1938-07-18 — Page 3

THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH,

MONDAY, JULY 18, 1938.

リ

Edgar Wallace: Amazing Spirit Claim 81 TIFFINS

from the Break Down

Novelist Speaks

-Says "I'll

By Maurice Barbanell

Swaffer had told him which inspired the burned paragraphs!

The dead woman sented in the chair spoke to Edgar Wallace again.)

$1

"Other World" at

Every

learn, and Red help him.

Barrier"

Cloud promised to

O plot devised by the ingenious mind of She told him that his attacks on her sold, "because he wants to speak."

N Edgar Wallace, that master craftsman Brothers in this placita lice

of thrilling fiction, can compare with the true story of his dramatic return from beyond the gravo.

Edgar Wallace, an unconscious medium during his lifetime, has come back and given a graphic de- scription of his life in the Other World.

Still possessing his great qualities of reporting and his sense of news, he has told in his own words exactly what happened to him from the moment he died.

vanished.

"I will bring him through," he Edgar Wallace persisted. He sent messages through other mediums. at a scance trying to get some spirit Then a few days later, when I was

trolled:

Wallace tried to puzzle all out So deep wan the Impression made

dead that he ended his article with these words: "I shnil no longer sneer at spirits." And he never did.

on him by this visitation from the photographs, the medium was con-

Broke the Barriers

Not long after that, Edgar him- self passed on at Hollywood just as; The was beginning to carve out a-new

career in the world of films,

He

The spirit guido sali thut • Edgar Wallace was with him and was going to try to give a pic- ture of himself, TVC would arrange a speelal sitting a few days later,

asked

So that there should be no argu ments about it I devised some test conditions. I took down with me But the restless energy

which two Press photographers. I made him a journalist, reporter, them to buy the pintes at any shop novelist and dramatist could not be they liked. stilled even by death.

I told them to examine the camera broke through the barriers, largely

the slides to load the plates of and Ignorance and superstition, with themselves and to mark them. wine man has surrounded death and proved his own survival. And the evidence be

Kave dramatic form.

After his passing there arrived in my office a long manuscript and a letter from a South Wales woman of Hutto education.

He has spoken at several seances-and sent a spirit photo- which graph of himself.

Confronted with

the scepticism of his own secretary, who threw doubts on the accounts of Edgar's return, Wallace sent him a message on a new dictaphone cylinder.

Wallace's Remarkable Gift

Then, Edgar Wallace's wife has put on record her husband's ability to practise what is called psychometry-holding objects and obtaining from them impressions about their owners.

Once he caught sight of a ring she was wearing and asian to Mite it.

Holding it in his hand, he closed his eyes.

"A woman gave you that ring," ht, had recently been panelled in pickled] muud, “atul later she died in great ook.

Mrs. Wallen Wins dumb- Founded. It was quite true.

She saw him do this kind of thing o many occasions. Given an object to bold in his hand, he could always tell its associations accurately.

Meeting with Spirit Not many people know that Edgar was also a clairvoyant,

As a young man he was a private in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He had been on duty all night with a patient who died at about six in the morning.

The medland officer was going on, leave that afternoon, so it was de- cited to hold the post-mortem im- mediately after breakfast.

Without any respite, and after a sleepless night, they made their examination. When it. was com- pleted Edgar Wallace went back to the barrack room where he slept.

It was deserted except, to his surprise, for a woman who sat on one of the beds,

кад

come

In

In her letter she said that she had received long manuscript which purported to ived in automalle writing this have come from Edgar Wallace.

He had called it "The Passing Over of Edgar Wallace." and It detalled description of what had happened to him from the time he died.

The automatic writing begon with these words: "I dedicate this book He ful Info ปร pyjamas

and to Hannen Swaffer so that he muy dressing-gown nnd made himself tell the world through H." comfortable. Just then one of the panels cracked noisily.

A story

This reminded him of Swaffer and told him about psychic rups. To Wallbee's fertile mind the crack suggested some new ideas for pulling Swaffer's leg.

und

were

He sat at his writing labie own descripiton of what happened: wrote three paragraphs. Here is his!

"The rst two of them amusing jabs at my friend, the third was not so amusing, and 1 de- cided to cross it out, when somebody said: "I think it is very silly, and you ought to be astumed of yourself."

Wallace looked up. nobody in the room.

There was The tele- phone receiver was on its sup- port. He could not solve the mystery of the voice,

He took up his pen again and went on from where he had left off. He was just putting a diagonal line across the unsatisfactory paragraph when once again the volce said: "It is silly!"

There

What is silly" he asked. was no reply,

Wallace Speaks

Perfect Picture

The medium was not allowed to handle any part of the process involved in the taking of the photo- Kraphs. He just stood in the room.

At the end of the seance the pro- fessional photographers signed statement in which they declared they vere quite satisfied there could have been no substitution of the plates--the only way by which frickery could have happened.

fect

Well.

ell, Edgar Wallace gave his spirit photograph. It was a per- picture and. as he him- self declared, it was unlike any In existence.

who denied that he was still active It was Wallace's answer to those

If

after death

No copy of this spirit photograph has ever

been

found by relatives, i friends, or photographle agencies. anybody says it is a fake, J chal- lenge them to produce the picture from which it was copied.

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Then a few weeks later

Edgar Wallace spoke in the direct voice.

"I gave you that script," he said. "I sat

photograph. This xtra- IN Waller sprenking. whether you twust like it or not

It is damnably Wallnge hard be disbelieved when you are! trying your utmost to make them!

Its

•

As It was dedicated to Swaffer, I showed him the script. He read .

"I do not know whether Edgar wrote it," he said. "But it is cer- |tainly a description of the afterlife

as written by a trained reporter."

