The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-07-08
MAGIC GHOSTS.


Photographed.
In black art the entire stage is lined
with black cloth, while all around the
front of it, at top, bottom and sides, are
brilliant electric lights. These lights daz-
zle the eyes Of the spectators and throw
into intense gloom the stage behind,
WHEREOF the magician appears clad in a
snow white suit. He waves his hand,
and there comes floating in the air a
white wand, which he clutches. Al wave
of the wand and a table appears on his
right; another wave, and another table
on his left. Again, and two large vases
are seen upon the tables. They are shown
to be empty. The magician drops into
one Of the vases a few orange seeds. A
wave of the wand, and the receptacle is
filed with ORANGES, which, on being pour
ed intosthe second vase, disappear.
a human skeleton suddenly arrives, and
begins to dance. 1t becomes dismember-
ed, the separated parts floating about, but
presently they join, and the dance is re-
newed. Next a white rabbit is taken by
the performer. and in his hands it be-
comes two rabbits, which are tossed ihte-
the air and disappear. An unseen assist
ant is on the stage all the time Being
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black velvet mask, he is invisible to the
audience. The oranges are poured into
the vase from a black velvet bag by the
assistant, and they vanish when he emp
ties them again into the sack. 1t is the
same way with the rabbits, which are
caught in the open Mouth of the bag
when they are tossed up. The skeleton is
of papier mache, painted white and fas-
tened upon thin board, sawed to shape
and covered with black velvet, one arm
and one leg being Joined SO as to be easily
removed.
The tables and vases are white, and,
like the skeleton, are made to appear by
removing their black coverings.
There is another way of producing
spectral effects, says the New York
Press. On the stage is seen a man seat
ed at a table, dining composedly. The
stage suddenly is darkened, causing the
man to disappear from view, but at the
same moment i skeleton appears sitting
on the opposite side Of the table. The
skeleton is painted with zinc sulphide,
which has the property Of becoming lu-
minous under the Roentgen rays. The
apparatus for producing the latter is
concealed, and the rays are communi-
Gated to Brudder Bones through the
body actually Of the living man at the
table. BY the same means the decanter
and dishes on the table are caused to
glow brilliantly. The skeleton is con-
cealed by a black velvet cloth at first,
while the stage is Illuminated.
Peppers ghost" depended chiefly upon
the well known rejecting power Of plain
glass. People walking on the street Of
ten pause to look at themselves in the
windows of the shops, and it was by the
use of the same property of ordinary
glass that Peppers amazing results were
obtained. For example, a figure clad in
a white robe, but concealed from the di-
rect view of the audience, was brilliantly
Illuminated and so placed that a bright
reflection of it was thrown upon a large
sheet of glass. The glass was not OBJ
served by the spectators, ard from their
viewpoint the ghost, for such it seemed,
appeared in Obedience to a familiar law
Of optics to be as far in the rear Of the
glass as the real figure was distant from
the latter. Thus the specter stood ap-
parently we'll back on the stage, and its
1mmateriality was made evident by Pro-
fessor Pepper walking through it repeat
eddy.
If one looks out at night into the dark
ness through the glass of a window Of a
lighted room, there will be seen the re-
Elected images of objects in the room,
which seem to be exactly as far beyond
the window zane as the objects them
selves are distant from the glass on the
inside. Ones own face, for instance, II
a foot away from the pane, will be repro
duced by another face a foot beyond the
glass. 1t is upon this optical principle
that Peppers ghost depends.