Burlingame Buk

LEAVES FROM
CONJURERS' SCRAP BOOKS
OR,
MODERN MAGICIANS AND

THEIR WORKS.
,.\~
H. J. BURLINGAME.
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CHICAGO :
D ONO H UE , H ENNEBERRY & Co.
1891.
COPYRIGHT, 1891,
RY
H. J. BtTRL!NGAME •
...
DONOHUE & HENNEBERRY,
PRINTERS AND BINDERS,
CHICAGO.
PREFACE.
Modern Magic, skillfully presented, has many

attractions, and this book has been written because
such a book was repeatedly asked for. Therefore
no apology is needed for its publication.
H. J. B.
CHICAGO, January: 1891.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTEH I.
INTRODUCTION.
Of the Mysteries of the Black Art.-The Old School Conjurers.
Comte's Talent; his Tricks.-The Dexterity of Philippe and Tor-
rini.-The Genius of Anderson for Advertising.-Account of
Robert Houdin; his Successful Career as a Conjurer.
CHAPTER II.
AMERICAN CONJURERS.
Zera Semon.-Edward Reno.-Prof. Samuels.-J. M. Balahrega.-M.
Hartz.-Carl Hertr..-Imro Fox.-"\Vm.-Robinson.-"Zanzic."
Prof. Zamloch.-Charles F. Fillebrown.-Powell Brothers.-Vari-
ety Performers.-Prof. Canaris, the" Greek."-The Romance of
Prof. Henry Willio.-Goldberg.-Hatton.-Eddie . Abbott, the
"Only Boy Magician."- Robert Heller. 14
CHAPTER III.
PROMINENT CONJURERS ABROAD.
John Nevil Maskelyne.-Dr. Holden.-Dr. Lvnn.-Robert Kudarz.-
Buatier de Kolta.-The Bam!:Jerg and Basch Families.-Jacoby-
Harms.-German and French Conjurers.-Prof. l'atrizio.-Prof.
Hartwig Seeman. 38
CHAPTER IV.
PROMINENT AND SKILLFUL AMATEURS.
Amateurs of the Pacific Coast.-" Mine Host'' Taylor.- The Appa-
ratus Amateurs buy.-Chicago Am1teurs.-Sa!o Ansbarh; his
Career. - 52
CHAPTER V.
THE lIERRMANl'iS AND HARRY RELLAR.
The Original Carl Herrmann.-Alexander Herrmann; his Confed-
erates; how They Sometimes Fail.-Harry Kellar'; his Travels.
Alexander Herrmann·s Crematlon.-Martino's Sphinx.-Kellar's
Growth of Flowers. 64
CHAPTER VI.
HYPNOTISTS AND THEIR EXPERIMENTS.
How to Hypnotize.-The use of Confederates.-The Kennedy Broth-
ers.-Robert Fulton's Experiments.-" Professor" Johnson. - 91
YI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
MIND·READEUS AND THEIR TRICKS.
J. Randall Brown.-Washington Irving Bishop.-Stuart Cumberland.
-How to Become a Mind-Reader.-Seymonr.-Paul Alexander
Jobnstone.-Remarkable "Test" by Sid. Macaire.-Lucy de
G€ntry; her Quick Success.-An Aspiring Amateur's Predica-
ment. 108
CHAPTER VIII.
INSTANTANEOUS MEl\IOUIZATION.
The Art of Memory.-Instantaneous Memorization made use of by
Patrizio.-Elfects Produced by Hatton and Roberth. 128
CHAPTER IX.
SECOND·S!GHT AND ANTI·SPIR!TUALIST ARTISTS.
The Balabregas, Roucleres, Merlins.-Prof. Marvelle.-Anna Eva
Fay; her Exciting Chicago Experience.-The Baldwins.-Tbe
Steens. - 135
CHAPTER X.
THE VANISIT!NG LADY, COCOON, CUEMATION AND OTHER ILLUSIONS.
The Vanishing Lady.-The Magic Husband.-The Cocoon.-Alex-
ander Herrmann's Decapitations.-Vanek's Decapitation.-Cre-
mation.-The "Mystery of She."-"The Lady from an Envelope."
-The Spirit Bell of Prof. Alkahazar.-'.l'be "Amphitrite" Illusion. 151
CHAPTER XI.
PECULIAR HAPPENINGS.
The St. Louis Genius.-The Impatient Albany Man.-Some Remark-
able Letters.-East In1ian Fakirs.-What Barnello Saw.-The
Sailor and bis Parrot. - 177
CHAPTER XII.
MISCELLANEOUS SKETCHES.
Dr. Holden's AO.ventures in Egypt, Algeria and India -Deaf Men at
a Sbow.-Frazer Coulter's Failure as an Assistant.-The Old Trick
of "Prof. Hume."-Baron Seeman's Wit and Ingenuity; his
Russian Experience.-Old Bamberg's Arrest; his Skill.-How
D'Alvini Broke up the Sharpers.-Foreign and Home Audiences.
-Lady Professionals.-The Future of the Art. - 189
APPENDIX.
Instantaneous Memorization Code.-Appl!cation for a Patent on a
Spirit Room.-The "Stroubaika" Illusion.-The Palanquin
Trick.-Heller's Second-Sight Code. 226
MODERN MAGICIANS
AND
THEIR WORKS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
Of the Mysteries of the .Black Art-The Old School Conjur-

ers-Comte's Talent-The Dexterity of Philippe and Torrini
-The Genius of Anderson for Advertising-Account of
Robert Boudin-His Successful career as a C.:>njurer.
It is comparatively easy now-a-days to look behind
the scenes on the stage of a prestidigitateur. A
number of makers of magical apparatus. sell every-
thing desired: wands, cups, rings, balls, prepared
cards, coins, and many other articles. Directions
accompany each and every article. Books, from the
cheap ''sell" of a ten cent pamphlet to the finely
bound and illustrated edition, offer to initiate one
intcr the mysteries of the black art; but all these
only say in what the trick consists, not how it is
done.* Usually the most interesting tricks are kept
•As an exception to this are the admirable manuals vritten by Prof.
Hoffmann and Mr. Sachs, of London.
7
8 .MODERN MAUJC!ANH AND THEIR WORKS.
secret by adepts, or only revealed in consideration

of an extra hi'gh price.
The conjurers of the better class were, formerly,
mostly French or Italian. They called themselves
" Physiciens" or "Escamoteurs." The name of
prestidigitateurs was first used by Jules De Rovere,
who belonged to the old school, to which belonged
also Olivier, Prejean, Brazy, Comus, Chalons, Adrien
pere, Courtois and Comte-not to mention Licbten-
berg's famous Pinetti. The most noted was
undoubtedly Comte. A Frenchman from bead t.o
foot, he did extraordinary things with rare taste and
great amiability. All bis illusions meant for a small.
audience carry the impress of finest humor. For
instance, he assures you he is going to steal all the
ladies present ; the gentlemen are scared and
amused; Comte reassures them with the promise
that he will do it to their satisfaction. He waves
his hands in the air and produces a quantity of the
most beautiful roses out of nothing. He continues:
"I ha<l promised to take away and metamorphose
all these ladies; could I choose a more graceful and
pleasant form? In metamorphosing all to roses,
don't I offer the copy to the model i Don't I take
you away to gi\'e you back to yourselves? Tell me,
gentlemen, did I not succeed?" Then he begins
to divide the roses among the audience. "Here,
mademoiselle, is a rose you made blush with jeal-
ousy!" Before another pretty girl he changes the
rose into an ace of hearts, and the wizard says:
" Will you please, madam, lay your hand on your
heart~ You have only one heart, is it not so? I ·
INTRODUCTION. 9
beg your pardon for this indiscreet question; it was
necessary; for, though you have only orie heart, you
might have them all." Such "plays on words," are
told about Comte by the hundred.
An important progress in the development of the
art of conjuring was made by Philippe and Torrini.
The latter especially possessed such a dexterity in
handling cards, and such a boldness of execution,
that the audience was involuntarily carried away to
admiration without suspicion. His piquet trick stands
alone of its kind. Also in other respects he showed
admirable boldness. He was an Italian nobleman who
had been driven to take the career 0f a prestidigita-
teur by ad verse circumstances, an<l once while staying
in Rome he was '1.Sked to give a performance before
the Pope. The day before, he happened to see a
very valuable watch in a jewcler;s window, and
which was sai<l to he the only one in existence like
the celebrated watch of Cardinal X. This one had
arrived the day before from Paris. After Torrini
had ascertained that the Cardinal would Le present
at his performance, he bougbt the chronometer for
the respectable price of twelve hundred francs, and
made the watchmaker promise to keep silent about
the matter.
At the close of his performance Torrini asked for
any very costly object, \vhich, if possible, was the
only one of its kind in the world. At the pope's
order the cardinal handed his watch to the artist.
Torrini took a mortar, dropped the watch in it in
plain sight of all, and with a pestle pounded the
irrepar~ble jewel to a thousand atoms, to the horror
10 l\IODERN :MAGICIAN8 AND THEIR WORKS.
of the spectators. Torrini invited them all to come

up and look at the remains of the watch in the mor-
tar. On doing so the cardinal announced, with a
trembling voice, that his watch had not been
exchanged, as he could recognize it in the pieces; the
watch had really been destroyed. Torrini used this
moment of general excitement to drop the watch
unobserved into the pope's pocket, and as soon as
quiet was restored he asked his audience to name a
person who was sure not to be in secret understand-
ing with him. As he had expected, everybody
pointed to Pius VIL "Very well," continued Tor-
rini, making some mysterious motions, " I want to
reproduce the watch, and· it shall be found in the
pocket of His Holiness." The pope at once felt in
his pocket with signs of incredulity, and, blushing
with excitement, took the watch out of bis pocket,
which he at once handed to the cardinal in a great
hurry, as if he was afraid of burning his fingers
with it-this mysterious object. One can imagine
what a sensation this trick caused in Rome. Tor-
ri ni never repented this expensive but original ad ver-
tisement.
As far as advertising was concerned, nobody was
more inventive than Anderson, the "Wizard of the
North." Once in the forties he sent to all London
butter dealers wooden molds witli his name, l1i;;
"titles," and the hour of his performance engraved
on them, with the request they might put this stamp
on the butter they sold. As almost everybody is
obliged to use butter, this idea deserve& to be remem-
bered. Another time he offered a silver vase as a
I~TRODCCTION. ll
prize for the best conundrum that could be made

between acts. Everybody had the right to offer
a conundrum, and the audience should give th.e
decision by tbe strength of the applause theJ
bestowed. Not enough, Anderson had all these
more or less good conundrums taken down in short-
hand and printed in small books which he sold at a
shilling each. He knew very well that most people
like to see themselves in print. Each book contained
over 1,000 conundrums.
Whether Philadelphia, Do.bler, or Bosco were
really as prominent as one would suppose from
their performances, remains an open question. Of
Bosco we know positively that it was the reverse.
He used any and erery means to produce an effect,
and carried his brutality so far as to really kill the
birds he often used in his tricks. He used every
opportuni~y to show off his tricks; on the stage, at
the table d'hote, in cafes, in saloons, everywhere he
performed his tricks. Last, but not least, his har-
monious yet odd name helped him to become pop-
ular. These were the same circumstances which
some decades later gaYe Bellachini his reputation.
All these performers, and the many not mentioned,
are distanced by that classic art'ist among prestidigi-
tat~urs, Robert Houdin.
Houdin gave to the public the incidents of his life
i.n a book, which is interesting reading on account of
the attractive, varied contents, and the simplicity of
its narration. He also tells with admirable frank-
ness the secrets of the order whose grand master he
was, and he describes minutely all his mechanical,
12 lllUDERN lllAUICIANS AND THJ;;IR WORKS.
technical and especially his electro-technical inven-

tions. He must be recognized as a man of fine edu-
cation, as a graceful writer and as a technical genius.
To him we owe the electric bell, the first mechanical
barometers, the first perfect match safe, besides the
first application of the system of pneumatic tubes.
He was the first one to use the principal of the tele-
phone in what he called "the waves of sound." As
a child he handled the instruments in his father's
workshop, who was a watchmaker. This taste for
all mechanical appliances grew to a passion as strong
as the passion of a bibliomaniac for rare books, or of
a numismatulogist for his coins.
Houdin investigated everything that was put
together; he wanted always to repair and to build.
He ha<l very original ideas. At college he invented
the following means to waken early: he tied a string
around the great toe of his right foot, carried it
through the half-open window to the garden gate,
where he fastened it so that it should pull when the
gate was opened. Every morning when the old
servant opened the door, little Robert was obliged
to jump quickly out of bed, which thoroughly
awakened him. From these primitive arrangements
to the celebrated " Magic Villa" is a long step, but
the former are to the latter as the promising begin-
ning is to the happy end. The country residence of
the old, private gentleman caused great admiration;
there were electric wires from the cellar to the gar-
ret; mysterious automatons turned up at odd cor-
ners; folding doors joined rooms together; bells,
INTRODUCTION. 13
traps and self-acting revolvers kept the burglars
away; in short, it was the real.fairy house.
A conjurer of German descent gave Houdin, then
a ten-year-old boy, his first lessons in conjuring; a
book taught him, later on, the most important tricks.
How he continued to study the conjurer's art and at
last adopted the conjurer's calling, to the consterna-
tion of his family, can be read in his biography.
Much can be said of his triumphs. Before emperors
and kings, before Manchester working men and
African savages, this magician performed with brill-
iant success. From an obscure watch-maker's shop
his genius and talent as a conjurer carried him
through a long, successful and honorable career.
Since the days of Houdin no new reformer has
appeared in the magic art. It continues in the
same groove as forty years ago, though it tries to
deck itself with anti-spiritualism and mind-reading.
There is also now a lack of prestidigitateurs who are
masters in all branches. One may excel in card
tricks, another in coins, while another handles
apparatus to perfection. Of the many hundreds of
others, all that can be said is, they work well.
CHAPTER II.
AMERICAN CONJURERS.
Zera Semon-Edward Reno-Prof. Samucls-J. M. Dalahrega-

M. Hartz-Carl Hertz-Imro Fox-William Robinson-
" Zanzic" -Prof. Zamloch-Charles F. Fillebrown-Powell
Brothers-Variety Performers-Prof. Canaris, the "Greek."
-The Romance of Prof. Henry Willio-Goldberg-Hatton-
Eddie Abbott, the" Only Boy Magician"-Robcrt Heller.
A prominent American Magician is Zera Semon,

who makes the good old city of Richmond, Va., bis
home. If any one has been fortunate enough to
make his acquaintance, be will soon discover from
his entertaining qualities as a conversationalist, that
he comes from the old "F. F. V's." He is well
known through the Southern States, where he enjoys
a very good reputation. The past two years he has
been traveling through the Northern States and
Canada, where he is a great favorite. He is, perhaps,
now the only leading conjurer in the States making
gifts a feature of his show. His programme consists
of the usual effective tricks that are found in the
repertoire of the better class of magicians. In addi-
tion to this, he is the only one in this country intro-
ducing a full stage set of life-size marionettes in a
complete minstrel scene. He is ably assisted by his
14
A-:.fERICAN CON.TURF.RS. l!'i
accomplished wife. Together they secure deserved

success and applause in their original spiritualistic
canopy act, which is an improvement on the one
first introduced by the celebrated Robert Heller.
One of the rising young magicians of the present
time is Ed ward Reno. He carries a large, first-class
outfit, and is one of the few that know bow to
work what he has to advantage. His experience
dates from the year 1880. In the manipulation of
his tricks and apparatus he shows a skill rarely sur-
passed. He is noted as one who always gives what
is called a" square show." For a number of years
he has traveled over the same route in the Western
"States, a repetition of tours over the same ground
being a sure proof of popularity. At present he is
touring New York State, and meeting with the suc·
cess he deserves. He has one peculiarity quite re-
markable in a conjurer, and that is, he very seldom
plays any game of cards; in fact, does not care to
play cards at all. When he does, he nearly always
wins, if he wishes to, because he is able to make
nine different passes with a pack of cards, and deals
with facility from either the top or bottom of a
pack, feats that are even rare among magicians.
Prof. Reno is ably assisted oy his amiable and
esteemed wife, who is one of the best lady magi-
cians on the stage in our country. She is exceed-
ingly careful in all her work, and never attempts a
trick before the public until certain of success. It
would be to the advantage of other professionals to
follow her example in this respect. There is no
reason why Prof. Reno should not have the con-
16 :MODERN :MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
tinue<l favor he so well merits; and he will, no

doubt, be one of the leaders of the profession in a
few years.
A very clever conjurer, who retired from the pro-
fession a few years ago, is Prof. Samuels, now liY-
ing at Fort Sheridan, Ill. A leading critic once said
of one of his performances: "He just keeps the
grip on his audience from first to last, and never
offends the most fasti<li»us." To have seen one of
his magical entertainments was indeed a treat, as
there has been no magidan of late years on the
stage in our country who was so witty, original and
entertaining as he. In this respect he can only be
compared to Robert Heller. Not only was he noted
for extraordinary skill in conjuring, but also as a
mimic and ventriloquist. As an inventor of in-
genious mechanical effects and sleight-of-hand tricks,
he has probably no superior living. The best expert
conjuring talimt of Europe have acknowledged that
some of his inventions deserve the very highest
praise, and that he shows an extraordinary inventive
genius. This talent he has used in many lines out-
side of conjuring. He is occasionally prevailed upon
to give an entertainment for some charit,able society
in his vicinity, and he never fails to draw a full
house.
It seems almost a pity for the improvement of the
conjurer's art, that Prof. Samuels should have given
up a professional career to engage in commercial
pursuits; yet, in many cases, professionals are, no
doubt, doing the best thing who follow his example,
as the vicissitudes of a showman's life are known
AMERICAN CONJURERS. 17
to all. At the time the trick of the Vanishing Lady
was introduced, he made the witty remark that it
was a fine chance for performers to start out in a
new branch of the divorce business, as they would
no doubt have plenty to do, by vanishing anybody's
wife for the sum of twenty-five dollars.
One of the leading younger professionals who has
made himself prominent, is J.M. Balabrega, known
for a number of years as the "Swedish Wonder."
He was born at Helsingborg, a little town in tlie
southern part of Sweden, the twentieth of August,
1857. In those times in that country workers in
the "Art Mysterious" were not as plentiful as now,
and were looked upon by the lower classes as some-
thing more than human. Prof. Balabrega well
remembers the success created by one of his father's
contemporary wonder-workers, the old Prof. LeTort,
whose performance he witnessed when a child. Such
a thing as guessing then how the tricks were done
seemed to be quite out of the question. The only
conclusion to be arrived at was expressed by the
three Swedish words "han forvander synen," "he
perverts the eyesight." These were golden days for
conjurers, courted and petted as they were by the
elite, held in a we' by the common people, and patron-
ized by all.
At eleven years of age, Balabrega came to America
and soon mastered the difficulties of the English
language. Purchasing a large book on Magic, he
commenced practicing, which he kept up for a num-
ber of years~ becoming a skillful manipulator in
sleight-of-hand. From amusing evening parties at
18 MODERN MAGICIANS .AND THEIR WORKS.
home he soon began to give little entertainments at

the hall of the Swedish Society, in Brooklyn. Here
he again met his old friend LeTort, who was thor_
oughly disgusted with American modes of doing
business. ""'Why," said he, "here I have to co>er
the side of every house or fence with flaming
posters; in Sweden I have only to say to some old
woman, 'LeTort is coming to town, don't tell any-
one,' and in twenty-four hours the town is adver-
tised; and when I show, it is to a full house; I am
going back to Sweden." He did and died there.
From entertaining friends at home and in the
Swedish hall, it was but a step for Balabrega to branch
out as a young professor. As the "Boy Magician,"
he opened at the Olympic Theatre on Broadway,
N cw York. He was so successful in his first engage-
ment that he was soon called to Philadelphia, Bos-
ton, and other cities. His career since then has been.
one of steady progress, until he is now one of
the leaders in the profession. For the last few years
he bas been touring South America, assisted by his
skillful wife. No American performers have created
such a sensation in foreign countries as have the
Professor and the clever Mrs. Balab!ega in the Span-
ish-speaking countries. They were the first to intro-
duce there the Second Sight Act in the Spanish lan-
guage. They have had many remarkable experi-
ences, perhaps the most striking and expensive of
which was the loss of their entire outfit, which went
to the bottom of the sea in the Straits of Magellan,
in the ill-fated steamer, Cotopaxi. This was a hard
blow, but, with the irrepressible energy peculiar to
most conjurers, he was soon on his feet again, and

has just left the United States for another extended
tour of those countries, where doubtless they will
again duplicate their success.
One of the prominent performers of our country
who has achieved distinction abroad in his line is
M. Hartz, at present traveling in Europe. Some of
my readers may remember him as having been the
partner of .Mr. Levy, the firm being Hartz & Le\'Y·
These gentlemen were the first to open an establish-
ment of any prominence in New York City for the
sale of conjuring apparatus, and for a time met with
good success. Finally Levy went into other busi-
ness, and Hartz adopted conjuring for a livelihood,
traveling for a number of years through the States,
showing some very excellent illusions and displaying
considerable skill. Of late years he has made a
sensation in his line throughout Great Britain and
Europe. In these countries he has had more pros-
perity than he secured in the United States, as his
skill is more appreciated there than here. Had he
the address of such performers as Heller, Seeman,
and Balabrega, he would have succeeded better at
home, because here skill will not alone carry a per- ·
son through. It must be combined with good
address, and especially with a command of language.
These are qualities that few conjurers possess. Both
these· are a sure forerunner of success for the magi-
cian.
Another conjurer who has made quite a mark in
Europe is Carl Hertz. He was originally from San
Francisco, and for a number of years played in side
/
20 MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
shows and variety · theatres through the States,

finally crossing the Atlantic, where his style of per-
formance "caught on" better than here.
Another conjurer, at present making a hit in the
Music Halls of London, is Imro Fox, who, a.lthough
a German, bas resided long enough in the United
States to be called an American. While he has
nothing particularly new in his programme, he has
such an original and comical way of introducing his
tricks, that he succeeds where all others would fail.
There are few professionals who can crowd such a
variety of skillful illusions into such a short time as
he.
A professor who had quite a long experience in
side shows and museums is William Robinson, who
was known as" The Man of Mystery." He is at.
present assistant to Alexander Herrmann. While
showing on his own account, he owed much. of his
success to his wife, and their act of the self-rising
aerial suspension has never been excelled.
Another magician by the name of Robinson has
been traveling in the Western States for the past
few years, but is going under the professional name
of Zanzic. Being a clever performer, it would seem
he ought to have originated a more healthful-sound-
ing name, which is" sick'lecl o'er with a pale cast of
thought." ·
The leading conjurer of the Pacific Coast is
Prof. Zam loch, who travels continually through the
extreme Western States and Territories. He is a
skillful, painstaking performer, not dwelling so much
on sleight-of-hand as on neat ways of using appa-

ratus. He is very popular.
U ndoubted.ly the oldest professor of magic in the
States is Charles F. Fillebrown, of Salem, Mass.. The
senior Mr. Chase, of Boston, a celebrated. maker of
conjuring apparatus, made tricks for Prof. Fille-
brown over forty years ago. Very few men living
have had an experience of half a century in the
magic circle. A Talking Skull was once sent to
Prof. Fillebrown neatly packed in a large pail.
It was received by his good-wife from the express-
man, who, thinking some of her kind friends had sent
her some butter, at once proceeded to open the
package. The reader can imagine her surprise when
instead of butter she saw a skull staring her in the
face.
Two magicians very well known in most of the
Eastern States, are the Powell Brothers-F. Eugene
Powell and Lloyd Powell, of Chester, Pa. They
give a refined entertainment, showing much skill
in the introduction of conjuring feats, spiritualistic
phenomena, and second-sight, introducing these
under the name of " Powell's Wonders." An
admirer of theirs describes their extensive knowledge
in the following acrostic :
" Portentous signs at Magic's strange command;
Occult, mysterious, spring from earth and air.
Wonders come forth from Pltysic's wonder-land;
Ethereal spirits, 'neath the master's hand,
Lavish their secret treasures, rich and rare.
Like springs from unlike; .Alchemy's surpassed;
Spontaneous Combustion's found at last.
22 ll!ODEKN :\lAGICIA!\S AND THEIR WORKS.
"Weird powers of darknes>, from Jllephisto's Chest,

O'ermastering nature set tile captive free;
Nectar from Jfemory's cup, by Pallas blest,
Delights the mind, while, to the ear addressed,
Elysian ecltoes speak of mystery.
Rapt seers see all things, though with shrouded eyes;
Strange Second-sight, bewildering surprise."
In contrast to this production are the following

lines, copied from the a(l\'ertising dodger of a
country conjurer, who, by the way, said that he
valued it very highly as it had taken three years of
thought to make it perfect. It is given just as he
used it:
''Come Gentlemen and La<lie~ all,
Come Lads and Lassies, great and small,
Ami see yom·selves the Dancing Stand,
And Bird Cage vanish from the Hand."
Included among many other performers who ha\·e

played most of their engagements in variety theatres
are Roltair, Morphet, Verona, 0. T. Taylor, Dr.
Alex. Davis, Will B. W oo<l, Clever Carroll, ~Iarvelle,
Haviland, Vertelli, the Lees and Rohss. The majority
of these are using their best endeavors to cut loose
from the variety stage an<l travel ·with their own
entertainments, and a number of them h:-w e suc-
ceeded in doing so. Verona is also known as a.
''King of Fire;" he was for some time associated
with Barnello, also a "Fire King." These two ha\•e,
no doubt, introduced the best act of eating fire. It
was an easy step for them to t~ike up magic, which
Verona did some years ago, his leading attraction
being the self-rising aerial suspension. Barnello is,
however, only just now commencing the conjuring
AMERlCAN CONJ CRERS. :33
busmess. The special attraction of the Lees, is their

introduction of Miss Bessie (Mrs. Lee) in their
"Arabian Night's Dream," which is the self-rising
aerial suspension. This apparatus is now used by
quite a number of professionals, but none of them
ha\'e been able to surpass the Lees, in their hand-
some costumes and tableaux. The ease and grace of
Mrs. Lee in the act are quite remarkable, and fully
bear out all the great praise bestowed on her. This
same illusion is also the leading attraction of Prof.
Rohss, who is also ably assisted by his vivaeious
little wife.
A young performer who, com;idering the time
he has been before the public, has made quite a suc-
cess, is Elmer P. Ilansom, of Brooklyn. He made
his first appearance at Tony Pastor's Theatre, where
he scored a hit at once. Like a good many other
young men, who owe their ad\'ancement to the
genial "Tony," he is very grateful to him. He is
using very little apparatus, but makes it up in skill
and attractive language, known to the profession as
"patter."
A young gentleman who is making a very envia-
ble record as a prestidigitatem is Mr.John W. Little,
of New York. It has been but comparatively a short
time since he commenced his magical career, and it
bids fair to be a successful one. Ho shows much
more originality than . the average professor, par-
ticularly is th is noticeable in his excellent " patter"
and skillful sleight-of-hand tricks. He presents a Yery
interesting programme and in variably succeeds in
making his audience enthusiastic. Ile also displays
24 MODERN MAGICI.A.NS AND THEIR WOHKS.
much skill as a "Lightning Caricaturist," thus

making his programme doubly attractive.
A clever conjurer who was prominent in most of
the Eastern cities some ten years ago, was Robert
Nickle, the only magician who played in the Cen-
tennial Exhibition, at Philadelphia, where he bad a
prominent position for the display of his skill in the
art. While his repertoire was not a large one, he
showed considerable skill in the feats he introduced.
Had it not been for his convivial habits, he would no
doubt have enjoyed a much greater popularity. Sact
to relate, he had become so addicted to the flowing
bowl that it finally caused bis death, and he was
laid away in a potter's field at ·washington.
One of his co-laborers of late years, was a .Mr.
Harrington. This man has had such a variety of
names that it is almost impossible to keep track of
him. His favorite · ones have been ·w yman, "\Vay-
man, LaFayette and Blitz.
A performer not unknown to fame, though some-
what a stranger to the public at large, is one who
calls himself '' Canaris, the Greek Conjurer." He
started out from Boston some years ago and traveled
across our continent, where he. met with but meagre
encouragement. He displayed no particular talent
nor genius in his tricks. After playing through to
the Pacific Coast, he went out to New Zealand and
Australia, where he met with much less success than
he did here. He bas himself to blame for his ill
fortune in those countries, principally from the rea-
son that he billed very extensively to produce the
Cocoon and the Vanishing Lady, but failed to ful-
AMERICAN CONJI::RERS. 25
fill his promise as to either of them. Audiences

will not tolerate anything like that, now-a-days.
From Robert Kudarz, of New Zealand, we have
received a published criticism on the appearance of
Prof. Oanaris at Sydney. It is a severe arraign-
ment:
"The time for vengeance-will come. As we write,
the small boy is growing, who, when he is big
enough, will rush the show of Professor 'Oanaris,'
at Sydney Academy, and shove that abject Greek
frost off the stage, and the brick is being baked
which will be thrown at an early date right through
the 'Shadowgraph.' In the course of a troubled
existence we have met with many palsied horrors
ending with 'graph,' but never before did we en-
counter so appalling a graph as this: It consisted
of a damp tablecloth with a light behind it, and two
painfully conspicuous boys, without any coats on,
moving figures of horses, goats, pigs, etc., across
this plain and ordinary scene. A naval conflict was
shown, in which a sailing vessel of no particular rig
and with six yards on each mast was knocked about
by a steamer. One of the boys apparently lit a
match at intervals and uttered a whoop to represent
the artillery, and ultimately both vessels went
down. The steamer, however, promptly came up
again and sailed away with one end sticking up in
the air. The sad old Davenport Brothers' show was
also exhibited, and a 'committee' of four went up
on the stage to see that all was fair. An astonished
old gentleman, with a look of simple bewilderment
spread all over his head, formed a part of this body,
and the other members were evidently the twin

brothers of the gentlemen who used to go into a
trance at the Opera House in the days of Professor
Kennedy, and eat soap, and find half-a-pound of
flour in their hats, and pursue visionary rats with
brooms and other implements. The Professor got
his dress-suit badly crushed in his struggles to free
himself from his fastenings, and if he does the cabi-
net trick often he will have to buy new clothes or
else go around in a petticoat.
"The last part of the show was advertised to con-
sist of' Ancient and Modern Necromancy,' embrac-
ing six imposing items: 'The Pacific on the Stage;
A Terrible Massacre; Egyptian Necromancy; The
Terrible Flood,' and two others equally large and
pompous; but they all finally resolved themselves
into the old, shattered, broken-down joke of extract-
ing 100 yards of ribbon out of a borrowed hat. A
young-lady assistant in male attire stood on the
stage and looked on without shifting from one leg
to the other more than twice in ten minutes, but at
last the flying Greek made an observation in a low
tone, and she fled and didn't come back. Probably
he remal'lrnd 'get out!' in the melodious Athenian
language, but this is only conjecture."
Henry Willio was born in Cologne, on the Rhine,
in 1846. At the age of 12 years he developed a
talent for the sorcerer's art, and became a magician
and prestidigitator. When but 18 years old he had
become so deft at deception that he sought the
broad world in which to practice his arts of necro-
mancy, and made his way to London. There he
AMERICAN CONJURl':RS. 27
soon married a woman name<l lllarion Cook, and for
some years held the boards at the London theatres
as a magician. In August, 1871, the Kiralfy Broth-
ers found him there and brought him to New York
with them. He tilled several engagements at the
Olympic Theatre, and later was with Tony Pastor
in his pantomime. In 1866 a child was added to
his family, and five years later another. Both were
girls, the oldest being named Ellis Hannah, and the
second Mabel Lillian.
On the eighteenth of .January, 1874, the magician
with his family left New York with a company of
actors,.and went to the West Indies. They gave
exhibitions about tbe islands, and in December of
the same year found themselves stranded in Jamaica,
when the members of the company started out to shift
for themselves, each regardless of the fate of ·the
others. ·with some it was an easy matter to stroll
about and pick up a meagre subsistence, but with
the magician it was not so. He had his wife and
family to care for and he must earn them food and
shelter. He bade them good-by and started out to
find work. He journeyed to Aspinwall and to the
Isthmus of Panama, where he was prostrated with the
yellow-fever and for seven months lingered between
life and death. At last he recovered sufficiently to
be able to travel, and made his way back to Jamaica,
where he ha<l left his wife in a delicate condition
among strangers who had no benevolence toward
foreigners. All his inquiries brought the same
response. The people remembered that his wife
had died while giving birth to a child, and that
28 MODERN MAGIOIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
her death had been hastened by the news from the

Isthmus of Panama that Willio, the magician, had
died of yellow fever. The wife and child had been
buried in the potter's field, and the people remem-
bered that a variety actress named Effie J obns had
happened along and had taken the two children with
her to Havana, Cuba. Thither the sorrowing father
journeyed, only to find that Effie Johns had left
Havana for New York.
The magician could not bring his arts to bear in
the long and tiresome search for his children. He
visited New York and traveled through all the prin-
cipal cities of America, al ways inquiring for his·
children. Back to the West Indies and through
Venezuela and the United States of Columbia he
went, giving exhibitions at different cities to enable
him to continue the search. He .had obtained a
slight trace of his lost children in New York, where
a man had told him that Mlle. Lola, a trapeze per-
former, had been seen with two children in her com-
pany answering the description he gave of the little
ones. There remained but one thing to do, and that
was to find Mlle. Lola. Her address was published
in the dramatic papers, and every week the magi-
cian wrote to her and received no response. At
last he arrived in San Francisco and there met Effie
J.ohns in 1880. She informed him that when about
to take the steamer from Havana for New York,
Mlle. Lola had asked her for the children and she
had relinquished them. She had not seen her since
that time, but thought that some trace of her might
be gained by communicating with her mother, Mrs.
AMERICAN CONJCJRERS• 29
.Tohn Parshal, at Rochester, N. Y. He wrote to
Mrs. Parshal, but received no answer. Disheartened
but not discouraged the magician again took up the
search and traveled through Oregon, Washington
Territory, and the entire Northwest with no better
success. By dint of tireless inquiry he leamed that
Mlle. Lola had been seen at Atchison, Kans., and had
two little girls with her. He wrote to her there,
and after many days of weary waiting his letter was
returned to him with the words "not known" writ-
ten on the outside of the envelope. On examining
the returned letter the magician found that it had
been opened and deftly sealed again. He now
became assured that some one was trying to keep his
children from him. He went to Atchison and
learned that Mlle. Lola had lived there for some
time, and that she had suddenly left, for the Black
Hills. He went to the Black Hills only to find that
she had gone to Mexico some few days previous to
his arrival. He was nearer now to the object of his
search than he had ever been before, and the hours
seemed long as he rode south ward to find his lost
children. At El Paso, Tex., he was obliged to
stop and give an exhibition to get money to
carry him farther, and while there received a letter
from Effie Johns, saying that his eldest daughter had
appeared as a variety star, and that her stage name
was" Little Pearl." He also heard in El Paso that
Mlle. Lola was traveling in Mexico with the Orrin
Bros.' circus, doing trapeze business. He wrote a
letter to the address of "Little Pearl" and sent it in
the care of a dramatic paper to New York. He
30 MODERN :MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
received an answer to this letter which did not have

the effect to make him very happy. "Little Pearl"
was still his daughter, but she had eloped with a
man named William Ackerman and had married him
in San Francisco. He must still look for his baby
daughter, and for more than two years he traveled
through Mexico, never succeeding in finding Mlle.
Lola, who, if she did not have his child, must possess
some knowledge of where she could be found.
Back toward New York the magician journeyed,
and while stopping at Cincinnati in the early part of
February, 1887, learned through the dramatic papers
that Mlle. Lola was in Chicago. He lost no time in
coming to this city, and after a few days' search,
looking through hotels where the artful Lola had
given false addresses, he succeeded in locating her
at Spring Valley, Wis., where she was giving a
performance with what was known as Lola's Gypsy
Company. He causeJ her arrest, and, threate:i.ing
her with pro.;ecution for kidnapping his daughter,
she told him that Mabel Lillian was in Rochester,
N. Y., where she was attending an industrial school
for girls. The magician had at last found his child
and sought out Officer Dudley of the Illinois Humane
Society, who listened to his story with sympathy.
" We will restore your daughter to you,'' said l\Ir.
Dudley, "and if you write a letter to her I will
inclose another to the officials of the institution.''
This advice the magician followed, and in a few
days received the following:
AMERICAN CON.J URERS. 31
No. lll3 ExCHA~GE STHEcT, RocHKSTER, N . Y., March 4,
1887.-Dear Papa: Is it possible that my dear father Jives ?
This is indeed a resurrection to me. It seems like a dream from
which I will awake only to find myself again desolate and an
orphan. I have been praying for a good home to open its doors
to me, little expecting tlrnt my prayers were to be answered. I
can hardly wait to see you and my darling sister. I was lame for
a long time, but the kind care I have had here h as cured me
entirely. lHiss Hamilton has been like a mother ever since I
came. Can you come next week? I will tell you cverytliing
when I see you. I am very happy now that I have a dear father
and sister to Jove me. I will now close with a thousand kisses
and my best love to you and dear sister. Your daughter,
l\IABEL LILLIAN WrLLIO.
"If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it."-

Joltn, 14th cltapta, 14th verse.
The letter was written in a neat, roun<l hand, a,ml

the father could hardly believe his senses. He
showed the communication to. Officer Dudley and
could not refrain from weeping. Mr. Dudley had
also received a letter from the officials of the
school. They demanded that the character of the
father be vouched for by some responsible person
and his identity established before they would
consent to surrender the chil<l. Mr. Dudley
looked into the honest face of the magician and
said: "I think I can have no hesitancy in \'Ouching
for the character of a man who will traYel seven
times across the continent to fin<l his children. Mr.
Willio, I will myself become your surety." The
necessary guaranty was forwarded to Rochester an<l
an early train brought the young lady to Chicago.
She is a prepossessing blonde of 16, and is highly
educated and refined, as her letter shows. She
relates her story with fascinating emphasis while

she tosses back the profusion of wavy blonde hair
that falls about her forehead.
"I don't remember very much,'i said she, "about
what occurred in Jamaica, for you know I was only
4 years old then. But I do remember about
mother's death and of getting on board a steamer
going to New York. On that journey the crew
mutinied and the Captain walked the deck with a
pistol in each hand, making them obey his orders. I
think the vessel must have been sinking then, for
guns were fired and were answered by a Spanish
man-Of-war, who took us on board just before the
vessel went down. I know that Effie Johns gave us
to Mlle. Lola a.nd I was left in New York with Mr.
and Mrs. Dr. Burnham. While there I fell down
stairs and sprained my ankle, and in a short time
J'.tfrs. Parshal took me to Rochester, N. Y. My sis-
ter traveled with Mrs. ParshaPs two daughters, Lola
and Jeannette, who are trapeze performers. I went
to the industrial school in Rochester, where they
taught me everything. They were very kind to me
there, especially a Miss Hamilton, who took a great
interest in me. Well, I'm glad I found my father,
anyhow, and, some way or other, I always thought
he was alive, and prayed for him every night."
" Yes, daughter, I know you did," said the magi-
cian, as he took the child's hand, and the two walked
silently away.*
* Truth is indeed stranger than fiction, and, although at the time
put to great inconvenience, we have the satisfaction of knowing that we
were the means of Professor Willio's finding his long lost daughter, and
of re-unitin_g· a family. Prof. Willio has proved himself very grateful
for the assistance rendered him and w:iich enabled him to go again on
the road in a manner befitting his capabilities.
In bis favorite tricks and manipulations of cards,
coins and other small objects there is now no person
traveling who is the superior of Prof. Willio.
Shortly after finding his daughter, he started on an
extensive tour through Mexico and South America,
and when last beard from was in Peru.
A clever artist in conjuring, and who formerly
traveled considerably in our country, is Mr. Henry
Hatton, of New York and Brooklyn, where at pres-
ent his services are in very good demand for enter-
taining evening parties and societies. He is favora-
bly known from his interesting article on second-
sight and conjuring published some years ago in
Scribner's Magazine.
A skillful performer of late years, particularly
with cards and small objects, an~ who started out
with every prospect of a good future before him, was
Goldberg, of New York. He was a very peculiar
individual and became possessed with the idea that
no person could do the feats he did; this belief of
his is perhaps better expressed in the words of an
Eastern correspondent:
"There bas just died in this city, a man who
fixedly believed that be was the devil. His name
was Goldberg, and he was a performer of sleights.
He was a magician, according to both his show bills
and his own conceit. He had a marvelous dexterity
in the deceptive handling of cards, and his tricks
with them were far better than those of any of the
more celebrated showmen whom I have ever seen;
but he was not equally expert in devising or hand-
ling such mechanism as made the fame of Anderson,
the wizard, nor was he the entertaining talker which

we remembered Heller to ha\Te been. The conse-
quence was that Goldberg gained little prosperity
and remained a mere cat·d manipulator until his
mental vagaries brought him to a lunatic asylum. I
remember that, duJ·ing the last summer in which
he was sufficiently sane to be left at large, he gave
exhibitions in the hotel parlors at country resorts.
While at Long Branch the gamblers who run the
great hells there became acquainted with Goldberg's
sleight-of-hand abilities. None of them, however,
though they were in the dishonest manipulation
of cards, could either imitate or understand the
tricks which he showed them. Charley Reed, mana-
ger of one of the club houses, took him aside and
said to him: "Goldberg, how much did you make
out of the show you ga\Te in the Ocean House parlor
to-day~" "Oh, the collection amounted to $16,
about," was the reply. "You ought to be ashamed of
it," tbe gambler retorted. "~What's the use of run-
ning yourself in a sort of pass-the-hat show when y9u
could turn your talent to more profitable account 1
Now, I'll give you $200 cash down if you'll teach
me to do that trick with the fom· aces." "I
couldn't," was the sober reply, ''if you paid me two
millions. I don't know how to do it." The truth
was that the trick, which cor.sisted in dealing four
aces at will from an apparently well-sbuffi.ed pack,
depended chiefly on that dexterous handling of tbe
cards called palming, but the demented Goldberg
was convinced that, being himself the personal devil,
it was purely supernatural. All the while that he
AMEN.JOAN CO:NJURl£RS. 35
was practicing the most delicate an<l deceptive
manipulation he was unaware that the results were
obtained by trickery and skill. This was a most
peculiar phase of mania."
This chapter would be incomplete without par-
ticular mention of the "Only Boy Magician." This
is Master Eddie Abbott, just past six year;:; of age.
Eddie's home was at Millville, N. J., where his
father was engaged as a fine worker in cut glass.
He <liscovered his boy's talent, and, under the
instructions of others, commenced teaching him all
that could be taught one so young. It "as not long
before Eddie acquired such a proficiency that his
professional tours commenced. His first one was
through the interior towns near Philadelphia. Then
he played to crowded houses at the Academy of
Music and at the Carncross Theatre, in that city,
besides giving many performances in prirnte houses,
notably in John Wanamaker's an<l George W.
Childs'. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Children would not permit him to play in New
York City.
Eddie's next exhibitions were given in Quebec,
where, on the start, he was not well received because
he could not speak French, but in a few days he
had learned it well enough to deliver his little
speeches in that language, and ' thereafter achieved
great success. Our illustration shows him introduc-
ing his Talking Skull. He is very pretty in face,
tiny in form and attractive in manner. He well
deserves the warm words of praise the press has
bestowed on him. He treads the stage like. a vet-
eran, and performs remarkable tricks in magic with

the greatest ease and with the most captivating sang-
froid. One look-
ing at him can
scarcely realize
that he is but a
child. The first
part of his pro-
gram me is de-
voted to the cus-
' tomary feats of
conjuring, which
are faultlessly ex-
ecuted. The sec-
ond part is usually
the introduction
of the mysterious
"Egyptian Black
Art," in which,
dressed in white,
he suddenly ap-
EDDIE ABBOTT AND HIS TALKING pears in the midst
SKULL. of the blackness
on the stage, while tables, vases, flowers, rabbits,
doves and other things move through the air, at his
word of command, in a most mysterious manner.
Master Eddie wins the hearts of his audiences.
Should he continue in the profession he will undoubt-
edly reach the top round of the ladder.
The first foreign conjurer of prominence who
visited our shores was Herr Alexandre, a skillful
performer, who came to New York about 1845.
Assisted by his daughter Bertha he introduced the

seconJ-sight mystery, with which he obtained suc-
cess. His daughter dying suddenly stopped his
career among us, as he returned at_once to Europe.
He was followed by Macallister, the Scotch con-
jurer, who in turn was followed by the renowned
"Wizard of the North," Anderson. Then came
Signor Blitz, whose interesting book,"'' Fifty Years
in the Magic Circle," bas had many readers. Our
next visitor was Heller, who made his home with us.
The American stage has never seen such a witty,
clever and skillful entertainer as Heller was. His
greatest success was made with second-sight, in
which he was assisted by his sister, Zai<lee Heller.
On his first poster were the words:
" Shakespeare wrote well,
Dickens wrote Weller;
Anderson w a s - - - ,
But the greatest is Heller."
Heller made considerable money, was the prince
of entertainers, but,_sad to say, died poor. With
him commenced what might be called the beginning
of the conjurer's art in Ame1·ica. Blitz had only
been a short time in this country when he found he
had more than a dozen mediocre imitators all travel-
ing under his name, and even Heller has been fol-
lowed by a score or more who have used his
name.
CHAPTER Ill.
PRO:III::-\ENT CONJURERS ABROAD.
John Nevil l\laskelyne-Dr. Holden-Dr. Lynn-Robert Kudarz

