One day, sometime during World War I, a Chicago policeman walked into Dr. William Sadler's psychiatric offices. That visit set off a series of events which were to bring trouble to Sadler, and to present the first serious threat to the Revelation.

The consultations which resulted from that visit must have been one of the more outstanding psychiatric cases for Sadler. Those of us who investigated this event believe the policeman was a detective and that his name was Harry Jacob Loose. The case became so important to Sadler he included a description of the man's illness in three of his books. Martin Gardner identified identical descriptions in The Mind At Mischief, page 137 (1929), in Mental Mischief and Emotional Conflicts, page 142 (also 1929), and in the Theory and Practice of Psychiatry, page 465 (1936).

This is what Sadler wrote:

There came to me a few years ago an ex-police officer, a big strapping fellow, who would go down a dark alley any night and shoot it out with half a dozen burglars, but who, as a result of a long emotional strain, experienced a partial nervous breakdown. He was several months recovering, but when he did get well there was one of his many fears that lingered on, behaving after the fashion of a residual fear. He simply would not go anywhere alone. He would find some excuse for getting out of any errand that required him to go anywhere by himself. He had to do considerable traveling for a year or two, and so he hired an old chum to go along with him. Finally he was cured, but it required more effort to conquer this one phobia than all his other fears, and he wasn't cured by reasoning, talking, explanation, or rationalization, as he was of his other fears. This one he had to right out and defy; he had actually to go through all the misery, and suffer all the physical manifestations, of the fear which accompanied his going any place alone.

 

Through a series of letters from several members of the Forum to Harold Sherman in the 1940's, Martin Gardner believed he was able to determine the cause of Loose's breakdown. In his book Gardner expressed his belief that Loose became "depressed over his daughter's romance with a man he thought unsuitable for her. He is said to have contemplated suicide." Supposedly, this led to the partial nervous breakdown described by Sadler, and the subsequent impact upon the unfolding of the Revelation.

(The Sherman files which contained this correspondence were under instructions from Sherman to remain sealed until the year 2,000. Martha Sherman, his wife, violated the proscription to make the files available to Gardner at Gardner's request.)

Unfortunately, actual facts do not bear out Gardner's supposition. Perhaps he came to this deduction out of his imagination. In fact, Gardner's presentation of the Loose information is flawed and in serious error in several ways.

Sadler must have thought highly of Loose. He offered an unsolicited letter of recommendation to the Lyceum organizations for Loose to go on the Chautauqua lecture circuit. The letter reads as follows:

Feb. 15, 1917

Mr. D. H. Grant, Pres.
Int. Lyceum Bureau,
1255 Peoples Gas Bldg.,
Chicago, Ill.

My dear Mr. Grant:

I have just heard that Mr. H. J. Loose has consented to go on the lecture platform under your direction, and I have just been looking over the circular announcement of his lectures. Not always are the great things advertised in Lyceum circulars actually true, but in this case I happen to know that Mr. Loose has achieved the very things which this circular claims; and furthermore, I know Detective Loose to be a man of splendid ideals, lofty principles, and high moral character.

I congratulate you on securing Mr. Loose. He will make good. He will do good. He knows whereof he speaks. He is an unusual character to find on the Police force of any city, and will prove a revelation to most communities who may be fortunate to hear him.

Sincerely,

(Signed) William S. Sadler

 

It may be that Sadler wrote this letter at the request of Loose. If Loose were under psychiatric care his reliability might otherwise be suspect to the Lyceum managers. Thus Loose had a direct recommendation to silence those suspicions.

Since the date of this letter is early in 1917 while Loose was still on the Chicago police force, and since Sadler in 1929 refers to his unidentified policeman as an "ex-police officer" Sadler must have followed the history of Loose. Loose left the police force in 1922.

According to U. S. Census reports for 1920 Loose was then 39 years old. His wife Emily was 33, and his three children were a daughter Mabel, 17, and two sons, 13 and 9.

Whatever the cause of Loose's breakdown, it is highly unlikely it was due to a love affair of his daughter. He had to consult Sadler before the date of the letter. Therefore his psychiatric problem predates that letter by some period of time. In February, 1917 his daughter would have been 13 or 14. At the time of his breakdown she would have been no more than 13.

Quite probably the daughter's love affair took place in the 1920's when Forum members would have known Loose, and hence the references in the correspondence concerning this problem date from that era, not World War I. Gardner had no real foundation for his open speculation on the cause of Loose's problem. The episode with his daughter was merely another in a series of personal problems encountered by Loose, as I shall show.

Loose was born in Springfield, Illinois in 1880. He became a State policeman in 1901. He left to become a private detective with the famous Pinkerton agency for a year or two, then was hired by the Chicago police force as a detective. He was attached to Hull House for six years before returning to the streets. Photographs of Loose show him to be a "big strapping fellow." He lectured on the Chautauqua and Lyceum circuits about his experiences dealing with crime and criminals, and the causes of those social blights.

