The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-01-10
WHAT A WIZARD CAN DO
Hermann, the Greatest of Modern Ma
gicians. Tells of Some of His Tricks.
His Wonderful Performance in the Presence
of the King of Portugal-His Exhi-
bition of His Skill Last Night.

Hermann the conjuror, il so much Of on
American that it was with something of enthu-
Basm he said last night, after his performance,
81 became so attached TO this country thst in
1876 took out my full Naturalization papers Al
though have been three times around the world,
the journey was never finished before had
longing for home The American people have
been most kind to me. and while have had the
honor of earring before all the crowned
heads, apd the King Of Spain has bestowed upon
me the TT Jal decorations of that country, my
fame belongs to America" Hermann has
elaborated and invented so much that pres
tidigitation under him has become
art His admirers are unwilling to acknowledge
his equal even among those who dealt in magic
forms and tricks for the last and preceding gen.
era:ions. Each had his fame like Houdin, An
derson. Wiljalba Frikele, Robin Blitz and Hell
Ter, but it has been left to Hermann to surround
the conjuror's tricks with SO much fneness, and
mystery, and wonder that it is doubtful IL any
of his class has had such honors and fame as he
enjoys 1t was the simple forms of trickery
that delighted the grandfathers of those who
now believe that with Hermann the impossible
is possible. 'sPoor Heller" he said, II knew
him we'll He a great magician.
but the art of magic, like others,
has advanced beyond what be and his contem-
poraries knew The old conjurors had no one
but themselves to look after. I have eight peo-
pie with me. and 5000 pounds of baggage By
the way. have you the latest story. The
one regarding the poker game in Chicagoi No.
Well, it is true, as all the stories about me are.
Some of them elaborated considerably. but
not enough to spoil the facts that are in them.
enjoyed that Chicago trick immensely. About
ten DAYS ago friend and myself visite
through curiosity a gambipgroo in Chicago.
At one Of the tables three men playing
poker and invited us to take a hand. Ny friend
refused, but consented to try my skill. For a
time / won but luck took turn and the money
went in the direction Of the three men. l
loser to the amount Of $1,000 and
1ized that was playing against sharks and took
my revenge. The fellows. hilarious before, could
not understand the rapid change again in the
course the money took. Directly there was
cry OF foul play from one Of the fellows, aud in
en- instant he, myself and his associates drew
revolvers. Turning upon them, / said it
dangerous to play with edge tools. They thought
they had caught victim. but the wizards art
dumbfounded them. l returned the money
81 ,530-I had won and left them to their discom
future"
"Such incidents no doubt, afford you a great
deal OF amusement
eyes, l cannot resist tue temptation to play
these FRANKS They always harmless, and
come to me with the relish of good wine. A
Spanish grandee invited TO dinner.
There the conversation turned upon game and
the host became eloquent upon the subject of
partridges, and wished that he had provided
some. / assured him that friend of mine can
express wish without having it instantly graf
ifed. asked the waiter to bring me his hat.
Turning 1t upside down with dextrons move
ment OF the hand brought out two of the finest
partridges the guests had ever seen. l would
much prefer to give evidences of
my magic in parlors. / take more
inta in i
of Portugal, who considered very devil
After giving some of my simpler tricks. said:
Now, sire, do me the favor to choose one of
your own pistols and load it with six bullets
which you can mark with your hand
After he had done this / directed him to fire at
my hand. He protested energetically, but |
finally he induced to try the experiment..
After he had fred gave to the King Ave of the
bullets the sixth having penetrated mirror a
little above my shoulder. At my request the
shattered mirror was covered with curtain.
fred at il, the curtain fell aud the mirror intact
stood before the astonished spectators. The
frat requirement for a magician is to know how
TO do his tricks and then to practice them until
perfection is attained But with all the applause
money and fame IL Is not enviable life to
lead. am always ready to go homo, especially |
when suffer as do now with severe cold and |
overwork From the front it looks easy to do |
all these tricks, but there is great deal of \
drudgery aboutbthem and a magician earns every |
dollar ne has"
The performance Hermann gave at the Grand |
Opera house, last night before large audi |
ence. was in many respects remarkable pre- |
eentation of the conjuror's skill. He has such /
resources to draw from that interest never ags.
Ancient few of the tricks are. the delight of |
the people in them is as great as when they were
first introduced, and Hermann says he finds
this to be true of all audiences throughout the
world Simple as the trick may be. and ia
miliar as the people are with Its principles. the
more enjoyment they seem to derive from it, 1t
Is, perhaps, because they cannot do it after they
are told how that keeps alive the wonder The
prestidigitateur said to his audience that he al
ways exposed one of his tricks each evening.
He did so on this occasion, and quantity re-
marked after it was done: NOW you know it,
and II you practice it three four years you
may be able to perform it as do In this class be-
longs the orange. lemon, egg and walnut trick,
wherein be makes the walnut pass into the egg
the egg into the lemon and the lemon into the
orange Another is the firing of watches at the
con jurors victim, who is mystifed finding
tSa ta na9sing from his s., chair and
little basket of candy of the minor
performances, out of which he spins yards and
yards of paper ribbon. finally bring out duck.
highly pleased his audience Succeeding these
and others of that Importance came the few
min utes of black art. in which the spirit hand
that tapped the number of the dice thrown by
one of the audience, the disappearance of the
illusions The latter is not pleasant
TO nervous people. but it displays in the per-
Torrance the power and dizziness of
the wonderful East Indian conjurors.
Herrmann's views rich in colorine,
for their mechanical effects One of them, 1.-The
Magic Drawing master" displays astonishing
result in the mechanical accuracy with which
producing thing of beauty are swiftly drawn.
Ihen IT fades to give place to countless forms of
beautiful colors. The performance, in which
there Is constant enjoyment, closes with the
Hermann is to remain three nights at the
Grand