-Buatier de Kolta-The Bamberg and Basch Families-
J acoby. Harms-German and French Conj urcrs-Prof. Patrizio
-Prof. Hartwig Seeman.
Of foreign conjurers, those of the British Isle first
demand our attention because '' they are English,
you know." Probably the most prominent among
them is J. Nevil Maskelyne, whose long career as a
public entertainer in London has brought him very
prominently before the public. Having occupied the
Egyptian Hall, "England's Home of Mystery," for
a, great many years, he has been· so situated, with all
conveniences at his command, that he has been able
to produce a large number of fine optical illusions,
which even now remain the principal feature of his
entertainments. His cabinet, his automatons, Psy-
cho, Zoe, Labial and Fanfare, are never-failing
sources of interest and wonder. In the display of
mechanical skill, he has fully rivaled the renowned
Robert Houdin. Mr. Maskelyne is a very genial
gentleman, an<l his manners are such as to command
respect and attention.
One of the most clever conjurers in England now
33
PRO:MINE.NT CONJUI<ERS ABROAD. 3!)
is the " Queen's Magician," whose peculiar boast is

that he is the only conjurer whom Queen Victoria
ever asked to repeat a trick. Dr. Holden's reper-
toire consists mainly in tricks requiring considerable
skill and very little apparatus, and in this particular
branch he has scored quite a success, possessing a
great deal of ready wit and any amount of self-con-
fidence, both of which are necessary to a successful
magician. He has pro\'ed himself an interesting
conjurer and "A magician in spite of himself."
A popular English conjurer that we do not hear
much about, now-a-days, is Dr. Lynn. Some of his
friends claim him as an American, and that his real
name is not such a striking one. He is the same
Doctor for whom the inimitable Artemus Ward
wrote a wonderful programme. Dr. Lynn is popa-
larly known as "The Talky Talky Man,'' and is
always telling his audience just how he does it, and
yet they never know. His principal feat of late
years was the introduction of the handsome illusion
known as " Thauma."
Under the head of English Conjurers, should be
mentioned Robert Kudarz. Although his field of
operation is in the Australian Colonies, where he
enjoys a well deserved reputation, some American
readers will understand his programme pretty well,
when they know that it is modeled on the plan of
that of Harry Kellar. . Prof. Kudarz makes his home
at Wellington, New Zealand. In addition to his mag-
ical performances, he adds tricks of the Anti-Spiritu-
alistic order, his wife being his valuable assistant. He
obtained considerable renown from being one of th~
40 MODERN .MAGICIANS AND TH~IR WORKS.
first to introduce in that far away country the now

well known trick of the Vanishing Lady. He we!l
remembers what a hard time he had in getting her
out there, as she went astray in San Francisco, where
some would-be-intelligent railroad offic:ial consigned
her to a storage warehouse, where she remained in
"durance vile" for nearly six months. This accom-
plished official, receiving notice that he would have
a burden. on his hands if he kept her there longel',
finally started her on her long voyage across tbc
Pacific Ocean to the Professor, who, although her
coming was somewhat late, received her with open
arms, and succeeded in adding much to his reputa-
tion when she made her debut.
While not coming under the bead of Englisl1 con-
jurers, the Hungarian performer, Buatier, has become
very popular in the last few years, owing to his tours
in England. Not long ago, he joined hands with Mr.
Maskelyne, of London, for the purpose of availing
himself of the mechanical ingenuity of the latter
in developing some of his stage illusions, at least
three of which were patented in England. He enjoys
a great reputation for skill in sleight-of-band, and is
credited with introducing a number of very fine and
effective tricks, that may be classed under the head
of "parlor magic/' as most of them are suitable for
parlors and small stages. He has, no doubt, received
much commendation to which he is not justly
entitled, because of his first introducing tricks in
England, the knowledge of which he had obtained on
the continent. The writer saw tricks offered for sale
by continental manufacturers of conjuring apparatus,
PROl\IINENT CONJURERS ABROAD. 41
fifteen to twenty years ago, that were afterwards

introduced into England for the first time by Prof.
Buatier. He thereby obtained the undeserved repu-
tation of 9eing the originator of them. He also
received the unmerited credit of being the inventor
of "Black A.rt," for which he took out a patent in
England, after he had first seen it performed in Ber-
lin, in a much more complete manner than it was
introduced by himself. However, it is not to be
denied that he possesses great skill. Some time
ago it was rumored that he intended coming to
America.
.
In this connection it mav be well to sav that for-
~
eign professionals, especially those in England, who

are credited with a great amount of skill and ingenu-
ity, ha\'e not prospered .in America. By this is
meant that they have . not made the " tremendous
hit," or ''screaming success" which they expected
to make, when they came across the "Big Ferry."
It not only takes skill, but also management, to
gather in the "shekels" on this side of the water.
This simply proves that the major part of the cle\·er
performers in the United States are farther advanced
in the mysteries of conjuring than the m~jority of
foreigners are willing to admit. In confirmation of
this, we ham only to look at the unlimited /praise
bestowed on Prof. Hartz, and the California boy,
Carl Hertz, both of whom stirred up the conjurers
on the other side to a great extent, although there
are many fully their equals here, if not their
superiors, especially of the latter, whose success with
us was only a moderate one.
Passing from England to the continent, ac-ross the

stormy North Sea, and landing on the dyke-guarded
shores of Holland, we find two families of conjurers
lidng in the hearts of the people, and known as
the Basch and Bamberg families. David T. Bam-
' berg, son of the original "Old Bamberg," who was
the contemporary of Houdin, is living at Amster-
dam, having retired from the profession, and is
known as the "Cabinet Maker to his Majesty, The
King." Pel'haps the most popular conjurer of
recent years in that country was Prof. Basch, who
amassed a competency in a few years. It can be
said, greatly to his credit, that no trick, if good, was
too dear for him. His outfit contained all the most
modern and original effects he could procure.
His programme was divided into three parts;
first, original feats in conjuring, in which he dis-
played much skill, attempting successfully tricks
that would astonish many professionals. His
second part was sometimes an exhibiti_on of the
Enchanted Fountain, or the production of the
Ghost Show. This he had developed to a great
degree, making use of many characters; and any
person who has seen his spectral illusion of "An
Artist's Tour Around the vV orl<l" will not soon for-
get it. His third part usually consisted in showing
a tine selection of high-class dissolving views. As a
hint to American conjurers, we would say that Prof.
Basch has very often played from one to two weeks
in a town of twenty thousand inhabitants. How
many conjurers in America have a repertoire suffi-
cient to do that~
PROMINENT COXJURERS ABROAD. 43
Leaving the flowery meadows of Holland, so

noted for their wonderful hyacinths, tulips and cro-
cuses, we pass into the fair country of Belgium, and
stop at its beautiful capital, Bmssels. Here, for a
number of years, resided Prof. DeVere, who has
enjoyed quite a continental reputation. Of late he
has traveled extensively, exposing spiritualistic pre-
tensions. This gentleman once carried on the busi-
ness of making conjuring apparatus in London.
Leaving the "Frenchified" Belgians, it is but a
step across the Rhine into Germany. Here we find
so many clever conjurers that we hardly know which
way to turn. Stop.ping for a moment at the pictur-
esque old city of Nuremberg, we find one of the
oldest manufacturers of conjuring apparatus, who,
for a great many years, has carried on the leading
business in manufacturing boxes of conjuring tricks.
It may be news to American readers, that nearly all
of these have been exported to France, where they
are sold as being of French production.
Prof. Jacoby-Harms not only has exhibited great
skill in his spectral illusions, but has also shown him-
self to be a gentleman of considerable literary abil-
ity. He has published several interesting works on
the mystic art. His entertaining volume of "Zau-
ber-Soiree" is not only interesting, but displays
much ca1·e in its preparation. The attractive feature
of the book is its photographs, which are indeed fine
works of art.* These photographs were taken by
* On the opposite page is shown a reduced photo.lithograph of one
of them, which represents him in his rope-tying act on the stage, just #
as the spirits are supposed to have untied him,
means of the electric light. In his rope-tying

maneuvers he probably has no superior. His pro-
gramme consists usually of the finest feats in mag'ic,
HOW THE SPIRITS UNTIE JACOBY.
anti-spiritualistic effects, and spectral illusions. In

the first part he makes use of all his ingenuity in
PROMCN~;NT CONJURERS ABROAD. 45
getting up devices for using flower and bird trick~,

realizing that these prove the most attractive,
thereby gaining the sympathies and good will of the
fair sex.
Perhaps the men who have contributed the most
toward the success of professional conjurers in
Germany, have been the pr_ominent manufacturer5
of conjuring apparatus-}!. Hermann, of Berlin, and
Oscar Lischke and Carl Willmann, of Hamburg. All
three have been in the professional manufacturmg
line for a good many years, and many effects pro-
duced by them have been shown by conjurers as
being of their own invention.
A couple of clever performers who are not
unkr1own in the United States, should not be
forgotten; these are Messrs. Thorn· and Darvin, who
made quite an extended tour in this country a few
years ago. Of late, their · professional tours have
taken them through Germany, Russia, Austria and
other continental countries. Their leading sen-
sational feat during the last year has been that of
causing the instantaneous disappearance of a live
horse, which is accomplished through that mysteri-
ous meJium called ';Black Art."
Casting our eyes toward France, we find the most
prominent conjurer is Prof. Oazeneuve. This
gentleman, some time ago, made a very successful
tour through the United States. Unable to speak
the English language, he was, probably, the first
one to make use of an interpreter on the stage, who
translated the "patter" of the professor to the
audience. While here he obtained much £pplause
4G MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
and admiration from the fair sex; as he held_their

attention by means of the orange-growing trick,
invented by IIoudin; and also by an elaborate vari-
ation of the coffee trick, serdng both oranges and
coffee to his audiences in unlimited quantities. For
some years after his return to France he traveled
through the provinces there, and is at present at
Marseilles.
Of late years the most prominent conjurers in
France are Dickson, Jacobs, Duperrey, Carmelli and
Anderson, all of whom performed in Paris during
the World's Exposition of 1889. Duperrey and
Carmelli are extraordinarily skillful. While they
have not introduced anything particularly new, they
displayed that grace and elegance that only a
Frenchman can. It is a pleasure to know that such
clever performers are meeting with the success they
deserve. Another prominent magician abroad is
Patrizio. He also made a tour of the United States
some years ago, but, owing to his lack of knowledge
of the English language, did not meet with the
success he deserved. There are few in the pro-
fession who are as painstaking as he. For a
number of years past he has been traveling through
the West Indies and in South America, where he is
quite a favorite. His repertoire is very extensi Ye,
comprising the "Ghost Show," and the finest of
modern automata.
Prof. Hartwig Seeman was born in Sweden on
June 3, 1833. His father had been an officer in
the Swedish army, and his ancestors had fought
under the renowned conqueror, Gustavus Adolphus,
PRO::\IIN ENT OOSJURE:RS ABROAD. 4'j
in Russia, Finlaml, Germany, Turkey and France.

Young Seeman had always shown a decided inclina-
tion for ingenious mechanical effects, hence it is not
to be wondered at that he became interested in
magic. In 1859 we see him in Berlin, Germany,
happily married, and well known as a prominent
scenic artist, honored and popular in society. The
proprietor of Victoria Theatrn failed, and Seeman,
receiving no money for his labors, was obliged to
have recourse to his knowledge of magic. He had
about a dozen small trick boxes which he had kept
for his own and his friends' private amusement.
Taking these, and with $30.00 in his pocket, he
started out on a tour, but, owing to the poverty of
his exchequer, and Jack of knowledge in advertising,
he lost instead of making mon13y. This was in 1860.
Shortly afterwards he obtained engagements in
Hamburg, Copenhagen and Christiania. His salary
was sufficient at the end of the year to enable him
to increase his stock of conjuring apparatus. After
a few successful tours in Norway, he succeeded in
saving some $6,000. With this capital, he made a
bold move and crossed over from Philli pstad to
London. There he leased the Egyptian Hall in Pic-
cadilly, and occupied it for over one year and a half,
giving his entertainments to crowded houses nightly.
After that he made a tour through the provinces,
and visited all the leading cities and towns in Scot-
land and Ireland. Returning to London, he trans-
ferred the scene of his triumphs to the Crystal Pal-
ace at Sydenham, and performed there for six
months continuously. On the day when he took his
farewell benefit, he performed before audiences of

over forty thousand people, included among whom
were no less than thirty-six members of royalty; the
Shah of Persia, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge
and the late Czar of Russia, being among the num-
ber. Seeman had not then determined what he
would do next, and, while still hesitating, received a
visit from an officer of a Roman Catholic Missionary
Society in London, who proposed to him that he go
out to t.he Cape of Good Hope for their society, and
teach the natives how to perform some of his tricks,
in order that the missionaries might be better able
to contend against the Fetish men of the negro
tribes. The offer was such a novel one that he at
first hesitated, but, the terms being liberal, it was
finally accepted. Embarking at Southampton,
within five weeks he was landed at Cape Town.
There he gave a series of performances which were
largely attended by the natives. At the conclusion
of each, he explained to a number of the most intel-
ligent of them how the tricks were performed, and
made them do them themselves, until they became
thoroughly proficient, meantime explaining to them,
through an interpreter, that the white man's God
had nothing to do with the performing of the tricks;
and yet the tricks performed were much more diffi-
cult than those their Fetish men could do, although
they declared they were only able to perform them
when inspired by their gods.
Leaving Cape Town our ~~gician took passage to
India, and on arrival there journeyed to the city of
PROMINENT CONJURERS ABROAD. 49
Benares, the sacred city of Hindostan, for the pur-

pose of studying the jugglery of the Fakirs. He
remained there for some time, in the course of which
he learned many East Indian feats of jugglery;
which, as every modern conjurer knows, do not
compare with the skilled feats of an accomplished
conjurer of the present time.
Leaving India, Prof. Seeman traveled directly to
Vienna, where he performed during the Vienna
World's Exposition of 1873, during the months of
July and August. From there he returned to his
native land, and while giving his exhibitions through
.Sweden he devoted all. ~his leisure time to the solv-
ing of the problem of suspension in mid-air without
visible support. In February, 1880, after nearly
eight years experimenting, which cost him a great
deal of money, he found the problem no longer a
mystery, having solved it. He receiYed a numbel'
of offers from the United States, one of which he
accepted, and on the twentieth of June, 1880, gave a
private exhibition of his marvelous invention at the
Academy of Music, New _York City, to the members
of the press and a select party of its invited guests.
His success wa>; beyond his highest expectations,
and the press unitedly insisted that the invisible
suspension of Miss Seeman was one of the most
marvelous achievements of the conjurer's art. He
made a number of tours through this country with
great success, earning the commendation of being
one of the most accomplished performers that. have
ever appeared here in his line. ·
During his last tour through the South west, See-

man, with his family, was obliged to remain over
night in a train at Bremont, Texas. Here he con-
tracted a severe cold, which resulted in inflammation
of the lungs, from which he died the following day,
March 25, 1886, at Kosse, in that State. In the
death of Prof. Seeman the conjuring fraternity of
the entire world suffered an irreparable loss. Few
gentlemen have lived that have enjoyed such a repu-
tation in his line as this superior and accomplished
artist. His programmP- consisted usually of high
class feats in conjuring, the introduction of automa-
tons, and the exhibition of most excellent dissolving
views, which were drawn and painted by himself.
He invariably closed his programme with his marvel-
ous suspension, the mechanism of which has puzzled
the brains of thousands. While several other illu-
sions similar to this of his have since been produced,
no conjurers introducing them have succeeded in
making such a success with costumes an<l tableaux
as he did. His invention was protected by a patent
in this country, the first one of its kind. Other
patents on similar contrivances have been taken out
since, necessarily making use of the principle used
in his. Two of these were by Mr. Will B. Wood;
their numbers are 415,084 and 415,085; and, as all
dra,vings of patents are common property of the
people at large, any person who feels sufficient
interest in the mechanism to know how it is done,
can, by sending twenty-five cents to the Commis-
sioner of Patents, with the above numbers, learn the
secret.
PROMINENT CONJUR1£RS ABROAD. 51
Mr. Adolph Seeman, the son of Prof. Seeman, is

following in the footsteps of his father, and is in a
fair way to achieve great success. With his wife,
who so ably assisted his father, he is duplicating the
same performances in our leading cities.
CHAPTER IV.
PROMINENT AND SKILLI<'UL AMATEURS.
Amateurs of the Pacific Coast-" Mine Host" Taylor-The

Apparatus Amateurs buy-Chicago Amateurs-Salo Ansbach,
His Career.
Our attention is first called to amateur conjurers
of the Pacific Coast. The leading one of that part
of our country is, so far as known, Louis Beyersdorf,
who traveled professionally for a number of years,
but who is now the proprietor of a saloon in San
Francisco. He is very expert in sleight-of-hand-
work of all kinds and exceedingly clever with cards,
at which he probably has no equal on the Coast.
Another amateur of San Francisco is Christian
Meinecke, who is noted as being very expert in
"palming." He is also credited with having turned
out some very good pupils.
A couple of gentlemen of the same city, that were
associated together professionally, are John B.
Knudson and Charles Haslett. The former is occa-
sionally occupied in giving private entertainments
and is skillful in sleight-of-hand work. Mr. Haslett
also still appears, but only at private parties. Both
were variety performers when in the business pro-
fessionally, although they have a better idea and
52
PROMINENT A.ND SKILLFUL AMATEURS. 53
knowledge of the Magic Art than many performers

of greater reputation. They excelled in their
"second-sight," which was a signal improvement on
the system used by Heller. Theirs was invented by
Haslett, although elaborated and completed by both.
The questions were natural and short, and it would
be exooedingly difficult to produce any article that
they could not describe.
A conjurer of the same city, who gives a very
neat performance, is Mr. 0. Erickson. He has a good
knowledge of the art, but excels more with appara-
tus than he does with sleight-of-hand.
A gentleman coming from a conjuring family on
the other side of the Atlantic is Mongreni de L' As-
sommoir. He teaches conjuring and occasionally
goes out on the road professionally, doing his work
quite satisfactorily.
The Pacific Coast professionals and amateurs have
always preferred buying their apparatus of Eastern
or foreign make, second or third hand, consequently
cheap, or else have had it made up at home as cheaply
as possible. It is a fact known to all manufactur-
ers of conjuring apparatus that amateurs, with a few
exceptiop.s, insist on having cheap apparatus; and
this was what caused an excellent manufacturer and
teacher, Robert Hellis, of London, a gentleman
noted for his skill and good judgment, to remark
about some poor apparatus once-" That it was bad
enough, even for an amateur."
One magician who will have only good work, is
Thomas H. Kerr, of San Francisco. He is the only
one of the far western amateurs who has bought
extensively of Eastern and foreign manufacturers,

al ways paying even more than catalogue prices,
because he desired to have especially fine workman-
ship in apparatus. He has collected the most exten-
sive outfit on the Coast. He has also invented many
mechanical effects in conjuring apparatus. His
specialties are cards and coins. There are very few
interested in the art who have as extensive a knowl·
edge of it as he. His qualities as an entertaining con-
jurer are highly appreciated.
While there are amateurs scattered all over the
Western States and Territories, we naturally find the
majority of them in our most populous cities. One
quite well known through the Central and Western
States as a very clever performer, is N. l{. Aristos,
of Kansas City, Mo. There are very few gentlemen,
either in or out of the profession, that have a more
extensive knowledge of necromancy than he, and,
although his name is very rarely seen in theatrical
journals, he is one of the few clever performers in
the semi-professional line who find it quite profit-
able.
A skillful amateur is the genial Frank Taylor,
until recently "Mine Host" of the Bowler House,
at Marshalltown, Iowa. There is not a professional
traYeling who can excel Taylor in cards, coin$, and
tricks with small articles; and whenever Frank is
prevailed upon to give one of his excellent enter-
tainments, he is certain of a full house and an appre-
ciative audience.
Chicago is well supplied with amateur conjurers
of ;i,,11 classes; they number wealthy Board of Trade
PROMINENT AND SKILLFUL AMATEURS. 55
men, clerks, book-keepers, even Senators and mem-

bers of the Supreme Bench among their rank. W. A.
Havemeyer has probably invested more money in
the art than any amateur of the city. He was quite
prominent in the magic circles of New York and
Brooklyn a number of years ago. We have here so
many amateurs from such varied conditions that a
volume might be written about them.
In the Eastern cities there are still larger numbers
of amateurs than in Chicago, many of whom were
quite prominent a number of years ago, but, for
various reasons, these have, generally, lost their
interest in the Art. As they grew older they made
way for younger ones to follow in their footsteps.
In getting up programmes, there are very few
amateurs who have shown much originality. One
in Chicago copied into his programme the name of
every trick he could find in books of magic or cata-
logues of manufacturers of conjuring apparatus.
The result was such a long list of names and such
a conglomeration of them that one would not know
what to expect. Others have copied programmes
of leading professionals so closely that there is left
no originality in their own.
An amateur magician known throughout the cou n-
try is Salo Ansbach. He is properly spoken of as a
semi-professional, as he makes a busineflS of travel-
ing and teaching tricks. He puts up at the most
fashionable hotel, and is al ways "in the swim."
He scatters his business cards broadcast, taking
care that they reach the hands of the better class.
B.e shows feats to a business man in his office anq
does not hesitate to exhibit one on the street to a

prospective pupil. He gathers his classes around
him in his rooms at the hotel and charges each
pupil from five to ten dollars for a half-dozen tricks.
He is a very painstaking teacher. One of the favor-
ite little performances of his, is showing a person
how to pull a handkerchief through the flame of a
gas jet without the handkerchief taking fire.
A number of years ago, Salo taught a class at the
Gibson H<rnse in Cincinnati, in which there were a
number of prominent gentlemen, and one of them
felt sure he could do the handkerchief trick without
practicing it. On returning home that evening he
showed his wife some of these interesting feats he
had just learned from Ansbach, but reserved the
masterpiece until they were about to retire. In lieu
of a handkerchief he thought he would take some-
thing larger to make the effect more startling, and,
seizing hold of a pillow case, began to pull it quite
successfully through the gas without its taking fire.
The first trial was not enough, although his wife
was greatly surprised at this.' The second attempt
resulted in igniting the pillow case, and in trying to
get it out of his hands he succeeded in setting fire
to the bed. Considerable excitement was created
which cost him more than it did to learn the trick.
In this case, the prophecy of Ansbach was fulfilled,
as he al ways states that when the trick is properly
proc'luced it will not fail to create a sensation.
While Mr. Ansbach- has not a very extensive
knowledge of the magic art, the tricks he tea9hes
are very clever ones, and he is exceedingly success-
ful with them! much more so than his pupils, who
all learn identically the same ones. From this arose
a most peculiar contretemps, which is described by
a gentleman present, in a San Francisco paper. The
identity of Ansbach is concealed under the name of _
Zimmerman.
"One pleasant afternoon, not long ago, Hon.
Stephen Gage was sitting in his office on the corner
of Fourth and Townsend streets, when he suddenly
became aware of the presence of a rather good-look-
ing young man who had entered the door unan-
nounced.
" ' Your name is - - er--,' a,nd Mr. Gage
looked very inquiringly. As the young man <lid not
say anything, he ran his finger up and down over a
row of cards on which were written the names of
people in the ante-room who wanted to see him.
"'Is your card here, sir~' said Mr. GagP..
"'You will find it in the bottom of that drawer,'
was the reply.
"Mr. Gage frowned, for he wa·s annoyed at the
intrusion, and especially so that a man should coolly
tell him that his card was in a drawer that was
al ways locked.
" 'I have no time to trifle, sir. If you have any
business, state it, and be as brief as possible.'
"'If you will unlock the drawer you will find my
card and my business on it.'
"Mr. Gage impatiently unlocked the drawer and
his face changed somewhat in expression as he saw
lying there a card which read as follows:
58 MODERN :MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS .
. . .. .. . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .
L. ZIMMERMAN.
Teacher of L egerdemain.
. ... . . . . . . .. ..... . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. ......
"He looked up at the young man and smiled
slightly.
"' vVell, I guess you've got me this time. IlolV
the deuce did that card get there?'
" 'I can't tell you that, but if you wish to learn a
few new and valuable tricks, I can teach them for a
small amount.'
"'I have no time now to learn tricks. This is my
busy day, and I hope you will let me transact my
regular business and allow me to bid you good--
Say, how the mischief did you do that?'
'' Mr. Gage's query was natural enough, for Mr.
Zimmerman, who was about to go, wiped his brow
with a large silk handkerchief and then dropped the
handkerchief into his hat.
"As he did so he turned the inside of his hat
toward Mr. Gage, but the hat was empty.
"Mr. Gage gazetl at Mr. Zimmerman with absolute
astonishment.
" 'Do you mind doing that again?'
"' I will teach you the trick for two dollars, Mr.
Gage.'
"'Do you absolutely guarantee that I can do it?'
"'I <lo.'
"'All right, here's the money.'
''Mr. Zimmerman proceeded to initiate Mr. Gage
into the mysteries of the trick, and then Mr. Gage

began to practice-it.
"'Pshaw!' said Gage,' that's too simple for any-
thing.'
" 'That's the beauty of all my tricks-they're
simple. Here is another. Take that cane in both
hands.'
"Mr. Gage firmly grasped the cane, and as he did
so the conjurer tapped it a few times with a brass
ring, and, presto, the ring was whirling round the
cane, having encircled i~ in a most inexplicable
way.
"'How much~ ' said Mr. G:age.
"'Five dollars, sir.'
"In about five minutes Mr. Gage knew all about
that trick also, and then the magician proceeded to
show him how to pull a whole clothes-line full of
underwear from a stove-pipe hat; how to make
newly-laid eggs go through tables without breaking
either egg or table; how to make a dollar dance all
over the floor as if it were alive; how to change
tanks of ink into pure Spring Valley water full of
live gold-fish, and scores of other astonishing feats
which any one can do if be is only properly taught.
" It took just four hours for Mr. Zimmerman to
teach Mr. Gage all the tricks he knew, and the bill
was just eighty dollars.
"Meanwhile, the ante-room where people cool their
heels while waiting to see the magnates of the road
was almost like the Black Hole of Calcutta. It was
packed with men and women who wanted to see
~fr. Ga~e. The small boys who carry the cards
60 MODERN l\IAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
could not get in, and the room got hotter and
hotter every moment. It happened to be one of
those days when the Nevada contingent was there
in full force.
"Black, Wallace,' Cleve,' George Cassidy, Judge,
Boardman, H. M. Yerrington, Bob Keating, Joe
Douglas and Governor Stevenson were in the ante-
room holding an indignation meeting.
"Messages of all description were sent in by the
boy, but Mr. Gage merely said, 'Lay them on the
table,' and the boy would go back and say, 'Mr.
Gage is busy.' Then the Nevada crowd would blas-
pheme awhile and wonder who the devil was taking
up so much time.
"Then they grew troubled, for they thought theJ
scented some political job that they were not in, and
that did not make them feel an.Y better. The crowd
in the room was finally so great that not another
person could be wedged in, and the air was stifling.
"The people went away in droves, and the air
along down the street was murky with profanity.
"It was 5 o'clock when the Professor of Magic
had finished his labors, and Mr. Gage, realizing for
the first time that it was 5 o'clock, decided to go
home, leaving by a side door.
"That evening at his Oakland residence he showed
some of the new tricks to the children, and he had
the audience of amazed youngsters spell-bound. It
was midnight before any one realized how late it
really was. Each day he practiced the tricks until
he became as proficient as the Professor himself.
"Then he concluded to give a performance on
Saturday evening, and sent invitations to Creed

Haymond, J. 0. Stubbs, J. A. Fillmore, W. H. Hills,
Ariel Lathrop, T. H. Goodman and R. H. Pratt to
come over and have a quiet evening at whist.
"He had everything ready for a bewildering
entertainment. The paraphernalia was all arranged,
the lights were. regulated so as to assist the per-
former, and everything was in apple-pie order by 8
o'clock.
"The guests were all there at the appointed hour,
and after a very little time spent at whist it was
voted a bore, and suddenly Mr. Gage was aware of
the fact that Land Agent Mills was doing a very
extraordinary card trick, one that be had paid
Zimmerman $2 to learn.
"When it was finished there was no applause, and
Mr. Goodman was up in a flash with a better one.
"No one seemed much astonished, and then Pratt
and Fillmore, in different parts of the room, began
doing tricks with a hat and handkerchief, and each
did exactly the same trick at the same time.
H Then Creed Haymond did the ring-and cane
trick.
"'Oh, that's nothing; anybody can do that,' came
i1~ a general chorus from all sides.
" Stubbs was on his feet to show how to make a
half-dollar go through the table.
"It was very cleverly done, but it astonished no
one.
" Fillmore made a coin dance all over the carpet
like a drunken mud-turtle trying to waltz, but the
62 MODERN ~IAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
usual looks of wonder and amazement were wanting

to complete the scene.
" Each man had a new and better trick than all
the rest, and each performer, when he saw a trick
done, merely turned up his nose an<l said It was
nothing. He could beat it.
"Each guest was wrangling to get his turn; they
were pulling omelets and white rabbits out of all
sorts of impossible places, and the little rabbits were
skipping all over the floor.
"It began to dawn upon J\fr. Gage tliat the w bole
crowd had been taken in by Zimmerman, although
he recollected that Zimmerman had given him a
most solemn assurance that he taught him these
tricks with the understanding that he had the exclu-
siYe monopoly as far as the Southern Pacific Rail-
road was concerned and that not another soul in the
building was to know a single trick. At 12:30 the
crowd had exhausted the Zimmerman repertoire and
Mr. Gage had not been given an opportunity to
show his skill in a single trick. The crowd paused.
They were exhausted and then began to look at
one another in a curious way.
"Then a young daughter of Mr. Gage said :
' Papa has been practicing these same tricks all
day.'
"There was an explosion of laughter that shook
the house, and it lasted about ten minute~ .
"l\fr. Gage was al ways known as a liberal enter-
tainer, and he led the way to the supper table.
"'Gentlemen, you have entertained me very nice1y
PROMINENT AND SKILLFOL AMATEURS. 63
this evening, and your tricks are very clever. Sit

down, everybody.'
"Then they sent the children to bed and the
neighbors say that the sounds of good-natured
revelry could be heard until nearly daylight in the
Gage mansion."
Mr. Ansbach is originally from Chicago; and, as
far as known, is the first person who has made a
pronounced success as a traveling teacher of magic.
He occasionally gh'es entertainments at hotels and
fashionable resorts, and at such times is assisted by
his accomplished wife.
CHAPTER V.
THE HERRMANNS AND HARRY KELLAR.
The Original Carl Herrmann-Alexander Herrmann, His Con-

federates, How They Sometimes Fail-Harry Kellar, His
Travels--Alexander Herrmann's Cremation-Martino's Sphinx
-Kellar's Growth of Flowers.
A number of conjurers have appeared in different
parts of the worl<l under the name of Herrmann.
The original one, who made the greatest success,
was Carl Herrmann. He made his first appearance
before an English-speaking audience at the Adelphi
Theatre in London. He sty led himself then" premier
prestidigitateur," of France, and "first professor of
Magic in the world." This was in 1848. At that
time he gave a series of performances, assisted by
his wife. One of his feats was the famous second-
sight deception, which was then helping to make
the fame of Houdin on the continent. This "Prince
of Conjurers," as he called himself, died at Carlsbad,
in June, 1887, after a short illness, at the age of
seventy-two. He possessed most extraordinary skill
in his line, his father having also been a conjurer by
profession. ·
While still a boy he accompanied his father to
Paris, where the dexterity of the young conjurer
64
THE HERRMANNS AND HARRY KELLAR. 65
attracted much attention. He seems, howe\·er, to

have become tired of supporting himself by his wits,
an<l, entering the Paris Univer.sity, he studied medi·
cine, Ii \'ing in great poverty in the Quartier Latin.
After some ten years of this he gave it up and
definitely resumed his old profession, which in the
end brought him honors and a large fortune. His
tours extended over the entire civilized world, and
thera was probably not a single Royal Court in
Europe before which he did not perform. He was
the only conjurer who had given lessons to Royalty
themselves, the Queen of Belgium having been one
of !tis pupils.
The unfortunate Sultan Abdul Aziz was amongst
Herrmann's warmest admirers, and used to pay him
a thousan<l pounds ('rurkish) for every representa-
tion. During one of these performances he exhibited
two pigeons, one white and one black, and did the
trick so popular at the beginning of this century, of
placing the white head on the blac.k pigeon and vice
versa. This pleased the Sultan greatly and he asked
Herrmann to try the same trick with a black and white
slave, but the conjurer declared that that was beyond
his powers. On another occasion he took a rare and
valuable watch from the Sultan and pretended to
throw it into the sea; his Majesty, of course, finding
it again in his own pocket.
The Czar Nicholas also bestowed valuable favors
on Herrmann, who, it is said, cleared a million rou-
bles on one Russian tour. He was very charitable
(something uncommon in a conjurer), and only a few
days before his death sent 1,500 francs for the relief
of the victims of the Opera-Oomique <lisaster. In

Vienna, where he resided, he was very popular, and
when he celebrated his seventieth birthday a distin-
guished company assembled at his residence to con-
gratulate him. He left a large fortune and a collec-
tion of rare antiquities, which he spared no trouble
or cost in amassing. He left a widow, a French
lady. She was his second wife; his first, from whom
he was divorced, being the prima donna, Madame
Ozillag, who is still living and is a teacher of singing.
His tours in America took place in the sixties.
The gentleman traveling in this country by the
same surname is known as Alexander Herrmann, who,
it is generally understood, claims to be a brother (If
the original Carl Herrmann. This seems rather odd,
as Carl Herrmann was more than old enough to be
Alexander Herrmann's father, and diligent corre-
spondence and inquiry fail to establish the fact of
brotbership. A number of persons have claimed
that the original name of Alexander Herrmann is
Simon, while others have said he was Jack Marr, of
Buffalo, but these were no doubt parties who had
usurped the name of Herrmann. Harry Kellar,
who has had a long experience among conjurers,
gives his name as Niemann, as will be hereafter
seen.
Alexander Herrmann is a skillful performer, par-
ticularly so in sleight-of-hand tricks; however, much
of his success is due to his name. He is noted as
using more confederates among his audiences than
any other professional travel~ng, something that is
discountenanced by all real admirers of the art. He
THE HERRl\IANNS AND HARRY KELLAR. (li
often makes use of five or six in the course of one

evening's performance. By employing so many con-
federates, he has sometimes had the tables turned
on himself, and been obliged to g~t out of his trick
the best way he could, to the disappointment of his
audience. He was once performing in one of our
Southern towns, when he was to show the basket
trick, the important part of which is, that the assist-
ant goes from the stage and appears in front among
the audience as quickly as possible. On this occasion
the shortest cut from tlie stage to the front was
down through a shoe store. The owner of the
store was also the owner of the theatre, and he
agreed to have his man open the doors at the proper
time each evening for the assistant to make his
hasty trip. All worked well for the first two nights,
the assistant using the trap in the stage, goingdown
through the shoe store and out, then up the main ·
entrance to the front of the house, scarcely a minute
elapsing. The third night all went smoothly until
the assistant went through the store. A policeman
who was not "in it," saw a man skip out of the door
in a rush, without any hat, and he immediately
seized him and marched him to the station house to
explain matttirs. The reader can imagine the fix
Herrmann was in.
The Professor was once disappointed in a con-
federate in the following manner: A marked dollar
bill was given to a "culled pusson," and also a ticket
for a seat in one of the back rows, and he was told
not to be too quick in producing it. Then Herrmann
began the trick requiring the marked dollar bill,
GS MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
borrowing one, having it marked, loaded in a pistol

and fired in the air. He then stepped to the foot-
lights, and asked if there was not some one in the
audience who had felt a sensation in their pocket.
Still no reply. He finally spied the "gentleman of
color," and invited him up on the stage; after a good
deal of trouble and coaxing, ·he came up and was
asked if he felt any queer sensation; he answered,
"No." The professor whispered in his ear to pull
out the dollar note-" now is the time," while he
acted in a very serious manner. The dusky con-
federate was confused, and at last pulled some loose
change from his pocket with the words: "Heah it
am, Massa, all dats left ob dat dollar bill you gib me;
I done gone spend some for a drink."
It is a peculiar fact that amateurs have thought
more of Herrmann's performance than of most any
other professional, especially so in the large cities.
It has often been a struggle to see who could be his
first confederate. E\•en prominent and wealthy
amateurs have made themselves and the art common,
we mrght say, by going to his performan9es with
their pockets loaded with packs of cards, for the
sake of having him pull them out in the presence of
the audience, thus obtaining a little cheap notoriety.
During an engagement not long ago at Hooley's
Theatre, Chicago, he commenced the week's enter-
tainments with a mishap, 'vhich seemed to unnerve
him. The result was, nearly every other-trick went
wrong throughout the entire evening, and the audi-
ence could see that he was ill at ease- during the
THE HF:Rl:L'IIANNS AND HARRY KELLAR. 69
performance. A local writer thus speaks of the

misfortunes then attending him:
" Herrmann, the magician, had a pretty rocky
night of it at his show Monday. Either he or his
assistant was continually dropping something that
marred the smoothness of the performance. The
machinery for the "cocoon" trick didn't work well
and there were a good many other things to annoy
him. One of the contretemps was funny and was
appreciated by those on the inside. One of the
things he does is known in the profession as the
'omelet trick '-you know it, borrowed rings in
skillet, eg€!# broken and put in with them, a little
grease from a lighted candle to give it flavor, some
spirits poured over the whole mess, lighted, the
cover clapped on, a pistol fired, presto t off comes
the cover, and in the place of the omelet stuff are
found doves, around the neck of each a ribbon, and
on the end of the ribbon a borrowed ring. As he
usually performR the trick, four ri~gs are borrowed
and four eggs are used. These eggs are produced
as follows: 'Mr. Gumbo,' his colored assistant, has
a small egg in his mouth. Herrmann has three
others concealed about his clothes. He 'palms' an
egg- that is, conceals it in his hand-pats Mr.
Gumbo on the back of the head with the open
hand, and Gumbo makes the egg in his mouth
appear. Herrmann, covering Mr. Gumbo's mouth
with the hand holding the concealed egg, pushes
back the one showing between his assistant's
lips and produces the one he has in his hand,
the effect on the audience being precisely as
70 l\IODERN l\IAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
if he took the egg from the assistant's mouth.