The Chautauqua records indicate that Loose did not really get started on his lecture circuit until about 1919.

A search of the Chicago City Directory on Harry J. Loose provided the following information:

 

I obtained copies of the records on Loose which the University of Iowa library retains in its special Chautauqua collections in Iowa City, Iowa. They reveal that Loose was a detective when he first went on the lecture circuit, and that he negotiated with the Lyceum Bureau to make trips to regions around Chicago which he could reach in week-end travel. A contract dated December 11, 1918 offered him $16.66 per engagement.

In September 1919 he wrote to L. B. Crotty of the Lyceum Bureau of his deep regrets that he was refused a Furlough or Leave of Absence from the Chicago Police Department. He then stated that he was applying for early Pension on the grounds of his length of service and injuries received in the course of duty. He continued to struggle with this conflict until he was granted pension.

A schedule for October and November of 1919 showed him on week-end tours through Culver, Indiana, towns in Michigan and one on Sunday, November 2 in Delafield, Wisconsin.

A letter from W. V. Harrison, the Chautauqua Redpath manager, to W. A. Colledge on December 19, 1919 shows that they would give him $125.00 per week and would provide transportation for his wife to be with him for one week. Harrison reminded Colledge that Loose was obligated to deliver seven lectures per week, although Loose had adamantly stated the previous summer that he would not lecture on Sundays.

By 1920 he was lecturing full time. A contract dated October 1, 1920 guaranteed him $150.00 per week with a specification of six lectures per week. An addendum paragraph on the latter shows that Loose would "furnish helper who will appear in full police uniform during Lyceum work, of which 1st party will pay $50.00 per week and helper's railroad from and return to Chicago." A second addendum specifies that "1st party will pay expense of railroads for one week for 2nd party's wife to visit him on the road during Lyceum work."

Several reports show Loose as "very good" on the circuit, but "somewhat below average" in attraction of audience. Several unsolicited letters brought high praise for his informative talk.

In a letter of March 31, 1920 Loose offers to resign from the Chicago Police Department if the Lyceum Bureau would guarantee a three-year contract of 40 weeks per year.

Meanwhile Loose had written a book entitled The Shamus which was published by the Christopher Publishing House in Boston, Massachusetts in 1920. The advertisement claims that Loose had lectured in over 200 cities the previous two seasons, and that he had worked at the Juvenile Protective Association of Hull House. The advertisement also states that during his six and one-half years of connection with Hull House he had been commissioned a Special Probation Officer of the Juvenile Court of Cook County. He was later assigned to the Chicago Council Crime Committee, and placed in charge of investigations into the cause of crime. He certainly was a rounded individual, whose views went beyond the common policeman's beat.

In cooperation with the U. S. Department of Justice, Mr. Loose made the investigation, arrest and prosecution of Samuel J. Rosenthal, "The Fake Bankruptcy King," recently sentenced to Fort Leavenworth. In cooperation with U. S. Post Office Inspectors, he made the investigation, arrest and prosecution of Dr. Ottoman Zar Adusht Hanish of Sun Cult fame...

 

A letter dated May 27, 1920 addressed to local managers on the Chautauqua circuit shows that Loose "has taken a year's leave of absence and will be available for any engagements this winter." The managers were concerned: "If we do not get him the Mutual will. They have made him a rather flattering offer, which I saw myself."

Not until August 3, 1920 does Loose suggest that a police officer named Gray would accompany him, "in full police uniform." On August 7 he was offered a winter program at $165.00 per week, "not to exceed $175.00" A letter from W. A. Colledge dated August 31 confirms that "He filled a very successful engagement with Vernon Harrison this summer." "He has taken a year's leave of absence and at the end of the year he gets his pension so that there is no danger of his being called back." Colledge goes on to say, "He is a mighty fine fellow and I think would give you excellent satisfaction." A letter to Colledge from H. H. Kennedy in Kansas City states that "Indeed, I trust that it will be possible for the Bureau to secure him for next season, as I believe he has a type of lecture that is very greatly needed and that will take readily with the (Chautauqua) committees."

A letter of September 2, 1920 from J. A. Bumstead of the Chautauqua Redpath circuit to W. A. Colledge is highly informative about the practical character and nature of Loose.

Loose: From the committee reports that are in so far, he is ranking eighth place among the seven-day talent. He is just a trifle below the average for all the talent.

It is our opinion that Loose is a mighty good afternoon man, nothing sensational but a good novel lecturer. However, it takes about four good men and a nurse to keep him going and keep him sweet. He is almost as bad as Gusaulus in this respect, for every day he tells someone that he is going home, and finally did leave ten days before the circuit closed without any prior arrangements made for getting someone in his place, except his sister, who did not fill the bill at all. He said that he was sick, but confessed in a letter that it was homesickness more than anything else. Would like to talk with you about this sometime.

