A NEW SPIRITUALISTIC MEDIUM.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 314, 25 December 1884, Page 2

A NEW SPIRITUALISTIC MEDIUM.

A new spiritualistic “ medium,” Society says, has arisen, and numerous members of the Royal Family have honored him with their visits. The late Duke of Albany was so much impressed with what he saw at one seance that he went to the trouble of having a special double siate made, framed in oak, with elaborate brass mountings, and fitted with a patent Bramah lock. Armed with this, he presented himself one morning at the medium’s apartments, and a small piece of pencil having been dropped between the slates, they were duly locked (the key being attached to the duke’s watch chain) and under these conditions—conditions which would appear to preclude all possibility of fraud —the pencil was soon heard grating over the surface of the slate and when the key was applied to the lock, and the sides opened, there was a long message. The late Duke always con- " sidered this a crucial test, and from that day was a firm believer in the truth of *’ direct spirit writing.” His Royal Highness always maintained that the majority of the written messages be received came from his lamented and favorite cister Princess Alice of Hesse, and a man of the late Duke’s abilities and attainments was not at all a likely subject to be easily imposed on by a “clever conjurer,” as suggested in some quarters. So convinced, indeed, was the Duke of Albany of the possibility of departed spirits communicating in this way with those on earth, that before his departure on that fatal journey to Cannes—with, pcihaps, some foreboding of what was to happen—he deposited the slat he had made with lhe medium, piomising.ifanything happened, to communicate a written message on this particular slate, and thus establish direct proof of the correctness of the phenomena. For many days alter his decease attempts were made to obtain the promised message, but, up to the present date, none has been received ; and the believers in spiritualism, for a reason well known amongst themselves, confidently assert that none will be received until some long period has elapsed.