The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-30
SECRETS OF MAGIcIANs.
bancroft, the Magician, Writes En-
tertainingIy of Them.

/ containing the elixir Of life could have
I been no more faithful TO his trust than
/ are the custodians OF secrets which have
/ coined princely fortunes for their posses
sors. During the earlier years OF my ap-
/ premiership to the magician's art I coll
/ lected a small library OF books on the
/ subject. written in many tongues, the old
4 est original publication being a French
work published in 1857. although ! have
/ several reproductions or works OF earlier
I English origin. While encage at this
. task learned of a book containing secrets
Of such value that the entire edition. with
I the exception of one copy. had been
| bought up and destroyed by interested
I magicians. II is worthy Of note that
the fund raised for this purpose included
/ very liberal contributions from prominent
3 professional spiritualists who feared the
I effect of the disclosures. II was only az
ter years Of inquiry that discovered the
owner Of this priceless volume, and moth
! ing short of one of my most cherished Sc
( crets was sufficient TO induce a loan Of the
I treasured document, from which 1 copied
many valuable extracts.
1t was some time later that I received
the first definite intimatIon of the ex-
/ lstence Of an exclusive cult among magi-
! clans Although few published books
/ give explanations Of illusions of a higher
/ 6Idue imam sucn as are known to anna
Z tours and second rate professionals 1
was struck by a suggestion contained in
an English essay on peculiar branch OF
the art. After repeated experiment and
months of patient practice l developed
the idea into a practical illusion OF a
high order. Feeling indebted to the au-
thor of the essay referred 10, 1 wrote him
in care Of his London publisher, giving a
description CT my invention. His reply
disclosed the fact that his nom de plume
concealed the identity of a prominent Eng
fish barrister Of high literary attain
ments, and being one OF the few persons
gifted with that natural aptitude so essen.
tial to the successful magician he had
penetrated into regions of magical lore
that had not hereto suspected. The cor
respondence having been satisfactory. 1
was forthwith initiated into secrets
known only to six other persons, two Of
the six being in the United States, one in
England, one in France, one in Germany.
and one in India. In return / was pledged
TO secrecy, ard obliged to furnish expana-
tons Of a certain number OF my own illu-
sions.
1t is needless to say that none Of the Sc
crets are OF a supernatural order. In fact
one OF the self-imposed duties of the pro-
tession is the exposure of imposters who
profess occult powers. On the contrary
everything pertaining to the art rests
upon scientific adaptation and combina-
| lAOh VI natural laws. without infringing
l. upon the possessions Of the mystic sew
en-" as one Of my American friends has
faceuously christened our scattered mem
bers-though so far a 5 know, the number
is purely accidental may illustrate by
an example the highly scientific charac-
ter Of some Of the illunions of modern
magic.
1t has been ascertained that when an
impression Of a given object is conveyed
to the brain through the eye. it remains
active for the average space of about
eight seconds. 1t Is also recognized that
a moving object conveys a stronger i'm
preston than one which is stationary.
T Adding to these facts a principle from
, hypnotic science, viz: that the power of
suggestion is sufficient to resuscitate q.
sensation or impression, some unique and
very startling experiments have been con-
structed. For these experiments a given
object is exhibited and put in motion. To
insure strong impression this prelimi-
nary is repeated-of course, on a plausible
pretext. The object is then instantly
vanished" by one of the numerous means
employed for effecting instantaneous dis
appearances, but before the audience has
had time to realize or even suspect the
disappearance, they are led by suggestion
to expect a repetition Of the motion; tao
attention is now arrested by an object
which, for practical purposes has ceased
to exist, and with the aid of the resusci-
tated impression the eye follows through
empty space the motion of an imaginary
object. The possible developments Of
such Illusions is apparent, and dt is to
this branch of the art that my recent ef-
forts have been directed. The most seri-
Gus obstacle is the limited duration of the
illusion, and the fact that many people
in every large audience are COMPARE lively
unimpressionable; but these difficulties
can, l hope, be overcome. From this illus
tration II will be readily comprehended
, how utterly unreliable is the descrip ton
of an illusion by those unacquainted with
its explanation, for, as a matter of fact,
the spectator can only describe the ap>
parent effect, and the true solution of the
mystery.
Ever since the beginning of the art in
generations long forgotten, il has been the
endeavor of the magician to apply prin-
ciples borrowed from the misty regions OF
dawning science and the modern intro
duction of hypnotism into the magic art,
} and its combination with highly scien-
tific optical Illusions, is no more marvel
lous to-day than was the introduction
of chemistry during the dark ages, or Of
electricity at a later period. Indeed, cleo
tricity is still employed to assist the pro-
duction of many Of the most inexplicable
feats Notwithstanding the apparent pre-
caution of complete insulation. The pres
ent development. of the art is such that
one of the chief demands upon the ma
gician's ingenuity is the formulation Of
new conditions for the exercise Of NEGRO
mantle principles. For example, it is ex-
ceedingly difficult to find an unsolved
problem for apparently freeing the human
body from its natural limitations. Many
practical methods have been devised for
causing living persons to appear in and
disappear from cabinets and other en-
closure, and to vanish or to be rendered
invisible to the spectators when actually
before their eyes. They may even ap-
pear to be freed from the laws Of grayi-
tation, or suffer apparent cremation or
decapitation with perfect safety. In view
of all these achievements it is not surpris-
ing that the magician often stops to dis
cover something which remains to be ac-
compished. Such a catalogue of marveis
might appear at first thought to be al
most extravagant, while in truth all Of the
effects enumerated and many others Of
an equally startling character are produc-
ed not merely by one method, but by sew
eral.
The Oldest device belonging to this de-