This process is repeated three times with the
eggs Herrmann has concealed in his hand ; and
the fourth time he really takes the egg from Gum-
bo's mouth, making the four required in the trick.
Monday night everything went on swimmingly until
it came to the unlucky fourth egg. Herrmann
patted Gumbo on the back of the head and looked
for the egg to appear between his lips. But it didn't
come. Instead of it there spread over Mr. Gumbo's
face a most comical mixture of astonishment and
disgust, and turning short about he rushed off the
stage. The egg had 'squashed in bis mouth.' That
left Herrmann short one egg for the trick, and so in
asking for the loan of some rings he requested that
there be three instead of four as usual. Gumbo col-
lects the rings on a little stick. Slipped over .t he end
of the stick and concealed by his right hand, in
which he holds the stick, are three substitute rings.
As soon as three rings are .borrowed, Gumbo trans-
fers the stick to his left hand, letting the borrowed
rings run into that hand and the substitute rings take
their places on the stick, while the audience is
unaware that any substitution has been effected, and
thinks that the borrowed rings go into the omelet.
Of course they don't; Gumbo takes them off with
him, ties one to each of the ribbons, puts a ribbon
around each bird's neck, puts the birds inside the
cover to the skillet, which has a, false bottom for the
purpose, and places the whole business on the stand
near Herrmann, where he can get at it at the proper
moment. That is what is done when ev&ything
THE HERRllIANNS AND HARRY KELLAR. 71
goes smoothly. Monday night Gumbo, after collect-

ing the rings, let one of the substitutes fall off the
stick, and it got lost among the fiddlers. 'Never
mind,' says Herrmann, 'come along.' Then he gave
Mr. Gumbo a look enough to burn him up, put the
two remaining substitutes into the skillet, pretended
to pick the third out of the air, and then proceeded
with the trick. At the critical moment, after clap-
ping on the cover to the skillet, he knocked the pistol
off the table and had to go sweeping around the floor
with his hand until he found it. The rest of the
trick went all right, but he came nearer losing his
nerve that time than I ever saw him before. There
was a succession of mishaps enough to upset the best
man in the world."
The "Major" of the "Tum-Over" Club, of Chi-
cage, tells the following about Herrmann using
confederates. The story is told of his former busi-
ness manager, Frank Curtis, and a similar thing
happened to George Ryerson, son of the dramatist
of Den Thompson's "Old Homestead," when he
was in the business:
Frank was supposed to plant the necessary con-
federates in seats that Herrmann knew of. He
purchases two plug hats exactly alike, one of which
goes to the confederate, and the other to the magi-
cian. Herrmann walked down and politely asked
the loan of a hat from the man sitting in the usual
seat. Now it happened tbat Frank had been busy
and had neglected to arrange for the hat trick.
The magician took the borrowed hat, kicked it, tore
it in pieces and rammed it in a gun and shot it
72 MODERN MAGICIANS A.ND THEIR WORKS.
towards the dome. The people looked up and there

hung a '' spick and span" new hat. It soon fell
down and was brushed with a silk handkerchief and
handed back to the man from whom it was bor-
rowed. Then only was it discovered that a mistake
had been made, and the man who loaned an eight-
dollar Dunlap recei\Ted in return a two-dollar dicer,
which just sat on the top of his head. It is unnec-
essary to state that Frank has never since then
neglected his part, as he had to replace the hat
which was destroyed.
One of the marked peculiarities of both Herrmann
and Kellar (which is noticed more in them, owing
to their prominence), is, that they invariably intro-
duce their tricks and illusions as being of their own
invention, which is not the case, as neither of them
have ever in vented any trick or illusion of particular
importance. Herrmann introduces such as make
him rely more on his ass!stants than does Kellar.
vVe remember that when the latter commenced
using the "suspension in the air," without support,
similiar to the one patented by Will B. Wood, he
advertised it in the New York papers very exten-
sively as a most wonderful illusion and his own
invention, which called forth a card from the makers
of it, that they were the originators. The facts are,
\Tery few professionals now traveling have invented
their own illusions or effects: depending on persons
who make that a specialty.
Harry Keller (for that was his real name) was
born in Erie, Pennsylvania, July 11, 1849. He
changed th~ spelling of his name to "Kellar," i:o.
THE HERRMANN.'l AND HARRY KELLAR. 73
order the people might not think that he was imitat-
ing the name of Heller. He has probably traveled
as much about the world as any performer now
before the public in our country. The major part
of these years of foreign travel has been spent in
heathen countries, where his "grey-haired and
bearded tricks," as a Western paper puts it, are
more appreciated than here. He has written a
sketch of his tours round about the world, or rather
had it written by one who signed himself" Satan;"
but, by reading the book, any one can see that that
dignitary had nothing to do with it, as he is a being
supposed to have considerable ability.
A little over a year ago a great rivalry sprang up
between Herrmann and Kellar, which resulted for a
time in each one exposing some of the other's tricks
<luring their performances throughout the country.
Prof. Kellar's side of the matter is better expressed
in the words of a reporter who interviewed him
for one of the Philadelphia papers:
"For some time Herrmann, the other magician,
has been professing to give an expose of Kellar's ·
performance. Yesterday Mr. Kellar was asked for
his side of the controversy. .Assuming an easy atti-
tude and calmly puffing away at a cigar, Mr. Kellar
watched the wreaths of smoke which curled toward
the ceiling of his room for a moment or so, and then
slowly said :
"'Well, Alexander Niemann's, or Herrmann, as be
calls himself, expose of my work affects my business
just about as much as that smoke. I don't consider
myself in the same class with Mr. Niemann~ His
74: MODERN lliAGICIAXS AND THEIR WORKi!.
explanations of my tricks are so far from correct

that while they may have given him a little cheap
notoriety they have done me no harm, and I pro-
pose going right ahead with the same ''tricks,'' as
he calls them. Mr. Niemann has a great many
things to learn yet. All he knows now he has picked
up from the original and bona fide Herrmann, whom
he once assisted and who is now <lead. Of course
his expose of a few of my simple feats were correct.
" 'Mr. Niemann's actions do not affect me in the
least. I could afford to pass them by unnoticed, but
what disgusts me is his despicable way of trying to
influence theatrical managers against me. For a
long time he has endeavored to get the managers to
cancel their contracts with me by threatening to
refuse to show in their liouses should I show there
11 rst.
" 'I don't think he will ever try to down me on an
open fight again, though,' chuckled Mr. Kellar, as,
afte1' a violent struggle with the lid of his portable
saJe, he succeedell in kicking it open and fishing out
a lot of documents. 'I don't think Mike Leavitt
wants any more of it either. Let me giYe you a
Jittle unwritten history of one of the biggest fights
I know of. Last year I was under contract with
Lea\'itt to make a tour through the far West, Caii-
forn ia and Mexico. The trip was to begin Septem-
ber 1. Herrmann, as soon as he heard of the pro-
posed trip, found Leavitt and talked to him. Lea\'-
i tt wrote to me explaining that he could do better
by postponing my trip until October, and although
I was not satisfied I consented. I afterward learned
that Leavitt had contracted to take Herrmann, or,
more properly, Niemann, over my route on my old
dates. This would have been ruinous to me, with
my large company, as Niemann would have got tbe
pick of the patronage, so I paid Leavitt a forfeit and
canceled the contract.
" 'I was pretty hot, and made up my mind to make
a fight of it. I made arrangements with the Orrin
Brothers to play in tbe City of Mexico, and engaged
the Nacionale, the larg8st theatre in the place, for
the only available dates, from September first to
eleventh. By this means I would beat Herrmann
there should he fill his California dates. I had con-
tracted with Manager Heuck to play two weeks
from August fifth, in Cincinnati, but as soon as
Herrmann learned from his Mexican agent that I
bad taken the N acionale for September first he made
arrangements to open in Mexico a week ahead of
me, and engaged the theatre Principale, a small
house. This, of course, compelled him to cancel
some of his California dates. (That is not a pun.
The fruits were bitter for Herrmann.) As soon as I
heard of it I went to Manager Heuck and offered
him the gross receipts of the first week, I to take
the second week's receipts. He agreed, and I imme-
diately gave up the second week, and telegraphed
my man to get the "N acionale" at once, rPgardless
of cost, on August seventeenth.
" 'I jumped to Mexico. The Spanish Opera Com-
pany had the "NaCionale," but I made arrange-
ments to show in conjunction with them, and in
that way got in a big week ahead of Herrmann, who,
instead of coming right on to Mexico, then toured

the country for a month. ·when he reached Mexico
I was in San Luis Potosi and had intended leaving
the country, but Mr. Orrin telegraphed me that
Herrmann had boasted in the lobby of the theatre
that he had driven me out of Mexico. This raised
my Pennsylvania Dutch and I determined to make
it warm for Mr. Herrmann. I jumped back to
Mexico, took the ' 'Arbeau" Theatre, and played
against him his second and last week.
" 'He had only two towns left to do in Mexico,
Puebla and Vera Cruz. I engaged the only two
theatres in Puebla and the best one in Vera Cruz.
This forced him to stay a longer time in Mexico or
play that week in Puebla. He did the latter, play-
ing two nights of his City of Mexico engagement at
Puebla. It cost him about $300 a round trip to
take his company to Puebla. He took in $315 and
$385 on the two nights, and had to pay 60 per cent.
of that to the dramatic company in conjunction with
which his show was given.'"
Kellar has made con~iderable capital out of bis
exposure of Charles H. Bridge, of Boston, Mass. A
correspondent well acquainted with both of these
gentlemen, and who lives in Boston, wrote that he
could not quite understand the Kellar-Bridge
"racket," but believed Kellar became angry with
something Bridge had performed. Bridge himself
bas stated that. Kellar was afraid he, Bridge, might
do something he could not duplicate, and therefore
at the commencement of the old trick of the "bench
THE HERRMANNS .A.ND HARRY KELLAR. 77
test," he "gave it away." An article on Kellar's
tricks in the Chicago Herald, is in some of its
details quite ingenious:
"The future of the modern prestidigitateur will
be a very uncertain quantity if the policy of reveal-
ing their methods, which is made a feature of this
season's work by the two leading professors of that
art, continues. Kellar, who has just closed an en-
gagement at the Columbia, "gives away" some of
his best tricks, and Herrmann, who is expected here
shortly, is also posing as a revelator. Business must
either have been so good as that both are getting
ready to retire or it is so poor as to need the e:l{tra
inducement of the revelations to draw paying audi-
ences. In either event the system would seem to an
outsider to .be suicidal. The end is inevitable. Peo-
ple will not continue to pay their money to see tricks
performed that are no longer mysteries. Either
original effort of an order somewhat higher than bas
been put forth will have to be employed in the con-
trivance of new illusions, or the business of necro-
mancy will soon be a thing of the past.
"Two classes of tricks are performed by the mod-
ern magician. The one depends largely. if not
entirely, upon mechanical aids. In the other reli-
ance on sleight-of-hand is the main-stay of the per-
former . . Some are combinations of the two, and
perhaps this class predominates to-day. Grace and
ease of manner are essential to a successful sleight-of-
hand performer, while eternal vigilance and exten-
sive financial resources are necessary in order to
enable a mechanical operator to keep abreast of the
78 MODlJ.~N 11'1AClJCIANS AND THEIR WOUKS.
times, and to both the greatest secrecy is of the first

importance. It is almost impossible to protect these,
by patent or otherwise, from infringement by
brother professionals; and, indeed, any shrewd
observer, with a good opera-glass, can detect the
modus operandi of the tricks involving expensive
machinery. But this is apart from the public dem-
onstration of the methods that seem to have been
adopted as a policy for this season by Kellar and
Herrmann. Between the two there is precious litLle
left for the imagination or detective ability of the
audience to work on.
" .The performance at the Columbia lacked the
comedy character infused into the 'business' by
Kellar's great competitor, Herrmann. If shorn of its
extraneous aid from the musical and second-sight
members of the company it would probably fall fiat.
Kellar starts in with the trick which made our great-
grandfathers open their eyes in wonder, consisting
in the juggling of empty cups with false tops, which
are made to represent the surface of coffee and milk
and filled ones hidden away in a box of shavings.
His next is the equally time-worn trick of the rings,
pistol and many boxes. This, as every school-boy
knows, is done by substituting for the rings borrowed
from the audience an equal number of brass cir-
clets held on the same wand as tht-l loaned jewelry is
placed, but concealed by the left hand until an
opportunity occurs for an exchange, the brass rings
being loaded into the pistol, or more likely slipped
into the coat-sleeve pocket. The gold rings are
dropped on a table in the 'flies,' where the assistant
THE HERRMANNS AND HARRY KELLAR. 79 .
can get and inclose them in a box which is hidden

in a recessed space in the table which is brought in
to place the outer boxes on. These boxes are
'nested,' but one has a false bottom, through which
the ring containing casket is pressed from its hiding
place in the table top. The pistol is duly fired and
then the boxes are opened with a great show of
freedom from unnecessary contact with the perform-
er's person. The last one has the rings inside, each
neatly attached to a bouquet.
"The trick of the bottle with its many liquors on
tap is explained in every book on parlor magic
extant, the fluid being contained in a funnel inserted
in the lower portion of the bottle, from which the
bottom has been removed. Between the false bot-
tom and the wide end of the funnel is the space for
the guinea pig.
"Lightning calculation, which bas become so
common an achievement now as to he used by street-
corner fakirs, is one of Kellar's strong ' cards.' He
does some very creditable work in this line.
"The automatons, 'Psycho' and 'Echo,' are very
simple pieces of mechanism. The first consists of a
figure seated on a stand, supported by a glass
cylinder resting on a fiat wooden base ~with three
knobs, which alone touch the floor. In front of the
table at which 'Psycho' sits is a row of figures, with
cards behind. In answering problems the figure's
head and hand are raised by the initial movement,
and a lateral motion causes the hand to swing
into position over the numbered card required. Then
the hand and head drop, the fingers closing over the
card in the act of falling, and a repetition of the

first movement raises the card, which afterward
drops from the hand on the latter reaching a given
altitude. The motive power is air pumped through
a hole in one of the knobs, which is hollow and
placed in opposition to a corresponding hole in the
floor. The assistant below the stage has a book of
logarithms and a two-thousand-year almanac at
hand, and ·as he hears the operator on the stage
repeat problems gi\'en by the audience, he works his
air-pump according to the solution found in his lim-
ited library. Kellar's lightning calculation comes in
when he proves the problems on a blackboard. The
'second-sight' trick was performed in the same way
as when a blindfolded 'clairvoyant' is on the stage
- by a code in which the answer requfred is con-
tained in the question.
" 'Echo's' mechanism is simpler even than that of
his brother, 'Psycho.' 'Echo' is a little figure
seated on a chair with its feet raised from the floor
and a brass cornet to its lips. Mrs. Kellar is a pro-
fessional cornetist, and it is her dulcet strains made
below the stage that are poured forth from the
·mouth of the otherwise silent instrument in the
hands of the ' automaton.' A preliminary puff of
air sent. up through the leg of the chair raises the
arm of the figure, and the cornet is brought into
contact with the lips of 'Echo,' and then the music
is transmitted by means of sounding boards and
tubes.
"The old, familiar cabinet tricks were performed,
with a slight variation, which seemed to presage a
THE HERRM.A.NNS .A.ND HARRY KELLAR. 81
speedy revelation of the simple maneuver by which

they are accompli~hed, in the near future. Kellar
released and ' tied ' himself again in full view of the
audience. He failed to show, however, his relatively
large wrists and small hands, or the twist he gives
to the cord so as to keep an available amount of
'slack.' This trick he learned, as he freely states,
in his long connection with the Davenport Brothers.
"'Astarte' is the new mechanical trick which is
supplanting, under various names, the aerial sus-
pension act. A parting of the draperies in the
rear of the stage, which, with the auditorium,
has been reduced to a dimly-lighted condition,
shows a female figure in tights. Her waist is a
third larger than any other portion of her body,
and this gives a clew to the whole business. Be-
hind the dark plush background is a sort of der-
rick, worked with a crank, and by this the woman
is supported and moved up or down, to the right or
left. A "universal joint" gives her freedom of
motion to turn aerial handsprings, and the steel
band which encircles her waist-harness permits her
to revolve teetotum fashion, or to pirouette. An
ingenious aid to the illusion is an apparently
unbroken hoop, decorated with ribbons, which the
performer flourishes about and passes over her head
and down below her feet, thus seemingly disproving
the otherwise rather obvious origin of her suspen-
sion from behind or the alternative one of wire sup-
port from above. This ri'ng has an opening which
allows the supporting iron to pass through it. The
lateral and vertical openings in the plush curtain
background through which the steel support moves

are apparent to a close observer, even without a
glass."
Alexander Herrman n's "Cremation" is thus
sketched by a Wes tern journal : "Herrmann made
his cremation act the leading feature of his pro-
gramme, but w bile it was vested with weird and
somewhat thrilling details, still the trick is as palpa-
ble as any in his repertory. Without going into all
the minor details it may be said that 'Cremation' is a
combination of the old Indian basket trick and the
Pepper ghost illusion. Instead of a large wicker
basket, with a false cover, which drops down on the
inside and takes the place of the back part, which
falls down backward, a wooden box or casket is
used. But this is the only difference, and it is just
as easy for a person to escape from one as the other,
and then pass through a trap in the stage. After
Mme. Herrmann had assumed a reclining position in
the casket, it was closed for a time long enough for
her to pass out through the back and take her posi-
tion under the stage for the final part of the act.
There was a little by-play to distract the attention of
the audience while the lady was passing from the
casket, and the lights were also lowered to prevent
detection.
"The casket was on trestles and some distance
above the stage, but in the dim, uncertain light the
back part of it could be let down so as to touch the
stage, and the lady thus pass out without the least
fear of detection. In some tricks by a certain
arrangement of mirrors under a table four legs are
shown, but two are by reflection merely. The

mirrors are so placed, also, that they reflect the sur-
roundings in such a way that the audience imagine
they can see under the table and whatever may
be back of it. But in reality they can only see half-
way.
".After the torch has been applied to the supposed
human form in the casket (the same ha \'ing been
re-opened and disclosing a dummy), there soon
appears at the back of the stage an apparition of
the lady clinging to a cross. Then a ghostly per-
formance is enacted between Herrmann, the spirit of
the cremated lady, :Mephistopheles and a skeleton.
The apparitions suddenly appear and disappear, and
look (leaving out the skeleton) like 'real flesh and
blood.'
"The illusion is produced in this manner: .At the
back part of the stage and inclined toward the
audience at an angle of say forty,fi re degrees, are
two large-sized plate glasses, but the audience only
see the back scenery which shows through them.
Herrmann takes his position behind these glasses ;
that is, furthest removed from the audience. There
is an opening in the stage, and through that pass
the reflections of persons acting before bright lights
beneath the stage, and their reflections are re-
ceived on the plate glasses. Herrmann, from his
position, does not see any of the ghost-like forms,
but after careful rehearsals, and being enabled to
observe the movements of the performers under the
stage, be suits his actions exactly to the movements
seen by the audience on the glasses in front of him.
"There are many traveling magicians who have a

good repertory of tricks, including many as equally
pretentious as any performed by professors of welI-
established reputations, but, owing to a lack of
impressive stage appearance, self-confidence, dex-
terity, and the gift of interesting conversational
powers, they fail, in a measure, to achieve pecuniary,
as well as artistic, success."
During a rivalry between Kellar and Herrmann, in
Chicago,.some of the papers contained articles on
tricks of conjurers. Says the Herald:
" The old trick, or rather i!lusion, of the talking
head, generally known as the" Sphinx," in which two
mirrors are placed at right angles in a table to con-
ceal the person behind them, is well known, yet this
was the basis of an entertainment given some years
ago that made considerable merriment. A certain
professor Martino was giving a gift show through
this State, and having hard luck was obliged to leave
part of his outfit in a certain town as security for his
board bill. He reached Bloomington, where he held
forth at "Schroeder's" and had advertised to give
the "talking head" as his spe.cial attraction, in addi-
tion to giving away 200 useful articles. He had an
audience of about 2,000, but his trwks were bad, and
their execution worse. Such bungling was never
seen, yet the gifts smoothed over much of that,
though they did not prevent some hissing at his bad
effects.
The attached sketch shows how he made up a
talking head in a hurry to save his fortune. This
was "caught on to" and greatly hissed at by the boys;
THE HERRllfANNS AND HARRY KELLAR. 85
Though the "Sphinx" pulled in his legs, the boys

still hissed, till the police came in and stopped them.
Martino had a
crowded house
every night he
showed, and a
few days after
µ_;ii along came
Hartz, the most
skillful performer living, but he drew only thirty-
six people in the house. Such was the power of
gifts in those days. Now it is changed and far more
skill is required.
"An illusion that has lately attracted considerable
attention around dime museums has been that of the
'transparent Turk,' who was supposed to have been
shot through the body, leaving a hole which could
be seen through. This is simply an adaption of the
old trick of looking through a brick. The person
wears a large hollow belt under his clothes, with
mirrors at right angles in each of the curves it makes,
and an oval glass at each opening in front and back,
the costume of a Turk being such that it easily con-
ceals the openings and glasses. On this same princi-
ple is the trick of running a sword through a person's
body. The sword is of a very thin elastic steel, and
the performer wears around his body a hollow metal
belt, and if another person runs the sword through
the performer it is usually one wh~ understands how
it is done, and pushes it against his breast, where
the small opening guides it, and at the back the
opening is so arranged that the point of the sword
sticks straight out. The sketch explains it.
86 .MODERN .MAGICIANS AND THEIR \YORKS.
Harry Kellar's
trick that he
makes the most
of is purely an
American inven-
tion, but so old
that, besides him-
self, t b ere are
only two or three
others traveling
who make use of
SWORD THROUGH BODY. it. It was first
taken to Europe from the States by the performer
known some thirty or more years ago as Professor
Stodare, who first showed the "Sphinx." Hartz used
it a number of years ago, and now Kellar is using it
constantly. It is the production of several large
pots filled with flowers from an empty cone. Three
bushes of flowers are usually produced. Conse-
quently three small stands are on the stage, each one
having a suspicious reminder of the past in magic,
as each has fine drapery around it, reaching to
within about a foot or more of the floor. Behind
this drapery, and a little above the lower end of it,
is a shelf on which rests the flower pot and flowers,
covered with a cone. Each table is thus prepared,
.usually the first table having flowers and cone: the
other two generally having the same, including the
pot. The first pot is shown empty, and down through
the cone is dropped a bud, which was held palmed
in the hand. As attention is being called to this, the
performer drops the empty cone just shown down

behind the table over the cone and brings all up
inside the cone, stepping away
from the table quickly over to the
other one. The cone fits closely
into the first one shown, and the
fingers on the inside at the top of
cone hold the inner one fast to-
gether with the flowers, though
these are usually kept in position
by a thread slipped in a cut in the
top of the cone. The flowers, or
flowers and pot together, are
allowed to drop out on top of the
table from the cone, or into the
pot as the case may be; and as
soon as the cone is removed the KELLAR'S GROWTH
hand naturally and carelessly drops OF FLOWERS.
down behind with it over another FRONT VIEW.
one on the shelf, and again the performer quickly

walks ovet· to another table and produces it. Thus
he proceeds till all are produced.
"To facilitate the picking up of the cones one
after the other, and that no extra motions are neces-
sary, the back of the top of each stand is cut out in
crescent shape. This can not be observed by the
audience. It follows, thus, that at the end of the
trick thP. performer has four cones in bis band, one
inside of the other. The flowers used are usually
the best quality of artificial ones, though Kellar
keeps the trick very popular, and makes it very
expensive, by always using real flowers, eYen in the

midst of winter. This gives him a chance to kill a
great deal of time, in cutting each one off of the
fine wire on which it is fastened, in order that he
may present them to the ladies. The .t wo cuts show
both front and rear views of the
stands. The cone used is usually
about four inches across the smaller
end, eight inches across the wider
end, and about sixteen inches long.
The proportion of stands, flowers
·and cones as to size vary according
to the size or height of the performer,
many of whom use chairs instead of
stands. The trick has not been pop-
~ ular of late years, owing to the
su~picious drapery."
KELLAR'S GROWTH Th f 11 . f .
oF FLoWERs. e o owmg manner o mtro-
REAR vrnw. ducing the trick by that clever per-
former, Prof. Samuels, has not been
excelled by any professional. His stage being set
for the trick, he comes on with a tambourine in one
hand and a large wine bottle in the other. Placing
the musical instrument on a chair, he pours out
several glasses of wine from the bottle and gives
them to the spectators, then places the bottle on a
chair opposite the tambourine. His "patter" is
about as follows:
"Ladies and gentlemen: In calling your attention
to these ordinary flower pots, containing nothing
but mother earth, I would kindly request you to
THE HERRM.ANNS AND HARRY KELLAR. 89
look at them in order to satisfy yourselves thai-they

do not contain any internal mechanism. Now,
although you have freely examined them, you have
overlooked the principal element requisite for the
performance of so mysterious an experiment as that
of growing .flowers from seed. Of course the seed
is necessary; it is at present completely hidden from
view, being imbedded in the earth, awaiting the
mysterious influence of magic to arouse its dormant
germs to life. I have simply to cover it over for a
few seconds with this perfectly empty paper cone,
and while thus completely con(e)fined, magical ac-
tion has taken place, and germination is the in-
stantaneous result. Here you perceive the plant just
sprouting from the earth; I have arrested its pro-
gress in the first stage of its de\·elopment in order to
show it to you. I will continue the experiment and
endeavor to produce the perfect plant. I will cover
it as before to exclude all unnecessary action of light.
I leave it a moment and then lift the cone and the
plant is in sight. This productiun of fairyland I
' will leave here on this stand, 'vhile I attempt to pro-
duce a rose tree in full bloom in the othe1· pot. Light
is absolutely unnecessary; in fact, it would prove in
this instance absolutely dangerous to the fine tex-
ture of the plants developed by such spontaneous
action ; hence I gro\v them in the shade. Now,
ladies and gentlemen, I will shed refulgent light on
the subject by revealing to you this mysterious mag-
ical creation. SomeLimes when the atmospheric con-
ditions are favorable I have no difficulty in produc-
ing a third growth of flowers, oh yes, here we have

one already."
With tliese concluding words he produces the last
pot full of flowers; then taking up the tambourine, it
changes to a bouquet in his hands; and picking up the
empty bottle, whirls it around in the air, and that
too changes without leaving their sight into another
fine bouquet.
CHAPTER VI.
HYPNOTISTS AND THEIR EXPERIMENTS.
How to Hypnotize-The use of Confederates-The Kennedy

Brothers-Robert "Fulton's Experiments-" Professor John-
son."
The word " mesmerism," expresses the same mean-
ing as now conveyed by "hypnotism." Mesmerism
comes from the name of the originator, Mesmer,
and "hypnotism" from a word meaning sleep.
There are few scientists in this country who have
investigated hypnotism as deeply and as continu-
ously as some of the prominent ones of the old
world. That there is something in it, some scientific
men are ready to acknowledge. The career of Mes-
mer is well known. After him the first persons
among the English-speaking nations to call attention
to it was the Englishman, Braid, to whom is due the
first well-defined operative manual of hypnotism.
He has been followed by scores of writers who have
been more or less prominent. Of late the experi-
ments of Charcot and his confreres in France and
other European countries haYe attracted attention,
and many finely illustrated articles and works on
~his subject have been issued in the past few years.
n
It is not our intention to go into the scientific details

of what is claimed for hypnotism, but to explain the
practical part of it and how it is being used.
The first question usually asked by a person on
being satisfied of the genuineness of mesmeric or
hypnotic phenomena, is: " Can I mesmerize or
hypnotize a person i" The answer is in the affirma-
tive. But just as the ability to play the piano well
is possessed by but few, an:l just as only those gifted
with a fine musical perception and opportunity for
constant practice can hope to excel in that accom-
plishment, in like manner are there only few who
can attain to the higher development of the hypnotic
power.
A successful hypnotist must possess sound health,
great concentration and a steady, firm voice and
gaze. Faith in one's self is a~solutely essential to
success in hypnotism. Having obtained a willing
subject, the operator places him in an easy position
in a chair, his legs uncrossed, with both feet on the
floor. Place in his hand a small coin, a button, or,
what is most generally used, a circular piece of lead
with a copper point in the center. Instruct the sub-
ject to gaze at it attenti,rely for several minutes.
Another manner considered equally as good is to
have the subject close his eyes and place his right
fingers on his left wrist, telling him to count his
pulse beats continuously. The object of this is to
assist the hypnotizer by putting the subject into a
quiet, passive condition. Do all possible to intro-
duce a solemn, impressive and deliberate monotony.
Speak firmly, authoritatively, and behave through-
HYPNOTISTS AND THEIR EXPE.RlMENTS. 93
out in a manner calculated to impress the subject

• with a profound idea of your power. All tendency
to any frivolity, levity or jocularity must be rigor-
ously repressed. Keep the subject steadily gazing
at the object in his hand or counting his pulse as
long as possible. Five minutes is the average time,
but the longer the better. During this time you
remain standing, silent, ga:i;ing steadily at the sub-
ject.
After three or four minutes have passed com-
mence making the passes. These should be pre-
viously practiced. Throw your hand in the direc-
tion of the subject's forehead, as if dashing water
in his face, and continue the passes down'ward, just
below the chest. Practice will oYercome the awk-
ward, jerky and exhaustive passes common with
beginners. In raising the hand to repeat the pass
avoid turning the back of it toward the subject.
This has a demagnetizing effect. ·Passes alone will
not suffice; the will must accompany them. The
mind must be centered on one object, namely, to
close tightly the eyes of the subject, which he should
be told to close hefore beginning the passes. After
five minutes of this operation place your hand upon
his forehead, passing the thumb lightly downward
till it rests on the root of the nose. Repeat this
several times, increasing the pressure. The third or
fourth time press the thumb rather hard, and in a
fil'm, authoritative voice, say : " You cai1't open your
eyes," willing at the same time that he shall not.
If he open them, repeat the process of the passes
till you succeed, which you will do sooner or later.
94 MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WOl{KS.
When you have been successful in fixing his eyes

so that he can not open them, tell him to go to sleep, •
and continue making passes for some time to deepen
your influence. Let him sleep for a few minutes,
then awake him by a sharp slap on each shoulder,
with the exclamation of "Awake!" 'and two or
three upward passes. He is now in a fit state for
phenomenal experiment.
It should never be forgotten that the will must
accompany the act. Amateurs, it is said, too often
lose sight of this and are consequently puzzled and
disheartened by finding themselves unable to pro-
duce the results promised them. ·when once the
subject has been thoroughly charged with the mes-
merist's magnetism he is the victim of the sugges-
tion and control of that will.
The mesmerist places a stick in his hand, telling
him it is a whip or a pencil, and willing strongly
that the subject should see it as such. At first
reason struggles against the obvious denial of facts,
but ultimately the superior will becomes dominant,
and the subject implicitly accepts the assertion, and
sees whatever the mesmerist wills he shall see. The
field of illusion here opened is inexhaustible. As
the subject is a victim of suggestion, the mesmerizer
can make him believe anything he pleases.
To undo any effect or remove any impression pro-
duced, the mesmerizer has only to make one or two
upward passes and exclaim "Right," or any similar
ejaculation. The experimentist must be prepared
for all sorts of unexpected phenomena.
The subject may develop hysterical symptoms-a
HYPNOTISTS AND THEIR EXPERIMENTS. 95
common thing with girls and women. Demagnetize

them at once, awaken and speak to them firmly, even
sharply. Other subjects sleep very heavily. If
they are difficult to arouse, dispose them comfortably
and safely and leave them to sleep off the effect.
Two, six, or even twenty-four hours may be required,
hut in any case there is no cause for alarm so long
as no other person is allowed to touch them. This
shoulcl on no account be permitted. The person
who induced the control can alone remove it. In
bringing about any delusion on the mind of a mes-
merized subject, it is necessary to command him
with considerable authority. For example, it is
desired to deprive him of his name. Make a pass or
two down his face and in tones of authority say:
' You can not remember your name," willing strongly
that he should not. Wei·e you to begin by asking
his name, the chances are that, unless you willed
with great power, he would reply.·
Never a_ttempt to mesmerize when you feel unwell
or suffering from any disease, and do not allow your-
self to be influenced by any one not in apparent
good health. The higher phases of the phenomena
should not be attempted until practical tuition or
extensive theoretical knowledge has been obtained.
The dangers of mesmerism are sufficiently great to
be worth avoiding, but are not as great as the igno-
rant and skeptical assert. A person in the mesmeric
state can not be induced or made to do any act that
would be repellant to him in the waking sta.te.
The state is one of artificially induced slumbe;· or
somnambulism, and just as one wakens from a bad
dream before the consummation of any terrible act

so the horror of being directed to commit a crime
would result in any moral person shaking off the con-
trol of the mesmerist and awakening. It is not pos-
sible, as some believe, to endow a mesmerized subject
with attributes foreign to him; but it is a demon-
strable fact that a person will perform any a.ct par-
taking of the nature of an accomplishment much
better when in a mesmeric state. For example : A
speaker, nervous and stammering in the normal state,
could be made to speak fluently while entranced; a
singer would sing his very best, and a pianist would
transcend himself, if put to perform under mesmeric
control. This may be explained by the removaJ of
distracting influences and the deprivation of volition
which impels them to act as required by the mes-
merizer.
When the person is under control as before men-
tioned, he is only in what is known as a psycholog-
ical condition, mesmerism or hypnotism being an
advanced stage of it. In this the subject is easily
operated upon and can not refrain from doing what
he is told to do, as he is in that passive condition
where his mind is controlled by what seems to him a
more powerful one, and he feels an impulse to obey
it which he can not withstand.
It requires considerable experimenting to become
a good operator, simple as it may seem. When the
person is under the influence of the operator he can
then commence his experiments. Not only is the
power of voluntary motion lost, but the senses of
smel1 and taste are perverted. The performer can
HYPNOTISTS AND THEIR EXPRRIM'.ENTS. 97
•
put the arms of the person hypnotized in motion and
tell him he can not stop them, and he really can not.
Tell him to walk the floor, and he is forced to do so
until he is countermanded; tell him to dance, and he
<lances; to sing, and he sings; to shout, and he shouts;
to run, and he runs. You can make him believe an
onion is a most fragrant flower, or that water is eau
de cologne; he may be made to drink water and
believe it has the sweetness of honey, the bitterness
of wormwood, the delicacy of wine, the acidity of
vinegar, or the emetic power of soapsuds. You
change his identity and make him believe he is a
woman and take a woman's manner and walk and
tone; you can convince him that a cane is a living
snake; that a chair is a ferocious animal ; that a
handkerchief is a revolting reptile, or that a knife in
his pocket is getting hot and burning a hole in it;
you can show him an old woman in rags, or a little
boy or girl, and convince him that he has found his
long-lost parent, an<l he will embrace them with the
greatest fervency; shut his mouth and he can not
open it; draw a chalk line on the floor and he can
not cross it; lay down a penny and make it too
heavy for him, and he can not lift it. In fact, there
is no end to the delusions you can make him believe
in, many of these being devised by the will and inge-
nuity of the performer. Many persons are very easy to
put in this condition; hence this is the reason that
all prominent professors of this art now before the
public carry with them one or two subjects upon
whom they work the most.
When the psychological condition has been pro-
98 MODERN :MAGICIANS AND THRJR WORKS.
duce<l in an indi viclual the mesmeric sleep can be

brought on almost instantly. The mode by which
it is done is this: The subject is seated upon a
chair, and the operator passes the tips of his fingers
over the subject's eyes, and requests him firmly "to
go to sleep.'' It is usual to put the subject to sleep
by passes made down ward from his head, and to
bring him out of the sleep by passes made upward ;
or, mesmerism may be induced directly, in which
case all that is required is patience an<l a prop6r
disposition in both parties. Let the subject sit down
in the easiest and most comfortable position. The
operator should be seated in front, and take a hand
of the subject in each of his own, looking stead-
fastly in the eyes of the latter, and allowing their
feet and knees to come in contact. The room
should not be too light and everything kept quiet.
The subject should keep his eyes fixed on those of
the ope_!'ator and yield himself unreservedly to his
influence. If this course is persevered in for from
ten minutes to one hour, some effect will generally
be observed in that time. As soon as the subject's
eyes begin to close and he manifests symptoms of
drowsiness, the operator should make down ward
passes over the forehead and temples of the subject
and he will soon be sound asleep. If this effect is
not produced at the first trial, daily sittings of one
hour each will in time overcome the most obstinate
disposition. In most subjects this sleep is simply
quiet and no further experiments can be made while
it continues.
This deep sleep, known as the hypnotic sleep, is
used by practitioners with great success in the treat-

ment of all nervous and mental diseases, the patient
invariably awaking much refreshed
We have thus described what believers in hypno-
tism claim can be accomplished by it, and what
startling results can be obtained by some of those
who perform experiments with it. But just here
we will say, in adding what is-further claimed by
hypnotists, that tl?e power of mesmerizing persons,
while it is possessed by only a few persons who un-
derstand it well, may, it is averred, be cultivated to
a considerable extent; yet at the present time there
are many so-called professois practicing this art who
are not gifted with this power in the slightest
degree. Nevertheless their performances upon the
stage appear to an unenlightened audience to be
bona tide in every respect.
It is certain that public mesmerizers make use of
confederates, who are thoroughly coached up into
what is required of them to do, and they know how
to act before they go on the stage. These subjects
are known in the vernacular as "horses," and their
services can be secured at a salary ranging from
$5 per week upward. This particular style of
selecting subjects has many disadrnntages, the
principal one being that some of these "horses''
are apt to reveal to some of their friends,
of course as a very great secret, that they were
never mesmerized at all, but that they simply
acted and did whatever they were instructed to do.
Many alleged professors, through following this
course of selecting their subjects, have many times
100 llfOflERN MAOTCIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
been subjected to rather unpleasant exposes. Of

recent date some of these tricksters have astonished
the scientific men of both continents with their so-
called effects in hypnotism, while all their experi-
ments have been accomplished by the use of" horses."
The performances of these professionals are so much
alike that the description of one will make all of
them clear, and it will therefore suffice to describe
and explain a series of experiments that have been
introduced and performed by one of these alleged
celebrated professors and his young lady medium.
Their performance is certainly the most successful
in this respect that has yet been introduced, and the
spectators in every case are completely amazed and
mystified, and even persons in the profession have
been puzzled to decide as to whether the medium
waq really mesmerized or not, and their opinion is
that if she was not in reality mesmerized then this
pair of performers must take rank as the best per-
formers that have e\'er appeared, as everything is
done so exactly and in such complet<:l unison with
the other as to make the supposed mesmerism
appear a reality.
The performer, having explained to his audience
the nature of the experiment with which he intends
to commence the proceedings of the evening, brings
forward his medium, introduces her to the audience,
and then leads her to the chair placed in the center
of the stage.
Before proceeding further the mesmerizer requests
two or more gentlemen from the audience to come
forward upon the stage and to remain during the
various experiments that are to follow, and requests

them to examine the chair upon which the young
lady is seated to satisfy themselves that there is no
apparatus concealed in any portion of it. After
satisfying themselves of this the gentlemen are
requested to seat themselves at each side of the
stage.
The performer now advances toward the medium
and makes the usual passes as already described, and
when she appears to be under the effect of mesmeric
power he makes the motion with his right hand and
the medium slowly opens her eyes, fixing them wide
open upon vacancy. When she has her eyes fixe<l in
that way the performer takes a wax match and, hav-
ing lit it, holds it alight in front of each eye, which
remains perfectly fixed and without the slightest
movement or twinkling of an eyelid. The match is
held before the eyes of the medium until it is burned
out; in fact, one Morton thus holds an entire box of
blazing sulphur matches in front of his lady medi-
um's eyes.
The hypnotizer now shows a gentleman's gold
scarfpin, which he hands to the two gentlemen on
the stage to examine, and when it is handed back to
him he slowly advances toward the medium and
makes a motion with his right hand, and the medium,
with her eyes fixed and without the slightest
expression in them, slowly raises her left arm until
it is brought in a straight line before her, and the
performer, advancing slowly to her left side, passes
his right hand two or three times slowly down her
arm from her shoulder toward her hand; now tak-
ing a firm hold of her wrist with his left hand, the
performer exhibits the gold scarfpin and slowly
drives it through the fleshy part of her arm until
the pin is buried in the arm up to the head, the
point of the pin projecting through the flesh beneath.
During this operation the medium does not exhibit
the slightest sign of pain, and not a muscle is seen
to move, her eyes still having the same expression-
less stare in them. The performer now beckons
to the two gentlemen on the stage to come
forward and satisfy themselves that the pin is in
reality passed through the arm of the medium.
When they have satisfied themselves of this, he
beckons them to take their respective seats, and
again passing his right ha nd down the arm of the
medium two or three times, the performer takes
hold of the scarfpiu by the head and slowly draws
it forth from the medium's arm, and after having
done so, exhibits it to the audience. No blood fol-
lows the release of the pin. He now releases his
hold of her arm, and, walking backward a few paces,
he makes a slight motion with his right hand and
the medium slowly lowers her left arm again until it
hangs powerless by her side. Another movement of
the right hand on the part of the performer and the
medium slowly closes her eyes, when the performer
advances in the manner before described and brings
the medium again to the full use of her faculties.
This experiment before being performed must be
thoroughly practiced, because in the_ first place it is
very difficult to keep sufficient command over the
muscles of the face, and to prevent any movement
HYPNOTISTS A~D THEIR EXPERHIENTS. 103
of the eyelids, especially when a lighted ·match is

held very clo;,e to the open eyes, but after practicing
a few times the medium will not find it so difficult
as it appears at first. Therefore when the medium
has liecome proficient in this, she will have become
able to exercise sufficient power over her nerves for
other experiments which would be more trying still
if she had not obtained a complete. mastery over her-
self in order to prevent the slightest movement or
contraction of muscles in any way.
The expe1·iment with the pin is to the spectators
one of the most wonderful and marvelous that they
have e.ver seen, because the pin used is an ordinary
gold scarf pin, and is really forced through the arm.
When it is forced through the fleshy part of the arm,
however, no blood follows the apparent puncture of
flesh, and neither docs any blood flow after the pin
is withdrawn.
The secret of this rna1·yelous feat is very simple
when once known. Ladies are in the habit of hav-
ing their ears pierced to enable tliem to wear ear-
t·ings, and the secret of being able to force a breast-
pin through the arm rests, therefore, in a nutshell.
The arm of the lady medium is pierced through the
fleshy portion in the same manner as a lady's ears
would be pierced, but in this case the hole punctured
is much larger. After the arm has been pierced a
thick gold wire is passed through, projecting beyond
each side, and this wire is kept in the flesh until the
puncture has thoroughly healed. It is necessary,
however, to oil the wire occasionally and to move
it through the punctured hole several times, to pre-
104 M01Jl£RN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
vent the flesh from contracting too tightly around

the wire in healing. When the hole is thoroughly
healed it is necessary to pass the wire occasionally,
well oiled, through the punctured place to prevent
its closing and to allow of a scarfpin being passed
through the hole at any time.
Professor Donati, now showing in this country,
places particular stress upon this part of his hypnotic
experiments, whe•rein he states that the lady, being
in a cataleptic condition, can be made to sustain her
body horizontally, and a heavy weight also. He
then places her extended body on the back of two
chairs, one being under her shoulders and the other
under her feet. He then seats himself on her body
and swings back and forth. This is also a trick, as
the lady wears a corset of steel, similar to the old
Aerial suspension now so well known. This supports
her body entirely in a horizontal position, and it is
so arranged with sockets and joints that she walks
about with ease. This is being done in side-shows
around the country as an experiment in hypnotism,
but was first introduced some ten years ago in
Europe as a test of the same.
There are many other and more remarkable tests
in this so-called mysterious power of hypnotism that
are introduced by traveling professors.
The most mysterious effects can be obtained from
professionals who have made it a study to invent
experiments which now interest audiences more than
ordinary tricks. The present price of the most com-
plete system is now held at from $200 to $300 by
~e!!He1ll~~ ha.ving the same for sale. Of couri)e ~hi~
HYPNOTISTS AND THEIR EXPERUrENTS. 105
requires a great deal of study and application, which,

howe\'er, performers are not willing to attempt,
hence they resot·t to the use of "horses." One of
the most noted subjects of this kind was formerly
known as H. M. Robinson. Many will remember
what a sensation was created in Chicago some years
ago, when Robinson came to the front and acknowl-
edged that he was a " horse " and that for the sake
of a few dollars per week~ which by the way had
not been paid him, he allowed himself to be prodded
with needles, burned with lighted cigars, have cay-
enne pepper thrown in his eyes, swallow the bitter-
est drugs and submit to all sorts of torture without
a tremor. Not finding this a successful business
experiment he resumed his role of a conjurer.
Many will also remember Dr. Chas. G. Davis, of
this city, who was censured by the Chicago Medical
Society for int.r oducing before them several ''horse"
subjects, believing that he could really hypnotize
them. Dr. Davis was sincere in his belief, but had
not had the experience to see that he was imposed
upon by these "horses."
About this time the Kennedy Beos. were coming
to the front as hypnotists. They also failed in estab-
lishing their proof as such .before the medical gen-
tlemen of Chicago. Nevertheless they are on the
road traveling and meeting with much success. One
of them is at present reaping a good harvest in
England.
Some years ago there was quite a prominent
millinery establishment in the Palmer House on
State street, Chicago, the presiding genius of which
10() MODERN l\IAGICIANS A.ND THEIR WORKS.
was Mrs. Fulton. She had a bright and lively son

named Robert. He was formerly an usher at the
Columbia Theatre, afterward. going out as treasurer
of the Night Owls Company, and is, no doubt, still
on the road. One of the first tours he made was
with a company who carried a mesmerist as the
principal attraction. It occurred in southern Indiana,
where the temperance drinks served were too strong
for the mesmerist, and as the t.ime for the entertain-
ment approached it was noticed that he would be in
no condition to appear on the stage. AJong with
the company, in the capacity of property man, was
a colored man, who was also themesmerist's" horse."
Robert had surmised, as he expressed it, that the
whole thing was a fake, and decided to test it. He
hunted up the darky and said: "Here, John, the old
man is sick and can't perform his act to-night. You
and I have got to do the business. Stand up and
let me·see you go through it." And Robert, taking
an onion from his pocket, said: "Here is an apple,
eat it,'' which the darky proceeded to do with great
gusto, declaring it a very good apple. Robert then
continued, " Here is a piece of candy, eat that,"
handing him a tallow candie, which the darky also
ate with relish. Robert stopped here, telling the
darky that was enough; he was satisfied he could do
his act all right.
While Dr. Davis may think that he was handled
without gloves, he can now have the satisfaction of
knowing that some of his co-laborers have been
duped worse than he was. An operator known
as Professor Johnson, a schoolmate of the
Kennedy brothers, and Robert Fulton, previously

mentioned, commenced his career in Chicago and
has fl.ashed from one end of this country to
the other as a shining light in mesmerism. He is
the only man living, as he expresses it, that went
before an assembluge of physicians and mesmerized
himself into a cataleptic condition. While in this
condition he was cut and tortured worse than
"horses" usually are. For instance: A needle and
thread was drawn through the skin· on the back of
his hand, which was then sewed to his lips and nose.
Though severe tests were made on him, be appar-
ently suffered no pain whatever, and a close observer
could not tell but what he was in a perfect catalep-
tic state. After a short time he came to and stated
that he had no recollection of what had occurred.
Now the fact is that this man was not mesmerized
at all, and was not in a cataleptic state. He felt the
·pain just as any other mortal would. He has
repeatedly made the following statement: "I have
done what no other living man has done; I have
gone before a college of physicians and put myself
in a cataleptic condition and allowed them to cut,
torture and sew me up. Look at my arms; they are
masses of scars, every one of which I have felt just
:1s much as any other person would. What have I
done this for~ For nothing but fame and money,
both of which I have made."
CHAPTER VII.
:MIND-READEHS AND THEIR TRICKS.
J. Randall Brown- vVashington Irving Bishop- Stuart Cumber-

land-How to Become a Mind-reader-Seymour--Paul Alex-
anderJohnstone---Remarkable "Test" by Sid Macaire-Lucy
de Gentry, Her Quick Success-An Aspiring Amateur's Pre·
dicament.
:Mind-reading began its career in Chicago. The
sem;ation produced by it was astonishing, and it has
not yet " had its day." It has not only puzzled the
minds of every-day people of the world, but has also
engaged the attention of scholars, scientific men,
statesmen, and even crowned heads. The first per-
son who made any display of it was J. Randall
Brown. He became a monomaniac on the subject,
experimenting with all his acquaintances, and in-
forming them of the many wonderful things he
could do, till they began to think he was "pos-
sessed," as some of them expressed it. Brown's
first public success, and that which caused him to
adopt mind-reading as a profession, was, strange to
say, on a wager which he made with an old and well-
known resident of Chicago. He made a bet that he
could find a pin, no matter where it was concealed,
stipulating only that it should be within walking dis-
108
MIND- READERS AND 'THEIR TRIC KS. {09
tance. After considerable speculation as to where

