San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-06-06
Jhe Daily Eight.
THURSDAY, JUNE, 6 1899.

writing backward was only intended to
heighten the effect of the performance
The use Of the book in this experiment
bears similarity to one phase of a remark
able feat which Bishop accomplished TO- the
mystification of the faculty of the University
of Edinburgh. That is now known to be a
trick, and yet its explanation utterly fails to
read the riddle contained in the tragic occur.
renee in the Lambs club
When in Europe on his first public tour
Bishop was invited to take dinner with the
faculty of the famous University of Edin-
burg in the house of one of its members. In
the course of the entertainment, when the
question of the young mans powers were dis
cussed, he requested one of the gravest pro.
fessors to 60 to the room abova-wbatever IL
might be-pick up any book he might find
there and bring it to the dining room. This
was done. Bishop did not touch the volume,
but requested the host to place his own visit
ing card between any two pages of the book
without noticing the numbers thereof. Then
he requested a third professor to hold the
volume 1t was heavily worded treatise on
political economy. Professor" said Bishop
to the one who now held it, "you will find our
hosts card between pages "a and %. Open
and see" 1t was there. 1.-THE first para
distracted air, "reads as follows" and he re-
peated it word for word The faculty was
dumfounded.
Yet that was simply clever trick
Now for the explanation. / have it on the
authority of Mr.. Erastus Brainerd, who was
then, for brief time, managing the so
called mind reader. Bishop had in his pos
session one of his hosts visiting cards, which
had been left for the American at his hotel.
He was careful to be the first guest to arrive
at the place of appointment, and finding, as
he expected, that his host had not yet de-
scended to the parlor, made an excuse for the
servant to show him up stairs for moment.
Passing the door of the Ibrary-which was
Immediately above the dining room-and
finding it unoccupied, he skipped in with that
cat like tread which distinguished him.
Picking up one Of many books which were
scattered over table he opened it at page
"a, and in few moments his marvellous
memory had enabled him to retain the
words of the first paragraph on page 95
of the volume on political economy. Hav-
ing inserted his hosts visiting card be-
tween the two pages he placed the book atop
the others, and in such an awkward position
that it could scarcely fail to first attract the
attention of a person entering the room.
With this explanation the trick is easily I'M
derstood. OF course, the host did not place
his card between pages "a and 95, but when
Bishop announced that the card was in that
position no one thought of looking for a
second card elsewhere Had the wrong book
been brought him, he would have diverted
the trick into another channel
Did Bishop ever have an accomplice?
Even those who class him as a trickster do
not think so. They think he was too smart
to ever intrust his secrets to any one. The
testimony of Charles Frohman, his first
American manager, is valuable in this re-
spect. His first appearance in New York
was in Steinway hall, and the receipts were
$4S. Frohman determined that first class
theatre must be secured and the attention of
the scientific world drawn to the perform
ances Wallacks theatre was leased. Invi-
tations to a private test were sent to scien-
tists doctors and newspaper men. On the
day preceding the first exhibition in Wal
lacks, they assembled in one of the parlors
of the Hoffman house. A committee of
prominent gentlemen was appointed to take
a needle and drive to any place in New York
and hide it, Bishop, blindfolded and clasp
ing one of the committeeman by the wrist,
route and find the needle
= when the cowpittee had gone" says Mr..
Frohman in speaking Of this occarrehce, ~
became worried. l had never seen the ex-
pertinent tried. Failure meant disastrous
loss for me. While the crowd was busy with
the collation. and laughing at the jokes Of
Marshall P. Wilder, who was there tQ enter
tain them, whispered to Bishop: DO you
heed any assistance9 ! can have some one
follow that committee and report their move
ments to you secretlyr He looked at me
calmly and said; No, don't need any
assistance. can do it. But even if
find that can't I'll avoid failure asked
him what he meant. Why he answered,
with the utmost determination, If l find
can't do it will run over some one with the
carriage or else upset the committee in the
street. But the experiment was complete
success, and he found the needle in the upper
story of Fifth avenue house."
One more illustration and ain DONE
Bishop once told me that when he was in
st. Petersburg the late assassin haunted car
asked him if he could not employ his seem
ingly mysterious power to detect rnurderous
schemes against the life of the ruler Of the
Russias The mind reader-if that is the
proper term-answered that such an idea had
never entered his head, but he did not think
he would prove of value in such a method OF
detection. If, he said, a would be assassin,
for instance, hid dagger in one spot, and
then when the mind reader seized his hands
he should think of the weapon being in an
other place, the operator would inevitably
lead him to the location on which his
thoughts were conferred. To please the
morbid mind of the emperor, however,