Who was Mr Thomas of Adelaide?

In my last post I mentioned that my long-term goal is to prepare a short biography of each person ACD mentions meeting in Australia in 'Wanderings of a Spiritualist' (221bcooee.blogspot.com/2023/08/plans-for-articles-on-wanderings-of.html). I hope that by doing so I'll be able to throw a light on ACD's perspectives. If I run out of people I may even cover the NZ section of his trip!

In undertaking this, I want to be thorough, but not ALL people are going to be easy to identify.

Take, for example, the case of Mr. Thomas, who I may never identify. But I will try very hard to do so.

When ACD's visit to Australia was announced, his first city was Adelaide, and advertisements for his lectures appeared in the local newspapers, placed there by Carlyle Smyth (in the 'Amusements' section!). Note that there were two different lectures offered.

Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA)

Tuesday 21 September 1920, page 2

The venue for the lectures in Adelaide was the Town Hall, which still stands today on King William St, Adelaide. 

The Adelaide Town Hall in July, 2023.

As the advertisement during ACD's Adelaide leg show, the lectures were sold out, and another lecture topic was added to the schedule that included a presentation of "pictures of psychic phenomena forming a sequel to his lecture". The ad also reassures that "The pictures used to illustrate this lecture are guaranteed to be Genuine by Sir Arthur himself".

The Register (Adelaide, SA)
Mon 27 Sep 1920 Page 2 

This new, remarkable lecture on 'Pictures of Psychic Phenomena' is where our Mr. Thomas comes in. The lecture involved the presentation of pictures, projected from lantern slides. ACD relates the even in Wanderings:

"Never before have I experienced such direct visible intervention as occurred during my first photographic lecture at Adelaide. I had shown a slide the effect of which depended upon a single spirit face appearing amid a crowd of others. The slide was damp, and as photos under these circumstances always clear from the edges when placed in the lantern, the whole centre was so thickly fogged that I was compelled to admit that I could not myself see the spirit face. Suddenly, as I turned away, rather abashed by my failure, I heard cries of "There it is," and looking up again I saw this single face shining out from the general darkness with so bright and vivid an effect that I never doubted for a moment that the operator was throwing a spot light upon it, my wife sharing my impression. I thought how extraordinarily clever it was that he should pick it out so accurately at the distance. So the matter passed, but next morning Mr. Thomas, the operator, who is not a Spiritualist, came in great excitement to say that a palpable miracle had been wrought, and that in his great experience of thirty years he had never known a photo dry from the centre, nor, as I understood him, become illuminated in such a fashion. Both my wife and I were surprised to learn that he had thrown no ray upon it. Mr. Thomas told us that several experts among the audience had commented upon the strangeness of the incident. I, therefore, asked Mr. Thomas if he would give me a note as to his own impression, so as to furnish an independent account. This is what he wrote:—

"Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide.

"In Adelaide, on September 28th, I projected a lantern slide containing a group of ladies and gentlemen, and in the centre of the picture, when the slide was reversed, appeared a human face. On the appearance of the picture showing the group the fog incidental to a damp or new slide gradually appeared covering the whole slide, and only after some minutes cleared, and then quite contrary to usual practice did so from a central point just over the face that appeared in the centre, and refused even after that to clear right off to the edge. The general experience is for a slide to clear from the outside edges to a common centre. Your slide cleared only sufficiently in the centre to show the face, and did not, while the slide was on view, clear any more than sufficient to show that face. Thinking that perhaps there might be a scientific explanation to this phenomenon, I hesitated before writing you, and in the meantime I have made several experiments but have not in any one particular experiment obtained the same result. I am very much interested—as are hundreds of others who personally witnessed the phenomenon."

Mr. Thomas, in his account, has missed the self-illuminated appearance of the face, but otherwise he brings out the points. I never gave occasion for the repetition of the phenomenon, for in every case I was careful that the slides were carefully dried beforehand."

Well, there we have it, who was Mr. Thomas, operator of the lantern projector at the Adelaide Town Hall in 1920? Hindmarsh Square is NOT the location of the Adelaide Town Hall, though it is close by. It is possible that Mr. Thomas can be found in directories residing there in 1920. I'd also be intrigued to know if this note resides in ACD's archives. I will search for Mr. Thomas. As an average citizen of the time, with a not-uncommon surname, it may be difficult!

Addendum: I was absolutely tickled to find the following advert placed by someone, intentionally, immediately under the advertisement for ACD's lecture in the issue of Mon 27 Sep, 1920. Getting the last work in, and responding directly to the text of the ad !

SPIRITUALISM not a new Revelation, but an old Seduction revived by the Great Enemy in opposition to God, who has and will punish traffickers in this dark art. See 1 Chronicles 10.13. 

So Saul died for his transgression, which he committed against the word of the Lord which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of a familiar spirit.

EDIT:

I can't believe it - I found him !!