The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-07-20
MAGIC HAS LOST IT'S
GRIP ON PEOPLE
Conjurer's Art No Longer Attracts
and Day of Magician Is
Passing

| New York. July 19.-(SpeciaI Magic
has lost it's grip on the American people.
| New Workers no longer marvel at the
flower beds that burst into bloom from
the air, as Keller used to conjure them
| to do. The dark witchery of the beautI-
| ful maidens levitated without visible sup
| port of spirit cabinets and vanishing
cards and cornucopias of paper that
| needed but the touch of the magician m 8
wand to overflow with roses, is witchery
no longer. And old Francis Martinka
sits disconsolately in his quaint shop on
Sixth avenue, with the dust deepening
over the closets containing his Illusions
and tricks
If you are a New Yorker and partic-
ularly If you are New Yorker whose
tastes have turned toward fegerdemain.
there is no need to tell you of MartinIxa.
the man who for 80 years has manu-
factured every trick and Illusion for the
great magician from Hermann down
Martfnka is too well known to require
another account added to the MANY
written about him. But out of the de-
cline OF the popularity of mafic he looms
striking figure not to be overlooked.
Yes" he said when seen in his store
on Sixth avenue, magic is on the de-
cline of the popularity of magic he looms
black art. Theatrical monagers throw
up their hands when asked to bill it.
All the greatest mangicians are dead
or retired. The moving picture business
Is adding to the trouble. l do not know
what We shall de-
With a sad shake of his gray head he
swept an arm discontently across the
dust-coyered closets and shelves, piled
and crowded with strange boxes and gilt
horns and cards and ~innumerable other
oddities that filled the tiny front room of
his establishment.
From the street one glancing at Mar
tinkas would believe Ii but a. narrow
boothlixe hole in brick wall Once with
| in however, the miniature customers
room at the front flares widely into a
larger one Immediately behind which In
turn expands into still another, fitted
| with real stage and seats enough for
! 100 persons. 1t is here that the great
magicians Of history gave private per-
formances of their tricks and planned
| out new ones.
Behind the theatre Is long alley of
| closets containing tricks and still be-
hind these is a great workshop filled
I with machinery The store. starting
with a mere slit in the wall. reaches
| 200 feet deep into the brick bowels of
the block, and spreads out to a width
thrice that of its beginning.
In the shop at the rear have been
manufactured every one of the great
| tricks of the first Herman and all the
sensational illusions used by Kellar be-
fore that master OF this particular
phase Of the conjurer's art retired a
millionaire.
| 1t was there that was--created the
levitating device the secret of which
Kellar guarded so jealously. There. too
was born the flower-growing Illusion
the marvellous rapping hand and the
spirit cabinets. And to this day Mr.
Martinka and his wife. who for years
has aided him in his business alone
guard the secrets of the masters in
ventions of magic. N
when Kellar retired to Los Angeles
a rich man, the star of magic began to
| set. He was the last of the great
magicians." continued Mr.. Martinka.
II do not wish to disparage the pres
| ent magicians. A few of them are very
clever. There are Goldin and Mrs. Herr
mann, and Carter and Howard Thur
ston, all excellent, but not such great
To see Hermann perform new trick
| was to see a hundred people hurrying
here to buy T. next day. The same was
true of Kellar.
Nowadays We even have a hard
| time holding the annual performance
| before the Society of American Maei
clans. This was for years great event
| in the world of magic and it always
was easy tc get one cf the big maei
clans to furnish the entertainments This
| year the entertainment was scheduled
| for Carnegie hall, but had to be do
rlared off because no magician could be
obtained to conduct the performance.