 

A handwritten footnote to the letter says:

He says he lacked companionship but anyone who "companioned" with him would soon get the same way he is. A fine fellow but a most peculiar disposition.

 

In a letter addressed to J. C. Youdan of the Lions Clubs Lecture Service Bureau on October 27, 1920 Loose says:

In reference to the offer of a contract to begin at the conclusion of my Redpath contract -- which does not expire until the fall of 1924 -- I can but say I feel highly complimented.

 

Then, on November 22, 1920 an event took place which misled Martin Gardner into serious error, and a pitiful assumption about William Sadler. In a letter dated November 24 Loose states to (Uncle) L. B. Crotty⁽¹⁾:

I know Sadler. Knew him when he was on the Municipal court Bench years ago. Have had cases before him. Knew he was lecturing but did not know for whom.

According to what is stated in the clipping, (from the Moline Dispatch) he is following the outline of my talk so closely that the possibility of it being accidental or mere change is exceedingly small.

A man must be in great need, be kind of short on brains himself and not be bothered with an oversupply of conscience to deliberately "lift" another man's effort and make off with it like this.

Imitation is the sincerest flattery but, from the outline given in the clipping, Sadler can hardly be called "imitating" in this. A shorter, uglier, name would be more appropriate and probably describe his efforts more truthfully.

 

In a reply to Loose with the same date the Manager of the Lyceum Department says that he is "returning the newspaper comment on Dr. Sadler at Moline." Loose is reassured not to worry because Sadler is not going to have enough (lecture) dates to bother about.

When Martin Gardner read these letters he immediately jumped to the conclusion that "Sadler" was William Sadler. The Chautauqua manager had referred to "Dr. Sadler." How many Dr. Sadlers were around? Gardner then speculated that was the trigger event which led Loose to despise Sadler. Unfortunately, Gardner was in great error.

You may note that Loose had a copy of the newspaper clipping. There was no confusion on the part of Loose. Richard Preiss, who now works for the Moline Dispatch newspaper, obtained a copy of the clipping, which reads partially as follows:

CRIME BECKONS
IN THE BIG CITY

Frank P. Sadler Warns of
Dangers in Sunday Talk
at Y.M.C.A.

Crime begins whenever there is a desire to get something for nothing, said Frank P. Sadler, Chicago criminologist at the Moline Y.M.C.A. Sunday afternoon. 

Judge Sadler declared the best remedy of removing crime is to improve the environment of the growing boy and girl and to eliminate conditions that lead to criminal activity...

 

It is one of those ironies of fate that two men were on the Chautauqua lecture circuit by the name of Sadler, that both came out of Chicago, that Harry Loose knew them both, and that the Chautauqua manager referred to Frank Sadler as Dr. Sadler. How easy it was for Martin Gardner to deduce ill feeling on the part of Loose toward William Sadler when it was nothing but a figment of Gardner's imagination. Gardner quickly leapt into this assumption because he was emotionally disturbed by the possibility of divine revelation. He should have done the homework for which he is unjustly famous.

On this incident Gardner brought a major indictment against William Sadler -- and it was all a puff of smoke.

A Book of Chicagoans for 1911 shows this Sadler to be Frank Prather Sadler, a judge in the Chicago Municipal Court from 1907 to 1909. He was born in Springfield, Illinois on June 10, 1872, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1896, a Bachelor of Law in 1898 and was admitted to the Illinois State Bar the same year. He was a Republican and a Methodist, a member of the law firm of Taylor, Ingraham & Sadler, and gave lectures on subjects related to his profession, including The Criminal in the Making, The Criminal in the Saving, Twentieth Century Unrest -- Its Portent, and so on. He also contributed to numerous publications.

I have copies of correspondence between Frank Sadler and the Chautauqua managers which date to 1914 and 1915. According to this correspondence he was lecturing in 1914. A Chautauqua advertising brochure for Frank Sadler is dated 1908, during his tenure on the Municipal Court. They show him as Judge on the Harrison Street and Des Plaines Street Benches, two of the most notorious districts in Chicago. The themes of his subjects about criminals, how they enter crime, and moral and social issues to reduce crime, show a remarkable similarity to the material by Loose, but predating Loose by ten years. If anything, Loose borrowed from Frank Sadler, not vice versa.

But to continue with Harry Loose.

A newspaper article in Elkhart, Indiana on October 16, 1920 noted that "Mr. Loose was accompanied to Elkhart by Examiner Lewis of the Bertillion bureau of the Chicago police department, an intimate friend, who assisted the speaker in displaying his interesting exhibits."

