The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1885-03-05

forming the trick, which he would
change from night to night to prevent
discovery at the hands of those per-
sistent persons who attended his seances
every evening in order to finally dis
comtit him by discovery. By using
several methods a night everybody
would be more mystifed than ever. In
the first place, Heller formed as asbasis
of his operations list of over four
hundred articles, which would cover al
most everything that an audience would
be likely to bring to a theater This
was subdivided into group of thirteen.
These series were committed to memory
by Heller and his fair assistant in the
order in which they were arranged. For
instance, here is one of the series that
was used to give the color of an article,
or the first thirteen letters of the alpha
bet, or the numeral herewith stated.
AS will be seen, the color, letter,
or number was obtained by the way in
which the question was framed.
Can you name this?. .Brown-1-a.
Can you give this?. .............Wh .White-2-b.
Can you tell this?. Red-3-c.
What's this?.. Bhle-4-d. NJ
what Is thlsf. ..ylolet-5-c.
And this?. .Black-6-f.
This is what?. .Green-7-g.
win you name this2. Pink-.s-h.
Will you give this? .Purple-9-1
Will you tell this?. Old gold-E-k
Give this his.......................M Miyture-1S-l.
| Tell this? ..................Yel Yellow-1a-In.
The cue to this series, if the color of
an object was asked for, is color "
''Can you name this color?" would be
brown. of course; ''Can you give this
color?" white, and SO on. If any other
letters of the alphabet were wanted,
say to tell the monogram on a watch or
| sleeve-button, snap of the finger
would accompany the question. the re-
naming letters in the alphabet bearing
the same relative position to the series
| given. For instance, N, the fourteenth
letter in the alphabet would be given by
asking the first question, ''Can you name
this letter." accompanied by a snap of
the fingers. The fifteenth letter in the
alphabet would require the second ques-
ton, and so through the list.
Heller's 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 oh-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-1-a. Very welsh.
Now-2-b. -ea See-9-i &
/ See here-3-c. Well-0-j.
Be quick-4-d. Here-17-k.
| Look here-5-e. Quick-lS-I.
Go on-6-f. Look sharp-k-m.
And here-7-g.
A snap of the finger would accom-
plish the same purpose in this series as
in the other.
| 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 tc
get at very simple object. and the sys.
tenn was, moreover, very much circum-
scribed and inadequate to the purpose
I Mention has been made of Heller's
classification of objects into groups Of
thirteen. Materials were arranged ir
this list: Stone, cloth, gum, putty
leather, cork, marble, glass, ore, ivory
rubber, wood and hair. The metals
chosen were: 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
eo, cat's-eye, sapphire, onyx, carbunclt
and pearl. Designs were arranged il
this order: Skull, head, musical instrtl
ment, house, figure, insect, coin. star
monogram, three links, square anC
compass, strap and buckle and weapon
Leading countries were also system
atized in this way, and, as for playing
cards, the ten numbered cards CORE
ponded with first ten questions in Sc
ries, and the jack, queen and king witt
the three last questions.
Heller and his assistant used every
means for dramatic effect. Taking III
a watch, he would give the proper cu'
to Miss Heller, who, knowing full wei
what the object was, would describe i
as a round object and bright, and finally
after seeming difficulty, would say wha
it was amid much applause. The mum
ber of the watch was given by means o
the system stated. '.Can you given th,
number was the cue for units, tell the
for tens, "will you give'' for hundreds
''what's the" for thousands, and ''giv,
the'' for hundreds of thousands. Sa,
the watch was numbered 2082. Hellel
would remark, whats the number
) on this. giving the cue for thousand
thereby, and adding chow" which viii
be seen by reference to the second serie
of questions given stands for SO" Mis-
Heller would slowly reply, Two thou
sand" and Heller would respond, ''Ver,
, well" ''how," which would elicit from
/ his assistant "82" at once. Heller
. however, had other systems for per
) forming the second-sight trick. One 0
J them called electricity into play Their
was an armature and magnet in th
bottom of the lounge upon which Mis-
Heller sat, and for ordinary article
there were thirteen telegraphie signal
that Dale, who was on the stage con
cealed from view, would telegraph t
her. She could feel the pulsations 0