary "Bureau" for communication with tho spirit world:—: .:, .

"The Sanctum: Private" is the legend on the door of one of the rooms in Mowbray House, Norfolk Street, and when one learns to what use the 'room is devoted the words seem particularly appropriate; as, perhaps; does the photograph of Luini's "Silence", hung on the door. The room was formerly the private office of Mr. W. T. Stead; but is now used as a' chamber for medium and client in connection with the extraordinary, indeed unique, 'institution which Mr. Stead has founded and has called "Julia's Bureau.". ;

: Here m-this handsome■ apartment, its walls covered with photographs of the celebrities •whom Mr. Stead has known in such- largo -numbers, persons who desire. to communicato with departed loved ones can, so it is claimed, have their desire gratified should the conditions .be favourable.: ' -.'• • "Julia's Bureau" was opened at the end of .'April for "communications between the living land the so-called dead in caiss where,there is ■a strong tie of affection,' between those who •have been temporarily severed by death." Each' [applicant who desires to uso.it has tp fill out a ,form.-in;whichhe or. she declares the belief that i "tho deceased would desire such an opening up of communication as'.'earnestly as,does tlie applicant." .'- :': At';present the number of applications is 'about half a-dozen-a; day, and it is declared .that, .of the cases'accepted, 75 per cent. :have "gone'.through"—that is, communication .is believed, to have been 1 established. ~ The combination of modern business methods witn Spiritualism is-piquant, to say the least. In Mr. Stead's offices there is nothing except some' rows of, "spirit-photographs"' to suggest anything uncommon. Persons with appointments'"with 1 one orVotherjof the mediums stay in 'a waiting-room, which somehow reminds ,one of,a dentist's ante-chamber, until tbey can be attended to.'. ..-•.: ;"-'... ; . : -. '• Each applicant must subscribe a guinea to the Borderland Library, but otherwise there is no-setr charge,- and Mr.;' Stead says that on the average.each case costs him £2. It is claimed that the greatest'pains'are taken to obtain mediums of reliability ami honesty, and, should nothing result in a particular case from a sitting with one sort of medium, tho applicant tries other kinds, until satisfaction is obtained, 01? tho attempt is abandoned as hopeless.