M 
LAI\U & WATER 
December 6, 1917 
was "materialisation." It has so often been exposed that it is 
not now much resorted to. The medium was tied in u chair, 
or locked in a cuplx^ard, or only perhaps merely hidden behind 
a curtain, or even took his place in a circle round the table ; 
then, the room being dark, or almost darj^, spirit forms would 
be seen gliding about, spirit hands would pat and slap 'the 
sitters, luminous Iiands and faces would hover in the air, and 
so forth. Over and over again the spirits were seized hy a 
sitter, or an nncxpecttxl light was turned on.andthe materialised 
spirit was found to he the medium himself or herself. The 
medium sometimes owned u]) and confessed the fraud ; 
sometimes the fraud was too palpable to need any confession ; 
but in either case the devotees did not give in. They were 
ready with a spirituahstic txplanation. This was that the 
spirit form was an " emanation " from the body of the medium. 
\\ hen it had shown itself, it went behind tlie curtain or where- 
ever the mediunt was. and reunited itself to the medium. 
\\ hen, however, the spirit fornt was seized, the material body 
of the mediimi was compelled to come out of its trance and unite 
i t sel f witJi the spirit. Even when the reunited spirit-and-medium 
was searcJied. and in its jwckets were found false beards, 
bottles of phosphorised oil, yards of muslin,- and other make-uji 
materials matching the appearance of the spirit-forms, the 
spiritualists unblushingly asserted that the medium had been 
controlled by a bad and lazy spirit, who had brought the 
muslin, etc, to save himself the trouble of '' materialising " 
it. Again, when mediums have confessed to hoaxing their 
sitters, and have explained how tlie hoax was effected, the 
sitters have accused the mediums of lying, not when they jier- 
formed the hoax, but when they made the confession. 
The latest manifestations of mediumship are ingeniously 
contrived so as not to be open to rude, sudden, and dramatic ex- 
posure. The mechanism by which raps and taps are produced 
may be and often has been identified, and the raps and taps put 
a stop to. The way in which the spirit-photographs are faked , 
and spirit materialisations produced may i)e discovered and 
exposed ; but if a medium talks or writes, and says tlie talk- 
ing or writing is done, not by hini, but by a spirit that possesses 
or controls him, and that he, the medium, knows nothing of 
what the spirit says or writes, it is manifest that we cannot 
exjKjse the imposture. As no trick tables, no false beards, no 
phosphorised oil, no properties of any kind are used, none can 
be discovered, and the medium is safe from exiwsure. The 
only safeguard against deception is common sense ; and ex- 
perience shows that this is not to be relied upon, at least, its 
existence in spiritualists cannot be relied upon or even 
discovered. It is manifest that reason doe.s not appeal to 
their minds. They are governed solely by emotion. They 
enjoy being deceived ; why attempt to deprive them of an 
enjoyment so highly appreciated and so easilv attained ? 
Let me end as I began, with a Latin ta.g—Popiilus vitU 
decipi : decipiatur. 
The Sewing Machine 
By Etienne. 
WE all know that in the Early Days we were ver^? 
short of those munitions of war which at the 
moment of writing are being showered with 
prodigality upon the Hun in Flanders. In 
those early days light cruisers sometimes found themselves 
m harbour for two or three days. It wasn't much of a 
liarbour, its chief advantages being that in one corner was a 
hulk in which mails. and parcels accumulated, and that the 
sea inside the harbour was appreciably better behaved than 
the sea outside. The edge of the harbour was a long way off 
and looked its best at a distance. The attractions on the 
beach were nil to anyone who had the least feeling of citizen- 
ship — that IS, to a lover of cities. 
It was generally blowing a bit and anchor watch absorbed 
25 per cent, of one's life. Hence a large number of officers 
mmd that after the restful effects of the first twenty-four 
liours m harbour had passed off, a feeling of boredom super- 
vened. Some clever person suggested that perhaps the Navy 
would hke to make munitions in its spare time. The Navy 
said It would be charmed, and it was decided that we should 
make gromets to protect the driving bands of shells. 
.So successful was this venture that the Ministry of Muni- 
tions wrote a little letter in which they patted us on the back 
and then said : " If we give you a sewing machine, will you 
make lifting slmgs for shells ? " We said we'd do our best 
and shortly afterwards a storeship came alongside us and 
chimped a large packing case on our quarter deck. 
