{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_35537/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_35537","id":"gutenberg_35537","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35537","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - American","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Future life","Seances -- California -- San Francisco"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  _Price, 50 cents_\n\n\n  Do the Dead Return?\n\n  A Startling Story from Life\n\n\n  Crown Publishing Company\n  San Francisco\n  1900\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: DR. LOUIS SCHLESINGER.]\n\n\n\n\n  DO THE DEAD RETURN?\n\n\n  A TRUE STORY\n  OF STARTLING SEANCES\n  IN SAN FRANCISCO\n\n\n  _NOTICE_\n\n  _This work is copyrighted. Editors are warned\n  not to make unlawful abridgments._\n\n  CROWN PUBLISHING COMPANY\n  SAN FRANCISCO\n  1900\n\n\n\n\n  COPYRIGHT, 1900\n  BY CROWN PUBLISHING CO.\n\n\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS.\n\n\n                                    PAGE\n\n  INTRODUCTION                         5\n\n  THE AUTHOR'S STORY                   7\n\n  THE \"EXAMINER\" SEANCE               14\n\n  SOME STARTLING DAYLIGHT SEANCES     19\n\n  CHARACTER OF THE NARRATORS          55\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nBefore this little volume is read a few words of explanation should be\ncarefully weighed, for otherwise the reader might go away with many false\nimpressions.\n\nThe author desires to say that every word here printed is absolutely and\nliterally true. Nothing has been added or suppressed, but the entire truth\nhas been expressed, usually in the exact language of the distinguished\ngentlemen whose narratives make the bulk of the book. In most instances\nthe witnesses summoned wrote their accounts with their own hands, and the\noriginal manuscripts are still preserved.\n\nThough many years have passed since the events recorded herein\ntranspired, all who witnessed the phenomena are still alive, and all are\nwell-known and reputable citizens of San Francisco. It was only a few days\nago that the author met Captain W. S. Barnes, who was District Attorney of\nthe City and County of San Francisco in 1893 (the date of the occurrences\nwith which the book deals), and he said: \"What I saw in the presence of\nthe medium has puzzled me all these years. I can truthfully say that the\nthings that took place at Mayor Ellert's office are the most wonderful\nevents that I have ever come upon. They are absolutely beyond my\nunderstanding.\"\n\nThe circumstances with which the narrative deals are an important\ncontribution to the history of psychic research, and they are presented\nfor what they are worth while the witnesses and actors in the story are\nalive.\n\nTHE AUTHOR.\n\n_San Francisco, September, 1900._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nTHE AUTHOR'S STORY.\n\n\nIn the autumn of 1891, the author of this narrative was business manager\nof the Modesto (California) _Daily News_. One afternoon while he was\nengaged in an important consultation with the late Senator J. D. Spencer,\none of the owners of the _News_, there was a knock at the door of the\neditorial rooms. In a twinkling an old gentleman entered; he was a\nvenerable-looking, long-bearded man, with Hebraic features.\n\nBefore Senator Spencer and I could say, \"Good day, sir!\" the old man said\nsomething like this: \"Gentlemen, I am Dr. Louis Schlesinger, the famous\nSpiritualist medium. It is well known that I can talk with the good\nangels, and I desire to have a series of seances here in Modesto.\"\n\n\"Our advertising columns are open,\" I said, \"and we shall be pleased to\nannounce your meetings at the regular rates.\"\n\n\"I have no money to spare,\" he replied; \"but I think you will say\nsomething about me when I show you that man lives after death.\"\n\nThe Senator whispered to me (on discovering that the old gentleman was\nquite deaf), \"I guess he's escaped from the Stockton Lunatic Asylum.\"\n\nStockton was but twenty miles away, and I assented, but said, \"Suppose we\nsound him before we send for an officer.\"\n\nSo we agreed to give Dr. Schlesinger an opportunity to convince us that he\nwas a man of rare endowments, as he pretended to be.\n\nComing to the point, it was arranged that the Senator should retire to\nthe press-room while I remained with the aged suspect.\n\n\"Take eight or ten slips of paper,\" said Dr. Schlesinger, \"and write one\nname on each--some of living, some of dead persons; and don't tell me or\nanybody on earth what names you have written on the slips. Roll them into\nlittle pellets--and come back here with your mind at rest, for I am not\ninsane, as you think.\"\n\nWe were somewhat surprised, for both were certain that the old gentleman\ncould not have heard Senator Spencer's whispered doubt concerning our\nvisitor's sanity.\n\nIn a few minutes Senator Spencer returned, bearing a number of paper\npellets which he held in his clenched right hand.\n\nDoors were closed and a table was rolled to the center of the room. Dr.\nSchlesinger closed his eyes and appeared to fall into a light slumber. At\nonce there were many distinct raps on the table, as if some one had\nthumped upon it with a finger. This was rather singular, as we could see\nthat our visitor's hands in no manner touched the table.\n\nSuddenly the old man opened his eyes and said: \"Gentlemen, are you\nsatisfied that I do not know any of the names on those papers?\"\n\nAs Senator Spencer was as truthful and honorable a man as ever lived, one\nwhose word was better than most men's bonds, I replied: \"I am sure you\nhave not seen the names and that you do not know one of them.\"\n\n\"And some of the names are not known to anybody in California,\" added the\nSenator.\n\n\"Then I'll have to show you that I can talk with the spirits of the\ndeparted,\" said Dr. Schlesinger.