The Red Cloud chief., 1880-06-03
MAGIC.

WHO was w ing i'm Moscow when IT took plac,
MODERN MAGIC.
An Explanation Of Aerial SNspen
sisn, DecapitatIon, CaTs MoxuI
Magic Cage. and Other Tricks.
BETWEEN the modern prestidigitateu
and the Old-time oonjurerthere is a wild,
difference, not only in his appearance,
and style o. living, but in the character
oil his Performances and the apparatu'
used. The stock i'm trade of him who
lsilg syne amused a few gaping rustic.
by making a hasty-pudding in a hat OIL
drawing a rabbit from a frightened
woman's gown. and that of the gentle
man who, clad in faultless evening at
tire with diamond studs sparkling Oh
the bosom of an immaculate shirt, per
forms his feats on a handsome stage be.
fore a fashionable audience, are no more
alike than their pOsscssOrs. 1t would
form an interesting and odd study tc
trace, step by step, the changes that
have led tc the present condition OF
things, but in this article it is only I'm.
tended TO show, by describing q few
hitherto unexplained tricks. hoEy elabor
ate and costly is the parsr,nernalia of g
modern magician. Hermann, now
that bis brother mas retired, that poor
Helleris dear., and that Cazeneure rs still
hampereI by an interpreter, may be re.
garded as occupying a representative
position among dealers IL the black
(dress-suit) art, The illusion given
under the title Of Asleep in Mid Air."
had been performed long before Herr.
mann had any idea of calling it his own.
The trick, We believe, is of French in.
Ventlon, although it was years ago pre-
scented at the Egyptian Hall. London,
1t is only necessary to say, in explain.
ing this retaliation of an Arabian
Nights Dream" that when the person
who is 70 be suspended in mid ait Is
dressing herself, she buckles around her
a light but strong frame confessed of
leather and steel bands. These bands
are so arranged that the wearer could
he suspended from any of them and re.
tam the free use of her limbs. The
only point of attachment made s of
I'D this trick is a snap-hook behind the
right shoulder. Mile. Addie, It will be
remembered, rested her feet on a stool
set between two upright rods about six
feet high, her elbows resting on top of
the rods. The rod under the girls
right shoulder is really a tube. down
which passes a Strong but small! rope,
with a catch at the upper end. Under
pretense of arranging his wife's drapery.
Hermann slips this catch into the snap
hook spoken of, the attendant below the
stage grasps the rope, and by an easily
understood system of leverage not only
keeps Mile. Addie erect when Herr
mann removes the stool and left-handed
rod. but also draws her into a horizontal
position. Resting securely in her frame,
Mile. Addie moves arms and legs ac-
cording to her husbands disposition
thereof.
One of Herrrrann's most remarkable
tricks was that of "Decapitation."
Some years ago a magician who per-
formed IN this city as a Turk, we be-
ileve, introduced a more CHASTITY yer.
" OF the same feat. He gave his n
tertainments at Platt's Hall, and made
this ~beheading the sensation of his last
week. The hall was darkened, a strain
OF weird music WAS rang out of a pi-
ano, to the rythm of which the magi-
clan marched slowly on the stage, &C
companied by q pale-faced youth. The
attendant laid himself upon a table in
the center of the stage and was put to
sleep o. mesmeric passes; the magician
arranged a cloth about the victims
Eeck, drew a scimiter. sent It kissing
fbrnllnh tho cir onA 18Th
drew the blade through the youths
neck. separating tho head from the
body. Women used to faint and men
shudder, as the head was lifted up with
the blood streaming from it and placed
upon a salver to be ''handed around for
the company to examine" The cold
cdput ns0rtuis was then taken back and
joined to the body, a little magic pow
der was sprinkled Y the points of
contact, and the subject, being awak-
ened. sat up. looked dreamily around
and backed of the stage. The explana-
ton is simple enough. The youths
head lay on a trap in the table large
enough to admit of both head and
shoulders. In the cavity of the table
was a rubber head admirably construct
ed to resemble that of the attendant,
with q little stage blood in the hollow
of the neck. At the moment of sup
posed decapitation, the magician, who
stood with his back to the audience,
pressed upon the attendants head,
which at once sank into the
table and Selling the dummy head. held
it. bleeding, aloft, the cloth about the
neck hiding the angle of the sunken
head. To "recapitate" the youth it
was only necessary to drop the rubber
head back in its place, release the
spring Of the trap which brought the
attendants head to its proper level, and
the trick was done. With Hermann
the mor horrible adjuncts were done
away with, and a vein of comedy was
into the act. At the same
time the simplicity of the feat was de-
stroyed by the use of expensive and
machinery. The rustic, who
of a "sorter buzzin" in his
head. was, it will be remembered, seat
ed in q large armchair, the back of
which was thickly padded, with two
gilt cords running crosswise, one from
the inner edge of either arm up to the
bOp OOlAFCI VI Tue OpPOSitc SfOc. tuuS
making a broad X. When the elixir is
administered to the patient he is told
he viii have to place his head in q "re-
ceiver." The moment this receiver
(Which is shaped like a divers helmet)
is placed over his head the trickery be-
gins. The countryman's head is surely
in the receiver, because he speaks
through the open visor in full sight of
the audience, but directly the visor is
closed, and whilst Hermann is placing |
the cloth about the neck after the fash
ion of his predecessor, the assistant
presses against the back of the chair,
which gives under the pressure and
opens for a triangular space, the two
sides of which are formed by the lower
portion of the x spoken of, the base be-
ing onla line with the chair arms. where !
this swinging portion Of the back is
hinged. On this flap, so to speak, the