Here was a quandary. How could we prove its authenticity,

What

I dick will sound determined to usk ordinary to many of you, whether he had written . Edgir

At that time I was attending a understand series of scances in the home of "I have come though again. Estelle Roberts, the famous medlun. Whether the world likes it or not, i At those sittings the dead returned arm going to come through. They and spoke in what we call the direct can laugh and they can scolf, but I voice--that Is. they illise the am coming back

I will break fashion psychic

chic power of the medium to down every barrier."

replica of their worthy Then right al

end he said: voices, which are intensified through Tell Bob Curtis net to be a fool": # trumpet.

That

was his reply to his secretary, The presiding spirit genius of this who had disbelieved in his spirit re- seance was Red Cloud, the medium's turn, And Wallace promised that he guide. You will read more of Red would give Curtis something to think Cloud in my future articles, but let

about. me say that his personality is quite

He is a teacher of high pur- pose. a spirit who says he has lycd for more than 2,000 years and who has returned to ald humanity by reviving those spiritual truttin known Biblical days.

She was a big, unattractive woman, i chait went into his wife's room, distinct from the medium.

who smiled at him as he entered and Saki: "Our Tom has put you out this morning."

the

man'

for a few moments, returned to his study.

then

He had left the sheet of copy paper on the centre of his writing-pad, and on the top of that he had put his

Is amazement

Edgar Wallace was 50 staggered that he didn't reply. In a aninute watch and chain. she was gone.

At

funeral Exigor Wallace spoke to the brother, des- eribed the woman he had seen 13! the barrack room, And naked if he knew her.

The brother was umazed "That couldn't have been Alma. She has been dead five or six years,'

Yet the woman's description absolutely fitted She was 20 years older than the dead man. was his stepsister

had brought him up.

In

spite

of Chis experience Wallace was not a Spiritualist, but he put on recurti a psychle happen- ing which he described as one of his most extraordinary experiences.

Voice in the Study

the

le

Then at another seance Red Cloud gave a remarkable and unexpected spirit test. He volunteered the name and address of the South Wales mediuin who had received the auto- matic script. Her name and address were closely-guarded secret known ouly to two people in my office!

Dictaphone Shock

"Red Cloud," I said et une of his scances. "I am in diffeulty and would like your assistance. I have A few weeks later Bob Curtle had manuscript said 10 have been an astonishing story to tell. For 15 received in automatic writing from years he had been Wallace's secre- Edgar Wallace. Did he write it?" tary. When Edgar passed on he

That was all I asked. I did not

But paper was gone. The watch and chain lay on the writing table by the side of the

Pad! He looked round the room, turned to the fire-why he did not itnow and on top of it were

the black embers of a sheet of paper.

There was no wind that could have blown it there, and certainly none give the name of the woman. that could have blown his watch and chain from the centre of the pad to the side of it,

Woman in Room

He said nothing, and went to bed. When he awoke Edgar Wallace had another surprise.

the

#

Seated in the chalr fr corner of his study he sai woman. She

was seated ball

upright, with hands folded on

and

lier knees. he saw a gold ring.

On one of her Gingers

"Wallace Wrote It"

"I do not know", said Red Cloud, "but I will find out and tell you. Do nothing until you hear from me." to me: "I have made inquiries.

At the next seance Red Cloud said have spoken to Edgar Wallace. He said he wrote it."

That was good enough for me.

I had never known Red Cloud to

be wrong in any of his facts.

I

went to assist Sydney Horler, the well-known writer of thrillers.

Horler had sent him some dicta- phone records of his next novel to transcribe.

pui one on, and, as Curtis said. "was startled almost out of my seat to hear the unmistak able voice of Edgar Wallace coming through."

The voice said: "I use this dictate my books-my storles,"

to

How did the voice of Edgar Wallace get on to the dictaphone? They tried to solve this mystery,

I published the manuscript. "My They thought that possibly Wallace

At that time he was editing Sunday newspaper. He had been poking fun ol Spiritualism

Life After Death--By Edgar Wal-had once used this record and that written what he called "musing

ince

"I called It. It created 11 it hind been imperfectly shaved and Jabs" at his great friend, Hannen chance of getting in a word. He had of his friends and relations. It was

She spoke quickly, giving him no sensation. It was criticised by many repolished. Swaffer, the well-known journalist never met her before, nor had he attacked by Bob Curtis, his secretary, for Horler's voice would have been and famous Spiritualist.

That explanation would not fit, serh her portrait.

But I was unmoved. I knew-and superimposed on Wallace's, and the two would have been blurred. As it a very heavy week, and had ar-Senffer! And it was a psychic ex-was mastering the technique of spirit Horter's voice coming after Wallace's During this time Edgar Wallace was, they were quite distinct. ranged to sleep in his study, whleh petence concerning this relative that communication, for even he had to volce.

Edgar Wallace had Kone to his Yet he knew who she was the they didn't! country house at Bourne End after dind sister-in-Inw

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The mysterious record was taken to the Dictaphone offices in Kings- way, and the manager played the record.

Quite clearly he heard the velce of Wallace say: "I use him to dleate my books-my stories." Then the book changed to deeper and clearer tones-the voice of Horler. Bob Curtis was quite posi- live that the Orsl was Edgar Wallace's voice,

Promised Fulfilled

The record was examined under a strong magnifying glass. The ex- pert found that there was no break between the point where the Orst voice broke off and the second volco #tarted.

·

"It is 100 to 1 against two people being able to speak on the samo record without show- Ing a break where the needle records on the wax," said the manager.

In order to discount any theory or incomplete shaving, the manager of Tho Dictaphone company partly shaved a used record and then showed the result.

Where the shaving left off there was a slight but distinct ridge. The mystery record had no such ridge!

Edgar Wallace had fulfilled his promise.

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