\n\nWithout further delay he said: \"I see the spirit of your mother standing\nover you. She calls you Dillard, which is your middle name, and she says\nshe died in Kansas City, and was buried in the old cemetery at Westport.\nAm I right?\"\n\nSenator Spencer turned pale and said: \"That is absolutely correct. Which\none of the pellets bears her name?\"\n\nHe then held the bits of paper between his right finger and thumb, and\nwhen he had picked up three or four of them, the medium said, \"That is the\none which contains your mother's maiden name.\"\n\nI have now forgotten the maiden name of the Senator's mother, though I\nthink it was Dillard. The answer, however, was correct.\n\nNext, without asking me to write anything down, the medium thus addressed\nme: \"I see the spirit of your mother's mother. Her name was Eliza Johnson,\nand she calls you 'my son,' and says, 'Tell Anne that immortality is the\nglorious truth of human life.' Anne was the name of her eldest child--your\nmother.\"\n\nIf Senator Spencer was convinced that Dr. Schlesinger had told him the\ntruth, I had the same kind of conviction in my case; for every word\nuttered was correct. I have never understood how this old man came to the\nresults announced, nor have I ever seen any one who was able to explain\nhis power.\n\nWith the memory of my Modesto experiences fresh in mind, I decided, when I\ncame upon Dr. Schlesinger in San Francisco, in 1893, to institute a series\nof daylight seances in the presence of some of the most distinguished\ncitizens of San Francisco. As I was then a writer of the San Francisco\n_Daily Examiner_ staff I found rare opportunities for enlisting the men\ndesired in the experiments. I was not then, nor am I now, in any manner\naffiliated with Spiritualists, nor do I set forth the facts of this\nnarrative for the purpose of making converts to any theory of mind or\nmatter.\n\nThe manuscript from which this work is printed was written at the time of\nthe matters recorded, on an order from the _Examiner_. Owing to the fact\nthat Mayor Ellert afterwards regretted that he had allowed a seance to be\nheld in his office, the _Examiner_ was induced to suppress the story,\nwhich now appears in detail for the first time. It should be borne in mind\nthat all that follows was written at the time of the events described.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nTHE \"EXAMINER\" SEANCE.\n\n\nThat the reader may fully understand the origin of the experiments\nrecorded in the narrative that follows, it is necessary to state again\nthat I was a writer for the _Examiner_ in the autumn of 1893, and that I\nwas on the alert for what newspaper men call \"stories,\" or special\narticles--things a little outside of the ordinary run of news.\n\nAmbitious to arrange something of unusual interest, I approached Mr.\nHearst and S. S. Chamberlain, who were in charge of the news department of\nthe paper. I told them what I had seen Dr. Schlesinger do in Modesto, and\noutlined the plans that were afterwards carried out--seances at the\noffice of Mayor Ellert and the Chief of Police, in the presence of\nprominent citizens. First, however, it was necessary for the editors to\nsee the medium at their offices; for they feared there would be some\nfailure, and that the citizens invited would be disgusted because of their\nloss of time in useless experiments.\n\nFor these reasons, therefore, the first sittings were at the editorial\noffices of the _Examiner_, where the editors were as much puzzled as\nanybody else. They were at once convinced that, however he performed his\nfeats, Dr. Schlesinger was at least not a bungling master of the black\nart. Several intelligent observers were present, among them one or two of\nthe brightest newspaper men in the city. The experiments were not only\ncarefully noted, but they were viewed with grave suspicion. They were,\nhowever, wholly informal and merely preliminary to the more important and\nprolonged seances that followed at the office of the Mayor of the city,\nand later at the office of and in the presence of the city's Chief of\nPolice. A few facts concerning the occurrences at the _Examiner_ office\nare given that the reader may have the full benefit of the story.\n\nOne of the investigators (Managing Editor A. B. Henderson) wrote a number\nof names on slips of paper, before Dr. Schlesinger arrived. They were not\nseen or known to any one save the person that prepared them, and the slips\non which they were written were carefully folded and clasped in a bundle,\nby a rubber band or elastic. Great pains was taken by Mr. Henderson to\nprevent the medium from handling or seeing the slips. Without seeing the\nwriting, Dr. Schlesinger at once gave the names correctly. One of them was\nthat of Thaddeus Stevens, the eminent Pennsylvanian; and when the folded\nslip on which his name was written was touched by Mr. Henderson, the\nmedium said: \"That is the name of Thaddeus Stevens, who knew you well. He\ncalls you Alexander, and sends you his love.\"\n\nThen the name of the sitter's deceased uncle was properly announced,\nthough it had not been written on any of the slips. Correct information\nwas also given concerning the uncle's religion while \"in the flesh.\"\n\nS. S. Chamberlain, now Managing Editor of the Philadelphia _North\nAmerican_, (then News Editor of the _Examiner_) was one of the\ninvestigators. He wrote down, on separate slips of paper, the names of\nmany living and dead persons, but, contrary to the medium's request, he\ndid not write the names of persons he had ever known. In a few moments Dr.\nSchlesinger read the names correctly while the slips were beyond his\nreach, and firmly clasped in Chamberlain's hand. They were of such\npersons as John Ruskin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Shakespeare, Longfellow, etc.