The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-07-25
BY EARL SPARKLING
Times Stah Writer
lcoDvriRht 1892 BY the New York World
Telegram Corporationl

Times Stah Writer
fcopyriRht. 1892. BY the New York World
Telegram Corporationl
A BOUT twenty-five years ago
N an itinerant magician per-
formed for the children of Tenn
pie Emanuel. One Oh his tricks
was to borrow a ring, make 1t
disappear, then find it inside of
hens egg.
Il decided right there and then
that I wanted to be magician"
recounts Charles B. Harris, New
York jeweler.
Il was about IA. I started prac-
ticing and studying the next day.
Fifteen years later was able to
do the same ring and egg trick"
Much happened in between. 1t
was a long, hard row. For one
thing Bernard Harris, his father,
was pretty suspicious of persons
who did tricks--with good reason.
"You see," explains the son,
my father was in business at
one address for twenty-eight
years, and quite number of his
customers were from Broadway.
GONE way the Broadway gam
- blers got to dropping in reg
ularly. In those days the gam
blers had more things up their
sleeves than they seem to have
now.
All of them wore rings with
large, fiat, highly polished stones.
When they we're playing cards
they would turn the stones in
toward their palms.
THAT gave them little secret
mirrors. They could watch in the
polished surface and see just what
cards they were dealing to the
suckers.
The stones had to be polished
at least once a week SO every
week there was a string of gam
blers in the store getting their
rings polished.
Every now and then one of
them would want a little bump
placed on the band of a ring.
That was to mark cards. In deal
ing, the little projection on the
ring could be pressed into certain
cards.
THE sucker would never notice,
but the gambler would be able to
feel the impressions with his
finger in the later deals.
XXTELL, my father didn't like
w all that at all. He deve1-
oped a very positive dislike for
cards and people who played with
them.
80, when I started practicing
caro- passes, he was anything but
agreeable about it. He was sure
I was trying to become one of
those card sharpers who had to
have their rings polished every
week.
Il was working in the store by
this time, and 1 had a chance to
practice. Whenever there was
no customer to wait on, I would
get behind the counter and work
with my cards.
1T takes years of practice like
that you know. You have to de-
velop certain muscles in your
hands. You have to handle cards
every day for years, until they run
through your fingers automat-
ically
Il had to do most Of my prac-
ticing when by father wasn't
watching. He wasn't for it bit.
Old Barnard Harris discovered
sadly that his instructive suspicion
of magic was a pretty sound at
titude.
One day Howard Thurston, the
renowned stage conjurer, dropped
into the store. He had a watch
that needed repairing-an intri-
cate thing that told not only the
minutes and hours, but the day.
week, month and phase of the
moon.
YOUTHFUL Charles Harris,
Il the budding amateur. was all
excitement behind the counter. 1t
was the closest he had ever been
to a real magician.
Imagine it, wonder of wonders,
the great Howard Thurston
standing there in the store with
in touching distancel
Mr., Thurston," suffered the
boy. We'll fix it We'll .
I've always wanted to meet you.
I've You see, I'm try
ing to be magician myself.
Thurston laughed. That's fine, -
he said, and asked a few questions
as how far the youth had pro-
crossed.
Then, as he was leaving. the
great man added, smilingly, We'll,
we're brother magicians now
Therefore, you ought to fix my
watch for nothing. We magicians
do things like that for each
other"
When Papa Harris heard about
that some hours later ne hit the
ceiling.
80, he said, this is what
magic is. We will have customers
who do the trick of getting their
watches fixed up for nothing"
The boy argued earnestly,
finally persuading the old jeweler
to make special price of SO. Re-