, 1889-04-30
MAGICIANS' TRICKS.
MAEG-sELlEVE MIRACLES PERFORM
ED BY MODERN MORTALs.

The MystIfyIng Inventions OF De KoIta-
"oriental occultIsm" Easily Explained.
The BLACK Art Is Very Simple When
You Know How.
Magic art has undergone many remark
able transformations since Robert Hou-
din, the father of all modern magic, lived
in Paris half n century ago. Perhaps no
one could compare with him in celebrity,
excepting the original Hermann, who
died at Carlsbad a couple of years ago,
and from whom the Hermann who at
present perambulates America took his
name and learned what he knows. The
present Hermann was known as Neu-
man, and was an assistant to his greater
prototype. He was always remarkable
for n thing, and that is his very great
deXterity in sleight of hand tricks. To-
day there is nobody that can compare
with him in this line of work, what is
known as palming. In fact anything
that can be lone with the hands alone,
excepting n leaf mute who travels
through the cheaper museums, and who
is said TO have even far greater ability in
this line, but without the gift of express
ing himself.
THE FLYING BIRD CAGE.
Hermann, however, has never been
an inventor. He finds his tricks ready
made for him abroad and buys their Sc
cret As n result he is compelled to
travel around with a vast paraphernalia
that the old magicians would have looked
upon with great contempt. In fact, the
tendency of modern magic has been tho
elaboration of tho cumbersome, and
Hermann needs a whole roomful of fur
niture to carry out one of his illusions.
The brightest mind in magic at the
present day is a prestidigitateur named
De kolta. He holds forth in Paris, and,
being almost n gentleman of leisure, only
appears about three nights n week. He
has made all tho most important of mod
crn inventions in magic. The one that
brought him first into prominence in the
line of invention was tho flying bird
cage, which is now so familiar hat 1t
can DO bought in magic stores for n few
dollars, but it made a great sensation at
the time. Kellar was tho first to buy it
from Do Kolta, and took tho trick to
Australia, where he made somo SEQ, 900
put Of it. He only paid $500.
Two or three seasons ngo In New York
tho Vanishing Lady was accepted ms n
very remarkable novelty. This was also
an invention of DE Kolta's. During the
past year another of his inventions, tho
Cocoon, has beon given in New York
both by Kellar and by Hermann.
But the ono thnt Il now most familiar
and surprising De Kolta first brought out
two years ago. We have seen it with
Hermann under the name of Black Art,
and with Kellar under the name of ORR
entail Occultism. The trick Is precisely
the same with them both, and is merely
an illusion of blnckncss. The whole
stage is drapcd in the blnckest of black;
the magician, be it Kellar or Hermann,
is completely robed in white, so that he
stands out clearly in the gloom surround
ing him. Then he orders various objects
to appear, a cup, n sword, a table, n
chair.
MAGIC Is ANN
These things seem to suddenly start
into being, and yet tho device is of the
simplest. The objects in question arc
concealed behind n black cloth until the
order for them to appear Is suddenly
given. The cloth Concealing them Is
dropped, and they seem to have come
out Of chaos. In the same manner Mrs.
Hermann or Mrs. Kcllar stands on the
stage draped in white, but holding up n
black cloth between herself and tho au-
dienCc. AT the wore of tho magician she
drops the cloth and stands revealed. To
the uninitiated the trick is most puzzling.
1t il the same way that the head de
tached from the trunk appears to be car
ried around the stage. The illusion Is
that the trunk is closed in black, and
standing against the blackness of tho
scene, cannot be distinguished; the head
being white, alone appears. This is per-
haps tho clcverest of oil De Kolta's in
ventions.
OF mechanical tricks Maskelyne, of
London, and Kellar are tho most noted
inventors. Psyche, or the hand hat taps
on a glass table in response TO the ma
gician's command, is an invention of
Kellar, and is simply n pieceof very deli
cato and intricate machinery. 1t is very
similar to tho Clio of Maskelyne, and
both have u family resemblance to Kel-
lars chess board, originally invented by
Maskelyne. Magicians generally give
tho palm TO Kellar for all tricksof q
mathematical kind. lie has q marvel
ously quick mind in this respect, and
the most abstruse problems he can solve
III oSSoiiho apparently U COuISt,
allowing it 10 be lone by some mcchani-
cal figure.
Whether all this comes within tho OK
act domain of magic does not SO much
matter as that such tricks are now ac-
cepted in magical entertainments and
vastly more enjoyed than the old pistol,
card and rabbit tricks to which some
magicians still adhere-tricks that neces-
state the use Of n confederate, and
which are, therefore, of little account
and ut which eve locals laugh.
The future of magic is hard to fore
tell, Everything in the sleight-of-hand
way has become familiar, and outside of
De Kolta there is no inventor of any
thing new. The result is that recent
prcstidigitateurs, such as Hermann, are
compelled to add to their own some sort
Of variety entertainment TO fill out the
evening. Even Kellar had to go zach to
tho old Indian basket trick for q novelty.