Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1888-12-15
PRETERNATURALISM.
How to Perform a Few Choice but
Simple Tricks.
Denry Hatton, the Magician, Explains the
Easy WAY in which Mysterious and
Perple1ing Manifestations Are
Successfully Produced.


Easy wav in which Mysterious and
Perple4ing Manifestations Are
Successfully Produced.
GIendowsr -'I can call spirits from the vasty
deep"
HotspW'-"Why, so can I; or so can any man:
but will they come, when you do
call for themi"
Henry w, Part T., Hi, I,
Preternaturalism is the word-and
very good one, though it is not in the
dictionary-which l have used for
many years to describe certain Curl
GUS effects which never fail to interest
my audience, both old and young, and
though by no means supernatural, are
about as near to it as mortals can ap-
proach. Indeed, when / allow my
hands to be tied behind my back SO
tightly that it seems impossible for me
to use them, many persons question
whether or some concealed confed-
crate produce the sights and sounds
that occur behind the screen where, in
lieu of cabinet. am seated. Yet
it is trickery, pure and simple. Not
so simple as to be seen through, yet SO
simple that, knowing how, any one
may do it.
1t is now about thirty years since the
Davenport Brothers first introduced
the rope-tying trick, and SO cleverly
did they do it that to this day the Sc
cret is known to very few. As they
did it, the audience were allowed to do
the tying, and the brothers were found
as tightly tied after the ''manifesta-
tions" as before.
have never met more than two so
called explanations of the trick. In one
heperformer by means Of slip-knots ties
himself so that he can either free him
self or fasten the knots anew at pleas
ure and in moment In the other,
the audience do the tying, and the
performer merely wriggles himself
out of the rope, without any attempt to
replace it or the knots. just how he
does this is described In so-called
Explanation Of the Davenport Trick, :"
sold in England some years ago at the
modest price of guinea, a copy Of
which l have preserved, and reproduce
here for the benefit of my readers:
''Place your hands upon your knees
and sit upright in the chair, expand
ing the chest as much as possible. It
matters not how tightly you may be
bound at any part Of the body, or how
many knots may be tied around you;
the whole secret depends upon the
wrists, and the means you adopt to re-
lease your hands; for when the hands
are released, the rope, being in one
length. may be shaken from you with
out single knot being united.
"In order to release the hands,
place them upon the knees with the
fists clinched, using great muscular
effort, which will expand the veins,
and prove a resisting power to the
rope when it is fastened round the
wrists. Take no notice of any knot
that may be tied until the operator
comes to the wrists, then use as great
a resisting power as you can, without
being observed, against the side on
which the rope is fastened, and the
trick isaccomplished. AS soon as you
are alone Tin a room or cabinet), place
your thumb and little finger under the
palm of the hand, and you will find no
difficulty whatever in drawing the
hand through the rope, which being
accomplished, the other hand is
readily released, and you are at liberty
to make any manifestations with
musical instruments, etc."
It will be seen that these methods
are entirely different from the Daven-
ports. Indeed, their trick is little
known even among professional con-
jurers, but as these gentlemen found
it necessary, for the sake OF their rep
utations, to exhibit something akin
to it, they invented and substituted
similar effects quite clever in their
way. These too have been SO care
fully guarded that, so for as I am
aware, the secret has never been laid
bare.
In this paper propose to explain
how some of these are done, selecting
those produced without the aid OF
mechanical contrivances as not only
the most ingenious, but decidedly the
best. shall begin with that known
as "The Sentry-Box," favorite trick
of Robert Heller, and still used by
Maskelyne and Cooke, the London con-
jurers.
The main piece Of apparatus con-
sists of an oblong box, about four feet
nine inches long, eighteen inches wide.
and twenty inches deep. Having made
or procured such box, stand it up
right, and about eighteen inches from
the ground end fasten a partition
board to serve as a seat for the per-
former 1t should be nailed firmly to
the sides and back (bottom) Of the box,
and be supported by cleats. About
four or FIVE inches above this seat two
gimlet-holes must be bored about an
inch apart, so that they win be on q
line with the performers hands II held
behind his back while seated. The