Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1909-04-03
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 Bic
Of Psychological Reasoning.

rTopapiy tno nesuit OF SupNo DIV
Of Psychological Reasoning.
A link connecting the names OF Cagli-
ostro. the great charlatan, and the
French conjurer Robert Houdin may
be found In story that may be justly
termed THE Most Incredible Feat Of
Magic Ever Performed"
In 1916 Houdin, then ut the height
of his popularity. was invited to st.
Cloud to give a performance before the
king, the royal family and court. The
conjurer had only his young son as an
assistant and could rely on no tricks
of light or mechanism, as the exhibit
ton was given In one Of the drawing
rooms of the palace. He finished with
the following extraordinary perform
ance:
Borrowing several handkerchicfs, he
wound them into n package, which he
laid OH the table. Then he went about
among the guests distributing cards on
which were to be written the names
Of places TO which It was desired that
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, II desire the
handkerchief to be found beneath one
Of the candelabra on the mantelpiece."
"That." said the king. els too easy
for the ability Of conjurer of the
ability OF NJ. Houdin."
The second read. 1.-THE handkerchiefs
are TO be taken to the dome Of the
Invalides."
"That." commented the king. lis bet
for the handkerchiefs, but for us. The
third card suits me-" said the king 1T
Is desired that you should send the
handkerchiefs into the chest Of the
last orange tree on the right of the
avenue"
Houdin expressed his willingness to
attempt the feat, and the king whls.
pered an order that Immediately sent
group Of attendants to guard the or
ange tree in question.
The conjurer placed the package Of
handkerchiefs under an Opaque glass
bell and then. waving a wand. order
ed the package to proceed to the place
chosen by the king. When the bell
was raised the handkerchiefs were
gone. but In their place was white
turtledove. A trusted attendant was
sent to the orange tree to open the
chest. He returned bearing small
iron Golfer covered by rust.
Are the handkerchiefs in this cot.
fer?' asked the king
Eyes. sire. and they have been there.
too, for q long time"
"How can that be possible? The
handkerchiefs were given you hardly
a quarter of an hour ago"
"Yet II is so, and your majesty will
be even more surprised when I prove
that this Golfer and its contents were
placed In the chest Of the orange tree
sixty years ago. Deign to remove
from the neck Of the turtledove the
key OF the casket."
Louis Philippe unfastened a ribbon
holding n small rusty key. unlocked
Tic COittI, iouuu dotunGut bcaAAhb
the seal of Cagllostro and read:
This day, the 9Th of June. i7s6. this iron
box. containing six handkerchiefs. was
placed among the roots OF an orange tree
by me. Balsamo. count OF Cagliostro. TO
serve In performing an act of magic
which will be executed on the same day
sixty years hence before Louis Philippe
Of Orleans and his family.
Beneath the parchment conveying
this message was found package con-
tanning what seemed to be the six
handkerchiefs placed on the table a
few minutes before. In his memoirs
NJ. Houdin offers no solution for the
mystery. A shrewd annalist has ex-
planned It as being no more than n
clever bit CT psychology on the part
of the conjurer. who knew the charac-
ter Of Louis Philippe and knew him to
be exceedingly clever In small things.