,,the ,,case ,,for ,,spirit             
,,photography  ,,arthur ,,conan ,,doyle 
,by ,,sir ,,arthur ,,conan ,,doyle   ,on
 the ,life ,hereafter      ,,the ,,new  
,,revelation     ,,the ,,vital ,,message
     ,,the ,,coming ,,of ,,the ,,fairies
     ,,the ,,case ,,for ,,spirit        
,,photography     ,,the ,,wanderings    
,,of ,a ,,spiritualist     ,,our        
,,american ,,adventure  ,a ,history of  
the ,great ,war      ,,the ,,british    
,,campaign ,,in ,,france ,,and          
,,flanders--#e ,vols4  ,poems      ,,the
 ,,guards ,,came ,,through  ,novels and 
,stories      ,,danger6 ,and ,other     
,stories     ,,the ,,doings ,,of        
,,raffles ,,haw     ,,his ,,last ,,bow  
,some ,latin ,reminiscences of ,sherlock
 ,holmes  ,,new ,,york  ,,george ,h4    
,,doran ,,company                       
,,the ,,case ,,for                      
,,spirit ,,photography                  
,,by                            ,,arthur
 ,,conan ,,doyle                        
,,with ,,corroborative ,,evidence ,,by  

,,experienced ,,researchers             
,,and ,,photographers                   
,,illustrated                           
,illustration                           
,,new ,,york                            
,,george ,h4 ,,doran ,,company          
,,copyright1 #aibc1                     
,,by ,,george ,h4 ,,doran ,,company     
,illustration                     ,,the 
,,case ,,for ,,spirit ,,photography4 ,i 
,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states  
,,of ,,america     ,,preface   ,the     
publicity given to the recent attacks on
 ,psychic ,photography has been out of  
all proportion to their scientific value
 as evidence4 ,when ,sir ,arthur ,conan 
,doyle returned to ,great ,britain1     
after his successful tour in ,america1  
the controversy was in full swing4 ,with
 characteristic promptitude he          
immediately decided to meet these       
negative attacks by a positive          
counter-attack1 and this volume is the  
outcome of that decision4  ,we have used
 the term 8,spirit ,photography0 on the 

title-page as being the popular name by 
which these phenomena are known4 ,this  
does not imply that either ,sir ,arthur 
or ,i imagine that everything           
supernormal must be of spirit origin4   
,there is1 undoubtedly1 a broad         
borderland where these photographic     
effects may be produced from forces     
contained within ourselves4 ,this merges
 into those higher phenomena of which   
many cases are here described4 ,those   
desiring fuller information on this     
subject are referred to 8,photographing 
the ,invisible10 by ,james ,coates4  ,it
 was only when editing the matter for   
these pages that ,i fully realised what 
an overwhelming mass of reliable        
material we had to work upon4 ,in       
restricting this book to the necessary  
limits it has only been possible to make
 use of a small portion of this         
evidence4 ,many more cases have been    
placed on record and may be published on
 some future occasion4 ,most of the     
letters accompanying these descriptions 

display a deep and genuine affection for
 the maligned mediums of the ,crewe     
,circle4 ,our hearty thanks are due to  
all those friends who have so readily   
co-operated in this work and who are so 
willing to brave the discomforts of     
publicity for what they know to be the  
truth4                                  
,,fred ,,barlow4     ,,contents         
,,page           ,,preface ,,by ,,fred  
,,barlow                                
v      ,,chapter         ,i ,,the       
,,crewe ,,circle                        
#ac        ,,ii ,,some ,,personal       
,,experiences                           
#ba       ,,iii ,,evidential ,,tests    
,,and ,,their ,,results                 
#bh        ,,iv ,,an ,,examination ,,of 
,,mr4 ,,hope ,,and ,,his ,,critics      
#ch         ,v ,,further ,,difficulties 
,,considered                            
#ee        ,,vi ,,the ,,attack ,,on     
,,mrs4 ,,deane ,,and ,,mr4 ,,vearncombe 
#fj       ,,vii ,,the ,,genesis ,,and   
,,history ,,of ,,the ,,crewe ,,circle   

,,by ,,miss            ,f4 ,r4          
,,scatcherd                             
#gj      ,,viii ,,evidential ,,and      
,,scientific ,,aspects ,,of ,,psychic   
,,photography ,,by ,,fred ,,barlow      
#gi        ,,ix ,,conclusive ,,proof    
,,from ,,many ,,sources                 
#if     ,,illustrations                 
,,page      ,barlow1 ,mr4 ,h4 ,d41      
,psychic and ,normal ,photographs of    
#abg      ,burgess1 ,mrs41 with ,psychic
 ,picture of ,her ,uncle                
#abg      ,buxton1 ,mrs41 and ,daughter1
 with ,psychic ,picture of       ,her   
,father                                 
#dg      ,colley1 ,archdeacon1 ,psychic 
,message in the ,handwriting of         
#ad      ,colley1 ,archdeacon1 ,normal  
,handwriting of                         
#ad      ,colley1 ,archdeacon1          
,photomicrograph of ,portion of ,normal 
,signature                              
#gh      ,colley1 ,archdeacon1          
,photomicrograph of ,portion of         
,signature       in ,psychic ,message   

#gh      ,crawford1 ,dr4 ,w4 ,j41       
,psychic ,message in the ,handwriting of
      #ae      ,crawford1 ,dr4 ,w4 ,j41 
,normal ,handwriting of                 
#ae      ,crookes1 ,sir ,william1 with  
,psychic ,face                          
#ca      ,cushman1 ,agnes1 ,psychic     
,picture of                             
#fc      ,cushman1 ,agnes1 ,normal      
,photograph of                          
#fc      ,doyle1 ,sir ,arthur ,conan1   
and ,group1 with ,psychic ,message      
from ,archdeacon ,colley                
#ad      ,east1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,h41 with
 ,psychic and ,normal ,pictures       of
 ,son                                   
#dg      ,foulds1 ,mrs4 ,r41 with       
,psychic ,photograph of ,her ,mother    
#aaj      ,foulds1 ,mrs4 ,r41 ,normal   
,photograph of the ,mother of           
#aaj      ,griere1 ,mrs4 ,a4 ,e41 with  
,psychic ,likeness of ,husband       and
 ,father                                
#aaa      ,griere1 ,mrs4 ,a4 ,e41       
,photograph of the ,husband of          

#aaa      ,jeffrey1 ,mr4 ,wm41 and      
,daughter1 ,showing ,ectoplasmic ,bag   
#fb      ,jeffrey1 ,mr4 ,wm41 and       
,daughter1 with ,psychic ,likeness      
of ,mrs4 ,jeffrey                       
#fb      ,maddocks1 ,mr4 ,s41 with      
,psychic ,likeness of ,first ,wife      
#ie      ,maddocks1 ,mr4 ,s41 ,normal   
,photograph of the ,first ,wife of      
#ie      ,pickup1 ,mrs41 with ,psychic  
,likeness of ,husband                   
#abf      ,pickup1 ,mrs41 ,photograph of
 the ,husband of                        
#abf      ,s4,s4,s4,p41 ,group          
,photograph with ,psychic ,face         
#cj      ,spencer1 ,major ,r4 ,e4 ,e41  
with ,psychic ,face                     
#ca      ,tweedale1 the ,rev4 ,c4 ,l41  
and ,wife1 with ,psychic ,likeness      
of ,mrs4 ,tweedale's ,father            
#df      ,tweedale1 the ,rev4 ,c4 ,l41  
,photograph of the ,father-in-law of    
#df      ,walker1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,harry1
 and ,friends1 with ,psychic            
,likeness of ,mr4 ,wm4 ,walker          

#gi      ,walker1 ,mr4 ,wm41 with       
,psychic ,message in ,handwriting       
of ,mr4 ,w4 ,t4 ,stead                  
#gi      ,walker1 ,mr4 ,wm41 ,psychic   
,message in ,handwriting of             
#id      ,walker1 ,mr4 ,wm41 ,specimen  
of ,handwriting of                      
#id     ,,the ,,case ,,for ,,spirit     
,,photography     ,,chapter ,i  ,,the   
,,crewe ,,circle   ,an accusation of a  
damaging1 and1 as ,i believe1 of an     
entirely unfounded character1 has been  
brought forward by ,mr4 ,harry ,price   
against ,mr4 ,hope1 whose name has for  
more than seventeen years been          
associated with the strange phenomenon  
which has been called spirit            
photography4 ,i will deal later with    
this accusation with which the ,society 
for ,psychic ,research has unfortunately
 associated itself by publishing the    
report of it in their official journal4 
,before touching upon it ,i should wish 
to take a broader sweep and to show the 
overpowering weight of evidence which   

exists as to the reality of ,mr4 ,hope's
 most remarkable gift4  ,if a man were  
accused of cowardice it would be natural
 that his defender should not confine   
himself to the particular case1 but     
should examine the man's whole career   
and put forward instances of valour as  
an argument against the charge4 ,so also
 if a man is accused of dishonesty a    
long record of honesty would be his most
 complete defence4 ,therefore in        
considering the case of ,mr4 ,hope1 and 
the value of his mediumship1 one must   
not limit one's investigation to a      
single case1 where errors of observation
 and of deduction may creep in1 but must
 take a broader view which will embrace 
an account of a long series of cases1   
vouched for by men and women of the     
highest character1 and incompatible with
 any form of fraud4 ,if the reader will 
have the patience to follow my facts and
 my argument1 ,i hope to make it clear  
to any unprejudiced mind that there is  
overwhelming evidence that we have in   

,mr4 ,hope a man endowed with most      
singular powers1 and that1 instead of   
persecuting and misrepresenting him1 it 
would be wiser if we took a sympathetic 
view of his remarkable work1 which has  
brought consolation to the afflicted1   
and conviction to many who had lost all 
belief in the independent life of the   
spirit4  ,many speak of ,mr4 ,hope and  
of the ,crewe ,circle without any       
definite idea of what the words mean4   
,let me explain1 then1 that ,mr4        
,william ,hope1 who is a working-man1   
discovered1 some seventeen years ago1   
quite by chance1 that this remarkable   
power of producing extra faces1 figures 
or objects upon photographic plates had 
been given to him4 ,in the first        
instance he was taking a fellow-workman1
 and the plate1 when developed1 was     
found to contain an extra figure which  
was recognised as being a likeness of   
his comrade's sister1 who had recently  
passed away4  ,this form of mediumship  
is rare1 but from the days of ,mumler1  

who first showed it in #ahfa1 there has 
never been a time when one or more      
sensitives have not been able to        
demonstrate it4  ,illustration3 ,,fig4  
#a4--;,impression received upon a marked
 plate which never left the author's    
hands1 save when in carrier4 7,see p4   
#ba47  ,illustration3 ,,fig4            
#b4--,specimen of ,archdeacon ,colley's 
writing during his lifetime4 7,see p4   
#bb47  ,illustration3 ,,fig4            
#c4--,psychograph in the handwriting of 
,dr4 ,w4 ,j4 ,crawford4 7,see p4 #be47  
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #d4--,specimen of 
,dr4 ,w4 ,j4 ,crawford's writing during 
his lifetime4  ,hope was greatly        
surprised at his own results1 but he had
 the good fortune in early days to meet 
the late ,archdeacon ,colley1 an        
enlightened member of the ,anglican     
,church1 who tested his powers1 endorsed
 them and appreciated their value4 ,it  
was he who gave ,hope his first stand   
camera1 the old-fashioned instrument to 
which he still clings1 and which1 with  

its battered box and broken leg1 is     
familiar to many of us4  ,no one knows  
the story of these beginnings so well as
 ,miss ,scatcherd1 who was the intimate 
friend of the ,archdeacon and shared the
 evidence which had so impressed him4   
,miss ,scatcherd has kindly consented to
 jot down her reminiscences of these    
early days1 that ,i may include them in 
the later pages of this volume4         
,suffice it if ,i say1 at present1 that 
,hope has been before the public for    
seventeen years1 that during that time  
many special tests have been demanded of
 him and have been successfully met1    
that he has been closely observed by    
experts of all sorts--scientific men    
7including ,sir ,william ,crookes71     
journalists1 professional photographers 
and others--that he has patiently       
submitted himself to all sorts of       
experiment1 and that he has emerged from
 this most drastic ordeal with the      
complete support and approval of far the
 greater part of his clients4 ,that he  

has been fiercely attacked goes without 
saying1 for every medium has that       
experience1 but each fresh allegation   
against him has ended in smoke1 while   
his gifts have grown stronger with time1
 so that the percentage of blanks in his
 results is1 ,i should say1 lower than  
it used to be4 ,no medium can ever      
honestly guarantee success1 but it would
 probably be within the mark if one     
claimed that ,hope attained it three    
times out of five1 though the results   
vary much in visibility and value1 being
 mere vague outlines in some cases1 and 
in others so detailed in their          
perfection that the extra is clearer and
 more life-like than the sitter4 ,these 
variations seem to depend upon the state
 of health of the medium1 the qualities 
of the investigator1 the atmospheric    
conditions and other obscure causes4    
,in person1 ,hope is a man who gives the
 impression of being between fifty and  
sixty years of age1 with the manner and 
appearance of an intelligent            

working-man4 ,his forehead is high and  
indicates a good1 if untrained1 brain   
beneath it4 ,the general effect of his  
face is aquiline with large1            
well-opened1 honest blue eyes1 and a    
moustache which is shading from yellow  
to grey4 ,his voice is pleasant1 with a 
,north ,country accent which becomes    
very pronounced when he is excited4 ,his
 hands with their worn nails and        
square-ended fingers are those of the   
worker1 and the least adapted to        
sleight-of-hand tricks of any that ,i   
have seen4  ,mrs4 ,buxton1 who aids him1
 is a kindly1 pleasant-faced woman on   
the sunny side of middle-age4 ,her      
mediumistic powers seem to be akin to   
those of ,hope1 and though the latter   
had all his earlier results             
independently1 he is stronger when he   
combines his forces with ,mrs4          
,buxton's4  ,they both give an          
impression of honesty and frankness1    
which increases as one comes to know    
them more closely4 ,i have never met two

 people who seemed to me from manner and
 appearance to be less likely to be in a
 conspiracy to deceive the public4      
,they and all their circle are          
spiritualists of a ,salvation ,army     
type1 much addicted to the hearty       
singing of hymns and the putting up of  
impromptu prayers4 ,hope1 the most      
unconventional of beings1 has been known
 in the midst of one of his photographic
 lectures 7which he delivers            
occasionally in his shirt-sleeves7 to   
say1 8,and now1 my friends1 we will warm
 up with a hymn10 in which the audience1
 unable to escape1 has to acquiesce4 ,it
 is a type of character which associates
 itself sometimes1 ,i admit1 with a     
loathsome form of hypocrisy1 but which  
has in it something peculiarly childlike
 and sweet when it is perfectly honest  
and spontaneous as it is1 to the best of
 my belief1 in the case of the two      
mediums in question4  ,some prejudice   
can be excited against ,hope by the mere
 assertion that he is a professional    

medium4 ,the public is aware that       
fraud--sometimes unhappily real1        
sometimes only alleged--is too often    
associated with this profession4        
,sufficient allowance is not made for   
the fact that the papers only take note 
of psychic things when they go wrong1   
and never when they go right4 ,the      
dishonest medium is so easily found out 
that one could hardly make a living at  
so precarious a trade4  ,in a very      
extended experience1 which covers many  
hundreds of sances1 ,i have only        
encountered fraud three or four times4  
,had ,i registered those cases and      
omitted the others1 ,i would have given 
the impression of continued fraud1 which
 is exactly how the matter is presented 
to the public who are continually       
hoodwinked1 not by the spiritualists but
 by the critics and so-called 8exposers0
 who represent what is exceptional as   
being constant4  ,it is exactly this    
prejudice which prevents a medium or his
 friends from bringing an action for    

libel1 so that the unhappy man or woman 
becomes a butt for any charge or any    
ridicule1 the assailants knowing well   
that the ordinary legal rights of a     
,briton are hardly applicable to one who
 can be represented as living from a    
profession which is not recognised by   
our laws4 ,this cowardly medium-baiting 
will cease only when the public show1 by
 abstaining from the purchase of the    
journals which pursue it1 that they have
 no sympathy with such persecutions4  ,i
 would wish to point out1 however1 that 
,hope is not in a strict sense a        
professional medium4 ,i have never met  
anyone who seemed to me less venal than 
he4 ,i am aware of a case where an      
exploiter approached him with a proposal
 to turn his gift into money1 but was   
received in the coldest possible manner4
 ,twice when ,i have sat with him at    
,crewe he has refused to take a fee1    
though he could never have known that   
the fact would be made public4 ,it is   
true that on each occasion ,i           

disregarded him to the extent of leaving
 some remembrance upon the mantelpiece  
when his back was turned1 but ,i have   
been assured by others that he has again
 and again refused all remuneration for 
his sitting1 and has charged the        
ridiculous sum of #ds4 #f;d4 per dozen  
for prints from the negatives obtained4 
,this sum is calculated upon the average
 time expended at the rate of his own   
trade earnings4 ,i do not wish to       
overstate this side of the question or  
to pretend that he would not be open to 
a present from a grateful client4 ,of   
how many of us could that be honestly   
said8 ,but my point is that his gifts   
have been as open to the poor as to the 
rich--which all spiritual gifts should  
be4  ,it is1 of course1 another matter  
when he comes to ,london and gives      
sittings by appointment at the ,british 
,college of ,psychic ,science4 ,that    
college is an expensive and most useful 
establishment1 which is run1 with a     
yearly deficit1 through the generosity  

of ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,hewat ,mc,kenzie1 and
 it is only right that those who use it 
should contribute an adequate sum to its
 maintenance4  ,to illustrate my remarks
 upon ,hope's character and the general 
lines upon which the ,crewe ,circle is  
conducted1 ,i would like to give this   
extract from the letter of a miner1 ,mr4
 ,east1 of #cf1 ,new ,street1 ,port     
,talbot1 who describes an experience    
which he had in #aibj4 ,after giving an 
account of the precautions taken1 and of
 the appearance upon the plate of his   
son's face3 ,see ,figure #aa4           
8,hundreds of persons who knew him have 
seen the photo and     recognised him40 
,he adds3 8,when ,i asked what their    
charges     were1 ,mr4 ,hope replied3   
#8,four and sixpence a dozen4 ,for the  
sitting1 nothing4 ,this is a gift from  
,god and we dare not     charge for what
 is freely given us4 ,our pay is often  
the wonder     and joy depicted on the  
faces of those1 like yourselves1 who    
have found that their loved ones are not

 entirely lost to them4     ,we get all 
kinds and classes of people here4 ,some 
even are     threadbare and too poor to 
pay train-fare1 but we treat them       
all alike as we recognise in each a     
brother or sister4'      8,i could not  
but be impressed by the ,christ-spirit  
of the two     friends1 whom we had     
never seen before that short half-hour1 
and not since4 ,and when ,i read of men 
who try to make those two     persons   
appear something detestable ,i go back  
in memory to that     day when it was   
our good fortune to meet them and recall
 their     more than kind attitude to   
two bruised hearts4 ,god bless them1    
say ,i40  ,with these preliminary       
remarks ,i will now lay before the      
reader a selection of cases which ,i    
have taken from ,mr4 ,hope's record1 and
 ,i will ask him to read them carefully 
and see if they can be reconciled with  
any possible system of fraud4 ,we are1  
of course1 always open to the objection 
that a man may be perfectly honest fifty

 times and fraudulent the fifty-first4  
,that is undeniable and constitutes the 
great difficulty in dealing with        
isolated cases where no impartial       
witness was present1 and where both the 
accusation and the defence are equally  
ex-parte statements4 ,we can only say in
 rebuttal that previous honesty must    
predispose us to assume that there is no
 fraud1 and remind our readers that if  
we can only show one single case1 which 
is absolutely beyond criticism1 then we 
have for ever settled the larger        
contention1 that it is possible in the  
presence of certain individuals1 whom we
 call mediums1 to produce effects which 
are supernormal and which would appear  
to indicate separate intelligences      
acting visibly quite independently of   
ourselves4     ,,chapter ,,ii  ,,some   
,,personal ,,experiences   ,i will first
 give an account of my own visit to     
,crewe which was in the summer of #aiai4
 ,i bought my plates in ,manchester and 
then travelled over to keep the         

appointment which had been made a week  
before4 ,arriving at ,crewe1 ,i went    
down to the little house in ,market     
,street1 which is so modest and humble  
that it furnishes an argument in itself 
against any undue cupidity on the part  
of its tenant4 ,two spiritualistic      
friends1 ,mr4 ,oaten1 editor of the ,two
 ,worlds1 and ,mr4 ,walker1 were my     
companions4  ,mr4 ,hope and ,mrs4       
,buxton were waiting for us1 and1 after 
a short religious service1 ,mr4 ,hope   
and ,i went into the dark room4 ,there  
,i opened the packet of plates1 put two 
into the carrier and marked them then   
and there4 ,the carrier was then taken  
into the room and ,mr4 ,hope inserted it
 into the camera4 ,we three             
spiritualists sat in front with a rug1  
or blanket1 as a background4 ,the       
exposure having been made1 the carrier  
was taken back into the dark room where1
 with my own hands1 ,i took out the     
plates1 developed them and fixed them4  
,so far as ,i could judge1 there was at 

no stage any possibility of changing the
 plates4  ,but this question does not   
really arise4 ,no changing of plates    
would account for the effect actually   
produced4 ,this effect ,i have shown in 
,figure #a4 ,there is a hazy cloud      
covering us of what ,i will describe as 
ectoplasm1 though my critics are very   
welcome to call it cotton-wool if it    
eases their feelings to do so4 ,in one  
corner appears a partial materialisation
 of what seems to be the hair and       
forehead of a young man4 ,across the    
plate is scrawled1 8,well done1 ,friend 
,doyle1 ,i welcome you to ,crewe4       
,greetings to all4 ,t4 ,,colley40  ,i   
have already explained that ,archdeacon 
,colley was the founder of the ,crewe   
,circle1 and if1 as we believe1 we      
continue our interest after death it    
would seem not unnatural that he should 
send a kindly word to a visitor who was 
working for the cause4 ,how can we      
determine that the message was really   
from ,archdeacon ,colley8 ,the obvious  

way would be to get a sample of his     
writing in life and to compare it with  
that upon the plate4 ,this ,i have done1
 as shown in ,figure #b4 ,can anyone    
deny that the handwriting is the same in
 both instances1 or can anyone suppose  
that the rough script of ,hope could    
possibly be modified into the scholarly 
handwriting of the ,archdeacon8 ,whence1
 then1 did this message come8 ,does     
anyone imagine that a private forger is 
retained by ,hope and lurks somewhere in
 that humble abode8 ,it is a problem    
which calls for an answer1 and no talk  
about conjuring tricks or transposition 
of plates has the least bearing upon it4
 ,it may be remarked incidentally that  
my own strong desire was to obtain some 
sign from my son who had passed away the
 year before4 ,the result seemed to show
 that our personal wishes do not effect 
the outcome4  ,having failed to get what
 ,i desired1 ,i remained at ,crewe for  
the night1 and next morning went down to
 ,market ,street again4 ,on this        

occasion ,i used ,hope's own plates1    
having left mine at the hotel4 ,he gave 
me the choice of several packets4 ,the  
result obtained under all the           
precautions which ,i could adopt 7it    
would only weary the reader if ,i gave  
every point of detail7 was a photograph 
of the face of a young man beside my    
own4 ,it was not a good likeness of my  
son1 though it resembled him as he was  
some eight years before his death4 ,of  
the three results which ,i obtained at  
,crewe it was the one which impressed me
 least4 ,on examination with a lens it  
was noticeable that the countenance was 
pitted with fine dots1 as in the case of
 process printing4 ,this is to be       
noticed in a certain proportion1        
possibly one in ten1 of ,hope's results1
 and occurs in the case of persons whose
 faces could by no possibility have     
appeared in newspapers4 ,one can only   
suppose that it is in some way connected
 with the psychic process1 and some have
 imagined a reticulated screen upon     

which the image is built up4 ,i am      
content to note the fact without        
attempting to explain it4 ,i have       
observed the same effect in other       
psychic photographs4  ,the third result 
was the most remarkable of any4 ,i had  
read that ,hope can get images without  
the use of the camera1 but the statement
 sounded incredible4 ,he now asked me to
 mark a plate and put it in a carrier1  
which ,i did4 ,we then placed our hands 
on either side of the carrier1 ,mrs4    
,buxton and her sister joining in4 ,at  
the end of about a minute ,hope gave a  
sort of shudder1 and intimated that he  
thought a result had been obtained4 ,on 
putting the plate into the solution a   
disc the size of a shilling1 perfectly  
black1 sprang up in the centre of it4   
,on development this resolved itself    
into a luminous circle with the face of 
a female delicately outlined within it4 
,under the chin is a disc of white1 and 
two fingers which are pointing to it4   
,the disc is evidently a brooch1 and the

 pointing seemed to indicate that it was
 meant to be evidential4 ,the face bore 
a strong resemblance to that of my elder
 sister1 who died some thirty years ago4
 ,upon sending the print to my other    
sisters they not only confirmed this1   
but they reminded me that my sister had 
a very remarkable ivory brooch in her   
lifetime and that it was just the one   
object which might best have been chosen
 as a test4 ,i regret that this picture 
is so delicate that it will not bear    
reproduction4  ,such were my three      
results at ,crewe1 and ,i should1 ,i    
hold1 have been devoid of reason had ,i 
not been deeply impressed by them4 ,here
 was a message in ,archdeacon ,colley's 
own handwriting4 ,here was a test from  
my own dead sister which seemed to be   
beyond all possible coincidence1 apart  
from the extraordinary way in which the 
picture was obtained4 ,neither          
sleight-of-hand nor transference of     
plates could have any bearing upon such 
results as those4 ,their full           

significance was not realised until ,i  
had made enquiries1 but after that time 
,i felt it impossible to doubt the      
supernormal nature of the powers which  
had produced such effects4  ,it might   
perhaps be argued that as ,archdeacon   
,colley's writing was familiar to ,hope1
 he had1 in spite of his disabilities1  
made some special effort to master and  
reproduce it4 ,as a matter of fact1     
however1 this case does not stand alone1
 and many evidential writings have been 
obtained at ,crewe1 notably those of ,w4
 ,t4 ,stead and of the late ,dr4        
,crawford4 ,the latter is a recent      
incident1 and ,i would take it as my    
next example1 since it illustrates this 
phenomenon of writing1 and is again free
 from the bogey of transposition4  ,upon
 ,june #cj of this year 7#aibb7 three   
delegates from ,belfast1 ,mr4 ,skelton1 
,mr4 ,gillmour and ,mr4 ,donaldson1 were
 coming over to the ,london             
,spiritualists' ,conference4 ,they broke
 their journey at ,crewe in order to    

have a sitting with ,mr4 ,hope1 who was 
in deep distress at the time on account 
of the attack made upon him in ,mr4     
,price's report4 ,it is worth noting    
that ,mrs4 ,crawford1 the widow of ,dr4 
,crawford1 had come over with them on   
the boat1 and that ,dr4 ,crawford's     
affairs had been under discussion1      
though ,hope had no means of knowing it4
 ,under good fraud-proof conditions1 on 
their own specially-marked plate1 the   
visitors obtained a message in ,dr4     
,crawford's handwriting1 which runs     
thus1 ,i supplying the punctuation3     
8,,dear ,,mr4 ,,hope1      8,needless to
 say ,i am with you where psychic work  
is concerned1     and you can be sure of
 my sympathy and help4 ,i know all the  
difficulties and uncertainties connected
 with the subject4 ,i am     keenly     
interested in your circle and will      
co-operate with you4     ,regarding your
 enemies who would by hook or by crook  
dispose of     the phenomena1 leave them
 alone4 ,i1 ,w4 ,j4 ,crawford1 of       

