The outcome of the seances and the story of what occurred may best be told by those who were present, and the subjoined versions are given:—
ATTORNEY PATTON’S STORY.
“I desire to preface what I have to say by remarking that while I have never been nor am I now a spiritualist, nor have I ever before been present at the performance of a medium, yet what I saw of Dr. Schlesinger’s so-called manifestations from the spirit world is entirely inexplicable to me upon any scientific hypothesis with which I am familiar; yet at the same time I must admit that I cannot explain the phenomena exhibited upon any theory of legerdemain or sleight of hand within my knowledge. Therefore, I merely state that I have seen, or seemingly seen, and heard the following remarkable things, during the sitting or seance with Dr. Schlesinger, leaving it to others more competent than I to determine whether they are the manifestations of some psychic force at present unadmitted by scientists or the legerdemain of a sleight-of-hand performer.
“The facts are as follows: At the request of the Doctor, I wrote eight or ten names of different persons on as many slips of paper, two of the number being dead, and folded the slips in such a manner that the Doctor could not read them; and so far as I can judge, the Doctor could not have had any method of knowing what names I wrote. I then placed the folded papers in a hat, and one of the other gentlemen present drew them out one by one. The Doctor, as each paper was drawn out, asked some question, such as ‘Guide, is this the one dead?’ Finally, after all the papers had been held up and the questions asked, some raps on the table, seeming to have indicated according to the Doctor that the persons whose names were on two of the slips were dead, I, on examination, found that he was correct in his judgment. He then without (so far as I could see) having had any opportunity to have seen the names, desired me to place the slips with the names on in my pocket. Presently he said: ‘I see two faces over your shoulder; the name of one is J. B. The other says: “I am glad you have commemorated my name by writing it here,” the name is V. C.;’ the Doctor being correct in naming the deceased person in each instance, and the message being appropriate to the character of the deceased person. I will add, that, so far as I know, Dr. Schlesinger had no possible means of knowing the name or anything about either person. One of the names, I feel confident, was not known to any person in California outside of myself.
“Chas. L. Patton.”
BARNES WAS PUZZLED.
District Attorney Barnes gives the following account of the seance:—
“I was completely surprised at the performance in the Mayor’s office. It was the first seance I had ever attended, and I must confess that I had not the slightest respect for such manifestations other than a natural admiration for the quickness of the operator. I had always supposed that batteries, wires, a tolerable acquaintance with the sitter, all aided by darkness, were the causes of the effects produced by the medium. In this case, however, the seance took place in broad daylight, and no attempt was made, so far as I could see, to use any mechanical means. The medium sat two or three feet from the Mayor’s desk, and only touched the desk occasionally with his hand, yet from that desk came the spirit rappings that were clearly audible to all of us in the room. I watched the others write lists of names containing each the name of some dead person, and saw the quickness with which Dr. Schlesinger picked out the persons who had passed away, and gave messages from them. When it came my turn I wrote a number of names on small slips of paper, folded them and held them in my hand. Among these names was that of a classmate of mine at Harvard, who died long ago at Philadelphia, who had never been in California, and whose name I have not mentioned for years. Hardly had I sat down when Dr. Schlesinger called his full name and gave me a message from him, recalling an occurrence, so far as I am aware, known only to the dead man and myself. To say that I was amazed but feebly expresses it; and when I asked the Doctor whence he got his information, he replied, ‘It is borne to me on angels’ wings.’
ATTORNEY W. S. BARNES.