\n\nA faithful report of all that occurred was submitted to the managing\neditor of the paper, who at once decided that a series of similar\nexperiments, conducted at the office of the Mayor of the city and others,\nin broad daylight, would make the basis for some interesting Sunday\nspecials. Under his instructions I arranged the seances, and was present\nat all of them. I subsequently wrote a faithful account of what occurred,\nbut the articles were rejected by the editor of the Sunday _Examiner_ for\npersonal reasons. This volume embraces the substance of what was then\nprepared.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nSOME STARTLING DAYLIGHT SEANCES.\n\n\nIt was on September 4, 1893, that a number of the most prominent citizens\nof San Francisco held a daylight seance (at high noon) at the office of\nMayor Ellert. The company had assembled in response to the _Examiner's_\ninvitation, and all of the witnesses had agreed in advance to observe\neverything closely and write an absolutely fair account of what they saw,\nadding any theory or explanation that seemed sufficient to account for the\nphenomena.\n\nIt is as well to say that is was a mirthful assembly at the outset, and\nthe newspaper man who had arranged for the experiments was the butt of\nmany little jokes. The idea that the medium could do anything more than a\nlittle clever juggling seemed farthest from anybody's thoughts.\n\nDr. Louis Schlesinger, then a man about sixty-one years of age, was the\nspiritualist medium who said he could convince all present that the dead\nreturn, and that he could hold communion with the living. The following\nspectators were present, and the written reports of some of them are given\nin full in the subjoined narrative: Mayor Levi R. Ellert, District\nAttorney W. S. Barnes, President Theodore F. Bonnet, of the San Francisco\nPress Club, Ex-President Grant Carpenter, of the same club, H. H.\nMcCloskey, then a State Central Committeeman of the Republican party, and\nmany other casual observers.\n\nAt another seance Chief of Police Crowley, Judge Robert Ferral, Dr. R. E.\nBunker, and Attorney Charles L. Patton were the principal investigators,\nthough Captain Wright and many others saw all that was done. At this\nseance the observations were conducted under the test conditions arranged\nby Chief Crowley, Dr. Bunker, and Attorney Patton.\n\nThe reader should satisfy himself concerning the mental and moral\nqualifications of all the witnesses named by glancing at the biographical\nsketches elsewhere in this volume.\n\nAt the Mayor's office Dr. Schlesinger was announced as a resident of No. 1\nPolk Street. He said he knew none of the committee, and nobody present\nexcept the _Examiner's_ representative knew the Doctor.[1]\n\n     [1] He now lives in Boston.--Editor.\n\n\"I can converse with the spirits of your deceased friends,\" said the\nmedium, \"and I am giving my life to this work. I gave up a great tea\nbusiness to teach my fellow men that life does not end at the grave. My\nhome is constantly filled with bands of angels from the celestial depths,\nbut I am able to call a few spirits around any box, table, or desk. I want\nyou to satisfy yourself that all that is done here is absolutely honest.\"\n\nBefore proceeding further the Doctor produced a testimonial from Editor\nWill S. Green, of the Colusa _Sun_ (afterwards State Treasurer), which\nexplained that Dr. Schlesinger's performances could not be explained on\nthe theory of trickery. A clipping from the _Sun_ of September 5, 1890,\ngave an account of matters that had puzzled the people of Colusa. The\ninvestigations began, therefore, with a great deal of interest, and before\ntheir conclusion the old Doctor had greatly puzzled all present. They\ncould not tell whether it was some psychic power by which he operated, or\nwhether they had been basely deceived.\n\nAt his own request, Dr. Schlesinger was not introduced to any of the\npersons present. He soon called their names, however, and said they were\ngiven to him by the spirits in the raps that all could hear on the desk.\n\nThe Doctor's favorite method of communicating startling information was to\nhave the sitters write, before they came into his presence, fifteen or\ntwenty names of living and dead friends. Each name being on a separate\npiece of paper, the visitors were requested to fold each slip tightly, so\nas to preclude any possibility of its being read by the medium. This done,\nthe slips, all of equal size, were put into a hat and thoroughly shuffled.\nThe Doctor would then say: \"Pick out any slip yourself, and I will read it\nwithout looking and before you yourself know what the name is.\" There\nwould then be raps, and in a few seconds the Doctor would give the name\ncorrectly. These names were written and folded in a room apart from the\nDoctor.\n\n\"Granting that there is such a thing as mind-reading,\" said Chief Crowley,\n\"I do not think mind-reading would account for what was done for me,\nbecause he read things that were not in my mind, telling me my mother's\nmaiden name and where she died.\"\n\nDr. Schlesinger calls his gift clairaudient mediumship, and says his right\near is deaf to all terrestrial sounds, but quickened, as with a sixth\nsense, for communications from the other world. He says he can both see\nand hear spirits, and that bands of them encircle him, and at times, in\nthe presence of some peculiarly \"fit\" visitors, manifest themselves with\ngreat clearness and power. To prove that the sounds he hears are celestial\nvoices, he does many things which baffle those who witness the strange\nphenomena which abound in his presence wherever he goes.\n\nIt was with much difficulty that those who participated in these seances\nand whose accounts of what they saw are subjoined, were induced to give\nthe medium a hearing. Chief Crowley was particularly opposed to giving\nserious attention to what he denounced as \"trickery and sleight of hand,\"\nand afterwards called \"marvelous and beyond power of explanation.