which lay on his own desk. As he began to write the names, the medium stepped away and engaged in conversation with District Attorney Barnes and Mr. Bonnet at the other side of the room, so that he could not see what Mayor Ellert wrote. The Mayor carefully folded the slips, put them in a hat, and shuffled them. He then brought one forth from the hatful.

“That’s a dead one,” said Dr. Schlesinger. “Open it and see whether I am correct; but don’t let me see it.”

The Mayor obeyed the request, and answered, “Yes, this is a dead person’s name!”

“Don’t let me see it,” said the mysterious visitor, “and I’ll tell you what it is,” whereupon he at once correctly pronounced the name of the Mayor’s sister, which was not Ellert.

The Mayor then announced that he was unable to explain the phenomena. He watched the medium’s movements and convinced himself that there had been no juggling in the shuffle, and said that his visitor out-Hermanned Hermann. He would leave the solution of the phenomena to others learned in the arts of divination.

CHARLES L. PATTON.

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.

“Whether it was or not, it was a most remarkable thing, and deeply impressed upon me that ‘There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy.’

“William S. Barnes.”

Seven years after the foregoing was written, Mr. Barnes expressed himself as still deeply puzzled. “I cannot think of any experience in life so marvelous,” he said, “so beyond my power to explain.”

JUDGE FERRAL’S TESTIMONY.

Ex-Judge Robert Ferral’s narrative largely corroborates what the others said. He presents the case in his own way.

“Having taken a deep interest from early boyhood in exhibitions of a marvelous nature, such as magic, legerdemain, mesmerism, hypnotism, mind-reading, and spiritualism, it was with pleasure that I accepted the kind invitation to visit Dr. Schlesinger and personally witness his experiments and manifestations.

“I found the Doctor an aged, venerable man, in a large room, surrounded by a company of ladies and gentlemen, bright, cheerful, and intelligent, all apparently bent upon the rational enjoyment of this life, and happy in the belief of companionable intercourse with the realm of spirits.

“Retiring to more quiet quarters, consisting of an ordinary bedroom and parlor, the business began without waste of words or loss of time. Having written the names of half a dozen persons, living and dead, each name on a separate slip, carefully folded and looking precisely alike, which were tossed into a hat and well