The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-02-07

alphabet would require the second ques-
ton, and so through the list.
Hellers success in this and other
methods depended largely on his own
marvellous memory and the memory of
Haidee Heller, and when he put one of
these or other questions to her, in the
most natural and off-hand manner in
the world, she would respond as quick
ly as if the object were right before her
eyes. This will be readily recalled by
| any one who has ever seen one of his
performances. There was another
series of questions which was used in
the same way, the cue being color for
colors, precious stones for such, these
different groups of thirteen each being
| classified in the order of the series Of
questions already given, or of this series:
How-l-a. Very welsh.
| Now-2-b. See-g-i
| See here-3-c. Well-0-j.
| Be quick-4-d. Here-lT-k
| Look here-5-e. Quick-1S-I
90 0n-8-f. Look sharp-Is-m.
| And here-7-g.
A snap of the finger would accom-
plish the same purpose in this series as
in the other.
I The system of the elder Hermann and
OF Houdin was very cumbersome and
apparent. A long string of questions
would sometimes have to be asked to
get at very simple object, and the sys-
tenn was, moreover, very much circum-
scribed and inadequate to the purpose.
Mention has been made of Heller's
classification of objects into groups of
thirteen. Materials were arranged in
this list: Stone, cloth, gum, putty,
leather, cork, marble, glass, ore, ivory
rubber, wood and hair The metals
chosen We're: Gold, silver, brass, nickel,
steel, tin, lead, platinum, mercury, cop
per, bronze, zinc and iron: Precious
stones were: Diamond, topaz, emerald,
ruby, amethyst, blood-stone, opal, cam
go, cat s-eye, sapphire, onyx, carbuncle
and pearl. Designs were arranged in
this order: Skull, head, musical instru-
ment, house, figure, insect, coin, star,
monogram, three links, square and
compass, strap and buckle and weapon.
Leading countries were also system
atlzed Ill this way, and, as for playing
cards, the ten numbered cards CORE
ponded with first ten questions in q Sc
ries, and the jack, queen and king with
the three last questions.
| Heller and his assistant used every
means for dramatic effect Taking up
watch, he would give the proper cue
to Miss Heller, who, knowing full well
what the object was, would describe it
as round object and bright, and finally,
after seeming difficulty, would say what
il was amid much applause. The num-
Der OF the watch was given by means of
the system stated Can you give" the
number was the cue for units, .'tell the"
for tens, Twill you give" for hundreds,
whats the for thousands, and ..give
the for hundreds of thousands. Say
the watch was numbered 20S2. Heller
would remark, whats the number
on this, giving the cue for thousands
thereby, and adding show" which will
be seen by reference to the second series
OF questions given stands for ..2.p Miss
Heller would slowly reply, 1.-TWO thou
sand, and Heller would respond, VERY
well, !" "how," which would elicit from
his assistant "82" at once. Heller,
however, had other systems for per-
forming the second-sight trick. One of
them called electricity into play. There
was an armature and magnet in the
bottom of the lounge upon which Miss
Heller sat, and for ordinary articles
there We're thirteen telegraphic signals
that Dale, who was on the stage con-
cealed from view, would telegraph to
her. She could feel the pulsations of
the magnet, and would know at once
what the article was that Heller was
holding in his hand without saying a
word. 1t was especially puzzling to
many persons to see Heller take up an
article from some person in the audience,
and, although he apparently gave no
sign and certainly did not speak, Miss
Heller would promptly say what it was
They did not know how simple the solu-
ton was. When Heller played in his
Broadway Theater, now Harrigan &
Harris, there was lattice-work on the
front of the stage covered with artificial
flowers. Behind this sat Mr.. Dale.
| Miss Heller was seated blindfolded,
with her back to the audience Heller
would take up some article from the
first or second row, and Mr.. Dale,
through a strong opera-glass slyly pene-
trating the lattice, could see very clearly
what it was and telegraph to Miss Hell
ler.. To vary the system as much as
possible, Dale on some nights would
communicate to her through a speak
ing-tube that ran through the stage
floor up through the lounge where she
sat.
Perhaps the most impudent thing in
the way of audacity that Heller ever did
was the book trick. A gentleman in the
rear of the audience, apparently from the
country, would hold up volume and
say: "Now, I'd like Miss Heller to tell
me what I've got in my hand" Heller
would appear annoyed, would not notice
him further than to say '.You should
have spoken of this sooner" in net
tied tone. Suspicion would grow that
Heller was stuck and finally, as the
gentleman, who was generally dude,
was persistent the great magician
would elicit from Miss Heller
that it was book. Then he
would 60 on the stage, and in order to
make the bandage over Miss Heller's
eyes doubly effective apparently, he
would tie glove over each eye. They,
however, would be tied in such a way
as to form sort of French roof over
each optic, so that Miss Heller could
see very well looking down. The dude
wanted to know the name of the book,
! and after due consideration Miss Heller
would say, for instance. Rawlinson' s
History Of the Ancient Egyptians. -
Heller would tell the dude to put play-
ing card in the book at random and
open it. 1t was done, and Heller would
glance at the page, and, asking Miss
Heller the proper questions, she would
J. <~s~~ 4 L \