\" Finally\nhe wrote down a number of names on separate slips, as explained in the\nforegoing, and among those names appeared that of his mother--her maiden\nname. The medium at once told the Chief which pellet contained his\nmother's name, then read it, and in a few moments told where she died and\nwhere she was buried.\n\nA few minutes later the aged Doctor said: \"The spirit of Detective Hutton,\nwho died a violent death, hovers near you.\"\n\nThe medium then spoke of matters that were known to nobody but Chief\nCrowley and the dead detective. This greatly puzzled the Chief, who was\nlater deeply affected over purported messages from a son and others who\nhad been dear to him in life.\n\nSpeaking of the purported message from his dead mother the Chief said: \"I\ncannot explain this, which is marvelous, for I do not believe a human\nbeing in San Francisco knew that my mother's maiden name was Elizabeth\nMcCarthy, that she died in New Jersey and was buried in New York.\"\n\nChief Crowley then wrote down a list of years, among them the year of his\nmother's death. Dr. Schlesinger pointed to the year 1833 as that of her\ndeath.\n\n\"Correct!\" replied Chief Crowley; whereupon the medium said, \"and the name\nof your father, Patrick J. Crowley, is also here, and he comes with your\nson Lewis, who has not been dead long.\"\n\nThe Chief thought it the most wonderful performance he had ever seen. \"He\ndoes marvelous and inexplicable things,\" said the Chief, \"and I'll admit\nI cannot tell how it is done. While I cannot believe he converses with\nspirits, I am puzzled. I want to see him again and look into the matter\nfurther.\"\n\n\n[Illustration: EX-CHIEF OF POLICE P. CROWLEY.]\n\n\nThe experiments with Mayor L. R. Ellert, who sprang from his chair and\npositively declined to be thrown into a trance condition when the doctor\nrequested him thus to visit the spirit world, were fully as startling as\nthose with Chief Crowley.\n\nMayor Ellert took a chair in front of his official table, which had thus\nbeen dedicated to spiritual uses, and asked if any spirits desired to\ncommunicate with him, whereupon the medium grasped his Honor's hands and\nthe line of communication with the spirits was declared fully established.\nQuite distinct raps were then heard on the table, and Dr. Schlesinger\nlooked at the Mayor and said: \"You are a medium yourself, sir! My, what a\npower!\"\n\nThe Mayor was urged \"to sit alone often and be patient,\" and was told that\nhe could develop much power by such a course.\n\n\n[Illustration: HON. L. R. ELLERT.]\n\n\nMayor Ellert then wrote down ten of fifteen names of living and dead\nfriends, on separate slips of paper. He refused to use the paper handed\nhim by Dr. Schlesinger, but cut up an official letter head which lay on\nhis own desk. As he began to write the names, the medium stepped away and\nengaged in conversation with District Attorney Barnes and Mr. Bonnet at\nthe other side of the room, so that he could not see what Mayor Ellert\nwrote. The Mayor carefully folded the slips, put them in a hat, and\nshuffled them. He then brought one forth from the hatful.\n\n\"That's a dead one,\" said Dr. Schlesinger. \"Open it and see whether I am\ncorrect; but don't let me see it.\"\n\nThe Mayor obeyed the request, and answered, \"Yes, this is a dead person's\nname!\"\n\n\"Don't let me see it,\" said the mysterious visitor, \"and I'll tell you\nwhat it is,\" whereupon he at once correctly pronounced the name of the\nMayor's sister, which was not Ellert.\n\nThe Mayor then announced that he was unable to explain the phenomena. He\nwatched the medium's movements and convinced himself that there had been\nno juggling in the shuffle, and said that his visitor out-Hermanned\nHermann. He would leave the solution of the phenomena to others learned in\nthe arts of divination.\n\n\n[Illustration: CHARLES L. PATTON.]\n\n\nThe outcome of the seances and the story of what occurred may best be\ntold by those who were present, and the subjoined versions are given:--\n\n\nATTORNEY PATTON'S STORY.\n\n\"I desire to preface what I have to say by remarking that while I have\nnever been nor am I now a spiritualist, nor have I ever before been\npresent at the performance of a medium, yet what I saw of Dr.\nSchlesinger's so-called manifestations from the spirit world is entirely\ninexplicable to me upon any scientific hypothesis with which I am\nfamiliar; yet at the same time I must admit that I cannot explain the\nphenomena exhibited upon any theory of legerdemain or sleight of hand\nwithin my knowledge. Therefore, I merely state that I have seen, or\nseemingly seen, and heard the following remarkable things, during the\nsitting or seance with Dr. Schlesinger, leaving it to others more\ncompetent than I to determine whether they are the manifestations of some\npsychic force at present unadmitted by scientists or the legerdemain of a\nsleight-of-hand performer.\n\n\"The facts are as follows: At the request of the Doctor, I wrote eight or\nten names of different persons on as many slips of paper, two of the\nnumber being dead, and folded the slips in such a manner that the Doctor\ncould not read them; and so far as I can judge, the Doctor could not have\nhad any method of knowing what names I wrote. I then placed the folded\npapers in a hat, and one of the other gentlemen present drew them out one\nby one. The Doctor, as each paper was drawn out, asked some question, such\nas 'Guide, is this the one dead?' Finally, after all the papers had been\nheld up and the questions asked, some raps on the table, seeming to have\nindicated according to the Doctor that the persons whose names were on two\nof the slips were dead, I, on examination, found that he was correct in\nhis judgment. He then without (so far as I could see) having had any\nopportunity to have seen the names, desired me to place the slips with the\nnames on in my pocket. Presently he said: 'I see two faces over your\nshoulder; the name of one is J. B. The other says: \"I am glad you have\ncommemorated my name by writing it here,\" the name is V. C.;' the Doctor\nbeing correct in naming the deceased person in each instance, and the\nmessage being appropriate to the character of the deceased person. I will\nadd, that, so far as I know, Dr. Schlesinger had no possible means of\nknowing the name or anything about either person. One of the names, I feel\nconfident, was not known to any person in California outside of myself.