of an intimate friend, but seen by a comparative stranger.[1]
The following case amongst our more recent records will serve to illustrate the type:
No. 56. From Mrs. Benecke[2]
Mr. E. F. M. Benecke, an Exhibitioner of Balliol College, Oxford, was a good Alpine climber, and was at the time of his death collaborating in a Guide to the Swiss Alps. On the 16th July, 1895, he started with a friend, Mr. Cohen, at 3 o'clock A. M., from Ried for a short climb, and was never seen again. On the early afternoon of that day he was seen with a companion walking in his mother's garden in England. The percipient was Ellen Carter, now Mrs. Nichols, a daughter of Mrs. Benecke's laundress, who has written the following account at the request of Mrs. Benecke:
February 1st, 1897.
On Tuesday, July 16th, 1895, between the hours of 1 and 2 o'clock, I was doing some work in our bedroom and, looking out of the window, saw (as I thought) Mr. Edward Benecke with another young gentleman walking in the garden, and I went at once to mother and told her Mr. Edward had come home, and she said something must have prevented him from starting, as we knew he was going to Switzerland for his holiday for I was positive it was him I saw. When nurse came in on the Thursday, mother asked her if Mr. Edward had come home, and she said "No," and then we only said, "I thought I saw him," and we thought no more about it until the sad news reached us.