,belfast1     am here in ,crewe on      
,friday1 ,june #cjth4                   
8,w4 ,j4 ,,crawford40  ,each word is on 
its own little patch of ectoplasm1 or   
upon its own pad of cotton-wool1 if the 
critics prefer it1 though it would      
puzzle them1 ,i think1 to reproduce the 
effect which is given in ,figure #c4    
,the plate alongside 7,figure #d7 shows 
a reproduction of an actual note of     
,crawford's which will enable the reader
 to judge the extreme similarity of the 
script4 ,once more we confront the      
critic with this fact and ask him to    
face the difficulty and to tell us      
whence this writing came2 whether it is 
a production of ,mr4 ,hope's1 or whether
 the theory of a private forger upon the
 premises can be sustained4  ,apart from
 these cases of the reproduction of     
handwriting1 copies of documents have   
appeared upon the plates at ,crewe which
 could by no means have got there in a  
normal fashion4 ,a case in point is     
given in detail by the ,reverend and    

venerable ,professor ,henslow on p4 #bag
 of his ,proofs of ,spiritualism4 ,in   
this case1 the truth of which is vouched
 for by the ,professor1 although it did 
not actually occur to him1 the plates   
were held between the hands of the      
sitters in the manner already described1
 but the packet had not been opened and 
was as it had come from the chemist4    
,when the packet was opened and the     
plates developed there was found        
impressed upon the fifth plate a number 
of ,greek characters1 which proved to be
 a copy of four lines of the ,codex     
,alexandrinus1 a rare ,greek text kept  
in a glass case in the ,british ,museum4
 ,the interesting point appears that the
 two documents are not facsimiles1 and  
that there is some slight difference in 
the formation of the letters1 thus      
meeting the objection that the text     
photographed might have been got from   
some facsimile of the original ,codex4  
,the photographs of the original ,greek 
and of the ,crewe reproduction are given

 in ,professor ,henslow's work4 ,here1  
again1 we may well ask the critic to    
face the facts and give us some feasible
 explanation as to how this ,greek text 
was precipitated on to a plate in a     
sealed packet under the mediumship of an
 unlearned carpenter at ,crewe4         
,,chapter ,,iii  ,,evidential ,,tests   
,,and ,,their ,,results   ,we will now  
turn to the reproduction of faces1 and  
,i will give an instance where all the  
stock theories about changing or        
superposition of plates become          
untenable4 ,at the annual meeting of the
 ,society for the ,study of ,supernormal
 ,pictures1 ,i being present1 a         
photograph of the members was taken in  
the normal way as a souvenir4 ,as ,hope 
was present1 it was suggested that a    
second photograph be taken by him in the
 hope that we might get some psychic    
effect4 ,the plate was taken from an    
unopened packet in the pocket of the    
secretary1 and some fifteen of us were  
witnesses of the whole transaction4     

,hope had no warning at all1 and could  
have made no preparation4 ,the plate was
 at once developed by one of our own    
members1 and a well-marked extra1 amid a
 cloud of ectoplasm1 appeared upon the  
picture4 ,this extra was claimed by one 
of our members as a good likeness of his
 dead father4 ,this result1 which is    
illustrated by ,figure #e1 was obtained 
before an audience of experts1 if any   
men in this world have a right to call  
themselves experts upon this subject4   
,how can it be explained by fraud and   
how can such a case be lightly set      
aside8 ,granting for argument's sake    
that the sitter may have been mistaken  
in the recognition1 how can the actual  
psychic effect be accounted for8  ,it   
happens1 occasionally1 that these       
ghost-faces which appear upon the plates
 retain some remarkable physical        
peculiarity which prove beyond all      
question who they represent4 ,one such  
case has been handed to me by the       
,countess of ,malmesbury1 whose own     

account is so clear and condensed that  
it could not be bettered3      8,i sat  
with ,mr4 ,hope and ,mrs4 ,buxton on    
,friday1 ,december     #ith1 #aiba1 and 
was accompanied by #8,val ,l',estrange1'
 a lady     professional photographer1  
who watched the proceedings on my       
behalf1 as ,i do not understand         
photography4 ,she states that     from  
first to last she could not detect any  
fraud4 ,as ,i sat     for the photograph
 the wish just crossed my mind that ,i  
might     obtain a photograph of ,j4    
,h41 who died in #ahhj1 and that ,i     
could receive a definite sign that it   
was genuine4      8,j4 ,h4 died as the  
result of an operation for the removal  
of     the lower jaw1 which had been    
seriously injured4 ,no one saw him      
after this terrible misfortune except   
five persons1 of whom ,i     am the only
 survivor1 and ,i need not say that no  
photograph was     then taken of him4   
8,i showed the photograph to ,dr4       
,fielding ,ould1 who at once            

recognised it as that of a man who had  
had his lower jaw     removed4 ,this    
opinion was confirmed by several of his 
medical     friends1 to whom he showed  
the picture4      8,i should add that   
the plates were bought by #8,val        
,l',estrange'     direct from the       
manufacturer1 and that we brought them  
with     us4 ,the exposure was forty    
seconds4 ,the plate which produced      
the portrait was manipulated by ,mr4    
,hope under the supervision     of      
#8,val ,l',estrange4' ,we both          
superintended the development and       
fixing of the negative4      8,as an    
impartial investigator of psychic       
matters ,i have stated     exactly what 
took place1 without comment4            
7signed7 8,,susan1 ,,countess ,,of      
,,malmesbury40  ,it must be admitted    
that this case1 so exactly recorded1    
would be a difficult one to explain     
away4  ,i would now quote the case      
furnished by ,major ,spencer1 who is an 
experienced and careful observer1 and   

has given much attention to psychic     
photography4 ,in this experiment he used
 his own camera1 his own carriers and   
his own plates4 ,what could be more     
drastic than that6 ,he says1 if ,i may  
abbreviate his account3      8,the box  
of plates was never out of my sight and 
was cut open     in the dark room by    
myself2 ,hope or ,mrs4 ,buxton in no    
instance     touching them40  ,the red  
light1 he explains1 was a good one and  
he could see all that occurred4         
8,hope stood on my left hand for the    
whole time in the dark     room and ,i  
kept the box of plates under my right   
elbow during     the operations of      
initialling and inserting the plates in 
the     slides4444 ,my own camera       
remained closed in my despatch-case     
7also closed7 till ,i returned from the 
dark room1 when ,i set it     up on its 
tripod1 extending it1 and focussing it  
upon the chair     afterwards used4     
,when the exposures were made by ,hope  
,i had to     explain to him how to     

actuate the shutter1 as the lever on the
     camera front was new to him4 ,the  
only contact with the camera     was    
when he touched this lever4 ,exposure   
thirty-five seconds4     ,neither ,mrs4 
,buxton nor ,hope knew that ,i had      
intended using my     own camera and    
dark slides till we met in the studio4  
,these     slides are metallic and each 
contains one plate40  ,illustration3    
,,fig4 #e4--;,group of ,members of the  
,s4,s4,s4,p4 ,the psychic face will be  
seen in the centre of the plate and     
situated horizontally to the sitters4   
7,see p4 #bh47  ,illustration3 ,,fig4   
#f4--,major ,r4 ,e4 ,e4 ,spencer and    
psychic face obtained in special test4  
7,see p4 #ca47  ,illustration3 ,,fig4   
#g4--,sir ,william ,crookes with psychic
 face obtained in his own laboratory    
through the mediumship of the ,crewe    
,circle4 7,see p4 #cc47  7,for the      
benefit of the uninitiated1 let me      
explain that the carrier and the dark   
slide are different names for the same  

thing1 the receptacle into which the    
plates are put in the dark room1 which  
is then inserted into the back of the   
camera47  ,now this is a case which any 
reasonable man would say eliminated     
every possible source of error4 ,the    
actual result was that out of six       
plates1 two showed unrecognised extra   
faces4 ,one of the results is reproduced
 in ,figure #f4 ,how came those faces   
upon the plates8 ,how can our critics   
explain it8 ,they cannot explain it1 and
 yet they have not the honesty to admit 
their inability4 ,among our chief       
enemies is that inner circle which for  
the moment controls the destinies of the
 ,society for ,psychical ,research4     
,what flaw do they find8 ,i am sure the 
honest common-sense reader would never  
guess4 ,the flaw adduced is that ,major 
,spencer left his camera inside his     
despatch-box in the studio while he was 
in the dark room4 ,mrs4 ,buxton was in  
the studio4 ,she might have dashed at   
the box1 pulled it open1 dragged out the

 camera1 and then 444 well1 what then8  
,no one can imagine what the next stage 
would be4 ,dr4 ,abraham ,wallace has    
publicly asked the critic to state what 
could then be done which would have put 
two human faces upon different plates   
and none on the others4 ,if ,major      
,spencer had locked his box it would    
then have been claimed that ,mrs4       
,buxton had a skeleton key in her       
pocket4 ,it is puerile criticism of this
 sort which has lowered that            
intellectual respect which we older     
members had once for the ,s4,p4,r4 ,it  
is intellectually dishonest and the sign
 of a frame of mind which is not there  
to follow facts or to ascertain the     
truth1 but only to argue a preconceived 
case as a lawyer speaks from his brief4 
,the ,s4,p4,r4 7or their present        
spokesmen7 are against psychic          
photography1 and therefore it is better 
to put up the most childish and         
preposterous objections rather than to  
say that a case is clearly proved4 ,i   

would appeal to any impartial mind      
whether this case of ,major ,spencer's  
does not absolutely cover every         
objection4  ,i would now give the case  
of the dream-hand of ,lady ,grey of     
,falloden4 ,when ,i was going to        
,australia this lady most kindly wrote  
out the facts for me and gave me a copy 
of the photograph1 which ,i used upon my
 screen4 ,lady ,glenconner1 as she then 
was1 dreamed that if she was            
photographed at ,crewe she would see her
 son's hand resting upon her left       
shoulder4 ,she said nothing to ,hope1   
but she put the fact of her dream upon  
record4 ,sure enough1 in the photograph 
there is a small cloud of ectoplasm1 and
 emerging from it a hand1 which is      
resting even as it rested in the dream4 
,where does fraud come in1 in such a    
case as that8 ,surely those who         
circulated a libellous pamphlet against 
,hope upon the strength of a single case
 must feel ashamed when they consider   
such a result as that1 where no possible

 manipulation could have affected the   
picture4 ,psychic caution is an         
admirable quality1 but extreme          
incredulity is even more disastrous than
 extreme credulity4 ,the psychic        
investigator should be a filter1 not a  
block4  ,i would now quote the case of  
,mr4 ,pearse1 a well-known business man 
of ,manchester4 ,this is no psychic     
fanatic1 but a hard-headed ,northern man
 of business4 ,he visited ,hope at      
,crewe1 taking with him his own new     
camera and his own carrier1 which was   
loaded by his daughter4 ,no chance of   
transposition here1 unless ,hope had a  
duplicate carrier4      8,the result10  
he says1 8was an undisputed likeness to 
my father4 ,no photograph of him in that
 position is in     existence4 ,everyone
 who has known him has recognised him1  
and     my mother treasures the         
photograph very much40  ,in this account
 the sting lies in the statement that no
 such photograph is in existence4 ,again
 and again--it would not be too much to 

say that fifty instances could be       
produced--this statement can be made4   
,is it not incredible that people should
 be found who cannot see that such a    
fact is evidential of supernormal       
action8  ,i have alluded to the fact    
that ,sir ,william ,crookes received    
such a photograph at ,crewe1 and that it
 bore a close resemblance to his        
deceased wife4 ,i have not been able to 
get any copy of this photograph1 but it 
is devoutly to be hoped that it1 and    
,sir ,william's invaluable psychic      
papers1 are being duly cared for by his 
executors and biographer1 for they have 
there a precious trust1 and any         
tampering with it on account of their   
individual opinions would entail upon   
them the censure of generations yet     
unborn4 ,in an interview in the         
,christian ,commonwealth 7,december     
#dth1 #aiah7 the interviewer1 ,miss     
,scatcherd1 asked1 8,and may ,i say how 
you went north with another friend and  
myself and procured on your own marked  

plate1 under your own conditions1 a     
likeness of your beloved wife1 the late 
,lady ,crookes80 ,to which ,sir ,william
 answered3 8,you may say that1 since it 
is the truth4444 ,you may add that the  
picture obtained after her passing on is
 unlike any of the many which ,i        
possess1 but certainly resembles my dear
 one in her last days of failing        
health40 ,in a private letter1 which ,i 
have seen1 ,sir ,william1 writing on    
,december #ad1 #aiaf1 shortly after the 
incident1 says3 8,the photograph is     
easily recognised by all to whom ,i have
 shown it4 ,i find that it is very      
similar in likeness to one ,i took about
 ten years ago1 although by no means a  
facsimile reproduction4 ,this makes it  
all the more satisfactory to me40       
,though ,i am unable to reproduce this  
photograph1 ,i have been able1 by the   
kindness of ,miss ,scatcherd1 to        
reproduce 7,figure #g7 the preliminary  
experimental photograph got in ,sir     
,william's laboratory1 which induced him

 to take the ,crewe ,circle seriously4  
,only ,mr4 ,hope and ,miss ,scatcherd   
were present on this occasion4 ,it was  
taken1 says the latter1 8under the      
strictest conditions that the genius of 
,sir ,william ,crookes1 backed by his   
unusual common sense1 could suggest40   
,the face here is not that of ,lady     
,crookes1 and was not recognised4 ,but  
surely such a result must show the      
public how superficial is the view which
 on the strength of a single experiment 
endeavours to discredit the whole life's
 work of ,mr4 ,hope4  ,several examples 
of ,crewe photographs are reproduced    
7,figures #h1 #i1 #aj7 which show the   
similarity to the living man1 and yet   
are declared by the relatives to be     
unlike any existing picture4 ,that which
 is shown on ,figure #h is the result   
obtained by that brave psychic pioneer1 
the ,rev4 ,charles ,tweedale1 who from  
his little ,yorkshire vicarage beckons  
the ,church on the road that it should  
go4 ,in this case ,mr4 ,tweedale called 

upon ,hope without any appointment and  
obtained1 as has several times been     
obtained on surprise visits1 an         
excellent result4 ,the psychic face is  
that of his wife's father1 whose        
features in life1 for purposes of       
comparison1 are shown by ,figure #i4    
,the picture is unlike any in existence4
  ,i have said that the psychic faces   
are sometimes more animated and         
life-like than the original photographs 
taken in life4 ,in support of this      
assertion ,i would point to ,figure #aj4
 ,the old man who smiles so happily is  
,mrs4 ,buxton's own father1 then very   
recently dead4 ,i do not think that the 
most cynical of my readers will contend 
that a daughter is likely to make a     
blasphemous faked picture of her own    
father1 even if it had been possible to 
produce so vital an effect4  ,anyone who
 is familiar with ,hope's results is    
aware that over many of the psychic     
faces there appears a roll or arch of   
some peculiar substance which has never 

been explained upon any supposition of  
fraud1 but is so constant that it would 
appear to be part of the psychic        
process4 ,some of us have always        
contended that probably this arch       
represents a formation corresponding to 
the ,cabinet upon this side--an envelope
 or enclosed space within which psychic 
forces are generated and condensed4 ,the
 arch is by no means peculiar to ,hope1 
though the exact form and texture of it 
is such that one could pick out a ,hope 
photograph among a hundred others4 ,this
 psychic arch1 as it has been named1    
appears in many forms and many places1  
some of them very unexpected4 ,i have1  
as an example1 a photograph before me as
 ,i write which was taken by ,mr4 ,boyd1
 the respected provost of a ,scotch     
borough1 upon a recent journey which he 
made upon the ,west ,coast of ,africa4  
,on taking a small group of natives he  
found an extra of a woman and child     
7negroes7 upon his plate4 ,this extra   
figure is surrounded and surmounted by  

the psychic arch in an exaggerated form4
 ,mr4 ,boyd has no axe to grind1 and1 so
 far as ,i know1 he is not even a       
spiritualist4 ,how comes it1 then1 that 
his result fits so definitely into the  
arch system1 if it be not that there is 
some general law which regulates results
 whether they be obtained in ,crewe or  
on the ,gold ,coast8  ,again1 ,i have a 
friend1 an amateur1 who has himself     
developed psychic photography from the  
time that it was a mere luminous blur   
upon his plates1 until now he receives  
very graceful and perfect pictures which
 are in some cases recognised faces of  
the dead4 ,in his case the arch adjusts 
itself into the form of an artistic hood
 or mantilla4 ,but the arch principle   
carries on4 ,it is only by a            
comprehensive view of this sort1 and by 
the comparison of different independent 
results1 that we are likely to get at   
some of the laws which underlie this    
matter4 ,at present the system adopted  
in quarters which should be responsible 

ones is to concentrate attention upon   
whatever may seem to be failure or      
deception1 and to take no notice at all 
of the broader aspects of the question4 
,in every science the methods of advance
 are to pay strict attention to the     
positive results and to regard the      
negative ones as mere warnings of what  
to avoid4 ,this process has been        
reversed in considering psychic         
photography1 and the world has been     
deceived by those who should have been  
its guides4 ,truth will1 of course1     
prevail1 but its progress has been      
grievously retarded by this unhappy and 
unscientific mental attitude4  ,on one  
occasion remarkable evidence was        
afforded that we were right in our      
surmise that a cabinet of ectoplasm for 
concentration is first constructed1 and 
that the psychic effect is developed    
inside it4 ,the result1 which is        
depicted in ,figure #ab1 was got by ,mr4
 ,jeffrey1 of ,glasgow1 who was1 ,i may 
add1 the ,president of the ,scottish    

,society of ,magicians1 and is therefore
 the last person to be deceived by any  
sort of trick4 ,in this case the        
exposure seems to have been too early so
 that the ectoplasmic bag is exposed in 
its complete form1 without any contents4
 ,in the second picture1 ,figure #ac1   
taken immediately afterwards1 the face  
of ,mr4 ,jeffrey's deceased wife has    
appeared1 and the bag has split to show 
it1 forming the familiar fold over both 
sides of the face4 ,this picture seems  
to me to be quite final in showing us   
exactly how the matter is worked by the 
forces which direct things upon the     
other side4  ,each of these cases which 
,i have given is impressive1 ,i hope1 in
 itself1 but their cumulative effect    
should be overpowering4 ,they are but   
selections out of a very long list which
 ,i could provide1 but repetition would 
be unprofitable1 for if those which are 
here quoted fail to convince the reader 
then he is surely beyond conviction4    
,one or two might conceivably be the    

result of imperfect observation or      
incorrect statement1 but it is an insult
 to common sense to say that so long an 
array of honourable witnesses1 with     
their precise detail1 with their actual 
photographic results1 and with the      
complete exclusion of any possible      
trickery1 should all be explained in any
 normal fashion4     ,,chapter ,,iv     
,,an ,,examination ,,of ,,mr4 ,,hope    
,,and ,,his ,,critics   ,having said so 
much in support of ,mr4 ,hope's         
mediumship1 let me say what ,i can in   
the way of personal criticism1 for ,i   
hold no particular brief for him1 and am
 only anxious to follow truth wherever  
it may lead4 ,i have written this       
pamphlet because ,i think that truth has
 been grievously obscured1 and that the 
fruit of seventeen years of remarkable  
psychic demonstration is1 for the       
moment1 imperilled by the attention of  
the public being directed entirely to a 
single case which is1 admittedly upon   
the face of it1 of a damaging character4

 ,we spiritualists should be1 in        
,stevenson's fine phrase1 8steel-true   
and blade-straight10 and we should never
 avoid an issue1 or fall into the error 
of our opponents who have no sense of   
balance and can only focus their gaze   
upon one side of a question4  ,it has   
been said that ,hope is suspiciously    
restless and fussy in the dark room4    
,this1 so far as my own observation     
goes1 is correct4 ,it may be that he is 
nervously anxious for success1 or it may
 be that he is not in a normal          
condition--for he usually holds a       
service and occasionally goes into      
apparent trance immediately before the  
experiment4 ,whatever the cause1 ,i am  
not prepared to deny the fact1 or that  
not unreasonable suspicions might be    
awakened by his attitude in the minds of
 those who are brought for the first    
time in contact with his personality4 ,i
 can only point to the cases already    
given1 and say once more that no action 
upon his part could have produced them4 

