The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-20
MASTER OF THE BLACK ART.
SKETCHES AND STORIES OF THE
LATE ALEXANDER HERMANN.


ers i'm the WOrId-Mystery in His
Life, as Well rs in His Tricks.
Many of His Rest Performances
We're Impromptu and For the
Amusement of His Friends.
| Alexander Mermann, whose sudden
death on Thursday was reported in our
dispatches, was one of the best known
| and most popular magicians in the world.
He had been before the American public
thirty-five years. and during that time he
furnished the stage with more surprises
than any other living man.
! There was mystery in Herrmanns life
| story, as in his Performances Many who
knew him for years say that he was of
! Portuguese nativity and others believe he
was an Austrian. When the magician
| Alexandra brought suit against him in
England many years ago, it was said that
he was really Alexander Nieman, a Polish
Hebrew. The public, however, long since
accepted the declaration of Herrmanns
earlier advertisements that he was the
son and legitimate successor of Samuel
Hermann, a great French magician.
| Hermann was born in 1874, and began
|
his elder brother His first engagement
OF note as star was at the Star theater
IN Brooklyn, where he was paid 81 200 a
Week Later, when he returned to New
| YORK, his success was so great that he
| played seventy-five consecutive nights AT
| the close of this engagement he made a
tour OF the world, and appeared with equal
success In all of the principal capitals of
| Europe.
IN 1857 he dissolved partnership with his
| pIother ana began a second trip around
the world, exciting great wonder by his
Ieats OF legerdermain in the oriental home
| OF the art. Before his return to America
| IA 1914 ne visited India, Siam, China, Rus
sia' ana the countries of Southern Europe
| earning ana spending several fortunes on
| the way. The King of Spain made him
| Knight of the Order of Mahella. and
| ne also received a decoration form tbe
| King of Portugal
ms American engagements kept him
pusy aIter 1874, when he made his first
| uanscontinentai tour. 1t was on the shin
Whlch brought him from London in that
year that he met Adelaide Scarsia.an Eng
! hsh girl, who became his Wife She after
"aIu became his principal assistant and
cohtlnued to appear with him in all of his
| performances until his death
Herrmanns net income from his Ameri
| can engagements during the last eight
year was between $3.50 and $50 600 a year.
His professional expenses were small ex-
! cept Tor the last two years, when he main
tanned the most princely style of travelling
and materially increased the cost of his
/ performances. There are now twenty peo-
| pie IN his company. His travelling euuip-
ment consisted of the private car Herr
mann, built for him three years ago by the
| ONO falls Car Company at a cost of $4O-
| 600; the palace stable car Addie which cost
s22'OOO and specially constructed baggage
and scenery car, the Fra Diavolo.
In the stable car he carried his four
| horses, Cock Robin. Matchless, Addie, and
! Perfection, wherever he went, and many
! curious stories are told of his night drives
| in small towns and country places while
| on his tours Ii was his custom to drive
about the small towns before his perform
ance began and count the three-bail pawn
| brokers' signs. If there were few of them,
he would shrug his shoulders and say:
| Poor business tonight" He was al
ways looking for bargains in jewelry at
the pawnshops.
The steam yacht Fra Diavolo belonged
to Herman, and was in commission every
| season for his use. His home was at
| Whitestone, l.. l. and the place is luXu-
| riously furnished
! There have been repeated exposures"
| of Herrmann's feats of the marvellous
| disappearance order. Mechanical draw
| ings of the appliances by means of which
/
| printed with explanatory notes. Another
| ia his place might have been discounted,
| but never Hermann 1.-THE great" In the
most charming manner he would assure
| his audiences that exposures of him and
his feats were impossible, and the audi
| ences would be better satisfied than ever.
| Often the tricks which Hermann prac-
| ticed on his companions seemed more mar
| vellous to them than those he presented
on the stage, says the New York Journal.
| One of his off-the-stage specialties was
| reserved for use in the cafe at Delmonico's $.
| Necessary adjuncts were a bottle of cham
| payne and a stranger. The introduction
of the disengaged walters and guests to
| constitute themselves an impromptu audi
ence The stranger and the magician
would clink glasses filled to the brim.
your health and here goes" Hermann
would say. And, as the brim OF the glass
was touching his lips wine and glass to-
| gether disappeared before the astonished
| strangers gaze.
The equally mysterious temperance of
| the glass a moment later, still brimming
full of champagne. was the astonishing
climax of a trick of which no one ever eX-
planned the secret.
Hermann always carried a number of
gold coins in his pocket bearing his private
mark He was one of the most expert palm
lists that ever lived. There is story of
how Abe Hummel was victimized, with
apt elabora tons, in this wise:
They were seated in a Broadway cafe
in company with half dozen others A
| newsboy entered the cafe opportunity.
| Herman wanted a newspaper. He took
| a handful of coins from his pocket, among
| which were two $40 gold pieces, which
| he laid on Mr. Hummers corner of the
table while making change with the boy
out of a silver quarter Then he called
| the attention of those present to the fact
that one of his gold pieces had disap-
| peared.
Il am sorry, gentlemen said the ma
| gician, but l shall have to search you"
Mr.. Hummel had no objection, and when
| Hermann found the missing coin in the
lawyers vest pocket the latter brazenly
declared that it was his own.
but it bears my private mark retort-
ed the magician; now let US hear you
| defend the criminal"
The prisoner is declared to have plead
ed guilty and thrown himself on the
| mercy Of the court
In London. where they are very seri-
| ous-minded, Hermann was arrested while
playing his coin trick on "A woman. At
| the noIice Station he gtOut1v denied hts