News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-08-23
H0UDIN AND THE KING.
A Famous Trick of the Great French
Magician

1t is related that Houdin played a
clever trick on Louis Philippe when the
king commanded performance at the
Palace Of Saint Cloud. The coniurer
used to good advantage the name and
fame of Cagliostro, a magician whose
powers not few persons even in this
day think little short of supernatural.
During the performances Houdin bor-
rowed number of handkerchiefs from
the royal spectators, which he made into
q parcel and laid on the table. Different
! persons then wrote on cards the names
of places whittier they wished the hand
kerchlets to be transported. Three of
these cards were then chosen by the
! king, who was asked to choose for them
the most suitable place. One card men
toned the candelabara on the mantel-
| piece, one the dome on the "Inyalides, 4"
both places out of reason, for one was
too near, the other too far. The third
card read ''the chest of the last orange
| tree on the right of the avenue" and
this place was chosen by the king. The
handkerchiefs were then covered by an
Opaque bell and in their place was
found a dove with key tied round its
neck, while in the earth around the foot
of the orange tree designated was found
was opened with the key found tied to
the doves neck. and inside was seen a
roll of parchment which read as fol-
lows:
"This day, June 6, 1876, this iron
box, containing six handkerchiefs, was
placed among the roots of an orange tree
by me Balsamo, count of Cagliostro, to
serve in executing an act of magic,
which will ho civ ~ 1yooro boroo
before Louis Philippe of Orleans and
his family"
The document bore the seal of Cagli-
ostro, and under it was a packet con
tanning the handkerchiefs which had
just disappeared from the coniurer's
table. Few of Houdin's tricks brought
him greater renown than this, for there
was appa rently such an absence of con-
federacy or preparation that it seemed
not far short of magical, and as told by
him in his autobiography with plenty of
dramatic dialogue and incident, it reads,
like bit of the Arabian Nights. will
first call attention to several points in
the performance, and then by describing
a similar trick still in the repository of
modern coniurers, leave the student to
work out the exact details of Houdin's
miracle. 1t must be noted, then, that
the cards taken by the king were 'forc-
ed' on him by the conjurtr, who had
them carefully palmed and that only
one place of the three could in human |
probability have been chosen by the |
king. Then it may be added that the .
run of the palace for the day had been |
afforded Houdin, and thirdly, that he |
had III his possession, as he admits, |
seal of Cagliostro given by his friend |
Torrini. Now for the modern trick and |
its explanation. A handkerchief is caus-
ed to disappear in any of the half dozen
familiar fashions which may best please |
the performer, or it may be apparently |
burned in the manner already described !
in the course of the "lemOn trick" The
performer then steps off the stage and
returns with pistol. This he fires at !
the carefully corded and sealed box |
which throughout the entire entertain
ment has been hanging over the neads
of the audience. In some cases he loads
the pistol with the handkerchief itself
When the smoke has cleared away the
corded box is lowered and placed on O
table. The seals are broken, and the
cards cut, and inside is found q second
box likewise well corded up. This is
opened in like manner and an ornam-
o1lGh1 DOA 1Ouuu 1uSluS; GIIl5 COutStlbo
another, the latter another still, and so
on until six or seven box are placed
around the table. Finally in the last
one is the handkerchief, washed, ironed
and perfumed. The handkerchief in this
trick is of course exchanged by skillful
palming for o substitute, which is burn
ed or stuffed into a pistol, while the
original is being hastily dampened and
ironed behind the scenes. The clever
ness of the deception lies in the boxes.
The outer one is what it purports to be,
an ordinary deal box sealed and corded
but the second box is bottomless, the
cords not crossing beneath it, but stop
ping at the edge of what should be bot
tom. When the performer lifts this out
he places it on the table above trap
through which the nest of ornamental
boxes, containing in the innermost one
The handkerchief, is introduced into the
box by an automatic lifting
apparatus. These nests of boxes are so
arranged that the lids may be closed
simultaneously, but have to be opened
one after the other. The pistol into
which the handkerchief is loaded is
rick one, made on the principle of that
lsed by Houdin in his performance
before the Arabs. It is an ordinary
of rather old fashioned
;ype (the introduction of breech-load
,rs, indeed, signed the death warrant of
he trick and the bullets are ordinary
ones, save that they are size or two
smaller than the bore of the pistol. The
.amrod is plain cylinder of metal, tap
,ring slightly at each end, while in
title tube of metal like the ramrod, and
closed at one end the secret lies. The
ube fits loosely within the pistol barrel,
md after the powder is loaded into the
after the former is deftly introduced by
he performer in readiness to receive the
,ullet, which along with the tube is then
withdrawn on the end of the ramrod, its
imilarity to which causes it to escape
observation. The performer may now
afely allow the pistol to be fired at him,
md should the bullet have been marked
le may, during an instants absence
rom the stage, remove the tube from
he ramrod, extract the bullet and, slip
,ing it into his mouth, exhibit it ,
between his teeth when the smoke of
he discharge has cleared away. !