Evening journal., 1897-09-17
RANCROFT An THE RIIon.


Bancroft, the magician, who has been
quite sick for several days, was suffi-
ciently recovered last evening to open
his three-nights engagement at the
Bijou Theatre. The effects of the ply
sical suffering which ne had undergone
were plainly visible, but he gave such
a clever, clean and delightful show
that the man was forgotten in the mas
ter Of magic, who for nearly three
hours kept his audience mystified by
the cieverness of his work, nearly all
OF which was new and original with
himself. The stage settings were beau
tiful and so placed as to give the best
possible effect. One of the tables cost
the round sum of $500, and everything
was suggestive of the splendors and
mysteries of the Orient. Outside of the
sleight-of-hand work the principal fea-
lures Of the entertainment were the
miracles of Chunder Hula the great IL
lusiOn the mystery of Mesrour, and the
midnight mystery of the Yogi. The
terpschorean interlude by the Sisters
Dunbar elicited hearty applause
Between the first and second acts an
Evening Journal reporter interviewed
Mr. Bancroft behind the scenes. In an
swer to questions propounded he said:
Il have been engaged in this line of
work since boyhOOd. 1t is perfectly
natural TO me. / am now 81 years and.
as | took il up when / was 10 / have
had overy twenty years experience |
am a Rochester boy and consider it my
home. My first public performance was
in 1873 at the Grand Opera House in
Chicago. My life has been spent large
ly IN travel, and / have been all over
the world pretty much. My father gave
me every advantage of travel, as they
antagonized the career which | had
mapped out for myself, and hoped thai
better acquaintance with the world
would divert my mind from it. After
seeing this country I spent some tim,
in India, Persia, Japan and China, bu
there is not much magic in the two
countries last named. / also visiteJ
some points in Egypt, and am one o
the pyramid climbers.
My art is perfectly natural with me
! have never had a lesson. All / hav,
done is to travel in search of knowl
edge. A magician has Ito be born.
want to tell you something abou
magic. For instance, / might be abl
to show you one of my tricks and We
de unable 10 teach you the mack of do
ing it. The difference between success
and failure in magic is mack. 1t is
iine point, just the same as in music, il
which a little difference in expression
marks the difference between the mas
ter and the amateur. So that, Will
knowledge Of magic is a great deal,
would not do a man any good to kno'
all about it if he did not know how t
use 1t with the hand of a master II
only once in a generation that a frs
class magicianis found
Il have been completely wrapped u
in my art ever since boyhood. do
great deal OF inventing every year.
have my own workshops and laboraltol
les in New York, and keep developin
all the time. IL requires two cars
transport my scenery, and il and m
other properties were made from m
own designs after suggestions I got
India and ether oriental countries"
At this juncture Mr.. Bancroft WI
compelled TO return TO the stage.
A noticeable feature Of last night
performance was the number of wome
and children IN the audience. This W,
particularly pleasing to The manag
ment. which proposes to make il
frs class family theatre. Mrs. n. s.
men, the lessee, who has completed