The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-04-03


crouch over this. and presently disclose
a flower pot. into the earth of which he
puts a seed.
"Crouching still lower. he manages
dexterously to take a small slip of a
plant from some of the folds of his gown
and opening the drapery of his little
tent, again it is found to be where the
seed was moment before. Wonderful
says the American traveller.
Again the fakir crouches, while the
tom-toms beat louder and the incense
fumes are thicker. and 10 and behold, the
plant has grown several inches, The
hemp seed trick is known to every ma
glcian, but none of them has the temerity
to try It on an American audience. for
tho same reason that withholds them
from other tricks mentioned. the fear
Of being shot dead in their tracks"
Gives GhOstly Light.
Mr. Matinka interrupts the conversa-
ton to show some luminous paint A
small can of the paint has been held by
him in strong light FOR few momens
until 1t has absorbed the radiance de-
sized. In a small room. made absolutely
dark. the paint gives a faint, blush
white light like that of the moon shining
on a cloud It is a ghostly, weird tint,
and applied TO the desired surface might
easily affect the nerves of a believer at
a spiritualistic seanee.
II is explained how a filmy fabric like
Liberia silk can be covered with this and
then concealed in some place easy Of &C
cess by the medium
There was one medium" says a ma
gioIan, who always kept her silk robe
in the heel OF her shoe, from which Il
could be taken in moment and put on.
Sometimes it is hid in the handle of a
banjo, or it can even be rolled up and
tucked away in the coiffure
Spirit hands are made of paper or
cardboard, and covered with this paint
ard exposed against a black surface they
viii create a weird effect In dark room.
Of course. the one unfailing help of the
spiritualistic medium IS the darkness.
That she must have"
Another DIT Of very popular apparatus
which is shown is a slim aluminium rod
which works on the principle Of the lazy
tongs and can be heightened from six
Inches TO FIVE or six feet At one end OF
tie rod is a hook. and when the medium
is carefully tied in cabinet TO the salts
faction of the skeptics. this rod. either
given 10 him by a confederate or con-
ceaIed in the cabinet, is used 10 gather
whatever objects may be within reach.
Used Fish Line.
One of the magicians. who in earlier
days was a medium. admitted that his
favorite tool. the rod not having been
invented then. was a regular FISH line
sinker, covered with chamois, to render
il Doiseless. To this were attached fish
hooks, and this he could throw from the
cabinet to the stage and gather in all
sorts Of hOtsam and jetsam.
TT must be realized, explains one Of
the group that no matter how closely
the medium is tied. and even though the
tapes may be sealed and marked with
the names Of the doubling Thomases. II
| he is any kind of a contortionist-and
that is one requisite of the medium-he
can usually manage to work his hands
in some way or other If he does not hap
pen TO have confederate"
The proprietor disappears for a mo-
nent. TO return from some dark corner
holding a small wire bird cage, the edges
bound in stout leather, and the whole in
cased in a glass covering.
This is the famous cage used by
Buatier de Kolta. now deceased. who. by
the unanimous vote Of the society, was
the greatest magician who has ever been
| in America he says
The bird-cage trick was invented by
/ De Kolta, who would hold the cage in
/ his hand so that the audience could see
( it and the canary inside on the perch.
and while it was being watched he would
cause it to disappear. so that the empty
hand was all that met the astonished
gaze Of the people"
Draws Right Name.
Think of the excitement Paladino
/ could produce with something like that. ="
remarks a member OF the society from a
/ far corner where he is showing q novice
/ how TO write the names Of four living
! people and one dead person on slips of
paper. and after the slips, exactly similar
| in shape and size, have been shaken in a
hat, how to pick the name of the dead
| person each time without effort It is
the first lesson offered the amateur, and
/ ne learns in a minute, paying 30 cents
/ for the information
! The Zancigs are members Of the society
and their mind-reading act is next refer
] red to.
There are at least" explains a ma
gician. "a hundred ways of doing the
mind-reading act: as with slate writing,
every magician has his own method.
/ The Zancigs have one that probably re-
Quires the greatest feat Of memory or
! the most complicated system Of signals.
often a so-called mind reader working
with a confederate will actually men,
Crize a thousand articles. so that when
clew is given. the medium knows at
once whether it is a handkerchief a hat.
a chair or a table that is In question.
Spirit hands are very easy to make.
Sometimes a kid glove immersed in ice
water. after being stuffed with -four. is
held on the hook of the aluminium rod
and when a medium is strapped in a
chair inside cabinet is brushed against
the faces Of the breathless audience
That gives a charming sensation and