the hiding-place should be, the gentleman concealed
the pin beneath one of the rugs in front of the
Sherman House. Brown was blindfolded, took his
friend's hand, and, after wandering about, led hi.m
directly to the spot, much to the man's surprise, as
well as to the depletion of his pocket-book. Brown,
feeling assured of success, now started out profes-
sionally. He made a tour of the States, creating
great astonishment, and coining both notoriety and
money. His success was unprecedented, but he could
not stand prosperity. He fell from public notice,
being physically incapacitated for u. considerable
time from following up his profession. About four
or five years ago he resumed the stage, and since then
bas been traveling about, giving much the same
entertainment as formerly.
Washington Irving Bishop traveled with Brown
for some time as assistant, and finally discovering
how the trick was done was shrewd enough to go
abroad where it had not yet been introduced. For
a person having no credentials whatever, and no
means, Bishop created a most astonishing sensation.
He required an assistant, and secured the services of
a bright youth named Charles Garner, who, like
Bishop, was well posted in anti-spiritualistie per-
formances. Like his employer, Garner was an
assistant but a short time until he also became
master of the art, taking it at once to the continent,
where, under the name of Stuart Cumberland, he,
too, made a great success. The public exploits of
these two gentlemen are well known. Their careers
110 MODERN )fAGTCIAN8 AND TMEIR WORKS.
harnattracted the attention of many scientific men,

and much speculation has been made as to the
cause and effect of their tests.
The pursuit of mind-reading as a profession (such
is the claim put forth) does not affect the nerrnus
system any more than any other intellectual calling,
in fact not as much. Although circulars of promi-
nent mind-readers are, in very large part, exaggera-
tions of the possibilities of their performance, an<l
such as are probably beyond the power of man to
accomplish, nevertheless, the work may be varied in
form as indeonitely as the performer's brain is
fertile of invention. The one essential condition
which is to be impressed unmistakably upon those
who take part in the performance, is that' the person
to be led to the secreted article must concentrate his
mind upon the place where the article is hidden,
until that place has been reached by the mind-
rea<ler and himself, and then upon the article itself.
This mental concentration is required as constantly
as possible to the end. If the mind-reader fails, the
fault lies with the subject, for he must succeed, it is
claimed, if the subject fairly complies with this
single condition. There may occasionally be found
an individual incapable of prolonged or even brief
mental concentration, because of great trouble, loss
of fortune, or ill health. Such subjects are al ways
to be avoided if possible, as the accomplishment of
the trick with them is exceedingly improbable, if
not altogether impossible.
It follows then that the be8t minds available should
always be chosen. The mind-reader has then noth-
MIND-RJDADERS AND THEIR TRICKS. 111
ing to <lo but to ei:;tablish physical contact between

himself an<l his subject, and, after starting a motion
of his body in any direction, quietly surrender him-
self to the involuntary muscular leading of his sub-
ject, when he will find himself led unconsciously to
the proper place.
Almost any physical contact will be sufficient,
although Brown's method of placing the back of the
subject's hand to his forehead is probably the best,
because the most impressive. When you have the
back of the subject's hand to your forehead, start a
swaying motion around and go in the direction yon
find it easiest for the subject and yourself to move;
go and you will be led to the place. If you lead
him in a different direction to the one he is thinking
of, you will find more resistance to moving him or
his hand. To'be blindfolde<l is not essential, although
helpful, because it presents the appearance of render-
ing the work of the mind-reader more difficult, while
it really assists him in being passive to the leadings
of his subject, as it shuts out from his mind all
exterior detractions. The body of any and every
person has alw-a ys an inclination, more or less
strong, in the directions of the thoughts of the mind,
more especially so if the body is in motion. For
instance, if you think of an object on your right,
accompanying that thought will be a slight motion of
the body in the same direction. Then place your
mind upon some other object in the opposite direc-
tion, and over will go the body accordingly.
This natural law of mutual dependence between
mind and matter-or habit of harmony of action
112 MOUF.RN MAH!CIANS AN!> THElR W ORKS.
between the brain and body, of man or beast-is, it

is claimed, the whole secret of mind-reading. It fol-
lows that all the mind-reader has to do is simply to
observe carefully the actions of the muscles of his
subject's hand against his forebead, and follow in the
llirection in<licate<l by the subject's muscles, and he
will find himself led unmistakably toward the place
upon which the subject's mind is concentrated.
Having reached the place, the mind-reader will feel
around with one hand until the secreted article is
found, and as soon as his han<l touches it-although
he has no previous knowledge of its nature-he will
recognize it instinctively, for the subject has uncon-
sciously imparted such information by the relaxa-
tion of his muscles. As mind is indidsible; or, in
other words, as it is impossible for a person's mind
to be in two places at the same time, it is plainly to
be seen that if the subject honestly concentrates his
mind upon the article hidden, he can not discover the
fact that he is leading the so-called mind-reader,
instead of being led himself. It is obvious from the
foregoing explanation, that instead of the mind-
reader being the operator and leading the subject, as
is generally supposed, he is himself led by the sub-
ject: hence, the mind-reader is the subject, and the
subject the operator. To sum it all up, the mind-
reader "must follow the least resistance."
The tricks of mind-reading are too numerous and
varied to be mentioned in this connection, but we
will give the leading ones: (1) The finding of a
concealed article, usually a pin. (2) The finding
of a person thought of. (3) The imaginary murder;
MIND-READERS .A.ND THEIR TRICKS. 113
a number of knives are laid on the table, and

are considered instruments of death. Any person
selects any one of the knives, and with it kills, in
his mind, one of the audience ; then conceals the
knife and the body, the latter imaginary of course.
The mind-reader first finds the murderer, then the
knife, then the party supposed to have been killed,
and whe1'her it was a thrust or a slash, then the place
where the hotly was to be concealed. (4) The love-
token, very popular with the ladies. A young man
thinks of a handsome lady present to whom he
would present a bouquet as a token of love. The
mind-reader takes the bouquet in his hand, and finds
the lady, to whom he presents it. (5) The game of
chess. •rwo gentlemen are seated at a table to play
chess; one of them actually plays, the mind-reader
guesses the play of the other; that is, be takes and
places the men the other only thought of. A very
fine experiment. (6) The living picture or tableau.
Several ladies and gentlemen form a tableau, all in
different or grotesque positions, and then resume
their seats. The mind-reader finds each person in
the order they were called, and places each one in
the same position they were before, forming the tab-
leau perfectly. (7) The finding any number thought
of, usually of a bank-note. The mind-reader holds
in his right hand a piece of chalk, and the person
who knows the number places his or her right hand
on the right hand of the mind-reader, thinks first of the
first number or figure of the series, and the mind-
reader writes thus the first figure on the blackboard,
and so on till the full number is written. The hand
114 MODERN MAGICIANS A.ND THEIR WORKS.
of the mind-reader is guided entirely by the hand of

the subject. (8) Drawing. A painter thinks of an
animal, and the mind-reader draws an outline of the
same. The principle is the same as writing a num-
ber thought of. (9) To find things placed on a table
or to select a small object from a large number of
objects. The mind-reader places the finger tips of
the left hand of the subject on the finger tips of his
right hand, moves them thus connected to and fro
over the articles. The mind-reader can be blind-
folded. When the hand is over the article thought
of, the mind-reader feels a strong pulsation in the
finger tips of the subject, and this is always a proof
that the article is the one thought of.
These are, generally, the first "tests" used by
beginners. Of course there are many others, such
as the tracing of a route on a map, the driving of a pair
of horses to find an article, the spelling of names, all
depending on the ingenuity of the mind-reader in dev.is-
ing them. In all cases some kind of contact between
the operator and the subject must exist. The con.
nection by a wire is quite sufficient in many ''tests"
for an expert, it is declared, but does not prove satis-
factory to a beginner. The statement which is
sometimes made that mind-reading can be used in
detecting crime, is, of course, preposterous, even
though there is in "mind transference" all that has
been claimed; for where is there a criminal that will
comply with the required conditions? It has been
suggested that mesmerism has something to do with
mind-reading; and even some "second-sight" art-
ists in the United States bill themselves as mind-
readers.
MIND-READERS AND THEIR TRICR:S. 115
Brown, the originator of mind-reading, has liad

many imitators. Few of them, however, have
achieved notoriety. One by the name of Seymour
met with success in museums and variety theatres.
He had the assurance, however, to claim that he
originated mind-reading and had practiced it before
Brown.
The latest "Richmond in the field" of mind-read-
ing is Paul Alexander Johnstone, formerly of Chi-
cago, but lately a resident of ~t. Paul. He shows
self-possession by attempting feats tried only by
those who have had considerable experience. His
most notable performances have thus far been given
in Chicago. First, he successfully accomplished, as
he claims, the feat of driving, blindfolded so as to
be wholly unable to see, through the streets from
one hotel to another; then, still blindfolded, he found
in a register a page thought of by a committee,
finishing the "test " by writing the name. After-
wards, he gave an entertainment in Central Music
Hall in that city, where he opened a combination
safe which had been loaned by the proprieto1's of a
prominent hotel. Only two persons, it is declared,
knew the combination of the safe, one of them being
J ohnstone's subject. An account in the Chicago
Tribnne, a short time afterwards, has this to say of
Johnstone: -
"If Paul Alexander Johnstone is not a fraud he
is a most remarkable young man. If he is a fraud,
some of the smartest people in Chicago will feel
sheepish to-day when they know they have been
deceived by a tl'ick as transparent as the mohair
hood which Dr. Charles Gatchell asserts Johnstone

peered through when he made his famous trip in the
downtown streets September 10.
Dr. Gatchell is a well-known physician and is
editor of the Mecb:cal Era of this city. He occupies
the chair of the theory and practice of medicine at
the University of Michigan aud is a confirmed
materialist. He doesn't believe in mind-reading or
thought transference. It was an unlucky day for
Johnstone when Dr. Gatchell got on his trail. Dr.
Gatchell followed him in his trip through the streets
and was confident the alleged mind-reading was
fraudulent. He had no way of proving it, though,
till he met Dr. G. F. Butler, a lecturer at Rush Med-
ical College, whose office is at No. 240 Wabash ave-
nue. Dr. Butler was a member of the committee
which accompanied Johnstone, and he had his sus-
picions. When he had talked with Dr. Gatchell
and the two doctors had experimented a little, they
learned, as they think, the secret of the tricks by
which Johnstone deluded the public and gathered
more money in a month than most men make in a
year.
A week ago last Saturday Dr. Gatchel.I broke up
J ohnstone's performance at Central Music Hall and
yesterday he showed a Tribune reporter how the
young man from St. Paul does the trick. He did it
more easily and better than Johnstone had done it,
and he used neither whisky no1· hysterics to help
him out.
The Tri.bune reporter and Dr. Butler composed
the committee which tested Dr. Gatchell in his
l\UND-1'EADER8 AND THEIR TRW.KS. 117
rooms at No. 235 Michigan a venue yesterday morn-

ing.
'I will imagine I am J olrnstone,' he said. Then
he snapped his fingers and stamped allll s'veated
just as Johnstone did. 'Pnt these gloves over my
eyes. Now tie them tightly with this handkerchief.
I want the gloves to be near the optic ner\'e. That's
l'ight. Higher, a little. Now .try this hood on and
tell me if you can see through it.'
The hood was a double thickness of black cloth,
and only a faint light came through its meshes.
The reporter said be couldn't see, and the doctor,
still imitating Johnstone, drew the hood over his
own head.
'Pick out a word in the Century Magazine and
remember the page.'
The committee chose the word 'ignorant.'
'Now take a trip through the hall and down-
stairs. Remember the directions and the number of
steps you take.'
The committee went out, turned to the right a
few yards, came back, went down-stairs eight steps,
and returned to the room.
'Stand against that wall,' Dr. Gatchell said to the
reporter. Then to Dr. Butler: 'Trace in the air the
directions you took. Now the number of steps.
Now the page in the magazine and tbe word you
selected.'
Dr. Butler did all this because he was the man
who made the tracings for J obnstone. When he
had finished, Dr. Gatchell seized one hand, the
reporter took the other, and the three men galloped
into the hall. Dr. Gatchell dragged the committee

to the right, back again, down eight stairs, up eight
stairs, and into the room. Then he called for whisky
because Johnstone had called for it. Unlike John-
stone, he didn't drink it.
. 'Pencil and paper!' he .shouted.
The pencil and paper were furnished. The doc-
tor bent over the book and ran through the pages,
shouting, meantime: 'Give me air.' 'vVhy don't
you keep your minds concentrated?' 'Whisky. No;
hold on, boys, I don't want any.' When he reached
the page he stopped and said: 'Your minds are off
the subject. Why don't you say this is the page?'
'It is,' said the committee. Then the doctor
snapped his fingers some more and fainted once to
give verisimilitude to the imitation and finally wrote
a word on the paper. The word was 'ignorant.'
The imitation had been successful. The hood had
been examined as closely as it was examined by the
committee at the Auditorium Hotel. Dr. Butler
had made all the test conditions that have ever been
enforced at J obnstone's exhibitions. At least one
of the committee never thought of the word once
after the fun began; yet Dr. Gatchell had not only
picked one word out of forty, but one out of 400 or
500.
Then he sat down and laughed.
'Would you like to know how it is done?' he said.
'Look at these two gloves. You see I fold them
and place them against my eyes. That is John-
stone's first deceit. It looks like an additional safe-
guard against fraud, but he couldn't read a mind
MIND-READERS AND THEIR TRICKS. 119
without it. Tie this handkerchief about my head.

Tie it as tight as you can and knot it above my ears.
Johnstone al ways tells you to tie it tight, and that
seems like another safeguard. Without it he couldn't
do his trick.'
The doctor's eyes were apparently bandaged
securely, the strain of the handkerchief falling on
that part of the glove which rested against his
contracted eyebrows. When he raised the brow,
up went the bandage and the twinkling eyes peering
out under the gloves saw everything in the room.
'Now,' he said, 'look at this hood.' With a quick
motion of his hands he yanked the hood apart and
drew the outer cover over the reporter's head. The
cloth was mohair and as transparent as the street
veils women wear. The committeeman took off the
mohair and tried on the outer hood. It was thick
broadcloth and as difficult to see through as a
board.
'Wait,' cried the doctor. He pulled the strings
that secure the hood around the neck, and lo! the
front seam opened wide. That was all there was of
it. The apparently supernatural feat of mind-read-
ing became as simple as the commonest parlor trick.
There was nothing occult about it. Anybody can
be a P. Alexander Johnstone so long as the side-
show draws crowds and green goods are for sale.
'I have been led to expose this trickery,' said Dr.
Gatchell, ' because this man is unseating the faith of
the people. Bishop was as bad but no worse than
Johnstone. I am surprised that the intelligent,
cynical men of the world who saw him drive through
the streets and pick out the name in the register

were taken in so easily. I examined this hood at
Central Music Hall and found it was double. I did
.not have an opportunity to look for the aperture,
but I am confident I have reproduced the gartnent
he wore when I saw him. When he tested the Audi-
torium committee he made one of the members trace
the route before he left.'
'I did that,' said Dr. Butler, 'and I want to tell
you something in connection with it. When we
drove over the route first we went to Monroe street.
I made a mistake when I traced and drew" two and
one-half blocks north," instead of three and one-half.
That threw him off, and, although I kept my mind
firmly fixed on Monroe street and he claimed to
read my thoughts, he turned on Adams street. That
was what first made me suspicious.'
'He watched the tracing through the aperture in
the inner hood,' Dr. Gatchell continued. ' Then he
made the committee trace the name and date chosen
in the Grand Pacific Hotel, and he was ready. Did
you notice how he drove? He stood with his back
bent and his head thi'Ust forward. He could see in
the broad light of the afternoon every bit as well as
you can, and you could have .driven as he did. When
he reached the hotel he asked to be sent to a room.
He remained there alone for five minutes, and when
he came down-stairs his hood was gone. He said he
needed fresh air. Maybe he did, but the coincidence
is strange that the office of the Grand Pacific Hotel
is so dark that one can not read in it through a
mohair mask. When he had turned the leaYes to
the date Aug. 25, with his eyes close to the book as
I held mine, he found the name J. G. Butler, Jr.,
which had been selected for the test, and wrote it
on a piece of paper.'
'The'' Jr." wasn't in my mind at all,' said Dr.
Butler.
'When he went home,' Dr. Gatchell resumed, 'he
had what looked like congestion of the brain. I am
satisfied from the symptoms described to me that he
had nothing but hysteria and whisky-the kind of
hysteria a woman gets when she wants to frighten
her husband into buying a new bonnet for her:
the kind of whisky they sell at the bar of the Grand
Pacific Hotel. His pulse was higher. That was the
whisky. My pulse is over 100 at this moment from
the exercise I have taken.
•I propose to show this man up as a trickster, and
to do this I will make these offers: I will pay to him
$500, or I will hand. it over to a charitable institu-
tion, if he repeats the performance of Sept. 10 and
lets me do the blindfolding. Or, if he will repeat
the performance, I will do it after him with the same
committee or forfeit to him $500. Or I will forfeit
$500 if he will "read" a single word in my mind
under simple test conditions. I don't know how he
opened the safe. I can only explain and repeat what
I have seen him do.'
The doctor left at the Tribune office a certified
check for $500. Whenever Mr. J obnstone wants to
make the trial, Dr. Gatchell will write a name on the
back of the check and pin the check to the wall.
Then, if Paul A.lexander Johnstone writes the name
122 l\IODEl:~{ lllAGIClANS AND THEIR WORKS.
on another piece of paper Paul Alexander can take

the check and place it in his waistcoat pocket.
A reporter tried to bring the 'mind-reader' to the
Trib1me office yesterday. Mr. Johnstone looked as
healthy as a farmer's boy. When told of the test
proposed his health began to fail. First he wouldn't
come for money.
'Hundreds have offered. me $1,000 bills if I could
tell the number of the bills,' he said. 'I always
gave the number and refused the money.'
'Where were these offers made~'
'0, I don't remember exactly, they were so
frequent.'
'Can you name one town of the hundred~'
'Let me see. I think one place was Appleton,
Wisconsin. No, I'm not sure of that either.'
When it was suggested that the matter of money
be waived he pleaded the absence from town of his
manager, Gooding, and when that obstacle was bat-
tered down with argument he said he was too sick
to work. While he talked he grew worse, and when
the interview ended he looked as if he needed a
doctor's care. He said Gooding had his hood and
his bandages.
Johnstone has m.ade a great deal of money by his
performances. He was patronized by the Press
Club and he was taken up by the Union Club and
many societies to his great pecuniary advantage.
His last show was before the Union Club, and the
wealthy young men of that organization were spell-
bound by his phenomenal feats of mind-reading."
As a sequel to this, we give the following from
MIND-READERS AND THEIR TRICKS. ] 23
the columns of the Chicago Evening Journal of a

few days later:
"The doctor who has been 'exposing' Johnstone,
the mind-reader, walked up to the clerk's desk at the
Wellington -Hotel this morning, carefully placed his
satchel, overcoat and umbrella on the desk, hung his
crooked cane on the register and said to the clerk :
'My name is Dr.--.'
'Suite of three or five rooms I' asked the obliging
clerk.
'No; I don't want to register; but I would like to
ask you a few questions,' said the doctor.
The clerk resigned himself to his fate, and the
doctor leaned over the desk and asked in a very
confidential manner:
'That safe-opening puzzles me. Did Johnstone
open that safe on the square, and-'
' You have stated in the papers,' replied the clerk,
'that you could perform the tricks or feats that
Johnstone did. Now, I do not undertake to say
anything about his driving through the streets
blindfolded; but if you will open that safe as John-
stone did, we will give you $i,OOO. At the time no
one knew the combination of the safe excepting
myself and the proprietor; we will agree to keep
our minds centered upon the combination as we did
then, and if you can so influence our minds, or read
them, learn the combination and open the safe, you
can take out and keep the first $1,000 you lay your
hands upon, and we guarantee that the money is
there.'
Tha.t settled the doubter,"
124 .MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WOHKS.
Quite a remarkable "test" was once made by

Sid. Macaire, formerly of Chicago, but now quite a
prominent conjurer in Dublin, Ireland. When
practicing mind-reading, he gave a trunk key to a
gentleman to hide. It took place at a private house.
The subject took the key and disappeared through
the rear door of the house. On his return, Macaire
took his hand, after having himself blindfolded, and
led the man out of the house into the yard, back
again into the basement of the house, then into the
laundry, where the domestic was getting out the
family washing, then up to the tub, at which she
was at work; down into the dirty water went his
hand, and the key was found at the bottom of the
tub, underneath the clothes.
Ladies, owing to their delicacy of touch, make
excellent mind-reading operators. None of them
have become prominent in the conjuring profession
in the United States, but a number have abroad.
This chapter would be incomplete without men-
ion of Miss Lucy de Gentry, who has attracted
more attention as a mind-reader than any other
lady. She is originally from Russia, and has
created quite. a sensation th1'oughout Europe, as
she not only performed the same experiments
that Bishop and Cumberland did, but she did
them much quicker and with more brilliant success.
She differs very materially from these opera-
tors, by her quiet and distinguished appearance in
her experiments. Her presence, compared with the
extreme nervousnes:> of the gentlemen just men.
tioned above, is very striking, as their nervous
condition which they assumed to a great degree

often left a painful impression on their audiences.
In her entertainments she .would generally take hold
LUCY DE GENTRY.
of any small object, the other end of which was

held by the medium; for instance, she would use a
handkerchief or a ruler ; this is similar to some of
the original methods used by Brown, who very often

separated himself from the medium by a short; piece
of stiff wire. A "test" which she executed very
quickly took place in Vienna. A handkerchief was
tied around her wrist-she being blindfolded-and
a gentleman who had fixed his thoughts on a certain
flower in a large basketful on the table took hold of
the other end of the handkerchief, and she very
quickly picked out the flower he had thought of.
A comical performance took place in Dublin a
few years ago. The particulars are given by Sid.
Macaire:
"After a very successful engagement of Mr.
Bishop, at the Ancient Concert Rooms, an aspiring
amateur (who hid his light under the bushel when
writing to the daily papers scathing and, I may add,
nonsensical letters, under a nom rie pfome, antago-
nistic to Mr. Bishop's performances) proposed to
reproduce the experiments-not, however, by muscle-
reading, but deception.
A hall was engaged-thenight for experimenting
came-and the would-be exponent appeared behind
the foot-lights' glare in faultless attire. A test was:
Finding the pin. The pin was hidden. He searched
-high up and low down-here, there, and every-
where-but without success; when the concealer
suggested to the experimenter to sit down and he
would surely find it. He did sit down-and he
found it! !-for it was bent and stuck in the seat of
the chair, after the style most amusing to school-
boys-and when the gentleman in question felt the
point of the joke he had not seen, he bounded into
MIND-READERS A?l'D THEIR TRICKS. 127
the air with tliree good war-whoops-a sanguinary

yell, which invoked blessings on the man that
invented pins-and evolutions that convulsed the
audience from the Ct:'lestials to the foot-lights."
Moral: Never profess ability to do what you can
not achieve.
CHAPTER VIII.
INSTANTANEOUS MEMORIZATION.
The Art of Memory-Instantaneous Memorization made use of

by Patrizio-Effects produced by Hatton and Roberti!.
" The Art of Memory (Mnemotechny) is," say,s
one who has given much thought to the subject,
'' the produdng of classified mind impressions; or,
scientifically, it is the doctrine of the principles of
this art. By classified mind impressions, we mean,
to treat ideas in such a way that, at any time, we
can voluntarily be conscious of one or all of them.
Thus the Art of Memory can be applied to all ideas,
or conceptions, for which we have words, or at least
such signs, like numbers, which can be translated
into words.
"In order to explain our system, Jet us look first
at some of the remarkable memories of the past.
According to Xenophon, Cyrus knew all of his cap-
tains by their proper names, though later Pliny and
Quintilian exaggerated this fact into the belief'that
he knew the names of all his soldiers. It is said of
Scipio that he knew the names of every Roman citizen.
Mithridates, a King over twenty-two Nations, held
court in as many tongues. Cyneas, sent to the Romans.
by King Pyrrhus, learned in one day the names of all
128
INSTANTANEOUS MEMORIZATION. 129
the members of the senate, and of all Romans who

had gathered around it. Hortensius recited all the
prices obtained at an auction. Justus Lipsius
offered to recite Tacitus, word for word, a person
standing near him with a naked dagger ready to
stab him should he miss one word. The learned
Venetian lady, Modesta Pozzo, named Moderata
Fonsa, could repeat word for word any sermon she
had heard. Brendel, a physician and surgeon at the
University or Goettingen, and known as a learned
man, could recite the whole .Al:neid, forward and
backward. Who has not read of Zacharias Dase,
the king of mental arithmeticians? His feats of
memory were confined to numbers, but in them they
were almost miraculous. All of these persons had
a natural, innate memory.
"Now the question arises, can a memory which
lacks the above natural advantages acquire them
through art? This is the important problem which
Mnemotechny in its earlier attempts has solved but
incompletely. In its present form, however, it solves
this problem to a high degree. Being the art of
mind-impressions derived from the first condition
and principles of memory, it teaches to submit to a
voluntary repetition, separately or jointly, all ideas
which are or can be represented by ":ords. ·
Before proceeding further, the question may arise,
how far we can speak of a history of memory. A
proper or general art of memory not having been
knO\vn, we can only speak of its history in so far as
what we understand by Mnemotechny as really
deserving this name. As far back as history shows
130 MODElrn MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS •
.
there were two methods. The ancient one con-
nected the picture of ·what was to be remembered
with a locality; the modern which gives all concep-
tions to be remembered only as ideas. In order to
distinguish one from the other, and both from the
real or general art of memory, we shall call the first,
which locates, the locating method; the latter, which
reflects only, the reflecting method. The poet
Simonides, born B. C. 469, is supposed to have been
the first to connect a conception with a locality, in
order to impress it on the mind. Pythagoras, a con-
temporary of the poet Simon ides, had perhaps known
the first beginning of memory even earlier than
Simonides; he taught it, and is supposed to have
derived the knowledge from Hindoo sources, and to
have spent some time in Egypt. Hieroglyphics, from
which there is only one step to Mnemotechny, were
known in Egypt in the earliest ages. The follow-
ers of Pythagoras were not satisfied to remember
the events of one or more preceding days, but they
tried, following the advice of their preceptor, to
trace them in the <?rd er they had occurred.
"A fragment left by Mimas, one of the followers
of Pythagoras, sp,eaks of the great importance of the
science of remembering. First, concentrate and
exert your mind; secondly, repeat often to yourself
what you have heard; third, put into pictures what
you have heard-for instance, instead of the glow-
worm, put fire and lustre; instead of valor, put
Achilles and Mars. During the middle ages, we
have very little trace of the knowledg6 of memory.
Under Charles the Gr.eat, it was unkno"wn. It came
lNSTANTANEOUS MEMORIZATION. 131
to light again in the time of the great scholar, Roger

Bacon. He wrote a special treatise on memory,
which was never printed, and is still to be found in
manuscript at Oxford. In the middle of the Four-
teenth Century memory was revived in the flourish-
ing universities and colleges, through the renewed
interest in study, and the increase of literary inter-
course.
"The celebrate<l Aime, of Paris, was the first
scholar of the present century to call particular
attention to the method known as the 'reflecting
method.' He was followed by the Portugese broth-
ers, de Castilho; and in Germany by Carl Otto Revent-
low, a Dane, who issued a manual on Mnemotechny.
"Vincent Scherzel, the Bohemian Mezzofanti,
gives us, in his polyglot lectures, most interesting
information about the easiest and quick way to learn
languages. He began his explanations by singling
out the different sounds in the different tongues, and
showed that almost every one of our sounds is lack-
ing in one language or another. For instance, the
Chinese have no R, the Japanese no L, the Tahitian
no S, and so on. The roots of the Hottentot lan-
guage consist of only four singular inarticulated
smacking sounds. During Scherzel's lectures in
Germany he showed on a blackboard how the dif-
ferent nations using different letters wrote down
their thoughts. He wrote as required, either with
the right or left hand, showing at the same time that
the letters written with the right hand can also be
written with the left, and vice versa. He was vig-
orously applauded when he began to write with both
132 M:ODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
hands at once. In this way he wrote first to the

right, then the same to the left, then with the left
hand to the left, and with the right band at the same
time to the right; then he used the so-called mirror
writing; that is, reversed, writing with left hand to
the right in a horizontal line, and with the right
also in a horizontal line, but upside down. It was
wonderful to see him write Chinese, in presence of
one well versed in that language ; then Arabic,
reversed, and then to see him stenograph with both
hands moving toward one another and from each
other. The third number of his programme is well
worthy of our consideration, namely, how to pre-
serve and strengthen memory in general and lan-
guage memory in particular. The question whether
memory is innate, he answered thus: 'To have a
sharp and faithful memory, we must learn it as we
learn to write.'
''As far as the difficulty of learning Foreign lan-
guage is concerned, it lies, according to Scherzel, not
in the lack of memory~ but mostly in the lack of
desire to learn them. One language we do not wish
to study because it is too easy ; another because it
is too hard. We are, however, mistaken, for those
seeming too easy; that is, those that are related to
our mother tongue are the more difficult, if we wish
to speak them correctly. With love for the study
we can learn a Foreign language in a remarkably
short time, if we note, besides the most import-
ant rules, only the most necessary words ; in
most languages 2,000, or at the most 3,000,
even in languages which count 20,000 to 30,000
INSTANTANEOUS MEMORIZATION. 133
words. These 2,000 to 3,000 words are quite

sufficient for any ernryday conversation, the other
words are only unnecessary ballast to the memory.
Scherzel closes his lectures with an interesting dis-
course in not less than thirty different' languages."
*The trick of Instantaneous Memorization has
been performed during the past twenty-five years by
a number of leading conjurers. The first one to
make use of it in tbe United States was Patrizio,
now traveling in Spanish America. Mr. Hatton, of
Brooklyn, employs it with fine effect in his programme
of Mental Phenomena. Prof. Roberth, of Germany,
made quite a success with it a few year.;.; ago, and
he no doubt developed it to a much greater degree
than any other performer.
The following feat of the conjurer has caused
considerable speculation. It is to run over or look
through a pack of cards only twice and at once tell
which card of the pack has been removed and
secreted. It is only necessary to add quickly and
correctly. Counting the spots on the cards, the ace
as one, the Jack eleven) the Queen twelve, the King
thirteen, and the others as they are; there are 364
spots in a pack of fifty-two cards. Any person can
take the pack, shuffle them and draw out a card,
handing you the pack, which, as soon as you receive,
run over rapidly in your hands, adding up the spots
· on every card; if the pack consists of fifty-two cards,
deduct the sum from 364:; if it is a Euchre pack,
deduct the sum of all the points from 284 ; the result
gives the number of spots the selected card has.
*See Appep.dix, Note 1.
13± . MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WOR~(S.
Now to ascertain the color of the card, go once

more through the entire pack and notice which suit
lacks the missing card or number, thus revealing the
card to you. Suppose the nine of hearts is taken
from a pack of fifty-two cards, the remaining fifty-
one cards will add up 355 spots or points; subtract
this from 364, and you have a nine as the card to be
guessed; looking over the pack again to see. which
nine is missing, you find it is the nine of hearts. If
it is a Euchre pack, the sum of all remaining cards
would be 275, subtracted from 284 ; there remain
nine; to find which one, proceed as above. This is
but one of the many tricks of instantaneous memo-
rization."
CHAPTER IX.
SECOND-SIGHT AND ANTI-SPIRITUALIST ARTISTS.
The B.ilabregas, Roucleres, Merlins-Prof. l\farvelle-Anna Eva

Fay, her exciting Chicago experience-The Bald wins-The
Steens.
Second sight is a. superstition or belief, once com-
mon, signifying a spectral or shadow appearance.
Certain persons called seers or wizards, were sup-
posed to possess a supernatural gift by which they
foresaw future events, or perceived distant objects as
if they were present. But second-sight in the full
glare of modern sc~nce has faded away and there
only remains to tell of this worn-out superstition,
the feats of conjurers known by the same name,
which are merely a code of signals, or questions and
answers made up between parties, and diligently
studied till failure is impossible. This has been
fully elucidated by its :first modern performer,
Houdin, later by Robert Heller, and since then by
many others.
Among the leading second-sight artists of the past
ten years in America are the ever-popular Balabre-
gas. Mrs. Balabrega is what might be called a
genius. Nothing is too difficult for her to attempt.
Not only does she possess musical talent, but she
135
also sho\VS great skill and patience in handling her

large flock of trained canary birds, which are the
delight of all who see them. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Balabrega, in developing second-sight to the per-
fection they have, show a great ,deal of study and
close application, besides cultivated minds. The
wife is the first American lady to make a brilliant
success of it in South America, where she has created
a most decided sensation, and received unlimited
praise from the press. There probably is not
another couple of professionals traveling who can
give such a varied, refined and pleasing entertain-
ment as they do.
Two bright artists who excel particularly in
second-sight are Mildred and Harry Rouclere.
Mr. Rouclere was born in Paterson, N. J., June
3, 1866. Like a number of other professionals,
he was early interested in magic, and at the
age of eight had a local reputation as a boy
mag101an. He entered the profession in 1878
as a means of obtaining a livelihood, doing a short
act in magic. After passing several years in differ-
ent companies, doing trapeze and acrobatic acts, he
played the vaudevilles as a juggler, showing a grow-
ing genius. He finally joined E. 0. Taylor, the
magician, to do his juggling act, and at that time
began studying second-sight. He commenced to
work out an original system, which, after many
months of careful study, was completed, and it is no
doubt to-day the most perfect of its kind in the world.
It is unlimited in its capacity on account of being
able to go from the silent system to the talking sys-
tem and baQl~ again without detection.
SECOND-SIG-HT ARTISTS. 137
The professor played a three years· engagement

with Taylor's Company, and was then connected
with a number of the leading specialty companies
traveling throughout the States. He and his wife
are now playing the leading vaudevilles of America,
and are the only artists in their line now in the
United States who have and a1'e playing these thea-
tres two and three weeks of return dates at every
house. They are the only performers who stipulate
in their contracts with managers that, if their act
does not create a sensation, they do not want their
salary-rather an original idea, and something very
few would care to do.
Miss Mildred Rouclere is of Yery attractive
appearance, and is quite a genius, having been con-
ne0ted with a number of dramatic and comedy com-
panies, playing singing, and dancing soubrette parts.
Her wonderful powers of memory were improved and
cultivated by close application to studying parts.
She is undoubtedly the only lady on the stage who
can memorize a letter, or a page of a book, by only
reading it once, and is, in reality, the only lady
lightning calculator before the public professionally.
She can figure up a sum of twelve or fourteen rows
of figures and call off the correct result instanta-
neously, something no one else does, and which far
exceeds some clever amateurs, who are able to add
up four and six rows at a glance. A peculiar exam-
ple of her powers of retaining any one in her memory
is the following: Whileplaying in Troy, New York,
a gentleman who acted upon their committee had a
charm attached to his watch chain with an inscrip-
{"'
,..··· ·.'
THE ROUCLEKES.
SE90ND·SIGHT ARTISTS. 139
tion in Greek upon it, which she translated to the

satisfaction of every one present. Over seven
months later they were again playing at the same
theatre in Troy, and the same gentleman happened
to be upon the committee to assist, an<l inquired if
he could ask Miss Mildred a question, which was of
course granted; and without any cue or assistance
from her husband she _gave a correct translation of
the Greek inscription, and also told the gentleman
the year, month and day of his birth, which she had
told him before, thus remembering these peculiari-
ties in a stranger after a lapse of over seven months.
In addition to his other acquirements as a magi-
cian, Prof. Rouclere is an exceedingly skillful juggler.
An entertaining couple who have made quite an
extensive tour of the United States, are the Morritts,
from England. They did not succeed as well here as
their American brethren, undoubtedly from the fact
that they are not quick enough. Charles Morritt is
known as a very skillful sleight-of-hand performer,
and with his talented wife have been entertaining
audiences at Mr. Maskelynes, in London, for the past
year since their visit here.
Two clever artists in second-sight are Dr. Merlin
and wife. For eighteen months in the city of Bos-
ton, they have given their specialty of second-sight,
eight times daily, which our readers will agree is
remarkable. It is certainly the longest run second-
sight has ever had at any one place, by any operator
in this or any other country. Their system is easy
and natural, and like the Balabregas and the Rou-
cleres they interest and entertain their audiences.
140 llIODERN llIAGICIANS AND THEIR WUHKS.
The doctor has quite a reputation as a skillful anti-

spiritualistic performer, and with his entertaining
wife has traveled extensively over our country. To
show what an amount of study and research is
necessary for a second-sight artist, we give place to
the following from the columns of the New York
Clipper, of recent date:
"Margaret Hayden, wife of Dr. A. Merlin, pre-
sented her husband with a rare and valuable gold
ring last week. The ring is of solid gold, and is sup-
posed to have been taken from the finger of an
Egyptian mummy, whose body was embalmed over
two thousand years ago. On tbe inne1· band of the
ring appear the twelve signs of the Zodiac, raised
in gold one eighth of an inch, which would go to
prove that its original owner was one versed in the
science of astrology, or that the ring was worn as a
talisman or charm. 'l'he ring was presented to Mar-
garet Hayden by a JYir. Morey, of Boston, Mass., a
gentleman who has made the study of ancient Egyp-
tian, Roman and Greek coins tbe hobby of his life,
and is the owner of a large collection of ancient
coins. .Mr. Morey, having heard of Miss Hayden's
\rnnderful exhibitions of mind-reading and psychom-
etry, wagered with a friend that he could present
an article which Miss Hayden could not describe.
His friend accepted the wager, and when the test
took place Miss Hayden, while blindfolded and her
back towards the audience, described the ring in
such an accurate manner, speaking of the twelve
signs of the Zodiac, and stating their names as is
understood in the science of astrology, and also men-
SECOND-SIGHT ARTISTS. 141
tioning the fact that the ring was originally worn on
the finger of an Egyptian mummy, and other facts
concerning it, which were known only by Mr. Morey,
that it is needless to add that Mr. Morey was dumb-
founded by her description, and presented Miss Hay-
den with what he considered the most valuable relic
of Egyptian antiquity among his great collection."
An exceedingly clever performer in the anti-
spiritualistic line, is Prof. Marvelle. He has dis-
played a great deal of genius in his tricks and appa-
ratus, which has not been confined to magic alone,
as he has taken out valuable patents on some
mechanical contrivances particularly adapted to
railroads and large manufacturing establishments.
He excels in anti-spiritualistic ,\ro1·k, such as
rope-tying, slate-writing, materializations, table-
lifting and mind-reading; and many of his friends
will remember how he has made them pay the
expense of suppers, because they doubted his ability
to find any concealed article.
J. Randall Brown is at present traveling with his
entertainment, which he has given successfully for
a great many years. His tricks are all of the anti-
spiritualistic order, and he is assisted by his wife in
his cabinet seances.
There is no person living who has created such a
furore in the spiritualistic world as Miss Anna Em
Fay ; in person, a slender, almost fragile creature,
gray eyes, flaxen hair, always ricbly dressed, and
with half a score of rings set with glittering dia-
monds, she invariably has made a most bewildering
sensation. No woman has ever trod the stage who
i 42 l\10DimN l\IAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
possessed more confidence in herself and her

language, than this little, vivacious, almost enchant-
ing personage. The most noted scientists of England,
'vhom she s.o cleverly duped, called her a very
spfrituelle being. Her astonishing career, both in
Europe and America, has been fully explained by
Truesdell in his book," The Bottom Facts of Spirit-
ualism."
On Sunday morning, March 6, 1887, the residents
of Chicago were surprised. to see the enormous ad ver-
tisements of Miss Anna, which appeared in all the
daily papers. The space taken up by these was
larger than any amusement enterprise had ever
occupied before. They called paT'ticular attention to
her "Company of eminent English Mediums in
Spiritualism, no cabinet used whatever.:' The enter-
tainment took place at Battery D Armory, chairs
being put in for about four thousand, and there
was room for about two thousand persons more.
The general admission was advertised as fifteen and
twenty-five cents, but on arriving at the door, seats
were seventy-five cents.- the same old story. vVhat
happened inside, and the result, is best told in the
words of the Chicago Tribune, in its issue of Monday,
March 7, 1887.
"The medium's hands were firmly bound with
knotted cords. Stepping from the cabinet, he held
them up before the audience and said :
"'Ladies and gentlemen, please examine those
knots.'
"'Ches-knots!' yelled a man in the crowd.
Which remark was received with· an appreciative
howl by the 6,000 people there assembled.
'·It was at the big spiritualistic show held at Battery
D last night-the biggest show of the season. It
was probably the biggest and most successful spirit-
ualistic seance ever held in the United States-suc-
cessful, that is, from a financial point of view.
"Battery D was literally packed to the doors,
probably not less than 6,000 people being present.
As early as seven o'clock there was a long line of
people at the ticket-window, and by 7:30 there was a
double line extending around the corner and down
the sidewalk to the Exposition Building, a distance
of about 300 feet. The ad \'ertise<l price of ad mis-
sion was twenty-five and fifteen cents, but when the
crowd began to gather the price bobbed up to
fifty cents, the pretense being that this was
for reserved seats. There was no order inside,
the two or three boy ushers being utterly power-
less to guide the inpouring army. Before 8 the
place was packed like a sardine box, an<l men were
clinging to the gallery-posts, window-s:ills, and other
phces that afforded a possible view of the stage.
Mr. Pingree, the juvenile husband of the medium-
in-cbief, Miss Anna Eva Fay, had charge of the
ticket-selling business, and long after the hall was
full continued calmly selling ''reserved seats" to the
still waiting crowd. Hundreds bought tickets and
tl'ied to get into the hall, but after passing the door-
keeper and getting beyond the screen which hid
the throng from those outside found they could not
even get standing room. Owing to the great crowd,
it was impossible to get back to the box-office to
demand a return of the money, so Mr. Pingree con-
tinued to take in the half-dollars. Finally, when

the struggle and clamor became so great that no
fu!'ther sales could be made without the interference
of those who wanted their money returned, Mr.
Pingree glided out with his $3,000 or so, and soon
thereafter appeared smiling on the stage.
"The attraction for this enormous crowd was a
Spiritualistic seance, by the 'World-Famous Indescrib-
able Phenomenon,' .Miss Fay, and Miss Fay's very
clever advertising was to thank for such an attend-
ance. Dodgers describing her performance were
lavishly distributed in the hotels and saloons yester-
day, and the Sunday papers fairly blazed with her
announcements, illustrated by pictures of 'Bel-
shazzar's Feast,' 'Joseph's Dream,' and other histor-
ical Spiritualistic phenomena. Everything was to
be done in the light. 'A large piano,' said the adver-
tisement,' ~will rise clear from the floor, and is played
upon without a living soul touching it'; 'the medium
will be raised from her seat and float in mid-air';
'tables will float in mid-air'; 'spirit hands and
faces will be seen and recognized by friends'; and
a lot more of the same kind-all to take place under
the electric light on the open stage.
"About 8:30 a man with a parboiled countenance
and the general appearance of a Bowery tough in a
~lress-suit stepped upon the stage and made a speech.
He told in florid language how Miss Fay had been
tested by 'all the great scientists of Europe' and
had' astounded the world.' 'The crucial test of the
galvanometer' (whatever that may be) had been
applied, and the lady had come out victorious. She
had in her possession a 'parchment of sheep-skin'
testifying to all this, said parchment being signed
by 'Dr. Crookes, F. R. S., and others.' 'The liter-
ati of Europe,' said the boiled-faced man, 'have all
signed it.'
"By and by the people got impatient and yelled :
"'We paid for our seats!' '01ear the aisle!' and
a dozen other calls of the same kind.
"Then a woman near the center got up on a chair
and made a speech to those around her. She was
evidently mad about something. At the same time a
row took place at the south door and blows were
exchanged. The man on the stage, continuing with
his speech, requested some persons to come on the
stage and act as a committee of investigation. After
some delay, two Spiritualists and a reporter got on
the platform. The crowd m~antime yelled 'Clear
the aisle!' in an almost continuous chorus.
"Some sort of order was obtained about 9 o'clock,
and Miss Fay, the world-renowned, in gorgeous
evening dress, with a train a yard long on the floor,
swept over tbe stage. She is a dainty little blue-
eyed, diamon'l-bedecked piece of humanity-at least
she seemed to have lots of diamonds last night. A
necklet of diamonds, each as big as a bean, glistened
on her white throat, and several others sparkled on
her fingers.
"There was a cabinet, of course. The committee
bound Miss Fay's hands and feet in approved style,
after which she was put in the cabinet. In a few
seconds she was heard playing a tambourine that had
been placed on her knees. Then the curtain was
thrown back and she was found bound as before. A

dozen or more of the same sort of tricks were per-
formed, tricks that almost any one of the thirty
clairvoyants on the West Side can do at the drop of
a hat. Indeed, many local mediums could gi\'e Miss
Fay points in anything she attempted last night.
"Next came some card tricks. Mr. Pingree held
cards with the faces to the audience, and Miss Fay,
from the recesses of the cabinet, called out their
names. This trick is one that has been very popular
in the dime museums this winter, but it would pay
Miss Fay to get a few further lessons in it. D' Al vini,
the juggler, can do it incomparably better in Jess
time.
" Then one of the committee was shut in the cabi-
net with the medium. That member chanced to be
the reporter, and his report of the affair is that the
medium simply took one of her hands out of the loop
by which she was presumed to be bound and
scr3.tched some marks on his cuffs with a pencil.
"Then three chairs were placed in front of the cabi-
net, and George Ober, a volunteer member who had
been added to the committee and who turned out to
be a skeptic, took the middle seat, with Miss Fay on
his left and another female medium on his right.
The three were enveloped in print muslin, as men
are when they get their hair cut at · a barber's,
except that the one piece of muslin covered all three,
leaving only their heads exposed. The committee
said there was nothing in the cabinet but some
flowers and a guitar and tambourine. The cabinet
was closed-when, presto! hands were thrust out and
SEC0"1D-SIGI-l1' ARTISTS. 147
flowers flung on the stage. Mr. Ob~ir subsequently

proclaimed to the audience-after the show was over
-that the women held his hands and talked sweet
to him to keep him quiet, and that the thing was a
very cheap sleight-of-hand trick.
"Tlie Bowery young man also performed some
cabinet tricks with his hands tied. There was to
have been a third act, but the assembly was so bois-
terous and guyed the performers so unmercifully
tllat the show stopped short at 10:15, being then,
according to :Miss Fay, only half over. Wben Miss
Fay began some ordinary table-rapping tricks, rais-
ing a light table by her hand~ and so on, the specta-
tors howled derisively.
" ' Chestnuts! ' said one.
"' Rats!' said another.
"'"Where's your piano in the air?' asked a third.
"'Give IJS a song,' said a fourth.
" Good hand to <l raw to - three knaves,' said
another.
"'Hello, Balshazzar ! Give us a bit o' writin' on
the wall,' yelled some one else.
" 'I'd like to see the ghost of my half-dollar,'
shouted another.
"When Miss Fay and her assistants finally left the
stage in disgust, a portion of the crowd clambered up
to examine the cabinet, and in about fiye minutes
cabinet, scenery, and properties were a complete
wreck. There was no row over it; the crowd simply
and coolly tore the things down and pulled them to
pieces.
"'Without question it was the most impudent exhi-
bition ever given in the city."
148 MQDERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
The Inter Ocean of same date says: " As large an

assembly of fools as ever gathered in a hall was seen
at Battery D Armory last night. For howling
stupidity it was not to be surpassed. A drove of
donkeys braying for fodder could not have made a
more discordant din, nor have exhibited less sense of
its own interests. The occasion of this heterogene-
ous and mob-like gathering was the appearance of
Miss Anna Eva Fay in a series of so-called spirituql-
istic manifestations. Much before 8 o'clock several
thousand people, the majority of them unruly to a
boisterous degree, surged into the hall, and, paying
no attention to the fact that the forward seats were
reserved, overwhelmed the ushers, took places to
suit themselves, and swarmed pell-mell into the aisles,
stubbornly indifferent to the rights or comfort of
others. In the vain hope of somewhat regulating
the confused state of affairs; the management had
the doors closed against the hundreds of others strug-
gling to get in. Failing in this, the doors were
re-opened, and another in-surging crowd gave its
force toward creating pandemonium.. After wait-
ing twenty minutes beyond the time set for begin-
ning the performance a representative of Miss Fay
made a dignified appeal to the throng for order.
Finally when the programme was opened a blatant
fellow with a V-shaped bald head and a close-cut
chin beard began waving his hands and clamoring
to have the aisles cleared, a feat it was impossible
for the management to perform, but which the fel-
low insisted upon, to the interruption of the per-
formance. His braying set all the other asses
SECOND-SJGHT AKrISTS. 1±9
going, and bedlam reigned during the entire first

part of the programme. After this the best people
of the audience retired disgusted, having been quite
unable to see or understand Miss Fay's very inter-
esting and really extraordinary feats or manifesta-
tions. Half a dozen policemen were needed in the
hall. Such a mob is only capable of understanding
theargumentthat is enforced by the club. Miss Fay,
despite the worse than unfarnrable conditions against
'vhich she worked, gave exhibitions that baffled the
wisdom of the well chosen committee on the stage
with her. The facts that all she does occurs in the
full lfght of the stage, and that most of her feats are
performed without the aid of the cabinet, make her
entertainment unusually bewildering and attractive,
giving some color to the claim that she is aided by
an" unseen force," whatever that force may be. The
exhibition is one that the intelligent public would
enjoy under favorable conditions, and when Miss
Fay appears in Chicago again it is hoped she will
not be overwhelmed by a concourse of idiots."
Two very clever entertainers in the anti-spiritual-
istic line are Prof. S. S. Bald win and his wife, Clara
Baldwin, who have traveled quite extensively in
our· country, but for quite a number of years have
been traveling thro11ghout the Orient, and at pres-
ent are having much success in Australia, where his
bills state that he is giving "the funniest 1mtertai11-
ment on earth."
Before closing this chapter we, perhaps, ought to
mention a couple of performers who style themselves
"Prof. Charles and Martha Steen." An idea of
their performance can be gathered from the follow-
150 MODl<~RN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORK S.
ing extract taken from the columns of the Chicago

