Evening Star Newspaper, August 17, 1930, Page 75

Mediums the World Over All Set to Receive Communi- cations From the L.ate Conan Doyle and His Famous Character W, ho, a Few Years Ago, Preceded His Cre- ator to the Spirit World. BY WALTER B. GIBSON. HE world of spiritualism is agog. It waits with confident expectancy a message from the Great Beyond—a message from its greatest champion, the nman who died with the great desire to communicate with those on this material plane. : 8Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a man who sacrificed all to & cause in whiich he believed. He was a sincere believer in spiritualism and for the last decade—up until the day of his demhie—he sought to prove that the dead cquld speak. Now he is gone, and those who knew him and believed as he did say that it will be only a question of time—and a short time—before the famous author will speak through those who still dwell on this mortal sphere. ‘There will be messages that purport to come from Conan Doyle, whether they be genuine or not. A London medium has already received such messages at a meeting of Spiritualists in the presence of Lady Doyle. But more gom- plete communications are yet to be had and great interest is centered in the nature of the expected messages. AOOORDING to the beliefs held by Conan Doyle, his mentality still lives in another plane—in an invisible world from which it can convey crete human thoughts to mor- tals. Now has come his great opportunity to prove to the physical world that spiritualism is a reality. ‘The closing years of Conan Doyle’s life were years, of preparation for a great adventure. He planned definitely to transmit his thoughts and influence after he had died, believing that by so doing he would be adeguately equipped to send coherent messages shortly after his death. He knew that these messages of the future would have to carry proof. In his studies of psychic phenomena the famous author investi- gated every conceivable form of so-called spirit messages. It is only logical to expect that any communications which purport to be from Conan Doyle will carry with them signs or marks to prove their authenticity. There were several types of alleged spirit eommunications that impressed Conan Doyle while he was alive. One was the type that ecarried key words or chance remarks with a significance unknown to the medium who received them, but which were recognized by those to whom the messages were sent. Another was the impression of spirit finger- tips, which could be compared with records taken of the living persom, or paraffin molds showing the form of an entire hand or face. Most important of all were the records of posthumous writing that purported to be from men who were authors during their physical existence. Conan Doyle believed implicitly in these. He was convinced that writings attributed to Oscar Wilde and others were the work of these authors executed in the spirit world. To every one there is one name which can never be dissociated from that of Conan Doyle—the name of the great character of detective fiction, Sherlock Holmes. Although hundreds of other writers imitated the stories of Shelock Holmes, only Doyle possessed the inimitable style that characterized these tales. Sir Arthur had not lost the téuch of his youth when he died. * His last book of Sherlock Holmes stories, written only a few years ago, bore the characteristics of his former tales. But with that book Sherlock Holmes “died.” Conan Doyle sent his famous character into the spirit world before him. Spmm’o of his great detective as though he were a living being, Sir Arthur said in June, 1927: “I fear that Mr. Sherlock Holmes may be- come like some of those popular tenors who, having outlived their time, are still tempted to make repeated fafewell bows before their indulgent audiences. This must cease. He must go the way of lall flesh, material or im- No one knows the exact type of messages which Conan Doyle hoped to send from the THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, AUGUST 17, 1930, In the mind of Lady Doyle death has not entirely parted Sir Arthur from his family, for her belief in spiritualism assures her that his spirit is close by and will communicate with her frequently. spirit plane. But what form of communication could prove more convincing to the people of this planet than new stories of Sherlock Holmes dictated through some medium? If this plan was uppermost in Sir Arthur’s methodical mind, those who believe in spiritualism can look for- ward to new tales of Sherlock Holmes and his faithful Watson. Once more will the echoes of silent Baker street be awakgned with the clatter of hoofs as some person rides post- haste in a London cab to consult the greatest of all detectives. For short, trivial, groping messages from Conan Doyle will have no significance to any one. If, as he claimed, the mind exists at its best in the spirit world, sure traces of his genius will persist. It has been said that there was but one Sherlock Holmes and there was but one man who could write about him. Further interest lies in the medium through which messages may be expected. Here we find another unprecedented situation. Lady Doyle herself professes mediumistic powers. Time and again she has produced examples of automatic writing under the control of a spirit called Phineas, her supposed control, who dwells The late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his study, surrounded by photographs al- legedly made of departed spirits upon their return through the medium of specially endowed persons gathired in seances. 