The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-30
FEATS OF NAGC
A HELPER EXPLAINS A NUMBER
OF THE TRICKS OF
HERMAN
VERY EASY TO FOOL PEOPLE
Spectacular Illusions Were the Sim
pIest of All and Deceived the
Committees Selected to
watch the Work

tence in jail at Detroit is one of the
brightest youths that has been seen here
recently. After having been convicted
Of Changing Nine. Herrmanns dia-
monds into second-class jewels, full of
imperfections,' as an expert testified, he
Is naturally revengeful toward the ma
dam.
He is twenty-one years old or there
Rbouts. He was born in Americas, Ga,
and from the time he was able to run
about he was employed at the theater
In that town, running errands etc. Prof.
Hermann happened down that way and
the master of the black art picked the
boy up. Since then Everett has led the
life of nomad roaming all over the
country with the late Hermann, his
widow, Kellar, Bancroft and other magi-
clans His natural cunning has been
heightened and sharpened by his life. AL
though he is almost devoid of education,
he speaks cleverly and is witty.
The other night he sat in the county
Jail, surrounded by group Of officers
and deputies, and for two hours gave
himself over to "reminiscences of Herr
mann the Great, and explaining the mys-
teries Of the tricks which astounded
thousands of cultured persons all over
the United States.
How simple are the mysteries of the
great magician-when they have been
solved by Herrmanns assistant How
near to detection are the magicians all
the time!
STROBIKA EXPOSED.
Take, for instance the trick "Stro-
blka," played by Hermann a few years
ago. The audience is shown a small plat
form about four by six feet. This is
suspended several feet from the floor.
The audience can see all about it. A
committee is sent up from the audience,
HI oh Nv he &c a NJ
mittee, without any knowledge of the
trick. A man, picked from the audience,
is stretched out on the platform, hand
cuffed, a steel band is placed about his
neck and locked, and his feet are placed
in locks and locked, all by the committee.
The committee retains the keys. Cur
tainS are drawn for an instant They
are opened and the man is gone. In his
place lies Nine. Hermann, or whoever
the assistant may be, as securely locked
as was the man. The committee has to
use its keyes to release her. The COM
ritteemen, during the time the cur
tains are closed are able to see entirely
around the platform, above, below and
on all sides The committee is really as
much puzzled as the audience.
That's easy" chuckled Everett last
night. 1.-The man who does the act is
paid in advance He is laid out on the
platform and shackled by the committee
Before the trick is set Mime. Hermann
takes her place on the platform. There
is post in each corner, from which
curtains are strung. When the trick is
to be played Nine. Hermann steps into
stjrrup on the left hand post. The
curtains, when opened, fold around her
and hide her. The minute the curtains
are drawn she hops down and releases
the man with a key which opens the
locks at once. The man takes her place
and she lies down and drops the locks
over her arms and neck. The curtains
are opened and hide the man.
CLEVER sIEIGTIT OF HAND.
1.-The best trick Nine Hermann does
is the billiard ball trick, and that's pure
sleight of hand. The trick as the au-
dience sees it, consists of producing five
billiard balls at different times from
the air, and holding them between the
fingers of one hand It's q hard trick
for woman, because her fingers are
smaller than mans.
Three of the balls are genuine solid
balls. Besides that she has a half shell,
which, from the audience, looks like a
genuine ball. She holds the shell be-
tween the thumb and first finger of the
left hand. Every time she waves her
left hand round and produces another
ball she is getting the next one out of
pocket at her side with her other hand.
Then she apparently makes a pass at her
left hand with the right, while in reality
she cOnceals another genuine ball in the
half shell. Then when She waves her
left hand around again she drops the
ball out of the shell between her other
fingers and shows an~eXtra bali.
The trick in which she produces a
cup of boiling coffee and a cup of boil
ing milk from a box of paper is dead
easy. She has four cups instead of two.
She dips the empty cups into the boxes
of peer and poUrs out the cut paper.
showing the empty cups to the audience.
The third time she dips each cup in She
changes II for the cup of coffee or milk
which has been prepared in advance 1t
has paper top glued on to hold the hot
coffee in. When she raises it and shows
1t to the audience it looks as if it was
IulI OF paper. Then she passes her
handkerchief over it and takes the pa
Per lid off. The steam comes up from
the hot coffee and The audience goes
'nutty' 49,
GROWING FLOWERS.
THAT little trick where she produces a
bushel or two of paper flowers from a
plain sheet of paper is done in this way:
She carries bag Of flowers in the bosom
of her gown. When she is waving The
sheet OF paper around she slips her
thumb into a loop in the bag, and draws
1t out. Then she rolls up the sheet into
cornucopia, breaks the bag and the
hoWerS roll out. That trick is done by
nearly ali CT the Straightforward perform
ers.
Her duck trick is done with a trick
table. She pulls a lot of paper ribbons
out of a paper hoop and throws them on
the table. Then she pulls the 'fumidid-
dies and grabs up the paper ribbons. She
Jerks out a live duck and runs down to
the footlights for applause The duck is
In 11r+l,
stick run through some rings at the TOP
closing the bag, and the duck and bag
are hidden in the top of the table and
when She picks up the paper she pulls
the stick and the bag opens and lets the
duck out.
"One of the prettiest tricks that the
old man (dudson used the term loving
Iy) ever played was the one where he
grew beautiful rose bush from seed on
a table in full sight Of the audience. \The
tables are about three feet high IN
front they are covered to within short
distance of the floor. The backs are open
and rose bush is ready prepared in
each table. The magician drops a seed
on the table in little pile of dirt Then
he takes a big tube and puts over the
seed, ard makes some passes When he
picks UP the tube q twig is shown Then
he shows the empty lube again, and care
lessly sets it down at the back Of the
table. He is putting it over another
tube. which sets in the table below the
level of the audiences gaze This tube
contains a full grown rose bush. The
professor takes the tube containing the
plant up and puts it on another table for
an Instant. This is growing faster 7
think he says, and jerks the tube off.
The roses drop to their natural position
waving about, and make pretty sight
Whlle the audience is watching them the