The daily gazette., 1883-12-04
toIevcland Herald.l

The art or gift of veDtrilOquismt though
dating back 10 the remutest antiquity, and
supposed TO have its origin among the an
eiemt Hebrews, Cansantes and Egyptians,
and practiced TO a considerable extent o.
the present time, Is mystery to the gem
eFal public, and ia this week the topic OF
considerable discussion, as Mr.. Albert y.
Duncan, Que of the most skillful OF the few
succeesfull ones now praetlcing IT, has been
giving nightly exhibitions of his gift at the
Park Theatre during tine past wee X.
The ventriloquism has It's derivation from
the Latin words vcntus, the abdomen, and
loqui, to speak; IL originated from the prac-
tiee of witches, who were supposed 10 have
good or evil spirit within them. That wae
commonly used among the lsraelites and
Egyptians the following from the 18th chap
Ter Of Leyitieus will serve as evidence; Re
gard not them that have familiar spirits,
neither seek after wizards 20 be dsnlst by
them" In this case, rs IN several others
Tefmred TO In the Bible, the term 'huvfng
"a nnIliar spirit" siRnides In the original he
brew "speakin9 nom the abdomen" For
many yeafs It was supposed that in order
to. become q successful ysntriloquist It Is
necessary that a peculiar formation OF the
| larynx be possessed. Thinking that per.
haps the public would be benentted or IN
| terested with an explanation OF the mystic
| gift, . reporter called on Mr.. Duncan yea
| terday, and the first question put 10 him
was whether 1t was possible for any Perssn
| 30 acquire the art.
| SIT is an utter imposslbillty," replied the
| ventriloqu uist, ITO acquire knowledge OF II
| cut of the numerous books publlshed on the
I subject. To tell you tho truth, in all my
career, though not very long one, have
| never met book made ventriloqUist. have
looked over several Of the works on the sub
Iect, but instead OF being al assistance they
| were positive detriments and only tended to
confuse me-"
"Then according to your theory ventrilo
quism is q git and not an arti'
"ThAt's It exactly. / have had large
number Of people TO call upon me and re-
aueet me to give them lessons, hut unless
they are naturally adapted for IL, any degree
OF learning will not do them any good"
"What do you mean by being naturally
adaPtedi Are your vocal organs different
from the general maltOrmatlon."
"No; have had my vocal organs exam
ined by q number OF physicians, and they
fail to discover any malformAtion.
"Theu where does the peculisrity axisti''
ain the muscels of the stomach. My ven
triloquial voice is entirely governed by them
| suppose there arc q great many people
| possessing the same gift, but after discover
| ing 1t find out that considerable practice IL
necessary to become proficient In 1t.
"How did you discover that you possessed
the giftp
when a small boy was In the habit o
initiating animals OF all sorts, One day
man heard me and said that the voice seemgC
to come from a different direction. H.
called me a vcntriloquist, but l hadn't th'
slightest idea what he meant by the tern
until grew up to be quite large boy
| when | became conscious Of my ability o
throwing my voice wherever ] chose. ] frs
appeared at church sociables and other en-
tainments, and with constant praC tice l wa
soon enabled TO adopt the stage as pro
fession."
"How is 1t that in uttering consonqnt
) you do not move your lips In the slightest
"Well, you see use my tn roSt and mout
, | for the pitch and tone Of tho voice, also fo
: consonant sounds; and regulate the dii
tance where want the voice to sound b
contracting the muscles Of tho stomach.
g want the voice to sound apparently a
y | a distance move the muscles at the base {
!, the stomach; the lower go the furthC
" the voice sounds; and If wish It TO soun
nearer contract the muscles OF the top {
o the stomach, and With constant practice
D. am enabled 70 regulate sounds instanteou
IA ly."
" Chow about the saying that veutriloquis
50 usually die at an early ager
"Owing to the great strain upon Il
Of stomach. 1t is Of course necessary 70 tai
y the b1st Of care, for you know the stomat
he is q very delicate organ; but with prep
care and temperate habits thorO is no dang
whatever from over exertion."
"Did you inherit your gift from 70
n parentsi"
of but have often thought that / posssae
4 ha nF m
tone and the voice In my stomach"
ae "Did you ever take any advantage
es your gifts for your own personal amut
In | ment7"
1t "0h yes, quite frequently. You see
A pass considerable OF my time travelling up
~, the railroad, When the trip grows monot
NJ nous rnd we have no more subjects to d
cuss or yarns TO spin, |, by special request
the other members of the company, proce
", to have some fun with the conductor. 7
mo- know that dogs are not allowed on come
e the roads unless the fare Is collected 1
ee them. AS socn as see the conductor ent
ais our car, begin to initiate the barking OF
to very healthy dog and throw the voice uud
ia one OF the seats. The conductor INN
q. diately institutes search for the canine, a
~ =, l tell you we get any amount of fun out
is1 the operation. As soon as the conductor
on quests the passenger-a lady most genera
-JO unON6 lOT Lilc vi ulsCONtTluB
dog, throw the voice in another direetiC
ora and only last week set a conductor elm,
g. wild with rage hunting after the suppot
W. dog from seat TO seat with the assistance
le- the porter and other attaches"
fer "Did you ever meet with any other am
sic ing incidents" ?"
arv mot very long ago stood upon str
- corner aud watched two peddlers angr
'he disputing about the right to display tn
apt wares. Though in dispute, they were qu
polite To ole another, but just for the 81
of lark threw my voice, initiating one
nm the dlsputants, into his mouth and mi
- him call the other man an internal liar.
ien The other fellow couldn't see 1t In Il
,ha light, ar d you should have sean the fun
ter kept this thing up for quite n while, nj
av. them call each other harsh names and WI
they came to blows / put an apology il
the mouth ofone, and thus the affair end
of "Once In a street car," continued
~ Dulcan, al Lad lots OF sport at the expe
~ nso of a blushing young damsel. The car
IN not crowded, but the seats we're all occur
h. and among the passengers was young
nv ~ pretty girl wearing heavy fur lined clio
vad ] began initiating the sound OF squeal
lii baby, as II emanating from under her clio
~ attracting the attention of every passen
ovo TO the lady aud mystifying her complet
n ,, She moved about In an unersy sort Of m
~ ner, the cries OF the child grew louder
louder, the eyes of all the passengers "
/ turnnd tnu ar1 hnr -, A. -