SEANCES WITH MRS. FAIRCHILD.
The mediumship of Mrs. Fairchild differs from that of others inasmuch as
she stands outside of the cabinet, under the influence of one of her
controls, managing the seance with great skill and judgment, thus
eliminating from her seances all chance of transfiguration or
personation by the medium, forcing the skeptic or investigator to the
conclusion that the forms are either genuine materializations or
confederates.
The position of her cabinet, placed as it is between two rooms, is
certainly open to criticism. A thorough examination of it, however,
revealed no possible chance for the concealment of draperies or the
entrance of a confederate.
In order to meet the objections which have been made to this
arrangement, she has drawn a light curtain across the corner of the
room. Backed as it is by solid walls, the forms that come from this
temporary cabinet cannot be confederates, and the skeptic may answer as
best he can the question, What are they?
This cabinet, however, is only used occasionally, and the average
visitor sees only what comes from the main cabinet. If this temporary
arrangement is so successful, and I know it is, there is some force in
the objection made against using the other. Every medium is in justice
bound to give to visitors the best conditions possible. Mr. Whitlock
thus describes seances held with Mrs. Fairchild, Sept. 12 and 19:--
"The medium was controlled in a few moments by 'Cadaleene,' a
very interesting spirit, who managed the seance with perfect
nonchalance, selecting with ease and correctness the persons
whom the spirits desired to come to the cabinet, thereby
fulfilling the double office, with Mrs. Fairchild, of medium and
manager.
"During this seance the medium was outside, and in view of the
audience, except on one or two occasions, when she went into the
cabinet for a moment; and at the last, when her control,
Cadaleene, who had promised to materialize, came out so perfect
in action and voice that I shall never forget her grateful
attentions as she knelt at my side. Time after time more than
one form was out of the cabinet at the same moment, and in one
case five persons, including a child.
"One of the most convincing proofs of materialization was the
following: A lady, whom we understood to be a relative of Col.
Bailey, called him up to the cabinet and kissed him; and while
he was standing with both arms around her, talking, she
dematerialized. This occurred fully three feet from the cabinet,
in sight of the audience, a dozen of whom must have been within
six feet of the form, and some of them as near the cabinet.
"The following Saturday, Sept. 19, we again attended her
afternoon seance. At this seance we found Mrs. Isabella Beecher
Hooker, of Hartford, Conn.; Mr. Thomas Hazard, of Providence, R.
I.; Mr. John Wetherbee, of Boston, and many other well known
persons, were present.
"What we have already written in reference to Cadaleene and her
control of the medium, is equally applicable to this seance;
also the expressions of confidence in reference to the cabinet.
I had expressed to a friend, whom I met in the office of the
_Banner of Light_, that while, to the best of my knowledge,
after an examination, I believed Mrs. Fairchild's cabinet to be
all right, still I would like to see the same results in a
cabinet made by hanging a curtain across the corner of the room.
Judge of my surprise when, after the seance had commenced,
Cadaleene said, 'Mr. Facts-man, I heard what you told the brave,
and you see we have the curtain across the corner, to show you
what we can do.'
"The seance continued in the regular cabinet, as usual, for
about an hour and a half. The light was good, and many spirits
manifested their presence, among which the following interesting
experience occurred: A gentleman, who does not choose to have
his name mentioned, had a communication the day before from a
spirit-friend, in writing, through his own hand, promising to
materialize at this seance. He told me that this spirit had not
only fulfilled this promise, but had told him things that no
other person knew but himself, and that he recognized her fully.
"Then came the crowning glory of the seance. The control,
Cadaleene, still holding the medium, directed that the gas be
lit and the hall door opened. She then closed the sliding door
in front of the cabinet, and fastened back the curtains which
hung over it to form the front of the regular cabinet when in
use, so that all might know if it was opened.
"The audience was then seated facing the corner where the
curtains had been hung for a temporary cabinet, some near and in
front of the door just mentioned, which could be seen by all
present. The medium, still under control, passed behind the
curtain, but came out in a moment, followed almost immediately
by a form dressed entirely in white. After this form returned to
the cabinet, two others came out,--one a lady, the other a
gentleman,--and it was said a third was seen in the cabinet.
"All this time the medium was controlled by Cadaleene, who was
finding the friends of the spirits with remarkable dexterity.
Several others followed, and we might give names and personal
experiences, but feel that our readers will appreciate most
these special points of interest."
Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker, Mr. Thomas Hazard, and Mr. John Wetherbee
have given graphic descriptions of these seances.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, in company with William D. Brewer, I attended a
private seance with Mrs. Fairchild. I examined the cabinet without being
able to discover anything that would lead me to suppose that there was
any chance for a confederate to be used. The seance lasted about two
hours, during which time scarcely a minute passed that there were not
forms out in the room, either to Mr. Brewer or myself; sometimes three
or four at once. More than half the time the extemporized cabinet in the
corner of the room was used. There appeared to be no difference between
the workings of the two; the manifestations came as freely from one as
from the other.
As I examined the walls and everything connected with the temporary
cabinet, I have no hesitation in saying that the forms that came from or
appeared in it were materialized beings. I was in this cabinet several
times during the seance, often with two forms at the same time. Once I
sat between them, an arm around each, satisfying myself of their
objective reality as well as if I had been walking with them outside in
the room. While thus holding them, the one encircled by my left arm,
and whose right arm was around my neck, instantly disappeared, without
the slightest indication of any movement;--she was there, and she was
not there. Still holding the one encircled by my right arm, I rose and
with my left hand drew the curtain aside, so that I could see everything
behind it. There was not the faintest trace of the beautiful being that,
a moment before, I had so firmly held, and with whom I had been talking.
Similar things have occurred to me in various ways, so often that they
produce no surprise, only an earnest desire to discover how or where the
forms go, or possibly gain some knowledge of the laws governing these
strange phenomena.
The force at Mrs. Fairchild's seances is mainly expended in
materialization, and for that reason they are valuable to skeptics; but
to the experienced investigator they offer nothing new. Many of the
forms come heavily veiled, and there is an absence of that social and
mental character which is ever the surest evidence of recognition.