As William Sadler indicated, Loose was afraid to travel alone, and usually had someone with him. He called upon his friends on the police force for that assistance, incorporating them into his lecture program. He would display a dramatic assortment of knives, guns, burglar tools, and so on which he had collected over the years. A police officer standing by in full uniform made this even more appealing. This living display was an important adjunct to his lecture, bringing the reality of crime closer to his audience.

An account in the LaRue County Herald of Hodgkinsville County, Kentucky states that "Mr. Loose has been on the Chicago detective force for twenty years and before this he was connected with the famous Pinkerton Agency. He was accompanied by Bill Grey, also a Chicago police man for thirty-one years, and who holds both a Harris Medal and a Carnegie Medal." A photograph of Gray shows him to be an older man, probably someone the Chicago police department could afford to give to Loose.

But something further was happening emotionally to Loose. He not only felt a need for a traveling companion, he got involved in situations which demonstrated other weakness in character. In a lecture at Holden, Missouri early in 1921 he got carried away with a fervor for the cause of right. As the local newspaper reported:

Of course he gave an interesting talk of an hour and a half about crime in Chicago, illustrating it with weapons, etc., in his "manicure set," but all that was merely introduction to the last 20 minutes when he delivered the most stunning, sledge hammer, solar plexus wallops on supervised recreation ever handed a Holden audience. Taking all in all, it was the most wonderful lecture ever given in this city.

...But really, the cause is found in a departure from the old-fashioned faith in God, the real virile religion of the Nazarene...

...Not many congratulated Loose for his lecture. (It was not that kind of a lecture.)

 

On this occasion Loose vented  feelings that were bottled up in him. The pressures of long travel away from home, the rigor of the schedules, the stress of living audiences -- all contributed to this outbreak. But more trouble was brewing.

On March 3, 1921 W. A. Colledge wrote a letter to several ministers in Tipton, Indiana. He had received a report that Loose was seen with a woman in compromising circumstances.

But, first of all, in the interest of fair play, we want to know if what is being said is correct and will consider it a great favor if you will help us to get at the truth. I have met Mrs. Loose, but only slightly and the description given by Mr. Chambers of the woman in the hotel, if my recollection is correct, is an exact description of Mrs. Loose. Will you kindly send me the letter you received from the party in regard to Detective Loose, or if you do not wish to part with it a copy with the name and address of the writer will do, and I will investigate the matter.

I am very much surprised at the report. We have known Detective Loose for five years. He has been lecturing for us for three years and there has never been a shadow of a suspicion even cast upon his moral character and in justice to him he should have an opportunity to clear himself.

 

Aubrey Harrell Moore, Minister of the Tipton west Street Christian Church replied in writing to Colledge. He stated that he had seen letters from a party in Chicago, but felt he could not reveal the letters at that time. He further stated that if Mrs. Loose could verify that she was in Tipton on the date involved that would settle the matter. If she was not there Colledge should then proceed in his investigation.

Unfortunately, we have no other record of this event. We do not know its ultimate outcome, but we do know that Loose continued to lecture for the Lyceum into 1923. It may be that the accusations were an unfounded suspicion about the moral character of Loose. The Lyceum made arrangement for his wife to visit with him "for one week." It is likely this was the cause of the rumors.

However, another problem is recorded in the Chautauqua files. The Wever, Iowa Lyceum Committee wrote a letter to the Redpath Vawter Management in Cedar Rapids dated January 26, 1922.

We have your letter of the 26th instant stating that Mr. Loose will make affidavit that he paid H. W. Patterson $5.00. I would suggest that you get this affidavit.

...We also want to say that we can get every man and woman within a radius of five miles of our village to vouch for the honesty and truthfulness of H. W. Patterson. It would require a great deal more than the affidavit of a man of the calibre of Mr. Loose has shown himself to be to impeach Mr. Patterson in the minds of the people of this community, where he was raised and is known by everyone.

 

W. A. Colledge thereupon wrote a letter to Loose requesting some explanation. But Loose's problems were not that simple. Colledge quotes from another letter from Iowa:

In the first place, Loose was booked to give a matinee talk to the High School children at Muscatine, Iowa, where we have a $2,400.00 course. We sent him notice of this, he accepted on his regular itinerary and railroad schedule -- also wrote a note accepting -- then he got in town and told the Committee he did not have a talk fit to be given children, and refused to give it, causing us a great deal of embarrassment with one of the finest courses we have in Iowa.

The same thing practically occurred at Marshalltown, Iowa, on another large course, except I got him by telephone and told him to either give the Matinee talk or go home at once.

When we got up into South Dakota he got in touch with some pal of his up there and voluntarily went and gave a matinee talk, showing that he could to it when he wanted to.

