The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1882-02-03
Magieian's Artfui WAYS.

s- i9 Magieian,sl Artful Ways il
d" The magical business is not so
! good as ii once was. Tricks cost less,
secrets are few, and there is less interest
in sleight of hand" Professor W. s.
Judd, the manufacturer of magicians'
supplies, said to a New York reporter.
"But there is great activity in ventrilo-
quism and Punch and Judy. never
saw such demand for ventriloquists'
figures" "Has any novelty been in
troduced that has caused this popu-
larity ?" mo new figures have been
brought out, but the old colored man
and the Irishman are still the most
popular, and an old man or an old
woman come next. The Ohinaman, il
was thought, would do we'll, but he
doesn't take very we'll, somehow" The
old style Of figures had detached
jaw that worked into cleft to repre-
sent talking. ---i
Figures are now made with kid Jaws
over the wooden jaw bone, 30 that the
motion of the mouth resembles human
action. There are great many regu-
lar magicians travelling about, and many
Of them make great deal of money.
The Troy opera house is owned by o
magician who made all his money out
of nine tricks. Tho tricks now are
mostly mechanical, as the finer sleieht
Of hand tricks which demand the
greatest skill are not shown. The
prices are low in comparison to what
they have been. The time has been
when as much as $500 would be charged
to teach the Indian box trick, and now
n ia O>,1x -
are generally variations Of few pieces
of mechanism. ii 'lf
The professor showed small wood
en- box, OF size to hold in the hand.
To all appearance it was an ordinary
box. closing with lock. One way in
which it is often used is for the magi-
clan to borrow a watch, have one per.
son put the watch in the box and lock
it, taking the key. The magician
hands it to another person to hold.
"Do You hear the watch ticking p the
magician will ask, and the person hold.
ing the box will hear it distinctly by
putting his ear to the lid. Finally
the watch appears around pigeons
neck, or hanging to chair back, after
q pistol has been fred, or one of many
ways, according to the fancy of the ma
gician. One end of the little box
swings out on pivots when released
from its catch By sharp pressure at
one end OF the bottom. 1t can readily
be manipulated with one hand, so that
in the interval between the depositing
OF the watch and the handing of the
box to some one to hold the watch slips
out into the magician's hand, and
watch movement hidden in the lid of
the box keeps up deceptive ticking.
Such box sells for S12. -.-'
The Indian box trick, which is
favorite, is just as simple. In this
big rough box is brought on the stage,
and several gentlemen are invited to
examine it. They find an empty box,
as roughly made as a packing case.
The nails seem to run through the cor
ners, the ends clinched into the wood.
The magician's assistant is put in bag
The end is tied up and sealed. The
box is tied round and round with rope,
as we'll as locked. The bagged-up man
is laid on the tied-ur box, and a screen
is drawn in front for q short time
When the screen is drawn back the
empty bag is seen with unbroken seal
lying on the box, which, when its cords
are united and the lock is opened, is
found to contain the man. The
only difficulty is the bag part. There
must lie two bags, one within
another. The junction of their
mouths is concealed by the magician,
who with great show of zeal ties the
mouths with his handkerchief at that
portion, and then invites the committee
to tie the p1otruding ends of bag
which is really alongside of his assist.
ant inside another bag confined simply
by the handkerchief. The nails of the
box are shans at one end, being simply
heads and points which do not meet.
The end swings in like trap doorwhen
properly manipulated, the assistant lays
the sealed-up bag on top of the box,
creeps in the end. easily pushing past
the rope, and then returns the end to
its place. Thus the lid OF the box on
which the committee expended their
exertions remains undisturbed.
Spiritual tricks are taking well this
season. They are worked by means of
mechanical padlocks, and require very
little skill. They seem to be like
ordinary padlocks, but in some O touch
on particular rivet throws them open,
and others have clockwork in such a
manner that they open in q fixed time.
Bound by such padlocks, it is easy for
anyone to throw spirit hands or faces
through the hole of a cabinet as soon
as its doors are closed, and be found
sitting in the same position as securely
bound when the doors are opened.