Newspaper Tests

Precognition, i.e., prediction of forthcoming events that could then be verified, was very important in the spiritualist movement. An important technique for this was so-called ‘newspaper tests,’ in which a communicator described a news item that would purportedly appear in a future edition of a published newspaper. The message thus provided was intended in most cases to bring evidence of his identity. The tactics were similar to those of the book tests; until reading the newspaper, the sitter had no idea in what form the message would appear. The tests were designed to show that the information given at Mrs. Leonard’s sittings went beyond the subconscious knowledge of medium or sitter.

Charles Drayton Thomas received these newspaper tests in such quantity that reading them, he said, would weary all but the most determined psychical researcher. Here is one of his simplest examples, given at a sitting December 19, 1919. It was written down just after it was received at 3:10 p.m. and was to be verified in the London Times of the following-day. Thomas writes: Having been directed to the first page and rather more than one-third down column three, I was asked to look to the left where, almost in a line with that spot, would appear my name and a little above it that of my wife ... And within an inch of those names I was to see my wife’s age.

On examining that part of the Times the next day, Thomas saw his first name, Charles, and Clara, his wife’s name, within one inch of one another. Just one and a half inches above their name was the number 51, Clara’s age until one week before when she had had a birthday.

It was Drayton Thomas’ custom to mail a copy of the newspaper tests to the Society for Psychical Research as soon as he received them. He thus documented the fact that the information had been received the day preceding the issue of the paper to which it referred.

In considering the significance of these newspaper tests it is important to know the hour at which they were given. The sitting usually ended by 5:15 p.m., and a copy of the test was mailed to London about 6:00. This was long before the newspaper of the following day had been made up. Thomas ascertained this by visiting the printing office of the Times at 4:30 one afternoon. He was shown the galley trays in which the type for the first three columns of the next day’s paper was placed as soon as it was set. At that time, the trays held barely enough type for one-quarter of a column. As the news copy arrived, it was distributed among the various linotype operators and not again collected into one place until it was set on the type trays late in the evening, and the paper was not made up until still later. Thus, on the afternoon of the day before, no one alive knew exactly what item would be in a certain location on a certain page of the next day’s Times.

Yet time and time again communicators predicted that such and such an assortment of names and data would appear on a certain area of the front page of the next day’s Times. And Drayton Thomas would usually find them there.

The following items came one day for a Dr. Dyson, a medical friend of his. It was purportedly sent by Dyson’s brother, who had successfully communicated before (the prediction appears first, followed by the actual outcome in italics):

·         The first set of tests are for your friend from his spirit communicator whose name is about halfway down the first column of the first page of the Times tomorrow. Exactly halfway down that column appears the name Dyson, which is correct.

·         Very close to it is your friend’s name or one almost similar. Two and a half inches below Dyson is the name St. Andrew’s. Until receiving his comments upon these tests I had been unaware that his second name was Andrews. “Almost similar” – the apostrophe makes the difference.

·         A little below, say three-quarters down, is the name of a place which they have visited together and much enjoyed. Dr. Dyson on inspecting the paper found in this spot a mention of Filey (a coastal resort in Yorkshire), a place where he and his brother had frequently spent vacations together.

 

Sitters were particularly struck by the evidence of personal identity given in these newspaper tests. Thomas says: “It is not the case that a number of names are given on the chance that some of them may be appropriate. There is no fishing for names, no vague suggestions such as might be applicable to almost any sitter. My communicator evidences an intimate knowledge of our relations and friends, and succeeds by means of this type of test in introducing numbers of names that had neither been transmitted previously nor mentioned in the hearing of the medium when awake. The impression made upon me has been cumulative and logically compelling. I am convinced that it is no other than my own father who has repeatedly succeeded in giving proof positive of his identity.”

The sitting below was held at 6:20 p.m. on May 7, 1920. Seven tests were given from the first page of the next day’s Times. The result was scored as six correct, one failure:

·         Look near the top of column two on the front page for reference to a neighbor living very close to you. Your father senses that there are two names together which would both refer to these neighbors. You will understand. Four inches from the top of column two appears Birds. A few doors from us reside our friends Mr. and Mrs. Bird. The relevant words ran thus: “Wood of Birds-grove.”

·         Nearly halfway down column two is the name of a man at your Mission. But it struck your father that this name would also apply to someone whom he knew on Earth years ago, although not of the same family. It reminds him of it. For some years I have been attached to the staff of the Leysian Mission, London, and among our oldest workers is a Mr. Mason. Within an inch of the midpoint of the column appears the name Mason: the position was thus foretold with absolute precision. My father knew a minister of this name forty years ago and for some years we were on terms of unusual intimacy with members of his family.

·         In column one, about a quarter of the way down is your father’s name given in connection with a place he knew very well about twenty years ago. Between a quarter and half-way down the column is the name John and one inch above it is Birkdale. My father’s name was John, and Birkdale is the name of the only house he ever owned, a house he bought nearly twenty years before when retiring from active work, and in which he resided until his death.

·         Just underneath and very close is another place he knew. He sensed it was in the south of England, direct south, a good distance from London. He only lived there a short time; it was one of the places of his shortest residence. One inch below the above was Southampton, and as my father had lived at two places near that town, I supposed the indefinite description might be intended to cover the locality. This being much too vague for evidence, I inquired at my next interview if he meant Southampton. The reply was given that it was not right, “Newport was what he intended.” I replied that Newport was not mentioned in the paper, but on returning home discovered a quarter of an inch below Birkdale a name Newbury. Passing this as a failure, and taking no note of the subsequent introduction of Newport, there yet remains the assertion that one of my father’s brief residences had been at Newport. This is quite correct. Such incidental remarks are valuable clues to identity.

·         Lower in the column he saw, or rather sensed, a reference to Ramsgate or that locality. But quite close, within an inch of it, was the name of some people your mother will remember well as having been at Ramsgate. In fact, she had a reminder of them quite lately from someone she met. These three statements proved correct. At the bottom of the column was Herne Bay, which is near Ramsgate, and is where my father sometimes visited. In the same line and within an inch of it is seen the name Joseph, which at once suggested a ministerial friend Joseph Silcox who, after leaving Ramsgate, presently settled at Herne Bay and died there. My mother has frequently met the family since then, and tells me that twelve days before this test she was hearing about them from their minister.

·         Another Ramsgate name is very close also, but this is a name of one still at Ramsgate and in whom your mother would be interested. Here I inquired whether I knew this person. The reply came, “Yes, your mother told you about him.” On referring to the Times next day there was no doubt as to this name, which is in the notice after the foregoing, although at the, top of the second column. May we suppose that it was moved there owing to a few late insertions after these tests were selected? This notice is headed Preston. A gentleman of this name is still prominent in church and temperance work at Ramsgate and was well known to my father. My mother had been speaking to me about him exactly three weeks previously. It will be noted that the wording of the text implies knowledge that while the Joseph family is no longer at Ramsgate, Mr. Preston still resides there.

·         Near the bottom of column one is your Christian name and also the name Thomas, quite close. It was so. Three-quarters down column one, and within four lines of each other, appear Thomas and The Reverend Charles. The general accuracy of position in the above tests deserves notice.

 

So what’s going on here? From Drayton Thomas’ father’s references to ‘seeing’ or ‘sensing’ what would be in the next day’s newspaper (with the layout finalized in the small hours, long after the sitting), it seems he went forward in time to after the paper was actually printed. Then the father wove in some family trivia, which established his identity beyond question.

So the newspaper tests prove survival of consciousness upon crossing over. And they give us a preview of one of the abilities we can look forward to playing with on the Other Side.

Yee-haa!