Tribune, at tbe time of their engagement in the
Central Music Hall, of Chicago, some time ago:
"A little thin man and a large fat woman, who
are known as 'Professor Charles and Martha Steen,'
and who call themselves ' the exposers of spiritual-
ism and mind-rea<lers'-whatever that may mean--
gave a so-called 'colossal silver entertainment' to
about 400 people in Central Music Hall last evening.
The entertainment was supposed to be an expose of
the tricks of spiritualism. 'Spiritualism is a fraud
and not a religion,' Mr. Steen says, 'and anything
any spiritualist can do I can do. I work by sci-
ence, and science can beat spiritualism every time.'
" At least three~fourths of the audience consisted
of local spiritualists and professional mediums-
people who may be seen practicing their religion
every Sunday evening at materializing seances in
half a dozen halls on the West Side. The proceed-
ings began by the appointment of a committee of
se\'en to sit upon the platform and inspect the tricks,
but before the show was half over two of the commit-
tee stepped off the platform and informed the report-
ers present that the other five were in league with
the 'professor.' The stout woman was blindfolded,
and, by the aid of her husband, the professor, she
managed to tell the denomination of playing cards and
perform other tricks of the kine!. Inasmuch as there
are from thirty to fifty professional mediums in this
city who could give the professor and his wife points
in such displays, the performance could hardly be
called a success."
For Heller's Second-Sight Code, see Appendix, Note 4.
CHAPTER X.
THE VANISHING LADY: "COCOON;" "CREMATION,"
- AND OTHER ILLUSIONS.
The Vanishing Lady-The Magic Husband-The Cocoon-

Alexander H9rrmann's Decapitations-Vanek's Decapitation
-Cremation-The " Mystery of She"-The " Lady from an
Envelope" -The Spirit Bell of Prof. Alk.ahazar - The
''Am phi trite" Illusion.
No illusions of the past ten years have attracted
more attention than those introduced by Prof.
Buatier -The Vanishing Lady, and The Cocoon.
The first notice taken by the English papers of the
trick of The Vanishing Lady was the following:
"The Figaro, the most popular newspaper of the
French metropolis, invited a very select number of
notabilities last night to be present at the first
appearance in Paris of a marvelous conjurer and of
a singularly complete Russian Choral Society. The
name of the 'illusioniste,' as he calls himself, is
Buatier de Kolta, and he is a Hungarian by birth.
His tricks were all original and perfectly incompre-
hensible even to the adepts assembled to criticise
them. I will only attempt to describe one, which
thoroughly puzzled all present. After spreading a
newspaper on the. floor he placed a chair upon it,
and then asked a young lady to sit down. He threw
15l
152 MODERN ).UGJCIANS AND THEJI{ "WONKS.
over her a piece of silk, which barely covered her

from head to foot. He then rapidly removed tbe
drapury, an<l the chair was empty. As 8oon as the
amazement of the spectators gave them time to
applaud, the .voung lady walked on from the side,
and bowed her acknowledgments. There certainly
was no trnp in the floor, the chair was of the ordi-
nary kind, and the trick was done in a strong light.
The lady, in fact, disappeared before the very eyes
of the audience; but so quickly was the trick done
that no one present saw her escape. Dexterity could
surely no further go."
Buatier, the first person who introduced the van-
ishing Jat!y, undoubtedly performed it better than
any other person. He has been credited as being
the inventor of the trick, but we learn on very good
authority that this statement is not borne out by
the facts. Diligent inquiry shows that he purchased
it from a poor Parisian mechanic at a ridiculously
low price, the in\'entor being compelled to sell it to
get food to keep himself and family alive. This is
only another instance where management and skill
have taken all credit away from the inventor, some-
thing very common in the magical business. :M:r.
:M:askelyne, in introducing Prof. Buatier to his
London audiences, made the remark that the trick
was very common in the hands of all classes of
professionals, but that instead of being vanished by
them she was simply murdered. This was very
true, because not over half a dozen professionals
did the trick as it should have been done, and there
were hundreds who attempted it.
THE VANISHING LADY. 153
The vanishing lady was first introduced in this

country by Professor Adolph Seeman, son of the
renowned Professor, Baron Hartwig Seeman. He
'
produced it twice each evening at two theatres in
Chicago, and made quite a success with it.
An amusing occurrence took place at the town
hall, in Longton, England, where the conjurer, Mr.
Dexter, was exhibiting it. The vanishing lady was
advertised to disappearat ten o'clock. At nine fi.fty-
fi ve, as Dexter was Cl'ossing the stage, he suddenly
disappeared. By mistake he stepped on the trap
prepared for the vanishing lady. When ten o'clock
can:re, the spectators ceased to wonder how it was
done.
Before describing the trick of the vanishing lady,
it might be well to speak of a fix a would-be con-
jurer once found himself in, in a dime museum in
Chicago. The proprietors of this museum had gone
to considerable expense, and issued a Yet'Y fine
lithograph, representing the illusion, in which they
showed the chair on the newspaper, and a gentle-
man in the act of covering the lady seated on the
chair with a large silk coYer. It attracted consider-
able attention, and the fi.l'st time the illusion was
performed at the museum, there were present several
conjurers among the audience, besides a good many
amateurs. To the surprise of all, the conjurer, who
,V-as unknown to fame, and was evidently making
his b()W to an audience for the first time, introduced
the antiquated Sphinx table, the mirrors of which
were not well fitted. The lady stood on the top of
this table and was covered with a large sack that
had been fastened to the top of the table, and which

was pulled up around her by a string running up to
the ceiling and going over a pulley there, and down
behind to an assistant. The lady was, of course, to
go through a trap in the table while concealed by
the sack; the signal was given, the string let loose,
down came the sack, and, to the surprise of the
audience and the discomfiture of the performer, there
stood the lady in full view of the spectators, who
could only see the upper part of her body, the lower _
half of course being invisible, as it was concealed
by the mirrors; the trap in table was not large
enough to allow her to get through quickly. '.rhe
audience left at once, making many remarks not
complimentary to the conjurer nor the management
of the museum.
The ordinary manner of working the trick of the
vanishing lady, is to have a chair made so that the
seat lets down backwards or sideways on spring
hinges that throw it back into position, after the
person has gone through. A little lever on the side
of the chair underneath keeps the seat solidly in
position. The back of the chair is either upholstered,
or of thick double cane, in order that it can not be
seen through. Hanging down the back is a wire
frame which can be thrown up over the back of the
chair, to represent the head of tbe person when it is
covered with a cloth. \Vhen this cover is removed
the frame is thrown back behind the chair back. In
some chairs this must be done with the hand, in -
others it is done by stepping on a lever at the back
of one of the hind legs of the chair, which works a
wire or a string stapled up the back of the chair,
and thus throws back the framework of the head
and shouldel's. A newspaper. is cut to fit the trap
in the stage, and laid on the floor, the other uncut
half of it is pulled O\'er to the front and chair placed
on the cut part, which is cut around only three sides
of it.
Lady" seats herself on the chair, and the performer
covers her with a large silk covering, that covers
her and chair completely; at the moment of cover-
ing she lets the framework come up 'over her head,
and pulls the lever under the chair, at the same
time rising 'slightly to' let her own weight off the
chair, and the seat goes down with the trap, she
with it through the trap which is shut at once, the
performer in the meantime standing or holding on
the silk covering to prevent it being blown up by the
wind from trap. At proper moment he takes the
cover off and the lady has disappeared to come on
smiling from the side.
In doing this trick in any room without a stage,
the same chair can be used, or, what is better, to
make it so that the back of it opens, and the lady
goes directly backwards, a large ornamental screen
must be used. This screen has three or more folds,
each fold at least six feet high and from two and a
half to three feet wide, three feet the best. Cover
all the folds of this screen with any fancy pattern of
cloth ; cretonne, or fancy Japanese patterns. In the
lower middle part of the middle fold, make a com-
mon double flap -door, opening backwards on strong
spring hinges at the side of each flap, which are
156 lllODERN 111AGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
screwed to braces or cross-pieces in frame. This is

all neatly covered and cut out so it will work well
and easily, and must not be seen at a distance of
three feet. Bring the screen on the stage first, show-
ing it both back and front, and place it in position,
bringing the side folds around to the front, to
inclose a space as much as possibie, and to prevent
people who are close to the sides from seeing; in
some cases it will be necessary 'to have several folds
for this purpose. Place a borrowed newspaper on
the floor, and place the chair on that, having both
well back up to the middle fold of screen. Lady
seats herself on the chair, performer takes the silk
covering and standing up in front of the lady, holds
his hands wide apart, as though to cover her and to
show the size of co\·er, letting the cloth reach down
to the floor; at this moment the lady pulls up the
head work at the back, and swings around off the
chair or goes through the back of it, and quickly
makes her disappearance through the door in the
screen, and stands behind it or makes her way off
from that point. This must be and can be done in
a moment, and the instant she has gone performer
drops the cover over the chair. The remainder is
the same· as with the trap chair. This manner of
working it h3:s in many cases some advantages.
A German professor has written a poem on the
advisability of ladies having husbands who are pro-
fessional magicians, bringing in the vanishing lady
idea.
Tlie nicest husband in the
land
Is one who lives by sleight·
of-hand.
At morn, for instance-
one, two, three,
Coffee and cream are flow-
ing free;
And with a few more
rr.agic thumps,
He fills the sugar-bowl
with lumps,
While saueage, rolls and
all of that,
He takes, of course, from his old hat.
Though there may be of wood a dearth,
He builds a fire upon the hearth;
And turns a pair of worn-out shoes
To beef as good as one could choose.
All else that at a feast would please,
He from a nightcap takes with ease;
And without trouble or
ado,
Himself can roast, or boil
or stew.
At noon and evening 'tis
the same,
She cares for naught, the
lucky dame.
Whate'er is needed for her
use,
His • magic wand will
quick produce;
Fresh toilets in the newest
style
Are ready in a little while;
Wraps, gold and jewels; in short, all
That she may long for, great or small.
Scarcely has she the wish complete,
Before he lays it at her feet.
158 MODER!'! MAGIOIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
And yet-you'll wonder it should be-

The two will sometimes disagree,
And whatsoe'r he may
provide,
She will remain unsatis-
fied.
In such case, as in others,
too,
His sleight of-hand will
help him through;
If unendurable grows she,
A cloth thrown o'er her-
one, two, three-
And silently she disap-
pears;
The household war no
more one hears.
The most ingenius illusion Buatier has introduced
was certainly that of the Cocoon, and the perfection
of that he owes in a great measure to the mechan-
ical skill of Mr. :Maskelyne, of London. This has
been and is still a leading feature with all prominent
conjurers. A patent for the same was taken out in
England, but not in this country. Several explana-
tions of it have been given from time to time in the
press, but none of them have been correct. The
true explanation of it is as follows: The performer
stretches a ribbon across the stage, looping it over a
hook at each side. To each end of the ribbon is
attached a small bag filled with sand, which has pre-
vi()usly been examined by the audience. He then
calls their attention to a framework of light wood or
cardboard about three or four feet square and a foot
deep. There is no cover to it, and the bottom is
formed by a large piece of plain paper stretched
over it. After· this is also examined it is placed
THE COCOON. 159
in the center of the stage, the ribbon is pulled

down at about the middle of it and is fastened
to one or two hooks in the top part of the frame,
which is lifted up. The sacks at the ends of the
ribbon apparently keep it suspended horizontally in
the air, some distance above the floor. The per-
former draws on the paper a sketch of the silk-worm,
and as soon as he waves his wand the paper bursts
and a large, bright, silk cocoon is seen in the frame.
A stool is placed underneath it, the frame lowered
by slacking up the ribbons, and as soon as it touches
the stool it bursts and from the inside of the cocoon
appears a charming woman dressed in the costume
of a butterfly.
The cocoon is made of fine silk and is stretched
over an oval, or rather round, framework of iron.
It is large enough to allow a person to sit in it Turk-
ish fashion, and opens on one side. This cocoon is
hung on two fine wires, on the other ends of which
are fastened the proper counterweights to balance
the woman and the frames. These wires leacl up
through the stage
to the flies and
o Ye r rollers or
pulleys to the
counterweights.
After the per-
former has placed
the ribbon in po-
sition he places"---------'---+------->
t he framework ~
on which the pa-------~~-~-----
per is stretched TIIE COCOOX.
in the middle of the stage on the carpet, and while he

is pulling the ribbon <lown to fasten to it, the assist-
ant below opens a trap in the stage floor, and a flap
cut in the carpet, and pushes up the cocoon which
contains the woman and \Vhich the performer fast-
ens in the framework. Now he has only to touch
his hand to the framework an<l his assistants pull
down the counterweights, thereby raising the frame-
work and the ribbon, which no\V' apparently sup-
ports all. The rest is clear. At the proper signal
the lady bursts the paper and the assistants lower
all onto the stool, and the trick is done. Some per-
formers use a windlass to wind up the wires. When
proper wires are used on a brightly iUuminated stage,
they are absolutely invisible. ·
For a number of years the masterpieces of Alex-
ander Herrmann have
been his two decapita-
tions. The first one he
usually used in his mag-
ical sketch, where a
countryman with "a
sorter buzzing" in his
head has it cured by
cutting off the offend-
ing member. The sub-
ject takes a seat in a
high back, upholstered
chair. The long back
THE DECAPI'rATION CHAIR.
of the chair is thickly
padded and has two silk cords running crosswise on
it, one from the inner edge of either arm up to the
HERRMANN's DECAPITATION. 161
top corner of the opposite side, thus making a broad

X. The subject being seated in a chair, a large
helmet or "receiver" is placed on his head. This
helmet is of any bright metal, has a vizor in front, and
is open at the back. After it is placed over his
head the vizor is lifted to show that the head is
there, but in reality a dummy head is seen, made up
to represent the subject. As the performer closes
the vizor he tilts the helmet forward a little, while
the subject at the same moment draws his head
out of it and presses it back against the back of the
chair, which gives way under the pressure and a
triangular space opens, the two sides of which are
formed by the lower portion of the X in the pad-
ding, the base being on a line with the chair arm,
where this swinging portion of the back is hinged
on. On this flap, the opening of which is concealed
by the receiver and a towel placed in front of it to
hide the blood (?), rests the
head of the subject. The
receiver is now removed and
placed on a small cabinet, II .~.=:::::;.,=
the towel being left at the
neck of the subject in the /I' \
I J t@~ D
chair. In a moment the q· ~~
receiver is removed from the ~I1 (11~-@JJ~

top of the cabinet, an<l the ~- ~J
head is seen resting there; l<--.~rn~" 1,
it moves and speaks, and is ~~'1
r~
",ii I\ \I'
the head of another person ~ 1LJ~ ::i
made up to represent the .~

first one, and who sits be- DECAPITATION CABINET.
1G2 MODERN MAGICIANS ;\ND THEIR WORKS.
hind the mirror in the cabinet, and pops his head

up through a hole in the top of it as soon as the
receiver is placed there. This cabinet is shaped like
a safe, and contains several apparently deep shelves.
In reality the shelves arc shallow, a mirror of proper
size being placed in it, in such a position as to lea\·e
about four-fifths of the cabinet vacant.
The very latest decapitation is the one now
being used by Herrmann in his "Black Art."
In "Black Art" the stage is peculiarly set, the
interior, from the first to the third groove, being com-
pletely hung in black velvet or felt, back) top and sides.
In place of the ordinary foot-lights a row of gas-jets
is usually placed across the stage just on a line with
the inside of the boxes, and another row carried
around, but outside of the arched entrance to the
black chamber. The effect of this arrangement of
light and shadow throws
• ;:;w .\II// ~IJ//, 1\\11, \Ill wi '''I {JI/ ,Ill/ ,u,, th
I t . t .
~, <: e sage mo nnpene-
~ ~ trable gloom. Herrmann
;appears suddenly clothed
~in white. Then Mephis-
topheles appears so sud-
~ denly that it semns as if
~ he had jumped out of
s_~ ~space, but really coming
-, ~through an opening in
;,, "1, "i""" ,11 , .,,, 1,., .,,,. '"" ,, .,,,, "'the black cloth.. Then
BLACK AR1' DECAPITATION. comes a light cloak and
a pretty woman in evening dress. This latter being
Mrs. Herrmann, dressed in a peculiar way. She
first clad herself in a black domino of the same
RERRMANN's DECAPITATION. 163
material as the stage hangings, leaving her arms and

head free. Over this she slips a framework of light
wire covered with a fine evening dress. This frame-
work has no back and she can slip out from it
behind, leaving the shell with dress. For the lady
to sit on, two pedestals sud<lenly appear. These are
white, and appear by having a co\•er of black pulled
from them quickly. One of these is about two feet
high and the other about five feet high. The lady
sits on the smaller one and J\fephisto orders Herr-
mann to cut her head off. After some demurring
he finally seizes a carving knife, places a light cloak
over the lady's shoulders and cuts off her head.
Taking it with one hand under the chin an<l the
other holdiug her hair, he carries it across the stage
and places it on the other pedestal, she walking
along with him, having slipped out behind the frame-
work, leaving it upright on the smaller pedestal.
She walks across the stage in her black domino,' or
behind a black screen shoulder high, only her head
showing, and finally stopping with her head on the
pedestal that is about five feet high. To replace,
the same gliding back is again employed, and she
again resumes her dress case, and the trick is over.
A San Francisco -\vriter gives the following de-
scription of the decapitation introduced by Vanek:
"The first illusion of this sort seen here was that
shown by a man calling himself Professor Vanek,
who exhibited at Platt'sHall, in July, 1873. He was
a German and spoke very little English, while in the
decapitation act he appeared in an Oriental costume
and spoke none at all. The hall was darkened, a
164 MODERN MAGICIANS AND 'fHEIR WORKS.
strain of weird music was wrung out of the piano,

which in those days "went with the hall," and to
its rhythm the magician marched slowly on to the
stage, accompanied by a pale-faced youth. The
attendant laid himself upon a table in the center of
the stage, and was there sent to sleep by being sub-
jected to mesmeric passes. The magician then drew
a small box from the recesses of his robes, and from
it took a pinch of powder, which he sprinkled on the
youth's face an<l neck. A cloth was then arranged
about the victim's
neck, and everything
being ready, Vanek
drew a scimetar, or
tul war, sent it hissing
through the air, and
with one sweep drew
the blade across the
youth's neck, sepa-
rating it from the
body. The head was
VANEK'S DECAPITATION.
lifted up with the
blood streaming from it, and placed upon a salver
to be 'handed around for the company to examine.'
"The examination was not superficial nor hasty,
people being invited to put their fingers in the open
mouth and move the closed eyelids. The ghastly
death's head was then taken back and joined to the
body, the magic powder being once more brought
into requisition, and the subJect, being awakened, sat
up, looked dreamily around and backed off the stage.
"The explanation is as follows: The table was
V ANEK'S DECAPITATION. 165
really a long, hollow box, coYered on the top and

sides with black cloth and with the interior painted
black. In the top of the table, and under where the
head and shoulders of the youth would lie, was a
trap-door, which gave way under pressure and swung
downward like a door, and which was closed by a
spring as soon as the pressure was removed. Every-
thing being black it will be clear to the reader that
it might be opened or closed without any one in the
audience being the wiser.
''Before the trick was introduced the trap was
depressed and a rubber head placed in the cavity of
the table. This head was a work of art. It had all
the lividity of death, was fitted with real teeth, real
hair, glass eyes, ~t flexible tongue, movable eyelids,
and was soft and clammy to the touch. The assist-
ant was Vanek's son, and the head, made by a cele-
brated French artist, was a striking likeness of the
lad. The head was placed on a plate on the table,
having for companion
objects a lump of ice to
give the head the requi-
site clamminess, and a
sponge clipped in 'prop-
erty' blood. The 'sub-
ject' for the experiment
having been laid on the
table, the magician,
standing with his back INSIDE VIEW VANEK' s TABLE.
to the audience, seized his son by the hair with his
left hand, and, as the scimetarwent whizzing through
the air, pressed down the trap until his son's head was
166 l\IODERN MAGIClANS AND THEIR \VORKS.
below the level of the top of the table and brought

the sponge and rubber head up to take the place of
the living. The scimetar was then drawn across the
victim~s neck-only just above it-and the rubber
head was held aloft with the blood dripping from
the pressed sponge. The head was then boldly passed
about, the magician shrewdly counting upon the dark-
ness of the room and the aYersion of the audience to
handling dead things as sufficient guarantees against
detection. The rest of the trick simply consisted of
putting the head back in the table, bringing the
victim's head up to the proper level and removing
the cloth which had conveniently hidden the line of
deflection in the neck and the slight sinking of the
shoulders. It will be seen from this explanation that
the trick was simple enough, but like all simple
tricks it was very effective, and in this particular
instance was realistically horrible."
An illusion that has attracted a great deal of
attention, and one that has been properly shown but
by very few conjurers of late years, is the one known
as Cremation. The word Cremation means the
burning of a dead body; hence, no prominent pro-
fessor has shown a cremation, as the act used which
represents the burning of a person alive is not a cre-
mation. Charles McDonald, of Portsmouth, Va., was
the original inventor. For several years be spent
bis spare time in working at this illusion and finally
perfected it. The effect of it as worked by him is
startling: A fine casket is shown to the audience and
examined inside and out by a committee appointed for
that purpose by the audience. It rests on two ordi-
CREMATION. 167
nary trestles and has no connection wtth the floor of

the stage. The cover is opened and a lady is assisted
into the casket, and lies down in the same. The
cover is. closed and the audience can see her lying
there through a glass opening in the front of the
casket. A black velvet cover, trimmed with silver
fringe, is laid over the casket, candles are lighted and
placed underneath the same. A sword is passed
PROF. MCDONALD'S CREMATION.
down through the top of the casket, the point com-

ing out underneath, down which the blood runs;
swords are also thrust i.nto the casket from the front,
and reach to the . back; during this the lady is con-
stantly screaming. In a moment the lid of the cas-
ket is raised and the whole interior set on fire; it
blazes up very briskly for a, few moments, gradually
<lying out, when some ashes are taken out and shown
around as being the ashes of the cremated person,
the cover meantime bein,g closE?d again, and Ol\
168 .MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WCRKS.
re-opening it the lady steps out uninjured. When

properly made this casket can be used for introducing
the illusion on any stage, in any parlor or even in the
open field.
Professionals reading the foregoing, would think
that the casket is constructed on the plan of the old
Hindoo basket trick, but such is not the case, as
there is no double back, bottom, nor sides to it, and
the mechanical skill used in its invention and manu-
facture i~ far ahead of similar effects contrived by
the much vaunted Indian fakirs, or jugglers. Out of
consideration for its inventor, who has scarcely
obtained the success he deserved, we will not reveal
the secret of its construction. Following the general
idea shown in the one he first made, that is, to
obtain the effect, the first one sold and used, was
made on the plan of the Japanese Inexhaustible Box,
sometimes called the "tip-over" box. That is the
full secret which will be clearly understood by all"
professionals, but the skill shown was in making it
in such a way that it would bear examination inside
and out, and all around, without being detected,
which has been done very successfully. The only
objection to the illusion in the style just mentioned,
is its realistic feature, it making such a sensation that
ladies among the audience have often fainted during
its performance. This has caused it to have rather
a limited sale.
Coming at a time when the attention of the
scientific world has been attracted so much to crema-
tion, theadvertisingof this illusion naturally attracted
tb~ att~11tion of conjurers generally, many of whom,
THE MYSTERY OF "SHE." 169
desiring to have it, but not willing to pay a good
price for a good article, or, from lack of necessary
means, began to get up imitations of it, and they
were soon being presented by the score all over the
country. The first one produced with any degree
of success, under that name, was shown by Prof.
Seeman who had performed it for nearly two years
before any other person took hold of it. His man-
ner was the use of the Sphinx table, on which the
lady stood, and was covered with a sack. This sack
was set on fire and burned slowly down to the table
top. ·when it was all consumed the lady reappeared
from the si~e of the stage.
This was soon followed by others, Prof. Powell
making use of a similar method; but his table had
four legs instead of three. Prof. Kellar then adver-
tised a Cremation of his own invention, which was
at once followed by Prof. Herrmann doing the same.
Kellar's was made up for him by his assistant Robin-
son, who afterwards went with Herrmann. This
Cremation was evidently not a success as it was not
produced in any of our large cities while that of
Herrmann's was. Both these magicians depended
upon the ingenuity of their assistants and their talent
in working it out. Herrmann's was gotten up by his
co-laborer, D' Alvini, who was the main-stay and life
of the illusion. The success obtained with it, came
entirely from his genius and talent; sad to say, he
did not live long enough to enjoy the results of his
invention. ·
The illusion of "She'' was first introduced by
Prof. Hereat, in London, who called it "The Mys-
170 MODERN )IAGICIAN S A ND THEIR WORKS.
tery of She." He used a raised platform about a

foot high. Around the two sides and the back of
this platform he placed a red screen, resting on the
floor, the platform carpet as well as the stage carpet
be'ing the same color as the screen. On the platform
was placed a small brnss stand, and a large bowl
shmvn empty.and some ashes put in it was placed
on the brass stand. After showing to the satisfac-
tion of the audience that no mirrors were used, he
took a large silk cover or curtain and stretched it
with an assistant across the front of the platform
between the sides of the screen, letting it reach to
the floor; in a moment this curtain was either pulled
away or dropped, and a lady dressed in white stood
on the platform who came out and spoke, and as
soon as the cartain was held up in front of the plat-
form again she disappeared. We should say that as
soon as the bowl was placed on the stand and before
curtain was stretched across the front, the ashes were
set on fire causing quite a smoke through which she
appears.
Just as soon as the curtain touched the floor of
stage in front of the platform, two mirrors placed
together at an angle exactly the same as in the old
Sphinx table, were shoved up from beneath the stage,
reaching b the under side of the platform, and, of
course, reflecting the screen. At the same time a
trap is opened behind the mirrors in the stage and a
corresponding one in the floor of the platform, which
enables the lady to come up quickly and make her
appearance. As soon as she has made her disap-
pearance, the mirrors are dropped back again into
THE "LADY FROM AN ENYELOPE.'' 171
place beneath the stage, and the platform and screen

can be easily removed. This same illusion can be
just as well worked by using a screen which conceals
the lady all the time, thus doing away with the trap
in the stage and platform.
Similar to this is the production of a lady from an
envelope. This was also first introduced in England,
whose conjurers seem to have a fancy fortraps,some-
thing that the quick-witted Americans will not use,
because their audiences can at once tell when a trap is
used, and then, the principle being solved, it has no
attraction for them. In this production the performer
appears on the stage with three large envelopes,
one inside the other, and states that he carries his
wife in the envelope to save transportation, as, owing
to the Inter-State Commerce Bill, heavy weights /
pay heavy freights. While talking he opens the
envelope and finds another one, opens that and finds
in it still another, which he opens, am1 discovers a
large silk shawl neatly folded up; he opens this,
letting one side of it drop down on the floor, and
holding the other side up in front of him, he almost
immediately drops it on the floor and the lady
appears standing there in front of him, she having
come up through a trap just at the moment when
the silk touched the floor. She can also come
through a screen as explained in the trick of the
vanishing lady. Produced this way alone, the trick
has a weak effe0t, but is quite effective if used in
some other combination or production. The only
person who used it to good advantage ·was Prof.
Becker, who produced it in Germany some eighteen
172 MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS,
years ago. After the lady had made her appear·

ance from the trap behind the shawl, he ran to and
fro across the stage, she being behind it all the time
and keeping step with him ; he did this so well that
everybody ·thought there was nothing behind the
shawl till he suddenly pulled it aside and revealed
the lady.
It is well known to nearly all conjurers that M1·.
Maskelyne, of London, has introduced, during the
past decade, more electrical effect~ than any other
magician. A few of these effects have been almost
identical with the following illusion, invented by
Prof. Alkahazar, of Ohio.
This is an electric illusion, but so arranged as to
make the spectator believe there is no electricity
used. The table is small, like those known as gueri-
t)on stands, having one ·center pillar for leg, and
three feet. The top is of very thin material, and by
means of a flange screws onto the leg. At the middle
of under side where the flange is, there is an orna-
mental knob, ostensibly the flange; this knob is hol-
low, and in it is placed a small, clear-sounding bell,
wit;h an electro-magnet to sound the same. The
current of electricity passes up one of the feet to the
leg up which it passes to the magnet which strikes
the bell. The'' run down" from stage to audience has
a groove in it, under the carpet, through which the
wire from behind stage runs; at the end of the "run
down" are placed the copper connection plates. The
feet of table are made so as to pierce the carpet and
rest on the plates, thus forming the direct connec-
tion. Another bell, the perfect duplicate in tone of
THE "AMPHITRlTE ILLUSION.'' 173
the one in the knob, is shown to the audience and placed

on the table; it then rings, answers questions, tells
cards, fortunes, etc. Then the performer, speaking
to the audience, thinks that some present may think
that electricity has something to do with it, but will
I,
Fm. 1.
prove to the contrary. He takes a large sheet of
plate glass and places it on the table, and puts the
bell in the center of the glass, thus showing it to be
an impossibility to get sound from it if electricity
was used. Nevertheless the bell rings the same as
before. In the language of the inventor, it "takes
well, as all intelligent people know that glass is a
17-± MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
non-conductor of electricity.'' An illusion that has

attracted considerable attention, and one of very
pretty effect is the one generally known as the
Amphitrite Illusion. There are several ways of work-
ing this on the plan of the ghost-show illusion. Per-
haps the best method is the one patented in this
country and England by Mr. Gustav Castan. His
Fm. 2.
U. S. patent is dated September 11, 1888, number
389,198. The mechanism employed consists of a
horizontal, rotary disk of glass, which is supported
at each edge, and serves to receive the person or
other object to be exhibited, and also of a mirror
arranged at an angle of forty-five degrees to the
glass disk The mirror reflects the image of the
person or object on the glass disk, but not the edge
of the same, or the rings carrying and surrounding
said disk toward the audience, and as the trarn~par-
THE '· Al\IPHITRITE ILLUSION." 175
ent glass disk is not reflected in the mirror the per-

son or object on the former appears to be floating in
the air, and when the gl~ss <lisk is rotated the per-
son or object appears to make various movements.
When the edge of the mirror is appropriately deco-
Fm. 3.
rated and the light properly arranged, the mirror is
not to be detected, and the audience is led to believe
that the image is in reality the person or object on
the glass disk. Figure 1 is a view of the apparatus
as seen from the space occupied by the audience.
Figure 2 is a top view of the apparatus without the
mirror. Figure 3 is a vertical section of the appara-

tus arranged at an angle of forty-five degrees to the
glass disk.
The frame work, the mirror, and other parts of
the mechanism are appropriately decorated in order
to obtain the best possible results, and it is evident
that the glass disk must be so operated that the
reflected apparent movements of the person on the
glass disk appear as natural as possible. In order to
increase this effect the person can move his arms and
legs, an<l these movements will of course be reflected
in the mirror. The lights employed for illuminating
the glass disk and mirror are so arranged that the
glass disk is not reflected in the mirror.*
• For particulars regarding the application for a Patent on a "Spirit

Room," see Appendix, Note~.
CHAPTER XI.
PECULIAR HAPPENING3 .
The St. Louis Genius-The Impatient Albany l\Ian-Some

Remarkable Letters-East Indian Fakirs-What Barncllo
Saw-The Sailor and His Parrot.
There is perhaps no other business which presents
such a variety of aspects and brings together such
a different class of people as that of making conjur.
ing apparatus, hence it is not to be wondered at
that such a person is in a position to meet with many
peculiar experiences. For the benefit of those who
may adopt the profession of a conjurer, and also
for the amusement of our readers, we will chronicle
a few of the peculiar happenings that have come
under the observation of a certain manufacturer in
the past;.few years.
It is astonishing, the amount of ignorance to be
found among a certain class of superstitious people.
The following is the verbatim copy of letter received
by the gentleman, from St. Louis:
"S·r. Lours, F eb. 12, 1887.
"Dir Sir:
"Please tint entclosed 2 cent stamp for one of jour Conjuring
Apparatus Catalogue. Please let me no ef jou have some Boocks
on Handt wehre jou kan it macked so jou kan win in Lotterie
177
every Time. Answer sun & Jet me no the Prize of them. Let
me havest in Germania if pos8iblc.
"Yours very respfully,
It is .more than likely that if .the manufacturer

coul<l always tell the winning number. in a lottery,
he would keep it to himself, and not sell it.
The carelessness in corresponde:ace of the ordinary
side-showman is something extraordinary. A very
usual occurrence for them is to forget to sign their
names. The most common mistake is that of forget-
ting to give their address, and the receiver has to
puzzle his brain over an illegible postmark. These,
however, are surpassed by the man in the mining
regions of Pennsy 1vania, who cut the advertisement
inserted by our friend out of a paper, enclosed it in
an envelope with a ten-cent silver piece, both the
advertisement and the coin being wrapped in a piece
of letter paper, with nothing else whatever in the
envelope, not even the scratch of a pen or pencil.
No doubt that man to this day imagines that all
parties advertising catalogues are frauJs.
A man in Albany, N. Y., once ordered a small
pocket trick costing seventy-five cents, that being
the amount he remitted. It was a mechanical piece
of apparatus that only an amateur with no particu-
lar skill would make use of. The person addressed,
having none on hand, and being occupied with more
important orders, wrote that in a few days some of
them would be made up and one sent on. A few
days thereafter the manufacturer received a dis-
patch reading as follows: "When do you intend to
PECULIAR HAPPENINGS. 179
ship goods?" This was signe<l by the Albany man
and was followed a couple of days later by a letter
from him in these words: " If you are doing a skin
business let me know so I won't be wasting my
time." This had no preliminary address nor end-
ing, but was properly signed. He was immediately
advised to look elsewhere for such great quantities
of "goods" as he desired, and his money returned
to him with the ad vice that he had better try and
learn something befit.ting a man and not .act like a
fourteen-year-old school-boy.
Tb is reminds us of a man in the country, who saw
a toy steam-engine advertised for sale in the col-
umns of one of the " patent inside weekly" news-
papers, for $1.50, and wrote to the advertiser, asking
if the machine was strong enough to run a buzz
saw ! He was, however, not quite equal to the
countryman who ordered of a noYelty house a three
dollar steam-boiler, and, not receiving it at once,
wrote back asking when his machine and boiler
would be sliipped, as he had been three times to the
train with two men and a team to haul it away, and
he had got tired of waiting for it.
Another most interesting correspondent of our
manufacturer was a resident of Avon, Ne~ York,
who, like many other mistaken mortals, imagined he
could be a professor of magic. His manner of ask-
ing prices was Yery interesting; for instance, if any-
thing was offered for sale at from five to ten dollars,
he would write and say, "If you will take fifty cents
for that trick, I will send you the money ; please
answer quick." If anything struck his fancy that
was worth twenty-five dollars or more, he would

write and say: " That is a good trick, but it is
too dear; if you will take $2.50, please let me
know quick, or I will have to order it of New
York parties." When he first received a letter that
had been written on a typewriter, he wrote back:
, "You netld not wait to have your letters printed, I
can re<le ritein." It is suggested that it would have
been a great advantage_to him if he could have
remembered how "ritein" looked when _he read it.
One of the most peculiar and interesting letters
our manufacturer ever recei\'ed was from a con-
jurer who is quite well known throughout the small
towns of the East. As a good example of what a
man can do, and what work he can get out while
running single-handed ~n the road, we give the let-
ter in full:
"CLARENCE CENTRE, N . Y., November 5th, 1887.
"Dear Sir: Your advertisement is before me. I am very
anxious to know what Buatier's Cocoon and the ' Original
Egyptian Black Art' mean, as they are both something that I
have never either seen or heard of until reading your 'ad.' I
am giving little shows in little towns, and am making a little,
very little money. But am not having to walk, or leave any bag.
gage for debts. I even can spare a little money, a very little
money, tc1 pay for anything that would have a tendtncy to induce
more people to patronize me. I mix magic tricks, spiritualistic
tricks and idiotic expressions all together, and deal the mixture
out to the eager, grasping few who pay me ten cents for the privi-
lege of being humbugged. So, if you can add anything to this
mixture to make it more palatable to my patrons, just sit down
and tell me about what you have, how much it will cost me to
get it, when I can get it, etc.
"For a few years back, many professionals, and several amateurs
I have met in the rural districts that have been blessed with my
' 90 laughs in 90 minutes,' have all and eaeh added their mites
to my conglomeration; that is to say, I have bought and paid the
cash for several of their cheapest tricks, and I have been enabled
to make a little, a very little, interest on the amount invested wi1h
each of them, anu am ready and willing to patronize you a little,
a very little, if you have anything I want, and will name a price
that will not bankrupt me.
" I am not a rival of Heller, nor Keller, nor no other feller of
any magnitude. I am a poor little country showman, that has
neither the big head nor big pocket-book; but I know I am a
small fish and I stay in the small streams and bask in the sunshine
with the other little minnies, and am enjoying life. I don't owe
anybody and nobody owes me. I do not want to be tedious but I
make these explanations, so that if you make apparatus only for
such men as Herrmann, Kellar and the great magicians, you will not
waste any time on me a~ present. I hope to be great some day,
bnt that day with me has not arrived. The most I ever paid for a
trick in my life was ten dollars, but I would like lo buy five more
at the same price to.day, if I could get as good ones as the one I
mention. It is an apparatus for lifting tables, chairs, stools, and
other articles of furniture, a la spiritualism.
"I want your unrivaled catalogue, and, rather than have you .
make fun of my little descriptive bill, I will enclose you ten cents
for the catalogue and request you to send it by return mail, as I
am en route, and only stay in a village long enough to work up
my own advertising, give my show, and pull out for another
town. I am my own advance agent, programmer, bus'.ness mana-
ger, treasurer, property man, door-keeper, usher, stage band, car-
penter, scene shifter, scenic artist, actor, lecturer, humbugger,
and sheriff dodger. I am all combined in one.
'•If you think it worth while to ~end me one of your catalogues
for my ten qmts, I would be glad to get it; if not, keep the ten
cents anyway to pay for reading this long letter.
"Very respectfully yours,
.. c. w. STARR."
It is almost needless to remark that a catalogue
was sent by first mail.
Another letter to the same manufacturer, from
"way down East," we also give in full:
182 MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WOR1':S.
"HAMPDEN, l\IAss., December 16, 1888.

