HPB-SB-8-157

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vol. 8, p. 157

H. P. Blavatsky Scrapbooks

from Adyar archives of the International Theosophical Society

vol. 8 (September 1878 - September 1879)

 

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Henry Slade in Australia

The highly successful career of Dr. Slade in Australia has, as usual, raised up professional imitators of genuine manifestations, whereby some excitement has been caused. The following is from The Melbourne Evening Herald, of November 26th, 1878:—

PROFESSOR BALDWIN AND DR. SLADE.

There was a large attendance at St. George’s Hall last evening to witness the clever entertainment of Professor and Mrs. Baldwin. One of the items in the programme was the slate-writing of Dr. Slade, and considerable curiosity was manifested as to how this was done. As will be seen later on, during the expose of the Slade writing the audience were treated to a sensational item not on the programme. Professor Baldwin, on Saturday night, had denounced Slade as an impostor and a humbug, and challenged him to a public test of his slate-writing. Last evening, just before exposing the slate-writing, Mr. Baldwin again denounced Slade, and others like him, who prey on the sorrows and sufferings of poor weak women. Professor Baldwin declared that he discovered Slade’s modus operandi by means of a mirror in a locket, and that when in America he used a table similar to that now on the stage. The table was not unlike that used by Slade, but something smaller. The leaves were, however, supported by an arm, which, when they are let down, fits into a slot; and when the leaves are up, the place into which the arm fits presents an opening of about four inches, into which a small slate can be placed, and held while the writing is done. Mr. Baldwin states that tables of a similar kind are much used in America, but that the slot or opening was not necessary for the performance of the trick. Mr. A. P. Martin sat at the table, and the audience saw how easily the slate-writing was done. The sound as of a pencil writing was produced, as the Herald stated some time since it could be, by the finger-nail. The illusion was complete, and the sitter at the table with the professor was much puzzled, while the audience were thoroughly enlightened. After the operation Mr. Terry, at whose premises Dr. Slade performed, and who was on the stage as one of the committee, rose and said that the earlier part of the entertainment was a fair representation of the Davenport seance, but that the slate-writing was but a miserable imitation of Dr. Slade’s seances, and that Mr. Baldwin had made misstatements about Dr. Slade; further, that there was no slot in Dr. Slade’s table; that he had a larger slate, which was covered with writing. Mr. Winter, who sat in the body of the hall, said that he and another pressman had attended Slade’s performances on three occasions, and had arrived at the conclusion, published a.t the time, that the whole affair was a clever trick; that Professor Baldwin’s expose was a fair duplication of the slate-writing which he (the speaker) witnessed at Slade’s; that there was no slot in Slade’s table, but that Mr. Baldwin had just stated, and had demonstrated to him in private, that a slot was not necessary; that the slates he brought to Slade were small, and that at two seances only two or three words were written on the slate, such as “We will try,” “We cannot;” that these words were very indistinctly written; but that at the third seance, in the evening, at which three persons besides Dr. Slade were present, a long message was given on a slate picked up by Dr. Slade from behind him, and that it was the unanimous opinion of the three investigators that that message, which was a general one, and written clearly and well, was on the slate before it was used by Dr. Slade. After Mr. Winter sat down, Mr. Baldwin said the discussion could not then be continued, but that he would be glad to pay half the expenses of that or any other hall for Sunday evening, and would discuss spiritualistic phenomena with Mr. Terry or any one else. He then took from his pocket a roll of notes, and said, “I have here about £25 or £30. I will place this sum in the hands of any respectable man, and if Dr. Slade will give a sitting to Mr. Winter, Mr. Terry, and myself, I will give him £5 for every word he writes on a slate. My manager will give Dr. Slade, or any other medium, £20 to come on the stage and get any manifestations.” Further, the Professor said he would give £50 to every medium who would do anything which he could not do and explain after witnessing it three times. Turning to Mr. Terry he said, “We have a simple way of doing these things in our country. When any money is at stake we say, ‘Put up, or shut up.’” The performance then went on, some persons chaffing Mr. Terry, when Mr. Baldwin at once interfered, and reminded his audience that Mr. Terry was his guest on that stage, and should be treated like a gentleman. During the evening Mr. Baldwin indicated how mediums got their feet free, and stated that he had shown to two gentlemen from the Herald, how by means of a pair of “box” shoes, he could get his feet out, and yet the shoes remain as firm as though his feet were in them; so that any person who kept his feet on top of such shoes would believe that the medium’s feet were in them, while they were out producing manifestations all the time.

