“The second variation of the first seance was when Slade asked me if I had ever seen the ‘dematerialization of a solid object?’ I said I had not, whereupon Slade took a small slate and, looking around as though to find a proper object for his test, picked up a match box from the mantelpiece, and put it on the upper surface of the slate rather close to where he would hold it. He then placed the slate and its superimposed object carefully under the table and after a moment brought out the slate, without the match box. I looked under the table but found nothing suspicious there.
“In a moment Slade replaced the slate under the table and on bringing it out, we saw the match box in its former place. This disappearance did not impress me greatly as I concluded the whole secret of dematerialization consisted in turning the slate over and holding the box in place by a finger, then after showing the surface empty, the slate was again turned over on being replaced under the table, and so the materialization of the box was realized.
“The last test was quite startling. Slade drew his chair close to mine, placed one of his hands on the chair back and the other on the table. My hands were resting on the table top. Suddenly I felt the chair rise, and I was tipped forward, but kept my balance by pushing back with my hands, which, as I have said, were resting on the table top. Then the force was quickly withdrawn and my chair and I came back to the floor with a grand thud. This concluded the second seance. I never saw Slade again.”
Powell explains the levitation thus:
“When Slade drew his chair close to mine he crossed his legs and was thus enabled to bring his foot under the rung of my chair. The leg resting over the knee gave considerable leverage to the limb having a foot under the rung of my chair. Now he exerted the necessary strength by pressing upward with his foot, and holding the chair back with his hand while the other hand steadied the whole, by bearing against the table. Slade took his hand away from the back of my chair for the fraction of a second before he released his foot. I was thus naturally tilted forward and had to exert some force to keep myself from sliding off the chair. This effort kept me from seeing Slade free himself and get his limbs back to their normal position, viz., one hand on the table, and his feet and legs fairly under it. Slade was rather tall and, though somewhat slim, was very muscular. Of course I did not actually see Slade use his foot to do the lifting, but his position and all the circumstances surrounding the effect tend to prove my claim as to what I believe he did. Further, while I was far from being as strong as Slade, I succeeded in duplicating this ‘Levitation’ by the means I have described.”
While searching for material about Slade I heard of an old medium living in Philadelphia by the name of Remigius Weiss, known as Remigius Albus, who had testified before the Seybert Commission regarding Slade’s manipulation of the slates. I went over to Philadelphia to his home and there met the only man who had tangible evidence of Dr. Slade. This he thoroughly explained to me. I asked him why he had never exposed it to the world and he told me that he held back at first because of pity for Slade’s condition and afterwards figured that if the fraud mediums and other potential criminals knew Slade’s methods they might make use of the methods to gain control of poor human beings who wished to get in touch with loved ones who had passed away. He did not hesitate to give me full details and at my request wrote me a letter describing his experience with Slade. I quote it because I believe it to be the best exposé ever written of Slade’s slate writings.
“August 18, 1923.
“My dear Houdini:—
“Please accept, from me, this Lock-book, and the locked double-slate—as a small token of comradeship—in combating Spiritualistic deception, popular superstition and Delusion.
“The book and the slate were my own. I put the lock and hinges on the slate, and prepared the book, and a number of other, different objects—(such as Professor Zollner had, when he, in his foolishness, was pleased to be deceived by Dr. Slade’s Humbug).