"Dears;,.,.,. All my cuts and electro-plates were burned last
week. vVhat have you? Send sample and oblige.
" Yours, &c.,
.. F. L .• HIGGINS.'
"Care of' Durand,' 150 Orange St., New Haven, Ct.
"P. S.-This is my 13th year about these parts. •I'm a
Rhuben but no Jay.' Slicker than a polecat. I am a Magician,
Ventriloquist, Punch and Judy, Marionettes, Negro (Specialities),
29 Farces, 2 and 3 people in them, Good Singer, Dress Well,
Look Well, and I feel well. This cuss that ·s acting out around
with me is Howard W. Durand, the New Haven, Ct., Costumer,
and where six people would all 5tarve to death, we go and stay 3
to 6 days, change of show every night, 2 hour show.
"Yours, &c.,
"HIGGINS."
The ending of this letter reminds us of the old
saying, that "the pith of a lady's letter is always in
the postscript."
One person. who saw the trade mark of the word
"Resurgam" used in our friend's advertisements,
wrote for the price of his new illusion " Resurgam,''
and a description of it, because ·if it was good he
wanted it "right away;" and this from a, man who
did not have a dollar to spend, either. Another
interesting letter was one recei \'ed a few years ago
from a gentleman writing from the Astor House at
Sbanghai, China, who wrote thus:
"Dea1· Bir: I have inclosed ten cents. Please foiward cata-
logue and sample. I am just the man yon want, traveling all
over the East with my ~how. Anything and everything takes
well out here with the natives of the East. Want your lowest net
price; and hoping they are low, I remain,
"Dear Sir,
"Yours truly,
"L. T. WATSON.
"U.S. P. 0., Shanghai, China."
•
PECULIAR H_\.PPENINGS. 183
Evidently the Chinamen hR<l not seen a very high

class of conjurers.
This reminds us that more nonsense has been
written about the skill of the East Indian fakirs and
jugglers than any other class of conjurers. We
have seen and read elaborate articles on tbe wonders
of their performances that were written by men
who had never witnessed a conjurer perform, to say
nothing of a skillful one. Of what value is such
testimony as to how a thing was done~ Their feats
have been exaggerated to an enormous degree,
principally from the fact that they are being written
about by persons who have no conception of modern
conjuring or sleight-of-hand. It seems almost time
that some lucid explanation should be given of
these numeroqs feats that we hear and read so much
about and which we never see. As showing how
people who have no knowledge of the art of conjur-
ing can be deceived, and at the same time be made
to believe they have seen something they really did
not see, we will state that a resident of Chicago
recently spent his vacation at a resort not far from
that city, and was prevailed upon by some of the
old residents, who had known him "in the days of
his youth," to give a little entertainment. Our
amateur not being ·prepared for any performances,
simply showed the company a few sleight-of-hand
tricks with common objects that he found in the
house. One of the gentlemen present, now past
his three score years and ten, but still apparently in
his prime, and noted throughout the States as a
prominent teacher in the educational walks of life1
184: MODERN :MAGICIANS AND 'fllEIK WORKS,
and whom the amateur remembered as having taken

much pains with him when under his watchful and
fatherly care a good many years ago, remarked how
much he had read of the wonderful doings of the East
Indian fakirs. He called special attention to a trick
he had often read about, and which was beyon<l his
comprehension. It was to the effect that a fakir
produced a large number of balls, and then stated
that he would throw them in the air one at a time
when the audience would see them disappear one by
one, tiU all had gone. After waiting a few moments
the fakir would commence calling them down, and
they would come one at a time, and the ground
would again be covered with balls. Being asked to
explain it or duplicate it to their satisfaction, the
Chicago amateur agreed to do so. Assisted by a
young lady, he made a tour of the well-filled cellar
and store rooms and found a large quantity of fine
apples, selecting only haTf a dozen, all about the
same size, say two inches in diameter, he returned to
the parlor with them, and placed them on the piano.
He then requested the audience to note that one
apple would be taken at a time and thrown in the
air three times, disappearing at the word three.
The conjurer rolled up his sleeves and commenced.
In a moment the apples had all disappeared in regu-
lar order, one by one, Then stepping out into the
middle of the room, his hands were shown empty
and all present were requested to look up in the air
and they would see the apples coming down at the
word three, one at a time, while the performer
counted as before. This occurred to their fullest
satisfaction.
This little trick, which is common to all skillful

conjurers, puzzled the good people of Geneva exactly
in the same manner that the East Indian fakir did
the gentleman who wrote the wonderful account of
what he saw. Now for the best part of the story.
While our amateur was taking his daily "constitu·
tional ., the next day, he met one of the gentlemen
who had been present the evening before at the little
entertainment. ·He is a very shrewd person, and
was in company of another old resident, to whom
the Chicago man was introduced, when he remarlrnd
to his friend and some other gentlemen present:
"You ought to have been at the party la.st evening
to have seen the wonderful thing we saw. This old
school-boy of ours took half a dozen apples and
threw them up into the air, one by one, and they all
disappeared, and then in a minute he commenced
calling them down, and they commenced coming
down out or the air again, falling on the floor till he
had over two busliels ef apples tltere."
Here is the secret of all the extraordinary work
of the East Indian fakirs. This gentleman described
the trick just as it appeared to him, which was not
by any means the way it was performed.
Barnello, the celebrated fire-eater, who does proba-
bly one of the neatest and most original fire-eating
acts of tlie present time, tells of the following pecu-
liar occurrence which he witnessed in Memphis,
Tenn. While he was standing outside of the theatre
in which he had been performing, he was approached
by a negro, who Eaid, "Hullo man, you's a queer
man to eat fire. l'se kindah o' article myself, too. I
186 .MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
ken drink a 'hull pail o' water." Barnello states

that he took it all in, as you might say, and, having
a few moments to spare, made the man believe he
would hire him, but first wanted to see him drink
the water. The "gentleman of color" agreed, and
they stepped inside the theatre; Barnello, mean-
time, posting the proprietor. A pail of water was
procured, also a tin cup to drink out of. Without
any preparation whatever, the negro commenced t~
drink the water, and inside of fifteen minutes he
drank the entire pail empty. Although the colored
man was lean, Barnello says "that his paunch pro-
truded like that of an Alderman." He had not had
the water down long before he said that he could
not stand it for any length of time, and that it must
come up again. Stepping out on the sidewalk and
standing close to the curbstone, be worked his left
arm oiit and back from his left shoulder as in the act
of pumping, and the water spurted out of his mouth
like a stream of water from a small hose. This is
surely one of the most peculiar freaks we ever
heard of.
The following story has been described in a num-
ber of ways; but clothed in this garb by a friend of
ours in Boston, it looks pleasing and is like an old
friend in a new dress: It was in a town on the coast
of England where a magician was a<l vertised to give
a performance. It was a sea-faring town, and being
so much out of the way, it was not often that any
performances were given there. The town did not
even boast of a hall, let alone a theatre. The only
room to secure was a large storehouse. At the time
PECULIAR HAPPENINGS. lS'T
of the advent of the magician a quantity of powder

was stored in kegs in the la1·ge room of this ware·
house. The proprietor had fixe<l up this room the
best he could, and ha<l placed boards across and on
the kegs for seats. He exacted a promise from the
rnagicia~ to keep his eyes on the men present and
not allow them to light their pipes in the place.
When the magician made his appearance, he found
the room well filled with sailors, to whom he ex-
plained the matter and requested them not to light
their pipes in the place, as he ha<l promised the
proprietor of the room that it would not be done.
Of course the Jack Tars agreed anJ promised
not to light" their pipes. The conjurer then went on
with his performance, which proved of great interest
to his spectators. One of them perhaps felt more
interested than the others and was very much
pleased with every trick the magician did. This
particular sailor ha<l with him his pet, a very tame
parrot, which was quite a good talker and seemed to
learn very easily. After every good trick the sailor
would say," That's pretty good, I wo1Jder what he
will do next." This he repeated several times and
tbe parrot came very near repeating it over after
him. The sailor was thoroughly wrapped up in the
tricks he saw, and after a little while became so
much excited that he quite forgot himself, and, tak-
ing out his pipe, filled it with tobacco. Taking a .
match from his pocket, he scratched it on one of the
kegs when whiz, bang, went the powder and the
whole place was blown to pieces by the terrific explo-
sion which followed. Our sailor finally came to his
188 lllUDERN "1A UWIAN8 AND THEIK WORKS.
senses and found himself out in a field. Looking up

he saw his parrot sitting on a fence with his large
feathers missing, one eye out and his whiskers gone.
Turning his one eye on Jack, he looked clown on him
and said, "That's pretty good, I wonder what he
will do next."
CHAPTER XII.
MISCELLANEOUS SKETCHES.
Dr. Holden's Adventures in Egypt, Algeria, and India-Deaf

men at a show-Frazer Coulter's Failure as an Assistant-
The old trick of "Prof. Hume "-Baron Seeman's wit and
ingenuity, His Russian Experience-Old Bamberg's arrest,
his skill-How D'Alvini broke up the sharpers-Foreign and
home audiences-Lady Professionals-The Future of the
Art.
In a previous chapter we have spoken of the pop-
ular and well-known Dr. Holden, of London, who is
also known as the "Bohemian Magician." Not only
is he a clever conjurer, but quite a talented writer,
and from his '' Wizard's Wanderings~' we take the
following interesting des0riptions of remarkable
occurrences, in each of which · he was the leading
actor:
"On arriving at Cairo, a rather amusing incident
occurred, which may not be out of place here. In
the delightfully cool room of the Royal Hotel,
which is situated on the Boulevard Esbekich, Cairo,
and is about as comfortable a hotel as you can well find
out there, we were chatting together, enjoying the
fragrant weed, when I thought I would play a joke
during the evening on W--, and mentioned to
one or two present that I .would do a trick with his
189
scarf-pin. An hour or so later the chance presented

itself. ' You might show us a trick before you go
to perform at the theatre, Dr. Holden,' said one.
'Do, mon arni/ said another. 'Gentlemen,' I said,
'I never perform a magical experiment except on
the stage, but as you are so very pressing, and if
it will relieve un mmtvais quart d'henre, as I see the
ladies have all left, I will just show you a feat I saw
performed out here. Will any one kindly lend me
a scarf-pin?' I asked. W--, after a little hesi"tation.
said he would. 'Do not let me touch it, nor even see
it,' I replied, 'but take this envelope, place this scarf-
pin inside, and seal it up with wax, a stick of which
I beg to hand you.' By this time all eyes were on
· me, but by a dexterous move I managed to get hold
of the envelope, anJ instantly changed it for another
one, sealed up like the other, and containing a
dummy scarf-pin. Having 'rung the changes,' as
it were, I now felt secure, and prepared to sit upon
poor W--. The airs I gave myself (Englishlike)
none can tell. Before no1v, gentle reader, have you
not often felt inclined to hurl the soup-tureen or the
spittoon at the head of some egotistical, self-con-
ceited fellow-countryman abroad, as he makes him-
self a lineal descendant of Balaam's Ass before a com-
pany of sensible foreigners? Well, had you been
present that evening at Cairo, you would not have
even drawn the line at the sofa itself, I fear, as far as
it concerns me. I gave myself more airs than all of
Gatti's waiters put together. I not only sat on poor
W--, but pulverized the fellow. He bore it, I
must confess, like a lamb. 'Observe, gentlemen,
MISCELLANEOUS SKETCHES. 191
what a marvelous feat I am about to demonstrate.

Waiter, bring me in three lemons, please.' He did
so, and I managed to get W--'s pin out of the
envelope in my back pocket, palm it, and insert it in
one of the lemons I had carelessly taken up. ' I
shall now command the scarf-pin to leave my hand,'
I said, as I took up the sealed envelope by the tips of
my fingers; 'and pass into either of those lemons.'
One was selected-of coul'se the one with the pin
in it. That I placed in the center of the table, in a
borrowed hat, and vanished by a sleight-of-hand the
dummy pin and sealed envelope. 'I'll bet you a
le\·el "pony" my pin is not inside that lemon in the
hat,' said W--. 'And champagne round as well
for the good of the house?' I added. 'Done,'
said W--; and done I was. I cut open, bombast·
ically, the lemon, and there was a pi.n in it, right
enough, but it was my pin, not W--'s. Some
kind friend, it seems, had told W-- of the 'sell' I
had prepared for him, and he had gone to my room
and exchanged pins, they being very much alike,
but inside his was his name and where it was pre-
sented to him. So I had to pay up. I think prac-
tical jokes are silly things.
"One morning, sauntering into the open space used
as a market place at Fez, with fancy bernouse thrown
carelessly over me, I had a look around on the qui
vive for 'something to turn up,' as poor Micawber
used to say. In traveling through Morocco, I always
dressed in the Oriental style, and, when necessary,
passecl myself off as a native. My readers may easily
imagine, without too great a stretch of the imagina-
tion, the bright, picturesque scene presented. Wild,

swarthy men from the Atlas slopes bargaining for
one thing or another, yelling and shouting .and
cheapening what they wanted-no such thing as
'prix fixe' seeming to be in vogue at Fez. I used to
think Naples the queerest spot' under the sun to
strike a bargain in, but it is ' now here' compared to
Fez. Slaves were led through the crowd, in batches
of three, or four together, and contented enough
they lqoked, poor souls. You see, the unfortunate
wretches had had no school-board education crammed
into them, neither had they- poor benighted ones-
ever had the ad vantage of attending Exeter Hall;
the consequences were that they, knowing no better,
were quite satisfied with their lot, and seemed to
take things as they came. Piles of juicy fruit,
many of them unknown to clear old Covent Garden,
lay about, watched over by bright-eyed Moorish
women, who seemed to work like beasts of burden.
There is very little poetry about them, and they are
all as ignorant as well can be. The bazaars around
were full of people chatting and yelling) who were
pushed aside as the Sultan's body-guard strode along
in all their glory. And what magnificent looking
men they are. They walk along, glancing first on
this side, and then on the other, nodding to their
friends, with all the grace of Salvini himself. These
Moors bronzed, it is true, but it is not the sooty hue
with which our tragedians depict the 'Swan of
Avon's' Othello. At one stall were hanging a
number of partridges, quails, some queer-looking
unknown birds, and hares, preside<l over by a
MlSOELLANEOUS SKETCHES. 193
brigandish - looking- penny-plain - two-pence-colored-
looking mountaineer, with a fierce moustache and
armed cap-a-pie. 'What will you take, not what
you are asking, Ali, for this wretched, half-starved,
heaven-forsaken hare?' I asked him, in Arabic.
'Salaam, aleikoom' (so and so), was the reply, 'and
it's worth double. I shot it myself,' he added, with
a proud chuckle, ' the day before yesterday; miles
from here.' 'Reach it <lown,' I said, 'and tell me
no more of your lies, Ali. Shot it the day before
yesterday. It's pretty high, then?~ 'Yes,' he
answered, 'I shot it up a tree.' 'Why, it is alive,
you dog,' I said. Taking it up by the ears, I showed
it to the crowd around me, and sure enough, aiive
and kicking it was. I then let it jump off the board,
and off it bolted down the street, pursued by a
number of on-lookers and all the mongrel dogs in
the city. Ali's face was a study. Shall I ever
forget his look ?-I think not. He thought I was
Y ama himself. Like wild-fire the tale spread, how
the magician had put life into a dead hare-which
in due time was run to earth just inside the garden
of the palace, and the tale was told to the Sultan
himself, who was passing out at the time on his way
to the Mosque.
"That afternoon, I remember, I was sent for to
come to the Palace, and it was arranged I should give
a display of my powers the following day before the
court. For the evening, I had already announced my
intention of giving a public performance in the then
empty bazaar of Aboulhassen Ebn Becar, which my
readers may remember if they have ever visited Fez,
is, or was, situated close to the Mosque. I need

hardly remark that, before publicly anointing
myself that night with what the audience took to be
Meemi-ke-tale, I had the satisfaction of seeing the
place crowded to almost suffocation, scarcely allow-
ing me room to grow the rnangosteen in. So full,
indeed, was the place, that numbers failed to obtain
admission. Over twenty performances did I give
there, and all through the simple device I practiced.
"On my way to Fez from Fighig, after crossing the
Atlas range of mountains, my dog caught a hare,
which I cartifully attended to, and on the morning
I have just mentioned this hare was carefully con-
cealed in a pocket, very-get-at-able, just underneath
my bernouse. As I took the dead hare from Ali's
hands, I substituted the living one and pocketed the
<lead hare in a far shortet' space of time than it takes
to tell. The fanatical, ignorant people about thought
I was possessed of supernatural power.
"During my last professional tour from China to
Peru, I happene<l to find myself, one fine day, at
Hyderabad. · I had given my magical perfotmance
at the Nizam's City Palace before a large company
of Muslim court officials, dignitaries and ladies from
the garrison at Secunderabad, when, a day or two
afterwards, I was sent for, with a request that His
Highness wished to confer with me. I was ushered
into his presence, wondering what was OJ). the tapis.
He is of less than middle stature, with dark,
expressive eyes, and a mild countenance, and was
attired in a black coat crossed by the azure riband
of the Star of India, a diamond-studded sabre
swinging at his waist. His get-up, in the words of

Talleyrand, 'Je le trouve bien distingue.' A brilliant
staff of officials stood around, each of whom, in
approaching the greatest Prince of India, made six
several and profoundly low salaams, acknowledged
from the throne by a slight wave of the hand.
"Turning affably to me, he remarked, ' I was very
impressed with your" Mind-revealing," I think you
called it,'-I bowed low to indicate he was right-
' when you appeared here yesterday, aml I want to
see you if you can- but our Minister, Salar Jung,
will explain matters more fully to you, Doctor
Holden,' said His Highness, with a pleasant and
gracious smile, as he took his departure. Here is
an adventure, I thought, and tried to look grave, to
be in harmony with my character. What is it? I
wondered, as I inwardly took in the magnificent
surroundings, as I hoped, presently, to take
them in! Only a short distance from where
I was, stands Golconda, noted for its diamonds
and Sinbad's story of the eagles and the joints of
mutton in the 'Valley of Jewels.' Here the cele-
brated Koh-i-noor was found. The la.st famous dia-
mond found here was the 'Nizam,' I believe, which,
after a peasant had rashly splintered it by a blow
on the apex, still furnished a' fragment valued at
seven hundred and twenty thousand pounds. I
could not help thinking of th.s as I stood on the
platform of marble, under that exquisite pillared
portico looking over the vast, well-lighted quad-
rangle, surrounded by the white palace buildings.
"How little we 'who live at home at ease' know
of the glories, in the way of palaces an<l temples, of

India. How different from all our preconceived
i<leas do we find the reality. Thus I mused as the
Nizam slowly walked away, leaving me a most pecu-
liar and unprofessional duty to undertake, as I shall
now try and explain. I was surrounded by all the
notabilities of the Court, all quizzing me, I folly
believed, but all as courteous and gracious as only
Moslem gentlemen can be. Salar Jung, a very tall
young man, of thoughtful and intellectual counte-
nance and graceful manners, and Syed Ali, Director
of Public Instruction to the State, who, besides talk-
ing English with fluent accuracy, and the Hindu-
stani of the Deccan, is a proficient in Persian, Ara-
bic, and Murathi, as well as Sanscrit, between them,
explained that His Highness had lost a rare and
magnificent diamond from the hilt of his scimitar,
some famous stone handed down from-well, whether
he said Velwhaisravai, the Divine Stallion, or some-
thing or somebody else, I could not catch; at all
events it was evidently highly prized.
" 'Coul<l I by any means find the thief; or, if not
stolen, could I find where it lay perd'u?'
"Well, this was a poser for me. ' Give me twelve
hours in this palace,' said I, 'and I will see what
can be done.' I was made right royally welcome,
enjoyed a banquet in a private room served upon
gold, I i·emember, the cooking being quite European,
except for the profusion of the pillaus and curries,
in which the Mogul chef of the palace excels any
rival. I doubt muchly if the . genius of Soyer, of
Francatelli, and of Baron Brisse, all combined, could
have concocted such an appetizing, higbly-flavoted
repast. I had carte blanche to do things, I suppose,
no other European ever did there. I set my wits
to work and inguired here, inquired there, and
still could see no way of solving the problem. Poor
old Thucydides would have been shocked had he
lived in Hyderabad to-day, as every one seems armed
to the teeth ; even in the palace it was the same.
Does he.not say, in his First Book, that no civilized
.citizens should carry iron ? If the Nizam had taken
the sage's advice, this would not have occurred.
' vV ell, I won't carry iron, but '' brass," instead,' I said
to myself. An idea had struck me; arms are ne\Ter
carried into the presence of ladies of the court here,
so it must have been when outside those sacred pre-
cincts the stone was lost.
"I sauntered to that entrance and found it
guarded by a black-faced Sidi, whilst a Rohilla,
with blue caftan and blunderbuss, lounged close
by. Eight men formed the guard of t.hat par-
ticular part of the palace, and they had not been
changed since the stone had been lost, but had all
been searched and thoroughly .examined when the
loss was discovered, as here the Nizam was in the
habit of throwing off any superfluous article he
might have on his person, depositing the same in an
alcove near by. I minutely examined the pesh-khats,
and those little villainous knives named bichwas or
'scorpions' to see if their points had been broken by
unsetting the missing diamond, also each sher bucha,
'tiger's child,' and sQJ shikan, ' line sweeper,' as they
call their wretched blunderbuss, to see if it might
198 MODERN l\IAGIOIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
not be concealed therein. All to no purpose. At

last a happy thought inspired me. I got the minis-
ters and other officials to witness this, my last test,
trusting to the chapter of accidents to pull me
through.
".At the bottom of the staircase were drawn up a
body of well-mounted short and square Arab troop-
ers, with drawn sabres and silver-bound match-locks,
which they advanced as His Highness and his court-
iers came toward where I was standing, shaded by,
the royal color, or flag of Hyderabad, which is yel-
low with a circular discin its middle (if I remember
rightly), a sort of Kultclia. '.And now, Dr. Holden,
let us see what we shall see,' graciously remarked
the Nizam. I bowed, and they sat about on cushions
of silk and gold, or carved alabaster benches, on the
very spot I had a day or so previously 'fooled them
to the top of their bent.' It is a scientific fact, of
which you may not possibly be aware, that fear and
anxiety ~irninish the digestion of any one, and stop
the secretion of the gastric juice ; this fact I had
often heard of before, and now determined to put it
to the test.
"And what a scene presented itself! What color,
what effect! How well it would look, I thought, on
one of our best metropolitan theatres. In Lhe dis-
tance, peeringthrough the gates, was the black-faced
Sidi, the Rohilla, with blue caftan and blunderbuss;
the Pathan, the Afghan, dirty and long-haired; the
Rajpoot, with his shield of oiled and polished hide;
Persians, Bokhara men, Turks, Mahrattas, Madras-
ees, Parsees, and others. The suspected ones were
marched up, and appeared to me to show more ser-

vility than one notices even in the effete courts of
Europe. They seemed to have a weakness 'to crook
the pregnant hinges of the knee' with a >engeance !
"I procured eight brass dishes, each containing a
few handfuls of dry rice, and had the eight guards
pl:wed in front of me. Being a mesmerist, I saw, at
once, I had them under my control entirely. But
that would have been no use in detecting crime, you
say. True, it would not, but I was going to apply
the simpler test, but combined with the magnetic
force or will-power. Putting on Cato-like sternness I
looked into each man's eyes, and never saw such
unflinching, dare-devil subjects. The interpreter
was then called for, anJ was told to explain to these
eight men that I, 'Dr. Holden, :Magician to the
Queen-Empress,' was po3sessed of supernatural
power, and could read men's thoughts. Let each
man take a handful of rice and chew it, spitting it
on to the plate he held in his hand, when told to do
so. They did as requested, without a muscle mov-
ing. Now, somehow or another, I felt the guilty
man was amongst these eight, and possibly I put
forth wili-power to a greater extent than I should
have done, had I not suspected one of them.
"'If the guilty man is amongst you, he can not
chew his rice,' I said, looking them well into the face.
'Spit out on your plate what you have in your
mouths,' I said. They did so, and there, sure enough,
amongst those eight plates of chewed rice, was one
dry mouthfitl. Placing m_v face against that man's,
I glared at him and accused him of the theft. I
200 MODERN MAGICIANS AND THElR WORKS.
was right. He confessed his crime, and showed us

where the concealed stone was. As a lady was
mixed up in this affair, and as these lines may very
possibly reach Hyderabad, it might be considered,
possibly, a breach of confidence if I said any more
on this strange subject. The President, Mr. Cordery,
will understand my moti \ es for so doing, I have no
1
doubt. Amongst the presents made me is one I shall

ever revere. It was a magnificent abbassis, a sort of
Persian rapier, on which was engraved the Gayatri,
or 'Sacred Verse' of the Brahmins.
"Of course, my success got bruited about, and made
my sojourn in that hospitable country most enjoya-
ble; so much so, that it was with considerable reluc-
tance I tore myself away from Hyderabad-the
Mohammedan Capua. Some believe it was here
Cupid played ' Campaspe,' a game of cards for
kisses. However that may be, I shall always con-
sole myself with the thought that I played my cards
pretty well here." ·
Many conjurers, especially those performing in our
large cities, know how difficult it is to get a person
in the audience to assist them. Those who have
experienced this will appreciate the following, clipped
from an Eastern paper :
"Jones and Gibbs," says the Washington Star,
"went together, the other night, to see a celebrated
conjurer prestidigitate at a W ashington theatre.
You know how deaf Gibbs is; he can't hear a word
you say, unless you shout into his ear; and Jones is
nearly as bad. To hear them .try to talk to one .
another you would suppose they were engaged in
violent altercation, judging from the elevation of
their voices and their gesticulations.
''But, as it was about to be remarked, Jones
had secured two orchestra chairs, through the
medium of a bill-board, and he took his friend Gibbs
along with him. Gibbs paying Jones only one-half
the box-office price for his seat-a bargain exhibiting
Jones' characteristic generosity in business matters.
Jones bad managed to get the places in the front
row, so as to secure as much for the money as possi-
ble. They sat next the aisle, and it was not sur-
prising that the magician should have applied to
Jones on the first occasion when he desired to per-
form a trick through the medium of some one in the
audience. He walked down from the stage into the
orchestra by an inclined plane arranged for that pur-
pose, and when he came to Jones said:
'" May I ask you, sir, to give me your aid in this
little matter?'
"Now, it happens that the conjurer does not speak
English very perfectly, and it thus befell that Jones,
without having in any manner caught the purport of
the question addressed to him, grinned amicably and
nodded an assent. Whereupon the magician pro-
ceeded to rapidly explain what was required, not dis-
covering that he was not understood at all until
Gibbs leaned over and said :
'"My friend is deaf: I don't believe he hears you.'
'"Oh!' replied the prestidigitateur, the situation
dawning upon him, and immediately he placed the
pack of cards he held in Gibbs' hand and bade him
do thus and so. But Jones, who had himself waked
202 MODERN MAGICIANS ANP THEIR WORKS.
up by this time to the state of affairs, plucked at the

magician's sleeve and said :
"'It's no use talking to him; he's as deaf as a
post.'
"The conjurer looked astonished for a moment, and
then, addressing the audience, most of whom had
already perceived the difficulty that was making a
pause in the programme, he asked :
"'Ladies and gentlemen, is there any one here to-
night who has ears to hear with?'
"There were at once a number of responses to this
appeal and the performance was continued. Gibbs
and Jones say that it wasn't their fault; they went
to see and not hear-that being the great advantage
of a magician's show from their point of view."
The following story is told by the manager of the
Turn-Over Club, of Chicago:
"I fell in the other day with Frazer Coulter, who
has been over at the Haymarket with Duncan Har-
rison's 'Paymaster,' " said the actor, "and he had
along with him his old friend, William Luske, who
forsook the profession to settle down here in Chicago
as a broker, and who occasionally dabbles in ·the
drama to the extent of private theatricals. The two
were talking of past days, and Coulter told of the
time he was a confederate-not in war, but the con-
federate of an amateur magician who participated in
a charitable entertainment at a fashionable Eastern
watering place some seasons ago. This entertain-
ment was to open with a little comedy, and then the
audience was to be astounded by the young prestidig-
itateur. The latter was a wealthy young fellow
~IISCELLANEOUS SKETCHES. 203
who had purchased all of the magical apparatus he

could find, and he had spent a great deal of time in
training his brother to act as his assistant. The
brother was expected down on the afternoon train,
but he failed to show up. The magician was wild. He
told Coulter that he would have to assist him. Coul-
ter kicked and said he knew nothing about magic,
but he finally agreed to do the best be could. In
ten minutes he tried hard to absorb the teaching of
months, but he was a little uncertain when he went
into the audience as a confederate.
"The first trick he essayed was that of burning up
a borrowed handkerch_ief and then finding it in good
shape wherever the audience wanted it found. The
handkerchief was borrowed and the 'dummy' was
burned all right. Then blank cards were passed
about in the audience and people were asked to write
where the handkerchief should be found. These
cards were returned to Coulter and placed in a box
on the end of a long stick. As confederate he
should have pressed a button on the end of the stick
and turned the cards so that a prepared one, on
which 'A loaf of bread' was written, should be pulled
out by the disinterested person asked to make the
draw. Coulter remembered from his hurried instruc-
tions that he must do something, but what it was he
could not recall. Well, he did not press the button,
and the man who drew the card read in a clear, loud
tone: 'In a lemon.' The amateur magician nearly
had a fit, and he glared at Coulter like a .madman.
He had to give up, however, and the trick was tried
over agam. Coulter pressed the button this time
and the 'loaf of bread' card came out all right. The
prepared loaf had been left at the hotel and the
waiter was sent for. He mixed his dates and brought
the wrong loaf. The 'magician tore it open with a
triumphant air, found no handkerchief inside, and
wilted. Then the right loaf was sent for, and the
waiter who brought it carried it down the aisle so
that every one saw the square plug which had been
cut out for the insertion of the cambric. The magi-
cian was wild. Everything went wrong with him.
Flowers absolutely refused to grow in a plug hat
because Coulter forgot to pull the string, and a muss
was made of every trick until the magician gave up
in disgust. Since then Mr. Coulter has absolutely
refused to act as any one's confederate."
Some years ago an anti-spiritualistic performer,
generally known to the profession as Eddie Powell,
gave a large number of exhibitions throughout our
country. He was noted particularly for the facility
with which he changed his name to Hume, Home,
Slade and other shining lights of the spiritualistic
fraternity. His performances were all alike, al-
though the tricks· he introduced were quite skill-
fully executed. He has not been heard from for
some time, but is no doubt carrying on the same
class of performances which, under such manipula-
tion, tend so much to confuse many spiritualists and
persons who call themselves investigators.
The following account of the doings of a certain
"Prof. Hume" expresses the estimation in which
such performances are now held, and which is only
one of many just such criticisms that have often
appeared:
"Attracted by the announcement that 'Professor'
Hume, the unrivaled medium, prestidigitateur, necro-
mancer and gene1·al dabbler in the mystic arts, would
outdo all the tricks of Heller, Kellar and Herrmann
combined, a large and fashionable audience assem-
bled in a hall at 814 Geary street; and shivered
throughout the performance of about as gigantic a
swindle as ever was perpetrated upon a credulous pub-
lic. The 'Professor's' many colored handbills stated
that' a small admission fee would be charged to defray
the expenses of the hall.' The 'small admission fee'
was half a dollar, and the' performance' must have
netted 1'Ir. Hume about $150.
"Shortly after 8 o'clock the 'Professor,' who is a
talker of remarkable volubility, appeared upon the
platform and announced that his pianist (one of the
finest musicians in the State of California) had failed
to materialize, and that he would Lave to supply
'chin music' instead. He then selected a committee
of four gentlemen, who stepped upon the platform
and looked becomingly wise, serious, pleased or mys-
tified, as occasion demanded.
"The 'Professor' then resurrected from the grave
the time-worn cabinet trick performed by Noah
before the animals in the ark, and rang bells and
slung around tambourines, to the great delight of
the Investigating Committee and to the manifest
disgust of the really intelligent audience.
''He then very clumsily attempted the slate-writ-
ing trick, calling up such back numbers as Ben
Franklin, Christopher Columbus and other faded-
out spirits. Finally he succeeded in moving a little
20fi MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
8x4 table a few inches from the floor, an<l when the
ball had been suitably darkened summoned up an
Indian rubber ghost, which was so poorly con-
structed that it couldn't be induced to move a step
from the cabinet. He then announced that his
entertainment was over, an<l slid smoothly from the
stage.
"The audience sat and looked at each other for a
few moments, then a buzz of excited and indignant
conversation arose. There were cries of 'Fraud!'
and 'Give us our money back!' but the humorous
Hume had performed a little spiritualistic trick on
his own account and vanished. The whole perform-
ance did not take over half an hour, and a more
badly-fooled audience it would have bee°';·difficult to
find anywhere."
Quite a remarkable coincidence over the name of
Taylor appeared one day in a Chicago daily paper.
On one page in its advertising columns appeared the
announcement that Prof. C. T. Taylor, tbe~clever
magician, was appearing at a certain dime museum.
On another page of the same paper appeared a short
article, relating how a certain conjurer called Taylor
had adYertised to perform and then expose the
wonderful Indian Box trick at a town in Texas. The
preliminary performance was a very tame affair,
although he had a well-filled house. At last he pro-
duced the box trick. Before getting inside the box,
he requested the audience to keep their seats for five
minutes after the box was tied up, and he would then
show them how the trick was done. He got into
the box, which was then securely tied up. · The
audience waited the proper time and even longer,

still no professor put in his appearance from the
box. It was turned over, and they discovered that
the conjurer had gone through the bottom of the
box, through a trap in the stage and was off for
other fields with the receipts of the tMatre.
Perhaps no magician who has circled the globe
has had as many interesting things happen to him
among the highest class of people, as occurred to the
late renowned Professor Baron Hartwig Seeman,
during his long and interesting career. The two
following examples of his wit and ingenuity are from
his own lips:
"It was during one of my tours in Sweden that I
put up at the Gotha Kallare, the best hotel in Goth-
enburg. In the parlors of this hotel I found a gen-
tleman waiting for me, who said: 'Now, my dear
Seeman, this time you must give your best private
exhibition at my house and not at Liedman's, as I can
pay as much as he can.' Tliis was the richest whole-
sale merchant of the Hebrew persuasion. Of course
I expressed my willingness to do so, and he then
said: ' You must come right a way now and look at
my house. We can then perfect the arrangements.'
Taking me in his carriage we drorn out to his villa.
As we alighted we saw an elegantly dressed lady
enter the house. 'l\fy wife; so much the better,'
said the gentleman. I was introduced an<l invited
to join them in a glass of wine and a piece of cake.
This being the custom, I of course did so, and we
then made all necessa1·y arrangements concerning
the private performance I was to give, except-
ing the most important point-the price I was

to receive. I lingered intentionally with them
some time for this reason. At last the moment
arrived when I could not with propriety remain
any longer. Taking leave of my hostess, her
husband accompanied me to the door, but just
before we reached it he was called back by his wife,
who said to him in my presence in English, 'Do
not speak to him about the salary until after the
performance. It will be cheaper that way.' Poor
woman, in her innocence she did not know,-but-
her husband then accompanied me out into the hall
where I r6marked: 'You know, my dear sir, that
when you close a bargain with anybody you always
settle on a price. I am something of a business
man myself, and will be pleased to have you fix the
price I am to receive.' He replied: 'Please, Mr.
Seeman, say how much it shall be.' 'Three lrnn-
dred,' I replied. 'Very well,' said the gentleman,
'good-bye;' and with a good-bye from me, I took
my leave. The performance was given at the time
appointed. I was afterwards-invited to appear, and
later we ha<l music, after which we talked on all
possible topics and finally the guests began to leave.
Then the gentleman said, 'Mr. Seeman, will you not
look at all of our rooms? There are many of them
which you have not yet seen. You have amused our
guests very well, and now you must see our house,
especia1ly my bed-room, as it is furnished in' the
very latest fashion.' Just at this moment somebody
in a silk dress passed by us. It was the hostess,
who joined us in her husband's bed-room, where he
said he wished to pay me at once for my performance,

preferring to <lo it in his wife's presence. As he
said this he lai<l before me on the table three hun-
dred single Swedish dollars (now crowns). I did
not touch them, but said to him that this was one
hundred and fifty dollars less than we had agreed
upon. He then said: 'But, Mr. Seeman, yon said
three hundred.' 'Quite right,' I replied; 'but I
meant three hundred Banko.' (One Banko is one
and a half dollars.) They both looked at each
other, and the lady said she thought it was dear.
Here was my chance, and I said in English :
'Madam, if you had first spoken about the pay it
would perhaps h:we been three hundred dollars, but
now after the performance has been given, I need
three hundred Banko, so I can give a hundred and
fifty dollars to a poor famiiy of this city in your
name.' The gentleman paid the amount without a
murmur, and the next day they read in the papers
that a poor family had receiveLl a present of a hun-
dred and fifty dollars from a well known lady who
did not wish her name to be mentioned. I think
that if her name had appeared, perhaps she would
not have been quite so angry."
"The following episode from my career as an artist
through Russia, comes to my mind at this time when
e\•erybody's eyes are attracted toward the political
horizon in that country. I am fain to say that I tell
it, as I <lo all of my little stories, with unvarnished
truth. It was in November, 1876, that I had
advertised my 'Grand Soiree mysterieuse,' in the
hall at Helsingborg. The next day I was to have
embarked on board of a steamer, which I had

chartered for six hundred Finnish marks to take me
through the Gulf of Finland to Reval, where I
expected to appear, but it happened otherwise.
The captain of the steamer came and told me that
so much ice had formed since four o'clock in the
afternoon, that a voyage across the Gulf could not
be thought of. However, a large English steamer
had been signaled. and it would arrive at six o'dock
to take on freight for Hull, England. After talking
with the captain of this steamer, he agreed to take
me to Reval for one thousand marks. It was mid-
night when I got my baggage on board. To my
surprise, I was then told that they could not think
of starting on the voyage on account of the severe
cold. Of course I could do nothing else but go by
rail. I had to go first to St. Petersburg, and from
there to Rernl, and in this manner I would be com-
pelled to go along the coast around the entire Gulf
of Finland at an enormous expense. Taking my
family with me, and wrapping ourselves up well
with furs, we left Helsingborg the next day on the
train. On arriving at Abo, the first city in Finland,
I had the good fortune not to be bothered with
many formalities by the custom-house officials.
This was also our good luck at St. Petersburg. They
were very polite. The examination was short, and
I was happy. It was extremely cold and we were
all trembling from the effects of it. We were glad
to see a sleigh a.p proaching, drawn by two horses. I
had with me a card of the hotel where I intended
stopping, and requested a passing officer to tell the
MISCELLANEOUS SKETCHES. 211.
officials in Russian, which I did not understand,

where to drive us, and he did so. My son was in
the first sleigh, my wife and myself were in the
second. During the winter there, when there is no
work in the country, it is the custom of the farmers
to go to the cities with their sleighs and horses and,
securing a license from the police department, make
their living as teamsters or drivers. They are no
more acquainted with the streets in the cities than
foreigners are, and the only way to arrive at yom·
destination is to know where you want to go an<l
then tell the driver in this peculiar manner: You
tap him with a cane or umbrella on the right or left
shoulder, or point straight ahead, according to the
direction you want him to go. Unfortunately at
that time I knew nothing about this. The sleigh
occupied by my son fiew rapidly out of sight, our
sleigh followed slowly. We must have ridden nearly
an hour, still the Hotel de l'Europe was not raached.
It certainly could not be so far. I could not talk to
the driver, but I knew a way to express my wishes;
so, grabbing him by the collar, I shook him violently.
I showed him a ruble, and ga,·e vent to the only
Russian word I knew, and exclaimed with vehemence,
'Paschol.' vVe drove on for half an hour longer.
We were suffering intensely from the extreme
cold, and, notwithstanding our furs, we soon began
to freeze. Again I shook the driver up, this time
more severely, when he stopped, and for the first
time I noticed that we were outside of the city,
and bad halted in front of the only house, a most
wretched saloon. The driver got out and entered
the house. We of course thought he was inquiring

for the right way and would return quickly, because it
had begun to grow dark. I waited a long time, and
finally losing all patience, got out and entered the
house. Imagine my surprise when I saw the man
sitting at a table behind a samovar full of tea, and a
glass of vodki. The room was filled with the most
terrible odors that ever offended my nostrils.
Ascertaining that the landlady spoke German, I had
her tell the driver what I wanted. I again got into
the sleigh, accompained by the driver, and we
returned to the city. I suspected nothing good from
his actions, and accordingly was on my guard. .My
precautions, however, were unnecessary, for in about
an hour we arrived at the hotel after making many
inquiries. I related my experience to the head por-
ter and asked him to pay the driver. He replied
that he knew what he had to do in such a case, and
instead of paying him in rubles he gave him a sound
thrashing, which the driver received very meekly
and departed in a very humble manner. I found
a waiting me a telegram from Re val, relating to my
engagement. ·what surprised me the most in the
telegram was the date o{it. It was dated fourteen
days before the one I had seen the day before in
Helsingborg. My curiosity had to be satisfied, and
I found that I had forgotten the difference in time
they have in Hussia, which is not like that of the
reRt of the Christian world. What should I do? I
concluded it would be best to spend a fortnight in
St. Petersburg, and look out for some engagements
later on. I had with me a number of excellent
lIISCELLANEOUS SKETCHES. 213
recommendations, and in four days I managed to

have an audience with the Emperor of all the Rus-
sians. He ordered a private performance in the
Winter Palace. I should remark that during this
performance I was very much disturbed by two
splendid greyhounds, one of which jumped and
pranced around me continuously on my impro-
vised platform. I accidentally stepped on his
foot and he howled most pitifully. I immedi-
ately apologized for my awkwardness the more,
I said, because I am very fond of dogs. 'You
shall have one for a present soon if you stay here,'
said the Emperor, smiling, 'and now take the dogs
out.' I proceeded with the performance and gave
my best tricks, or, as my wife said, 'played like an
angel.' (May God pardon her! ) This performance
at the Emperor's caused considerable excitement and
I received several other invitations. The Emperor
kept his word, and at the end of eight weeks the
promised greyhound was sent to me at Reva!. He
was a splendid animal, and I have him with me still.
He is very intelligent, and is a dear souvenir
of that unhappy monarch. I tmveled through
the Baltic provinces, and was undecided whether
to go further, when I received flattering invitations
to go to Berlin, which I decided to accept. There
was one more city I had to visit; it was Goldingen.
In this city there are many families of the nobility
who are very poor. . In every city in Russia there is
a casino for the noblemen, one for the students and
one for the citizens. ThA one for the students only
where there is a university. Of course there is also
2lt l\IODERN JllAGICIANS AND THl£IR WORKS.
a casino for the noblemen in Goldingen, and it hap-

pened to be in the very hotel where I wished to stop.
On my arrival l went into the parlor, showed my
passports, registered and talked to the landlord as
usual. I was very much surprised when he requested
me to go to my rooms, adding: 'You have not been
introduced to the members of the noblemen's casino,
and as these are the club rooms, strangers can not
stay in them after six o'clock. It will be better for
you to request one of the noblemen to introduce you.'
Now here in the world had I met with such inhospi-
tality, and I made up my mind not to humble myself
or lower my pride. I was as proud as an Arab, or, if
you prefer, as a Spaniard, and hence only went to
see the members of the press. These gentlemen con-
firmed what the landlord had told me, and added
that but few rich merchants in the city had the
honor to be members of the casino, and that the
noble members were very poor, and most of them
deeply in debt. The next morning, as I was looking
out of the window of my room, I saw three gentle-
men crossing the street. They did not go to the
door, but came to the open window, and I heard
them ask the question very plainly: 'Is anybody
there~' Just as plainly I heard the answer of the
landlord, who said, 'No.' Then the three gentle-
men went away. The landlord had lied, because I
knew positively there were four men in the lower
room. I wanted to know the reason of this bare-
faced lie, and went down stairs, for at this hour I
need not -ask any bogy's permission. There by the
window sat four men, and I could not refrain !rom
asking the landlord why he bad answered' No.' He

smiled and said: 'My dear sir, do you not see the gen-
tlemen in there are business men, those outside were
noblemen, and by" anybody" they mean naturally
their equals. We are used to it.' The next evening
I gave my performance. The theatre was crowded,
and just as I was about to give the signal to raise
the curtain, several firemen appeared on the ex-
tremely small stage and took their positions. Nobody
bad given me notice, as ought to have been according
to law, and I refuse<l to have them on the stage.
Eight minutes passed. Out in the parquet were
many students and boys who began to stamp their
feet. I took the bell to give the signal when the
chief of the fire department appeared. Three min-
utes more elapsed, he went away. More noise out
in the parquet. I was again on the point of begin-
ning when the director of the police appeared on the
stage. He was a very pleasant gentleman and told
me he had given orders for the firemen to take
positions in the orchestra. I thanked him. A
regular storm now broke out in the parquet. I rang
the bell and the curtain rose. Some of the boys
continued the noise with their feet. I felt annoyed,
and in a few words explained that the delay had
been caused through no fault of mine, and, there-
fore, for the sake of good manners, the stamping
could have been omitted. They became quiet. The
performance passed off to the satisfaction of all. I
gave two more performances, but did not take a step
toward being introduced to the casino. Some one
belonging to the press told me that some of the
216 l\IODERN :MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
members felt offended, but I kept my own counsel.