,again1 it is said of ,hope that he is  
impatient of tests and restrictions4    
,some of his best friends have been     
alienated by this fact4 ,mediums are    
touchy people--more delicately organised
 in many cases than any other human     
type4 ,they may occasionally show an    
irrational annoyance and resentment     
against any action which implies        
personal suspicion4 ,and yet1 though he 
certainly prefers to be left to his own 
methods unrestrained save by ordinary   
observation1 it is a fact that he has in
 the past consented to a great number of
 tests and has come out of them         
remarkably well4 ,i have heard him say1 
8,what have ,i to gain from tests8 ,i am
 put to a deal of trouble1 ,i do what ,i
 am asked to do1 ,i get result1 and then
 ,i hear no more about it except that   
perhaps ,i have convinced the person4   
,or perhaps1 even if ,i have done all he
 asks in his own way1 he still says he  
is unconvinced40 ,i can bear him out in 
this latter statement1 for ,i have      

knowledge of three separate sittings    
which he had with a well-known ,london  
editor1 where1 under the latter's ever  
more stringent conditions1 ,hope got    
results certainly twice1 and1 ,i think1 
thrice1 and yet when ,i asked this      
editor to vouch for these results that  
,i might quote them in this pamphlet1 in
 the interests of truth and justice1 ,i 
could get no reply to my letter4 ,this  
seems to indicate either that he was not
 yet satisfied1 though his own          
conditions had been carried out1 or else
 that he had not the moral courage to   
help the medium at the time when he     
needed testimony4  ,the incident shows  
that there is some truth in ,hope's     
contention that tests are often a waste 
of energy4 ,at the same time1 it should 
be known that when the ,s4,p4,r4 made   
their recent attack1 founded upon a     
single case1 ,hope at once offered to   
give fresh sittings and to submit to the
 most drastic tests so long as those who
 were in sympathy were also associated  

in the experiment4 ,for some reason the 
,s4,p4,r4 refused this1 and it is a     
serious flaw in their position4 ,none   
the less1 we must make the admission    
that1 in general1 ,hope is not fond of  
tests4  ,but there is another and more  
serious admission which ,i would make1  
although in doing so ,i may possibly be 
doing ,hope an injustice4 ,he is1 in my 
opinion1 not only a spiritualist1 but a 
fanatic1 which is a dangerous thing in  
any line of thought4 ,we are aware that 
one must 8test the spirits10 but ,i     
believe that ,hope has such childlike   
and blind faith in his guides that he   
would obey their directions whatever    
they might be4 ,i recollect one case    
where a distinguished man of science    
sent ,hope a sealed packet1 upon which  
the latter placed it in a bucket of     
water1 under the alleged prompting of   
some spirit message4 ,the natural result
 was to alienate the scientific man from
 psychic photography for many years4 ,it
 is easy to say that this was simply a  

case of vulgar fraud1 but fraud would be
 done in some manner which could be     
concealed and not in so drastic a manner
 as that1 and1 as ,i have shown1 fraud  
does not at all fit in with ,hope's     
usual results4 ,i make the critic a     
present of the case1 merely adding that 
,i believe ,hope's account of his       
motives to be absolutely true1 however  
incomprehensible it might seem4  ,i have
 now1 ,i hope1 convinced any reasonable 
reader of the genuine nature of ,hope's 
powers1 which1 after all1 wonderful as  
they may seem1 are by no means unique1  
but are to be matched by those of       
several contemporaries both in ,england 
and in ,america--not all of them        
professionals4  ,we will next turn to   
the particular case treated in the      
report of the ,s4,p4,r4 drawn up by ,mr4
 ,price1 and afterwards published in a  
sixpenny form and widely distributed    
gratis with the evident intention of    
ruining ,hope4 ,apart from its truth or 
falseness1 the pamphlet is in deplorable

 taste1 with puns upon ,hope's name1 and
 tags of ,johnson and ,dryden dotted    
over it4 ,so grave a subject should be  
treated with dignity even when severity 
is necessary4 ,i will now state the case
 as clearly as ,i can1 together with    
some remarkable side-lights which have  
appeared since the publication4  ,having
 determined to catch ,hope out1 ,mr4    
,price1 who has considerable knowledge  
both of conjuring and of photography1   
procured from the ,imperial ,dry ,plate 
,company eight plates1 all of which had 
been cut from the same sheet of glass4  
,six of these plates were made up into a
 single packet1 and all were treated by 
,x-rays1 so that while there was no     
outward sign that they had been marked  
there would1 according to the testimony 
of the ,company1 appear upon them when  
they were developed a design of the     
,company's trademark4  ,carrying with   
him this doctored packet1 and           
accompanied by a friend1 ,mr4 ,seymour1 
also a conjurer1 ,mr4 ,price kept an    

appointment which ,mr4 ,hope had given  
him at the ,british ,college of ,psychic
 ,science1 ,london1 on ,february #bdth1 
#aibb4 ,the mediums were quite          
unsuspicious of any trap1 nor did they  
hear anything of the matter till four   
months later4  ,mr4 ,price says3 8,i    
made myself very pleasant1 said how     
sorry ,i was that they had been ill with
 influenza1 and asked after the ,crewe  
,circle1 saying that my people were     
natives of ,shropshire40 ,a private     
detective must1 of course1 use          
deception1 but when ,mr4 ,price at a    
later stage proceeded to ask that       
8,onward1 ,christian soldiers60 be the  
hymn sung1 and suggesting that the extra
 finally shown was that of his own      
mother1 he really does seem to be       
wallowing in it to an unnecessary       
degree4 ,after all1 the matter was one  
of business2 he had paid for his        
sitting1 he would surely get it1 and no 
elaborate deception was needed4  ,after 
the usual ceremonies ,mr4 ,price and    

,mr4 ,hope went into the dark room1     
where the package was opened and the two
 top plates put into the carrier4 ,hope 
then took up the carrier1 asking ,price 
to wrap up the remaining plates1 and it 
was at this moment that ,price 8saw him 
444 put the dark slide to his left      
breast-pocket1 and take it out again    
7another one87 without any #8talking' or
 knocking40 ,i copy this sentence as    
printed1 and it is curious to find the  
,s4,p4,r41 which is continually claiming
 from others the utmost exactness of    
statement1 passing one which is so      
involved and unintelligible4 ,however1  
it is certain that ,mr4 ,price means    
that ,hope at that moment changed the   
carriers1 though he does not even tell  
us where the second carrier went to4    
,mr4 ,price had endeavoured to mark with
 some pricking instrument of his thumb  
the original carrier1 but carriers are  
often of very hard wood1 and he could   
not1 one would think1 have verified such
 a result1 therefore the fact that no   

marks of pricks were found upon the     
carrier cannot be regarded very         
seriously4 ,it is an instructive fact   
that the ,s4,p4,r4 receives all these   
very loose tests without question or    
comment1 while when the evidence is the 
other way1 as in the case of ,major     
,spencer1 they are ready with the most  
extraordinary explanations rather than  
admit a positive result4  ,the couple   
then emerged from the dark room--,i am  
omitting unessential and wearying       
details--and the photographs were duly  
taken with no exact record of the time  
of exposure1 though ,mr4 ,price roughly 
placed it at from eighteen to nineteen  
seconds4 ,the point was really of great1
 and might have been1 of vital          
importance4 ,when the plates were       
developed one was normal of ,price      
alone1 and the other had a female extra 
looking over ,price's shoulder4 ,this   
female face has the psychic arch and    
bears every sign to my eye1 and to that 
of every spiritualist whom ,i have heard

 discuss it1 of being true to type and a
 real ,hope extra4  ,mr4 ,price         
complimented the medium upon his        
success1 carried off the plates1 and    
then set himself to dictate an article  
which was duly printed in the           
8,proceedings0 of the ,s4,p4,r4 to show 
that the whole business was a swindle1  
that the plates had been changed1 and   
that the extra had been on a plate which
 ,hope had foisted upon ,price by the   
device of changing the carriers in the  
dark room4  ,the points upon which      
,price relied in his charge may be taken
 in their order4 ,they were3      #a4   
,that on the plate with the extra the   
,x-ray marks of the     ,imperial       
,company were not present4  ,experiments
 were at once undertaken by several     
investigators1 including ,dr4 ,cushman1 
of ,washington1 and ,mr4 ,hewat         
,mc,kenzie4 ,they showed that with long 
exposures1 such as ,hope gave1 the      
,x-ray marks vanish1 so that this test1 
as was admitted by the ,imperial        

,company1 ceases to be valid4      #b4  
,that he made marks upon the carrier1   
which were not found     upon the       
carrier actually used4  ,these marks    
seem to have been mere pricks1 and there
 is no independent evidence as to their 
existence4      #c4 ,that he saw ,hope  
make a suspicious gesture in the dark   
room4  ,this would be more convincing if
 any indication could be given as to    
what became of the discarded carrier4   
,in cross-examination ,mr4 ,price       
weakened on the point4      #d4 ,that   
the glass of which the plates were made 
and on which     the photos appeared1   
was different in colour and thickness   
from     the glass of the ,imperial     
plates brought by ,mr4 ,price for the   
experiment4  ,this statement holds good4
 ,the plates have been examined and     
compared1 and those who desired to guard
 the interests of ,mr4 ,hope 7or rather 
of truth7 agreed that this contention   
was right1 and that there had actually  
been a substitution of plates at some   

time by somebody4 ,there we are all on  
common ground4 ,how then1 and why1 were 
the plates changed8  ,many who were     
convinced by experience of ,hope's      
powers and of his essential honesty1 and
 who were aware of the bitter antagonism
 which exists against him1 as against   
all psychic phenomena1 in certain       
circles of conjurers and of sceptical   
researchers1 and of indiscreet          
expressions before the experiment1 were 
of opinion that the whole transaction   
was an organised conspiracy to discredit
 the medium4 ,the packet of plates had  
been for several weeks before the       
experiment in the possession of the     
officials of the ,s4,p4,r41 and was     
accessible to clever-fingered people who
 were hostile to ,hope's claims1 and who
 had frequently averred that the opening
 of sealed packets was an easy process4 
,there were other arguments which ,i    
will not state lest ,i should seem to be
 endorsing them4 ,let me say1 at once1  
that ,i believe ,messrs4 ,dingwall1     

,price and ,seymour to be honourable    
gentlemen1 however much ,i differ from  
their point of view1 and that ,i will   
not advance any hypothesis which is not 
consistent with that position4#a  ,at   
the same time1 ,i would point out that  
all their difficulties1 which have      
increased with fuller knowledge1 are due
 to their own tortuous and indirect way 
of approaching the question4 ,suppose   
that instead of all this juggling of    
,x-ray marks ,mr4 ,price had simply     
initialled his plate the moment he took 
it from the packet as ,i and many other 
experimenters have done1 surely if he   
had afterwards received an extra upon   
that initialled plate the test would    
have been complete1 so far as           
substitution is concerned4 ,if he had   
not done so1 ,i am sure that ,hope would
 have given him a second appointment1   
and he could have gone on until he had  
either succeeded or until he had proved 
that with an initialled plate ,hope was 
helpless4 ,had this been done much      

trouble would have been saved1 and the  
result been equally clear4  ,or1 again1 
when he was1 as he says1 morally sure   
that ,hope had changed the carrier1     
suppose that instead of complimenting   
,hope upon results and suggesting that  
the image was that of his mother1 he had
 said1 8,you will excuse me1 ,mr4 ,hope1
 but ,i must really examine you and your
 dark room1 for ,i think ,i can find a  
marked carrier which you have concealed 
while you substituted your own40 ,a     
refusal from ,hope would have really    
been a confession4 ,but1 all through1 a 
tortuous course was preferred4  ,i have 
nothing against ,mr4 ,price's honour1   
but a very great deal against his       
methods1 winding up with his sixpenny   
attack upon ,hope1 when the matter1 as  
events have proved1 was very far from   
being settled4  ,this pamphlet would    
certainly convey to the public the idea 
that ,mr4 ,price looked upon psychic    
photography in general as the greatest  
humbug in the world1 whereas since then 

he has signed a document which ends with
 the words3      8,we are convinced that
 the test with ,hope on ,february #bdth 
does     not rule out the possibility   
that ,hope has produced supernormal     
pictures1 or that he is able to produce 
#8extras' by other than     normal      
means40  ,had he been wise enough to    
adopt this humbler tone in the first    
instance we could all discuss the       
question now in a more placid frame of  
mind4  ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #h4--,the  
,rev4 ,c4 ,l4 ,tweedale and his wife    
with psychic likeness of ,mrs4          
,tweedale's father4 7,see p4 #cd47      
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #i4--,photograph  
of ,mr4 ,frank ,burnett--,mrs4          
,tweedale's father--who died in #aiac4  
,compare with ,fig4 #h1 showing psychic 
likeness obtained six years later4      
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #aj4--,photograph 
of ,mrs4 ,buxton of the ,crewe ,circle  
with her daughter4 ,psychic likeness of 
,mrs4 ,buxton's father unlike any other 
picture in existence4 ,in the bottom    

left-hand corner is reproduced a normal 
photograph of ,mrs4 ,buxton's father for
 comparison4 7,see p4 #ce47             
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #aa4--,photograph 
of ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,h4 ,east1 with       
psychic likeness of their son obtained  
on a surprise visit to ,crewe4 ,normal  
photograph reproduced alongside psychic 
effect for comparison4 7,see p4 #ai47   
,but irritability must not make us      
unjust1 and we have to face the question
 how came the plates to be changed8 ,the
 only honest answer is that we do not   
know1 but that the evidence taken on its
 face value at this stage was against   
,hope1 in spite of his long record of   
honesty4 ,mr4 ,barlow has put forward   
the plea that ,hope was in an abnormal  
mental condition at such times1 and was 
to that extent irresponsible4 ,i fear ,i
 cannot accept this1 for such           
substitution must be thought out        
beforehand1 an image must be prepared1  
and the whole transaction is not an act 
of impulse but a deliberate plan4       

,there has1 however1 been a most        
singular sequel to the case which causes
 an extraordinary complication1 and when
 closely examined seems to me to turn   
,hope from the defendant into the       
accuser4 ,the ,s4,p4,r4 claims that     
after this experiment one of the two    
marked plates had been returned to them1
 but in so secret a fashion that it     
could not be explained who had brought  
it or how it had been obtained4 ,this   
was apparently a point against ,hope1   
the charge inferred1 though not stated1 
being that he had left this plate about1
 after abstracting it from the carrier1 
and that some enemy had recognised it   
and brought it to clinch the case       
against him4 ,so secret were the        
proceedings of the ,society that though 
,i am one of the oldest members of that 
body ,i was refused leave to see this   
mysterious plate4 ,eventually1 however1 
some of our people did see it1 and then 
an extraordinary state of things        
revealed itself4 ,first of all the plate

 was undoubtedly one of the original set
 supplied by the ,imperial ,dry ,plate  
,company4 ,secondly1 it was a virgin    
unexposed plate1 so that it is          
impossible that anyone at ,hope's end   
could have picked it out from any other 
plates1 since the marks were invisible4 
,third1 and most wonderful1 it actually1
 on being developed1 had an image upon  
it1 which may or may not have been a    
psychic extra4 ,this plate was sent on  
,march #crd1 a week after the experiment
 and three days after ,hope and ,mrs4   
,buxton1 who knew nothing yet of        
,price's trap1 had returned home to     
,crewe4 ,it was in a double wrapper1    
with a request upon the inside cover    
that it be developed4 ,the wrapper was  
formed of ,psychic ,college literature1 
and it bore the ,notting ,hill postmark4
  ,now consider the situation thus      
created4 ,since the plate had not been  
developed it is clear that neither ,hope
 nor anyone at the ,college could       
possibly have known that it was a marked

 plate1 for there was no publication of 
the alleged exposure until more than    
four months after4 ,who was there in the
 whole world who did know that this was 
a marked plate and one in which the     
,s4,p4,r4 might be expected to take a   
special interest8 ,clearly the          
experimenters of the ,s4,p4,r4 and their
 confidants--no one else4 ,but if the   
marked plate had been abstracted by     
,hope in the dark room and mixed up     
there with other plates how could any   
friend or emissary of the ,s4,p4,r4 have
 picked it out as being the plate that  
was marked8 ,it could not have been     
done4 ,therefore the conclusion seems to
 be irresistible that this plate was    
abstracted from the packet before the   
experiment by someone who knew exactly  
what it was4 ,if this be so1 ,hope is   
the victim of a conspiracy and he is a  
much ill-used man4 ,i see no possible   
alternative to this conclusion4  ,let us
 see if we can build up any sort of     
theory which would cover all the known  

facts4 ,any such theory is bound to be  
improbable1 but the improbable is better
 than the impossible1 and it is quite   
impossible that ,hope could have known  
that a plate was secretly marked when it
 had not been exposed or developed4 ,we 
have to remember that the knot of       
conspirators 7some consciously so1 and  
some not7 are in close touch with a     
group of conjurers4 ,these gentlemen    
have announced that there is no packet  
which cannot be opened and no seal which
 cannot be tampered with undetected4    
,for twenty-four days after ,mr4 ,price 
takes his packet of marked plates to the
 headquarters of the ,s4,p4,r4 it was   
locked up not in a safe but in an       
ordinary drawer1 which may or may not   
have been locked1 but could presumably  
be easily opened4 ,my belief is that    
during that long period the packet was  
actually opened and the top plates taken
 out4 ,upon one of these top plates a   
faked photograph was thrown from one of 
those small projectors which produce    

just such an effect as is shown on the  
returned plate4 ,the idea may have been 
that ,hope would claim this effect as   
his own and that he would then be       
confounded by the announcement that it  
was there all the time4 ,that was the   
first stage4 ,the second stage was that 
either the original conspirator relented
 or someone else who was in his         
confidence thought it was too bad1 so   
the packet was again tampered with1 the 
marked and faked plate taken out and a  
plain one substituted4 ,the packet was  
then taken to ,hope as described4 ,mr4  
,hope then got a perfectly honest       
psychic effect upon the unmarked plate4 
,meanwhile the abstracter1 whoever he   
may have been1 had the original faked   
plate in his possession1 and out of a   
spirit of pure mischief--for ,i can     
imagine no other reason--he wrapped it  
in a sheet of the ,college syllabus1    
which can easily be obtained1 and       
returned it to the ,s4,p4,r41 to whom it
 originally belonged4 ,wherever it came 

from it is clear that it did not come   
from the ,college1 for when a man does a
 thing secretly and anonymously he does 
not enclose literature which will lead  
to his detection4  ,it is possible that 
this thing may originally have been     
conceived as a sort of practical joke   
upon ,hope and upon spiritualists       
generally1 but that some who were not in
 the joke have pushed the matter further
 than was originally intended4 ,whom can
 we blame8 ,i am in the position of     
never having personally met any of the  
three protagonists1 ,price1 ,dingwall or
 ,seymour1 so that my view of them is   
impartial4 ,mr4 ,price is popular among 
the spiritualists who know him1 and all 
agree that he would be unlikely to lend 
himself to any deception4 ,mr4 ,dingwall
 was possessed by an extreme prejudice  
against ,mr4 ,hope1 and yet ,i cannot   
conceive him as gratifying that         
prejudice by such a trick4 ,he cannot1  
however1 be acquitted of having aided   
and abetted in issuing the libellous    

pamphlet against ,hope before all the   
facts were known1 and before ,hope's    
friends could examine any of them4 ,it  
was an unworthy thing to do1 and        
,messrs4 ,price and ,dingwall must share
 the responsibility4 ,it is a curious   
fact which should be recorded that1     
although the experiment was on ,february
 #bdth1 and though the report of the    
alleged exposure was not issued till the
 end of ,may1 we find ,mr4 ,dingwall    
applying for a sitting with ,hope early 
in ,may1 and writing1 when ,hope refused
 to give him one3 8,as ,i understand    
from your letters that you still refuse 
to have sittings with the only          
scientific body in ,great ,britain      
investigating this subject1 ,i shall be 
obliged in my coming report on psychic  
photography to publish certain facts    
which may not be of advantage to        
yourself40 ,that letter was on ,may     
#bnd4 ,apparently1 therefore1 the       
publication of the 8exposure0 depended  
upon whether ,mr4 ,dingwall was piqued  

or was humoured4 ,if he were sure that  
the exposure was a genuine one this is a
 very singular attitude to assume4      
,there remains ,mr4 ,james ,seymour1 the
 amateur conjurer1 who has been         
concerned in several so-called          
exposures4 ,it would be unjust to assert
 that it was he who carried out this    
deception1 for when a packet is left for
 twenty-four days in a drawer many      
people may have had access to it1 and   
none of the three experimenters may have
 known the facts4 ,this1 ,i think1 is   
very probable4 ,at the same time1 as    
,mr4 ,seymour has been very searching in
 his inquiries about mediums1 he will   
not take it amiss if ,i ask him what he 
meant when in his evidence 78,cold      
,light10 etc41 p4 #g7 he says3 8,they0  
7i4e41 ,hope and ,mrs4 ,buxton7 8were   
thoroughly taken in by the packet and   
were not suspicious of it40 ,how could  
they possibly be suspicious of a packet 
which had never been opened8 ,on the    
other hand1 if the speaker knew that the

 packet had been tampered with1 it would
 be a most natural remark to make4 ,the 
words may be innocent1 but they demand a
 clear explanation1 and so does the fact
 that an extra was found upon a marked  
plate which obviously had never been in 
,hope's dark room at all4  ,so secretive
 and tortuous have been the methods of  
the agents of the ,s4,p4,r4 that each   
fresh piece of evidence has to be wrung 
from them1 and they seem to have no     
conception of the fact that a man who is
 accused has a right to know all the    
facts concerning the accusation4 ,even  
now1 nine months after the event1       
constant pressure has to be put upon    
them in order to get at the truth4 ,only
 at this last moment has a new and      
strange fact been admitted4 ,it is that 
when the mysterious marked plate was    
returned it was not alone1 but that     
three other plates1 not belonging to the
 marked series1 were with it1 each of   
them adorned with psychic photographs4  
,these photographs in no way resembled  

the results of ,hope or of ,mrs4 ,deane1
 nor were they like the one upon the    
marked plate4 ,i should be interested to
 know whether ,mr4 ,marriott was ever in
 the counsels of the conspirators1 for  
there is something in this incident     
which rather recalls that gentleman's   
powers and also his somewhat impish     
sense of humour4  ,even now--,i write   
nearly nine months after the original   
investigation--we have no assurance that
 this secret of the ,s4,p4,r4 has been  
fully divulged or that they have been   
frank with the public4 ,it is possible  
that they have received other anonymous 
communications which bear upon the case4
 ,the first one was within a week of the
 investigation1 and if divulged at the  
time it might have been possible to find
 the source4 ,after such a lapse of time
 it is far more difficult4 ,as ,i have  
shown1 these new facts place the        
,society in a very invidious position   
and that may be the cause of their      
hesitations and concealments1 but they  

have to remember that they have made a  
wanton attack upon a man's honour1 and  
that their own amour propre is a small  
thing compared to the admission of the  
injustice they have done4 ,they should  
now come forward honestly1 admit the    
blunders they have committed1 apologise 
to ,hope1 and remove any slur which they
 have cast upon one of the most         
important and consistent psychic        
manifestations ever known in the history
 of the movement4 ,in all attempted     
explanations let them bear in mind the  
central fact that no one but themselves 
and their associates knew that there was
 a marked plate in existence until      
several months after the experiment and 
after one had been returned to them4    
,among those who examined the evidence  
at that time available was ,dr4         
,allerton ,cushman1 for whose           
independence of mind and strong common  
sense ,i have a great respect4 ,having  
signed the document in which he admitted
 that there had been substitution of    

plates1 he added the following          
impressive note3      8,my signature    
appended to the above statement sets    
forth that     investigation of all the 
facts available up to date shows        
that the plate containing the psychic   
extra in the ,price test     sitting    
with ,hope did not match up with the    
other plates     marked by the ,imperial
 ,dry ,plate ,company4 ,the only        
possible     inference is that the plate
 in question was substituted by         
someone at some time either deliberately
 or accidentally4 ,i do     not commit  
myself as to the authorship of the      
substitution4     ,after careful        
experimentation ,i do not consider the  
system of     ,x-ray marking adopted by 
,mr4 ,price to be infallible1 but quite 
the reverse1 as the markings quite      
disappear on long exposures     and     
over-development4 ,i am also unimpressed
 and unconvinced     by ,mr4 ,price's   
method of marking the plate-holder4 ,i  
have had     in all five sittings with  

,hope and four with ,mrs4 ,deane4 ,of   
these nine sittings1 seven were         
conducted under test conditions     in  
which ,dr4 ,h4 ,carrington and other    
witnesses participated4     ,i have     
obtained psychic extras from both       
mediums on plates     marked by ,x-ray  
by the ,imperial ,dry ,plate ,company1  
and boxed     and sealed by them1 and   
also on plates purchased by ,dr4        
,carrington just previous to one of the 
,hope sittings1 all of     which were   
marked by us with every precaution4 ,i  
am convinced     that there was no      
substitution possible in at least five  
of     the seven test sittings4 ,i      
consider that the mediums possess       
genuine psychic power1 and are capable  
of obtaining marvellous1     genuine    
results4444 ,the more ,i investigate the
 subject the more     convinced ,i am   
that the marvellous evidential case of  
spirit     photography obtained by me   
through ,mrs4 ,deane in ,july1 #aiba1   
was genuine and true4                   

8,yours faithfully1                     
8,,allerton ,f4 ,,cushman40  #a ,i let  
these words stand as written1 but       
further information1 which only came    
later to my knowledge1 has1 as the text 
will show1 caused me to take a less     
entirely charitable view4--,a4,c4,d4    
,,chapter ,v  ,,further ,,difficulties  
,,considered   ,it might well be urged1 
8,why should ,hope go into the dark room
 at all8 ,why should he not allow the   
sitter to charge his carrier by himself 
and so remove all possibility of        
transposition80 ,it is natural that     
,hope should show the stranger where the
 various conveniences of the dark room  
are1 but apart from this there is the   
reason that ,hope in the course of his  
career has had all sorts of tricks      
played upon him by dishonest            
investigators1 and that he has to       
protect himself1 so far as he can1      
against doctored plates or plates with  
extras already prepared which will be   
ascribed to him and made the ground for 

charges4 ,i have heard him tell such    
instances4 ,when he knows his sitter he 
has no objection at all to leaving him  
alone in the dark room4  ,in #aiai the  
,society which ,i have already referred 
to as the ,s4,s4,s4,p4 presented ,hope  
with a new camera4 ,mr4 ,barlow1 ,mr4   
,pearse and ,mr4 ,walker--all           
experienced photographers--were the     
three delegates who conveyed it to      
,crewe4 ,on this occasion photographs   
were taken with the new carriers and    
camera1 ,mr4 ,barlow loading the carrier
 with his own plate alone in the dark   
room4 ,in developing1 all three         
delegates went into the dark room1 but  
,hope did not accompany them4 ,three out
 of four slides showed no supernormal   
result1 but the fourth showed three     
faces1 one clearly recognised4 8,we were
 carefully watching ,mr4 ,hope all the  
time and are absolutely sure that there 
was no trickery40 ,the document1 which  
contains a detailed account of these    
facts1 is signed by all three observers4

 ,could any case be more satisfactory   
and more final8  ,i have said that      
professional photographers were among   
the sitters4 ,i would instance as a good
 example ,mr4 ,a4 ,r4 ,gibson1 of       
,nottingham1 who testifies that he took 
every possible precaution against       
deceit1 and that none the less he       
received an excellent likeness of his   
dead son which does not correspond to   
any existing photograph and is          
recognised by all who knew the lad4     
,there is one final case to which ,i    
would particularly desire to draw       
attention because it is exactly parallel
 to that of ,mr4 ,price1 but had a      
diametrically opposite result4 ,the     
inquirer1 too1 has the advantage of     
being absolutely impartial1 which cannot
 be said of the two conjurers nor of    
,mr4 ,dingwall1 who was behind them--and
 even with every intention to be honest1
 a strong bias can distort the results4 
,the case to which ,i refer is that of  
,mrs4 ,st4 ,clair ,stobart1 of #g1      

