The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1877-05-25
Tricks of ArJut Dodgers.

The police in London are smart, but
Notwithstanding their ability the prob~
lens, what has become of the Count
ess Of Dudley's jewels? and who took
the missing Gainsborough ore still
unsolved 1t is no wonder thieves are
bold when SO many of their moves
have been crowned with success AMI
detection defed They must be won
derfulIv expert, these diciples of Fa
gin. In the case of the Countess OF
Dudley's jewels they were stolen out
Of the maids arms as she held them
in box at railroad depot. The
theory now is that whoever snatched
them hurriedlv pushed the box into
an empty railway car and then re
tnrncd and took them away leisurely
an hour or two afterward, when the
excitement, searching, &c, were over,
The Gainsborough picture was cut
from It's frame on the very day of its
sale for 10000 guineas. 1t was lock-
ed up in strong building in that cX-
tremcly central locality, Bond street,
before which policemen were patrolling
all night Another au6acious rob
daylight a. a railway station. A GER
tain member of Parliament-an earl
arrived at provincial railway station
and found he had half an hour to wait
He strolled about the depot leisurely,
but spoke to no one and no one came
near him so far as he knows. a S he
was about to enter the train q gentle
man sitting by his side said TO him.
Have you not oIolen your watch
chain? | see it hanging" The chain
had been cut, and the watch stolen
\ lawyer told me that on one occasion
he had n thief for aclient, he asked
him to show him, to satisfy his cuTiOs-
ity, how he had done this very same
thing, which was then creatil discus
sion in the community. But before
he had finished speaking the thief
smilingly showed his learned counsel
his watch, which he bad abstractcd rs
desired; and when the lawyer express
Sed astOnishment at such wonderful
deXterity, and laid his hand on his
vest pocket in surprise, he found his
watch was back again, safe and sound.
The rcdoubtable Maskeivne himself
would not he ashamed of such a neat
bit Of sleight of hand as this Speak
ing of the celebrated coniurOr, let me
mention that this week he has OfferCd d
some improvements in the already
wonderful cabinet trick invented by
the Davenport brothers. Naskelvne
causes Cooke, his partner, to be tied
up alone in the cabinet, thus eXplod-
ing the Theory that the two help each
other to unite the knots. He also en-
velopes Cooke completely in a fisher
mans net. which is sOwn up and then
examined bv q vigilance committee
from the audience: also is whipcord
used for lashing the wrists and ankles,
being more difficult to unite than ropes:
and still, III spite of all this, the cabi-
net doors are barely closed before
hands appear, banjos and guitars are
played, and trumpets blown and
when the door is frantically opened
there sits Cook, quite calm and Sc
cured rs firmly rs when they first tied
up his net Still the great feature of
this entertainments is the wonderful
automatic card-player, Psyche. Pro-
fessor Pepper, of Ghost" renown, has
invented something of the kind which
| hear is almost as marvellous as
Maskelyne's. Bus both are surpassed
by new Paris invention, if it has not
been Overhauled. We hear that a
smart Parisian has invented an auto
mataon which gives a sensible reply
to any question asked it and in every
case makes the response appropriate
We shall see this thing in its full per-
fection at the approaching Exhibition
in Paris. As yet the inventor has not
had time to construct a figure in hu-
man shape for his automaton talker
and at present the replies come from
box, small trunk full of wires and
wheels of intricate ma }hinery WHICH
only makes the performance more
strange and ghast!y.-OIice Logan IN
Graphic.