The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1872-12-13

The paper was burned, and the skill
with which it was made to appear in /,
sealed envelope was appreciated by tn,
rope, who gave the conjuror permis
sion to keep his autograph. 1t was nov
time to end the performance with tn,
trick which the artist had invented fol
the occasion, to crown his other ex
ploits, Among the difficulties that ht
had to contend with, the greatest wa,
to obtain the Cardinals watch withou
directly asking him for it To overcome
this he had recourse to a y1se, Re
questing the loan of o watch from thu
company, several were handed to him
| which he returned, with the excuse, no,
without truth, that none of them hac
any pecuiarity of shape that would
make it easy To identify the one Sc
lected. He then said:
If any gentleman among you has 9
watch of rather large size this was the
peculiarly of the Cardinal's) he will
confer great favor by lending it to me
as it will greatly facilitate my expert
ment. need not say that / will be
extremely careful of it. My object is
to prove its superiority, if it has sny
and, if not, to wonderfully improve it,
All eyes were now turned on the Car.
dinal, who, as is well known, priced his
chronometer on account of its unusual
size; the large cases, as he said, allow.
ing the works to act more freely. He
hesitated, however, to part with his
treasure, till Plus VII. saio to him:
Cardinal, l fancy your watch will
suit exactly; oblige me by handing it
to Signor Torrini.' -
His Eminence complied, though not
without numerous precautions. When
the watch was handed to him, Torrini
assumed to be absorbed in admiration of
the works and beautiful chasing, to
which he drew the attention of the
Pope and the Cardinals. He then asked
the owner some questions which elected
the high estimation in which the Cardi-
nal held his chronometer, which had
been made to his order by the celebrated
Breguet. The enthusiasm of his Emi.
nence amused the Pope, who looked on
attentively as Torrini, after saying that
he should prove the solidity and excel
lent qualities of the watch, suddenly
let it fall to the ground. Everybody
was amazed at the boldness of this act,
and the Cardinal, unable to restrain his
Indignation, yehemenily exclaimed:
You are playing very sorry jest,
sir"
"But, monseigneur," calmly replied
the magician, "there is no cause for
alarm. l only wish to prove to these
gentlemen the perfection of your
watch, and you may rest assured that it
will not be injured by the trials to which
l shall subject it,"
With these words, he stamped on the
case, crushing it into a shapeless mass.
This act still further excited the ire of
the Cardinal but the Pope, who took a
more sensible view of the matter, turned
to him and said:
"Come, Cardinal, have you no con.
fdence in our sorcerer ? For my part,
/ laugh like child st it, being con-
vinced there has been some clever sub
stitution." g.
Torrini, who wss delighted with the
success of his trick, assured his Holiness
that there had been no substitution,
and appealed to the Cardinal for iden-
ti6cation of his watch. The latter, after
examining the shapeless fragments, and
finding his arms engraved inside the
case, acknowledged that it WAS indeed
his beloved chronometer, and added, in
a stern voice:
al do not see how you can escape,
sir; you should have tried your danger.
GUS experiment on some object that
could be replaced, instead of a unique
watch like mine."
The magician, after declaring that
this circumstance gave him additional
satisfaction, as il enhanced the credit of
his performance, asked the Cardinals
permission to proceed. But tho latter
said, that as he had not been consulted
in the destruction of the watch, he did
not care what became of its fragments.
Having established the identity of the
Cardinals chronometer, Torrini's next
object was, to pass into the Pope's
pocket the one he had bought the pre-.
vious evening. As this could not easily
be done while his Holiness remained
seated, the magician hit upon pretext
to make him rise. Placing brass NOR.
tar, with an enormous pestle, upon the
table, he threw in the fragments of the
watch, and began pounding furiously
Suddenly a slight detonation was heard
a lurid fame shot up from the vessel
into which Torrini gazed with an ex
preston of profound astonishment
Respect for the Pope prevented the au
dience from rising but his Holiness
curious to see the cause of the conjurer'i
interest, approached the table ano
looked into the mortar.
81 do not know" he said, "whethel
it is because the light dszzles my eyes
but can distinguish nothing"
Torrini then begged him to come
round the table and choose moro
favorable point of observation, and, a.
he moved, dextrously slipped the re
serve watch into his pocket. The Cardi
nails chronometec had now been re
duced to small ingot. Holding it VI
before the spectators, the magician
said:
81 will now restore this crude mass Il
it's original shape, and the tIaIsforma
ton shall take place during its passagt
to the pocket of q person who cannot bt
suspected of completely"
"Ah ~ said the Pope, with an expires
sion of jocular incredulity, "that i
promising good deal. What should
you do If / asked you to select my
pocket?" ,
"The orders of your Holiness shal
be obeyed," said 1orrini, who, on re
ceiving an essenting signal from thu
Pope, took the ingot in his fingers
showed it TO the company, and uttered
The word Passi" when it instantly dis
appeared. Plus VII, with an incredu
lous expression of countenance, put hl
hand info lis nockat He had hardy