Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-11-01


HotsDv-"why. 80 can 1. or 20 can any m&n:
Bat viii they come. when ron do
call for Ihemr-
Henry ~. Part r.. a.,
Preternaturslism is the word and q
very good one, though it il not in the
dictionary which / have used for
many years to describe certain curl
GUS effects which never fail to interest
ny audience. both old and young. and
hough by no means supernatural, are
.lbout as near to it as mortais can APP
proach Indeed, when / allow my
hands to be tied b.hind my back 50
tightly that it Sc Ems impossible for me
use them. many persons question
shether / or some concealed confed-
rate produce ths sights and sounds
hat occur behind the screen where. in
leu of cabinet AN seated Yet
it is trickery. pure and simple Not
% simple as to be seen through. yet 80
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 manifesto
tons" as before.
have never met more than two so
called explanations of the trick. In one
the performer By means of stip-kHots ties
himself so that he can either free him
self or fasten the knots anew at pleas
nre 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 Ia so-called
Explanation of the Davenport Trick y
sold In England some years ago at the
modest price of 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
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 resisting power to the
/ rope when it is fastened round the
I 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 lin room or cabinet1. 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
20 make any manifestations with
musical instruments, etc
1t will be seen that these methods
re entirely different from the D4ven-
ports' Indeed, their trick is little
inown even among professional con-
iurers, but as these gentlemen found
it necessary, for the sake OF their rep
itations. to exhibit something akir
/ % it. they invented and substituted
similar effects quite clever in their
vay. These too have been 50 care
fully guarded that so for as | an
aware, the secret has never been laiC
bare
In this paper ] propose TO explain
low some of these are done, selecting
hose produced without the aid o
mechanical contrivances as not oul.
he most ingenious. but decidedly th'
.est- SHALL begin with that know
IS The Sentry Box" Il fayorite tricI
If Robert Heller, and still used b.
Iaskelyne and Cooke, the London con
lurers~
The main piece of apparatus con
sists of an oblong box. about four fee
line inches long. eighteen inches wide
and twenty inches deep. Having mad
} ar procured such a box. stand it up
light, and about eighteen inches from
: he ground end fasten a partition
board TO serve as seat for the par
.ormer. 1t should be nailed firmly I
, the sides and back (bottoml of the box
! aud be supported by cleats- Aoou
our or 1--WE inches above this seat tw
.rimlet-holes must be bored about q
iueh apart. so that they will be on
inc with the performers hands If hel
behind his back while seated. Tn
, oox flushed. the Young magician
. whom | viii suppose TO be yon. Ii.
reader, can begin the entertainment
Come forward. holding IN your mar
about yard of strong Irvine, and i
troduce yourself and your trick wi
I some such remarks as: MANY pc
, formers use rope for this trick. b
, that is not in my line. think piee
, of ttcias more in accord with Il
. proprieties of drawing-room.
II your audience survive this al
r spare your life. ask one of them 10 8
as committee. First call his site
ton to the box. and beg him to e
anime it and see that it is what 1t a