After the performance, Mr. Winter asked Mr. Terry whether he had any objection to allow him to again examine Dr. Slade’s table. Mr. Terry very courteously offered to show it at once, and to permit Mt. Baldwin to examine it, and a start was made for that gentleman’s place of business in Russell-street, which was found closed and in darkness, but which he opened and lighted up. Mr. Terry was most courteous to our representative during the evening (for which we thank him), and is evidently an earnest and sincere believer in Dr. Slade’s mediumship and spiritual phenomena generally. The table was examined, and found to be larger than that used by Mr. Baldwin. There was, however, no slot in it. The arm, which in Baldwin’s table is movable, so that the leaves of the table may be let down, is in Slade’s table a fixture, so that there is no need of a slot for it to fall into, as the leaves cannot be closed. Baldwin, however, pointed out at once that this fixed arm formed an excellent support to place a slate against; and while it was held there by the little finger of the right hand a few words call be readily and quickly written by the thumb and forefinger with a small piece of pencil — the smaller the better. He further declared that to-night he would not use the slot in his table, but would do the trick without it. He said, moreover, that he would make a declaration, before any magistrate, that he discovered how Slade did the writing by means of a locket mirror, and that it was a trick, and that the table used by Slade in New York was similar to that which he (Baldwin) had used that evening at St. George’s Hall. Mr. Winter, being a justice of the peace, was prepared to take the declaration, when Mr. Baldwin went on to say that Slade was a swindler and an impostor. At this, Mr. Terry fired up, and declared that no such language should be used in his room, as he knew well that Slade was as honest a man as Baldwin, if not more so. Baldwin was ready to reiterate his statement, and Terry was ready to champion his friend’s cause by doing battle for it. Coat sleeves went up a little, and matters looked ominous. It seemed as though the room was to be cleared for action, and Mr. Winter got ready to take the dying depositions of one or both of the champions. However, the storm blew over, and quiet reigned again. Baldwin asked where Slade was, and was informed that he had left for Ballarat that morning, and would probably be absent for about a week. The seance-exposer then repeated his previous offer to put up £25 or £30, and pay Slade twice the usual fee, if he would give a sitting to Mr. Winter, Mr. Terry, and himself; and also to give Mr. Slade five pounds per word, for every word he wrote upon a slate, while held by him (Baldwin). Further, to tie two slates together with a bit of string, and to give Slade five pounds for every word he wrote within the two slates. Baldwin pointed out that as Slade worked for money—so much per sitting—he was afforded an opportunity of making a considerable sum, if his manifestations are not the results of trickery and fraud. One of the Spiritualists present, a thorough believer in Slade, thought this a fair offer, and considered that the seance should be arranged for. The question of Dr. Slade’s manifestations now narrows itself down to a very small point. Baldwin declares that the writing can be done by pressing the slate against the arm of Slade’s table, and we have ascertained by experiment that this can be done. To do this, however, it would be necessary that Slade’s hand, with the slate on it, and a portion of his arm, should be under the table. The believers in Slade, of whom there were two present, declared that at no time is his hand out of sight. Our representatives, one and all, aver that, at every seance at which they attended, Slade’s hand and arm were under the table for some seconds, under pretence of asking the spirits if they “would write for the gentlemen,” and that, during this time, there was noticeable a peculiar gurgling and coughing noise in Slade’s throat, which was no doubt adopted partly to drown any sound raised by the pencil writing, and partly to distract the attention of sitters. As Slade is still giving sittings, there should be no difficulty in ascertaining whether or not his hand, with a slate in it, is ever under the table, even for a second. If it be, then the trick is very easy, as any one can write a few words in the manner shown by Baldwin. If long messages are wanted, a pin, spirits of wine, or sleight of hand and cheek are all that are necessary to produce them. These are only attempted when believers are present. Our representatives say they were not favoured with a slate full of writing.

In order to call to mind the view which our representatives took of Slade’s performances at the time, we publish condensed reports of the seances, which appeared in the Herald. Let it be remembered that the articles were written before the arrival of the Baldwins in Melbourne, and if the suggestions as to the mode of doing the trick made therein are similar to those now publicly made by Professor Baldwin, the coincidence arises from the fact that these were the rational solutions of the so-called phenomena, and that where these could be accounted for by natural means, our representatives preferred accepting that solution of the mystery to rushing off for an explanation to the supernatural. As these articles have appeared before, we print them now in small type. Those who are interested in the subject will no doubt overcome the difficulties of reading it, while there will be all the less to skip for those who do not care for Slade or Sladeism.

On the 30th August we published an account of our first seance with Slade, from which we extract the following:—

“In response to an invitation from Mr., or, as he is known to the Spiritists, “Dr.” Slade, the writer and another member of the Herald staff attended at the establishment of Mr. Terry, bookseller, &c., in Russell-street, at ten o’clock on the morning of the 21st inst. We found Mr. Slade to be a young man of some thirty years of age, an American, but muscular and powerfully built, with nothing of the lank and lean appearance which Britishers usually ascribe to Americans. We were duly ushered in a small, neatly-furnished, well-lighted room upstairs, with one large window in it. In the centre of the room was a table of rather peculiar make, inasmuch as the legs were close together in the centre, the sides extending beyond the supports. The table was not unlike an ordinary dressing-table, on the frame of which a cover much too large had been fixed. A careful examination failed to show any concealed works, nor is it probable that there are any.

“In answer to an inquiry, Mr. Slade stated that he did not promulgate any theory as to how the manifestations which took place in his presence were accounted for. He said, however, that they were not produced by him. At a subsequent sitting he intimated that he employed his talents as a medium in obtaining messages from deceased friends and relatives of those who choose to consult him.

“On being seated, Mr. Slade was at one end of the table, opposite the window, and just in front of the legs of the table. As a rule, he sat sideways on the chair, so that his legs were not under the table; but their position was frequently changed. It may be mentioned, en passant, that he wore slippers, which could, if necessary, be slipped off and on easily. One of us sat at the side of the table on his right hand, in such a position that his feet could be occasionally seen. The other sat with his back to the window, opposite the medium.

“Our hands were placed on the table, touching. Soon raps, of a muffled and somewhat peculiar nature, were heard, which were accepted <... continues on page 8-158 >

Editor's notes

Sources

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  London Spiritualist, No. 339, February 21, 1879, pp. 91-2