,turners ,wood1 ,hampstead ,garden      
,suburb1 who sat to ,mr4 ,hope in       
,march1 #aiba4 ,before the sitting ,mrs4
 ,stobart's plates were marked with a   
secret mark1 which she herself did not  
know1 by the ,kodak ,company4 ,the      
result is told in full in ,psychic      
,science for ,october of this year4     
,briefly1 after every conceivable       
precaution by ,mrs4 ,stobart and her    
husband1 two extras were got in four    
attempts1 one a head only and the other 
a full-length figure of a woman1 clothed
 in the usual filmy drapery4 8,mr4 ,hope
 never handled the plates at all40 ,mrs4
 ,stobart concludes3 8,i took the       
negatives to the ,kodak ,company--to the
 manager and chief assistant4 #8,are    
these the plates you marked8 ,can you   
see the marks8' ,i asked4 #8,oh yes1'   
they replied4 #8,look1 here they are--a 
tiny circle enclosing a cross4' ,and for
 the first time ,i saw the marks which  
they had put4 ,the ,kodak ,company allow
 me to say that their affirmation as to 

this can be used freely40  ,now surely  
this is very important4 ,there seems no 
loophole for error1 and it entirely     
reverses the results of the ,s4,p4,r4   
,why should more credit be given to one 
than the other8 ,of the two1 ,mrs4      
,stobart's is undoubtedly the more      
scientific1 for we have no story of     
plates being left about for twenty-four 
days before an experiment1 and1 as ,i   
have pointed out1 there is no possible  
bias4 ,taken with all the other examples
 which ,i have given1 and with those    
given later by ,mr4 ,barlow1 ,i claim   
that no reasonable man can doubt that   
,hope's hands are clean4 ,it is the     
,s4,p4,r4 clique with their tortuous    
methods1 and with their mystery plate   
unexplained1 who can most reasonably be 
accused of a want of frank1             
straightforward dealing4 ,it is sad to  
think that a society which has done good
 work in the past1 and which has been   
made famous by the labours of great     
spiritualists like ,myers and ,hodgson1 

,barrett and ,crookes1 should be mixed  
up at all with so ugly a business       
handled in so questionable a way4       
,before bringing to an end this short   
sketch of the work of the ,crewe        
,circle1 ,i would beg the reader to     
consider the positive cases which ,i    
have laid before him and to remember    
that in order to establish the          
intervention of external1 intelligent   
forces--which is our sole and only      
aim--we have only to make one case good4
 ,one positive case outweighs all the   
negative ones which the industry of the 
most energetic 8exposer0 could collect4 
,our enemies take the perverse course of
 dwelling entirely upon negative        
results1 a line of reasoning which would
 have killed any science in the world4  
,they know1 as a matter of fact1 very   
little about the subject1 for starting1 
as they do1 with the presumption that it
 is a palpable fraud1 they do not devote
 to it the time and the close study     
which it calls for4  ,there is only one 

body in this country which can claim any
 authority1 and that is the             
,s4,s4,s4,p41 or ,society for the ,study
 of ,supernormal ,pictures1 of which    
,dr4 ,abraham ,wallace is ,president1   
while ,i share with ,mr4 ,mitchell and  
,mr4 ,blackwell the honour of being     
vice-president4 ,we number among our    
members ,miss ,scatcherd1 whose         
experience is probably unique1 ,mr4     
,coates1 who has written two excellent  
books upon the subject1 ,colonel        
,baddeley1 ,major ,spencer1 whose       
experiments have extended over many     
years1 ,colonel ,johnson1 a pioneer     
investigator1 professional and expert   
photographers1 and others of all shades 
of opinions1 save that all1 so far as ,i
 know1 are convinced by actual          
experience of the reality of the        
phenomenon4 ,of its methods and curious1
 almost inconceivable and most freakish 
manifestations we have collected a mass 
of material and have even cleared a few 
permanent pathways among the jungle4    

,it is to this society1 and not to the  
,s4,p4,r4 as at present conducted1 that 
the world may look for accurate         
information upon this subject4 ,it would
 not be reasonable for me to go at any  
length here into the results obtained4  
,i would only say that so far as my own 
conclusions go1 basing my studies upon  
the photographers of the past as well as
 the present1 ,i think that the evidence
 is strong that there is on the other   
side an intelligent control for each    
photographic medium1 whose powers are   
great but by no means unlimited and who 
endeavours to give us convincing results
 each in his own characteristic way4    
,these results are sometimes obtained by
 actual materialisations1 sometimes by  
precipitations of pictures apart from   
exposure1 sometimes1 as ,i believe1 by  
the superposition of screens which have 
the psychic face already upon them1 and 
which give marks as of a double         
exposure4 ,among the powers of the      
control is to build up a simulacrum     

which may be the image of someone who is
 still alive1 or he may produce upon the
 plate facsimiles of pictures and       
portraits which do at present exist1 but
 which are entirely beyond the normal   
reach of the medium4 ,all these and     
other equally strange points ,i could   
illustrate by many examples1 but their  
mere recital will show how many snares  
lie before the explorer1 and how many   
things might seem to be fraudulent when 
they are really the doing not of the    
medium but of the control4  ,any further
 expansion of this fascinating subject  
would be out of place on my part1 since 
,i am by no means one of the            
authorities1 and can only claim that ,i 
study and assimilate the results of     
others1 to which1 of course1 ,i add my  
own personal experience4 ,i have1       
however1 asked ,mr4 ,barlow1 the        
,honorary ,secretary of this ,society1  
whose experience is so extensive as to  
be almost unrivalled1 to add a short    
essay upon the subject1 with an account 

of some of the cases which bear upon the
 matter4     ,,chapter ,,vi  ,,the      
,,attack ,,on ,,mrs4 ,,deane ,,and ,,mr4
 ,,vearncombe   ,i took up my pen for   
the purpose of considering the case of  
the ,crewe ,circle and urging the folly 
of discarding the work of seventeen     
years on the score of a single case4 ,i 
cannot1 however1 end my task without    
saying a few words as to the attack upon
 ,mrs4 ,deane and ,mr4 ,vearncombe1 two 
other photographic mediums4 ,this attack
 hardly deserves attention as it was    
anonymous1 but it was brought out under 
the auspices of the ,magic ,circle1 a   
society of conjurers who have been      
interesting themselves in matters       
psychic4 ,as the two attacks were issued
 almost simultaneously they seem to have
 had some common inspiration1 and to    
have formed a general assault upon the  
whole position of psychic photography4  
,the same individual1 ,mr4 ,seymour1 the
 amateur conjurer1 actually took part1  
,i understand1 in both transactions4    

,mrs4 ,deane1 the person attacked1 is a 
somewhat pathetic and forlorn figure    
among all these clever tricksters4 ,she 
is a little1 elderly charwoman1 a humble
 white mouse of a person1 with her sad  
face1 her frayed gloves1 and her little 
handbag which excites the worst         
suspicions in the minds of her critics4 
,her powers were discovered in the first
 instance quite by chance4 ,when she    
first pursued the subject her           
circumstances were such that her only   
dark room was under the kitchen table   
with clothes pinned round it4 ,none the 
less1 she produced some remarkable      
pictures under these conditions1 one of 
which fell into my hands1 and ,i at once
 concluded that she had real powers4    
,the portrait was of a young man in     
life1 with a female spirit face behind  
him4 ,this might well have been faked4  
,something seemed to be emerging from   
the young man's head1 however1 and on   
observing this object with a lens ,i    
distinguished that it was a small but   

correct representation of the ,assyrian 
fish-god1 ,dagon1 wearing the peculiar  
hat with which that deity is always     
associated4 ,this was so entirely the   
kind of freakish result which ,i expect 
from spirit photography1 and was so     
removed from the normal powers of a     
charwoman1 that ,i provisionally        
accepted her in my mind as a true       
medium1 a position from which ,i have   
never been compelled to budge4 ,i still 
retain this photograph1 but the little  
head is too small for satisfactory      
reproduction4  ,mrs4 ,deane 7or ,mrs4   
,deane's control7 has one embarrassing  
habit which ,i believe to be            
unnecessary1 and which makes it very    
difficult to convince the sceptic1 or1  
indeed1 to prevent him from writing her 
down as an obvious fraud4 ,far from     
insisting that you bring your own       
plates1 as ,hope does1 she likes them to
 be sent to her in advance1 and she does
 what she calls 8magnetising0 them1 by  
keeping them near her for some days4    

,this is so suspicious that it can      
hardly be defended1 but here1 again1    
there is an element of fanatical        
obedience4 ,my own personal belief is   
that her results are perfectly honest1  
that they are actually formed in the    
shape of psychographs during the days   
before the sitting1 and that if her     
plates were examined before they were   
exposed to light1 the pictures would be 
found already on them4 ,this1 of course1
 would very naturally be taken as clear 
proof of fraud by the superficial       
investigator1 ignorant of the strange   
possibilities of psychic photography1   
but ,i believe myself that the psychic  
effect is a perfectly genuine one1 but  
that the extra will very probably bear  
no relevancy to the sitter4 ,i am       
speaking now of her general routine1 for
 how can ,i guarantee every particular  
case or judge what a medium may do when 
dealing with so evanescent and elusive a
 thing as psychic power8 ,when they have
 it they use it--when it fails them the 

human element may come in4  ,i have had 
one sitting with ,mrs4 ,deane in which  
six plates were exposed4 ,in four of    
them there were abnormal results4 ,one  
of these was a female face smiling from 
an ectoplasmic cloud4 ,what does ,mrs4  
,deane know of ectoplasmic clouds8 ,one 
such is visible in the specimen of her  
work which is shown in ,figure #cj4     
,exactly similar are some of the clouds 
which appear in ,hope's work4 ,such     
appearances do not aid deception4 ,why1 
then1 should they appear if it is not   
that it is part of a psychic process8   
,mrs4 ,deane gave me the choice of two  
packets of plates upon this occasion1   
and ,i admit that the effects may very  
well have been on the plates before the 
exposure4 ,none the less1 they were     
probably quite genuine as supernormal   
pictures4 ,such a statement may raise a 
smile from ,mr4 ,mac,cabe or from ,mr4  
,paternoster in ,truth1 but ,i have the 
advantage over them in the fact that ,i 
have had practical experience of the    

matter at issue4  ,illustration3 ,,fig4 
#ab4--,photograph of ,mr4 ,wm4 ,jeffrey 
and his daughter1 showing ectoplasmic   
bag4 7,see p4 #cg47  ,illustration3     
,,fig4 #ac4--,photograph taken          
immediately after that shown by ,fig4   
#ab4 ,position of sitters is unchanged1 
but the ectoplasmic veiling now contains
 an excellent likeness 7slightly        
distorted7 of ,mr4 ,jeffrey's deceased  
wife4  ,illustration3 ,,fig4            
#ad4--,psychic likeness of ,agnes1      
daughter of ,dr4 ,allerton ,cushman4 ,a 
life-like picture obtained by ,dr4      
,cushman through a surprise visit paid  
to ,mrs4 ,dean4 7,see p4 #fc47          
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ae4--;,a normal  
photograph of ,agnes ,cushman for       
comparison with ,fig4 #ad4  ,but ,i am  
bound to give my reasons for such a     
statement1 or ,i might well be branded  
as credulous4 ,my reasons are that ,i am
 convinced that this magnetising process
 is perfectly unnecessary and ,mrs4     
,deane1 within my knowledge1 obtains her

 best results when there has been no    
possibility of knowing who her sitter   
will be4 ,the very finest result which  
,i know of in psychic photography was   
that obtained by ,dr4 ,cushman with     
,mrs4 ,deane4 ,dr4 ,cushman1 a          
distinguished scientific man of         
,america1 had suffered the loss of his  
daughter ,agnes some months before4 ,he 
went to the ,psychic ,college without an
 appointment or an introduction4 ,when  
he arrived he found ,mrs4 ,deane in the 
act of leaving4 ,he persuaded her to    
give a sitting1 and then and there he   
obtained a photograph of his 8dead0     
daughter which is1 he declares1 unlike  
any existing one1 and is more vital and 
characteristic than any taken in life4  
,when ,i was in the ,states ,i showed   
this picture on the screen as in ,figure
 #ad1 and there was abundant testimony  
from those who knew ,agnes that it was a
 life-like picture4  ,i would refer this
 case to the anonymous writers of the   
,magic ,circle1 who has done all they   

could to worry this poor woman and to   
destroy her powers1 and ,i would ask    
them how that little bag of tricks which
 exists only in their own imagination   
could have affected such a result as    
that4 ,it will be noted in the already  
quoted opinion of ,dr4 ,cushman that    
since this scandal ,mrs4 ,deane has been
 severely tested by him and others1 and 
that they have been able under the      
,doctor's own conditions to get psychic 
results4  ,another excellent case of    
,mrs4 ,deane's power is that which forms
 the subject of ,figure #cj4 ,the extra 
in the ectoplasmic cloud is ,mr4        
,barlow1 senior1 the father of the      
,secretary of the ,s4,s4,s4,p4 ,beside  
him is a picture of how he looked twelve
 years before his death4 ,no one can    
deny that it is the same man with the   
years added on4 ,mrs4 ,deane never knew 
,mr4 ,barlow's father in life4 ,how1    
then1 was this result obtained8 ,these  
are the cases which the ,magic ,circle  
report avoids1 while it talks much of   

any negative results which it can       
collect or imagine4 ,i hope that this   
short account may do something towards  
helping a woman whom ,i believe to be a 
true psychic1 and who has suffered      
severely for the faith that is in her1  
having actually1 ,i understand1 endured 
the excommunication of her church       
because she has used the powers which   
,god has given her4 ,i have a           
recollection that ,joan of ,arc endured 
the same fate for the reason 8le plus il
 change1 le plus il reste le mme40  ,it 
only remains for me now1 before giving  
place to others1 to say a word about    
,mr4 ,vearncombe1 the psychic           
photographer of ,bridgwater4 ,mr4       
,vearncombe was a normal1 professional  
photographer1 but he found1 as ,mumler  
did1 that inexplicable extras intruded  
upon and spoilt both his plates and his 
business4 ,he then began to study this  
new power1 which he seemed to possess1  
and to develop it for commercial use4   
,mrs4 ,humphreys1 a member of the       

,s4,s4,s4,p4 and a student of psychic   
affairs1 lived in the same town and     
submitted him to certain tests which    
convinced her and others of his bona    
fides1 though ,i cannot repeat too often
 that no blank cheque of honesty can    
ever be given to any man4  ,my own      
experience of ,mr4 ,vearncombe and my   
knowledge of his work are far less than 
in the cases of ,mr4 ,hope and ,mrs4    
,deane1 so that ,i can only say that ,i 
believe he produces genuine results1    
whereas in the other two cases ,i can   
say that ,i know they produce genuine   
results4  ,i have had two experiments   
with ,vearncombe1 but did not impose any
 test conditions in either case4 ,i     
simply sent a closed envelope containing
 a letter and asked him to photograph it
 in the hope that some extra might      
appear which ,i could associate with the
 sender of the letter4 ,in both cases a 
large number1 six or seven1 well-marked 
faces developed round the letter1 but   
none which bore any message to me4      

,others1 however1 have been more        
fortunate in their experience and have  
assured me that they have received true 
pictures of the dead in that fashion4   
,there is no ectoplasmic cloud or       
psychic arch1 but the faces are as      
clear-cut as if they were stamped with a
 die4  ,i am in some degree responsible 
for ,vearncombe's troubles1 as ,i       
mentioned his name as being one who     
might repay investigation upon the      
occasion when ,i gave evidence before a 
committee of these conjuring gentlemen4 
,they seem to have made up a sealed     
packet to ,mr4 ,vearncombe with         
instructions to get what he could4 ,upon
 its return they declared that the      
packet1 which had furnished a psychic   
result1 had been tampered with4 ,no     
independent proof whatever was offered  
in support of this assertion1 and ,mr4  
,fred ,barlow1 who had obtained results 
from ,mr4 ,vearncombe1 where he was sure
 that the packets had not been tampered 
with1 was sufficiently interested to    

hunt up the name of the sender and some 
details of the case from the ,vearncombe
 end1 rather than from that of the      
8exposers40 ,fortunately ,vearncombe had
 preserved the letters1 and it was then 
found that the sender1 when the packet  
and the psychic result had been         
returned1 had at once written to        
,vearncombe to acknowledge receipt1     
adding the two statements3      7#a7    
,that one of the faces strongly recalled
 8an old true friend     who had not    
been heard of for many years10 and      
7#b7 ,that the packet had been returned 
intact4  ,thus the ,magic ,circle had   
clearly fallen into the pit that it had 
digged1 and its agent is convicted      
either of being a senseless liar without
 any cause1 or else of having completely
 endorsed the result which the ,circle  
afterwards pretended was a failure4 ,it 
was one of those numerous instances when
 it is not the medium but the           
investigators who should really be      
exposed4 ,my experience is that this is 

the case far more frequently than the   
public can realise1 and that it is      
amazing how men of honour can turn and  
twist the facts when they deal with this
 subject4 ,a well-known 8exposer0       
assured a friend of mine that he would  
think nothing of putting muslin in a    
medium's pocket at a sance1 if he was   
sure that he could thereby secure a     
conviction4  ,i have seen a letter from 
,mr4 ,marriott1 who is also busy in     
showing up 8frauds10 in which1 writing  
to ,mr4 ,hope1 he offered to teach him  
to make more artistic                   
spirit-photographs1 charging thirty     
guineas if the lessons were in ,london  
and forty if at ,crewe4 ,i am quite     
prepared to anticipate ,mr4 ,marriott's 
explanation that this was a trap1 but it
 is an example of the tortuous1         
deceptive methods against which our     
mediums have to contend4  ,i understand 
that ,mr4 ,vearncombe is so disgusted   
with the whole episode that he declares 
he will demonstrate his powers no       

longer1 save to private friends4 ,we can
 but hope that he will not allow        
ignorant or dishonest anonymous         
criticism to influence him to this      
extent4 ,if all of us who endure        
annoyance1 and even insult1 were to     
desert the spiritualist cause in order  
to save our private feelings1 we could  
hardly expect the truth to prevail4     
,let me conclude by saying that ,i speak
 from a far larger experience than the  
representatives of the ,s4,p4,r4 or of  
the ,magic ,circle1 and that1 leaving   
out ,mr4 ,vearncombe1 who needs no      
defence in the face of the admission    
quoted above1 ,i have no doubt whatever 
of the true psychic powers of ,mrs4     
,deane and of ,mr4 ,hope1 though ,i     
cannot pronounce upon every single case 
at which ,i was not present and when ,i 
have had no opportunity of examining the
 complete evidence4 ,i fear that the    
most permanent result of this episode   
will be that the spiritualists will very
 reasonably refuse the present rgime of 

the ,research ,society all access to    
their mediums1 since experience has     
shown that they may1 without a chance of
 self-defence1 be attacked in           
consequence in a cheap1 popular pamphlet
 before even the case has been examined 
by any impartial authority4             
,,postscript  ,at the last moment before
 this booklet goes to press1 ,i am able 
to insert the fact that ,hope's complete
 innocence has now been clearly         
established1 and he stands before the   
world as a man who has been very cruelly
 maligned1 and the victim of a plot     
which has been quite extraordinary in   
its ramifications4 ,it was at last found
 possible to get the cover in which the 
original packet of plates was wrapped1  
and on it were found unmistakable signs 
that it had been tampered with and      
opened4 ,thus the deductions made in the
 text from the evidence already to hand 
have been absolutely justified1 and it  
is clear that the marked plates were    
abstracted before the packet reached the

 ,psychic ,college and two ordinary     
plates substituted1 upon one of which   
,hope produced an 8extra40 ,the         
conclusion was reached by the acumen and
 patience of ,mr4 ,hewat ,mc,kenzie1 but
 his results were examined and endorsed 
unanimously by a strong committee1 which
 included1 besides myself1 ,mr4 and     
,mrs4 ,mc,kenzie1 ,general ,carter1     
,colonel ,baddeley1 ,mr4 ,stanley de    
,brath1 ,mrs4 ,stobart1 ,miss ,v4 ,r4   
,scatcherd1 ,mrs4 de ,crespigny1 ,mr4   
,h4 ,c4 ,scofield and ,mr4 ,f4 ,bligh   
,bond4 ,it now only remains to find out 
who is the culprit who has played this  
cunning trick1 and it is not difficult  
to say that the hand which returned the 
marked plate through the post is the    
same hand as that which took it out of  
the packet4 ,a reward has already been  
offered for the identification of the   
person concerned4 ,in the meantime it   
would be unfair to blame the agents of  
the ,s4,p4,r41 who may1 while trying to 
trick ,hope1 have been themselves       

tricked4 ,nothing1 however1 can excuse  
them from the charge of culpable        
negligence in failing to examine the    
wrappers which so clearly tell the      
story1 and which have been kept so long 
in their possession4 ,as the matter     
stands1 five persons stand as           
defendants3 ,mr4 ,harry ,price1 ,mr4    
,moger1 ,mr4 ,james ,seymour1 ,miss     
,newton1 ,secretary of the ,s4,p4,r41   
and ,mr4 ,dingwall1 ,research ,officer  
of that body4 ,if there is someone else 
in the background who has tricked them1 
then it is for them to find out who it  
is4 ,their negligence has been such that
 it is difficult to say what atonement  
can meet it1 and it throws a very lurid 
light upon some of the so-called        
8exposures0 of the past4 ,as one of the 
oldest members of the ,s4,p4,r41 ,i feel
 that the honour of that body will not  
be cleared until they have appointed an 
impartial committee to consider these   
facts and to determine what steps should
 be taken4                              

,,arthur ,,conan ,,doyle4  ,november    
#adth1 #aibb4     ,,chapter ,,vii  ,,the
 ,,genesis ,,and ,,history ,,of ,,the   
,,crewe ,,circle  ,,by ,f4 ,r4          
,,scatcherd  ,member of the ,society for
 ,psychical ,research1 ,co-,editor of   
the ,asiatic ,review      7,miss        
,felicia ,scatcherd1 who has been one of
 the true psychic     researchers and   
pioneers of knowledge in this country1  
has     contributed the following       
information which she gained during     
her close association with the ,crewe   
,circle at and after the     time of its
 formation47   ,questioned about        
himself1 ,mr4 ,hope said that he was    
christened 8,billy ,hope10 and was born 
at or near ,manchester4 ,his first      
memory is of having scarlet fever when  
he was four years old4 ,during the fever
 he used to see all sorts of faces      
peering at him through the doorway1 and 
became so frightened that he screamed   
for his father to come and send them    
away4 ,now that he knows about          

clairvoyance1 he thinks otherwise of    
those visions4 ,he lost his mother when 
he was nine1 and remembers little about 
her4 ,it is a curious fact1 as he       
observed3 8,i have wished for her       
picture hundreds of times1 and sat for  
it many a while1 and have never yet got 
it4 ,these things beat me40  ,when asked
 did he grieve much for his mother's    
death1 he replied that he was brought up
 in a religious family1 his father being
 a local preacher4 ,later on ,mr4 ,hope1
 ,senior1 lost all his worldly          
possessions4  8,my father was wealthy   
according to my ideas10 said ,mr4 ,hope4
 8,he had two farms1 but late in life   
lost his money40  ,mr4 ,hope was well   
cared for by his mother as long as he   
had her1 and afterwards by his          
step-mother4  8,she was a good woman3   
and ,i had an aunt of a religious frame 
of mind who also kept an eye on me40    
8,you must have been a very good little 
boy10 ,i said4  8,oh dear1 no6 ,i was   
much the same as the other lads4 ,i     

played plenty of truant1 and once joined
 a party of seven and ran the           
schoolmaster round the room4 ,we had    
agreed beforehand what we would do if he
 began a-thrashing of us4 ,but don't put
 that in1 ,miss ,scatcherd60  ,spirit   
photography first interested him when he
 was working at a bleach and dye-works  
near ,pendleton4 ,being an amateur      
photographer1 he and a comrade agreed to
 photograph each other one ,saturday    
afternoon4 ,mr4 ,hope exposed a plate on
 his friend and developed it1 when they 
saw a woman standing beside him4 ,the   
brick wall showed through the figure1   
there being no background4 ,the sitter1 
a ,roman ,catholic1 was frightened1 and 
asked how the woman had got on the      
plate1 and did ,mr4 ,hope know her4     
,when ,mr4 ,hope replied that he did not
 know the lady nor how she got there1   
the man said it was his sister who had  
been dead for many years4  ,neither knew
 anything of spiritualism1 so they took 
it to the works on ,monday and showed it

 to their foreman1 who happened also to 
be an amateur photographer1 and was     
8lost in wonder0 over it4 ,but there was
 a fellow worker1 a spiritualist1 who   
said it was a spirit photo4 ,the foreman
 arranged that the experiment should be 
repeated with the same camera the       
following ,saturday1 when not only the  
identical woman appeared again but with 
her1 her little dead baby4  8,i thought 
this very strange10 said ,mr4 ,hope2 8it
 made me more interested in spirit      
photography1 and ,i have been dabbling  
at it ever since4 ,i felt sorry for my  
mate1 he was so scared4 ,when he saw the
 second result1 ,i thought he would have
 pegged out0 7died of fright74  ,the    
,circle used to destroy all negatives4  
,the members did not want anyone to know
 about their spirit photography1 as many
 people did not want to do business with
 them1 saying it was all the devil's    
work4 ,till the advent of ,archdeacon   
,colley on the scene not a single       
negative was kept4 ,after a print was   