On the morning of the day I wanted to go away,
somebody knocked at my door. I called out, 'come
in;' a strange gentleman entered and stood before
me. Without any introduction, he addressed me as
follows: 'The first evening of your performance you
insulted in your speech the audience, with whom I
and several members of the noblemen's casino were
sitting. If you do not apologize immediately before
several witnesses down stairs, you will bitterly
regret the consequences.' 'To whom have I the
honor to speak, and what right,' I began, when he
interrupted me by saying:' I am the Circuit Judge,
and if you do not immediately give the required
satisfaction, I shall have your passport and luggage
seized, and hand in a report against you.' Had I
not owed my family some consideration, I could
easily have discomfited the poor wretch, but now I
was in doubt what to do. My wife's opinion was to
send a report to the emperor, but there would be
much delay and annoyance. Again there was a
knock at the door, and the good-natured face of the
director of police looked in. 'This is an ugly affair,
J\fr. Seeman. What are you goirig to do? They
have sent me to ac;k you for a decision. I advise you
to apologize. You have really done no wrong, but
the noblemen have decided to annoy you, and by
bringing suit they can keep you here from two to
three weeks. The judge will, of course, acquit you,
but think of the inconvenience. I speak as your
friend and am entirely on your side.' I could not
possibly humble myself to do as those poor stuck-up
l\IISOELLANEOUS SKETCHES. 217
noblemen wished, and refused point blank. 'Dut

think of it,' said the good-natured man, ' they only
ask you to comedown stairs and simply say," Excuse
me, gentlemen."' 'Don't they want anything more?'
I asked, as an idea flashed through my brain. 'No,'
answered the polite director. ' Well, my dear friend
if you wish to do me a favor, ask the gentlemen to
give it to you in writing, then I will not have to go
down stairs and make many words about it; I know
you will do it, won't you?' 'Certainly, with the
greatest of pleasure,' he replied. In about twenty
minutes I heard steps on the stairs, and the police
director entered the room with a paper, on which
was written that the undersigned gentlemen would
feel satisfied if I would only say, 'Excuse me, gen-
tlemen.' I put the paper in my pocket and went
down to the parlor. Six noblemen were sitting
there. I went up to them, and while looking at one
asked another: 'Is any of these gentlemen called
Lehman ?' All answered 'No.' I then said, 'I beg
your pardon, gentlemen,' 'turned on my heel and
walked out. Tableau. Nobody held me. I immedi-
ately ordered the horses and smiling I entered the
carriage, which drove off with us immediately."
The same grey hound that Baron Seeman speaks
of in aboYe experience, was a most remarkable and
intelligent animal. It remained in his family till
the summer after the professor's death. Shortly
after their return to Chicago it was so severely
injured that they were obliged to have it killed.
Baron Seeman was very fond of telling how, when
they arrived at a town for the first time, he would
send his wife and <laughter to the hotel, while his

son and himself, accompanied by the dog, would go
to the theatre, make their preparations, and when
necessary would send the dog with a message tied
aroun<l its neck, to the hotel for his wife and
daughter, or for them to bring anything he needed,
as the case might be. No matter how large the
town, or how large the hotel, the dog was never
lost, and nothing could stop him, as he was oft~n
seen to spring over large obstructions in his way.
In a previous chapter we have spoken about the
Bamberg family. Years ago in the days of Robert
Houdin, the favorite conjurer of the Netherlands,
was that skillful performer, "Old Bamberg." The
simple announcement that Bamberg was coming to
town was sufficient to fill the house every night to
overflowing, stay as long as he might. He was par-
ticularly skillful with cards, and his favorite amuse-
ment, when traveling, was to prevail upon some
fellow tourist to play a game of cards with him~ when
Bamberg was always sure to deal himself all the
trumps and his opponent got nothing.
The following little adventure he went through
with has been copied by nearly all conjurers since
his time, as having occurred to themselves, although
told differently in each case. He was making a
short trip from Rotterdam to The Hague, by way of
Delft. Seated in the same compartment of the car
with him were two gentlemen, one of whom had
entered after Bamberg. .At Delft a dragoon in
uniform entered. The train proceeded and in a little
while Bamberg asked one of the gentlemen what
time it was. On looking for his watch it was

missing. The other gentleman felt in his pocket
and missed his handkerchief, and the dragoon
missed his purse. An angry discussion arose, and in
a few minutes the train reached The Hague. As
soon as it stopped one of the gentlemen sent for the
Commissionaire of Police, who is always on duty at
the station, and dernanded that Bamberg be searched,
as they accused him of robbing them. Of course
they were not aware that it was the con-
jurer they were talking to. All went into
the office of the Inspector of Police, who, on
hearing the story each had to tell, insisted that the
stranger, Bamberg, be searched to clear himself.
While all the others were much excited, Bamberg
remained very cool, and now told the Inspector that
it was unnecessary to search him, as he need only
look in the dragoon's top boots, and he would find
the handkerchief, the purse and the gentleman's
watchi the chain of which was already hanging out
of the top of one of his boots. The Inspector, who
had begun to recognize Bamberg, now saw that they
were victims of his skill, and in order to preserve
the good humor of all, Bamberg explained how he
picked their pockets, showing that he had done so
just as they were entering the compartment of the
car, convincing them how easily it could be done.
He had slipped them into the boot of the dragoon
as the latter passed out of the car ahead of him.
Many of our readers have no donbt seen the won-
derful performances of the noted D' Alvini. He
was a Londoner, yet was known as " The J ap of
'?.~faps." No other balancer or juggler bas made such

a wonderful success and reputation as he did. Al-
though an Englishman, he fairly outdid the Japs,
and although he bad many imitators he has never
had an equal in his peculiar line. A Chicago corres-
pondent of one of the daily papers tells the follow-
ing interesting story of D'Alvini's skill, and how he
broke up some sharpers. D'Alvini was also a very
skillful conjurer, and during one of bis tours he
was obliged to make a long voyage on a steamer.
He was asked to join in a card party. Poker was
the game, of course, and the stakes, at first small,
gradually increased as the limit was Ehoved up and
up toward the ceiling. D' Alvini played in misera-
ble luck and lost steadily. No matter how good his
hand was, some one held a little better one. This
went on until our conjurer lost several hundred dol-
lars, nearly all the money he had in the world. It
was only at the last minute that he discovered that
he had been '' clone up" by card sharpers. Suppos-
ing. all the time that he had been playing with gen-
tlemen, he had taken no advantage of his skill as
a sleight-of-hand performer, and as all good con-
jurers do, played honestly through the game. Now,
however, he determined upon revenge, and before
going to bed be went to the purser and purchased
every pack of cards that worthy had for sale. Then
he sat up all night in his state-room doctoring
these cards, and in the morning took them back to
the purser along with a fifty dollar bill, and told him
to put them back in his stock. The purser-who-
ever knew a purser to refuse an honest penny-did
so, and after breakfast D' Al vini borrowed a hun-
dred and fifty dollars from the captain by put-
ting up his watch, and then he invited the sharp-
ers to play. In a few minutes they were at it
again! " Gentlemen," said D' Alvini, "I suspect
that this game was hardly fair last night, and I am
now going to make an effort to get even, and
shall insist upon using a fresh deck of cards
after every deal. Of course the gamblers had no
objections, and the ga,me commenced with that
understanding. D' Alvini had every deck fixed, and
the way that one hundred and fifty dollars of his
grew was a caution. In addition to his doctoring of
the cards, he rung in on them all his wonderful
skill in sleight-of-hand, and though he was one man
against three, he \'irtually cleaned out the crowd,
getting all his money back, and quitting winner
with over fifteen hundred dollars besides.
Anent the skill of the original and renowned Carl
Herrmann, the press of Paris tell how a practical
joke was played on him in that city <luring the time
when a Patagonian village was on exhibition there
a few years ago. He made a dsit to these aborjgi-
nes, accompanied by a number of prominent people,
and astonished these raw natives by pulling apples,
oranges and coins out of their noses, ears and abbre-
viated excuses for garments. A short time after
leaving them he was asked the time of day, and
then discovered that, while he had been amusing
these savages with his tricks and skill, they had pur-
loined his watch from his pocket without being dis-
covered.
2~2 MODERN MAGICIANS AND 'fllErn WORKS.
Many of the remarkable adventures told about

magicians, and which have been circulated round
among the newspapers for the last twenty-five
years, are fully a century old, and nearly aU of them
have been copied from old works or histories of
magicians who flourished nearly an hundred years
ago. Of course these tales have been brushed up
with new names and surroundings to make them
appear original and modern. Professors Alexander
Herrmann and Harry Kellar haYe made much use
of these old tales redressed. One woul<l naturally
think that, from their extended experience an<l
travels, they could furnish something more origi-
nal in the way of adventures to dilate upon. This
:;hows the great lack of originality of many modern
professors. They have, with but very few excep-
tions, followed in the footsteps of their predeces-
sors. This lack of originality accounts for the lack
of success of the many hundreds who have started
in the art and very soon dropped out of it, being
unable to devote the necessary time and study to the
development of it, and not possessing sufficient
genius or skill. There are very few professionals will-
ing or even able to buy anything that is particularly
new, striking or original. Those who have done so
have invariably succeeded the most, and with very
few exceptions have obtained considerable promi-
nence. Another reason of failure of young men
who start out in this line is that they are often
praised by managers who hope to make something
through their endeavors, and who are injudicious
enough to praise their performances when the same
should not be tolerated.
}IISCELLANEOUS SKETCHES. 223
Another thing which deserves condemnation from
all persons interested in the art, or its success, is the
exposing of their tricks by incompetent performers.
We call to mind the performances of Prof. Zanzic,
of whom we have spoken in a previous chapter, and
who, while playing an engagement at the Eden
Musee in Chicago, found his drawing powers on the
wane. He, to lend an additional attraction, exposed
all his tricks, and he had a large assortment. It is
almost needless to remark that he totally failed in
drawing any larger audiences. In fact, he dill not
draw as well as he did when he commenced his
engagement.
An American audience does not thank any person
for exposing secrets, and they know at once that be
is only doing it because he is incapable of performing
them properly. The audi@ce enjoys them much
more ·when in ignorance of how the tricks are per-
formed. This reminds us of a lit.tie incident which
happened at ·DeBars Theatre, St. Louis, during the
performance of the illusion knov\'n as "Prof. Pep-
per's Ghost." An elderly, rather corpulent gentle-
man positively "kicked" because "a knowing indi-
vidual" insisted on explaining to him how the ghost
was worked. Indeed, the said corpulent gentleman
did not wish to know anything about it. He feared
the enjoyment of the trick would be spoiled. He
was a true philosopher, and such is really the case
with mankind in general. It is a fact that perform-
ers who have exposed their tricks have never
attained any permanent success, and they never
will.
22.J: MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
Right here we might mention a few peculiarities

of the four leading nations of the world as seen in
the audiences from the stage of a conjurer. Ger-
mans, and by this we mean audiences in Germany
only, will, as far as possible, seek to discover how a
trick is being <lone, providing the conjurer is working
amongst them; and should he make use of any assist-
ants from the audience he is very likely to get into
trouble, as they will endeavor to prevent the suc-
cessful termination of the trick in their zeal to find
out " how it's done." In England, audiences as a
rule look on with very little appreciation one way or
the other-like the Jack Tar and his parrot,
always waiting to see what will come next-but when
they have once formed a liking for a performer, he
becomes a great favorite. French audiences like a
gentleman who is quick, strictly original, and above
all, brilliant in his patter, and catching in his man-
ner, and who can make things go with a dash. The
Americans remind us of what the great Barnum, the
emperor of modern showmen, has said, namely, that
all Americans want is to be humbugged, and the
greater the humbug the more they like it. This
is true, and an American audience will invariably
do all it can to assist a performer in carrying out
his tricks to a successful termination with greater
zeal than any other nationality.
Conjurers from the continent of Europe have, as a
rule, succeeded better than those from Great Britain,
because they are noted for giving more time and
study to their entertainments than the Englishmen
do. Even many of the Dime Museum performers
here surpass their English brethren in skill. The
conjurers in America are better posted on what is
going on in different parts of the world in their line,
than the artists of Great Bri tian are. No trick nor
publication can appear in Germany, France, or Eng-
land without being known in America, or repub-
lished here in the course of two or three weeks.
vVe have known tricks to have been on the market
in Germany, France and the United States for many
months, and even years, before they were introduced
in England. We account for this by the old and
well known saying that" large bodies move slowly,"
and an Englishman's mind is quite a cumbersome
affair. We are now speaking of the ordinary class
of performers, and are happy to state that there
are a few brilliant exceptions.
It is somewhat remarkable that during the past
decade very few ladies have entered the profession.
It is one particularly adapted to a lady, and there is
no reason why one with a fine outfit and proper
schooling should not obtain the same and even
greater success than the gentlemen. There certainly
is a fine fielJ in the art for ladies. There is no
longer a mystery surrounding the performances of
the moJern conjurers. There seems to be no reason
to suppose that conjuring entertainments of a high
order, conducted in a proper and legitimate manner
will ever lose their popularity. Future Conjurers
must be persons of ability, education and skill, and
be able to produce original and interesting effects in
a pleasing and attractive form.
APPENDIX.
NOTE I.
" What is the principle of memory ? " asks the
writer we have quoted in Chapter VIL "It is,"
says hei "that a conception or an idea can only he
caused by another when it is connected directly or
indirectly with the latter; or, to make it, perhaps, a
little clearer, when there is a direct or indirect con-
nection between the two.'' We deduct from this the
general principle of memory, namely, every repre-
sentation or idea to be repeated voluntarily must
refer directly or indirectly to another which is
already familiar. In this manner we arrive at our
system, which, in short, is a code system. In it we
represent the ten numbers or digits by a numerical
arrangement of sounds or sound words, and lrny
wo~ds. The ten numbers or digits, l 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 O, we represent by the sounds of certain con-
sonants, thus:
1 by T, or its equivalent D. 6 by sh, ch, tch, j or G (soft).
2by N. 7 by K, G, ng, Q or c (hard).
3 byM. 8 by ForV.
4 by K. 9 by B or P.
5by H. 0 by S, Z or 9 soft (hissing sound).
226
APPENDIX. 227
That these are cognate sounds we can easily deter-
mine by taking any word in which they occur and
asking ourselves how a foreigner would pronounce it.
For instance, the word "judge," it becomes·• chu<lge,"
"shudge," or "tchudge." " This," is " dis." "Paper,"
is "baper," etc. Now, having once learned the
sounds that represent the letters, we form words in
which these sounds occur, once, twice or thrice, as
we want them. These words it is best for every
person to form for himself; but to help the reader
towards this I will explain further:
No. 1 is T. ea. No. 4 is R. ye.

" 2 is N. oe. " 5 is L. ow.
" 3 is M. ~Y· " 6 is Sh. ow.
And so on, and say 116 would be 'foaq S.how. The

vowels count for nothing. It is best to make the
words, and understand that this list of words is arbi-
trary, and must not be changed; something strong;
something you will always remember, even if
ridiculous, as in the case of 116. Having once
made the list of words, say to the extent oi 100,
and memorized them, a study of only half
an hour, when your sounds are borne in mind,
you are ready to apply them. They can be
applied to almost anything that it is desired to
remember. As we wish to speak particularly of
instantaneous memorization, let us glance at the
manner in which well known teachers of the art,
and prominent conjurers apply it. When your 100
228 MODERN MAGlCIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
words are memorized you can have any person write

on a slate a list of numbered words-say to extent of
100-if possible the names of articles; when this is
<lone, have them read aloud, and, as each word is
read, make a mental picture connecting it with the
sound word in your vocabulary that corresponds to
its number. These pictures must be vivid; for
instance, No. 1 is an umbrella, form a picture of
a tea party in open air; it commences to rain, so they
hoist an umbrella over the group. If No. 5, in the
list, should be a table, picture a low man on a high
table delivering an oration. You first think of your
key word, which, in this case, is Tea, No. I, and your
mind reverts to the tea party, umbrella scene. Again,
No. 5, I see a low (5) rr..an on a big table, etc., so you
can run the list backwards and forwards, or in hap-
hazard order, giving any number called for. As an
introduction, you can speak of Lady Maqbeth calling
"Memory the warder of the mind," and must award
her the merit of being up to snuff-Scotch snuff, pre-
sumably. Then remark that we must not make
light of such a dark subject, as, in your opinion, a
man can not hold a candle to woman in the matter
of memory, instancing the fact 9f a woman in
church taking in at a glance and remembering every
new article of dress her neighbors wear, etc. The
following is a code that can be easily remembered
when the letters representing the sounds are first
memorized as mentioned above.
APPENDIX. 229
1 Tea 26 Niche 51 Lead 76 Coach
2 Noe 27 Nag 52 Line 77 Cake
3 May 28 Navy 53 Lime 78 Cuff
4 Rye 29 Nib 54 Lyre 79 Cab
5 Low 30 Mace 55 Lily 80 Face
6 Show 31 Mat 56 Lash 81 Vat
7 Key 32 Moon 57 Leg 82 Fan
8 Fay 33 Mummy 58 Leaf 83 Foam
9 Bee 34 Mare 59 Lip 84 Fire
10 Dice 35 Mole 60 Chaise 85 File
11 Toad 36 Mush 61 Shed 86 Fish
12 Tin 37 Mick 62 Shin 87 Fig
13 Dime 38 MufI 63 Sham 88 Fife
14 Door 39 Map 64 Share 89 Fop
15 Tile 40 Rice 65 Shell 90 Baize
16 Dish 41 Rat 66 Judge 91 Bot
17 Deck 42 Rain 67 Chalk 92 Bone
18 Dove 43 Ram 68 Shave 93 Beam
19 Tube 44 Rarey 69 Chop 94 Boar
20 Noose 45 Rail 70 Case 95 Bell
21 Net 46 Rash 71 Coat 96 Bush
22 Nun 47 Rake 72 Can 97 Bug
23 Name 48 Reef 73 Comb 98 Beef
24 Nero 49 Rope 74 Chair 99 Baby
25 Nail 50 Lace 75 Coal 100 Disease.
After deciding on your key-word never change it.

At first glance the above looks very formidable to
learn, but as mentioned before, when you know the
ten consonants and their equivalents it is child's
play. In the Knight's Tour of the chess-board, as
shown by Kellar on the stage, a code of sixty-four
words similar to above is used. Dr. Adam Miller, of
Chicago, gives one in his work on memory, as do the
little hand-books on Parlor Magic published by Dick
& Fitzgerald, of New York.
NOTE 2.
APPLICATION No. 1148 TO ENGLISH PATENT UoM-

MISSIONERS IN LONDON.
1 >rovisional Speoijfoation left by Owen Grenlijfe War-
ren at t!i,e office of tlte l'ommir:;r:;ioner ef Patents,
with his petition, on tlw <24th ef April, 1865.
"I, Owen Grenliffe vVarren, of the City, County,
and State of New Yo1'k, in the United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of the said
invention for 'PHILOSOPHICAL EX AMIN A-
TION INTO THE ALLEGED SPIRIT MANI-
FESTATIONS, CONSISTING OF A LAMP
AND A CLOSE ROOM,' to be as follows:
"This invention relates to the use of means for
determining the truth or falsity of alleged Spiritual
Manifestations. .In order that the experiment of
elucidating the matter may be carefully tried and
definitely proved, it is expedient that the experi-
menter be protected by Letters Patent for especial
process. I construct a close room and use a peculiar
light therein; I paint the walls, fio')r, and ceiling
with care, and filter the light that is used. The room
must be close, and have no open door or window ; it
should be air tight, though some air may be admitted
for ventilation, but it is better to have a reservoir of
230
APPENDIX. 231
air held under pressure in a tank in the room to be

allowed on turning a faucet to escape in the room
for comfortable breathing; .it will issue from the
room through unavoidable apertures. The light used
may be that from the combustion of hydrocarbon,
but it should be made to pass through a liquid
colored blue, black, or violet. So little light should
appear through it (however much gas may be
burned) that the room will seem entirely dark at
first, but the person shut in will grow to perceive
the light, and objects in the room will become visi-
ble. In such a room with this light there is a chance,
if any chance exists, that spirits may become dis-
tinctly visible. For the reason that spirits are not
seen it may be assumed that the light is too coarse;
it passes through them, and does not reflect from the
>;urface. In order to see them at all, it would there-
fore appear the light must be exceedingly minute,
and therefore it must be filtered. The kind of paint
proper for painting the walls, floor and ceiling of the
closed room is that which in chemistry is known as
being akin to carbon. Dolomite or magnesia prop-
erly prepared is good ; spirits of turpentine or alco-
hol may be employed for mixing the paint."
It is almost needless to remark that the Commis-
sioners refused Provisional Protection.
NOTE 3.
LA STROUBAIKA PEl{SANE.
During the past six months there has been consid-

erable notice taken of the latest illusion," Strobeika"
in the theatrical papers, as well as the daily press.
The following explanation of this illusion is taken
from the New York IIerald, of December 21st, 1890 :
"At regular intervals, the mechanical geniuses of
the stage and illusion halls produce a new trick, a
new illusion or deception.
"Starting with the London ghost show, which was
the first, and ending with 'Strobeika,' which is the
last, each has had its brief era of prosperity and then
given way to a new trick. Those deceptions of the
past seasons which now have only secondary places
on the programme of the necromancer I will not
write of in this column, but say something of the
last one, which has been produced 1Yith the customary
advance blow of trumpets and hifalutin stories from
an energetic press agent.
"Professor Herrmann, with the aid of much nicely
painted scenery, grewsome green lights, and silken
draperies, is responsible for the first production of
this last marvel of mechanical trickery in this city
and the United States. From time to time I have
232
APPENDIX. 233
told the readers of the IIemld how all the promi-

nent illusions, tricks, and automata are made, the
manner in which they are operated, and who
invented them, and where they were first exhibitedi
and something, generally, of their history. Professor
Herrmann's 'Strobeika' shall not be slighted, since
it is quite clever, and simple enough to class with
the best of the illusionary entertainments.
"Since the trick is a new one, I will give a brief
description of the way it looks to Professor Herr-
mann's audience.
"The double curtain opens slowly and discloses a
scene representing a dungeon, the back of which is
very dark, and the shadows on the stage are further
heightened by a ghostly greenish light. In the cen-
ter of the stage, quite near the back scene, stand
four light upright metal posts or poles about eight
feet tall and set about eight feet apart on the long
way and four feet on the short.
"A plank an inch and a quarter thick is suspended
a yard above the stage by four double brass chains
from the poles in full view of the audience. A man
is stretched upon the plank, his wrists and arms are
manacled and locked by a committee from the
audience, his neck is enclosed in a steel collar and
locked to the plank. At a signal a short curtain,
concealing only the prisoner and the plank, permit·
ting a full view underneath to the wall of the stage,
is drawn, and in a minute or more is withdrawn
again. In place of the prisoner is secured a beauti-
ful young girl, clad in page's cost-i:me. At the
instant of the girl's discovery, the man-the original
23-! l\IODERN MAGICIANS AND THErn WORKS.
prisoner-is seen runnii1g down one of the aisles of

the theatre.
"That is what Professor Herrmann calls 'Strn-
beika/ and he gives it that name so as to fit the
tric:k to a very touching R•1ssian legend about an
exile of that name.
'' The trick, of course, is the disappearance of the
manacled prisoner and the substitution of the girl,
also securely manacled and locked in the position
the man formerly was, the keys to the padlocks
being still in the possession of a disinterested com-
mittee.
"Professor Herrmann's 'Strobeika,' under another
name, was originally produced about eighteen
months ago in Paris, at a place known as Houdin's
Little Hall, and 'ms invented and worked by two
Germans, Herr Lutz and Markgraf. Tho illusion
caught on right away, and Cinquevalli, the juggler,
saw it and purchased the plans and right to work it
in Berlin, where it also achieved success. A little
later Carl Hertz, an American magician, bought the
right and produced 'Strobeika' under another
m1,me at the Alhambra, in London, and about the
same time a New York man, who is interested in a
cheap local entertainment, saw the illusion, brought
it to Amel'ica and sold the plans to Professor Herr-
mann.
"About the same time the 1"Ierald man, with his
weather eye open for novelties in the illusionary
line, heard of this particular one and made haste tu
get the plans. and idea from Paris as weli.
"To make sure they are about the same, I was one
APPENDIX. 235
of the committee of three that shackled Professor

Herrmann's prisoner the first night, and locked one
of his padlocks myself.
H The solid ends of the iron manacles are hinged so
that they open toward the center, in the case of the

two used to shackle the arms. In the other two the
hinges are on the left. When neck, feet and arms
are in proper position the irons are bent down over
a staple, which staple is set in a bed of metal. Just
remember that staple bed, for it is there the princi-
pal part of the trick lies. The padlocks are passed
through the staples and are locked by the committee,
who keeps the keys.
"There is no deception about the keys, locks or
manacles, since it is not at all necessary to the
deception that there should be. A movable frame,
concealed inside the board, which is hollow, and
this frame is moYed by a lever also cunningly con-
ceal(:ld inside the board, which-but that's another
story.
"When the lever is moved it releases all the hooks
which hold the staple beds firm, and, of course, with
a little upward pressure, these beds lift out of their
places iri the surface plate and fly back, together
with the padlocks, which, please remember, are still
locked.
"The prisoner is then, of course, free, and it is but
the work of a moment to climb out through an
opening in the curtains at the back, where the lady
who is to take his place is now w_a iting on the end
of a long board pushed out through an opening in
the scene. The lady gets on the trick board and the
23G MOD.l£RN MAGICIANS AND TH.l£IR WOl{KS.
man slams the manacles into place, presses the staple

beds home again, and goes away through the back
of the stage and around to the front of the theatre
to appear at the minute the curtain canopy is aga)n
raised. That concealed lever spoken of can be
either moved by the manacled man or it can be
moved by the substitute.
"In Paris it was moved by the prisoner the minute
the curtains were drawn down far enough to conceal'
his hands, and by the time the curtains had been let
down far enough to conceal the board he was free
and ready to leap out the back.
"The little handle of the lever which moves the
frame which releases the staple beds is a cunningly
simulated screw-bolt head placed in the lower right-
hand corner of the plate, to which the right-hand
manacle is fastened. This screw-bolt runs through
the plate on the board into the lever frame. A
simple pressure of the fingers on the bolt-head to the
right about two inches is all that is necessary to free
the staple beds, and a similar movement back to the
left locks the staple beds again.
"The little runway of the bolt is so carefully fitted
as to deceive the committee in the dim light given
them on the stage. To provide against the commit-
tee discoYering the movement of the screw-head
there is a small plate placed under the other plate.
This holds the screw-head in position until the
operator introduces a small piece of metal, which he
holds in his right hand. By pushing this under the
edge of the top plate he is enabled to slide the small
plate ·away from the screw, and the latter is now
APPENDIX. 237
movable. While the committee are on the stage, of

course the panel in the scenery is closed.
"A plank, which is practically a bridge, is thrust
through the hole and across the intervening space
between the curtain and the scenery, and the prisoner
and the substitute get out and in the curtained inclos-
ure in that way, without ever having to put their feet
on the ground. If they did get down as low as the
stage level the audience would be able to see their
booted legs.
"There is, of course, a slit in the back of the
curtain to admit the bridge. The four poles being
set eight feet apart up and down the stage naturally
cover a wide angle of vision, and pre\'ent that part
of the audience sitting in the boxes or sides of the
theater from seeing the rapid transit of the two
workers of the trick, and as all the committee, after
they have locked the padlocks, are carefully re-
quested to leave the stage, no one is apt to discover
this part of the illusion."
While the explanation given above is quite clever,
it is scarcely correct in all its details, but close
enough for a newspaper article. The true history
of this illusion is as follows:
Mr. M. Hermann, the well known manufacturer
of Berlin, is the original inventor. He sold the first
one to the Pinauds, who in turn disposed of it to
Prof. Duperrey ; this gentleman produced it in Paris
during the exposition, not giving the sensational
ending to it of substituting the lady for the man,
which was also Mr. Hermann's idea. Returning to
Berlin, after seeing it performed in Paris by Duperrey,
238 MODERN JllAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
he improved it in this manner and produced it there.

He had considerable success with it and sold a large
number of them, sending the plans of it at once to a
manufacturer of conjuring apparatus in Chicago,
who offered it for sale a year before it was produced
in this country. None of the American conjurers
would take hold of it, probably because they have
not sufficient enterprise to start in with an original
expensive novelty and be the first ones to reap the
benefit; they wait for somebody else to make a
start and then they are willing and anxious to take
hold. A Mr. Schwieg·erling, who is well known as
a clever manipulator of Marionettes, was the firs~ to
produce it in ·this country, performing it in Chicago.
Sometime afterwards a conjurer, unknown to fame,
brought one to New York, and, not being able to
produce it successfully, was obliged to give it up,
and sold it to Prof. Alexander Herrmann, who pro-
duced it at his theatre. His production of it called
forth the expose in the New York IIerald. The
illusion was originally introduced under the name of
"La Stroubaika persane," but Prof. Herrmann
rechristened it "Russian" and made up quite an
intflresting plot for it.
Shortly after returning to Berlin, Mr. M. Her-
mann sold one to the American conjurer, Carl
Hertz, who took it to London. A number of imi-
tations at once sprang up there and Mr. Hermann
offered his for sale through the columns of ••The
Era," the leading theatrical journal of that city.
In a short time he was greatly surprised to receive
notice that Carl Hertz had taken out a patent on it
APPENDIX. 239
in England and had published a warning to ail per-

sons not to buy nor make use of the same. To
quote the words of one of the most prominent con-
jurers abroad : "Such actions as this cause society
to look down on the conjuring fraternity, and pre-
vent many of them from attaining the success they
deserve."
No person could obtain a patent on anything like
that in the United States after he had purchased it
from somebody else, but the English patent laws
are not so strict as ours; therefore, Mr. Hertz was
able to take out the patent that he was not entitled
to, there being no rights in such an illusion, or
invention, as this, unless it is fully covered in all
~
countries by patents taken out by the original

inventor, which usually costs more than a conjurer
is willing to pa.y.
Since taking out the patent on Stroubaika, Mr.
Hertz has also taken out a patent in England on the
suspension used and patented here by Will B. Wood.
He re-christened it" Aerolite." In case Mr. \Vood
desires in the future to produce his illusion in Eng-
land, he can be stopped by Mr. Hertz unless some
understanding was arrived at between them, in re-
gard to Mr. Hertz patenting it there. Somewhat
similar to "Stroubaika" is the Palanquin Trick.
Ill an opera called "Les Amours du Diable,"
produced in Paris some years ago~ says Chambers's
Journal, there was a curious scene w hicb puzzled all
who saw it. A slight palanquin-constructed in
such a manner that it was obvious that there was
no possibility of its having a double bottom-was
brought upon the stage supported on the shoulders

of slaves. The actress who occupied it withdrew
the curtains and gave some orders to her attendants.
Then the curtains were closed for an instant and
again reopened. But the occupant of the palanquin
had disappeared. What had become of her? The
feat had been executed close to the front of the
stage and under a brilliant light, and the spectators
could plainly see that it was certain that the lady
had not gone down a trap. The mystery remained
for some time unsolved. The explanation of the
puzzle was simply this: The pillars of the palan-
quin appeared to be very slight, but instead of being
wood they we1·e hollow metal tubes. Through these
tubes ropes ran on pulleys at the top of the palan-
quin, descending in the inside, and fasteneJ to the
frame on which was placed the silk cushion on which
the actress reclined. To the other end of the ropes
was attached a. heavy weight which exactly balanced
that of the lady. One of the slaves was imperson-
ated by an expert machinist. As soon as the cur-
tains were drawn he pulled a cord which released
the counterpoise, and the frame, together with its
burden, rose to the dome of the palanquin. There
the actress lay quite comfortably, a wire gauze over-
head enabling her to breath freely. Pains had been
taken in the construction of the palanquin to make
it appear frail, while in reality it was \"ery strongly
built, that the roof might bear the strain upon it of
the weight it had to support. The bearers were
men selected for their muscular strength, and they
APPENDIX. 2H
were drilled in the practice of taking up the palan-

quin-after the disappearance of its occupant-and
carry it off the stage at a sharp trot, as if it were
empty.
NOTE 4.
RoBERT HELLER'S SECOND-SIGHT OonE.

A foreign journal gives the following explanation :
Robert Heller, or rather Robert Palmer-for the
latter was the name under which he gracluated at the
King's College, London-got his idea of second-sight
after witnessing a performanc~ of the celebrated
Houdin in England. The great French prestidigita-
teur never imparted the secret to any save his son,
who was his coadjutor, but Palmer, or Heller, as we
shall call him, after witnessing the exhibition, dis-
carded the then prevalent notion of animal magnet-
ism, and at once concluded that the identification of
the article by the blindfolded boy depended upon an
alphabetical arrangement by which the guestion was
propounded. .
After much study he succeeded in perfecting a
system which, though differing in detail from that
of the Frenchman, was theoretically the same, and
he forthwith sought an apt pupil to assist him in
presenting the mystery to the public. This, be it
remembered, was not easy, for the interrogated
party had a much more difficult task in the solution
of the alphab~tically put question than he had m
242
APPENDIX. 243
propounding it, so that upon an average not one in

a hundred was successful in sufficiently perfecting
himself to appear in public.
Heller's second-sight was, in fact, a much more
complicated affair than that of Houdin's. It was
considerably enlarged, and comprehended at least
double the number of questions and answers, em brac-
ing in its range almost every conceivable article
which could be presented by an audience. In the
course of a long interview with Mr. Fred Hunt, Jr.,
the Times obtained the above facts and the follow-
ing full and interesting statement: "I was twelve
years of age when I became Heller's pupil, anJ intri-
cate and pevplexing as it may appear to those who
examine the subjoined table, I succeeded in six weeks
in so comprehending it that at the expiration of that
time, we gave at Smith & Nixon's hall an exhibition,
when I underwent a severe test without a blunder.
It is not so long ago, but many who read this will
remember the occasion. In the meantime, during
the years we were together, Heller was constantly
enlarging and perfecting his system. He is now
gone, and has solved a greater mystery than that
which puzzled so many thousands while he was on
earth, and I believe that his sister, Haidee Heller,
and myself are the only living persons in whom
Robert Heller's second-sight is vested. A short time
since, a writer in a New York journal attempted an
expose of the mystery, which was extensively copied
by the press throughout the country, and reproduced
in some of the English papers, but it "'as so tangled
and inexplicable as to so confound the question that
244 :MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
it would be impossible for the party interrogated to

come to anything near a correct answer. Heller had
so simplified the system as to embrace every variety
of article classified in sets, as will be shown in the
accompanying table-one question, with a word or
two added, sufficing to elicit a correct answer for ten
different articles.
The student must be first posted in a new alpha-
betical arrangement, with which he must familiarize
himself as thoroughly as a boy in learning his primer.
This is the most difficult part of the business, but
when mastered thoroughly it comes as easy as if the
question were plainly propounded.
FOR EXAMPLE, •
you want the initials or name in a ring. Say it is
Anna. Dy the alphabetical arrangement (see the
appendix below) H stands for A, D for N. The
exclamation "Hurry up" al ways means a repetition
of the last letter, and again H will give the answer
when put as follows:
" Here is a name."
"Do you see it?"
"Hurry up."-
" Have you got it?"
Attention is only paid to the first letter of every
sentence, and it will be perceived that the name of
Anna is spelled.
Again, take Gazette, whiGh is abbreviated in a
phonographic manner in order to simplify the ques-
tion. G is A, A is H, Z is hurry (not hurry up), E
is F, T is P. The question would be-
" Are you able to tell the name?"
APPENDIX. 245
"Here it is."
''Hurry."
"Find the name."
"Please be quick."
Here you have GAZET in short meter. The let-
ters K, U, X, and Z being difficult wherewith to com-
mence an interrogative sentence, the words" pray,"
"look," "see this," and "hurry" are used, as will be
seen in the table. Oare must be taken not to com-
mence a sentence with either of these words, unless
applicable to the word to be spelled. For instance,
if Xenia is required Xis" see this,'' Eis F, N is D, I
is B, and A is H. Thus the question.
"See this?"
"Find it quick."
"Do hurry."
"Be quick."
"How is it spelt?"
Again, for the initials U. S., you will say-
" Look."
"Now then."
U is look and S is N.
If you want Kentucky named thus, the question-
" Pray name the State."
"Quick."
"Pray" is K, and Q is Y. A.fter the alphabet,
we have the numbers, which, it will be seen, are
easily understood after a little practice.
For No. 1-The words used are Say or Speak.
For No. 2-Be, Look or Let.
For No. 3-0an or Can't.
For No. 4-Do or Don't.
246 !tIODERN MAGICIANS A.ND THEIR WORKS.
For No. 5-Will or Won't.

For No. 6-What.
For No. 7-Please or Pray.
For No. 8-Are or Ain't.
For No. 9-Now.
For No. 10--Tell.
For No. 0-Hurry or Come.
" "\V ell " means to repeat the last figure. Example
-The number 1,234 is required; attention must only
be paid to the first word of a sentence, thus-
" Say the number."
"I,ook at it."
"Can you see it 'I "
"Do you know t "
•Or say the number is 100-
" Tell me the number."
"Hurry t"
A rather difficult number would be 1,111. The
question would be put in this wise-
" Say the number."
"Well."
"Speak out."
"Say what it is."
On a watch or a greenback there are sometimes
eight or nine numbers, which can be followed as
easily as the above. There are eight colors which
will comprise the list as they are set forth in the
table, and the solution of the numbers, as I have
explained, will furnish the key; for example, the
article presented is green, the question will be- ·
"What is the color? "
-green being the sixth color in the list. Blue is
APPE::-ID!X.
wanted, an<l as it stands third m the list, the word

woul<l be-
" Can you tell the color?"
White is wanted, and as it stands first in the list,
the question is-
" Say the color."
Understand that the wor<l:rnxplaining the numbers,
as given in the list, are applied to the articles enu-
merated in eaclL of the subjoined tables. Take the
metals, for instance. The metai presented is copper,
which is fourth in the list. The question would
be-
" Do you know the metal?" Or steel, which is
ninth in the list-
" Now, what is the metal i ."
ARTICLES IN SETS.
It will be seen that the different articles are

arranged in sets, numbering no more than ten. Each
set has at the head a different question, worded very
nearly alike, so as to make the audienee believe that
the same question is being constantly asked. The
question at the head of the set, which is always
asked first, is the clue to the set which ccrntains
the article to be described. Each set is numbered,
as in the cases of the colors and metals, and the
word conveys each particular article.
For the first set the question is-
" What article is this? "
This gives the clue to ten distinct articles. The
next demand may be-
" Can you tell ~ "
-which would be solution for "bag," it being the
third in the list.
"Say the fabric,"

-the reply would be "silk," that being the first in
the line of fabrics, and as I have before stated, " say"
representing No. 1. If a leather bag, it would be-
" Will you tell the fabric?"
" Will " standing for No. 5. A handkerchief is
presented, and the question is-" ·what article is
this? Say," which explains that it is a handkerchief,
as that is the first article in the list·. "Can you tell
the fabric?" "Cotton," cotton standing third in the
list of fabrics. Then, again, if you want the color-
say it is blue-" Can't you tell the color?" "Blue,"
which stands third on the list of colors. A watch
embodies a greater number of questions than almost
any other article. If you want to describe it fully,
it is first in the second set, the key of which is-
" What is this? "
We will say that it is a lady's gold watch, double
case, three hands, made by Tobias, No. 9,725, the
initials "from B. C. to C. H." engraved on the case,
the year 1860, and blue enameled, set with five
diamonds. This is a complex question, and must be
put and answered as follows:
Question-" What is this, say?"
Answer-" A . watch."
Q. " Say the metal? "
A. "Gold."
Q. "Say to whom it belongs".
A. "A lady."
Q. "Yes?"
A. "A double case."
Q. " Can you tell the ·number of hands 'I "
APPENDIX. 2±9
A. "Three."
Q. " Will you tell the maker? ''
A. ': Tobias."
Q. "Now, the number~"
"Please tell me."
"Be quick."
" vVon't you ? "
A. " 9, 725."
Q. "Can you tell me the color of this enamel?"
A. "Blue."
Q. "Tell the initials."
''Say?"
A. "B. C."
Q. "Say to whom."
"I want to kno\Y."
A. "C. H."
Q. ''Say these stones."
A. "Diamonds."
Q. "Will you tell how many?"
A. "Five."
If it is a double case, the simple word "yes"
conveys the intelligence, after "to whom it belongs."
If an open case, the word " well " is used.
!'LAYING CARDS.
These will be found in the sixteenth set, and the
order of suits in the eighteenth. We will take the
nine of spades as having been presented. The
question will be-
" Say, what is this?"
" Can you tell? "
"A playing card."
''Do you know the suit?"
250 MODERN MAGICIANS AND THElR WOHKS.
"Now, then."
"Do'' is four, which means spades, and "now" is
mne. The cards are told as follows:-First the
"playing card," second the suit, third the number or
picture. If, after the preliminary question is put
and answered, it is an ace, the interlocutor says
"right;" if a king, "that's right ; " if a queen,
"good;" if a jack, "very good."
MONEY.
This will be found classed in the eighth set, the key
to which is, " Look at this."
No. 6 of the set is described as a " piece of
money," and is always of a less value ~ban a dollar.
We will take a silver quarter of the date of 1820.
The question is-
" Look at this."
" What is it? "
Ans. "A piece of money."
Ques. "Let me know the amount. ·will you?"
Ans. "Twenty-five cents."
As we know that "Let" is 2 and " Will" 5. If
the coin is of this century, only the two last figures
are asked; if of a prior date, the three last. The
question therefore is- -
" Look at the date."
"Hurry."
-which would bring the answer "1820." A foreign
coin is furnished, say of Rome. The question would
be-:__" Look at this; do you know what it is?" The
answer is, "A coin." "What country?" "Italy,"
as Italy stands sixth in the list of countries, as will
be seen by referring to the table. A Mexican dollar
APPENDIX. 251
will elicit the question, "Look at this, now." "A
silver dollar." ''Tell me the country '1 " The reply
will be Mexico, as that country stands tenth on the
list. A Treasury note is presented of the value of
$50, the question is, "Look at this; be quick"
Answer-"A Treasury note." " Will you tell me
the amount; come," which means 5 and O, or $50-
" come" being a substitute for ''hurry." Again, a
$2.50 gold piece is presented, and the question is as
before, "Look at this, will you?" Answer-" A gold
piece." ''Let me know the amount, won't you;
come?"-" let," "won't" and "come" standing for
"250."
OTHER EXAMPLES.
"Pray, what is this~" "Tell me." The answer is
a "key," key being the tenth article of the set. Now,
in order to tell what kind of a key, these simple
words will explain-"
"Yes"-a watch key.
"\iV ell "-a door key.
"Good "-a safe key.
'' vVhat is here?" "Say?" The answer is "pipe."
Now, to ascertain what kind of a pipe as above, the
words-
" Yes"-a meerschaum pipe.
"\iVell "-a wooden pipe.
"Good "-a clay pipe.
" Can you see this?" "Please say?" Answer is
"comb."
"Yes "-a pocket comb.
"Well "-a toilet comb.
"Good "-a curry-comb. "Can yon see this?"
"Are you going to tell?" The answer is "brush."
· 252 l\IODER'.'< MAGICIANS AND TUEIR WORKS.
"Yes"-hair-brush.
"'\Vell "-clothes-brush.
"Good "-paint-brush.
If an article is presented which is not down in the
sets, the alphabet will have to be resorted to, and the
article spelled out.
HOW IT WAS DONE WITHOUT ASKING QUESTIO:NS.
As soon as my back was turned to the audience,
and a large, silk handkerchief thrown oYer my head,
the stool on which I \\'as seated, containing a hollow
leg, was placed directly over a hole in the stage. A
rubber pipe was passed up which connected with a
tin tube running underneath the stage to the back of
the curtain. The assistant saw through a hole in the
curtains all articles which were held up, and con-
veyed the intelligence to me through the pipe. None
but large articles, such as hats, umbrellas, sticks, etc.,
were taken, an<l as this part al ways closed the seconcl-
sight part of the performance, it was clear to the
minds of all " that it wasn't done by questions," and
this concludes the second-sight mystery, which so
perplexed the world, and which I never would have
exposed, but for the death of my lamented friend,
Robert Heller.
THE APPENDIX AND KEYS.
ALPHABET.
AisH J is L Sis N
Bis T K is Pray Tis P
C is S Lis C U is Look
Dis G Mis 0 Vis Y
Eis F N isD Wis R
Fis E 0 is Y Xis See this
GisA Pis J YisQ
His I QisW Z is Hurry
I is B Ris M
Hurry up-Repeat last letter.
NUMBERS.
1 is Say or Speak 7 is Please or Pray ,
2 is Be, Look or Let 8 is Are or Ainlt (bu 1. lf
3 is Can or Can't 9 is Now
4 is Do or Don't 10 is Tell
5 is Will or Won't 0 is Hurry or Come
6 is What
" Well" is to repeat the last :figure.
COLORS.
1- Is white. 5- Is reel.
2- Is black. 6- Is green.
3-ls blue. 7-ls yellow
4-Is brown. 8-Is gray.
253
254 MODERN MAGfCIANS ANI> THEIR WORKS.
THE :METALS.
1-Gold. 6-Iron.
2-Silver. 7-Tin.
3-Brass. 8-Platina.
4--Copper. 9-Steel.
5-Lead.
THE SETTING.
1-Diamoncl. 6-Garnet.
2-Ruby. 7--Emerald.
3-Pearl. 8-Turquoise.
-±-Amethyst. 9-Carbuncle.
5-0nyx. 10-Topaz. ·
The Stone-Opal.
OF WHAT.
[This set to describe the sex, etc., of the pictures.]
I-Lady. 6-Group.
2-Gentleman. 7-Animal.
3-Boy. 8-Drawing.
4-Girl. 9-Sketch.
5-Child.
COUNTRIES.
I-America. 6-Italy.
2-England. 7-Spain.
3-France. 8-0:;i,nada.
4-Germans. 9-Foreign.
5-Russia. 10-Jlriexico.
THE MATERIAL.
1-Woocl. 6-Rubber.
2-Stone. 7-Glass.
3-:Marble. 8-Bone.
4-Bronze. 9- Ivory.
5-Lava. IO-China.
APPENDIX. ~55
THE FABRIC.
I-Silk. 5-Leather.
2-Wool. 6-Kid.
3-Cotton. 7-Buckskin.
4--Linen. 8-Lace.
WATCHES.
The maker's name?