He was booked for Wever, Iowa, and routed to take a 5:00 a.m. train out of there to Burlington, Iowa. Instead of doing this he got a taxicab man to drive him the 12 miles -- then, instead of paying the fellow, he gave him 50¢ and thanked him and told him to go and get some cigars. However, he charged us in his expense account $5.00 for this drive. Our agent went back to Wever to attempt a booking, and the whole town was up in arms the way he cheated this man out of his fare, and I wrote the fellow, asking him to send us the bill, which he did -- charging us but $3.50 for the drive, instead of $5.00 which Loose charged us with. I have a sworn affidavit from this man, who is reported by the leading bank of that town to be thoroughly reliable, swearing under oath that Loose did not pay him a cent for the drive.

Loose made sworn affidavits that he did. Last week he was booked at Richland, Iowa, routed to leave on a 9:53 train after the lecture. Instead, he cut his lecture short and at 9:15, refused to show his curiosities and to answer any questions, as he had been advertised to. This Committee is demanding a rebate.

 

Colledge then went into several demands upon Loose to express clearly his loyalties to his contract and his bookings, and to consider the impact he has upon the Lyceum reputation. Colledge then states that he "is now with-holding my future judgment until I hear from you in regard to the policy you intend to pursue in the future.

Loose responded with a lengthy four-page reply, denying the allegations one by one, and showing reasons why the accusations were false. William Gray was with him and could confirm every point. The letter is sincere in tone, and demonstrates either a great deception on the part of Loose, or high feelings of dissatisfaction in Iowa, with causes unknown.

In a letter dated February 25, 1922 Fred B. Wolf of the local Lyceum Committee states to Colledge that he will determine all the facts in the case and report to the Chicago office. Whatever the cause, they lost a $2,000 contract together with much bad feelings toward the Chautauqua circuit, all developing out of Loose's conduct.

In further dispute with a deteriorating relationship Loose insisted in several letters that he was contracted until April, 1924, but the Lyceum minutes of meetings show that they considered cancelling his contract on May 1 and 2, 1922, because "of certain things which had happened." Following correspondence shows that they reverted to individual contract dates, rather than a long-term contract, and that Loose, probably upset with his treatment, left a schedule in Kansas for ten days. The Lyceum management felt that was sufficient grounds to discharge him from further contractual obligations. The last letter on record is dated May 11, 1923 to Loose from H. V. Harrison to stop by; Harrison had one or two personal matters to discuss with him, but that "he should stop by at any time."

Loose then obtained employment with the Chicago Daily News, where he directed their security staff.

As I described in Chapter 14 Loose gave a lecture in Marion, Indiana in 1921 which was attended by Harold Sherman as a reporter for the Marion Chronicle. This led to Sherman becoming a member of the Forum in 1942, and a consequent "rebellion" among their ranks. This was Sadler's first real challenge for preservation of the Revelation. Other challenges were to come, but not in Sadler's lifetime.

In a letter to Sherman dated February 4, 1941 Loose tells Sherman "to watch for a tremendous book which will be published in about two years. It has been 35 years in the building. It is not mine but I had something to do with it."

Loose, of course, is referring to The Urantia Papers. Although I have been unable to locate a record, he apparently became a member of the Forum. By having "something to do with it" he probably meant he was active during the period when questions were being posed and answers received. His attitude is typical of the Forumites who were members during that process. The statement could not mean more than that, although Sherman may have concluded that Loose played a larger role. This statement also led Martin Gardner to assume unreal conditions for changes in the Revelation and of Sadler "editing" the Papers. The Papers were not subject to change by any human mortal; Sadler was exceedingly careful that no human alterations creep in. This strict rule led to Sherman's later deep disappointment.

I also have been unable to determine the dates of Loose's attendance in the Forum, or how long he was active. We do know from letters to Sherman that he continued to maintain contact through other Forumites into the 1940's. In an undated letter, certainly after Sherman's contact with Loose in 1941, he mentions "Wanderman, Ronayne, Potter and the other four," apparently individuals who attended meetings and kept him informed of events. He tells Sherman to stay in touch with them. This raises the question of the reasons for his departure from the Forum while he continued to have such an intense interest. Gardner reports that he retired to California in 1934. This would be just before the actual revelation, but at the end of the question and answer episodes. At that time he was a mere 54 years of age. His retirement may have been due to failing health. Gardner reports that Loose in 1941 "was then in his seventies, with a severe heart condition." Once again, Gardner, with a great cloud over his mind, shows how his emotions conditioned his thinking. In 1941 Loose was only 61 years of age, not in his seventies. However, it may be that he had a severe heart condition which led to an early death on November 21, 1943.

Loose went deep into psychic phenomena. Again, the path by which he entered those pursuits is unknown, but he may have been impelled in that direction from limited understanding of the content of The Urantia Papers.

