At the sitting the regular prayer and hymn singing were conducted as usual after which the plates were exposed and developed. It was found that the package had been opened previously, the top plate removed and another substituted for it and on this substituted plate, only, there was a “Spirit extra.” At a third sitting a fresh box of secretly marked plates were opened in the presence of Mrs. Deane. Four plates were loaded into as many separate slides and Mrs. Deane carried them into the adjoining studio. On a table in the studio was a hand-bag and beside it a hymn book. The hand in which she held the four slides momentarily disappeared inside the bag while at the same time she picked up the hymn book with her other hand. With the hymn book she had picked up a duplicate slide which, with a perfectly natural movement, she added to the three in her other hand one of the four marked plates having been dropped in the bag where it was found later by one of the investigators who examined the bag while Mrs. Deane was absent for a moment.
Following the customary religious service the four plates were exposed and then developed. Three plates which had the identifying marks had no Spirit extra, but the fourth plate which had no identification mark did have a Spirit form.
As a result of this investigation the committee found that whenever there was an opportunity packages were opened and treated, plates substituted, and in the tests which followed “Spirit extras” were secured, but when the conditions were absolutely fraud-proof there were no “extras,” and so far as it was able to discover all the so-called Spirit photography rested on the flimsy foundation of fraud.
In December 1921 I tried to visit Mr. Hope and have some Spirit photographs made but I was informed that his engagements would keep him busy for months and that I would have to wait my turn. I then got in touch with a friend of mine by the name of DeVega[76] who lives in Glasgow and asked him if he would not see Hope and arrange to sit for a photograph. After considerable correspondence between DeVega and Hope the latter agreed to make the photographs provided DeVega would go to Crewe. DeVega assented to this, and an appointment was made and the sitting took place. The following account of DeVega’s experience is taken from a full report which he sent me.
“Dec. 16, 1921.—Arrived at No. 144 Market Street, the door was opened by an elderly lady. I asked if Mr. Hope was in and presently he came down. I told him that a well known member of the Spiritualist Society and a man known to be a collector of Spirit photographs sent me and that seemed to be sufficient for Mr. Hope.
“I had brought my own camera along and asked him whether the pictures could be taken with it. However, he said he used his own camera but would let me investigate it all I wanted to. He told me he could not possibly photograph me that forenoon as there was another gentleman coming but arranged for two o’clock.
“I watched Market Street, from a distance, all the forenoon but saw no one go in. I arrived there promptly but it was 2:30 before Mr. Hope arrived. A Mrs. Buxton joined us. She, Hope and myself sat around a small table. They sang hymns, said a prayer and asked the table if all was favorable.
“At his request I placed my packages of plates on the table. They placed their hands above them and sang again. Hope suddenly gave a quiver and said, ‘Now we will try.’ He showed me the dark room, which is a small arrangement of about six feet high, three feet wide and five feet long. There were two shelves and on these were dusters, cloths, bottles of chemicals, a lamp, etc. The lamp is an old affair lit by a candle. The room is so very small that when two people are in it there is no room to move about.
“He next showed me the camera and asked me to examine it. I gave a glance at it and told him I did not doubt his word, which seemed to please him a great deal. I thought if it was a fake he would not allow me to examine it as closely as he asked me to. It was an old make, one fourth plate, studio camera and had no shutter, but worked with a cap over a lens (the cap was missing). He next showed me the dark slide. It was an old-fashioned, double wood end slide. I examined it very closely but it was unprepared.