7 in the other world and who transmits messages from spirits whom he encounters. QIR ARTHUR believed that these messages " were bona fide. He kept copious books that contained copies of all the communications that came from Phineas. It is believed by Spirituale ists that Lady Doyle will hear from her de- parted husband; that he may either speak through Phineas or that he may supplant the former control and communicate dirsctly to his widow. The ideas of spirit life that were held by Conar Doyle were not vague conceptions. 'He believed that the d:scriptions that supposedly came from spirits formed an accurate concep- tion of a new life that is encountered after death. « Within a few hours after death, he believed, the spirit finds itself in its new sphere, where it must become accustomed to new conditions and adjust its earthly characteristics to meet them. The spirit of an intellectual man, he believed, would find congenial spirits with which it could happily “associate. It would retain its earthly traits but with higher de- velopment, and the quickness of its adjust- ment would depend upon the state of mind it had developed during its earthly existence. Thus in his novel, “The Land of Mist,” Sir Arthur told of a ghost which haunted the house where it had lived. It was an “earth- bound” spirit, so weighed down by mortal sins and worries that it was unable to find its way to the true sphere of happiness. These were only a few of the beliefs leld by the prominent spiritualist, and many per- sons accepted his conclusions. They explain why Sir Arthur devoted his closing years to spiritualism. To him they were not years of sacrifice; they constituted a period of prepa- ration. The thoughts and ideals of the world to come, in which he believed, were of more imporiance to him than anything mundane. Yet Sir Arthur is not the only man who devoted his greatest efforts to investigating spiritualism and who has promised to send back word if possible. -Four years ago Houdini, the famous magician, died, leaving clues that would be recognized by his closest friends should he be able to pierce the veil between the world of spirit and flesh. Mediums have reported messages from Hou- dini, but ail their communications have been assailed and none of them has been accepted as genuine. So far as convincing proof is concerned, no word has come from Houdini. In life Conan Doyle and Houdini were inti- mate friends, although they disagreed entirely on spiritualism. These two men represented the antitheses in belief. To Conan Doyle spir- itualism was a solemn reality; to Houdimi it was a pathetic hoax. This was a strange contrast. The man who created Sherlock Holmes and who was consid- ered the world’s greatest expert on deductive reasoning believed in spiritualism. The man who produced mysteries that the public could not fathom denounced all mediums. Like Conan Doyle, Houdini had his sup- porters, and they were men of brains and acumen. They have been quite as eager to disprove spiritualism as the associates of Conan Doyle have been desirous of proving it. This brings up the other side of the ques- tion. Whatever messages may seem to come from the famous author will be challenged throughout by those who distrust all phases of mediumship. . The controversy between Conan Doyle and Houdini is of the utmost importance, for among other things it involves the reputed powers of mediumship possessed by Lady Doyle. Inasmuch as she is expected to receive mes- sages from her husband, it is interesting to know that Houdini was not convinced of the value of her messages. Conan Doyle sought vainly to convince Hou- dini regarding spiritualism. In his book, “Our American Adventure,” he tells the following event which occurred in the Summer of 1925. He wrote as follows: “The reason * * * why I refer to my wife’s remarkable powers, which came only by slow development, is that my friend Houdint sat with us one afternoon and received a 15- page letter from his mother which made him very grave and thoughtful, though he is a most difficult man to convince. * * * “It was a singular scene. My wife, with her hand flying wildly, beating the table while she scribbled at & furious rate, I sitting opposite and tearing sheet after sheet from the block after it was filled up and tossing each across to Houdini while he sat silent, looking grim- mer and paler every moment.” WHY was Houdini unconvinced after this experience? Because his own version of the story, as told in his book “A Magician Among the Spirits,” was entirely different! “I wanted to speak to my mother,” wrote Continued on Twenty-first Page “Will Sherlock Holmes Return From Grave?