The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-03-16
 HOUDIN AND THE ARABS.
The Magician Extricated Himself Fro

mousse III order to repeat f1Oudln re-
 marks to the natves in their own lan- 1 guage. With true Oriental dignity and
 gravity the Arabs witnessed the first
 few tricks in stolid silence, but the talk ing of huge cannon-ball from a bor-
 rowed hat aroused great excitement.
 Then came the great tricks of the
 evening, especially prepared to astonish
 the Arabs.
 By wonderful power which pos
 sess' said Houdin II can deprive any
 man of his strength.I invite any one to
 prove my words
 On this being interpreted to the Arabs
 a tall strong man stepped forward on
 the stage. Houdin held in his hand a
 little iron box, and, balancing it care
 lessly on his little finger, he asked the Arab:
 Are you strong?" | Yes" replied the man carelessly,
 Are you sure of always remaining SOP"
 Always"
 Lift that box"
 The Arab did so, and asked contemp- tuously;
 'Is that all?"
 Wait" said Houdin, making SOL emn gesture. Now you are weaker than woman. Try to lift that box again."
 The Arab seized the handle and tugged again, He could not raise the box an inch from the floor After many attempts he paused for moment to brace himself for final effort He seized the handle again, but shrielsed aloud with pain, dropped on his knees, then, rising. threw his cloak round his face to conceal his shame, and rushed from the theater, leaving his compatri- ots stricken with fear The trick was as smple as the result was startling The box was placed on powerful elec- tro-magnet, and the current being con- plete, no man on earth could have lifted it. An electric shock sent at signal by Houdin from behind the stage. was what caused the Arab to shriek and hur- riedly retreat,
 Before the excitement caused by this trick had subsided, Houdn announced that he had talisman which rendered him invulnerable, and he defied the best shot in Algiers to kill him. A marabout immediately sprang on the stage, ex claiming, T want to kill you. Houdin handed him pistol, which the Arab, ex- amining, pronounced a good one. Tt is good pistol and I will kill you.'
 Very we'll" said Houdin; "to make sure, put in double charge of powder Here's wad. Take a bullet from this tray. and mark it so you will know it again. Ram it into the pistol we'll"
 Tt is done.''
 Now" said Houdin, you say the pistol is a good one, and you've loaded it well, so kill me-
 Yes replied the marabout, II will do that.'
 Houdin took pear, stuck 1t on knife and walked a few paces in front of the Arab, and told him to aim at his heart.He fired and the marked bullet was seen on the pear. After the powder and wad were rammed home, and while the Arab was marking the bullet Hou- din slipped a little tube into the pistol. This tube was closed at the lower end, and into this the Arab dropped the bull let As he thrust the wad down with the ramrod, the tube fitted snugly on to it. and was withdrawn with it, being pOHSneu to feSelHple It. Ilouoih tHus got possession of the marked ball, and all was then plain sailing,
 On one occasion during his visit to Algiers Houdin was placed in a very awkward position, from which he only extricated himself by his quick-witted- ness. He was the guest of an Arab chief, Abou Allem, and entertained his host and friends by few tricks One of the company was a marabout, who as- serted that the spectators in Algiers had been merely duped by vision. Hou din, however, produced the marabout's watch in his hand, and on feeling his sash the marabout found there a five l franc piece. Convinced by this and oth- CT feats that Houdin was really sor- cerer, he challenged him to repeat his | performance in the theater, and pro- duced two pistols. You need not fear" | said the Arab, "since you know how to | ward off bullets" Without losing his | Houdin explained that | his invulnerability lay in a talisman | which was with his possessions in Al- | giers. -"By six hours prayer however, | can do without that talisman, and at | eight o'clock tomorrow morning you gan fire at me-"
 At the appointed time there was a large concourse of Arabs, which the | news had attracted. The pistols were brought and carefully examined The marabout dropped in the powder, Hou- lin handed him bullet from the tray, and he rammed it down. Houdin then | loaded his own pistol, and walking about fifteen paces away, turned and faced the narabout. The shot was 1ired and the opened his mouth and showed the bullet between hs teeth. You could not kill me-" he said, ''and | now you shall see what my shots can To-" He fired at the marabout, and inn red splash was seen on the Hhitewashed wall before which he was standing. The Arab was untouched; stepping up to the wall, he dipped his finger in the red splash, tasted it, and. ealizing that it was blood, collapsed in maZement.
 Though the trick was simple, only a 1oudin could have devised and carried out successfully. During the night he lad melted some wax, blackened it to ook like lead and run it into a bullet mould, thus obtaining hollow globe of |
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