The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-11-27
SpOOks.

Last night despite the inclcn"ncy Of tn,
weather, Il fair house greeted me SO-tillcU
spin itualst, Sade at Turner hall.
Mr.. Shade came pr;lncing down to the foot
lights in Il jcrky sort OF way and made some cN-
clIses for not being able to carry out his pro
grlmmc bccaiiSc of tlc absence of lady h,
had counted on, but he proceeded to business
by calling out the names of four gentlemen.
well known citizens, to aid him in his perform
ancc. The names were DR.. Chew, }. X. SHOOK
Esq Mr. Ramsay and w. Ii. Smith. Lawyer
Shook very scnsibly declined: he saw no retain
err in the case, and Mr.. Love- the jcwclcr, wa>
chosen in his stead
Now, il is always supposed that this calin.
on Il committee to witness the fairness of the
performance is genuine honesty, but the gen
tlcincn chosen are generally nOviceS in the art
of slight Of-h hand ana are as much pcrpleNcd
rs the audience: ami besides lisa cheap way 1"
secure the necessary assistants in conducting
the performance The committee are seeming
" chosen at random, but the fact is that
their good looks, weight, general average, etc,
are fully canVaSsrd by the slick performer be-
fore they are called out newspaper men are
never chosen to act Us soups ON the stage. The
chief performer had an assistant, quite IL hand
some, gOOd-naturcd gentlemen with excellent
ryesight, who was strictly business and more
than II match for the four unprofcSsional as
SiStants.
Mr.. Sladc (whO claims to he Il nephew of the
celebrated Slade), began by Civ ing one of his
phy steal seght of hand tricks, tO-wit: setting
down in chair, and while the curtain to his
cabinet was drawn to, tied himself very secure
" to Il chlir-thiS he did in remarkably quick
time: then with the assistance of the four gen
tlcmcn who examined the ty ing, had the knots
scalcd-then the curtain being closed again ne
managed to get his hand loose and threw the
bells and tambOrnc out on the stage and i'll
stantly got back into position. The four UNI
professionals examined him and pronounced
him tied hard and fast; Ghe DR.. as he calls
himself, may have offered to treat in Il soto
voice. Well this sort Of manifestation went ON
for some time; and the -four as
sistants" became pancky. Smith happened
TO bump his head the cab-
net, and started as if Old Nick had clutched
him. and brought down the house. Chew al
lowed sort of idiOtic smile to dwell on his rath-
er intellectual countenance until it became
stale and insipid. Love bushed like Il rose, land
Ramsey let his lower jaw drop until it became
fearful to look at him, and Smith happening to
chug him In the ribs he nearly jumped off the
stage. Ramsey sat down on Shade and held him
fast. Now, Shade is II little man AMI Ramsey is
Il giant IN strength and statue, yet Shade man
aged to get his hands out of limbo and tickle
Ramsey under the chin and pun his nose and
pick his pocket and take his watch, and Ram
Sey SwOrc that Shade hadn't moved or blIdgcd
an inch. This was the best trick of the even
inv and shows how NalInbca committee of
cilZcns are i'll helping out clever perform
ancc,
The ghost scene was not very satisfactory:
it didn't scare tho ''rOIpmittGc" OIL the stage
it seemed To rcHsstiT them,