The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-11-01


But will they come, when you do
call for them?'
Henry W., Part T., ILL.,, I.
Preternaturalism is the woodland a
very good one, though it is not in the
dictionary-which I 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
.tbOut as near to it as mOrtals can ap-
proach. Indeed, when l allow my
hands to be tied behind my back so
tightly that it Sc ems impossible for me
o use them, many persons question
whether or some concealed confed-
,rate produce the sights and sounds
hat 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-
tons" as before.
have never met more than two So
called explanations of the trick. In one
the performer by means of stip-knOts ties
himself so that he can either free him
self or fasten the knots anew at pleas
ure and in a 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 a so-called
Explanation of the Davenport Trick"
sold in England some years ago at the
modest price of a guinea, a copy of
which 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. 1t
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 a single knot being united.
I'm 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 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 is accomplished. AS soon as you
are alone Gin 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
land 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."
1t will be seen that these methods
re entirely different from the Daven-
ports Indeed, their trick is little
known even among professional con-
iurers, but as these gentlemen found
it necessary, for the sake of their rep
utations. to exhibit something akin
20 it. they invented and substituted
similar effects quite clever in their
way. These too have been so care
fully guarded that. so for as / 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
he most ingenious, but decidedly the
'est. shall begin with that known
as 1.-The Sentry Box" favorite trick
IF Robert Heller, and still used by
Maskelyne and Cooke, the London con-
iurers.
The main piece of apparatus con-
sists of an oblong box, about four feet
line inches long, eighteen inches wide,
and twenty inches deep. Having made
or procured such a box, stand it up
light, and about eighteen inches from
the ground end fasten a partition
board to serve as seat for the per-
former. 1t should be nailed firmly to
the sides and back (bottom) of the box.
aud 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 will be on a
line with the performers hands if held
behind his back while seated. The
| box finished, the young magician.
whom will suppose to be you, my
reader, can begin the entertainments
Come forward, holding In your nano
about a yard of strong Irvine, and in
troduce yourself and your trick with
some such remarks as: .sMany per-
formers use rope for this trick, but
that is not in my line. | think piece
| of taCine moro in accord with the
proprieties of a drawing-room-"
If your audience survive this and
spare your life, ask one of them TO act
as a committee. First call his atten-
ton to the box, and beg him to ex-
anime it and see that it is what it APP
pears to be. Then place your hands
behind your back, and request that he
will tie YOUR wrists together in. any way