Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-12-05

Lne fascination OF the exhibition Is to
be found chiefly in the universal curios.
lty which causes each spectator to de-
sire to know how the Illusion was per
formed, and partly in the old credence
In the miraculous powers of black art.
One may hazard guess, rs to the
method employed in one Illusion or
another, but he is not likely to know
whether or not his surmise Is correct
for the secret of the tricks is their
greatest value, and the simplicity of
most of them would, were 1t generally
known, lessen the desire to see them.
The average book Of magic Is a tan.
talzing treatise to a person who ..wants
to know" 1t will give the explanation
of hundreds of tricks no longer exhib.
Tied, and will describe those which may.
still be effective in terms SO vague that
their mystery is, If anything, made
deeper.
Revelation in Magic, ~
An exception to the rule is "The Old
and the New Magic" by Henry RidgeIy
Evans, which has been published by the
Open Court Publishing Company of
Chicago. This is very chatty and IL!
Eliminating volume, but, at times. its
author takes it for granted that the
reader Is an adept. However, it is a.
very enjoyable but brief view Of magic
and maglclans of all times. The modus
operandi of some famous illusions or
tricks Is given, and, excepting to the
professional or amateur who has fol.
lowed stage magic closely, the book win
prove a revelation. :
One OF the most simple but startling
tricks shown on the stage is Thurston,s
defiance of the laws of gravitatIon .
Having made his entrance by giving
some tents Of card manipulation, he
suspends a large ball in the air like
Mahomet's coffin. 1t is apparently I'M
attached to anything, for the magician
passes a hoop about the ball. As he
crosses the stage the ball follows him!
And accompanies him as he makes his
exit The feat is accomplished by a
stream of compressed air. 1t is yery
simple, but 1t requires great skill to
reproduce. NJ
Herrmnnn's Gun Illusion. i
The gun Illusion, performed by the
late Alexander Hermann, was perhaps
one of the most sensational feats ever
presented. A squad of soldiers, under
the command of a sergeant or corporal.
comprised the firing party. The guns
We're apparently loaded with genuine
cartridges the bullets of which had
been previously marked for identifica-
ton by various spectators. The SOL
diers stood upon a platform erected in
the center of the theater, and Herr
mann stationed himself upon the stage.
The guns were fired at him, and he ap-
parently caught the balls upon a plate
Upon examination the balls We're
found to be still warm from the effects
of the explosion and the marks We're
identified upon them. The substitution
Of the show cartridges, which were
loaded into the guns, for the genuine
ones, was very subtly executed by
means Of trick salver having small
well let into its center to hold the cart
ridges. Into this well the marked cart
ridges were deposited by the spectators.
In the interior of the salver was a
second compartment loaded with blank
cartridges. The sergeant who collected
the bullets shifted the compartment by
means of a peg underneath the salver
as he walked from the audience to the
stnge. The sham cartridges We're now
brought to view, and the real were
hidden in the body of the salver. While
the soldiers We're engaged In loading
their rifles with the blank cartridges
the sergeant went behind the side scene
to get his gun and deposit the salver.
A couple of assistants extracted the
genuine bullets and heated them. Herr
mann went to the wing to get the plate,
and secretly secured the marked bull
lets. The rest of the trick consisted In
working up the dramatic effects.
ConJuror Must he Actor.
A great deal of the success in a trick
such as this is due to the dramatic ef.
fects introduced by the wonder worker.
The conjurer must be something of an
actor as well as clever sleIght-o of hand
performer. Hermann was always hap.
py in his "patter,p the technical name
for the magiclana running converse.