_Secretary_.
* * * * *
January 30th, 1887.
Yesterday I visited Mrs. M.B. Thayer, an Independent Slate Writing
Medium, at 1601 North 15th Street, Philadelphia, in hopes of arranging
for a séance at that time. I had a conversation of about half an hour
with Mrs. Thayer, who asked what I had seen before, and with what
Mediums I had sat; but I was not able to get a sitting at once, Mrs.
Thayer declaring "the conditions" unsatisfactory. She made an
appointment, however, for to-day at 4 P.M. In the hall I met, on my
departure, Mrs. Kase, the hostess of the Medium, to whom I am personally
known, and who told me in an 'aside' that she would not reveal my
identity to the Medium. This might readily have been overheard by the
Medium, who was standing close by. [I visited Mrs. Thayer alone, because
she had expressed an unwillingness to appear before the Commission, and
we found it necessary to visit her as private persons.]
Upon calling to-day, I was ushered into Mrs. Thayer's room, in which
stood a small wooden table covered with a red cloth (which hung down,
perhaps a foot, on all sides from the edges of the table), ready for the
séance. Ten or twelve plain single slates lay in a pile on a piece of
furniture near the table.
Mrs. Thayer handed me two of these slates, which I cleaned and examined.
I then marked them on the inside, or what became, when I laid them
together, the inside, and held them while she tied them together with a
piece of white tape. After they were tied they could be separated an
eighth of an inch without difficulty. Holding the slates in my hand, I
examined the table and the furniture near it, and then took my seat at
the table, Mrs. Thayer sitting opposite me. The table was about 2-1/2 x
1-1/2 feet. At the suggestion of Mrs. Thayer, I placed the tied slates
upon the table under the cloth, and we both placed our hands upon the
cloth above them. After waiting for some time for indications of
writing, I withdrew the slates from under the cloth, and, as directed,
held them, with my right hand up against the under surface of the table,
Mrs. Thayer placing her left hand upon my right as I held the slates.
After holding them thus for some time I was told to withdraw them, and
hold them against my forehead. Then I was told to open them and to
scrape some pencil-dust over the inner surfaces. This I did, again
closing the slates, which Mrs. Thayer tied as before. I was again
directed to hold them up against the under surface of the table, and the
Medium again placed her hand upon the hand with which I held them. Her
hand was not wholly upon mine, but projected beyond it upon my wrist and
towards my edge of the slates. After my holding the slates in this
position, seemingly without result, until I was very wearied, the Medium
suggested my laying them upon my lap and covering them with the table
cover, which hung down more on my side than on hers. She said it was
necessary that the slates should be concealed. When they were in this
position we joined hands upon the table, and she placed her feet upon
mine under the table, thus making, as she said, a strong "battery." This
seeming to be inefficacious, I was directed to wrap the slates in a
cloth given me for the purpose (apparently a small table cover) and to
lay them on the floor under the table, placing my left foot upon them.
This I did, and the Medium placed one of her feet upon my left foot,
taking my hands upon the table, and again forming the "battery." After
some waiting, much calling upon the Spirit of Foster to write (this she
did at intervals during the séance) and several requests for raps (which
did not come), the Medium decided that we should get nothing during the
sitting, and it was discontinued. I took up the slates from the floor,
took off the cloth and untied the tape; no mark had been made upon them.
There had been much conversation during the sitting, the Medium telling
me not to keep my mind on the slates, but to put myself into a condition
of "passivity." She declared me mediumistic, and said that she doubted
whether she would ever be able to get results with me. She stated two or
three times that she saw three forms behind me, but dimly, and could
not describe them. One was a "mild and gentle lady, with a beautiful
hand." To the only person whom I can remember with a markedly beautiful
hand, no one would have applied these adjectives. The sitting was about
an hour long.
(Copied and arranged the same evening from notes made in the car on the
way home from the séance.)