Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-09-29
PRACTlCING THE BLACK ART
ny FHNDIniC j. ulskIN

passing coins through "a table, and
on HOW long docs !; take to lea
4" do that .n that way2 they ask
MIN. He Young man. said the Ching
Iuan-"thr"e year. He old man-ncvci
ile explained that he had learned
from his father as a child. and TIN
his family had been pract!cing NJ.
giclans for six generations.
BESIDES those VINO practic" for 10.
a TIC game. tu-r, arc men in ccrtif
cal!ings vino ma tina, little kno$
ledge Of clru"utuTy magic IA a uol
;hius FOR them ENp,orcrs. tor cxai.
PIC. penetrating into cosntries inhab,
ted ny sa%a@vs. fmi tina, Z, few trlc.
arc more ur'fHi a. impress III" na'iI
ANA earn :,sroc; Than 4 hand red ri
men. To turn water INTO inh VITA
raSg q the hand. TO breathe hrc
Ilaut Z, seed under a basket and shc
y after three minutes sproutcd In
& ahlub-thesc Things bring home I.
greatness of tho white man better III,
4 telephone or an aerOplanc. Travciit
snlcsmeu often 20 IN FOR magic whs
they nave rhc natural ability for
according to Dr. Wilson Some SINK
turu done as though abs"ut-miudcd!
or uucousciogslv will sometimes aroli
tn" prospects, interest and keep 4
salesman from being uncercmonious
shown out.
H. srltc OF AL these followers. !.
Wilson believes that the art Of mag
is not "a highly regarded as 1t shol,
be IN the United states. He says tn.
abroad. especially IN England, the I'M
pician occupies "a place analogous
that OF the musician or the actP
Why wc do not regard the profess 10!
mapirion hs an artist no one has &
fcrcd 20 ,Nplaiu. However. this sta
OF affairs affects only the professions
wh" are bGt an INSIGNIFICANT tracts
oi the thousands who follow magic
q hObbN and az. aVoCatiOu.
Illusions and Slcirhts.
Vhe magician technically divides /
tricks iuto two classcs-,hc illusio
and the slt-N'- III. slcishts are q
complishcd los sheer speed and deftnc
OF hand rho Illusions are -!lusio,
You don't see what you think you -
No reputable waEic!an makes ella
Of any other powers.
As for the famous Indian faki
whose marvellous feats are sometim
horaldch AS tr;tusccuding science, q.
professionals do not take much sto
uaSIcians use, ana have been work
uv the same means that Occidcnt
magic ions use. ana have been work
bs- Occidental :nagiciAns. There is I
mango-trc" trick. FOR example, where
manro-trcc Is Sprout"d and grown fro
a seed under q cloth; or the hasE
trick. where hoy Greens into bask
which rs ,hcn stabbed through in eve
direction with sword, TO emerge u
Harmed. Both these tricks have De
done by Europeans. on the other haT
! there is tn" rope trick, which was :;
tualy investigated By the Society !
( PeVchical Research. In this trick
/ rope is thrown INTO the air, where
hangs as though suspended. y b
climbs It, disappears. and falls TO I
( GROUND in pieces. Tn" pieces come I
( gc,hcr ana the boy bows 10 the q
plausc.
1t is the consensus Of opinion III
ii This trick is worked at all, II
done hv hypnotism. since ii is obvio
/ that the most accomplished boy COT
/ not 70 through an experience OF III
/ Kind and emerge unruniod. Hence,
is thought by some that the aud!cii
/ is hypnotizcd by the faiir. ON I
other hand. there is no record Of an
body who saw the trick 1T first hai
| though almost everybody has heard
It, Hence. another school, who say I
I trick was never worked at all. but h
its birth in tn" brain, Of an Engli
/ officer telling tales to '"tcndcrfcet."
While ready 10 admit that mode
Ia;:ic is subject to the laws of ply:
! cal science. DR.. Wilson does not /
! licvc mat the general public should
! initiated into the mechanism. May
ne is right. Maybe we ought to Ike
| a few illusions. Now that Europe h
punctured the dreams Of univers
| peace and international brotherho
| and Kindred small matters, let us 80
| believing that Il man in Tuxedo c
raise "A rosc-bush i'm Il SILK hat with
| hin Of ono finger. And, besides. {
| mere mechanism OF a trick Is no e
| planation. AS one profound magici
put il recently Tricks arc Tricl
! bat Magic is an Art