The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-03-03


tury has met with persons who claim
to have seen these marvellous perform
ances of the fakirs, but not one of them
returns stating positively that he has
Gently exhibited a photograph of a badly
executed crayon sketch or tiger chas-s
Ing boy up rope, but he did not have
the effrontery to assert that he had
photographed it from life, / think the
reason why we hear SO much concern
Ing the man. boy and tigers climbing
the rope lis that many of the visitors
TO India hear 1T so often that they finally
come to believe that they have actually
interviewed men who have witnessed
this marvellous performance.
May these travellers not be like the
man of Marseiles who saw whale? 1t
is reported that man about town en-
tered the largest and most popular
restaurant in Marseilles at the lunch
hour one day to find every chair occu-
pied by hungry guest Now being
hungry himself. he determined not to
leave the restaurant until that hunger
was satisfied, and, accordingly, walked
out to the door, where he remained
few minutes Entering he called out
In loud voice. Gentlemen, there is
wonderful sight now being seen at the
entrance of the harbor that has never
been witnessed before in Marseilles
There is a whale coming in from the
ocean that is so large that he completely
blocks the channel and prevents steam
ers from leaving
1t is needless to say that a general
stampede took place. In a thrice nearly
every table was deserted, and the hun
cry man seated himself comfortably and
called waiter to order his lunch, when
after viewing the tide of sightseers
streaming out of the door for a few
minutes, he said to himself, .sIt is re-
markable, seeing all those people rush.
ing down to the wharf to see the whale:
possibly there is a whale there" and
leaving the chair to join the throng, he
lost his lunch.
As an improvement Oh the aerial sus-
pension illusion Messrs. Maska1yne and
Cook, of the Egyptian Hall, London,
came out some years ago with a decep-
ton that mas since been produced in
nearly every large city of the country
under the titles of deviation, spirit
flights and other high-sounding, real
three-sheet bill names. Levitation has
been attempted by magicians ever since
the warm advocates of spiritualism be-
gan discussing the possibility of hui
man body being rendered light enough
to float through space. as they are all
fond of such startling illusions as
waited on gentle breezes, upheld by
spirit hands,"
The performance of Maskalyne and
Cook, as seen by English audiences, was
startling and successful; so much so, in
fact, as to be for a time the talk of the
British metropolis. It may be briefly de-
would walk out into the center of the
stage and then come down to the foot
lights, where he would explain to his
audience that he was about to attempt
a flight from the stage to the dome of
the theater, and that as this perform
ance was most dangerous. one that re-
CURED all his nerve and composure and
strength. he requested the persons pres
ent to refrain from making any demon
stration whatever during the progress
n a G a
burst Of applause or unusual or unneces-
sary noise might for an Instant divert
his mind from his work and cause him
to fall to the floor beneath, which would
probably result in his being instantly
killed.
After this caution he would call the
attention of the audience to the fact that
although the lights of the theater would
be turned out, he would not leave their
sight for a second, and as soon as the
house and stage lights were extinguished
his movements would be followed by a
small lime light. which would be kept
on his face SO as to enable the audience
to have an unohstructed view of him
during the entire experiment. After this
explanation all the lights in the front
of the house were turned out, showing
the performer standing in the center of
the stage with folded arms and up
turned face when, at the word Ready"
the stage lights would be extinguished.
leaving the house in total darkness for
an Instant, and an eventful instant-but
more of this anon. Then stream of
yellow light would flash up from the
orchestra full in the face of the per-
former, disclosing him standing as be-
fore, causing him to look very pale, in
fact. ghostly: then accompanied by
weird tremolo music, the magician would
be seen to slowly leave the stage and
sail silently and gracefully up to the
very dome of the thedter, then down to
the upper tier. around the balcony and
back to the stage, the stream of light
following him all the time. AS soon as
he reached the stage and stood exactly
as when he started, the light that had
followed him would disappear, to be
followed almost instantly by the house
and stage lights, when the magician
would step forward from the spot from
which he had started on his aerial Jour-
ney, and smilingly receive the storm of
applause that invariably followed his
performance.
THE EXPLANATION SIMPLE.
Now for the explanation. When the
hall or theater was made ready for the
trick originally, thin, strong, flexible
wire so fine and dark as to be invisible
under ordinary light was so arranged
as to drop down from the dome quickly
and silently, and fastened on a hook be-
tween the shoulders of the magician on
the stage. To this was fastened a
guide wire handled by an expert on the
stage who could thus control the move
ments of the floating body. The instant
the lights were turned out a lay figure.
exactly the size and dressed in exactly
the same sort of clothing worn by the
magician was substituted for the per-
former, who stepped immediately be-
hind it. snapped on the wire guides and
in a second the yellow light was flashed
In the waxen face of the papier mache
figure SO perfectly resembling the per-
former as to deceive even his most init
mate friends.
Thus the audience was convinced that
the magician had not left their sight for
i a moment even at the change of lights,
when in reality the stage had been in
total darkness long enough for the sub
stitution of the papier mache figure.
The flash OF yellow light shining on the
face of the figure rendered the darkness
behind it all the more complete and In
tense, and from the seclusion of this
blackness the magician was enabled to
handle the guide wire and direct the
figure around the auditorium at his will.
And after this voyage through space he
could easily bring it back and cause 1t
to stand Immediately in front of him,