taken the negative was destroyed4  ,mr4 
and ,mrs4 ,buxton met ,mr4 ,hope some   
seventeen years ago at the ,spiritualist
 ,hall at ,crewe1 where ,mr4 ,buxton was
 organist4 ,after the service ,mr4 ,hope
 asked ,mr4 ,buxton if he could find one
 or two friends to form a circle to sit 
for spirit photography4 ,this was done1 
and it was arranged to use the next     
,wednesday evening from eight to nine4  
,one of the circle of six was a         
non-spiritualist1 but was converted when
 a picture of his father and mother was 
obtained4 ,a strange thing is that when 
all were anxiously desiring a picture1 a
 message appeared on the first plate    
exposed4 ,this message promised a       
picture next time1 and stated that it   
would be for the master of the house4   
,the promise was kept several sittings  
later1 when the picture of ,mr4         
,buxton's mother and of ,mrs4 ,buxton's 
sister came on the plate4 ,mr4 ,buxton  
was of the opinion that this was given  
to do away with the idea of thought     

photography4 ,they were all thinking of 
a picture and never dreamed that such a 
thing as a written message would be     
given4 ,they have been very persevering1
 having sat regularly ever since1 each  
,wednesday from eight to nine1 securing 
a picture on an average of one a month  
at the outset4  ,there have been many   
storms before which have broken over the
 ,crewe ,circle1 but the cause of them  
has usually been the limited knowledge  
of the strange possibilities of psychic 
photography on the part of the sitters  
and of the public4 ,one of the most     
notorious of these so-called 8exposures0
 7which really were exposures of the    
critics' ignorance7 was in #aijh1 and   
arose out of ,archdeacon ,colley's first
 sitting4 ,he had heard that the ,crewe 
,circle were simple-looking folk1 and   
this attracted him1 so he broke his     
journey at ,crewe and called upon ,mr4  
and ,mrs4 ,hope1 who had just lost their
 eldest daughter4 ,the ,archdeacon      
apologised for having come at such a    

time1 but ,mr4 ,hope sent him on to ,mr4
 and ,mrs4 ,buxton1 where he was shown  
the photos and asked to see the         
negatives4 ,he was shocked when he heard
 that they had all been destroyed1 and  
from that time kept all negatives he was
 able to get hold of4 ,the ,archdeacon  
brought his own camera1 loaded at       
,stockton with his own diamond-marked   
plates4 ,he kept the plates in his own  
possession and focussed the camera1     
which he put up outside the house1      
although it was raining4 ,mr4 ,hope     
merely pressed the bulb and ,archdeacon 
,colley developed the plates with his   
own developer4 ,when he held the picture
 to the light he exclaimed3 8,my father 
and my sainted mother60  ,mr4 ,hope was 
the first to notice the likeness between
 8,mrs4 ,colley0 and a picture he had   
copied about two years ago1 and cycled  
with it to ,mr4 ,spencer1 of ,nantwich4 
,mrs4 ,spencer declared it to be her    
grandmother1 and cried out1 8,oh1 if    
this had only come with us how pleased  

we should have been60  ,mr4 ,hope then  
wrote to ,archdeacon ,colley telling him
 it could not be his mother1 as it had  
been recognised at ,nantwich4 ,the      
,archdeacon said it was madness to think
 a man did not know his own mother1 and 
advertised in the ,leamington paper1    
asking all who remembered his mother to 
meet him at the ,rectory1 when eighteen 
persons selected the photograph from    
several others and testified in writing 
that the picture was a portrait of the  
late ,mrs4 ,colley1 who had never been  
photographed4  ,the ,crewe friends heard
 no more about the matter until the     
controversy in ,light 7,february #adth1 
#aiad1 and subsequent numbers74 ,the    
extraordinary ignorance1 even of the    
spiritualistic public1 on these matters1
 was revealed by the storm of           
indignation that burst upon the devoted 
heads of the ,crewe ,circle and their   
supporters4 ,the testimony of such      
students and scholars as the late ,mr4  
,james ,w4 ,sharpe1 ,m4,a41 of          

,bournemouth1 an eminent mathematician  
and expert authority on all questions of
 psychical research1 did little to allay
 the outburst4 ,in vain it was pointed  
out that no fact was better vouched for 
than the reproduction by 8spirit0       
photographers of well-known pictures and
 photographs1 often true in every detail
 to the originals4 ,the theory and fact 
of ideoplasticity were ridiculed just as
 they are ridiculed to-day by those who 
should keep themselves up-to-date in    
physical science1 if they wish to judge 
justly the yet more complex problems of 
psychical science4  ,the ,society for   
,psychical ,research was as unhelpful as
 the 8man in the street10 so far as its 
leading authorities were concerned4  ,to
 return to the beginning of things3 it  
was on ,july #afth1 #aiji1 when1 in     
response to a telegram from ,archdeacon 
,colley1 ,i went to ,leamington1 where  
,i first met the ,rev4 ,prof4 ,henslow  
and two members of the ,crewe ,circle   
who were on a visit to the ,archdeacon4 

,a sance for spirit photography was     
held4 ,it was disappointing in one      
sense4 ,prof4 ,henslow was told that he 
would find impressions on certain plates
 in a sealed packet on the table which  
was not to be opened for a fortnight4   
,i prepared to say good-bye1 when ,mr4  
,hope said he would like to do something
 for the visitor from ,london4 8,the    
friends say that if the lady can remain 
the night they will give her a test40 ,i
 replied that the only test of interest 
to me was one that would convince my    
fellow-members of the ,society for      
,psychical ,research4 ,the mediums      
insisted1 but ,i refused to stay unless 
,prof4 ,henslow also remained and took  
charge of the proceedings4  8,sir1 do   
stay60 pleaded ,mr4 ,hope4 8,there are  
five of us--you1 the ,archdeacon1 ,mrs4 
,buxton1 ,miss ,scatcherd and myself4   
,you must buy five plates from your own 
photographer4 ,each plate must be put   
into a light-tight envelope and worn by 
the sitter1 with the sensitised surface 

next to the person1 until the sance4 ,it
 will not take long to fetch the plates 
and bring them back to us4 ,thus we     
shall have an hour to wear them before  
the sance this evening4 ,it is the only 
way to get them magnetised so as to have
 immediate results4 ,you can each       
develop your own plate to-night and then
 ,miss ,scatcherd will know whether the 
friends have kept their word40  ,prof4  
,henslow good-naturedly agreed and drove
 off with the ,archdeacon to purchase   
the plates4 ,i remained with ,mrs4      
,buxton and ,mr4 ,hope4 ,within an hour 
the ,archdeacon returned with four      
plates put up as directed4 ,professor   
,henslow had gone home to dinner wearing
 his plate in a wood slide contrived by 
,archdeacon ,colley4 ,mrs4 ,buxton and  
,i tucked ours inside our blouses and   
,mr4 ,hope placed his in that           
trouser-pocket which has aroused such   
evil suspicions in the minds of         
investigators4 ,we remained together    
until ,prof4 ,henslow joined us4 ,it was

 full daylight4 ,we sat round the table 
when ,mr4 ,hope asked3  8,what do you   
want1 ,miss ,scatcherd8 ,a face8 ,a     
message8 ,what shall it be80  8,you     
forget my conditions2 ,prof4 ,henslow   
must decide4 ,let him choose10 ,i       
replied4  ,prof4 ,henslow said he did   
not care what came so long as the same  
thing appeared on all the plates4 ,it   
was a remark worthy of the speaker1     
conveying1 as it did1 a most crucial    
test1 in view of the fact that he had   
never let his plate out of his own      
keeping4 ,the usual sance was held4     
,prof4 ,henslow developed his plate     
first4 ,i developed mine under          
,archdeacon ,colley's supervision1 then 
,mrs4 ,buxton and ,mr4 ,hope developed  
theirs4  ,the results are of interest4  
,the ,archdeacon did not wear a plate so
 as to leave 8more power for the        
others40 ,mr4 ,hope's plate was blurred4
 ,the tablet on ,prof4 ,henslow's was   
identical in outline with ,mrs4         
,buxton's and mine1 both of which were  

sharp and clear1 but ,mrs4 ,buxton's was
 the best4 ,mrs4 ,buxton had been with  
me the whole time1 and her              
six-months-old baby had never left her  
arms4  ,the message addressed to ,prof4 
,henslow was appropriate1 but the       
writing was so microscopically fine that
 we could not read it that night4 ,mr4  
,hope was very disappointed4 8,never    
mind10 he said1 8when we get home we    
will ask the guides to give it us       
again60 ,he and ,mrs4 ,buxton were      
leaving by the early morning train4 ,the
 ,archdeacon had charge of the negatives
 and had promised to let us know as soon
 as he had deciphered the message4  ,the
 mediums did not like their lodgings1 so
 slept at my hotel4 ,i saw them off in  
the morning1 before any of us knew what 
the message was4 ,a day or two later ,i 
received from the mediums a duplicate of
 the message not yet known to them or to
 myself4 ,but this time the writing was 
large enough to be read by the naked    
eye4 ,as ,prof4 ,henslow had requested1 

the same thing had come on all the      
plates in differing degrees of          
distinctness4  ,this was my first       
experience of a ,crewe skotograph1 and  
it was decisive4 ,as ,i wrote in the    
,psychic ,gazette from notes submitted  
to ,archdeacon ,colley at the time1 and 
afterwards read by ,prof4 ,henslow when 
published1 no suspicions could fall     
either on the mediums1 ,archdeacon      
,colley or myself1 as not one of us had 
had the chance of tampering with ,prof4 
,henslow's plate1 nor could ,prof4      
,henslow and his photographer have      
prepared a series of plates for an      
occasion on which they had no reason to 
have reckoned4  ,i wrote a minute       
account of these early experiments1     
according to the strictest psychical    
research methods1 and left it with ,mr4 
,wallis1 the then editor of ,light4 ,he 
did not publish it1 and when ,i returned
 to ,england it could not be found4     
,this incident is briefly recorded by   
,prof4 ,henslow in ,proofs of the       

,truths of ,spiritualism1 pp4 #bbd-g4   
,illustration3 ,,fig4                   
#af4--,photomicrograph by ,major ,r4 ,e4
 ,e4 ,spencer of portion of ,archdeacon 
,colley's signature taken from letter   
written during his lifetime4 7,see p4   
#hd47  ,illustration3 ,,fig4            
#ag4--,photomicrograph by ,major ,r4 ,e4
 ,e4 ,spencer of portion of ,archdeacon 
,colley's signature on psychograph      
appearing after his death4 ,compare with
 ,figs4 #b4 and #af4  ,illustration3    
,,fig4 #ah4--,photograph of ,mr4 ,wm4   
,walker with message in the handwriting 
of ,mr4 ,w4 ,t4 ,stead4 7,see p4 #hg47  
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ai4--,mr4 and    
,mrs4 ,harry ,walker and two friends    
with psychic likeness of ,mr4 ,walker's 
father4 ,compare with ,fig4 #ah4        
,,chapter ,,viii  ,,evidential ,,and    
,,scientific ,,aspects ,,of ,,psychic   
,,photography  ,,by ,,fred ,,barlow     
,hon4 ,sec4 ,s4,s4,s4,p41 ,hon4 ,sec4   
,birmingham and ,midland ,s4,p4,r4   ,no
 phase of psychical research has been   

more adversely criticised in the past   
than psychic photography4 ,this is      
undoubtedly due to the prevalence of    
many erroneous ideas on the whole       
subject4  ,it is a popular fallacy that 
it is the easiest thing in the world to 
fake a 8spirit0 photograph4 ,those few  
photographers who have tried to imitate 
a genuine psychic effect have usually   
made the discovery that it is by no     
means so easy a matter as it appears1   
even when no restriction is placed on   
the conditions under which the fake     
should be produced4 ,when conditions are
 imposed1 similar to those usually      
obtaining with1 say1 the ,crewe ,circle1
 the difficulty of producing a          
fraudulent result is enormously         
increased4 ,under certain conditions1   
where suitable precautions are employed 
and where the sitter has a thorough     
knowledge of photography1 plus an       
acquaintance with trick methods1 even   
the possibility of deception without    
detection can1 for all practical        

purposes1 be ruled out of court4 ,under 
these special conditions1 investigators 
of repute have on many occasions secured
 successful psychic results4  ,apart    
altogether from any question of test    
conditions1 however1 there are certain  
results which1 in themselves1 afford    
definite proof of their genuine nature4 
,i refer to those recognised psychic    
likenesses obtained by sitters who are  
quite unknown to the sensitives and who 
have secured results which could not    
possibly have been prepared in advance4 
,one such case would be sufficient to   
establish the reality of psychic        
photography4 ,it is no exaggeration to  
say that this has actually occurred on  
scores of occasions1 and1 in            
consequence1 the evidence for the truth 
of psychic photography is overwhelming4 
,it has been said that recognised       
psychic likenesses exists only in the   
imagination of the individuals claiming 
them as such4 ,it is1 alas1 too true    
that some well-meaning individuals will 

see a likeness where none exists4 ,it   
is1 however1 equally true that many     
bigoted sceptics will refuse to         
acknowledge a likeness that is obvious  
to the unprejudiced on comparing normal 
and supernormal photographs4 ,there are 
two sides to the question of credulity1 
and ,i have known sceptics deny the     
reality of a likeness where the         
supernormal effect has been an exact    
7but draped7 duplicate of a normal      
photograph6  ,we must remember that it  
may be difficult to recognise a likeness
 between a normal and supernormal       
photograph where the subject to us is   
unknown4 ,two photographs of the same   
individual1 taken at different periods1 
will often vary considerably1 but those 
acquainted with that individual can     
recognise the likeness of each          
photograph to the original without the  
slightest difficulty4 ,so in a          
supernormal photograph3 those claiming a
 likeness between the supernormal effect
 and some near relative1 or friend1 who 

has crossed the border1 are in a better 
position1 from their knowledge of that  
person1 to speak with authority on the  
question of recognition than those who  
never saw the original4 ,this question  
of recognised likenesses is a point the 
critic tries to evade4 ,the reader can  
judge of the value of this evidence from
 the few illustrations in this booklet  
which are typical of hundreds of similar
 results4  ,the mental attitude of some 
intelligent people to psychic           
photography is distinctly curious4 ,they
 have got the idea fixed into their     
heads that these photographs must be one
 of two things--8fakes0 or 8spirits40   
,naturally enough1 in some of the cases 
that have been reported they find it    
difficult to believe that such a result 
could have been produced entirely by a  
discarnate entity4 ,therefore they jump 
to the false conclusion that the result 
must of necessity have been faked4 ,in a
 scientific investigation we should     
first of all concern ourselves with     

facts1 without troubling over-much with 
theories4 ,a very little first-hand     
investigation will satisfy any          
unprejudiced individual as to the       
reality of psychic photography4 ,having 
reached that stage such a person will be
 in a better position to theorise on the
 cause of the phenomena4  ,after many   
years of close concentration on this    
subject ,i have arrived at the          
conclusion that psychic photography     
differs only in kind and not in degree  
from other phases of psychic phenomena4 
,i do not see how we can possibly get   
away from the fact that many of these   
photographic effects are produced by    
discarnate intelligences4 ,whilst firmly
 believing this1 ,i should never be so  
dogmatic as to claim that all           
supernormal pictures have been produced 
by discarnate spirits4  ,spirit1 whether
 discarnate or incarnate1 to manifest to
 our material senses must make use of   
matter--there must be a medium4 ,a      
medium1 or sensitive1 is just as        

essential for psychic photography as    
for1 say1 automatic writing4 ,as        
investigators are aware1 in automatic   
script it frequently happens that along 
with communications from the 8other     
side0 come writings derived from the    
subconsciousness of the automatist1 and 
such1 ,i am convinced1 is often the case
 in psychic photography4  ,the          
subconscious is used to cover a         
multitude of theories4 ,certainly it is 
not an unfeasible explanation in some   
instances4 ,let me cite one case1 which 
is typical of many4 ,one of the members 
of the ,s4,s4,s4,p4--,mr4 ,hobbs1 of    
,purley1 a keen business man--travelled 
to ,crewe with his wife4 ,they and the  
,crewe ,circle were perfect strangers to
 each other4 ,mrs4 ,hobbs at the time   
was wearing a locket containing a       
photograph of their son1 who had been   
killed in the war4 ,this was tucked away
 out of sight in her blouse4 ,the usual 
sance was held and to their great       
delight the visitors secured a picture  

of their boy4 ,trickery was impossible4 
,even supposing ,mr4 ,hope had seen the 
photograph in the locket there was no   
time to produce a fraudulent result and 
foist this upon the alert sitters4 ,a   
careful examination of the print1       
however1 reveals the fact that the      
psychic picture is an exact but reversed
 duplicate of the photograph in the     
locket4 ,even the rim of the locket can 
be clearly seen4 ,this sort of thing has
 occurred time and again4  ,the image of
 the locket would be indelibly impressed
 on the memory of the mother1 and it may
 well be that in some peculiar way the  
sensitive proved a medium for the       
projection of that conscious or         
subconscious image on to the            
photographic plate4 ,such an argument is
 not to be lightly dismissed1 and the   
fact that the image obtained on the     
plate may not have been in the conscious
 mind of the sitter at the time does not
 necessarily affect the issue4 ,i       
candidly admit that some such           

explanation may account for many of     
these curious effects4  ,sometimes the  
psychic pictures are facsimile copies of
 magazine covers and pictures no        
fraudulent medium would ever think of   
producing1 and1 like the faces in our   
dreams1 they may come from the          
subconscious4 ,at the same time1        
attempts to produce definite conscious  
thought-pictures1 with the co-operation 
of a photographic medium1 have almost   
always proved abortive in our           
experiments in this country4 ,some of   
the ,continental members of the         
,s4,s4,s4,p41 however1 have concentrated
 on this line of research and have      
succeeded in obtaining thoughtgraphs    
which1 more or less1 resemble the object
 on which the thoughts of the subject   
have been intensely concentrated4 ,these
 experiments1 and1 in particular1 recent
 photographic experiments in connection 
with subjects under hypnosis1 are       
yielding encouraging results4  ,we must 
be careful not to overdo the            

subconscious4 ,it is no self-contained  
unit1 but rather an instrument used in  
the production of these phenomena4 ,in  
consequence1 it frequently happens that 
along with communications from the      
8other side0 comes matter derived from  
the subconsciousness of the sensitive   
and even from that of the sitter4 ,an   
investigator obsessed with the idea of  
fraud will often effectively negative   
all phenomena by his unconscious action 
on the mentality of the medium4 ,in     
these investigations we must use that   
uncommon faculty of common sense4       
,common sense tells us that we cannot   
accept the explanation that all psychic 
photographs are produced by the thoughts
 of incarnate beings4 ,whether it agrees
 with his pet theories or not1 the      
serious student is bound to realise     
that1 sooner or later1 other minds are  
at work distinct from1 and often        
superior in intelligence to1 that of    
either medium or sitter4 ,these         
intelligences claim to be the spirits of

 the so-called dead4 ,they substantiate 
their claims by giving practical proof  
that they are whom they purport to be4  
,for example1 what better proof of      
survival could be given by a deceased   
person than that of a message in his own
 handwriting1 referring to events that  
happened after his death8 ,such messages
 are by no means an unfrequent          
occurrence4 ,there can be no doubt about
 the genuineness of the handwriting4    
,major ,r4 ,e4 ,e4 ,spencer has gone to 
an immense amount of time and trouble in
 making photomicrographs of normal and  
supernormal writings for the purpose of 
comparison4 ,illustrations are given of 
two of these photomicrographs4 ,figure  
#af shows a portion of the signature of 
,archdeacon ,colley taken from a letter 
written by him before death1 whilst     
,figure #ag shows a corresponding       
portion reproduced from a photographic  
message received after his death4 ,this 
message referred to events subsequent to
 his decease4  ,occasionally1 in these  

psychographs1 as these written          
photographic messages are termed1 the   
mentality of the medium or sitters will 
get in the way1 with very curious       
results4 ,throughout all these          
phenomena1 however1 there is every      
indication that other influences are at 
work4 ,whoever or whatever these        
intelligences behind the scenes may be1 
in no uncertain voice they claim to be  
discarnate souls4 ,surely they are in a 
better position to form a correct       
opinion hereon than we material         
outsiders8  ,how do the psychic images  
get on to the plate8 ,far too much time1
 in the past1 has been lost in          
attempting to convince those who do not 
believe 7and those who do not want to   
believe71 of the genuine nature of      
psychic photography1 and our ignorance  
of this phenomenon is appalling4 ,the   
difficulties attending scientific       
research in this domain are             
considerable4 ,so far1 we can only      
definitely say that in many instances   

the psychic figures on the plate are not
 objective in the same sense as the     
sitters4 ,the supernormal images have   
every appearance of having been         
projected on to the sensitive plate1    
independently of the lens and camera4   
,in employing several cameras           
simultaneously1 together with a stereo  
camera1 ,i have only succeeded so far in
 securing a psychic image on one of the 
plates exposed4  ,there are indications 
that in some cases the psychic effects  
are printed on to the plate through a   
psychic equivalent to our normal        
transparency--in fact1 it has come to be
 known as a psychic transparency4       
,identical transparency markings are to 
be found on the plates of photographic  
sensitives from all parts of the world4 
,these particular markings can clearly  
be seen over the negative obtained by   
,mr4 ,harry ,price in his experiment    
with ,mr4 ,hope4 ,i am convinced that   
the effect obtained on this occasion was
 a genuine psychic result4 ,the         

possibility of this is freely admitted  
by ,mr4 ,price4 ,the fact that in nine  
cases out of ten the psychic images are 
the same way up as the sitter suggests  
that the 8something0 that occurs        
actually takes place after the plate has
 been inserted in the dark slide4 ,such 
small points as these may eventually    
play an important part in the final     
solution of the modus operandi4  ,now   
let us return to the object of this     
book--the question of evidence4 ,sir    
,arthur ,conan ,doyle has dealt so      
thoroughly1 earlier in these pages1 with
 the recent attacks by the ,s4,p4,r4 and
 the ,magic ,circle that ,i do not      
propose to refer to them again here at  
length4 ,as illustrating the impartial  
attitude of the ,society of which ,i    
have the honour to be ,secretary1       
however1 ,i would like to say that      
almost immediately on the publication of
 these critical reports the matter was  
discussed by the members of this        
,society1 and it was arranged to subject

 the whole of the evidence to a thorough
 investigation4 ,in this connection the 
,s4,s4,s4,p41 in conjunction with the   
,b4,c4,p4,s41 sought the co-operation of
 the ,society for ,psychical ,research  
and the ,occult ,committee of the ,magic
 ,circle4  ,a proposal was sent to the  
bodies mentioned expressing the desire  
of the ,s4,s4,s4,p4 to subject the      
charges to thorough and impartial       
investigation1 and suggesting that three
 members from each of these four bodies 
should form a committee of              
investigation4 ,the members elected by  
the ,s4,s4,s4,p4 were ,dr4 ,abraham     
,wallace1 ,president1 ,col4 ,c4 ,e4     
,baddeley1 ,c4,m4,g41 ,o4,g41 and ,major
 ,r4 ,e4 ,e4 ,spencer1 three careful and
 experienced investigators4 ,for reasons
 best known to themselves1 both the     
,s4,p4,r4 and the ,occult ,committee of 
the ,magic ,circle refused to entertain 
this suggestion4 ,the reader can draw   
whatever inference he likes from this   
uncompromising attitude4 ,to my mind    

such a refusal is directly opposed to   
the objects for which the ,society for  
,psychical ,research was formed4  ,a    
striking example of the persistence of  
personality is to be found in the case  
of the late ,mr4 ,wm4 ,walker1 of       
,buxton4 ,mr4 ,walker was the ,president
 of the ,buxton ,camera ,club4 ,being a 
keen photographer1 he took an intense   
interest in the work of the ,crewe      
,circle and co-operated with them in    
numerous experiments4 ,he was the first 
photographer to obtain psychic          
photographic results in colours 7by the 
,paget process7 through the mediumship  
of his friends4  ,shortly before the    
late ,mr4 ,w4 ,t4 ,stead left this      
country for his last voyage to ,america1
 ,mr4 ,walker saw him in ,london4 ,mr4  
,stead was very interested in the       
results obtained at ,crewe and strongly 
urged his friend to keep him posted as  
to future developments4 ,a little while 
later ,mr4 ,stead was drowned on the    
ill-fated ,titanic4 ,on ,may #fth1      

