The Evidence of GEORGE H. LETHEM, ESQ., JUSTICE OF THE PEACE FOR THE COUNTY OF THE CITY OF GLASGOW
I first heard of the Crewe Circle in the autumn of 1918. At that time I was editor of the Daily Record, Glasgow, and had made the acquaintance of Mr. Peter Galloway, President of the Glasgow Association of Spiritualists, through an article on spiritualism which he contributed to that paper.
Mr. Galloway told me that the Crewe Circle were coming to Glasgow, and he invited me to attend their first sitting. This I agreed to do; I bought a packet of quarter-plates at a City shop, took note of the wrapper markings and kept the packet safe, with the cover unbroken.
My wife accompanied me to the sitting, which was held in a large, well-lighted attic room some distance from the house where the members of the Circle were lodging. I saw them arrive, saw them unpack their photographic outfit, and saw them borrow a dark cloth (which I examined) for use as a background. Obtaining permission, I examined the camera, the slide, the lens, the bellows (for pin-holes) and all the accessories, without finding anything suspicious. I treated the sitting as a test and took every step, so far as I knew, to provide against conscious or unconscious deception.
Including Mr. Hope and Mrs. Buxton, there were nine or ten people present. To all of these, except Mr. Galloway, I was quite unknown, and I was introduced simply as a “friend.”
I had time to complete my examination—in which I included the little adjoining dark room—before the proceedings began. All present then sat round a table, on which my packet of plates was laid within my reach and in my sight. There were hymns and a prayer, then the packet was lifted and held for a few seconds between Mr. Hope’s hands, with the hands of all the others—my own included—above and below. The packet, which was never out of my sight, was then returned to me and I satisfied myself by the markings that it was mine, that the wrapper was intact, and that, therefore, there could have been no tampering with the plates.
Putting the unopened packet in my pocket, I followed Mr. Hope into the dark room, taking with me the slide from the camera. In the dark room Mr. Hope stood in the far corner and I stood close by the door, leaving a clear space between us. Mr. Hope said, in explanation of this arrangement, that he did not want to touch the plates but only to see that I handled them properly.
Taking the packet from my pocket, I broke the cover, extracted two plates and put the packet back in my pocket. Keeping the plates within Mr. Hope’s view but quite out of his reach, I wrote my name on each of them and put them into the slide, which I carried out of the room before handing it to Mr. Hope. Up to this point, Mr. Hope had quite certainly not touched the plates. Having seen the slide placed in the camera, I sat down beside my wife, facing the lens.
The camera had been previously focussed and an exposure was made—Mr. Hope standing on the right and Mrs. Buxton on the left and joining hands (Mr. Hope’s left, Mrs. Buxton’s right) above the camera. In this attitude Mr. Hope pressed the pneumatic bulb with his right hand and so made the exposure, which was longer than for an ordinary photograph. Then the slide was turned and a second exposure was made on other two members of the party.