The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-11-26
BLACK ART.
A Magician on Modern and Old
Time Magic.
Tho Best TRICKS Are Those Requiring the
Lerst Apparatus - some Amusing
and Mystifylng Per-
fornaDces.

very few additions OF importance
have been made to the repcrtory of the
professional magician within recent
years." said an expert in prestidigitation
to Washington Star reporter. "The
new tricks all require elaborate me-
chapical contrivanees. 1t may be that
they draw the public for awhile, but
they do not furnish, lasting attractions.
Take the vanishing LADY, for ex-
ample. In its way it was wonderful
thing, and the mechanism necessary
was elaborate and costly: but every
one knew that the woman must neces-
sarily disappear through trap in the
stage, and the only mystery lay in the
cleverness with which the feat was ac-
complished. Here was no illusion,
properly speaking, nor anything to ex-
cite wonder A trick, 10 be really
worth anything, must be seemingly
miracle, incxplicable to the mind of the
spectator
THE best tricks are those requiring
the least apparatus. No feat of magic
ever attempted on the stage has cre-
atcd more profound sensation than
did the famous sphinx when it first
appeared in Europe. Even the scien-
tiiic men went wild over it. 1t was the
first thing of it's kind ever seen, and for
a long time no one suspected that the
body to which the talking head be-
longed was concealed behind two mir
rors that stood at an angle with each
other beneath the table. The extreme
simplicity of the means used for de-
ceiving was the most effective point.
But the performer is most successful
when he employs for the purposes of
legerdcmain everyday articles, such as
people are accustomed to. Audiences
are always entertained to see rabbits,
guinea pigs and other articles taken off
hand out of the hat of the fat gentle
man who has been SO imprudent as to
take a front seat near the middle aisle.
This sort of trick is much more
simple and easily performed than you
may suppose. ! descend fro,:, the stage
and borrow q silk hat from any gen
.leman who will give me one. The
trst things to be taken from the hat
are already concealed CD the inside Of
my coat. AS | turn and regain the
stage, with my back for Il moment to
the spectators, quickly drop these
articles into the hat. Then | face the
audience once more and draw the
things out one by one, exhibiting much
surprise. Some live animal may come
first, because it is desirable to dispose
of that as quickly as possible. Next.
perchance, ! pull out Il wig, which al
ways eXcites a roar of laughter. Tho
other articles to be brought forth have
been previously done up in many COM
pact little bundles. Sometimcsa single
small package contains quantity
OF hen feathers so tightly done up that
when they are shaken out there seems
to be enough Of them to fill mattress.
Each bundle is so fixed that it's wrap
ping can be disengagcd in second
Having pulled out of the hat all the
things which have been previously
taken from under my coat and put into
it, ] go to shelf under pretense of
brushing the tile, and incidentally slip
number of other articles into it. Then
l come down toward the audience as if
for the purpose of returning the bor-
rowcd stovepipe, but suddenly pause
and begin to draw out of it many
things several times the size of the
nat, such as bird-cages, trunks, and so
forth, all OF which are SO made that
they close up in very small compass.
The springs that hold them in shape
are released as each one is taken out.
OF course, trick like this requires a
great deal Of practice and skill, but its
effectiveness is almost wholly due to
the fact that it is performed with SO
cOnmOnnlnnn nj
silk hat Perform a seeming miracle
with broom, brick, or anything else
that is exceedingly commonplace and
familiar and your feat excites infinitely
more wonderment than if it were ac-
companied with an elaborate mechan-
ical contrivance. When the Pharaoh's
magicians turned their wallsing-sticks
into snakes they knew how to i'm
press most strongly the minds of OBJ
servers"