The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1909-04-07
THE MAGIC Of HOUD|N
Remarkable CIeverness of the
Famous French Conjurer.
HIS MOST WONDERFUL FEAT
A Mysterious Performance Before the
Court of Louis Philippe That Was
Probably the Result of a Subtle Bit
Of Psychological Reasoning.

a link connecting the names Of Cagli
cstro, the great charlatan, and the
French conjurer Robert [Ioudin may
be found in story that may be justly
termed "The Most Incredible Feat o:
Magic Ever Performed"
In 1916 Houdin. then at the heigh
Of his popularity. was invited to st
Cloud to give a performance before th'
king, the royal family and court. The
conjurer had only his young son as al
assistant and could rely on no trick:
Of light or mechanism, Us, the exhibi
ton was given in one of S,e drawing
rooms of the palace. He finished will
the following extraordinary perform
ance:
Borrowing several handkerchiefs Z
wound them into package. which ~
laid on the table, Then he went abou
among the guests distributing cards OF
which were to be written the name:
Of places to which it was desired tha
the package be invisibly transported
Houdin then handed the cards to the
king, asking him to select three at haz
ard and from them choose the destina
ton he liked best.
The first card read, Il desire the
handkerchief to be found beneath one
Of the candelabra on the mantelpiece.'
That" said the king. sis too easy
for the ability of conjurer Of the
ability of NJ. Houdin"
The second read, ''The handkerchief:
are to be taken to the dome Of the
Invalides."
"That," commented the king. us bet
ter. However, it is much too far, no
for the handkercbiefs, but for US. Th'
third card suits me-" said the king. II
is desired that you should send the
handkerchiefs into the chest Of tht
last orange tree on the right Of The
avenue"
Houdin expressed his willingness tt
attempt the feat, and the king whis
pered an order that Immediately Sent
group Of attendants to guard the OF
ange tree in question.
The conjurer placed the package Of
handkerchiefs under an Opaque glass
bell and then, waving wand. order
ed the package to proceed to the place
chosen by the king. When the bel
was raised he handkerchiefs were
gone, but in their place was white
turtledoye. A trusted attendant was
sent to tie orange tree to open the
chest. He returned bearing small
iron Golfer covered by rust.
"Are the handkerchiefs in this cof
fer?" asked the king.
Eyes, sire, and they have been there
too, for q long tine"
GLOW can that be possible? The
handkerchiefs We're given you hardly
q quarter Of an hour ago.
'Yet it is so, and your majesty VII
be even more surprised when prove
that this Golfer and it's contents were
placed in the chest Of the orange tree
sixty years ago. Deign to remove
from the neck Of the turtledoye the
key Of the casket."
Louis Philippe rlnfastened ribbot
| holding small rusty key. unlocked
the Golfer, found document bearing
the seal Of Cagliostro and read:
! This day, the 9Th Of June. 1lS6. this iror
box, containing six handkerchief "'o'
placed among the roots Of an orange ire;
by me, Balsamo. count Of Cagliostro, u
serve tn performing an act Of rasi'
which will be executed on the same da!
sixty years hence tefore Louis Philippe
Of Orleans and his family.
Beneath the parchment conveying
this message was found package con
tanning what seemed to be the 81,
handkerchiefs placed on the table
few minutes before. In his memoir:
N. Houdin offers no solution for The
mystery. 4 shrewd annalist has ex
planned It as being no more than
clever bit Of psychology on the par
Of the conjurer, who knew the charac
ter Of Louis Philippe and knew him Il
! be exceedingly clever in small things
-Bookman.