In his letters to Sherman he tells a strange story of "hybrids." In a letter dated June 14, 1942 he mentions the "hybrids" and states that they are not midwayers. They were an exception approved on petition of the Ancients of Days. In another undated letter he again speaks of the "missing hybrid story," but states, "...be assured, it was for a good purpose." He does not explain this remark to Sherman.

Sherman picked up on this "esoteric" notion and made it an important part of his attack on Sadler in his book "How to Know What to Believe." I shall discuss this problem in greater depth in the following chapter. Here I note that the discussion on "hybrids" was due to a confusion in the mind of Loose. Since he had no hard copy of The Urantia Papers available he had to depend on his memory. His memory of the role of the Prince's Staff was faulty. The Staff had been instructed to not mate with the primitive human mortals of those days, but later did reproduce among themselves, after the planetary rebellion, to create the Nodites. Reference to these planetary transactions is in the Bible in Genesis 6, which identifies the Nodites as Nephilim, or Giants.

In his many letters to Sherman Loose repeatedly expresses anger and frustration with Sadler. In a June 9, 1942 letter he attacks Sadler's personal vanity. He complains that Sadler won't separate himself from the Revelation. "Sadler should make contact and ask the intelligences an authoritative explanation of our truly evidenced psychic phenomena..." But he cautions Sherman that "The Receiver of this Revelation should be forever shielded."

This last remark shows that Loose was unaware of the miraculous nature of the actual revelation, which did not come "through" SS, although he respects the reasons for not identifying him. This fact, the use of SS, may have been the reason he pursued psychic phenomena so relentlessly.

In another undated letter he complains about Sadler not relinquishing control over the Revelation. He wants greater democracy over it. He states, "It is so sad that Sadler is so blind. He was so well chosen for the part he has had. And he has performed so wonderfully up to the present."

This, too, was part of the psychology developing within the ranks of the Forum, and was eloquently expressed by Clyde Bedell and Robert Burton, other outstanding Forum members, who later brought attacks against the policies of the Urantia Foundation, Sadler's autocratic creation. Again, I shall discuss these events in a later chapter. I mention it here merely because Loose had sentiments similar to many other members of the Forum about Sadler's methods of management of the Revelation. Their views later proved correct.

The manner in which Loose may have pushed Sherman into an unfriendly attitude toward Sadler is demonstrated in other letters. In a letter dated August 14, 1942 he urges Sherman to fight Sadler. "He is vulnerable." He reminds Sherman of Sadler's remark, "I am only the custodian of the papers. I do not own them." In September Loose suggests a law suit against Sadler. Sadler would be greatly fearful. In a later September letter he states his belief that "Something snapped with Dr. S before the death of his wife." He further expresses the hope that Sherman someday will meet SS face to face but first contact will probably be with the wife of the subject. Here Loose shows his first-hand knowledge of the routine for messages to be received from SS. His wife had to notify Sadler before Sadler could be present to receive the messages.

In an October letter he further rails against Sadler for claiming he hypnotized the "instrument." He writes that Sadler should not have done so, because it would have been against the will of the "subject," and Sadler wasn't skilled in this area. He states that "It was Dr. Lena that kept Sadler balanced."

Once again Loose touches on a subject which is crucial to understanding of the mechanisms within the mind. A person under deep hypnotic trance can be induced to perform acts which he could not do consciously. Thus the act of hypnotism may be a violation of the conscious will. But Loose was not expert in this area, and did not account for the degrees of hypnotism which may be used by medical professionals. Sadler was thoroughly competent in this area, after many years of experience. He did not subject SS to hypnotic trance to cause him to perform acts against his will, but rather to probe his subconscious or marginal conscious. This was part of Sadler's investigation into the origins of the revealed material.

These examples illustrate how Loose had an impact on unfolding events, and conditioned Sherman to unfavorable attitudes toward Sadler.

Loose may also have feared his social position among the Forumites. In several letters he enters into tirades against G. Willard Hales and his wife. He refers to her as "a long standing nuro." He did not trust the Hales, perhaps because they "saw through him."

Loose was an emotional, somewhat unstable, personality who had contact with the process of a divine revelation, and desired within his heart for the good of the revelation, but was deeply disturbed by the elements of human behavior which any group of human mortals will display. He also got carried away with the mystical appearances of celestial activities he interpreted as psychic phenomena. Many Urantians after him followed the same route into eternal jeopardy. The full cost to human kind has not yet been accounted.

In spite of his concerns the Revelation eventually was given to the world, intact, through the invested trust of William S. Sadler.

---

THE CHICAGO JUVENILE PROTECTION AGENCY

Harry J. Loose, Frank P. Sadler, and William S. Sadler were contemporaries. Frank Sadler was three years older than William Sadler, Harry Loose was five years younger. They all appeared on the Chicago secular scene around the same time.

