The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-03-15
THE FIRE KINGS TRICKS.
A REPORTERS EXPLANATION OF
HOW THEY ARE PERFORMED.

HOW THEY ARE PERFORMED.
a Marvellous Medley of NaGic-Wonder-
ful Performances Of q Man in League
with the Powers OF the Fire and
Brimston World.
The professor was a little man, generous
and expansive in the matter Of shirt front,
red as 20 hair and blessed with a surprising
amplitude of coat sleeve and tail.
Ladies and gentlemen" he began, coming
e. tho front Of the stage and turning back
his cuffs with an innocent air and that gem
orally clean fingered deXterity which char
acterzes the manual motions of slcight OF
hand men-"ladies and gentlemen, begging
your pardon in advance for the Iber-y / am
taking, I wish 20 state that in the hall or
this opera house, just outside the door, there
Is a faucet connected with the pipes which ,
supply the city with water. If some young /
gentleman in the audience viii be so kind as /
to fill this tin utensl in my hand"-he lifted /
a tin quart bucket from the table and tapped /
IL with his forefnger-''with water from |
that faucet, 1 shall proceed to burn it-not /
boilit, understand me- but burn the water
with a flame which you may all see"
After a little natural persistence and some
urging from the professor couple Of young
gentlemen, aged about 10 summers, conveyed
the tin bucket out into the hall, whence they
presently returned with quart of water,
which the professor demonstrated to be pure
water by drinking a few swallows Of IT. A
suggestion from the rear of the hall that the
Erowler might contain beer was properly ig-
nored, and the remainder of the clear fluid
was poured from the bucket into glass fruit
dish.
"SSalamandissimus, salamandosI" remarked
the professor, solemnly, while he waved aus
hands over the surface of the water. 4 com
N1aN I prrr0 and fv-lp 1
command thee, three times, in the name OF
birthstone, fiIel"
A rose colored flame appeared on the water,
and gradually spread until it embraced tha
whole area OF the surface and rose pyramid
wise 70 a height of about twelve inches. Dur
ing the subsequent proceedings the water con
tinued TO burn
SEVERAL FAMILIAR CHEsTEUTs
Then ensued the cracking of a number o.
familiar chestnuts, such as the cooking of an
onelet in a borrowed silk hat, the mysterious
production from nowhere of an outfit of tin
ware and a guinea pig, ct id omne genus.
A bar of lead was melted in a cruCible over
n small furnace, and according TO the prom
Use on the bills the professor proceeded to
wash his hands in the molten metal. He did
the work thoroughly, plunging his hands to
the elbow into the crucible, now and then
scooping uI the liquid lead in his palm and
dropping it upon the board floor of the stage,
where it instantly hardened in thin flakes.
The blade of an ordinary steel table knife
melted like wax in the flame Of a tallow
candle under the influence of his touch, and
then dipping pen into the dish of burning
water, the professor went through the mo-
tions of writing upon a folded newspaper
handed to him by one of the audience WheI
the hall was darkened the words, "PherguSon
the Phire King. right hand of his Majesty
Diablosl" stood out in green flames from tn
surface of the paper
So far, so good The tricks were per
formed; but the city editors instructions t.
find out how they were performed and t
write an expose of the Fire Kings secrets un
happily were not yet carried out. While tn
audience was conveying itself through tn
doorway into the street elbowed my wa.
behind the scenes and corralled the professor
who was engaged in packing his parapheI
MALTA When you want man to do you
favor, it is by no means best to approach hir
with an obsequious air; If you do, he wi
probably tumble to your racket, so to speal
and give yon the cold shake. cept my he
on and paralyzed the professor with a steel
glare and just shade of hauteur.
Representing tEe press" l said brus4uely
producing a pasteboard. "Are not til
chemicals used in your-ah -ah-b1clIs, al
they not dangerous-of an infammaOle ma
ure-apt to explode; and all that's"
y SCARED PROFESSOR.
While was talking, l made some notes
a manuscript book, giving the professor Il
idea that the jottings were to the effect TIN
his entertainments were OF charact'
hazardous to the audience.
"Good gracious sir! no." he gaSped; *
all means do not publish such an insioua@oI
it would ruin me. All my agents are innouel
when rightly used"
l smiled cynically-"Hes, OF course you Sc
So"
aBut I can prove it. Potassium, pho
phorus, birthstone. quicksilver Are they e
plosive"
The trail was getting warm.
"WelI, of course, that depends. The pots
SUM, for instance, how do you use it!"
Il drop q small quantity Cf it upon the 81
face of the water in the glass dish. Up
contact with the water it Immediately tlal
up and burns with a rose colored tan
Simplest thing in the world. With the bril-
stone 1 merely touch piece OF steel ma
red hot in tn '1ne OF a candle, and the ST
1aelts like t. No danger there. a sti
II phosphoru - affixed to my pen when
write upon the newspaper, and of course
the darkness the writing stands out To wa
my hands in molten lead it is only necessa
to battle them previously III an ointment ma
of one ounce of quicksilver, two ounces
bole ammoniaco, half an ounce Of campt
and two ounces Of aqua vitae beaten togett
with a pestle in brass mortar. keep t
mixture by me constantly, and have ne'
yet had the slightest accident"
The still, small voice Of the call boys Gle
said 81" Just as the professor was ini
ing his meaty sentence and L rushed arou
TO the office with scaut time to write up a
hand IN my copy by l. O'Clock. l had !
exposed the professors whole business, bat
had got at the marrow of four Of his b
tricks-Detroit Free Press.
The Cloud DispeIfed.
Alonzo-Dcarest Edith, candor compels I
on the eve of our wedding, TO confess thu