I assumed that Ian and Clancie had read
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org/books/lodge/survival/contents.htm
It is part of the thread.
The chapters on Mrs Piper move between reports by William James, Lodge's own reports, and his reports on Hodgson's reports, which make it just about as confusing as this sentence. It gets worse when 'Hodgson' dies and becomes a 'control'.
I see now that it was Sir Oliver Lodge who was intimately involved with the Pipers:
"Coming to ordinary social details: it is not an impertinence, but is justified by the special circumstances of the case, to state that the family is an admirable one, and that we regard them as genuine friends."
Mrs Piper seems to have had a disarming effect on skeptiks. She seems to have 'worn them down' with her charm. The Pipers were invited to do sittings at Christmas, for example -- usually a very personal time for families.
Sir Oliver Lodge believed in telepathy, and that is what he seems to be arguing for in the Mrs Piper case. It seems that his wife believed herself to be a psychic medium. He sought out, and believed that he had received messages from his dead son Raymond.
From what I can make out Hodgson devoted nineteen years of his life to investigating Mrs Piper. he may not have become 'intimate friends with the family', but given the circumstances, I doubt this, but will concede to Ian's information.
Perhaps Ian could tell us what his source says that indicates that Piper and Hodgson did not become friends.
Neither James nor Sir Oliver Lodge were skeptics by today's standards. Hodgson certainly seems to have started out with a healthy skeptical approach, but became 'worn down' by Mrs Piper. These three investigators all had vested interests in the SPR.
As has been pointed out, Mrs Piper was like a franchise of the Society. I hate spiders, but I reckon if I studied them closely for 20 years, I'd get to like them -- or at least respect them.
I say that the controls put in place were lessened because I assume that Hodgson did not have PI's on her and her husband's tails for the full period of investigation. Neither do I believe her mail would be checked all the time. What happened was that Hodgson 'ruled out' certain possibilities, and stopped checking for these as time went on.
Any competent magician will tell you that there is nothing more convincing to a subject as when the subject knows
one technique for a trick and the magician then uses another technique to receive the desired effect. Magicians fool other magicians all the time. You can't just rule things out and then never check them again. For example:
"The introduction of a stranger now makes things slow and laborious, and is on the whole discouraged; for although the old characteristics continue to some extent, the tests now given are mainly of a different kind. The early procedure was useful at the beginning, and it continued useful for a good many years till a case for investigation was firmly established; but it must have seemed tedious to prolong that method further, so the group of controls associated with Rector assured Dr. Hodgson that they would take the trance in hand and develop it on better and higher lines."
What Mrs Piper is 'producing' can come from so many sources that if she is 'mixing techniques' it would be beyond the resources of an investigator to check for all of them, all of the time
in the circumstances under which Mrs Piper was being tested.
The investigators believe that they are in control of the sittings and say so. Then we have:
"The following illustrates the care taken of the physical conditions and the way they are spoken of it is an extract from a sitting held by Mr. Dorr at Boston in 1906
(Rector interrupting a "Hodgson" communication.) Friend, you will have to change the conditions a moment.
[At the beginning of the sitting only one of the two windows in the room was open a very little way. A few moments previous to this time H. J. Jr. noticing that the room was a little close had opened the other window, and G. B. D. had nearly closed it again.]
G. B. D. What is wrong with the conditions? Do you want more air or less?
Well, there will have to be a change in the surroundings, there will have to be more strength, what is it, air, yes, air. And a good deal more just now. Hodgson takes a good deal of strength when he comes, but he is all right, he understands the methods of operation very well (The window was now opened wide). That is better. Now the light begins to get clear. All right, friend."
Clearly, the psychic is in control here, not the investigators.
I would be suspicious as to what was going on a that window.
Was the mail always checked -- not just Mrs Piper's {important this}
Where were the daughters during the sittings? (Supposedly at their needlework -- but were they under surveillance all the time?)
There are so many questions I would need answered and so many alternative theories about how this all could have been done that I am surprised that Clancie and Ian can't think of any other ways that Mrs Piper could have come by the information other than by supernatural means.
It was a spectacular piece of cheek on Mrs Piper's part to recruit Hodgson as a 'spirit control'.
Had I been his spirit, the first thing I would have asked is:
"Why the &^*% did you tell me I'd live a long happy life and have children. Why didn't you tell me I was going to die so soon you *darned* fraud. Oh, but you can't be if I'm talking to you now -- oh, this is confusing -- where is Myers? Groan."