Reform was in the air. Chicago had established a Crime Commission under Professor Charles E. Merriam as chairman. His report laid stress upon two elements: a) "that professional criminals escape the penalties of the law and prey at will upon society," and b) that the jails and prison houses of Chicago, designed for the persons who elude or escape the police, are filled with "poor and petty criminals" or persons who are not guilty of any crime at all. The result was high cost to Chicago citizens; a poor use of tax dollars.

An article in The New Republic laid stress on the inequities of social justice. The article reviewed the history of imprisonment for the lack of bond by many poor people. In England in 1678, more than two hundred years previously, Thomas Firmin had described how one man who "within little more than two years with the charity of some worthy persons hath delivered out of Prison about five hundred poor people who lay there either for their fees or for very small debts." The same blight was noted for Chicago. "Many thousands of men and boys suffer the penalties of unjust arrest and imprisonment every year." "Out of 109,764 persons arrested in a single year less than ten per cent were arrested on felony charges. The great mass of persons arrested -- 90 out of every 100 -- were arrested for trivial offenses or for no offense at all, as evidence by their discharge in court." Of those numbers only 2,182 (2%) were held for grand jury. Only 141 (1/10 of 1%) were sentenced to county jail, only 1,935 (1.8%) were sentenced to the House of Correction, only 40% were fined, and the others, more than half of all the persons arrested, were discharged in the municipal court.

"And it must be emphasized that the hardships involved in needless arrests are hardships that fall almost exclusively upon the poor. The well-to-do are not arrested for trivial offenses." In the Illinois House of Corrections "82 per cent of the whole number were there only because they were too poor to pay the small fines imposed upon them." A similar ratio was true for the Cook County jail.

In 1910, when the International Prison Congress met in Washington, the foreign delegates were taken to various cities in the country to examine jails and prisons. Everywhere the delegates expressed horror and surprise at the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of presumably innocent persons locked up in cells merely awaiting trial.

In an attempt to protect the young people who were brought before the courts the Illinois Juvenile Court Law went into effect July 1, 1899. The law provided for the organization of the Court and for a probation system to keep so many young persons out of the jails and prisons, but failed to provide salaries for probation officers, the men and women who would do the work to accomplish that goal. At the first session of the court, Mrs. Lucy L. Flower offered to raise a fund to pay the salaries. Mrs. Alzina P. Stevens offered her services as the first probation officer. This was the origin of the Juvenile Court Committee.

The law forbade the detention of young children in jails and police stations, but provided no other place for their detention. In 1901 the Juvenile Court Committee took over operations of the earlier Illinois Industrial Association and for six years provided a Detention Home, with appropriations from the city and county. Through this home about 2,600 children passed yearly. As a result of the efforts of the Juvenile Court Committee the city and county erected and opened a Detention Home on October 17, 1907.

However, the payment of probation officers had not yet been formally solved. Over the first seven years the Court Committee raised more than $100,000 in voluntary contributions to pay the salaries. At the initiative of the Committee a law was passed which placed the probation officers upon the county payroll. At the time of the report in 1908 the probation staff consisted of 119 persons paid by Cook County and 30 police probation officers paid by the city.

According to the report,

"the purpose of this work, as its name indicates, is to take another preventive step on behalf of the children of the city and to remove as far as possible the temptations and dangers which carelessness and greed place about them." "The Juvenile Protective Association attempts to lessen this procession of children which moves yearly through the courts; to get at the child before he goes down, to remove temptations, to better conditions in his neighborhood, to keep him from committing the misdemeanors and crimes that take him into the courts -- to use formative rather than reformative measures."

"The city has been divided into seven districts, in each one of which is stationed a protective officer who receives and acts upon complaints where individual children are in danger. In addition to these districts four special officers are constantly employed on community conditions which affect children, such as poolrooms, demoralizing dance halls, disorderly hotels, questionable cabarets, penny arcades, theaters, boys gangs and street trades."

It was into this scene of social reform that Frank Sadler worked as a judge on the Municipal Court, in one of the most notorious sections of Chicago. It was here that Harry Loose was assigned as a juvenile probation officer and where he brought men he arrested on the city streets. And it was here that William Sadler appeared as a psychiatrist a few years later.

 

These public reports make it obvious that Frank Sadler and Harry Loose both expressed the same words and the same sentiments when they later went on to the Chautauqua lecture circuit. The irate statements of Harry Loose about Frank Sadler show how misplaced his accusations truly were.

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JANE ADDAMS AND HULL HOUSE

The following facts may be obtained on Internet.

Jane Addams was born September 6, 1860 and died May 21, 1935. In 1889, she, with friend Ellen Gates Starr, founded the first major settlement house in America. This was opened in the Charles Hull mansion at 800 S. Halsted street, built in 1856 by a wealthy real estate man. The operation soon became a complex of buildings covering two city blocks in the midst of the "sweat" shops of south Chicago.