#aiab1 ,mr4 ,walker1 in experimenting at
 ,crewe1 was surprised and pleased to   
receive on his plates a message from his
 friend1 which read3      8,,dear ,,mr4 
,,walker1      8,i will try to keep you 
posted4                                 
8,w4 ,t4 ,,stead40  ,two plates had been
 exposed2 both contained the same       
message1 but in one case the writing was
 reversed and appeared as 8mirror       
writing10 as it is called4 ,this result 
is shown by ,figure #ah4 ,the writing   
does not reproduce very clearly1 but    
experts have declared that1 beyond all  
doubt1 it is identical with the         
handwriting of the late ,w4 ,t4 ,stead4 
,mr4 ,wm4 ,walker followed ,mr4 ,stead  
into the ,great ,beyond a few years     
later4 ,since his death his relatives   
and friends have received innumerable   
tokens of his activities on the 8other  
side10 in connection with the subject in
 which he was so interested whilst in   
the body4 ,the illustration shown by    
,figure #ai represents a normal         

photograph of ,mr4 ,h4 ,walker and his  
wife 7son and daughter-in-law7 and two  
friends1 with a clearly-defined         
supernormal likeness of the late ,mr4   
,wm4 ,walker4 ,this was taken under     
satisfactory test conditions on         
,february #aith1 #aiaf4  ,as            
illustrating the interest ,mr4 ,walker  
still takes in the ,crewe ,circle1      
attention is directed to the psychograph
 shown by ,figure #bj4 ,this was secured
 late on ,friday evening1 ,july #bhth1  
#aibb1 and reads 7my own punctuation73  
8,dear ,friends of the ,circle1      8,i
 would not spend a moment with the      
,psychical ,research ,scty1     because 
they are nothing more nor less than     
fraud hunters and ,i     want you to    
come to ,buxton for a sitting with ,mrs4
 ,walker1 #c1     ,palace ,rd41 about   
the #hth-#ith of ,aug4 ,then the spirit 
friends     can further demonstrate the 
wondrous powers which to-day are        
needed more than ever4 ,peace be with   
you4                           8,yours  

faithfully1                             
8,w4 ,,walker40      8,please inform    
,henry40  ,the postscript refers to ,mr4
 ,walker's son1 who resides in ,crewe4  
,i have examined a number of letters in 
the handwriting of ,mr4 ,walker1 senior1
 and find that the slip in spelling is  
such that he might make4 ,a portion of  
one of these letters is reproduced on   
,figure #ba1 and when compared with the 
psychograph alongside it should leave no
 doubts in the mind of the reader as to 
authorship4  ,it is perhaps unnecessary 
to state that the instructions given by 
,mr4 ,wm4 ,walker were carried out to   
the letter4 ,the results of the short   
visit of the ,crewe ,circle to ,buxton  
are best described by quoting an extract
 from a letter ,i received from ,mr4    
,henry ,walker3      8,we 7,mrs4        
,buxton1 ,mr4 ,hope and myself7 went to 
,buxton on     ,wednesday1 #ith inst4   
7,august1 #aibb4--;,ed474 ,two sittings 
were     held and four exposures made4  
8,the first exposure was made on mother1

 and gives a message     from father to 
,mrs4 ,buxton and ,mr4 ,hope1 dealing   
again with the     ,s4,p4,r4 test and   
promising a puzzle4      8,the second   
exposure was made on mother1 ,mrs4      
,marriott 7an old     friend of ours7   
and myself1 and shows a very large face 
of     father nearly covering the three 
of us4      8,i developed each plate    
carefully and noticed the psychic light 
was much more keen than the daylight4   
8,after a rest of a couple of hours1 we 
held the second sitting4      8,the     
first plate exposed on mother shows a   
medley3 a good photo     of father and a
 lot of flowers or foliage and the      
feathers of a     ,red ,indian friend4  
8,the second plate only shows a few     
lights4      8,i fancy father's record  
alone should be sufficient to satisfy   
any sensible being4 ,i daresay ,i can   
find well over twenty     psychic       
results received from him on different  
occasions1 most     of them under       
reasonable test conditions4             

7,signed7 8,h4 ,,walker40  ,the ,crewe  
,circle invariably place implicit faith 
in the messages they receive from the   
other side4 ,these worthy and simple    
people are very closely in touch with   
their invisible helpers1 who advise     
them1 by means of photographic messages1
 in their troubles and ailments4        
,occasionally the advice given has been 
directly opposed to the wishes of the   
mediums1 but they never hesitate to     
carry out these instructions1 which     
usually prove that the directing        
intelligences possess knowledge and     
foresight far exceeding that of their   
human instruments4  ,i can appreciate   
that some of my readers will experience 
difficulty in accepting these remarkable
 statements4 ,when first ,i heard of    
these marvellous things ,i put them down
 to credulity1 exaggeration1 and so     
forth4 ,however1 ,i determined to get at
 the truth for myself4 ,nothing less    
than personal experience would satisfy  
me4 ,the first psychic photographs ,i   

saw did not very greatly impress me4 ,as
 a photographer1 ,i recognised that ,i  
could produce similar results1 and with 
the conceit that comes from ignorance ,i
 suggested they were fakes4 ,even as    
fakes they were interesting1 however1   
and on inquiring further into the matter
 ,i discovered that the conditions under
 which they had been secured would      
necessitate smart work on the part of a 
trickster4 ,also ,i was puzzled to      
understand how photographers of the     
calibre of ,mr4 ,j4 ,traill ,taylor     
could be easily gulled4 ,eventually ,i  
travelled to ,crewe in a rather critical
 frame of mind1 but fully prepared to be
 fair to the mediums4 ,i received a     
surprise4 ,the result obtained bore a   
strong resemblance to myself4 ,it could 
easily be taken as a twin brother4 ,i   
had a brother who1 when he died1 was a  
little older than myself4 ,i was given  
practically a free hand in the          
photographic operations1 and was        
impressed by the faith and honesty of   

the mediums4 ,to detail all the         
precautions ,i took from time to time to
 eliminate the possibility of conscious 
and even unconscious deception1 in my   
further experiments1 would prove a      
wearisome business4 ,suffice it to say  
that the use of my own apparatus and    
specially-prepared plates1 the dismissal
 of the medium from the dark room for   
all the photographic operations1 the    
sharp look-out that was kept for certain
 known methods of faking1 and the       
conducting of experiments with the      
mediums in my own home1 eventually      
convinced me1 beyond all doubt1 of the  
reality of psychic photography4  ,i     
discovered early that the mental        
attitude of the sitter played an        
important part in the success or        
otherwise of the experiment4 ,we know so
 little of the difficulties that have to
 be overcome--so little of the laws and 
conditions governing the production of  
these wonderful results1 that it is     
essential we should approach the subject

 with an open mind4 ,we must be         
sympathetic in our methods of           
investigation4 ,a medium is sensitive in
 more senses than one1 and a little tact
 and persuasion will succeed where      
bullying and blustering will fail4      
,with the three photographic sensitives 
most known in this country ,i have      
secured remarkable results4 ,whatever   
may have happened1 or may happen1 on    
other occasions1 nothing can in the     
slightest degree shake my firm          
conviction that1 with these three       
sensitives1 ,i have secured genuine     
psychic photographic effects4 ,with     
,mrs4 ,deane1 in my own home1 we secured
 an excellent picture of my father 7see 
,figure #cj74 ,true1 ,mrs4 ,deane had   
the plates beforehand for 8magnetising10
 but that would not enable her to       
produce an unmistakable likeness of     
someone she had never seen--a likeness  
which could not have been produced from 
any existing photograph1 in the very    
unlikely event of her obtaining such4   

,moreover it is not essential1 in every 
case1 that ,mrs4 ,deane should have the 
plates beforehand for magnetising4 ,on  
several occasions1 members of the       
,s4,s4,s4,p4 have1 without ,mrs4        
,deane's knowledge1 substituted a fresh 
unopened packet of plates for the       
unopened packet she has had with her1   
without interfering with the success of 
the experiment4  ,mr4 ,vearncombe has   
been most successful as a medium for    
obtaining results on plates in sealed   
packets4 ,effectively to test ,mr4      
,vearncombe1 ,i devoted a great deal of 
time to wrapping and sealing packets    
which could not possibly be tampered    
with without leaving some trace of such 
tampering4 ,others have done likewise1  
and on the plates in such packets1 which
 after the most careful scrutiny have   
revealed no evidence of tampering1 we   
have secured successful results4 ,on one
 occasion ,i persuaded a local          
professional photographer to seal a     
packet of plates before ,i handled them4

 ,this he did very thoroughly1 and then 
,i added my own wrappings and seals and 
sent the package on to ,vearncombe4     
,within a week the packet was returned  
intact4  ,mr4 ,frederic ,lewis of       
,birmingham1 who co-operated with me in 
this test1 is a technical photographer  
of more than average ability and his    
certificate is of value4 ,in this he    
states3      8,i certify that on ,may   
#adth1 #aibj1 ,i wrapped and sealed an  
unopened packet of ,imperial ,special   
,sensitive -plates and     handed the   
packet to ,mr4 ,fred ,barlow1 who then  
fixed his     own wrappings and seals4  
,mr4 ,barlow brought back the packet    
of plates to me on the morning of ,may  
#bjth1 #aibj1 and in     my presence    
broke his own wrappings and seals4 ,i   
then very     carefully verified that my
 own seals and wrappings were intact    
and am quite convinced that these had   
not been interfered     with4 ,i        
personally developed the plates in the  
presence of ,mr4     ,barlow4 ,on two   

out of the twelve plates in the package 
distinct     negative images of faces   
developed--one face on one plate and    
three small faces on another4 ,i can    
offer no explanation of     this result 
apart from being perfectly satisfied    
that no     trickery or deception was   
practised4                              
7,signed7 8,,frederic ,,lewis40  ,could 
anything be more definite and conclusive
 than that8  ,with the ,crewe ,circle ,i
 have had so many tests that it is      
difficult to select the most stringent4 
,as the well-known ,price case of       
alleged fraud bears on the question of  
the substitution of dark slides1 the    
following case may be of interest4 ,on  
this occasion the substitution of dark  
slides was impossible1 for the simple   
reason that no dark slides were used4   
,saying nothing to the members of the   
,circle beforehand1 ,i took with me to  
,crewe on ,november #abth1 #aiba1 a     
loaded box camera containing six        
specially-marked plates of a size       

smaller than those usually employed in  
experiments of this nature4 ,all that   
,hope and ,mrs4 ,buxton did was to arch 
their hands over this magazine camera   
whilst one of them flicked the          
shutter-catch4 ,photographic readers    
will realise that it is impossible to   
tamper with the plates in a box camera1 
in daylight1 without spoiling the lot4  
,to enable the 8power0 to flow from ,mr4
 ,hope on to the plates1 the controlling
 intelligence stipulated that ,mr4 ,hope
 should be allowed to take hold of my   
right wrist as ,i dropped each plate    
into the developer4 ,psychic effects    
were secured on two out of the six      
plates under conditions which1 ,i am    
convinced1 rendered deception           
impossible4 ,i have been told that ,mr4 
,hope must have printed the effects on  
to the plates by flashlight whilst he   
had hold of my wrist4 ,if the critic    
derives any comfort from believing that 
this actually occurred he is welcome to 
his belief6  ,in another evidential case

 is that already mentioned by ,sir      
,arthur ,conan ,doyle of an experiment  
conducted by two photographic members of
 the ,s4,s4,s4,p4 and myself at ,crewe4 
,in this case the camera and slides     
employed were brand new and were not    
examined by the sensitives until after  
the sitting4 ,the dark slides differed  
from those usually employed by the      
sensitives4 ,neither ,mr4 ,hope nor     
,mrs4 ,buxton was in the dark room for  
loading the slides or for developing the
 plates4 ,the central face of three     
supernormal faces secured on this       
occasion is an undoubted likeness of the
 father of one of the sitters4 ,the     
result was absolutely conclusive to my  
friends and myself4 ,we emphatically    
declare that under the circumstances    
trickery was impossible4  ,illustration3
 ,,fig4 #bj4--,psychograph in the       
handwriting of ,mr4 ,wm4 ,walker        
obtained at ,crewe on ,july #bhth1      
#aibb4 ,compare with normal handwriting 
shown in ,fig4 #ba4 7,see p4 #hh47      

,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ba4--,portion of 
letter written by ,mr4 ,wm4 ,walker     
during his lifetime for comparison with 
psychograph ,fig4 #bj4  ,illustration3  
,,fig4 #bb4--,mr4 ,s4 ,maddocks1 ,hon4  
,sec4 of the ,sheffield and ,district   
,s4,p4,r41 with psychic photograph of   
his first wife4 ,compare with ,fig4 #bc4
 7,see p4 #aac47  ,illustration3 ,,fig4 
#bc4--,photograph of ,mr4 ,maddocks'    
first wife for comparison with ,fig4    
#bb4  ,since the above was written ,i   
have been favoured with further         
excellent personal proof4 ,on ,october  
#gth1 #aibb1 ,i secured at ,crewe       
several fine photographs of my father4  
,the best were secured on plates exposed
 in a camera brought by one of three    
friends who accompanied me4 ,he is an   
experienced and critical photographer1  
and was responsible for the whole of the
 photographic operations4 ,reference to 
,figure #ca will show that the psychic  
face has moved and appears in no less   
than six different places4 ,this face is

 very similar to the ,deane photo       
7,figure #cj71 but by no means          
absolutely identical4  ,the next chapter
 contains a series of abbreviated       
accounts and reports by investigators in
 every station of life4 ,for the purpose
 of this book they are confined to      
accounts connected with the ,crewe      
,circle4 ,in my capacity of ,hon4       
,secretary to the ,s4,s4,s4,p4 it is my 
privilege to receive these documents in 
ever-increasing numbers4 ,i imagine that
 the most hardened sceptic1 occupying a 
similar position for a few months1 would
 be convinced of the reality of psychic 
photography by this evidence alone4     
,knowing it to be true1 ,i look forward 
with confidence to that day1 not far    
distant1 when all this talk of fake and 
fraud shall be no more and when the     
psychologist and scientist shall combine
 the investigation of this vital        
problem4     ,,chapter ,,ix             
,,conclusive ,,proof ,,from ,,many      
,,sources   ,this concluding chapter    

contains a number of plain1 straight    
statements from those possessing        
first-hand knowledge of the ,crewe      
,circle4 ,such positive and definite    
evidence is of far more value from an   
evidential and scientific standpoint    
than the mere opinions of those who have
 never investigated4 ,owing to the      
exigencies of space it has been         
necessary to abbreviate most of these   
accounts and also to omit many others1  
equally convincing4 ,for evidential     
reasons each report or contribution     
contains the full name and address of   
the communicator4         99       99   
99       99       99  ,the ,evidence of 
,,george ,h4 ,,lethem1 ,,esq41 ,,justice
 ,,of ,,the ,,peace ,,for ,,the ,,county
 ,,of ,,the ,,city ,,of ,,glasgow  ,i   
first heard of the ,crewe ,circle in the
 autumn of #aiah4 ,at that time ,i was  
editor of the ,daily ,record1 ,glasgow1 
and had made the acquaintance of ,mr4   
,peter ,galloway1 ,president of the     
,glasgow ,association of ,spiritualists1

 through an article on spiritualism     
which he contributed to that paper4     
,mr4 ,galloway told me that the ,crewe  
,circle were coming to ,glasgow1 and he 
invited me to attend their first        
sitting4 ,this ,i agreed to do2 ,i      
bought a packet of quarter-plates at a  
,city shop1 took note of the wrapper    
markings and kept the packet safe1 with 
the cover unbroken4  ,my wife           
accompanied me to the sitting1 which was
 held in a large1 well-lighted attic    
room some distance from the house where 
the members of the ,circle were lodging4
 ,i saw them arrive1 saw them unpack    
their photographic outfit1 and saw them 
borrow a dark cloth 7which ,i examined7 
for use as a background4 ,obtaining     
permission1 ,i examined the camera1 the 
slide1 the lens1 the bellows 7for       
pin-holes7 and all the accessories1     
without finding anything suspicious4 ,i 
treated the sitting as a test and took  
every step1 so far as ,i knew1 to       
provide against conscious or unconscious

 deception4  ,including ,mr4 ,hope and  
,mrs4 ,buxton1 there were nine or ten   
people present4 ,to all of these1 except
 ,mr4 ,galloway1 ,i was quite unknown1  
and ,i was introduced simply as a       
8friend40  ,i had time to complete my   
examination--in which ,i included the   
little adjoining dark room--before the  
proceedings began4 ,all present then sat
 round a table1 on which my packet of   
plates was laid within my reach and in  
my sight4 ,there were hymns and a       
prayer1 then the packet was lifted and  
held for a few seconds between ,mr4     
,hope's hands1 with the hands of all the
 others--my own included--above and     
below4 ,the packet1 which was never out 
of my sight1 was then returned to me and
 ,i satisfied myself by the markings    
that it was mine1 that the wrapper was  
intact1 and that1 therefore1 there could
 have been no tampering with the plates4
  ,putting the unopened packet in my    
pocket1 ,i followed ,mr4 ,hope into the 
dark room1 taking with me the slide from

 the camera4 ,in the dark room ,mr4     
,hope stood in the far corner and ,i    
stood close by the door1 leaving a clear
 space between us4 ,mr4 ,hope said1 in  
explanation of this arrangement1 that he
 did not want to touch the plates but   
only to see that ,i handled them        
properly4  ,taking the packet from my   
pocket1 ,i broke the cover1 extracted   
two plates and put the packet back in my
 pocket4 ,keeping the plates within ,mr4
 ,hope's view but quite out of his      
reach1 ,i wrote my name on each of them 
and put them into the slide1 which ,i   
carried out of the room before handing  
it to ,mr4 ,hope4 ,up to this point1    
,mr4 ,hope had quite certainly not      
touched the plates4 ,having seen the    
slide placed in the camera1 ,i sat down 
beside my wife1 facing the lens4  ,the  
camera had been previously focussed and 
an exposure was made--,mr4 ,hope        
standing on the right and ,mrs4 ,buxton 
on the left and joining hands 7,mr4     
,hope's left1 ,mrs4 ,buxton's right7    

above the camera4 ,in this attitude ,mr4
 ,hope pressed the pneumatic bulb with  
his right hand and so made the exposure1
 which was longer than for an ordinary  
photograph4 ,then the slide was turned  
and a second exposure was made on other 
two members of the party4  ,when the    
second exposure was completed1 ,mr4     
,hope took the slide out of the camera1 
carried it into the dark room1 and      
emptied the plates into my hands in     
front of the red glass window4 ,making  
sure that my signature was on each of   
the plates1 ,i placed them in a shaded  
receptacle1 signed other two plates and 
put them into the slide with the same   
precautions as before4 ,then1 seeing    
,mr4 ,hope out of the room1 ,i shut the 
door and stood before it whilst two     
other exposures were made4 ,re-entering 
the dark room1 ,i received the plates   
from the slide as before and proceeded  
to develop the four plates with material
 supplied by ,mr4 ,hope1 who remained in
 the room but stood as far from the     

developing dish as possible and left the
 whole of the handling to me4  ,standing
 before the red window1 ,i saw the      
images come up on the plates and noticed
 that on three of them there were       
figures other than the ordinary         
representations of the sitters4 ,when   
development was finished1 ,i carried the
 plates from the dark room and1 before  
anyone else was allowed to touch them1  
,i examined them individually and       
satisfied myself beyond doubt that they 
were the four identical plates on which 
,i had written my name and that the     
normal figures on these plates          
corresponded with the four exposures ,i 
had seen made4  ,that each of the four  
plates bore my signature1 clear and     
characteristic1 ,i accepted as proof    
that these were the plates ,i had placed
 in the slide and no others1 for it was 
impossible that my signature could have 
been forged3 therefore1 ,i reasoned1    
there had been no substitution of       
prepared plates4  ,looking through the  

negatives1 ,i could see that1 in        
addition to the normal figures of the   
sitters1 there were distinct 8extras0 on
 three of the plates1 each 8extra0 being
 distinct in form from the others4  ,on 
,no4 #a plate--that for which my wife   
and ,i had been the sitters--there was  
the clear representation of a face      
looking out from an arched veil4 ,this  
8extra0 was superimposed on the image of
 the sitters and partially obscured     
them1 as if the 8something0 it          
represented had come between them and   
the lens4  ,as soon as the plate was    
dry1 a rough print was obtained by      
placing a sheet of printing paper over  
the negative and holding it up to the   
window1 through which the sun was       
shining4 ,that rough print showed the   
normal figures and the 8extra0 as they  
were afterwards printed by ,mr4 ,hope4  
,five possibilities are1 therefore1     
ruled out in seeking to account for this
 particular 8extra03      #a4 ,the      
plates were not faked before exposure4  

#b4 ,there was no substitution of       
plates4     #c4 ,there was no double    
exposure4     #d4 ,there was no double  
printing4     #e4 ,the plate was not    
faked after development4  ,as soon as   
the rough proof of plate ,no4 #a was    
obtained1 the face of the 8extra0 was   
recognised by my wife and myself as an  
unmistakable likeness of our elder son1 
who had been killed in the war1 and this
 recognition was corroborated fully and 
completely later on by other members of 
the family1 and is therefore beyond     
dispute4  ,in considering this likeness 
and its recognition1 ,i take note of    
certain facts1 namely3 7#a7 ,that ,mr4  
,hope did not know me and did not know  
my son1 or even that ,i had a son2 7#b7 
that neither ,mr4 ,hope nor anyone in   
the room1 save my wife and myself1 had  
ever seen my son1 and that it is        
unlikely that any one of them had seen  
his photographs2 and 7#c7 that although 
the likeness is unmistakable1 the image 
of the face is not a reproduction of any

 normal photograph4  ,in view of these  
facts1 it seemed to me then1 and seems  
to me still1 that it was quite          
impossible that ,mr4 ,hope could have   
consciously produced that likeness      
either by skill or trick or both4  ,i   
was afterwards present at several of    
,mr4 ,hope's sittings and was allowed on
 at least two other occasions to        
accompany him into the dark room and to 
watch the whole of his procedure4 ,i    
kept a keen look-out for tricks--with   
many of which ,i was acquainted1 but ,i 
saw none4  ,also ,i have discussed the  
details many times with photographic    
experts and ,i have read the accusations
 brought against ,mr4 ,hope1 and ,i am  
quite satisfied that--whatever may have 
happened on other occasions--none of the
 suggestions of trickery put forward can
 account for the 8extras0 ,i have       
described1 and particularly for that in 
which ,i am most directly interested4   
7,signed7 ,,george ,h4 ,,lethem4        
,hazeldene1 ,harehills ,lane1 ,leeds4   