\n\n        \"CHAS. L. PATTON.\"\n\n\nBARNES WAS PUZZLED.\n\nDistrict Attorney Barnes gives the following account of the seance:--\n\n\"I was completely surprised at the performance in the Mayor's office. It\nwas the first seance I had ever attended, and I must confess that I had\nnot the slightest respect for such manifestations other than a natural\nadmiration for the quickness of the operator. I had always supposed that\nbatteries, wires, a tolerable acquaintance with the sitter, all aided by\ndarkness, were the causes of the effects produced by the medium. In this\ncase, however, the seance took place in broad daylight, and no attempt was\nmade, so far as I could see, to use any mechanical means. The medium sat\ntwo or three feet from the Mayor's desk, and only touched the desk\noccasionally with his hand, yet from that desk came the spirit rappings\nthat were clearly audible to all of us in the room. I watched the others\nwrite lists of names containing each the name of some dead person, and saw\nthe quickness with which Dr. Schlesinger picked out the persons who had\npassed away, and gave messages from them. When it came my turn I wrote a\nnumber of names on small slips of paper, folded them and held them in my\nhand. Among these names was that of a classmate of mine at Harvard, who\ndied long ago at Philadelphia, who had never been in California, and whose\nname I have not mentioned for years. Hardly had I sat down when Dr.\nSchlesinger called his full name and gave me a message from him, recalling\nan occurrence, so far as I am aware, known only to the dead man and\nmyself. To say that I was amazed but feebly expresses it; and when I asked\nthe Doctor whence he got his information, he replied, 'It is borne to me\non angels' wings.'\n\n\n[Illustration: ATTORNEY W. S. BARNES.]\n\n\n\"Whether it was or not, it was a most remarkable thing, and deeply\nimpressed upon me that 'There are more things in heaven and earth than are\ndreamt of in our philosophy.'\n\n        \"WILLIAM S. BARNES.\"\n\nSeven years after the foregoing was written, Mr. Barnes expressed himself\nas still deeply puzzled. \"I cannot think of any experience in life so\nmarvelous,\" he said, \"so beyond my power to explain.\"\n\n\nJUDGE FERRAL'S TESTIMONY.\n\nEx-Judge Robert Ferral's narrative largely corroborates what the others\nsaid. He presents the case in his own way.\n\n\"Having taken a deep interest from early boyhood in exhibitions of a\nmarvelous nature, such as magic, legerdemain, mesmerism, hypnotism,\nmind-reading, and spiritualism, it was with pleasure that I accepted the\nkind invitation to visit Dr. Schlesinger and personally witness his\nexperiments and manifestations.\n\n\"I found the Doctor an aged, venerable man, in a large room, surrounded by\na company of ladies and gentlemen, bright, cheerful, and intelligent, all\napparently bent upon the rational enjoyment of this life, and happy in the\nbelief of companionable intercourse with the realm of spirits.\n\n\"Retiring to more quiet quarters, consisting of an ordinary bedroom and\nparlor, the business began without waste of words or loss of time. Having\nwritten the names of half a dozen persons, living and dead, each name on a\nseparate slip, carefully folded and looking precisely alike, which were\ntossed into a hat and well shaken up, the doctor proceeded to name the\ncontents of each paper as it was drawn out. Occasionally he made a\nmistake, but in nearly every instance succeeded at the first or second\ntrial. He first separated the living from the dead, without opening the\nslips, and sometimes not even touching them; then proceeded to give the\nnames. Afterward, upon writing place and cause of death, age, occupation,\netc., upon other slips, the same result followed. Some of the names\nsubmitted by me were peculiar, and I believe known to no one else in this\ncity, yet they were announced--read off, as it were--with but little\nhesitation and generally exactly as written. The same thing occurred as to\nthe diseases and places of death.\n\n\n[Illustration: JUDGE ROBERT FERRAL.]\n\n\n\"During this manifestation of his power Dr. Schlesinger simply formed a\ncircle or chain of hands, connecting with himself, frequently tapped the\ntable, and appealed to an unseen 'guide' for his information. Raps were\nsaid to have been heard also, but of this I cannot bear testimony.\n\n\"How was this done? By mesmerism? No; for there was nothing in the nature\nof sleep or putting to sleep. Mind-reading? Possibly; although some of the\nslips of paper were read correctly when the contents were for the time\nforgotten and unknown to myself. Hypnotism? Don't know, having but a faint\nidea how far these phenomena extend. By sharpness of sight, trickery,\nsleight of hand? I cannot answer, at least for the present, remaining, as\nbefore, an agnostic on these matters; unable to give an intelligent\nexplanation, but at the same time not disposed to jeer or scoff at what I\ndo not understand. Respectfully,\n\n        \"ROBERT FERRAL.\"\n            September 5, 1893.\n\n\nDR. BUNKER'S NARRATIVE.