The buildings have, with two exceptions, now been razed to make way for the University of Illinois campus in Chicago. The original Hull mansion remains with much of the furniture used by Miss Addams. South of the original Hull House is the restored settlement dining hall, one of the first buildings in addition to the main house opened by Jane Addams. The hall is now used by University and community groups for meetings. Hull House became a national historic landmark in June of 1967.

Aided by Ellen Starr, Miss Addams helped hundreds of Chicago immigrants and others gain a place of self-respect in society. In the years following 1889, about a dozen other buildings were added to house classes and clubs, a nursery school, the only library in the neighborhood, and one of the first gymnasiums in the country. Many of the neighbors came to the center for weekly baths.

Jane Addams and Ellen Star provided numerous services to the people of the community including child care, health education, work for the unemployed, and classes in home economics, as well as a place of social gathering and recreation.

Under Addams' influence, the state of Illinois passed its first Factory Inspection Act (1893), established the first juvenile court (1899), formulated child labor laws, streamlined welfare procedures, and initiated compulsory school attendance and worker's compensation regulations. In 1910, she received an honorary degree from Yale University in New Haven, CT, becoming the first woman to do so. In 1912, she became the first woman to make a nominating speech at a national political convention, when she seconded Theodore Roosevelt's nomination. She opposed U.S. entry into World War I, and formed the first Women's Peace Party in 1915. In 1931, she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (she shared the prize with Nicholas Murray Butler).

A brochure published in 1894 shows a list of eighteen residents, individuals who lived or worked at Hull House. They were unpaid volunteers who not only gave of their time, but also of their personal funds to maintain and operate the House.

"The original residents came to Hull House with a conviction that social intercourse could best express the growing sense of the economic unity of society. They wished the social spirit to be the undercurrent of the life of Hull House, whatever direction the stream might take. All the details were left for the demands of the neighborhood to determine, and each department has grown from a discovery made through natural and reciprocal social relations."

 

The activities were funded solely by private contributions and included at that time college extension courses, a summer school, a students association, a reading room, an exhibition room for pictures, a working people's chorus, Sunday concerts, the Jane Club, "a co-operative boarding club for young working women," a labor movement, a social science club, and other similar activities for new immigrants and for those women who worked in the local factories.

The labor movement and the juvenile protection work were dear to the heart of Jane Addams.

"It is now generally understood that Hull House is 'on the side of unions.' ...In one case a strike was successfully arbitrated by the House. ...The most important illustration of this highly useful policy is in the action of the unions in urging the factory inspection law passed by the Legislature of Illinois during the spring of 1893. The initiative toward the introduction of the measure in the Legislature was taken by a resident of Hull House (Jane Addams), and a Committee of Investigation sent from Springfield to inspect sweat shops and decide upon the necessity for legislation, was piloted by her upon its tour."

 

Jane Addams was also highly influential in the passage of the Juvenile Protection Act, and many of the Chicago Juvenile operations were centered in Hull House. It was here that Harry Loose, as a detective on the Chicago Police force, was attached as a probation officer. It was also at Hull House that William Sadler became involved in the Juvenile work as a psychiatrist. He continued to offer services to Hull House well into his life. I have copy of a letter from Hull House dated April 16, 1931 which shows how his fame had spread throughout the country. A Miss Gladys Smith of Newport, Tennessee had made an inquiry of Jane Addams concerning a physical ailment which left emotional problems. The continued humble and personal atmosphere at Hull House can be estimated from the first paragraph of the letter.

"Miss Addams has shown me your letter and has talked with me about it. Since she is interested and since I have some experience with problems such as yours, she has asked me if I would write you. Miss Addams receives a large number of letters from people in a variety of problems and she wants to answer every one herself, but that is not possible. She has no secretary, so those of us who live at Hull House attempt to share the little of this responsibility.

 

The writer of the letter (not shown on the office copy) then refers to an inquiry by the Tennessee woman about William Sadler. Apparently the woman had heard about Sadler's high reputation and sought his help. The writer of the letter suggests she seek help from the hospital staff in Knoxville, Tennessee for psychiatric consultation, and makes this statement about Sadler:

"Dr. W. S. Sadler has written a good many popular articles and books, but he is listed in the Directory of American Medical Association not as a psychiatrist but as a surgeon. He was graduated from the American Medical Missionary College in Chicago in 1906 and was licensed to practice medicine in 1907. He is a member of Chicago Medical Society, Illinois Medical Society, and American Medical Association, which memberships indicate that he has professional standing so far as the practice of medicine is concerned. I am not able to find, however, that he has any special training in psychiatry."

^1. Here Gardner makes another bad assumption. He thought this address by Loose to Crotty implied that Crotty was his blood uncle. Actually, the term was one of affection for Crotty's managerial position; it had nothing to do with blood relationship.

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