Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-06-13
THE WHITE MANS MAGIC


Nation With His Little Black Box.
N"These are great times" exulted the
Electrician to his friend the Old Fogy.
with machine guns and other instru-
ments of war we certainly are going
some in the fighting camel" 'a ,
"Yes," agreed the Old Fogy, as he
adjusted his glasses, "but do you
know that, before such things were
dreamed of, an entire nation was con-
quered with magnet and little
black box?" aam ~ eN
And the Electrician confessed.
mol" u,ns.Eo' 'bs1NrF -
"You have heard, no doubt" the
Old Fogy rambled on, ''of the mar
velous inventions of Robert Houdin,
the great French conjurer, a man who
did great things with electricity when
Alexander Graham Bell was an in
FAINT. Houdin applied electricity to
many of his magical experiments, and
delighted the Partisan public for
years in his little theater., When he
retired he was the most favored per-
former of his day. and had bowed to
the plaudits Of royalty!"i 1 7p,f
Heard all about that" snapped the
Electrician. s. What about the black
box?" .r.r j-, g-.,... r
Coming to that, boy; coming to
that Houdin retired to his family es-
tate on the left banks Of the River
Loire, near st. Gervaise, hoping to end
his days in peace. But after year or
so there came, to him, through mill
tary friend, a request from the French
government. that he go to Algiers. In
his memoirs, translated into English
some years before his death, he says
that the Marabouts Of that country, a
sort of medicine men and wonder
working priests, controlled the masses
and melted them to intermittent re-
volts against the French by their
tricks. These tricks, he assures us,
were of the simplest and most primi-
tive type, 1t was the hope Of the gov
ernment that Houdin., by his mys-
teries, could demonstrate that the
white canquerer's magic was superior.
And Houdin did It," .,.r e,s,u
With the little black box and the
magnet2" .,|
Yes, His recital Of his perform
ance In Algiers Is exceedingly inter-
esting, Some Of the most distinguish
ed natives were there, Houdin show
ed them all sorts of things; allowed
himself to be shot at. and caught the,
bullet unharmed. and many other such;
feats, But his piece de resistance un-.
doubtedly was his box. He called for
a strong man to come on the stage
with him a moment and giant re-
sponded. Houdin toyed with him a.
moment about his strength, and asked
him II he could lift his little black
box. Disdainfully the Arab lifted 1t
and smiled. But Houdin warned him.
Wait. But q moment and you shall
be az little childp, He placed the
box on the stage and dared his huge
guest to raise 1t. The Arab tried with
one finger; grasped 1t with his great
muscular hand; tugged at 1t with all
the strength Of his massive arms,
bracing his legs like two huge bronze
columns. 80 Houdin says, to no avail,
Try as he would, this son Of the des-
ert could not stir that little box from
It's place. For a breathing spell, he
released his grip for a moment, then
went at 1t again. And while the awe;
stricken audience painted in amaze
ment, he suddenly wrlthed in acutest
agony, and sank groveling to the
stage. The current coursed through
him had galvanized him into misery.
Then Houdin gave a signal; the cur
rent from the electro-magnet beneath
the stage was turned off, and the
Arab fell back groaning. He lifted
himself to his feet, and, hiding the
face in his cloak, crept away to blush
unseen. The little black box had con-
| quered." ..
! "And-?" inquired the Electrician.
And" replied the Old Fogy, "Hou-
din was triumphant. The country had
seen him shot at by a man who said
he wished to kill; had seen him rob
giant Of his strength. No Marabout
had ever done that. No Marabout with
primitive tricks could convince them
that any revolt Of theirs could prevail
against the white man and his magic
his electricity. The conqueror's con-
quest was complete. Public Flectri-
| oif