\n\nThe following is Dr. R. E. Bunker's account, written at his old office,\nNo. 802 Kearny Street, just after the seances and while he was still in\ncharge of the City Receiving Hospital:--\n\n\"I saw Dr. Schlesinger in company with the other gentlemen named, and I\nsaw wonderful things which I am wholly unable to explain. The phenomena,\nmanifestations, or things that occur in the medium's presence are not only\ninteresting, but marvelous. I went possessed of something like eight or\nten slips of paper, on each of which I had previously written (at my\noffice) a name of some person I had known--some living, some dead. Not a\nsoul ever saw the slips, for I was alone when I wrote the names.\nFurthermore, they were so folded that no one could possibly have read a\nsingle name. Dr. Schlesinger at once picked out the names of living and\ndead persons, while the slips were held between my fingers and when I did\nnot know what person's name was on the particular slip that I held. He\npronounced every name correctly while I held the pellet, or as it lay\nuntouched on his table.\n\n\"To say that what he did was by the aid of wires or batteries would be to\nimpart to wires and batteries more intelligence than the greatest\nphilosophers have ever possessed. This is no explanation; nor has any one\never been able to explain to me how these things were done. I do not\nbelieve it was mind-reading (a term that conveys no intelligent idea to me\nanyhow), for I did not know the name on the slip under question--not until\nI afterwards unfolded it and corroborated the Doctor's readings. You\nunderstand that the entire bunch had been thoroughly shuffled in a hat\nbefore any slip was picked up.\n\n\"To come to specific instances, let me give a few cases as they occurred.\nOn one slip I had written my mother's maiden name, which was not known to\nanybody in San Francisco. It was placed among eight or ten other names of\nwomen--some married, some unmarried, some wholly fictitious. All slips\nwere folded alike and placed in a hat under the table, which I held in my\nhands. Dr. Schlesinger asked me to pick out the pellets, one at a time and\nhold them between my finger and thumb. He would say, 'That is not the\nname, throw it aside;' and so on, until he hesitated at one pellet and\nsaid, 'That is your mother's maiden name; it is Emily J. Laumann.'\n\n\"The answer was correct, and in a similar manner he read other names and\ntold me all about the persons. I had written the name of Dick Foster on\none slip. Foster had died of consumption at the old Bella Union Theater,\non June 21st. The medium did not read his name, but wrote a message\nbackwards--that is, from left to right--very rapidly, and when I held it\nup to the light with the written surface from me, I could read the\nfollowing:--\n\n     _I am glad to be here, and if I can obtain the appropriate conditions\n     I will show my identity._\n\n     _DICK FOSTER._\n\n\"This was a puzzling thing, and I should like for some one to explain how\nit was done, if there was not communication with some invisible\nintelligence. In regard to Foster's name it should be said that the medium\nhad not seen nor heard it, and that his hand flew over the paper very fast\nwhile he wrote the backward message. So far as I could see, Dr.\nSchlesinger was quite deaf and near-sighted. He was an old man of heavy\nweight and clumsy fingers. His manner was that of a devout believer in the\ngenuineness of his theory. If any one can explain to me how these things\nwere done, he will interest me far more than Dr. Schlesinger did, and it\nshould be said that my attention to what he did was held without\ninterruption from the start. There were several other like tests wherein\nhe read for me other names by a process equally startling, making one feel\nthat he had marvelous powers.\n\n        \"R. E. BUNKER, M. D.\"\n\n\nWHAT MR. BONNET SAW.\n\nTheodore F. Bonnet, who was a reporter for the _Daily Report_ at the time\nof the seance at the Mayor's office, was a guest of the author during the\nseance. Mr. Bonnet, who is now editor and owner of _Town Talk_, an\ninfluential weekly newspaper, wrote the following account of what he saw\nand handed it to the author just after the seance:--\n\n\"After witnessing the efforts of Dr. Schlesinger as a medium, one cannot\nbut be impressed by his marvelous powers of divination. They are\nimpossible of explanation on any hypothesis calculated to reduce his work\nto the vulgar plane of legerdemain. Yet the manifestations, as he is\npleased to call his marvelous, puzzling and apparently supernatural\nrevelations concerning matters with which he could not become familiar\nunder ordinary circumstances, are after all, unsatisfactory to the person\nengaged in testing his power. I must give him credit, however, for having\nstartled me by one message. I had written on small slips of paper, which\nwere then carefully folded--all this an hour or more before the meeting.\nOne of the names was Joseph Touhill, an Oakland burglar, who had been\nkilled by a policeman who caught him robbing a saloon. I had known\nTouhill, and had been quite friendly with him in late years, but had never\nsuspected that he was of the Jekyll and Hyde species. The medium did not\nat once direct me to the piece of paper on which Touhill's name was\nwritten, but afterwards he suddenly said: 'The spirit of the man with\nwhom you wish to communicate is here now.'\n\n\n[Illustration: EDITOR THEODORE F. BONNET.]\n\n\n\"I signified my willingness to hear from the spirit, whereupon the Doctor\nsaid, 'Old boy, I'm not quite as dead as you think.' Then he mentioned the\nname of Joseph Touhill. Now, this circumstance deeply impressed me,\nbecause the language was so characteristic of the dead burglar, it having\nbeen customary with him to address me as 'Old boy.' Mind-reading will have\nto be rejected as an explanation, because the Doctor subsequently read a\nname that was on a pellet that I had not opened, and knew nothing about\nuntil I subsequently read it. I picked up the pellet from the desk where I\nhad put it with a number of others, and handed it to Mayor Ellert, who,\nwithout examining it, deposited it in his vest-pocket. Then came rappings\non the table, and the medium said: 'Behind you stands the spirit of the\nman whose name is on that paper. He was an eminent person, and he died\nfar away from here. He is waving a flag over your head, and on it is\nwritten the name of Victor Hugo.'