The Case for Spirit Photography

It might well be urged, "Why should Hope go into the dark room at all? / Why should he not allow the sitter to charge his carrier by himself and / so remove all possibility of transposition? " It is natural that Hope / should show the stranger where the various conveniences of the dark room / are, but apart from this there is the reason that Hope in the course / of his career has had all sorts of tricks played upon him by dishonest / investigators, and that he has to protect himself, so far as he can, / against doctored plates or plates with extras already prepared which will / be ascribed to him and made the ground for charges. I have heard him tell / such instances. When he knows his sitter he has no objection at all to / leaving him alone in the dark room.

In 1919 the Society which I have already referred to as the S. S. S. P. / presented Hope with a new camera. Mr. Barlow, Mr. Pearse and Mr. / Walker-all experienced photographers-were the three delegates who / conveyed it to Crewe. On this occasion photographs were taken with the / new carriers and camera, _Mr. Barlow loading the carrier with his own / plate alone in the dark room_. In developing, all three delegates went / into the dark room, but Hope did not accompany them. Three out of four / slides showed no supernormal result, but the fourth showed three faces, / one clearly recognised. "We were carefully watching Mr. Hope all the / time and are absolutely sure that there was no trickery. " The document, / which contains a detailed account of these facts, is signed by all three / observers. Could any case be more satisfactory and more final?