99       99       99       99       99  
,the ,evidence of ,w4 ,g4 ,,mitchell1   
,,esq41 ,,of ,,darlington      7,mr4    
,mitchell is a ,vice-,president of the  
,s4,s4,s4,p41 and     ,president of the 
,darlington ,photographic ,society4 ,he 
is a     photographer and investigator  
of considerable experience47  ,i first  
came in touch with ,mr4 ,hope and ,mrs4 
,buxton at ,crewe4 ,my second meeting   
with these good people was at           
,middlesbrough1 where they were spending
 a holiday4 ,i have thus had an         
opportunity of experimenting in the     
atmosphere of their own sance-room and  
studio1 and also under the improvised   
conditions of a friend's residence4     
,the subject of supernormal photography 
was not entirely new to me4 ,i had met  
,mr4 ,edward ,wyllie1 the 8spirit0      
photographer1 when in ,ireland1 and     
watched his operations almost daily     
during his fortnight's sojourn in that  
country4 ,i subjected him to the most   
stringent and ingenious tests that ,i   

could devise4 ,as founder and president 
of a photographic society1 ,i was fully 
alive to all the possibilities of       
faking1 but was quite satisfied that ,i 
had removed from ,mr4 ,wyllie any       
opportunity to indulge in photographic  
legerdemain4 ,with all my caution1      
results persisted4 ,all the ordinary    
laws of photography1 as far as ,i       
understood them1 were upset and         
violated4  ,but to get back to the      
,crewe ,circle4 ,i had arranged with a  
friend who was at that time             
editor-manager of an important ,northern
 newspaper to visit ,crewe for the      
purpose of meeting the ,crewe ,circle4  
,as brother members of a psychical      
research society1 we desired to add to  
our experiences4 ,having taken the      
precaution of purchasing plates locally 
and following the usual recommendation  
of carrying them in close proximity to  
the body1 we looked forward to our      
journey4 ,the appointed day arrived1 but
 no day in modern history could have    

been more unsuitable or less conducive  
to good results4 ,it was ,december      
#afth1 #aiad1 and the news tapped out   
over the 8private wire0 was most        
disquieting2 the ,huns were shelling    
,scarborough and ,west ,hartlepool4 ,my 
friend realised that it was impossible  
for him to desert his editorial chair1  
and he hurriedly gave me his box of     
plates4 ,i met ,mr4 ,william ,walker1 of
 ,buxton1 en route1 and together we     
journeyed to ,crewe4 ,a short devotional
 service was held in the kitchen of     
,mrs4 ,buxton's home1 during which ,i   
was informed that only one box of plates
 could be dealt with4 ,i selected the   
box purchased by my absent friend and   
expressed a desire that some result     
should be given that would give him     
satisfaction and conviction4 ,i was     
instructed that four plates would be    
dealt with and that ,i could select any 
particular four ,i desired from the box2
 ,i named the third and fourth1 ninth   
and tenth4 ,this selection secured two  

pairs of plates that would be packed    
film to film1 and would probably be     
hinged together with emulsion4  ,the    
unsealed box was then placed on the     
centre of the table1 and as it bore a   
rubber stamp impression of the firm from
 which it was purchased ,i am quite     
satisfied that there was no substitution
 of boxes4 ,mr4 ,hope then insisted that
 ,i should dismantle his camera4 ,this  
,i did most thoroughly1 giving special  
attention to the dark slides1 lens and  
shutter4  ,having placed the dark slides
 in my pocket1 we entered the dark room1
 where ,i unpacked the box1 selecting   
the particular plates decided upon1     
wrote my initials across the corner of  
each1 placed them in the two double back
 dark slides and placed the remainder of
 the plates together with the dark      
slides in my pocket4 ,we adjourned to   
the studio1 where ,hope allowed me to   
choose my position in relation to the   
background4 ,mr4 ,walker sat in the     
chair1 ,i focussed the portrait on the  

focussing screen of the camera1 placed  
the dark slide in position and left all 
ready for making the exposure4 ,i then  
went and took a seat beside ,mr4        
,walker4 ,mr4 ,hope manipulated the lens
 cap with one hand and with his other   
clasped ,mrs4 ,buxton's1 thus forming an
 arc over the bellows of the camera4    
,after the first plate was exposed ,i   
went to the camera1 closed the dark     
slide and reversed it1 then sat for the 
second exposure4  ,the third plate was  
next used4 ,mrs4 ,buxton asked me to    
place the dark slide containing the only
 unexposed plate on her forehead1 this  
,i did for about ten seconds4  ,i then  
retired with ,mr4 ,hope to the dark     
room1 where ,i personally developed the 
four plates4 ,on three out of the four  
supernormal effects flashed up1 and     
after fixing in the hypo-bath we brought
 them out to the light for examination4 
,plate ,no4 #a1 in addition to the      
normal image1 showed a lengthy message  
of exceedingly minute copperplate       

writing1 too small to read without the  
aid of the magnifying glass4 ,i could   
just discern that there were ,greek     
characters intermingled with other      
languages1 including ,english4  ,no4 #b 
plate bore only the normal image4  ,no4 
#c plate showed the supernormal figure  
of a lady draped in some material of    
fine texture1 standing by my side4  ,no4
 #d plate1 the one held on ,mrs4 ,b4's  
forehead1 showed a well-defined face of 
a lady4  ,the long message on ,no4 #a   
contained #ade words1 and was written in
 a jumble of languages1 ,english1       
,greek1 ,french1 and ,latin1 and        
concluded thus3 8,and now1 friends1 we  
have given you this advice in mixed     
languages1 so that it will help to      
support the claim that the unlearned of 
to-day possess the same powers as the   
humble fishermen of biblical history4   
,we thank you for the common-sense way  
in which you have met us44440 etc4 ,it  
was quite two years before ,i was able  
to get the ,greek portion translated4 ,i

 eventually met a young ,greek1 a       
student of ,armstrong ,college1         
,newcastle1 who told me that it was a   
very ancient style of ,greek4 ,the      
message1 when translated1 was quite     
intelligible to me4  ,no4 #c plate1 with
 supernormal portrait1 proved to be     
undeniably the portrait of the deceased 
mother of the wife of my friend4 ,on    
comparing it with a life portrait it    
left no doubt in the mind of any        
reasonable person4  ,the portrait on    
,no4 #d plate ,i cannot recognise4  ,i  
have a profound conviction that ,mr4    
,hope is a genuine medium1 honest and   
straightforward1 and it would take a    
great deal to shake my confidence in his
 integrity4 ,i have followed his        
operations for years1 and find them a   
fruitful source of instruction4 ,it is  
only those who have experimented in     
8fake0 effects who can realise the      
difficulties1 and with a knowledge of   
photography ,i challenge any            
professional or amateur photographer to 

produce anything approaching the same   
effects under any conditions4 ,they find
 it absolutely impossible under the same
 conditions4  ,it is unthinkable that   
,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,buxton would co-operate1
 aid and abet in a continuous fraud on  
the widowed wife1 the sorrowing parent4 
7,signed7 ,w4 ,g4 ,,mitchell4  #c1      
,harewood ,terrace1 ,darlington4        
99       99       99       99       99  
,an ,account by ,j4 ,,williams1 ,,esq41 
,,photographic ,,specialist1 ,,of ,,the 
,,portland ,,studio1 ,,rhyl  ,it is with
 the greatest pleasure that ,i add my   
testimony to the truthfulness and       
absolute sincerity of ,mr4 ,hope and    
,mrs4 ,buxton4  ,they have been known to
 me for several years2 altogether no    
less than six times ,i have had sittings
 with them4 ,in every case they have    
allowed me every facility to eliminate  
any possible fraud1 which as a          
photographer of nearly fifty years'     
experience1 ,i was eager to discover4   
,one experience with the ,crewe ,circle 

was this3 at one sitting ,i was asked   
what plate ,i would choose from a packet
 of twelve plates2 it was decided on the
 fourth from the top of the packet4 ,the
 camera was not used2 ,mr4 ,hope and ,i 
entered the dark room and only myself   
touched the plates during development4  
,on the fourth plate was a message from 
the late ,archdeacon ,colley4 ,this     
negative ,i have by me and anyone       
wishing to see same can do so with      
pleasure4  ,no one could wish for a     
better test than this2 no one but myself
 touched the plates at any time during  
the sitting4 ,the plates ,i brought with
 me1 tied with special knots to prevent 
any opening of the packet or            
substituting of another packet4         
7,signed7 ,,jno4 ,,williams4  ,portland 
,studio1 ,rhyl4         99       99     
99       99       99  ,the ,testimony of
 ,,joseph ,,higginbottom1 ,,esq41       
,,vice-,,president ,,of ,,the           
,,sheffield ,,and ,,district ,,society  
,,for ,,psychical ,,research      7,an  

account of a surprise visit in which the
 sitter secured     a likeness of his   
mother1 of whom no normal photograph is 
in     existence47  ,i am pleased to    
have this opportunity of adding my      
testimony to the honesty of ,mr4 ,wm4   
,hope of the ,crewe ,circle4  ,herewith 
,i enclose a psychic photograph of my   
mother4 ,not reproduced4--,,ed4 ,it has 
been freely recognised by those who knew
 her4 ,such is my confidence in ,mr4    
,hope that ,i cannot allow myself to    
imagine for a moment that with his      
extraordinary gift1 in conjunction with 
,mrs4 ,buxton he would allow himself to 
be led astray or deviate from the path  
of rectitude under any circumstances4   
7,signed7 ,j4 ,,higginbottom4  ,lees    
,house1 ,norton ,lees1 ,sheffield4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,proof from ,,mrs4 ,e4 ,,pickup1 ,,of   
#dj1 ,,waterloo ,,road1 ,,burnley1      
,,lancs4      7,a strongly evidential   
case which describes how the sitter     
visited the ,crewe ,circle as an        

absolute stranger and without     even  
an appointment1 and secured a striking  
likeness of her     deceased husband4   
7,see ,figs4 #bh and #bi47 ,extract from
 an     original letter to ,mr4 ,hope47 
,no words of mine can express my        
gratitude to you since receiving the    
photos this morning4 ,the extra one is  
my dear husband1 and just as ,i prayed  
he might come--an exact copy of the one 
,i had at home and the one ,i liked     
best4 ,every detail is so clear and     
correct1 even to the dimple in the chin4
 ,what could be more convincing1 when ,i
 came to you an absolute stranger and   
without even an appointment8  ,that     
visit will remain imprinted on my memory
 as one of the brightest days in my     
life4 ,i am sure after such evidence as 
this and the way in which you carried   
out your work1 ,i need never suffer the 
pangs of loneliness again1 because ,i   
believe that ,god has taken him to a    
higher sphere4 ,he will still guide me  
and watch over me so long as ,i do my   

part by keeping in touch with ,god and  
,his divine laws4  ,i don't know that ,i
 could ask for anything more4 ,my cup is
 full and overflowing4 ,i trust that    
others who come to you may get as good  
results1 that they1 too1 may know the   
joy and happiness it brings4            
7,signed7 ,e4 ,,pickup4         99      
99       99       99       99  ,from    
,,mrs4 ,,risker1 ,,late ,,of ,,darlaston
      7,an excellent case1 in which the 
sitter secured an undoubted     likeness
 of her husband4 ,a number of questions 
were submitted     to ,mrs4 ,risker1 and
 her replies are given hereunder47  ,i  
have great pleasure in answering the    
questions you ask4  ,question ,no4      
#a4--;,if there is the slightest doubt  
concerning 8extra08  ,none whatever4    
,question ,no4 #b4--,whether ,mr4 ,hope 
or any one connected with the ,crewe    
,circle knew ,mr4 ,risker before his    
death1 or had seen any photograph of him
 prior to visiting ,crewe for this      
sitting8  ,no4 ,the first time ,i ever  

knew of ,mr4 ,hope or the ,crewe ,circle
 was through an article written by ,miss
 ,stead in ,nash's ,magazine during the 
latter part of #aiaf 7after my husband's
 death1 which occurred ,august #aeth1   
#aiaf74  ,question ,no4 #c4--;,in what  
manner did ,i get into touch with ,crewe
 ,circle8  ,the article which ,miss     
,stead wrote appealed to me1 and knowing
 ,miss ,stead 7by repute7 to be a       
straightforward woman1 the thought came1
 8,here apparently is a tangible proof  
of the after-life40 ,thereupon ,i did   
not rest until ,i found out the address4
 ,some weeks later1 a lady from ,runcorn
 who knew nothing of me gave me the     
address of ,mr4 ,hope4  ,since above ,i 
have paid six visits and have had nine  
results--seven 8extras0 and two         
8skotographs02 upon five visits ,i have 
taken my own plates from ,darlaston4    
7,signed7 ,m4 ,c4 ,,risker4  ,late of   
,bilston ,street1 ,darlaston4         99
       99       99       99       99    
,an ,expression of ,opinion from ,,lady 

,,grey ,,of ,,falloden  ,i am perfectly 
ready to adhere to my conviction that ,i
 have obtained evidence of supernormal  
activities through the mediumship of the
 ,crewe ,circle1 and this ,i would      
maintain however conclusively they may  
have been convicted of fraud on other   
occasions4                              
7,signed7 ,,pamela ,,grey4  ,wilsford   
,manor1 ,salisbury4         99       99 
99       99       99  ,the ,evidence of 
,h4 ,,blackwell1 ,,esq41 ,a             
,,vice-,,president ,,of ,,the           
,s4,s4,s4,p4      7,mr4 ,blackwell is   
one of the pioneers in the history      
of psychic photography4 ,his experiences
 have been quite     exceptional4 ,this 
description tells how he secured a      
photograph     of a recently deceased   
sister47  ,with great pleasure ,i give  
my experience of the good work done     
through the ,crewe mediums4 ,in ,april1 
#aibj1 having fixed an appointment with 
,mr4 ,hope for a certain hour at the    
,b4,c4,p4,s41 ,i was there to time with 

an unopened box of plates4 ,of the four 
plates exposed ,i found upon development
 that only two had any psychic results4 
,these appeared to consist of several   
faint faces merging one into the other4 
,from the wet negatives ,i could not    
recognise any of the features1 so asked 
for prints to be sent on in due course4 
,when the prints came to hand ,i was    
delighted to recognise the face of my   
sister1 but repeated five times1 as if  
in her agitation she could not          
concentrate sufficiently and had moved  
during the exposure4  ,she appeared as  
in her final illness two years          
previously1 when ,i had gone down into  
the country to bid 8good-bye40  ,as a   
testimony to the value of psychic       
photography ,i may mention that through 
the mediumship of ,mr4 ,r4 ,boursnell1  
in ,london1 and of ,mr4 ,w4 ,m4 ,keeler1
 in ,washington1 ,i have received       
portraits of my grandfather1 mother1 two
 sisters and several of my nieces4 ,a   
number of friends have also been taken  

in ,london after promises given in      
,canada and elsewhere4  ,about twelve   
years ago1 thanks to a personal friend  
who then possessed wonderful            
materialising power1 ,i was enabled to  
obtain1 using four cameras              
simultaneously1 excellent photographs of
 my father1 mother1 niece and several   
friends4 ,they manifested for the       
express purpose of being taken1 and in  
each instance the medium shows by the   
side of the spirit visitor4 ,the        
experiments were conducted in my house  
and in presence of witnesses4           
7,signed7 ,h4 ,,blackwell4  #dc1        
,brownswood ,road1 ,finsbury ,park1 ,n4 
#d4         99       99       99        
99       99  ,the ,testimony of ,w4 ,c4 
,,pugh1 ,,esq41 ,,of ,,middlesbrough    
7,a straight statement by an            
investigator who has secured many       
recognised psychic photographic results1
 through the ,crewe     ,circle1 in his 
own home47  ,it is a number of years    
since ,i first sat with the ,crewe      

,circle1 and ,i have sat with them quite
 a dozen times since1 and on each       
occasion ,i have received convincing    
proof of the genuineness of their       
phenomena4 ,i have beside me quite a    
collection of photographs taken by them1
 and each photo has a message of its    
own2 some contain extras of friends who 
have passed on1 and others contain      
messages from interested friends beyond 
the grave4 ,the extras on practically   
all my photos have been recognised by   
relatives and friends4  ,i enclose copy 
of one of these with two extras which   
have been readily recognised by all my  
friends as my father and mother1 both of
 whom had passed on before ,i met the   
,crewe ,circle4 ,i also enclose copies  
of original photos for comparison4 ,not 
reproduced4--,,ed4  ,my opportunities   
for testing the genuineness of the      
,crewe ,circle's work have been unique  
because they have taken over a hundred  
photos in my house in ,middlesbrough4   
,when they have spent a few days here   

they have lived with us4 ,my wife and ,i
 made all the arrangements for their    
visit1 and entertained them during their
 stay4 ,applications for sittings were  
made to us and we fixed them up4 ,in the
 vast majority of cases the ,crew       
,circle had never seen the sitters till 
they arrived at their appointed times4  
,in many cases they never saw them      
again4 ,yet their success has been      
phenomenal4 ,many have received photos  
with extras which they recognised at    
sight4 ,others have taken them home and 
had them recognised by friends or other 
members of their families4  ,the ,circle
 brought no plates with them4 ,each     
sitter provided his or her own4 ,my     
sitting-room was the studio4 ,my        
bath-room was the developing room4      
,unused plates were left behind when the
 ,circle went away1 and my lad1 who has 
a camera1 has been supplied with a stock
 of plates for use amongst his friends4 
,to those of us who know the members of 
the circle so well1 some of the         

statements appearing in the ,press have 
been very amusing4 ,the idea of ,mr4    
,hope beating the conjurers at their own
 game is too ridiculous for words4      
,expert photographers who have had      
experience of ,mr4 ,hope's methods must 
also have been greatly amused4          
,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bd4--,photograph 
of ,mrs4 ,r4 ,foulds1 of ,sheffield1    
with psychic photograph of her mother1  
obtained under good test conditions4    
,compare with ,fig4 #be4 7,see p4 #abe47
  ,illustration3 ,,fig4                 
#be4--,photograph of ,mrs4 ,foulds'     
mother for comparison with psychic      
effect on ,fig4 #bd4  ,illustration3    
,,fig4 #bf4--,photograph of ,mrs4 ,a4   
,e4 ,griere with psychic likeness of    
husband and father4 ,the sitter was a   
total stranger to the ,crewe ,circle4   
,compare the lower face with ,fig4 #bg4 
7,see p4 #abg47  ,illustration3 ,,fig4  
#bg4--,photograph of ,mrs4 ,griere's    
husband for comparison with his psychic 
likeness on ,fig4 #bf4  ,then there is  

the question of motive4 ,let me state   
that the ,crewe ,circle have never had  
one penny piece out of their various    
visits to ,middlesboro'4 ,we charged    
sufficient from each sitter to pay      
railway expenses only1 nothing more4 ,we
 paid for the railway tickets1 that was 
all4 ,where on earth was the incentive  
for these people to leave their homes to
 come here to deceive us8 ,one's sense  
of humour must have been neglected if   
they cannot see that the whole of the   
charges are too funny for words4  ,,that
 ,,the ,,phenomena ,,are ,,genuine ,i   
,,am ,,convinced4 ,what is behind the   
phenomena is another matter1 and does   
not enter into the present question4    
,if the scientists care to continue to  
drag on behind plain common-sense people
 let them do so4 ,i have scores of good 
friends who have had that experience    
which no scientist can take from them1  
and ,i prefer to accept their opinions1 
along with my own experience1 rather    
than listen to those people whose one   

desire seems to be to bolster up        
preconceived ideas4  ,the world would be
 better for some more people as honest  
as are the members of the ,crewe        
,circle4                                
7,signed7 ,,william ,,cowell ,,pugh4    
#fa1 ,st4 ,paul's ,road1 ,middlesbrough4
         99       99       99       99  
99  ,an ,account by ,,mrs4 ,,margaret   
,,ellinor      7,a description of three 
remarkable recognised likenesses        
obtained by a lady photographer47  ,i am
 anxious to help to prove the truth of  
psychic photography1 and with this end  
in view ,i am sending herewith three    
photographs taken by ,mr4 ,hope1 of     
,crewe1 under test conditions1 which    
contain recognised 8extras40 ,not       
reproduced4--,,ed4  ,might ,i say that  
in the first place ,i was extremely     
sceptical1 having some knowledge of     
photography4 ,even after myself         
obtaining a 8psychograph0 ,i was still  
in a doubtful frame of mind1 and        
attended the ,british ,college of       

,psychic ,science to gather further     
evidence4  ,in this way ,i came into    
contact with ,mr4 ,hope and ,mrs4       
,buxton1 and by and by arranged through 
the agency of ,mrs4 ,mc,kenzie1 of the  
,college1 to have a test sitting with   
,mr4 ,hope4 ,the results of this        
sitting1 quite apart from any subsequent
 sittings1 provided what to my mind were
 conclusive proofs of ,mr4 ,hope's gifts
 and absolute integrity4  ,enclosed are 
four photographs marked4 ,all these were
 taken under the most stringent test    
conditions4 ,i took with me some plates 
which had previously been marked        
secretly by a second party 7a sceptic74 
,these plates were then put into the    
slide by ,mr4 ,hope in my presence2 the 
slide was never for a moment out of my  
observation and ,i subsequently followed
 every manipulation4  ,in the case of   
the photographs 7#a7 and 7#b7 the extra 
is of my father4 ,an old original       
photograph of my father is enclosed4 ,it
 will be observed that the extras give a

 view from a different angle to the     
original in each case4 ,my father was   
unknown to ,mr4 ,hope--there were no    
photographs of my father available to   
,mr4 ,hope--my father passed over when  
,i was nine years of age4  ,in          
photograph 7#c7 the extra is of my      
father-in-law1 an original of whom is   
enclosed4 ,my husband's father has been 
passed over seven years1 and no         
photograph of him could be available to 
,mr4 ,hope4  ,photograph 7#d7 was taken 
at another sitting at my home4 ,it is   
especially interesting inasmuch as the  
extra thereon was unrecognised at the   
time4 ,after a lapse of time1 through   
incidents ,i need not explain1 ,i       
obtained a clue to the identity of the  
8extra40 ,finally ,i was able to        
ascertain that the 8extra0 was one of my
 girlhood's friends who has now been    
passed on many years4 ,i was able to    
secure an old original photograph1 which
 is enclosed4  ,having been a sceptic   
myself1 ,i can sympathise with those who

 find it difficult to credit these      
puzzling phenomena4 ,at the same time1  
,i suggest that ,mr4 ,hope is entitled  
to the sympathetic treatment and fair   
dealing that should be accorded to      
anyone who brings forward evidence in   
support of the super-physical4          
7,signed7 ,,margaret ,,ellinor4  #gg1   
,atlantic ,road1 ,brixton1 ,s4,w4 #i4   
99       99       99       99       99  
,from ,,samuel ,,maddocks1 ,,esq41      
,,hon4 ,,secretary ,,of ,,the           
,,sheffield ,,and ,,district ,,society  
,,for ,,psychical ,,research      7,the 
psychic effect secured by ,mr4 ,maddocks
 on the occasion     of the third       
sitting described hereunder is shown by 
fig4 #bb4     ,a normal photograph of   
the late ,mrs4 ,maddocks is given for   
comparison fig4 #bc47  ,i am absolutely 
convinced that ,mr4 ,hope and ,mrs4     
,buxton are transparently honest and    
honourable1 most reverent in their      
,circle meetings1 and their only desire 
is to give comfort and consolation to   

those who have lost a loved one4 ,to    
impute fraud or trickery to them wounded
 me to the quick4  ,after several       
months' waiting ,i obtained three       
sittings 7with three extras7 as follows3
  #ast ,sitting4--,to my great surprise 
the 8extra0 was not my first wife1 but  
the following message3      #8,kind     
friends1 we are glad to meet you and for
 the benefit     of your friend of the  
,psychic ,research ,society we are      
giving     this message1 so that he may 
understand that1 given the right        
conditions1 these works can be done1 and
 we ask you for our     dear medium's   
sake1 to speak of it as you find it4    
,god bless     you4'  #bnd              
,sitting4--,this 8extra0 was quite      
unknown to me1 but on reaching home     
7,sheffield7 my second wife             
7clairvoyant7 exclaimed1 8,why1 that's  
the same face ,i've seen in our bedroom 
nearly every night40  #crd              
,sitting4--,the 8extra0 was my first    
wife at last6 ,i recognised it          

instantly1 also relatives and friends1  
as a very good picture of what she      
looked like at the end of twenty months'
 agony from cancer4 ,all her teeth were 
extracted during her illness on the     
advice of a ,london physician1 and that 
accounts for the sunken appearance of   
the mouth4 7,see ,figure #bb47  ,the    
normal photo was taken several years    
previously4 7,see ,figure #bc47         
7,signed7 ,,samuel ,,maddocks4  ,supt4  
,royal ,blind ,school1 ,broomhill1      
,sheffield4         99       99       99
       99       99  ,the ,testimony of  
,,jas4 ,p4 ,,skelton1 ,,esq41 ,,of      
,,belfast      7,the account tells how  
,mr4 ,skelton obtained a photograph of  
his mother1 and how later1 with two     
friends1 he was present     when the    
famous message from the late ,dr4 ,w4   
,j4 ,crawford was     obtained on a     
photographic plate of their own1 under  
strict     test conditions4 ,see figs4  
#c and #d47  ,i have known ,mr4 ,hope   
for four or five years now1 and have sat

 with him about a dozen times as well as
 being closely associated during his and
 ,mrs4 ,buxton's two visits to ,belfast4
  ,on ,january #dth1 #aibb1 my mother   
passed to the higher life4 ,i was       
summoned to ,blackburn on ,saturday1    
,january #bhth1 #aibb1 and as ,i could  
not return to ,belfast sooner than the  
,monday night1 ,i decided to make a     
visit to ,crewe with the hope that ,i   
might get her photograph4 ,i wrote to   
,mr4 ,hope and made an appointment for  
the ,monday morning1 ,january #cjth1    
#aibb1 and received his reply agreeing4 
,on the night before ,i crossed to      
,england1 we held a brief circle at     
home1 and by means of a small table1 my 
mother manifested4 ,i told her of my    
intention of going to ,crewe and the    
time that ,i would be sitting1 and she  
signified that she would do her best to 
get through4 ,i arrived in ,crewe on the
 day arranged 7about #aj a4m471 and     
found that ,mrs4 ,buxton was ill in bed 
and could not sit4 ,naturally ,i was    

much disappointed4 ,mr4 ,hope noticing  
it1 said1 8,never mind1 we will sit     
without her and do the best we can40    
,mrs4 ,buxton's daughter sat in her     
place1 ,mr4 ,hope and myself completed  
the circle4 ,the usual methods were     
adopted4 ,the packet of plates which ,i 
bought in ,crewe about five minutes     
before ,i reached #add1 ,market ,street 
were lying on the table during the      
course of the sitting in full view of   
all4 ,mr4 ,hope and ,i then proceeded to
 the dark room1 where ,i initialled the 
second two plates in the packet1 and    
loaded the slide with them4 ,never once 
did ,mr4 ,hope touch them4 ,miss ,buxton
 and ,mr4 ,hope arranged the camera1    
etc41 after which ,i handed ,mr4 ,hope  
the slide4 ,he exposed the two plates   
and ,i afterwards developed them myself4
 ,on the first was the face of my       
mother1 just as she appeared a few days 
prior to her death4 ,the plate was      
hurriedly dried and a print was made for
 me to take with me1 both ,mr4 ,hope and