\n\n\"The name was correct. Subsequently the Doctor correctly read the name of\nWilliam Cullen Bryant, which I had also written. The Doctor quoted the\nspirit of the poet as saying that he was delighted that I was interested\nin demonstrating that there was a world of spirits. Dr. Schlesinger's\nfeats are bewildering to the human mind. If he is a mere trickster he\npossesses in a marvelous way the skill to disguise his character, for his\nappearance and demeanor are those peculiar to fanaticism or strong faith\nin a cause.\n\n        \"THEO. F. BONNET.\"\n\n\nMR. M'CLOSKEY'S VERSION.\n\nThe following is the narrative of Mr. H. H. McCloskey, a resident of\nMerced at the time of the seance, but now a San Francisco lawyer:--\n\n\"I did not attend the little seance at the Mayor's office by appointment.\nI was on my way to finish up some business and catch the 4-o'clock boat,\nwhen District Attorney Barnes suggested that I drop in and see the fun.\nIntending to remain but a few moments, I accepted the invitation, and have\nno reason to regret having done so. As to what happened there, while I\nremember perfectly well what was done, and kept careful note of all that I\nsaw, I am unable to account for it on any other hypothesis than that the\nDoctor was, as he claims to be, a spiritual medium. At the same time I am\nnot prepared to admit that much.\n\n\"What I saw I saw clearly; it was real and devoid of illusion. There being\nno one present but the Mayor and thoroughly reputable gentlemen, collusion\nby which a portion of the events of that afternoon might be accounted for\nis, of course, out of the question; and neither collusion, mind-reading,\nnor anything else could account for all that occurred.\n\n\"The Doctor requested me to write on seven slips of paper, one on each\nslip, the names of six acquaintances, five of whom were living and the\nsixth dead. On the seventh my own name was to be written. I had never seen\nthe Doctor before, and have no reason to suppose that he had ever seen me.\nI used my own pencil in writing the names, and wrote upon paper furnished\nby the city and county for the use of his Honor the Mayor. When writing\nthe names I was twenty feet away from the Doctor, and as I wrote upon each\nslip I folded it up carefully, so that I myself could not see anything of\nthe writing, nor tell one of the seven slips from the others. Five of the\nnames were those of intimate personal friends, the sixth of a man whom I\nknew in a business way, but for whom, while I was not at all intimate with\nhim, I had always a great regard. This man is dead, and has been so for a\ncouple of years.\n\n\"In obedience to the Doctor's request, I placed the seven slips on the\ntable. Taking the hand of Mr. Barnes, I holding the hand of the latter,\nthe Doctor proceeded to take the slips one by one from the table. The\nfirst he held a second and dropped. The second he handed to me saying,\n'This contains your name.' Upon opening it I found the Doctor to be\ncorrect, and asking him what my name was he promptly told us.\n\n\"I confess I was a little mystified, but the Doctor didn't stop there.\nContinuing, he picked up the other slips until the fifth one had been\nreached. 'This is the name of your dead friend. His name is V. C. W.\nHooker--not exactly, but a name very similar. I can't quite make it out.\nHe says he will talk to you at another time.' As you saw when I opened the\nslip it showed as I had written it the name of V. C. W. Hooper, a man who\nwas quite prominent in Merced during his lifetime. Just how the Doctor\nfound that out I leave to others who were there to explain when they have\ntime after accounting for the mysterious things that happened to\nthemselves. I cannot and will not pretend to. It was not mind-reading,\nhowever. Of that I am satisfied. For as he picked up the fifth slip and\nsaid, 'This is the name of the dead man,' he did not get that information\nby reading my mind, for there were two more slips remaining, and I\ncouldn't say which was which. That is beyond any explanation. Mind-reading\nwill not fit it at all.\n\n\"One of the party--I think it was Mr. Barnes--wrote the name of _two_ dead\nmen in his list. Leaving out the first problem--the picking up of the\nright slip--putting that aside, how is it to be explained that the Doctor\nchose the right name of the two dead ones? Mr. Barnes did not know. He\nhad not opened the slip; therefore the Doctor could not read his mind. For\nmyself, I give up the conundrum.\n\n        \"Very truly.\n            \"H. H. MCCLOSKEY.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nCHARACTER OF THE NARRATORS.\n\n\nTo any one who has a fair knowledge of human nature, a glance at the line\npictures of the gentlemen who participated in the events with which this\nbook deals will tell that they are men of character and keen observation.\nIn San Francisco and throughout the West many of them are as well known as\nthe Governor of the State.