Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1873-04-28
ILLUSIONISTS.
Wonderful Transfer nations and Aston
ishiBg Chsnges-0ptical Illusions by
Tive Thorough Experts at the
Business.

Two nlusionists, Maskelyne and
Cooke, are spoken Of in the London pa
pers as persons who have been for some
years astonishing provincial audiences
10y the cleverncss of their deceptiOns,
and who have lately created so much
uerpleXity in the minds Of visitors to the
CRYSTAL Palace, have now transferred
their amusing entertainment 10 the
larger st. James's hall, where their Gu
rious feats will be found well
worthy the attention Of all en-
gagged IN testing the extent to which
the evidence of the senses may be trust
ed. When a cabinet, raised above the
floor to exclude the possibility of traps,
Is carefully examined by any scrutineers
who choose to come forward upon the
platform, and a large box, being sub
iected TO the same rigid investigation,
Is carefully corded and sealed, in the
presence of the spectators, by any per-
son who volunteers TO Officiate on the
occasion, this ordinary means of
battling the vigilance of observers
would appear TO be treated
with supreme disdain. Yet, even
under these strict conditions, Messrs.
Maskelyne and Cooke cOntrive to effect
the most astonishing changes. When
NJ. G. A. Cook, as sailor, is locked in
the cabinet he Yanishes, and when the
doors are again opened he appears as a
gorilla. When the gorilla is put into
the box, and his place of confinement
seems as secure as cords and a lock and
KEY can make il, a few seconds suffice to
show the insecurity of the fastenings,
for on the next examination nothing
is found but The sack in which he was tied.
m like manner, when Mr.. ]. n. Mas
zelyne, as a GlOucestershire butcher, is
enclosed in the cabinet to encounter the
monster, an investigation made almost
Immediately afterWard shows the inte-
rior Of the structure to be apparently
eupty, two persons being thus disposed
of bv a process which is certainly
calculated TO pique the curiosity of
those even most familiar with Op-
tical illusions. The rapidity with
which these changes and disap-
uearances are effected implies theattain-
inent OF singular dexterity on the part Of
the chief performers, who fairly enough
invite the closest attention, and even
suffer entire strangers TO stand close TO
the cabinet in which the mystifying
metamorphoses are completed. A
shrewd guess may be made at the
secret involved in the construction
OF both the cabinet and the box,
but the remarkable ingenuity with
which the plan Of operation is concealed
shows a marked advance on those me-
chanic8l contrivances hitherto employed
for similar purposes. In few Observa-
tiOns preliminary to a portion of the eu-
teItainment purpOrting TO be an imita-
tive display Of the physical manifesta-
tiOns of modern spiritualism, Mr..
Maskelyne sensibly declines giving an
opinion as 70 the reality of phenomena
ascribed to supra-mundane sources,
but merely Processes 10 show how
some of the scenes said to be thus pro-
duced, can be simulated bysimple trick
erv. The neatest feat accomplished by
Mr.. Maskelyne is one introduced into
this country forty years ago by a pres
tidigitator named Signor Blitz, and
waich is so difficult of attainment, that
only two persons, since that period have
ever performed it in public. By the
swift movement OF the fingers, half
a dozen china dessert plates are
made to execute qIadrille,
and go singly and collectively,
through variety of curious evOluuons.
The dexterity of manipulatioDs dis
played in this really elegant accomplish
ment shows the unsuspected extent to
which the fingers can be educated, and
those who like TO apply TO q practical
purpose the lesson thus gained may find
that the patience and perseverance en-
abling an entertainer TO secure at will
the capering of erOckery, may possibly
endoW 3 business man with the more
valuable facility Of writing separate let
ters with both hands at the same time.
Andrau Grow aceidentlv shot him.