 ,mrs4 ,buxton1 who knew her recognised 
it at once4 ,everyone at home who knew  
her recognised it immediately1 one      
gentleman saying1 8,i don't know        
anything about spiritualism1 but if you 
want an independent testimony1 ,i am    
prepared to go on any platform and      
testify to this being your mother's     
photograph40 ,to me the remarkable thing
 was1 that it was secured exactly       
twenty-six days after her death4 ,to say
 ,mr4 ,hope tricked1 substituted plates1
 or in any way defrauded1 is puerile4   
,on a previous occasion ,i secured a    
photograph of an old friend of our      
family who died when ,i was a boy4 ,it  
was not recognised for a week after     
getting it1 and then only by chance4 ,i 
compared an original photograph of her  
and it proved the identity up to the    
hilt4  ,my most recent experience was   
the securing of the now famous          
8,crawford0 message signed by himself4  
,mr4 ,j4 ,w4 ,gillmour1 ,mr4 ,s4 ,g4    
,donaldson and myself1 all of ,belfast1 

were travelling to the ,conferences of  
the ,s4,n4,u41 ,ltd41 in ,london1 and we
 decided to break our journey at ,crewe4
 ,mr4 ,gillmour bought a packet of      
ordinary ,imperial quarter-plates from  
,mr4 ,john ,bell1 of ,garfield ,street1 
,belfast1 on ,thursday1 ,june #bith1    
#aibb1 telling ,mr4 ,bell the purpose   
for which they were required4 ,mr4 ,bell
 parcelled it up and sealed with wax4   
,we crossed to ,liverpool same night4   
,mrs4 ,crawford also crossed over with  
us and we travelled together to ,crewe1 
,mrs4 ,crawford went on to ,london and  
we went to see ,mr4 ,hope1 arriving     
there about #aj4cj a4m4 ,the usual      
sitting was arranged1 ,mr4 ,gillmour    
produced the sealed packet1 and we all  
saw the seal was unbroken4 ,it was then 
broken and the packet was seen to be    
intact as it came from ,mr4 ,bell's     
shop4 ,the unopened packet was held     
between the hands of all present4 ,mr4  
,donaldson then took the packet and     
proceeded with ,mr4 ,hope to load the   

slides in the dark room1 ,mr4 ,donaldson
 alone handled the plates from beginning
 to end4 ,we were all photographed      
together at first1 and then separately4 
,the first plate exposed shews a message
 from ,dr4 ,crawford4 ,with ,mr4        
,gillmour as a sitter there appears an  
7as yet7 unknown face4 ,with ,mr4       
,donaldson there was no psychic effect4 
,with myself a bright light appeared4   
,we were all present at the development 
and at no time did ,mr4 ,hope touch the 
plates4 ,mr4 ,donaldson did all the work
 under our careful scrutiny4 ,the result
 was a surprise to us all4 7,see        
,figures #b and #d47  ,we are1 however1 
mutually agreed that it is a bona fide  
message from ,dr4 ,crawford in his own  
handwriting1 with which ,i am well      
acquainted4                             
7,signed7 ,,jas4 ,p4 ,,skelton4  #fea1  
,lisborn ,road1 ,balmoral1 ,belfast4    
99       99       99       99       99  
,from ,,miss ,,estelle ,,stead  ,during 
the last seven or eight years ,i have   

had several sittings with the ,crewe    
,circle1 and can state truly that ,i    
have always found both ,mr4 ,hope and   
,mrs4 ,buxton most anxious to have me   
examine the dark room1 the camera1 the  
slides1 the room in which the           
photographs were taken1 and had ,i      
wished to examine anything else ,i am   
sure they would have agreed to my doing 
so4  ,at some sittings ,i have had no   
results1 whilst at others the results   
have been excellent4  ,the very first   
time ,i visited ,crewe ,i bought a box  
of plates in ,london and took it with   
me4 ,mr4 ,hope never handled the box at 
all excepting in my presence1 and we    
obtained two excellent pictures of my   
father4 ,during that same visit ,i      
bought a box of plates in ,crewe1       
neither ,mr4 ,hope nor ,mrs4 ,buxton had
 any idea at which shop ,i bought it4 ,i
 sealed the box and took it with me to  
#add1 ,market ,street4 ,i held it in my 
hands until we1 ,mr4 ,hope1 ,mrs4       
,buxton1 ,mr4 ,harry ,walker1 at whose  

house ,i was staying1 and myself--were  
seated round the table4 ,i then placed  
the box on the table1 where it remained 
visible to all1 as the room was well    
lighted by gas1 whilst we held the      
little service usually held by the      
,crewe ,circle4 ,we all then placed our 
hands under and over the box and held it
 in this way for a little while4 ,i then
 placed the bottom of the box against   
,mrs4 ,buxton's forehead and then held  
it between my hands whilst instructions 
were given1 through ,mr4 ,hope1 to the  
effect that ,i should go into the dark  
room with him1 unseal the box myself1   
take out the bottom plate and the plate 
next to it4 ,i was told to take         
particular note as to which was the     
bottom plate4 ,i was instructed to      
develop the two plates in ,mr4 ,hope's  
presence1 but not to allow him to touch 
them until ,i had developed them4 ,note1
 the box was not unsealed until we went 
into the dark room1 and the plates were 
never exposed to the light at all4      

,nothing appeared on the bottom plate1  
nor was there any sign of fogging4 ,on  
the other plate were two messages1 one  
in ,archdeacon ,colley's handwriting and
 one in ,mr4 ,william ,walker's         
handwriting1 together with a faint      
outline of my father's face4  ,about one
 year after receiving the above ,i went 
up to ,crewe with ,miss ,scatcherd4 ,i  
had previously1 without saying a word to
 ,miss ,scatcherd or anyone1 made an    
engagement with my brother ,will1 who   
passed over in #aijg1 to meet me there  
and give his picture if he could manage 
to do so4 ,miss ,scatcherd thought ,i   
wanted a picture of my father or a      
message from him4 ,i do not think either
 ,mr4 ,hope or ,mrs4 ,buxton knew of my 
brother's existence1 and even if they   
did they certainly had no means of      
getting hold of his photograph4 ,i took 
my own plates from town4 ,on the very   
first plate exposed my brother's face   
appears between ,miss ,scatcherd and    
myself4  ,during a visit the ,crewe     

,circle paid to the 8,w4 ,t4 ,stead0    
,bureau in ,baker ,street in #aiai1 at  
my father's request ,i took my mother to
 have a sitting with them without       
advising them beforehand as to who it   
was ,i was bringing4 ,i took my own     
plates1 put them in the slides myself   
and stood over ,mr4 ,hope whilst he     
developed the plates after the sitting4 
,on the plate exposed on my mother alone
 there appears a very good picture of my
 father4                                
7,signed7 ,e4 ,w4 ,,stead4  #e1 ,smith  
,square1 ,s4,w4 #a4         99       99 
99       99       99  ,the ,evidence of 
,,mrs4 ,,ellen ,,jones1 ,,of ,,kempston 
7,mrs4 ,jones relates how on two        
occasions she obtained an     excellent 
likeness of her deceased husband4 ,the  
second     photograph referred to shows 
a remarkable likeness on     comparison 
with a normal photograph47  ,i had a    
sitting at ,crewe1 about four years ago1
 and again this last ,march4 ,success   
attended both sittings4 ,the ,march     

sitting took place in my own house2 ,mr4
 ,hope and ,mrs4 ,buxton stayed with us 
a couple of days and we got a photo with
 three 8extras0 on one plate4 ,we       
consider the last one a perfect likeness
 of my husband just as he was before his
 last illness4 ,the first was very good1
 only rather too much like what he was  
at the time of passing over1 so1 you    
see1 it was rather painful1 but a       
truthful likeness4 ,my son was with ,mr4
 ,hope the whole time he developed the  
plates4 ,he knows quite a lot about     
photography1 and we used our own plates4
                                        
7,signed7 ,,ellen ,,jones4  ,rees       
,cottage1 ,kempston1 ,beds4         99  
99       99       99       99  ,from    
,,the ,,rev4 ,g4 ,,vale ,,owen  ,i have 
had several sittings with ,mr4 ,wm4     
,hope and ,mrs4 ,buxton at ,crewe4 ,i   
will briefly relate one experience4  ,in
 #aiaj ,i was just dropping off to sleep
 when ,i saw1 in the far corner of the  
room1 a beautiful girl's face smiling at

 me4 ,it slowly disappeared sideways    
behind a screen4 ,i wondered who the    
owner was4 ,it was slightly oval1       
radiant with joy1 and the eyes were     
laughing at me with just a touch of     
roguish enjoyment at my perplexity4     
,there was a certain efflorescence      
permeating it1 a light which did not    
proceed from an exterior object1 but    
which seemed to be one with the         
substance of which the face was         
composed4 ,but it was not a mask4 ,it   
was a living face4  ,about eight years  
later ,i saw the same face again1 this  
time about six inches from my own4 ,on  
this second occasion there came into my 
mind1 as if intentionally projected     
there1 the name 8,ruby40 ,ruby is my    
daughter who passed away at the age of  
fifteen months in #ahif4  ,in ,august1  
#aiag1 my wife and ,i paid a visit to   
the ,crewe ,circle4 ,on one of the      
negatives appeared the face ,i had      
already seen clairvoyantly4 ,it was not 
full-face1 as ,i had seen it on the two 

previous occasions1 but in profile4     
,this disposes of the theory that it    
might have been a thought-form of my    
own4  ,later on1 we were having a talk  
with this spirit-child of ours in our   
own home at ,orford1 and ,i took the    
opportunity to ask her if it was she who
 had managed to get her picture on the  
plate at ,crewe4 ,her reply was3 8,i    
don't know1 daddy4 ,i was there and     
tried to4 ,i should love to have done   
it4 ,did ,i80 ,my answer was that ,i was
 satisfied that she had done so4  ,i    
also asked her why it was in profile and
 she said it was in order that she might
 shew her hair4 ,even when she passed   
away as a baby her abundant light-brown 
hair was an exceptional feature4 ,on the
 photograph it was also conspicuous4  ,i
 am satisfied that the picture is the   
likeness of my daughter ,ruby4 ,we have 
received more than one description of   
her as she appears in the spirit life   
and this portrait tallies with these    
descriptions4  ,i am at one with several

 of my friends who have sat with them in
 their conviction that there is no      
trickery used by these mediums in the   
production of results obtained4  ,on all
 my visits to ,crewe ,i have been struck
 with the transparent honesty and       
earnestness of both ,mr4 ,hope and ,mrs4
 ,buxton4 ,the only conclusion to which 
,i can come is that they are out for the
 sole purpose of helping others with    
their rare gift1 at great cost to their 
own comfort and convenience4 ,personally
 ,i am grateful to them for their       
self-sacrificing service4               
7,signed7 ,g4 ,,vale ,,owen4  ,orford   
,vicarage1 ,warrington4         99      
99       99       99       99  ,the     
,testimony of ,f4 ,j4 ,,twelves1 ,,esq41
 ,,of ,,manchester  ,having had well    
over twenty sittings with ,mr4 ,hope and
 ,mrs4 ,buxton of the ,crewe ,circle1 as
 well as intimate acquaintance of       
sittings of close friends1 ,i have no   
hesitation in expressing absolute       
conviction of the genuineness of the    

results obtained4  ,with the exception  
of photographs of our own son1 ,i cannot
 say that many were undoubtedly         
recognised4 ,we have1 however1 had many 
photographs of our boy about which there
 could be no doubt on the part of       
anybody who knew him at all well4 ,of   
course1 ordinary photographs of an      
individual taken from different angles  
or in different positions shew          
considerable divergence2 perhaps the one
 approximating nearest to the last photo
 before transition is the one taken on  
,october #afth1 #aiba1 copy of which ,i 
enclose together with print of the      
pretransitional photograph for          
comparison4 ,not reproduced4--,,ed4     
,the clearest photo we have had taken of
 him was on ,december #aath1 #aibj4     
7,signed7 ,,fred ,j4 ,,twelves4  #ee1   
,victoria ,road1 ,whalley ,range1       
,manchester4         99       99        
99       99       99  ,the ,testimony of
 ,,alderman ,w4 ,,whitefield1 ,j4,p41   
,,of ,,bristol  ,on ,august #aith1      

#aiba1 ,i called at ,crewe on my way    
home from ,llandudno and made my way to 
the house of ,mrs4 ,buxton4 ,i took with
 me a sealed packet of plates4 ,i have  
done a considerable amount of           
photographic work in days gone by4 ,i   
examined the camera1 placed the plates  
into the slides myself in the dark room 
and developed and fixed them myself4 ,as
 regards the psychic results secured1 my
 good wife and myself have not the      
slightest doubt that it is a photograph 
of one of our daughters4 ,i do pray that
 this knowledge may bring joy and       
comfort to some sorrowing heart4        
7,signed7 ,w4 ,,whitefield4  ,st4       
,george1 ,bristol4         99       99  
99       99       99  ,an ,account of   
,,mrs4 ,d4 ,,hartwell1 ,,of             
,,northampton      7,the photograph     
referred to by ,mrs4 ,hartwell1 when    
compared     with a normal photograph of
 her late husband1 leaves no doubts     
whatever as to the question of          
recognition47  ,i went to ,mr4 ,hope as 

a complete stranger and when ,i received
 the photograph1 ,i recognised the      
8extra0 to be the likeness of my        
husband1 whom ,i had lost during the    
war4 ,it was also recognised by all of  
his most intimate friends to whom it was
 shown4  ,you have my full permission to
 make whatever use of it you wish1 and  
am only too pleased to do anything in my
 power to help forward this beautiful   
cause4                                  
7,signed7 ,d4 ,,hartwell4  #b1 ,st4     
,giles ,terrace1 ,northampton4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,an ,account by ,,mrs4 ,r4 ,,foulds1    
,,of ,,sheffield      7,mrs4 ,foulds1 an
 experienced photographer1 describes how
 she     obtained a psychic photograph  
of her mother and a psychograph     of  
more than seventy words1 under good test
 conditions4 ,the     psychic photograph
 showing ,mrs4 ,foulds's mother is      
reproduced     in fig4 #bd1 with normal 
photograph of the same lady1 fig4 #be1  
for comparison47  ,the 8extra0 of my    

mother 7,figure #bd7 was obtained at    
#add1 ,market ,street1 ,crewe1 in       
,february1 #aibj1 under the following   
conditions3 ,i took a sealed packet of  
plates1 also my own slide1 which1 though
 slightly different from ,mr4 ,hope's1  
fitted his camera2 after the usual      
sitting ,i went into the dark room1     
broke the seal1 opened the packet of    
plates1 placed one in each division of  
the slide1 initialled them1 put slide in
 my dress1 also rest of plates1 after   
being focussed ,i placed slide in camera
 after a thorough examination of same1  
resumed my seat1 when the usual exposure
 was made4 ,i then took slide from      
camera1 went into dark room and         
developed plates1 with result that one  
was normal and the other bore a good    
likeness of my mother 7recognised by all
 of the family who have seen it74 ,then 
,mr4 ,hope said1 8,i would like you to  
choose another plate1 any one you like1 
from your packet1 and develop that1     
too40 ,i chose the one next but one to  

the bottom of packet1 and on developing 
that1 obtained a message of upward of   
seventy words dealing with matters of a 
strictly private nature4  ,i wish to    
state most emphatically that from       
beginning to end of the experiment1 the 
packet of plates never left my person1  
and those developed were not touched in 
any way whatever by ,mr4 ,hope or ,mrs4 
,buxton until they left the fixing bath1
 neither did the slide leave my         
possession except when ,i placed it in  
the camera4                             
7,signed7 ,r4 ,,foulds4  #hd;a1         
,eastbank ,road1 ,sheffield4         99 
99       99       99       99  ,from ,c4
 ,,dove1 ,,esq41 ,,of                   
,,sutton-,,in-,,ashfield      7,in      
forwarding four psychic photographs with
 normal     photographs for comparison1 
,mr4 ,dove gives the attestation        
hereunder47  ,i can absolutely assure   
you that these photographs were taken   
under strictest test conditions in my   
home and in the presence of seven       

reliable witnesses who are willing to   
attest to their genuineness4  ,i myself 
bought the plates1 etc41 and was the    
only one who handled them until they    
were developed1 which was keenly watched
 by all4 ,mr4 ,hope never actually      
touched the plates4 ,they are fine      
photographs of ,mr4 ,w4 ,j4 ,cary1 ,mr4 
,geo4 ,dove1 of whom there is no normal 
photo in existence1 and ,mrs4 ,catton4  
,i can quite well assure you that they  
caused quite a sensation in             
,sutton-in-,ashfield where all of them  
were well known4                        
7,signed7 ,,charles ,,dove4  ,homelea1  
,oak ,tree ,road1 ,sutton-in-,ashfield4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,the ,evidence of ,,mrs4 ,a4 ,,elizabeth
 ,,griere1 ,,of ,,dunfermline      7,the
 likenesses of father and husband were  
obtained on one     photograph1 the     
features of the latter being clearer    
than those     of the sitter4 ,this     
photograph is shewn by fig4 #bf4 ,fig4  
#bg     reproduced alongside gives a    

normal photograph of ,mr4 ,griere       
for comparison47  ,i have great pleasure
 in forwarding the enclosed pictures4   
,my sitting with ,mr4 ,hope took place  
in ,december of #aiba4 ,i brought my own
 plates as directed1 and ,i wish to     
state that throughout the whole         
proceedings ,mr4 ,hope did not handle   
these plates unless to load the camera  
out in the studio4 ,i took them out of  
the wrapper1 placed them in the slide1  
unloaded and developed them4 ,the result
 of the sitting you have before you4  ,i
 am perfectly satisfied that the 8extra0
 on ,no4 #a picture is the face of my   
husband1 and on ,no4 #b the 8extras0 are
 those of my husband and my father4 ,you
 will see the undoubted resemblance to  
the original photograph herewith        
enclosed4 ,i was a total stranger to    
,mr4 ,hope and his good friend1 ,mrs4   
,buxton1 and ,i shall always remain     
indebted to them both for their courtesy
 during my visit to ,crewe4 ,i trust    
this picture may be of some use to you4 

7,signed7 ,a4 ,,elizabeth ,,griere4     
#bj1 ,woodmill ,road1 ,dunfermline4     
99       99       99       99       99  
,the ,evidence of ,e4 ,w4 ,,lee1 ,,esq41
 ,,of ,,shanklin1 ,,isle ,,of ,,wight   
,i am enclosing four photographs1 one   
normal and three psychographs4 ,not     
reproduced4--,,ed4 ,all the psychographs
 were taken in ,crewe4 ,our first       
meeting was arranged through the post4  
,we were quite strangers and had no     
mutual acquaintances likely to be in    
touch with each other4 ,i live in the   
,isle of ,wight2 ,mr4 ,hope in ,crewe4  
,the photograph obtained on the first   
occasion bears the strongest likeness to
 my dear wife4  ,the whole operations1  
less the fixing of the slide in the     
camera and making the exposure1 were    
undertaken by myself4 ,although ,i had  
not the slightest reason to suspect ,mr4
 ,hope1 ,i treated him by my actions as 
a man open to swindle his patrons4  ,i  
am satisfied1 bearing in mind that ,mr4 
,hope had not access to any photograph  

of my wife and following upon the very  
short time we were together for the     
first time in our lives1 that the result
 of that sitting could not be produced  
or attained solely by any material means
 known to mankind1 science and          
legerdemain included4  ,in ,june of this
 year as we were motoring through the   
country a friend and myself called in   
,crewe4 ,no appointment had been made   
with ,mr4 ,hope1 but we found him at    
home4 ,our dear discarnate friends just 
before leaving the island on ,june #dth 
and ,june #aath of this year stated they
 would go with us1 and my friend's wife1
 who had passed over in ,november1      
#aiba1 stated to her husband that he    
should see her again4 ,to fulfil this   
promise we called at ,crewe4 ,the small 
figure at the back is my friend's wife4 
,the other one1 if you will compare it  
with the normal photograph1 will not be 
difficult to identify as my dear wife4  
,on this occasion the features are most 
sharply defined4  ,i cannot express my  

thanks too warmly to the ,crewe ,circle 
and my own dear discarnate friends for  
the trouble taken on our behalf4        
7,signed7 ,e4 ,w4 ,,lee1 ,,esq4         
,fearnside1 ,clarence ,road1 ,isle of   
,wight4         99       99       99    
99       99  ,the ,evidence of ,r4 ,s4  
,,hipwood1 ,,esq41 ,,of ,,sunderland    
,we lost our only son in ,france1       
,august #bgth1 #aiah4 ,being a good     
amateur photographer1 ,i was curious    
about the photos that had been taken by 
the ,crewe ,circle4 ,we took our own    
plate with us and ,i put the plate in   
the dark slide myself and put my name on
 it4 ,we exposed two plates in the      
camera and got a well-recognised photo4 
,even my nine-year-old grandson could   
tell who the extra was without anyone   
saying anything to him4 ,having a       
thorough knowledge of photography1 ,i   
can vouch for the veracity of the       
photograph in every particular4 ,i claim
 the print which ,i send you to be an   
ordinary photograph of myself and ,mrs4 

,hipwood with the extra of my son1 ,r4  
,w4 ,hipwood1 #acth ,welsh ,regiment1   
killed in ,france in the great advance  
in ,august1 #aiah4 ,i tender to our     
friends at ,crewe our unbounded         
confidence in their work4               
7,signed7 ,r4 ,s4 ,,hipwood4  #agd1     
,cleveland ,road1 ,sunderland4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,from ,,lewis ,,childs1 ,,esq41 ,,of    
,,sheffield      7,this description     
tells of a compact made between two     
friends     that the one to pass over   
first should endeavour to manifest      
to the other4 ,the one friend died1 and 
a few months later ,mr4     ,childs went
 to ,crewe and obtained a fine          
photograph of his     friend1           
independently recognised by between two 
hundred and     three hundred people who
 knew him4 ,mr4 ,childs' account is     
accompanied by certificate of           
recognition from the members of     the 
deceased man's family1 who were not     
spiritualists47  ,for five years ,i     

worked side by side with ,mr4 ,r4 ,h4   
,turton1 and on several occasions tried 
to interest him in psychic matters by   
showing him various spirit photographs  
which ,i and various friends had        
secured4 ,he generally greeted the      
matter contemptuously1 and often used   
the words 8bunkum0 and 8rubbish40 ,on   
one notable occasion1 however1 after a  
long argument1 he and ,i made a compact 
that which ever of us passed away first 
should endeavour to give the other some 
evidence of continued existence beyond  
death4  ,mr4 ,turton passed away on     
,march #agth of this year4 ,seven weeks 
later ,i visited the ,crewe ,circle4 ,i 
made no appointment1 and ,mr4 ,hope and 
,mrs4 ,buxton could have no idea that ,i
 was coming4 ,i took a packet of plates 
with me and conducted the usual         
examination of the apparatus used4 ,i   
opened the box of plates and loaded the 
carrier4 ,after the exposure had been   
made ,i developed and fixed the plate4  
,everything was in my own hands4 ,as the

 image came up in the developing dish ,i
 noted the face of a man above my right 
shoulder4 ,the print shows a remarkable 
likeness to my friend1 ,r4 ,h4 ,turton1 
and ,i am convinced that he has thus    
fulfilled the compact made betwixt us4  
,i have shown it to his relatives and   
friends1 and his shopmates1 and they    
have no hesitation in recognising the   
photograph4 ,though none of the         
relatives are spiritualists1 they assert
 that it resembles him as he lay in his 
coffin4 ,no photograph of ,mr4 ,turton  
had been taken recently1 and ,i cannot  
discover one which bears any resemblance
 to this4  ,thus did my friend keep his 
compact1 to convince me that memory     
lives beyond death4                     
7,signed7 ,l4 ,,childs4  #db1 ,glover   
,road1 ,lowfield1 ,sheffield4         99
       99       99       99       99    
,an ,account by ,,mrs4 ,a4 ,a4 ,,pears1 
,,of ,,coventry  ,on returning from our 
holidays on ,august #bjth1 #aiah1 my    
husband and myself paid a surprise call 

at #add1 ,market ,street1 ,crewe4 ,about
 three years previously we had lost our 
little boy of fourteen4 ,none of the    
members of the ,crewe ,circle had ever  
seen him1 or even a photograph of him4  
,on this occasion we were successful in 
obtaining a wonderful photograph of our 
dear boy4 ,i have not the least doubt   
about the reality and genuineness of    
this photograph4 ,later on1 when in     
,coventry1 ,mr4 ,hope kindly            
photographed my little boy's grave1 and 
we again obtained a fine photograph of  
him as he was just before he entered the
 higher life4 ,with the ,crewe ,circle  
,i have obtained some remarkable        
results4 ,no one acquainted with the    
members of that ,circle would for a     
moment doubt their honesty1 and ,i pray 
that ,god may bless and prosper them in 
their good work and the sacrifices they 
make for the benefit of their fellows4  
7,signed7 ,a4 ,a4 ,,pears4  #cj1 ,dorset
 ,road1 ,coventry4         99       99  
99       99       99  ,illustration3    

,,fig4 #bh4--,photograph of ,mrs4 ,e4   
,pickup with psychic likeness of her    
husband4 ,the sitter was an absolute    
stranger to the ,crewe ,circle4 7,see p4
 #ajf47  ,illustration3 ,,fig4          
#bi4--,photograph of ,mrs4 ,pickup's    
husband for comparison with his psychic 
likeness on ,fig4 #bh4  ,illustration3  
,,fig4 #cj4--,mrs4 ,burgess with psychic
 likeness of her uncle1 ,mr4 ,h4 ,d4    
,barlow4 ,obtained through the          
mediumship of ,mrs4 ,deane in the home  
of ,mr4 ,fred ,barlow1 who developed the
 plate alone in his dark room4 ,an      
excellent likeness4 ,a normal photograph
 of ,mr4 ,barlow is shown in the inset4 
7,see p4 #fc47  ,illustration3 ,,fig4   
#ca4--,since this book was written1 the 
above important photograph shows that   
,mr4 ,f4 ,barlow1 in the presence of    
three witnesses 7,messrs4 ,browne1      
,newton and ,gilby71 under good test    
conditions1 obtained through the ,crewe 
,circle a picture of his father4 ,note  
how the psychic face has moved and      

compare with the ,deane result 7,fig4   
#cj47 and normal photograph4 7,see inset
 in ,fig4 #cj47  ,what reply can be     
given to such definite statements as    
these here enumerated by reputable      
witnesses in every grade of life8 ,every
 reader with an open mind will agree    
that the evidence for the reality of    
psychic photography is overwhelming4 ,it
 is only necessary to repeat that these 
reports form but part of a tremendous   
mass of accumulated evidence1 which is  
available for any serious student to    
investigate4 ,unfortunately1 in a       
popular volume of this description it is
 possible only to reproduce just a few  
of the photographic results referred to4
 ,as far as possible1 however1 these    
photographic effects are being          
accumulated and preserved so as to form 
a permanent record of the truth of      
psychic photography4   ,,the ,,end