\n\nTheir names need no introduction, and since they have been representative\nmen for many years it is not necessary to say much about them. For the\nbenefit of persons who know nothing concerning them, however, the\nfollowing information is submitted:--\n\nPATRICK CROWLEY, Chief of Police, was born in Albany County, New York, on\nMarch 17, 1831. When quite young he went to New York and worked in\ndifferent printing-offices. He came to San Francisco in 1850, and worked\nin the mining-camps for two or three years. He was engaged in the boating\nbusiness here, when in 1854 he was elected to the office of Town Constable\non the Democratic ticket. He was re-elected on the same ticket in 1855,\nand from 1856 he was re-elected every two years on the old People's Party\nticket till 1866, when he was elected Chief of Police. He held that office\nby election for six years, when he quit the force and went into the\nbrokerage business. In 1878, by an act of the Legislature, the Board of\nPolice Commissioners received the power to appoint the Chief of Police.\nThe office was tendered him, and after considerable pressure he\nreluctantly accepted it, as he was making an excellent living at his\nbusiness. He held the office by election or appointment for twenty-four\nsuccessive years. His wide experience with criminals, bunko-men, and all\nsorts of tricksters gave him excellent training and amply fitted him for a\nthorough inspection of all that was done during the seances. In fact, it\nwas his boast at the beginning of his sitting with Dr. Schlesinger that he\nhad helped to trap the Eddies and other disreputable mediums, and that he\nwould soon expose the fraud in the case in hand.\n\nWILLIAM S. BARNES, son of the eloquent and famous General W. H. L. Barnes\n(known all over America as the greatest living after-dinner orator, and\nknown all over the United States as a Republican orator), is a graduate of\nHarvard and a man of fine legal attainments. He is one of the most\nprominent Native Sons, and is famous for his shrewdness as Prosecuting\nAttorney for the great City and County of San Francisco. It was he who\nprosecuted and convicted Theodore Durrant in one of the most marvelous\ncriminal cases of the century. He was also the star lawyer in the\nprosecution of the great Sydney Bell footpad case. Mr. Barnes was the\norganizer and president of the Association of District Attorneys of\nCalifornia; is an active member of California Lodge No. 1, F. & A. M., a\nmember of the Pacific-Union Club, also of the Union League, of which he is\none of a committee on political action, of the Juarez Manufacturing\nCompany, of which he is President. Thus his mastery in the legal\nprofession is no less equaled in his social and business associations.\n\nAttorney CHARLES L. PATTON is Grand Master of California Masonic\nfraternity, and is a gentleman of the highest personal and professional\ncharacter. He was a strong competitor against Mayor Phelan, and was\nchosen by the Republican party a few years ago as the best candidate\nagainst the present (1900) Mayor of the city. Mr. Patton is a man of much\nerudition and wide experience with men and books. He, like all his\nassociates, and like the writer of this book, was and is a skeptic\nregarding the truth of so-called spiritual phenomena. His account speaks\nfor itself.\n\nMayor L. R. ELLERT is a man of legal attainments and of wide business\ninterests. He was a popular reform Mayor, and was in office at the time of\nthe occurrences narrated. He is to-day one of the best-known and most\nhighly respected lawyers and business men of San Francisco. For many years\nhe was a skillful pharmacist, and his wide knowledge of drugs and\nphysiology was useful in the attempted solution of the various problems\npresented by the medium.\n\nJudge ROBERT FERRAL is the warhorse of Democracy, and one of the Nestors\nof the California bar. He made some of the most spirited races ever\nentered upon for Congress, and polled the largest vote ever known for an\nunpopular political party in the old days. As a judge and criminal lawyer\nof wide experience, as well as by reason of his unexcelled literary\nattainments and extended experience in the science of hypnotism and\nkindred phenomena, the Judge was an invaluable spectator and participant,\nespecially as his native wit usually enables him to see through many\nthings that puzzle other men. Here, however, he stood dumbfounded.\n\nDr. R. E. BUNKER is a regular physician of high reputation and personal\nstanding. He was at the time of the matters recorded in charge of the City\nReceiving Hospital, and was considered one of the most careful and\ncompetent observers at the seance. Like all others named, Dr. Bunker's\nword is absolutely above reproach, and there is not a more competent man\nin the country.\n\nTHEODORE F. BONNET was at the time of the seance a reporter for the _Daily\nReport_. He was afterwards elected to the important position of License\nCollector, and is now editor and owner of _Town Talk_. This is one of the\nbest weekly papers in the United States, and its success dates from its\npurchase by the gentleman named. Mr. Bonnet is an Elk of high standing,\nand a man of good family and social position. In addition to all these\nfacts, it should be borne in mind that his long training as a reporter\nfitted him in a peculiarly advantageous way for the duties of trying to\ndetect what was done by the medium.\n\nH. H. MCCLOSKEY was a casual visitor at the seance, being the guest of\nDistrict Attorney Barnes. Mr. McCloskey was at the time a resident of\nMerced, and was a prominent lawyer and politician. He was also a\nRepublican State Central Committeeman and was considered one of the ablest\nof the party. He is to-day a well-known San Francisco attorney. His\naccount of the seance explains just what occurred.\n\nThese facts, with some of the pictures, will give the reader an idea of\nthe men whose narratives he has doubtless read with pleasure.\n\nIn conclusion, it should be remembered that this book is sold by the\npublishers only. It will be sent to any address for fifty cents. If you\nhave enjoyed reading it, recommend it to the next friend you meet.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Do the Dead Return? A True Story of Startling Seances in San Francisco","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":8018}