The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-09-13
IRVING BISHOPS FEATS.
Two Remarkable Instances of His Skill
as Mind Reader.

Two Remarkable Instances of His Skill
as a Mind Reader.
II knew Irving Bishop for fifteen
years" said Henry E. Dixey, the actor. to
reporter. "and he was the most remark
able man ever mer. He was not simply
remarkable as mind reader, but he was
clever genius in other respects. Appar-
emily a little insignificant fellow, he
courageously went into Russia and be-
sought the Gar TO grant him an oppor-
tunitY of displaying his wonderful gifts.
After repeated applications the monarch
deigned to receive him. His performance
before the Russian court was to be cru
cial test, which would demonstrate
whether the young American was phe-
nomenon or asfraud.
Zone of the Cars sons took daggers,
and, while Bishop was blindfolded and
put into another apartment of the palace,
went through all the actions appropriate
to stealty attempt at stabhing. Then
the Prince jumped into a sleigh, and, e.
hind his three horses, he rode through the
dark roads TO point about mile distant
from the imperial household, and there,
i'll deep snowbank. secreted the dagger.
On the Princes return Bishops eyes were
uncovered and he got into the sleigh
The mind reader directed the horses, al
though the roads were unknown to him
and the night was pitch dark, and alight-
ed at precisely the same spot where the
young man had got out. He went straight
to the snowbank and took out the hidden
weapon. Returning to the palace he gave
q perfect counterfeit preSentment of the
mock suabbing affray, and concluded, to
the bewilderfnent of the Czar and his
family, by putting the point of the dag
ger exactly at the place on the CZarina's g
left shoulder whore her son had touched
her.
Irving Bishop never had q confeder.
ate. His performances were no mere
fents in legerdemain. Bishop had fine
education and was thorough cosmopoli-
tan. He had hn incomprehensibly Keen
perception and power Of concentration
tense during some of his performances.
recollect that after one exhibition his
pulse actually beat l60.
THAT performance was the most mar
vellous had ever witnessed. 1t was In
Louisville. KY, and as sat on the stage
and watched the entire performance crit
ically, am sure ne had no assistance. An
old kentuckian, very wise in his own way
and skepticnl, offered to wager a large
sum that Bishop could not reveal tho Sc
cret he would try to conceal
- Now, my friend,'n said Bishop
Charles Foster would give you a pad
and ask you to write something on the
upper leaf, and then tear the page off and
put it into your pocket. Foster would
take back the pad, in which he had a
piece of manifold paper, and seeing q
duplicate of your writing would tell you
what you had put into your pocket That
was trick. Now, will do something
more difficult. won't use any pad and l
want you to take your own paper The
sneeIing old fellow took a scrap OF paper
from his pocket, and while Bishop sat
blindfolded in another part of the stage
the old man wrote a name on the paper
and put it into his pocket. Bishops ban
dage was removed, and going over to the
old fellow he said, smilingly:-" That $
quite man you wrote about. Won't you
come out and have smoke with me?
You wrote the name of Henry Clay on
that paper?' You never saw more sur
prised man in your life than that old fell
low. Henry Clay was really what had
been written. But Bishop had worked