Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-27
DAY OF MAGICIAN PASSING.
So Says the Man Who Supplies the
World With Tricks.


World With Tricks.
Magic has lost its grip on the Amer
lean people. New Workers. no longer
marvel at the flower beds that burst
into bloom from the air, as Kellar used
to conjure them to do. The dark witch
cry Of beautiful maidens levitated
without visible support, of spirit cabi-
nets and vanishing cards and cornuco-
pias of paper that needed but the
touch OF the magician's wand to over
flow with roses, is witching no longer.
And old Francis Martinka sits discon-
solately in his quaint shop on Sixth
avenue, with the dust deepening over
the closets containing his illusions and
tricks.
II you are New Yorker, and par
ticularly II you are a New Yorker
whose tastes have leaned toward leg
erdemain, there Is no need to tell you
Of Martinka, the man who for 35 years
has manufactured every trick and illu-
sion for the great magicians from
Herman down. Martinka is too well
known to require another account add
ed to the many written about him. But
out Of the decline Of the popularity Of
magic he looms striking figure not to
be overlooked.
Yes" he said, when seen in his store
on s,;.stti avenue, magic is on the de-
cline. People hare lost interest in the
black art. Theatrical managers throw
up their hands when asked to bill II.
All the greatest magicians are dead or
retired. The moving picture business
is adding to the trouble. do not know
what we shall do" aN.
With sad shake Of his gray head
he swept an arm disconsolately across
the dust covered closets and shelves,
piled and crowded with strange boxes
and gilt horns and cards and innu-
merable other oddities that filed the
tiny front room Of his establishment.
From the street one glancing at
Martinka's would believe 1t but mar
row boothlike hole in brick wall.
Once within, 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 his
tory gave private performances of
their tricks and planned out new ones.
Behind the theater is long alley Of
closets containing tricks, and still be-
hind these is great workshop filled
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. -.
It was there that was created the le-
vitating device the secret Of which
Kellar guarded so jealousy. There,
too, was born the fiower-growing illu-
sion, 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
inventions Of magic.
when Kellar retired at Los Ange-
les, a rich man, the star Of magic be-
gan to set. He was the last Of the
great magicians," continued Mr.. Mar
tinka. 1T is true. there were other
clever men, but none who possessed
the power Of Kellar or Hermann,
none who could set the fashion In
magic as these.
Little by little our business began
to fall Off Illusion closets such as