THE "EXAMINER" SEANCE.
That the reader may fully understand the origin of the experiments
recorded in the narrative that follows, it is necessary to state again
that I was a writer for the _Examiner_ in the autumn of 1893, and that I
was on the alert for what newspaper men call "stories," or special
articles--things a little outside of the ordinary run of news.
Ambitious to arrange something of unusual interest, I approached Mr.
Hearst and S. S. Chamberlain, who were in charge of the news department of
the paper. I told them what I had seen Dr. Schlesinger do in Modesto, and
outlined the plans that were afterwards carried out--seances at the
office of Mayor Ellert and the Chief of Police, in the presence of
prominent citizens. First, however, it was necessary for the editors to
see the medium at their offices; for they feared there would be some
failure, and that the citizens invited would be disgusted because of their
loss of time in useless experiments.
For these reasons, therefore, the first sittings were at the editorial
offices of the _Examiner_, where the editors were as much puzzled as
anybody else. They were at once convinced that, however he performed his
feats, Dr. Schlesinger was at least not a bungling master of the black
art. Several intelligent observers were present, among them one or two of
the brightest newspaper men in the city. The experiments were not only
carefully noted, but they were viewed with grave suspicion. They were,
however, wholly informal and merely preliminary to the more important and
prolonged seances that followed at the office of the Mayor of the city,
and later at the office of and in the presence of the city's Chief of
Police. A few facts concerning the occurrences at the _Examiner_ office
are given that the reader may have the full benefit of the story.
One of the investigators (Managing Editor A. B. Henderson) wrote a number
of names on slips of paper, before Dr. Schlesinger arrived. They were not
seen or known to any one save the person that prepared them, and the slips
on which they were written were carefully folded and clasped in a bundle,
by a rubber band or elastic. Great pains was taken by Mr. Henderson to
prevent the medium from handling or seeing the slips. Without seeing the
writing, Dr. Schlesinger at once gave the names correctly. One of them was
that of Thaddeus Stevens, the eminent Pennsylvanian; and when the folded
slip on which his name was written was touched by Mr. Henderson, the
medium said: "That is the name of Thaddeus Stevens, who knew you well. He
calls you Alexander, and sends you his love."
Then the name of the sitter's deceased uncle was properly announced,
though it had not been written on any of the slips. Correct information
was also given concerning the uncle's religion while "in the flesh."
S. S. Chamberlain, now Managing Editor of the Philadelphia _North
American_, (then News Editor of the _Examiner_) was one of the
investigators. He wrote down, on separate slips of paper, the names of
many living and dead persons, but, contrary to the medium's request, he
did not write the names of persons he had ever known. In a few moments Dr.
Schlesinger read the names correctly while the slips were beyond his
reach, and firmly clasped in Chamberlain's hand. They were of such
persons as John Ruskin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Shakespeare, Longfellow, etc.
A faithful report of all that occurred was submitted to the managing
editor of the paper, who at once decided that a series of similar
experiments, conducted at the office of the Mayor of the city and others,
in broad daylight, would make the basis for some interesting Sunday
specials. Under his instructions I arranged the seances, and was present
at all of them. I subsequently wrote a faithful account of what occurred,
but the articles were rejected by the editor of the Sunday _Examiner_ for
personal reasons. This volume embraces the substance of what was then
prepared.