The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1882-03-09
TRICKS OF MAGICIANS.
SOME OF THEIR MARVELLOUS FEATS
EXPOSED.

There are great many regular magi-
clans travelling about, and, while business
is not what it used to be, many of them
make great deal of money. The Troy
opera house is owned by magacian who
says he made all his money out of nine
tricks. A magician of considerable cele-
brity out west, Prof. M. Williams, is a
deaf mute. One would think it would
be the last business in the world for a
man to undertake who cannot talk or
hear, but he has a man to talk for him
while he does the tricks. The last
heard from him he was out in Leadville.
The tricks shown now are mostly me-
chanical, as the finer, sleight-of- hand
tricks which demand the greatest skill
are not snowy. The prices of tricks are
low in comparison with what they have
been. The time has been when as much
as $500 would be charged to teach man
the Indian box trick, and now the price
of it is only S5. Mechanical tricks are
generally variations of few pieces of
mechanism.
The professor showed small wooden
box, of size convenient to hold in the
hand. To all appearances it was an or
binary box, closing with a lock. One
way in which it is often used is for the
magacian to borrow a watch, have one
person put the watch in the box and lock
it, taking the key. The magacian hands
it to another person to hold. ''Do you
hear the watch tickingl" the magician
will ask, and the person holding the box
will hear it distinctly by putting his ear
to the lid. Finally, the watch appears
around pigeons neck, or hanging to a
chair-back, after pistol had been fired,
or one of many ways, according to the
fancy of the magician. One end of the
little box swings out on pivots when re-
leived from it's 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 handling 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 the deceptive ticking. Such a
box sells for S12.
The Indian trick box, which is favor
ite trick with magicians, is just as simple.
In this big, rough box is brought on
the stage, and several gentlemen are in
vited to examine it. They find an empty
box, as roughly made as packing case.
The nails seem to run through the cor
ners. the ends clinched into the wood.
The magician's assistant is put into the
bag. Its end is tied up and sealed. The
box is tied round and round with rope,
as well as locked. The bagged-up man
is laid on the tied-up box, and screen
is drawn in front for 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 be two bags, one with
in 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 and
seal the protruding ends of bag which
is really alongside of his assistant inside
another bag, confined simply by the
handkerchief. The nails of the box are
shams at one end, being simply heads
and points which do not meet. The end
swings in like trap door when 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 re-
mains undisturbed.
Spiritual tricks" the professor said,
''are taking well this season. They are
worked by means of mechanical padlocks,
and require very little skill"
The reporter was shown some of these
padlocks. They seem to be just like or-
dinary padlocks in make, but in some a
touch on particular rivet throws them
open, and others have clockworks in
such manner that they open of their
own accord in fixed time. Bound by
such padlocks, it is an easy thing for
anyone to show spirit hands or faces
through the hole of cabinet as soon as
its doors are closed, and be found sitting
in the same position as securely bound
when the doors are opened.-New York
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