Ot· what company's make?
[This is to tell the maker's name of watches. l
I-American Watch Co. 6-Johnson.
2-Waltham Watch Co. 7-Swiss.
3-Elgin Watch Co. S-
4-Dueber Watch Co. 9-
5--Tobias. 10-
FIRST SET.
What article is this'?

1-Handkerchief. 6-Basket.
2--Neckerchief. 7-Beet.
3-Bag. 8-Comforter.
4-Glove. 9-Head-dress.
5-Purse. 10-Fan.
SECOND SET.
What is this~
I-Watch. 6-Necklace.
2-Bracelet. 7-Ring.
3-Guard. 8-Rosary.
4- Chain. 9-0ross.
5-Breast-pin. 10-Charm. ,
25() MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
THIRD SET.
What may this be?

1-Hat. 6-Muff.
2-'Cap. 7-C,ape.
3-Bonnet. 8-Boa.
4-0uff. 9-Inkstand.
5-Collar. 10-Mucilage.
FOURTH SJ<cT,
What is here?
1-Pipe. 6-Tobacco box.
2--0igar. 7--Tobacco pouch.
3-Cigar-holder. 8-Match.
4--Cigarette. 9-Match-box.
5-Tobacco. 10--0igar-lighter.
FIFTH SET.
What have I here ?

I-Spectacles. . 6-0pera-glass case.
2-Spectacle case. 7-Magnifying glass.
3-Eye-glass. 8-Telescope.
4-Eye-glass case. 9-Compass.
5-0pera-glass. 10-0orkscrew.
SIXTH SET.
Oan yon see this~

1-Knife. . 6-Toothpick.
2-Scissors. 7-0omb.
3~Pin. 8-Brush.
4-Needle. 9-Thimble.
5-0ushion. 10-Looking-glass.
APPENDIX. 257
SEVENTH SET.
Do you know what this is?

1-Book. 6-Pamphlet.
2-Pocket-oook. 7-Programme.
3-Needle-book. 8-Bill.
4-Paper. 9-Letter.
5-Newspaper. 10-Envelope.
EIGHTH SET.
Look at this !
1-Bank-bill. 6-Piece of money.
2-Treasury note. 7-Bank cheque.
3--0urrency. 8-Bond.
4-Coin. 9-Silver dollar.
5-Gold-piece. 10-- Postage stamp.
NINTH SET.
Now, what is this?

1-Stick. 6-Picture.
2-Whip. 7-Shoe.
3-Parasol. 8-Boot.
4-UmbreUa. 9-Button.
5-Umbrella-cover. 10- Stud.
.•
TENTH SET.
Tell me this?
1-Ear-ring. 6-Fork.
2-Locket. 7-Spoon.
3- Sleeve-button. 8-Armlet.
4-Hair-pin. 9-0rnament.
5-Clothes-pin. .10-Check.
ELEVENTH SET.
I want to know this ?

1-Apple. 6-Candy.
2-Nut. · 7-Popcorn.
3-0ake. 8-Lozenge.
4-0range. 9-Grain.
5--Lemon. 10-Wax.
TWELFTH SET.
Pray what is this 1

1-Screw. 6-Knob.
2--Hinge. 7-Rule.
3-Tool. 8-Lock.
4-Nail. 9-Buckle.
5-Tack. 10-Key.
THIRTEENTH SET.
You know what this is?

1-Shot. 6-PBt'OUSSion cap.
2-Powder. 7-Cartridge.
3-Bullet. 8-Surgical instrument.
4-Gun. 9-Musical instrument.
5-Pistol. 10-Tuning Fork.
FOURTEENTH SET.
Quick! This article.

1-Bouquet. 6-Toy.
2-Boaquet holder. 7-Flag.
3--Flower. 8-Bottle.
4-Wreath. 9-Game.
5-Leaf. 10-Doll.
APPENDIX. 259
FIFTEENTH SET.
Name this article.
1-Pen. 6-0ase.
2-Pen-holder. 7-Spool.
3-Pencil. 8--Soap.
4-Eruser. 9--Perfumery.
5:._Rubber. 10-Cup.
SIXTEENTH SET.
Say, what 1s this?
1-Card. ti-Bunch keys.
2-Card-case. 1--Tablet.
3-Playing card. 8-Cord.
4--Button-hook. 9--Tweezers.
5~-Key ring. 10--001-k.
SEVENTEENTH SET.
This article?
1--Bible. 6-Hymn-book.
2-Testament. 7-Music.
3-Tract. 8--Smelling-bottle.
4-Book-mark. 9-Vinaigrette.
5-Prayer-book. 10-Strap.
EIGHTEENTH SET.
Playing cards.
!-Diamonds. 3--Clubs.
2-Hearts. 4-Spades.
"Right''-Ace. "Good "-Queen.
" That's right "-King. "Very good "-Jack.
NINETEENTH SET.
Devices.
1-Masonic. 4--Druids.
2-0dd Fellows. 5-Musical.
3-K. of P.
NOTE 5.
MRS. DAFFODIL DOWNY'S LIGHT AND DARK SEANCE.
Dramatis Person~.
Sir B'verleigh Staid (a rich widower)-light tweed
suit; flaxen wig; patent leather boots; eye-glass;
ma<>her collar.
Dr. Blade a spirit medium)-long black frock
coat ; gray wig and beard ; blue spectacles.
Morsel (Dr. Blade's assistant)-seedy black suit;
long black wig; clean shaven; red nose; general
groggy appearance.
M1'8. Daffodil Downy -evening dress ; as attract-
ive looking as possible.
James-Mrs. Downy's footman in livery.
Female character for ghost.
SCENE.
Drawing room: small occasional table in center of
stage; piano at prompter's side; spiritual cabinet in
parts at opposite side; chairs ; bells, etc.
PROPERTIES.
Violin and bow; cane ; skeleton fakes; dress and
black rob,e for ghost, etc. (Curtain rises, discover-
ing Mrs. Daffodil Downy playing and singing at
the piano.)
1160
APPENDIX • 261
.Mrs. D. D. (after completing song, soliloquizes) :

In five minutes they will be here. How will it all
end? It is a bold card to play but the only one
worth playing. (Rises and rings bell.)
· .Enter James.
James: Did you ring, ma'am?
Mrs. D. D.: Yes. ls everything in apple-pie
order and the doctor ready to begin?
James: Oh, yes, ma'am.
Jfrs. D. D.: I hope the doctor has kept his he::i.d
cool?
James: Lor' yes, ma'am ; but Mr. Morsel has
eaten and drank more than enough for three per-
sons.
Mrs. D. D.: I do hope he will be in a fit state
for the evening's work. Remember, after Sir Ever-
leigh comes, to announce them as though they had
just arrived.
James: Very good, ma'am. (Exit.)
JJfrs. D. D. (soliloquizing) : How will it all end?
(Knock heard; re-enter James).
James: Sir Everleigh Staid. (Sir E. S. enters.at
same time.)
Hrs. D. D.: Dear Sir Everleigh, pray be seated;
(turning to James) leave us, James. (Sir E. S. takes
chair.)
James (aside)~ I suppose they want a little quiet
spooning; I was a master once myself. (Mrs. D. D.
sits down at piano; Sir E. S. toys with handkerchief
and eye-glass ; Mrs. D. D. sighs; Sir E. S. sighs-
business. Mrs. D. D. moves her chair a little nearer
to Sir E. S., who, at the same time, while sitting on
his chair, recedes from her; the same business re-

peated.)
Mrs. D. D.: Why are you so near and yet so far?
Sir E S.: Ah t that is an advertisement; (thinks)
Ob, I know-free by mail for six cents.
Mrs. D. D.: I hope, dear Sir Everleigh, we shall
succeed in making you a convert to spiritualism.
Sir E S.: Oh, dear, no! I shall never believe in
such nonsense. It is all very well for fools and
imposters, but I flatter myself I know better than
to be taken in by such rubbish.
Mrs. ·D. D.: Ah! you have such strength of
mind; but I think it is such a beautiful idea to be
able to converse with the spirits of our departed
friends. Now, would you not like to see your late
wife?
Sir E S. (starting and answering quickly): Oh,
certainly not.
Mrs. D. D.: Oh, why did you ever promise the
late Lady Staid that you would not marry again?
Sir E. S.: She said it would be impossible for
her to die if I didn't promise, and I firmly believe
she never would have died if I hadn't.
.J.1-frs. D. D.: Do you intend to keep your word?
Sir E S. (indignantly) : Mrs. Daffodil Downy!
Mrs. D . D.: Well, but if the spirit of the late
lamented Lady Staid were to appear at our seance
to-night and relieve you of your pledge?
Sir E. S.: I should think her disposition had
changed considerably for the better.
Mrs. D. D. (smiling): Well, slightly! (Hiding
her face behind her fan) you know that I love you.
APPENDIX. 263
Sir E S.: And you know that I love you (pause)

as a brother.
J1r_s. D. D.: My dear Sir Everleigh, I love you
with the closest affection that the laws of society
allow.
Sir E S.: But, on reflection, I don't think there
is much love lost between sister and brother, as a
rule .
.Mrs. D. D.: We don't love each other for the
sake of wealth, do we?
Sir· E S. (sarcastically): Oh no! we don't love
each other for the sake of wealth nor for beauty,
· do we?
ll:frs. D. D. (sarcastically): Oh dear not nor for
youth either.
Sir E S.: Well, as we can not marry, let us love
each other platonically. Don't misunderstand me,
my dear Mrs. Daffodil Downy. If it were not for
that unfortunate promise, I would marry you at
once.
, .Mrs. D. D.: Well let us hope that the spirit will
. intercede for us.
Sir E S.: I never will believe in such sanguinary
tricks. (During the last few words, they have been
gradually approaching each other, and finally
embrace; Sir E. S. kneels at her feet, takes her
hand and kisses it, when they are interrupted by the
entrance of James. Situation.)
James: Dr. Blade and .Morsel, ma'am.
(Enter Dr. Blade and Mr. Morsel. The latter takes
a chair at the back of stage. Exit James).
Dr.: How do you do, Mrs. Daffodil Downy ?
264: MODERN MAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
Mrs. D. D.: Quite well, thank you. Dr. Blade,

allow me to introduce you to Sir Everleigh Staid.
(Sir E. S. and the Doctor shake hands and then
walk up stage to Morsel.)
Dr. (bowing to Sir E. S. and pointing to Mor-
sel): The medium, Sir Everleigh-he is rather deaf.
(Doctor walks to piano and converses inaudibly
with Mrs. D. D.)
Sir ES. (to Morsel): How do you do~
.Morsel (solemnly) : Very dry.
8fr E S. (to Doctor): Yes, he is very deaf.
(To Morsel) Shall we have a good seance?
Morsel: I like it cold, without sugar, if you
please.
Dr. (turning towards Sir E. S.) : The medium is
very deaf.
.fflrs. D. D. (aloud to Doctor) : Sir Everleigh
does not believe in spiritualism.
Dr. (to Sir E. S.): When you have the pleasure
of being in the presence of the spirits, you will, no
doubt, alter your opinion on the subject. Mrs.
Daffodil Downy is a strong believer. Let us see
what manifestation we can produce. (Doctor
brings table towards foot-lights and stands behind
it. Morsel takes a chair and sits at one side of
table, and Sir E. S. at the other, close to Mrs. D. D.,
who commence to talk confidentially to Sir E. S.
Doctor coughs to attract their attention, but with-
out success. They continue flirting. Doctor coughs
again and leans over Sir E. S., who at the same
moment looks up, and their heads come in contact.
Comic $ituation.)
APPENDIX. 265
Sir E 8.: This is marvellous.

Dr.: I shall have the pleasure this evening of
invoking the spirits from the other world, to prove
to us by their manifestations that they possess the
power of communicating with the friends they have
left on earth. The spirits have the faculty of materi-
alizing. The whole universe is made up of atoms.
One of the most wonderful of these atoms was that
of the celebrated Duke of Wellington at the Battle
of Waterloo, when he exclaimed, " Up, guards, and
at them!"
(During the foregoing speech, Morsel waves arms
about in a mysterious manner and gradually appears
to fall into a trance. The Doctor and Sir E. S.
place their hands on table and the medium does
likewise.)
j}Jr.s, D. D.: Now I feel the spirits here.
(Raps heard i n Table.)
Sir E S.: Are the spirits here 1
Dr.: Sweet spirits, are you willing to communi-
cate with UR?
(Two raps.)
Dr.: Yes, the spirits will speak to us. How
many spirits are present to-night?
(One rap.)
Only one? Can you tell us your name?
(Two r·aps.
Yes. May we use the alphabet~
(Two raps.)
Yes.
(The Doctor commences to repeat the alphabet.)
Dr.: "A."
(Rap.)
All: "A.''
Dr.: "A" is the first letter.
(The Doctor recommences the alphabet and
another rap is heard when he reaches the letter ''L.")
All: "A," "L" (Sir E. S. looks frightened).
(This business is repeated until the name "Algor"
is spelled out, when Sir E. S. jumps up and exclaims:
That is my wife's name )
(The table shakes violently, is attracted from the
floor by the hands of the Doctor and finally moYes
about the room.)
Dr.: We will now endeavor to produce more
manifestations. (The Doctor and Morsel proceed to
build up cabinet in center of stage. The table hav-
ing been removed to back of stage. Sir E. S. seats
himself on chair opposite side. Mrs. D. D. on chair
at prompter's side.)
Sir E. S. (to the Doctor): Are any of your
spirits young ladies~ ·
Dr.: Oh, yes; some are young ladies.
Mrs.D.D. (to the Doctor): You will never
allow Sir E. S. to be misguided?
Dr.: Mrs. Daffodil Downy calls young lady
guides "misguides." (The Doctor and Morsel have
now completed building up the cabinet.)
Dr.: Now, I think, Sir Everleigh, it would be
impossible to imagine a more simple structure-be
good enough to step inside and examine for yourself.
(Sir E. S. enters cabinet ; partly closes -doors and
thrusts his hands through the apertures in doors.)
Sir E S.: I think those are the only sort of
spirit hands which we shall see to-night.
APPENDIX. 267
Dr.: We shall soon convince you to_the contrary;

however, first let me show you that there are no
means of ingress or egress except the doors. (The
cabinet is here turned round, so that the audience
can see the back, and then reversed to its original
position.)
Dr. (to Sir E. S.): Now I see your cane, will
you lend it me for a moment 1
Sir ES.: Certainly. There is no trickery about
that.
Dr.: Oh, no. I will now place it within the
cabinet. (Does so, and opens doors of cabinet wide.)
Sir E 8. (looking in cabinet) : There's nobody
inside, certainly.
D1»: I court your fullest investigation. (Dr.
closes cabinet~ and cane immediately appears pro-
truding from the top of cabinet. Dr. removes same
and offers it to Sir E. S.)
Sir E S .: No, thanks ; I would rather not .
.Dr.: Why not? There is nothing wrong about
it. (Dr. lets stick fall on the floor and then attracts
it upwards _b y apparent mesmeric power, when the
stick commences to dance. Bus'iness with stick.
Morsel puts a chair on the left-hand side of cabinet,
and seats himself on back of chair, with his feet
resting on the seat; apparently falls asleep, waving
his hands as though playing an imaginary con-
certina.)
Sfr E S. (to Dr.): There is something wrong
with your man.
Dr. : Ah! he is now with the sweet spirits. (Dr.
passes his hands over Morsel's face, as though
mesmerizing him.)
268 MODERN MAGICIANS A:ND THEIR WORKS.
Mrs. D. D.: I am afraid the spirits have got into

his head.
: Dr.: It is a very common practice when pro-
ducing spiritual manifestations to place the medium
inside the cabinet, but I shall endeavor to exhibit
the same manifestations while the medium remains
outside the whole time. (The Dr. again opens the
doors of the cabinet to prove that it is empty and
again closes them. Rap heard within.)
Dr.: It is the spirit of the late Lady Staid. She
has promised to be with us to-night. (Taking violin
and bow from the table.) I will ask her to discourse
sweet music on this instrument. (Dr. opens cabinet,
hangs up violin and bow inside; closes doors;
violin is heard to play. Sir E. S. attempts to open
doors of cabinet, but he, the Dr., interposes and
preven!s him. Morsel makes movements of playing
imaginary violin.)
Dr.: I can not allow it, Sir Everlcigh. It is
against our rules. (Notwithstanding the Dr.'s inter-
position, Sir E. S. tries to open the doors.
Dr.: Pray, calm yourself, Sir Everleigh. Do you
recognize the melody?
Sir E. S. (agitated) : Oh, yes; oh, yes ; it is the
one of which the late Lady Staid was so passionately
fond. (Violin suddenly ceases to play. Dr. opens
doors of cabinet and exposes interior, showing violin
and bow hanging up as placed at first. Cabinet
otherwise empty.)
Sir E. S. (excitedly): I am rapidly becoming a
convert to spiritualism. Have you any more mani-
festations to offer? (Rap heard within the cabinet.
.APPENDIX. 269
A woman's face gradually becomes visible at one of
the apertures. Sir E. S. looking on intently; face
becomes distinctly visible; Sir E. S. starts up from
his chair and exclaims:" My wife! my wife!" Tries
again_ to open cabinet, and, while close to doors, a
hand is thrust through the aperture, which clutches
and pulls off his wig. Situation. Sir E. S. puts hifl
hands up to his head, and, discovering his loss, rushes
away in consternation.)
Dr. (picking up wig and restoring it to Sir E. S.):
Calm yourself, my dear sir; there is nobody there.
(Opens cabinet and shows it empty.)
Sir E. S.: There is something very peculiar about
this. (Dr. closes cabinet.)
Dr.: The sweet spirit will now materialize, but
only under conditions of darkness. You must, there-
fore, excuse my putting out the lights (turning to
audience). If the seance is interrupted by anybody
striking a light, the manifestations will at once be
stopped! (Lights put out. Ghost gradually mate·
rializes and floats towards Sir E. S., and in the dim
light is seen to take his hands and rise above the
stage.)
Sir E. S.: I am floating towards you in the air,
Daffy. The late Lady Staid has relieved me of my
pledge. I am now indeed convinced. (Ghost slowly
descends and releases Sir E. S., and finally disap:
poars. Skeleton immediately becomes visible; music;
business; skeleton dances; Jim bs and bead become
disunited; legs dance' independently of body; hea4
flies about hall; skeleton becomes reunited and dis~
appears; loud crash heard; lights turned up; cabinet
270 MODERN" JIIAGICIANS AND THEIR WORKS.
seen over-turned ; Morsel wakes up ; Sir E. S. and

Mrs. D. D. embrace each other; Dr. standing in
center of stage.) Thank you, Dr., thank you; we
have had a most delightful seance, and I will engage
you to produce your manifestations every evening,
until further notice.
The above farce is the one Maskelyne and Cooke

produced so successfully at Egyptian Hall, London.
INDEX.
Abbott, Eddie............. . . . . ... ............ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 35

1~~J~r:~~r:.~.:: ::: ::: : :: ·: . . : :: :: :· ::: .: :: : : . : : :: · ·::: ·: : ::. : . : :::: ::: ~
Aerolite lllusion ........... . ...................... .... .................. 239
~f~t~riffiu~f~':isi~n::: :: :: : : : : ::: : ::::::: :: : :: :: :·: ::: : . : : : ·:: .·: : :: : : : . : 1it
1f~~~~:ii:'e.~err. :::· :::: ::::-.::-.-. -. -.::::-. ·:: :::::::::::·:::::::-.::::::::: 2M
Alkahazar's Spirit Bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Aime.. . ..... . .. . ......... .. . . ..... . . .. .. . ... . .... .. .... .. . ... . . . . . . I3t
Anclerson, "\Vizard of the North·" ............ . .......... . ..... 10-33-37
Anderson, Prof......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Ansbach, Salo .... .... . ................... . .•............. . . .. . .. ........ 55
~:::::~~~f.~~~f)!.--:: :. :::: :::::::.::: :·::::::: ·:::::: ::-: :::: :: :::::.:: :::: 2t~
tra~~~~a~~i:~ T · · -.-.-.-. .· :::::::::: ::::::: -.·:: : ·:: ·::: ::: ·-. ::: : :::i1.:i9-1i~
Barnello. . . . . . . . . .. . ... . ...... . . . ..... . ................ .. .......... ~2-ltl.5
Bacon, Roger. . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. ......... ... .. 131
Baldwin, Prof. S.S ... . ....... ........ .. .. . .. . . ............ . . .... .... .. . H9
Baldwin, Clara . . . . . . .. ... . . .... ... ... . .. . .. .. .. . ... . .. .. .... . ..... ... .. 149
Basch, Prof. ...... . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Bellachini . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l l
Beyersdorf, Louis. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Becker, Prof. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . .. 171
Bishop, Washington Irving .. .. . ....... . .......... . .......... . .. 109-124-126
Blitz, Signor...... . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Bosco. . . ............. .. . . ........................................... 11
Brazy........ ........... . ...... .. . .... . ........ ... .... ... . . ... .... . . ... 8
Braid, Dr............... . ............................. . .... .. . . . . . . . . .. .. 91
Bridge, Charles H...... . ... .. . . .... .... . . . .. . . .. ..... .. . .... ...'. . . . . . . 75
Brendel. .. , .. . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . • . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Brown, J. Randall. .. ....... ....... . . . .. .. .. . ... ..... . . .. . .... 108-h6-141
Buatier De Kol t a . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. ........... .40-151-152-l:i8
Burnham, Dr . .. . .. . . ..... .. . . .. . .. .. ..... . . . . .. .. .... . .. .... . . ... ... 32
Butler, Dr. G. F . .. .. . . . . . . .. . . .. . ... . . . .. .. .. . . . .. .... . . .. . . . .. . .. 116
Castilho, De Brothers . . .. . . . .. .. . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 131
Carroll, Clever..... . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 22
Canaris, Prof .......... . ...... .".... . . . . . .. .. . . ... . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . 24
Castan, Gustav ............. .. ......... . .... . . . . .............. ........ 174
Cazeneuve, Prof ........ . ....... . . . ........ . . ..... . ......... . ..... . .. 45
Cinquevalli. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . ..... . ...... 23!
Charcot, Prof. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 91
Charles the Great. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... .. ... ..... . .... ...... 130
Chalons. . ... ..• . .. . . . .. .. . . . ... .. ... . . . . .. .. . . ... . . . . . ... .. ... .. .. . . 8
Chase, Mr. . .. .. . .... . . .... .. . ... .. ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chiltls, Geo. W . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Cook, Ma rion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. 27
Coulter, Frazer . ........... . . . . ..... ... .. .. .. . ... . . . . ... . . . .. ... . .. ... 202
Comus ...... . ............_. ...... . ....... . ... ... . ...... .... . . . .. ........ 8
Comte............... .. . ... ..... .. ............. .. ...... .. ................ 8
Cocoon, The Illusion... . . . . .. . . .. . . . . ......... . ... ...... ... . . . ...... 158
271
272 INPEX.
Courtois.......... ...... .. ... . .. . ... ..... ............................ 8

Cremation Illusion................. .. . . . . ... .. . .. .. .. .... .. .. .... ... 166
Cyrus... . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . ; . . . . . . . .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. . 128
Cyneas ................................................................... 128
Curtis. Frank.............. . ............... .. ........ . ............ . . . . .. 71
Crookes, Dr. F. R. S......... ....... .. . . . ........... . ................. 145
Darvin, Prof. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 45
D' Alvini.. . ......... . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . .. . . . . .................... 169-219
B:~l~:la{·~~~~e:~ ~:::: ::: ::: :: ::: :: ::: :: ::::::: :: : : ·::::: :::: : : :·~g~81
Davenport Brothers.... . . . . . . ... . . . .... . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . .
DeCastilho Brothers. .. ............................... . .......... . .... 13l
B~~:~:~gg~·Jh~~.k:s-.. _._._._._._._._._._._._._._ ._._._._._. -.·::::::::::::: ·:::::::: .. :::: ~:~
Decapitation, Black Art. . .. . . . . .. . . . .............. . ................. 162
l.Jecapitation Cabinet.... . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ............................... 161
De Gentry, Lucy .. . .. . . . .. .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .................... 124
DeRovere, Jules...... . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. .. . . . .. . . . . . . .. .. . .. . .. 8
~f~i~;[1\~~~-: ~; ~~: _:_:_:; :; _:;: ~;: ~ ~;; ~ ~ ~-::; ~; ~: ~:: ~::: ~: ~ ;::~ ~ :~::: ~ ~ li
Donati, Prof.. . . . . . . . . .. .. . .. . . . .. .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . . . 104
2
Dobler, Prof.. ... .. . .. .. .. .. .. . . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. .. . . . . . ... . .. .. . 11

Downy·s, Mr•. Daffodil-Seance .................................... 260
Durand, H. W ........................................................ ~. 182
Duperrey, Prof ................................................. .46-237
Dudley, Officer.... .... . . . . ... . . ... . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . .. . . .. ... .. . . .. . . . 31
Erickson, O..... . .. .. .. .. .. . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . .. .. . .. . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . 53
Fay, Anna Eva. . . . . . . . . . .. . .. .. . . . . ................................ 141
l<'illebrown, Charles F...... .. .. . .. .. . .. . . . . . . . .. . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . ... 2l
Fox, Imro, Prof... .. . .. .... . . . . .. . .. .. .. . . . .. . . . . . . . .. .. . . . .. . ... . . . . . 20
}'ulton, Mrs ..................................... . ..... . ............... 106
Fulton, Robert........ . ......... . .. . .. .. . . .. ...... . . .. .. .. ........ 106
Gatchell, Dr. Charles.... .. ............................................ 116
Garner, Charles ........................................................ Wll
g~!~&~fu~fa!:~~:. :::::::: :::: :::::: :: :::: :: ::::::::::: :::::::::::: ::::1:

Gustavus Adolphus..... .. . .. . . .. .. .. . .. . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . .. 411
!:~R~~~l~~t:: : -: :::,:-: :·:-: ::::::: ·:::::: :-: :: :-:::::::::::.- :-: -:-:-.-: .: :~a-1~
Havemeycr, W. A...... . . . .. . .. . .. . .................... . .. . .. . ...... 65
Hartz, Prof... ................. . .. . .. . ... ... .. . ............ . ... 19- 41-85-86
Hartz and Levy.. . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . .. . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . 19
Harrington, Prof ........................................................ 24
Haviland, Prof........... . . . . . .. . .. . . .. . . . . . . .. .. . .. . . .. .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . 2t
~:rg;t~'I'~~I~~~~~::: :::::: :: ::: :: :::::·:: ·::: ·:. :: ::::: ::: ·._:::: :. :: :::::: ~~
Hertz, Carl....... . ...................................... 19-41-234-238-239
Heller, Haidee . .. . . .. . . . . .. . .. . .. . ... . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . ...... 37-2(3
Heller, Robert.... . . . . . .. ..................... 15-19-34-37-53-135-242-262
Heller's Second-Sight Code... . ............. . ................... . . . . . 242
~~~~:no~e6~r1: :. · :: : ::: : : : . : : :: .. : : .:: : . : . . : :: ...
: : ::: : : .. · : : : ::: : ::64-:/
Herrmann, Alexander.. . . . . .. .. ................. 66-160-162-169-222-~236
Herrmann's, Alexander, Cremation.. . ............................ . .... 82
Hermann, M....... .. . .. . . . . . .......................... . ... .. 45-237-238
Houdin, Robert. .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . ........................ 11-38-46-135-218-242
Higgins, F. L....... . ....... . .......... " ......................... 182
Holden, Dr ............. ~........................................ 39-189-221
JNDEX. 273
Hortcnsius... •.. . . .. . . . . .. ........ ......... ......... 129

Hume, Prof... ... ... . . . . .. .. ... .. ... . .. .. . . .. .. ..................... ~04
Hunt. Fred....... .. ........... .. ..................................... 243
Jacoby-Harms, Prof .. . . . . . . . . . ... . .. . .. .. .... .... ... .. ... . .. .. 43
Jacobs. Prof.... ...... . ... · .. ·........ . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . . . . .. . . .. .. 46
Johnson, Prof... . . . .. . . . .. ................................... 106
Johnstone, Paul Alexander ................ ........ .............. 116
Johns, Effie............ ... . ..................... .. ...... 28-29-32
Justus Li psi us .. .. . .. .. .. .. . . .............. . .................... 129
Kellar, Harry . . .... . ........... 39-66-72-169-222-229
Kellar's Growth of Flowers . . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. .. . .. .. . . 86
Kerr, Thomas H...... . . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. .. .. .. . .. . . .. .. .. . .. . .. .. . .. . . 5ll
Kiralfy Brothers. .. .. .. . . . . . . . .. . .. . .. . . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. . • . .. .. .. .. . .. .. . 27
Knudson, Jno. B........ .... . . .. . .. . .. .. .. . . .. .. . . . .. .. . . . . .. . . . .. .. .... 52
Kolta, Buatier De .......................................... 40-151-152-158
Kudarz, Prof. Robert... . ...................................... 2f>-39
L'Assommoir, Mongreni de.......... .. . .... .. .. .. .. .. . .. . . . .. .. .. . 53
Lady from an Envelope........ .. ...................................... 171
Lees, The.... ... .......... . ............. . .. . .......................... 22-23
f1tlt~~5-'o1:~0tv" '.'.'.: ··:.··:::·:: :: :::::.:·::: :: :::::::: ::: :: ::: ::: ::: :: :~7-~~
Little Pearl ....... .. .......... ... ........................... .. ........ 29-30
Lisehke, Oscar..... . . .. . .. . .. . . .. .. . . . .. .. . .. . .. . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . . .. . 45
Lola, Mlle .......... ........ . . .......................... .............. 28-29-32
Lu~ke, 'Vm . ............. .......... . . .................... ...... ... .... 202
Lutz, Herr . . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. . . . .. .. . .. .. .. . . .. .. . . . . .. .. .. . 234
Lynn, Dr ...... . . . .. ... ...... .. .................. ............ ...... 39
·: :·:·:·:·:·:·:·: : ·:·:. :·:-.:·:·:·:·<::·.-:·:·:::::::::::: :::::::::~~~ i~

Marvelle, Prof.. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .......................................22-14.
a~~~m!~:~~~i~i 1
Markgraf, Herr .. . . . ....................... ...... ... ................ 234
Ma~ke.lyne, John NC\11... ... .... ... . . . . .. . ..... . ... 38-4-0-139-152-158-172
Mesmer ........ ..... . ................. ..... ...... . . .............. 91
~~f~~c~J}1iri.stian::.::: :: : : : : : : : : :: : : ·: ·: :: : : : · ·: .: : :: : ·.-.: :.: ::·:: · :~~~-1~g
Mithridates............... .. .. . .. . .. .. .. .. . ............................ 128
mwear~ rir: '.Aaam::::.:: :: :::::::::.:: :·.::::::::.: :: .:.:::::::::: :::., .... ~~
Morritts The . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. . .. . .................. 140
Modesta Pozzo . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . . . 129
Mod8rate, Fonsa.. .. . ............. ... ............. ... 129
McDonald, Prof. Charles . . . ............................... ... ... . ... . 166
McDonald's Cremat on . . . . . . . .. .. . .. . . .. . .. .. . .. .. . . .. ........ 1~6
"Mystery of f'hC> "lllnsion ..... ..... ..... . . . ....... . 170
~lorpbet, Prof. .. . .. .. . . . . . . . .. . • . .. .. .. .. . . .. . .. . .. .. 22
Nickle, rrof. Robert .. . . .. .. . . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. . . .. . .. .. ; . .. .. .. .. .. .. 24
Ober, George . . ............... ..... .... ....... .. ..... . ......... 146
Olivier...... ... .... . .. .... ................ ..... ... . ...... . .... .... 8
Orrin Brothers.... . . . . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. .. .. ............... ·. . .. .. . . ..... 29-75
Palmer, Robert ...... ...... ............ ............................. .... 242
Pahmquin Trick.. .. . . ......... ... ... . . .... .... .... .. .. . ... .. .... 2·19
Parshal, Mrs. John ........................................ .. .... ...... 29-32
Pastor, Tony ........................ ... ... . .. .. ... ........ .. . .. .... .23-27
Patrizio, Prof ............. .. .. . .................. .... ... . ......... 46-133
Pearl, Little .. .. .. . .. . ... ......................... .... ... .... ..... 29-30
~~ilf~~~P~'.~..·. '. .'.''.'.' '.'.'.'.'.·.·.'. .'. . '. .·.·. '.'.'. '.'. .· .·. '.'. '. '. '. '. '. '.:'. ·.:. '.'. ·. '. ·..::: ::: 1t
Pinetti ....... .... ...... ... ....... . .. .. . .. ... ... ... . .. 8
Pinauds, Tbe....... ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. ..... . . .................. 237
Pinp;rce, Mr . : .. . .. .. . .. . . .. . . . . . .. .. . .. . . .. . ... . .. .. . . . . .. . .......... 143
Pliny. . .. . . . . ...... ... ... .... .... ... . . . .. .. ...... 128
Powell Brothers.. . .. .. . .. .. .. . . . .. . .. .. .. . 21
274 INDEX. l..- ... -
Powell Prof. . . .. .. . . .. .. .. .. . . .. ................ 169

Powell, Eddie .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . . . .. .. . .. . .. ............... 204
PopePiusVII .................................................... 10
~~~iie:;oras. ::.-:.. :. :.:. ·"""""". · .:"" ::::.-.. :::.-.-. ... ·.-.-.-.-..-.-.-.-..- ··-.:: "l3i
Pyrrhus.... . . . . . . . . .. . .. .. .. . . . . .. . .. ............ 128
Quintilian..................... ... . ..................................... 128
Ransom, ElmerP.......... .. .... . ............ . ................ 23
Heno, Prof. Ed ward.. . .. . . . . . .. .. ........ ~ .. : .. .. . .. .. .. .. 15
Reed, Charley.......... .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . .. . . . . . . . . .. .. .. 34
Reventlow, Carl Otto .. .. . .. . .. .. ........... 131
Robinson, H. M ................. ..... ......... ... .. .. ........... .... 20-lr5
Robinson, William ......... . ................... ................... .20-169
Ho berth, Prof......... . . . .. . . . .. .. .. .. . . .. . . . .. . .. .. . .. .... ..... 133
Rohss, Prof... .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. ............................... 22--23
l:toltair, Prof .. .. . . .. .. .. .. . .. . . .. .. . .. . . . . . . . .. .. . . . .. • .. .. ......... 22
l:touclcres, The......... . . . . . ... . . . . . .. . . .. .. .. . . . . . . . ..... . ......... 136
Rovere, Jules De...... .. .. .. .. .. . .. . .. .. .. .. . . . .. . .. .. . .. .. . ... 8
Ryerson, George. . .. . . .. .. .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. . . . . . .. .. .. . .. .. 71
Samuels, Prof . .. . . . . .. . .. .. . . .. .. . . .. . . . .. . . . . 16
Samuels' Growth of Flowers............. . . .. . . . . .. .. . . . . .. . . . .. .. . .. . 88
Scherzel, Vincent ................................................. 131
Schwiegerling, Prof .. . . . . .. • . . .. . . .. .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . ............ 238
Scipio ......................... .... ......................... ......... 128
Second-Sight-Reller s Code.................... .. .. ... .. . .. .. .... . 242
Seeman, Baron Hartwig . . .. . .. . ...... ... ............... 19· 46-169-158 207
~~~~~1/r~tz~~~lph
Simonides .. ... .. .. ...-.-.-.-.·.
. .. ....·:::::::
... "·:::" "·." """....
.. .... """". """"" ""
....... .. : ""......
...... ~~-1tt
"" :. "...... 13Q
"She "-Mystery of-Illusion .. ................ ..... ........ 170
Spmt Bell of rrof. Alkabazar.. .. .. .. .. .. . .. ... .. .. . ... 172
Starr, C. W. .. .. . .. . .. .......... 181
Steen, Prof. Charles and Martha .. .. . . . . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . 149
Stoilare, Prof . .. .. .. .. . .. .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. .. . . .. . .. .. . .. . 86
Stroubaika Illusion............ . ... . .. . . .. .. . . .. .. .. . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . 232
Stuart Cumberland ............... ... ................... . ......... ... 109-1~!4
~mg~: i~~r~: ~ . ::::::::::: :::: :::::::::. :. . .:::.. :. :..::::::::

'l'hompson, Den............ .
:::· ::::::::::~~~~&
. .. . . . . .. .. . . . .... . . .. 71
~horp._ Prof.. . .. . .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .. . .. .. . .. .. .. . 45
'Iorrmi.... .. .. . . . .. . .. . . . . . . .. . . . .. .. . .. . . 9
Transpare!lt Turk llllusion ........... . . .. . . .. . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . .. . .. . . 85
Vanek, Prof .. . .. . .. .. .. .. .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. .. .. .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. ... Hi3
Vanek's Decapitation .................................... .. ......... 164
Vanishing Lady.. ........... ........ . .. .. .... .. . .. ... .... .. .. 17-154-155
Vanishin!\' Lady in Verse .................................... ..... .. 157
Vere, Prof. De............ . ................... 4~
Vertelli, Prof...... ..... ......... .... ... . . . . .. . . .. . . ............... 22
Verona, Prof............. .. ......... . . ........... 2:t
Ward, Artemas................. . .. . .. .... .. ... . .. .. .. . 39
Wanamaker,John .... ........ . . ..... .... .. .......... 35
Warren, Owen Grenlill'e .......................................... 230
Watson, L. T .. . .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. . . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . . ..... ..... 182
Willio, Prof. Henry.... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. . . .. .. .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. .. .. . 26
Willm1mn,Carl.. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. 45
"Wizard of the North " -Anderson. .. . .. . .. ................. 10~3-3i
Wood, Will B . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 22-72-60-239
Xenophon ................. ............... ................. ............ .. 128
Zamloch, Prof.. .. .. . .. .. . . .. .. . . . .. .. . .. . . . . .. . . .. .. . . .. . . . . . . .. .. .. 20
Zanzic, Prof. . . .. .. .. . . .. . .. .. . .. .. . . . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. .. .. . .. .. . . .. . .... 20-223

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LEAVES FROM

CONJURERS' SCRAP BOOKS

MODERN MAGICIANS AND

Modern Magic, skillfully presented, has many

Of the Mysteries of the .Black Art-The Old School Conjur-

secret by adepts, or only revealed in consideration

of the spectators. Torrini invited them all to come

prize for the best conundrum that could be made

technical and especially his electro-technical inven-

Zera Semon-Edward Reno-Prof. Samucls-J. M. Dalahrega-

A prominent American Magician is Zera Semon,

accomplished wife. Together they secure deserved

tinue<l favor he so well merits; and he will, no

home he soon began to give little entertainments at

most conjurers, he was soon on his feet again, and

shows and variety · theatres through the States,

on sleight-of-hand as on neat ways of using appa-

"Weird powers of darknes>, from Jllephisto's Chest,

In contrast to this production are the following

Included among many other performers who ha\·e

busmess. The special attraction of the Lees, is their

much skill as a "Lightning Caricaturist," thus

fill his promise as to either of them. Audiences

and the other members were evidently the twin

her death had been hastened by the news from the

received an answer to this letter which did not have

"If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it."-

The letter was written in a neat, roun<l hand, a,ml

relates her story with fascinating emphasis while

the wizard, nor was he the entertaining talker which

eran, and performs remarkable tricks in magic with

Assisted by his daughter Bertha he introduced the

John Nevil l\laskelyne-Dr. Holden-Dr. Lynn-Robert Kudarz

is the " Queen's Magician," whose peculiar boast is

first to introduce in that far away country the now

fifteen to twenty years ago, that were afterwards

eign professionals, especially those in England, who

Passing from England to the continent, ac-ross the

Leaving the flowery meadows of Holland, so

means of the electric light. In his rope-tying

HOW THE SPIRITS UNTIE JACOBY.

anti-spiritualistic effects, and spectral illusions. In

getting up devices for using flower and bird trick~,

and admiration from the fair sex; as he held_their

in Russia, Finlaml, Germany, Turkey and France.

farewell benefit, he performed before audiences of

Benares, the sacred city of Hindostan, for the pur-

During his last tour through the South west, See-

Mr. Adolph Seeman, the son of Prof. Seeman, is

Amateurs of the Pacific Coast-" Mine Host" Taylor-The

knowledge of the Magic Art than many performers

extensively of Eastern and foreign manufacturers,

men, clerks, book-keepers, even Senators and mem-

does not hesitate to exhibit one on the street to a

into the mysteries of the trick, and then Mr. Gage

Saturday evening, and sent invitations to Creed

usual looks of wonder and amazement were wanting

this evening, and your tricks are very clever. Sit

The Original Carl Herrmann-Alexander Herrmann, His Con-

attracted much attention. He seems, howe\·er, to