The supply note described its contents as " Singer Treadle 
Machine Sewing, Patt. III., No. 1567." A carpenter's mate 
split open the packing case and the Duty Hands reverently 
earned it down to the smoking-room. The news soon traveUed 
round Morality Row " and " Paradise Alley," our two streets 
of cabins, aufl the occupants, delighted to hear of the arrival 
of the strange instrument, hastened to the smoking-room. 
V '^''" ^ .^"* *'^^''''' *^«^ visitors to the exhibition included 
the hngineer Commander, his Senior Engineer, the two 
Doctors, the Paymaster, and a couple of watch-keeping 
Lieutenants, Brown and Williams. 
We were gingerly lingering its various parts and speculating 
on their functions when " the Irrepressible " burst into the 
smoking-room. " The Irrepressible " is our Sub, and he 
rather fancies himself at impersonating gunners'. mates, and 
drill instructors. True to his habit he immediately let off • 
Now what 'ave we 'ere— 'ere we 'as a sewing machine. 
Now the object of this 'ere himplement is to sew, and I'll tell 
yer the reason fer why. Class T'shun ! " 
" Dogs of war, out Sub 1 " remarked Brown. 
As one man. every one below the rank of three stripes 
hurled themselves on the Sub, and a Homeric struggle was in 
progress when the arrival of the Commander restored com- 
parative peace. 
"I understand the Service Sewing Machine has fetched 
ip," said the Commander. 
" Yes Sir ! " replied the Sub. " We 'ave been fortunate 
'nuff in this 'ere ship to secure one of the latest Marks, this 
ere maenificent hinstrument operating at 'igh pressure can sew 
thirty-five yards of No. 11. canvas to a similar piece in hunder 
one 'our, or halternatively it will sew seventeen and 'arf 
yards of canvas in 'arf a similar period." 
" Always supposing we find someone who can work it," 
remarked the young doctor. " Now when 1 wSs at Barts, I 
had quite a lot of experience with stitching, and I think 1 
could drive this gadget ! " 
" I may as well say without further delay," remarked the 
Commander, " that by virtue of my offices as Commander of 
the ship, and Mess Pi*esident, / am going to dig the first sod, 
or drive the first stitch, or whatever one does when one 
christens a sewing machine. Meanwhile " 
" Thank you. Chief, you have divined my innermost 
thoughts. I was just going to ask you to agitate the line of 
communication between this spot and the pantry. We have 
before us a task whicli cannot be tackled without stimulants. 
Now, Sub, give me a chair." 
A chair was placed in front of the machine, on which the 
Commander seated himself. Amidst breathless silence he 
placed his feet on the treadle and started the machine. Hi*; 
action was faintly reminiscent of a great organist trying a few 
preliminary chords. After a few revolutions he stopped the 
machine and leaping back in his chair remarked with much 
satisfaction : " So far, so good, it seems to have its gearing 
connected up all right." 
•' Don't you think. Sir," said Brown, " we'd better trace 
the lead of the thread ? " 
" Good idea," replied the Commander. " I take it, it 
goes like this— from the reel- " 
Ij Or bobbin," interjected the Sub. 
. '• I said from the reel," continued the Commander. 
I believe the best seamstresses invariably refer to it as 
the bobbin. Sir," said the Sub in an aggrieved tone. 
" If the Sub puts me off my stroke again, sit on him. Brown," 
said the Commander. " Let me see where was I ? Oh, yes. 
It leaves the bobbin— damme ! I mean reel, which presumably 
revolves^on this vertical spindle. Thence by a leading 
;| Do you mean this small pulley ? " enquired the Chief. 
\es, I do ! " replied the Commander pugnaciously ; " it 
leads the thread along doesn't it? And doesn't a leading 
block lead a wire along the upper deck ? " 
■[}\^^h ^3^?°^^' >'°" could call it a leading block," ad- 
mitted the Chief. 
^_ From this block it proceeds," continued the Commander 
chine^''~'^^~*^''' '"^' ^^^' °^' y^'^~t° ^^^ ^^^'^^ ^f the ma- 
'.'.ZY^ ^^^^^ ' " ^skcd the Paymaster. 
The head of the machine. Pay, this left-hand part, con- 
taining this piston-Uke apparatus, on the end of which the 
needle moves up and down." 
ask'ed'the p"*^ ^^°" ^°^^ ^* ^^^ *° *'^^ ^^^^^^ ■ " triumphantly 
PMn"'''.-w1! '* S^* there?" scornfully ejaculated the 
little ri" s '' '' ^"-' '^^^ ^^ ^* S°^^ ^°^^'" through these 
