The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-05-13
Mishaps to Maoicians.

PROFESSIONAL ma gicians are invariably
very smart aid cautious individuals
IheiE tricks are generally wen pracliceC
! IN private before being introduced To IN,
public, which no doubt accounts for IN.
lEct t.lat tAeF are, as q general rule
carried out successfully Ia spite 81
! their elaborate precautions 10 avoid faf,.
| ure, however. some OF the cleverest con.
| Jurers occasionally meet With saishaps
! during the course Of their performances
and thus treat their audiences to Soma
startling or amusing unrehearsed e..
| fects.
Hermann frequently introduced into
! his entertainment the trick Of PRODUCING
two large goldfish bowls. Advancing. 10
ward the Iootlights with a large shawl
/ he would wave the latter mysjeriously ii
! the air. and suddenly produce from il.
( folds glass bowl nlea with water. il
| which number Of live goldfish were
/ complaeentiy swimming This he would
| place upon the table. and repeat n,
I waving motion with the shawl until h,
nad produced another similar bowl 81
/ goldfish
/ A complete explanation OF the working
I OF this trick need not be given here
| suffice II 10 say that IL was accomplish
/ ed by previously covering each Of th5
/ oo%is with an india rubber cover wh!ca
/ prevented the water from escaping when
1 the bowl was inverted. one OF these
/ bowls was concealed under each armpit
underneath the vest. The bows were.
or course. easily taken from their hid
ing places under cover of the shawl, the
india rubber cover being removed be-
meath the cloth before the bowl was ex-
posed 10 the view OF the spectators.
The trick was very effective one. and
| rarely failed 10 elicit ! round Of ap-
plause, but one evening a Iudierous mis-
I hap occurred which not only spoiled the
trick, but also resulted in the complete
discontinue OF Hermann. on this &C.
casion he had just succeeded in produc-
Ing the first bowl, when By some unfort-
innate mlschance the cover slipped or
the second, with the natural result thar
the contents OF the bowl were impair
TALLY distributed about the luckless per
formers body, filling HE shoes and thor
ougnly saturating his clothes. II is al
most supertiuous u mention that this in
c!dent concluded the evenings entertain
ment 50 far as Hermann was con-
cerned.
Few modern prestidigitateurs employ
confederates during their performances.
for although such assistants can gener-
ally be relied upon 10 play their parts
Satisfactorily yet at times. through ac-
III tAt "a NtSl-~lAs NAitE laA 10 carry OUT
their instructions. and 50 ruin. instead Of
assist, the trick in which they take part.
Some years ago, for example. De GTlsy
very popular performer. included n his
repertoire a trick in which a confederate
was instructed 20 hand up an imitation
gold ring when De GIisy required Il.
The magician got through his perform
ance all right until ne came to the afore-
mentioned ring trick Stepping among the
spectators. he blandy requested the loan
OF ring, taking care, Of course. q Sc
lect the ons offered by his confederate
With this ring he performed an excellent
trick (tne details Of which need not be
described), ana then smiling!y handed the
ring back to his confederate. The latter
examined it with apparent surprise. and.
assuming an indignant air. asked:
What does this mean? l gave you a
valuable gold ring, set with diamonds
and you return me a worthless imita-
ton"
The wizard was naturally astounded by
the impudent assertion. but it was obvi-
Gus that he could not expose the con-
federate without also exposing himself.
In an undertone he entre5tad the man
to cease his foolish conduct. but he
would not be silenced until De Grisy had
reimbursed his supposed loss. The con
ACGNA eAA1 AAitAA ANAb t4it A+4NeAAfAr anu WIS
never seen there again. but it afterward
transpired that a rival magician had
bFibed the man to thus bring about the
ridicule Of De Grlsy.
Among the whole category Of mishaps
however, none have proved fatal except
ing those caused through the bullet
trick sensational C0nJuriug feat
which aas brought fame 10 dozens OF
conjureTs and death 10 at least six per-
formers. For the benefit OF those who
have never witnessed this trick We had
better explain that il consists in the
performer leading a pistol with "a leadeu
bullet and allowing one OF the spectators
10 fire at him. when he catches the bu,-
let between his teeth. The secret u This
trick lies in the fact that in loading tae
pistol the magician deity substitutes q
bullet made Of black lead for the ieadcn
bullet; the black lead bullet Is crushed 10
a powder with the rsmrod. while the
genuine bullet IS secretly slipped into
the ContuTers mouth as ne walks UP
The stage. Beautifully simple isn't it,
Only few months ago "a conjprer
was presenting the trick in provincial.
heater and, usual he handed the |
pistol to a young man for The purpose of
firing. While the conjurcr was return
ng 10 the stage. the man who was mold /
ng the pistol introduced another bull /
ct into it. The pistol was tAsn dis /
'harged. and the bullet crashed ;hrousa /
he brain q the unfortunate c0niurer. /
Who fell dead upon the stage. Many of 4
he spectators tainted al the horrible I
'ght and the mIu Who had fired the 4
,stol was Immediately arrested but as 4
be- succeeded in convincing the Jury ta-t (
e va not aware be was doing arythIn- /
y.CEE. he was acquitted.
stu more tragic vas another case. in /
which an ingenious performer resolve
o introduce variation Of the bullet
rick. He made up" 10 represent tre
istoric William Tell. and eaeh ulehi
c would shoot an apple from tae head F
Z his son. the bullet being aferR8r8
1Und embedded IN the apple. The feat
'as. ~ course. nothing more than Q
lick. but one evening through some
srriole mistake The ieade1 buffet aas
red from the Eun. the boz on whose
ead the apple rested being Killed ont
gnt The unhappy coHj1rsr Wss SEN
need to six months irnrrrsonn1eut for
2micide and shortly after his release
ON prison &c died Ia a luuat.c asylum
outhem Kansas Business Men
saou,d rot Dc c5nsi8ereI
luxury waicn iempts 90 occasional eE- 4