Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-1

The Learned
Pig Project

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks

By
Henry Ridgely Evans
One day the big bill-board of the town of
B. was placarded with the most
flamboyant of posters, representing a
gentleman in full evening dress, standing
in front of the giant sphinx of Gizeh. He
was engaged in performing magic tricks.
About him danced a legion of little imps
and grisly skeletons, whilst Mephisto in
the conventional red costume, long sword,
peaked cap and cock's feather, grinned
diabolically in the background, the
presiding genius of the wierd scene. In huge letters of black was the
announcement that the Chevalier Herrmann, the world-famous
necromancer and prestidigitateur, would give a series of
entertainments of magic and mystery at the town hall. A crowd of
curious quid-nuncs,--the barber, the baker, and the candlestick maker,
to say nothing of the inevitable small boy--was assembled before the
play bill devouring it with greedy eyes.
I was there, a juvenile fresh from the delights of the Arabian Nights,
with my noddle filled to repletion with stories of Aladdin and his
Wonderful Lamp, the African Genii, etc., etc. This fascinating poster
landed me the following week, breathless with excitement, in the
gallery reserved for the gods. It was my first introduction to "white
magic" and its branches. I can recall to-day my boyish admiration of
the wonderful wizard who condescended to exhibit his art in the small
town of B. I beheld him take bowls of gold-fish from shawls, catch
money from the air, produce rabbits and doves from borrowed
chapeaux, and other impossible feats. I vowed, too, to become a
prestidigitateur (what difficulty I had in pronouncing that mystical
word). Years have flown since then, I studied magic, with the idea of
going on the stage, but abandoned it long syne for more prosaic
pursuits. Yet my fondest memories cluster about the beautiful art of
sleight-of-hand, and its many professors. Herrmann, Heller,
D'Alvini:--"the mystic three" have passed into the land of shadows,
and, have solved that greatest of mysteries, death! I knew them, loved
them! In this paper, I shall endeavor to tell something of their lives
and the tricks that made them famous, not forgetting their successors
who are delighting the public to day.
I shall begin with Alexander

http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans01.html (1 of 5) [4/23/2002 4:04:22 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-1

Herrmann, prince of good fellows, a

raconteur, and legerdemainist par
excellence. His oft repeated phrase,
"Magicians are born, not made," was
certainly realized in his case. He came
from a family of prestidigitateurs, his
father Samuel Herrmann, and his elder
brother Carl, being famous exponents
of the art magique. He was of Jewish
extraction, and was born in Paris,
France, February 11, 1844. After acting
as assistant, for some years, to his
brother, he started out on his own
account to astonish the public. He traveled extensively over the world.
In the year 1876, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States
and made several fortunes, but lost them in theatrical speculations. He
was an extraordinary linguist speaking French, German, Spanish,
Russian, Portugese, Dutch and English. Various chivalric orders were
conferred upon him by foreign potentates. In 1875 he married
Adelaide Scarsez, a beautiful and accomplished dancer, who assisted
him in his performances. He died of heart failure in his private car,
December 17, 1896, while on his way from Rochester, New York, to
Bradford, Pa. Such in brief are the facts of his eventful career.
Herrmann was a great sleight-of-hand artist, especially with cards and
coins. His "misdirection," to use a technical term, was wonderful. This
is the art of diverting the attention of the audience from one object to
another. Wherever the luminous orbs of Herrmann gazed, the eyes of
the spectators were bound to follow, thus enabling the dexterous
hands of the magician to perform certain evolutions, necessary to the
successful accomplishment of his tricks unbeknown to any one.
Various other subtle artifices are employed to gain this end. Herrmann
possessed a wrist of steel and a palm of velvet. On one occasion he
gave a performance before Nicholas, Czar of Russia. The Emperor
who prided himself on his great strength, said to the conjurer:
"I will show you a trick." Taking a pack of cards, the Czar tore it into
halves, remarking "What do you think of that? Can you duplicate it?"
The magician picking up one of the halves of the pack, tore it into
halves. The Czar acknowledged that he was beaten at his own game.
Herrmann enhanced his reputation by performing in private in the
street cars, markets, clubs, often on the streets. He loved a practical
joke above all things. A favorite experiment of his was to be detected
by a policeman in the act of clumsily picking a stranger's pocket, and
on being arrested and taken to the station-house the missing article
http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans01.html (2 of 5) [4/23/2002 4:04:22 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-1

would be found on the person of the astonished police officer, whose

own belongings not unfrequently were discovered in the stranger's
pocket.
At banquets he would often cause a magnum bottle of champagne to
disappear, to reappear from under a gentleman's coat. I was with him
on one occasion, riding on a street cars, when the conductor asked him
for his fare. The magician turned his pockets inside out but found
nothing. Turning to the conductor, angrily, "You have my money,
sir!" The man protested vigorously, whereupon to the astonishment of
everyone Herrmann seized the ticket-puncher by the coat and took
from his pockets great rolls of greenbacks, (stage money, having the
conjurer's portrait engraved upon it.) Paying his fare with a five cent
piece extracted from the conductor's nose, he left the car, followed by
me. We did not wait to be enthematized by the railroad employee.
All these clever feats were the result of palmistry, but palmistry of a
peculiarly high order and absolutely indetectable by the spectator.
Herrmann resembled the conventional pictures of his "satanic
majesty"--Mephisto stepped from the opera Faust. He cultivated this
aspect, and it added to the charm of his entertainments. Besides being
a conjurer, he was a clever ventriloquist and juggler, though he never
exhibited these accomplishments in public. His most sensational feat
was the gun trick, which was performed with fine mise-en-scene. I am
indebted to the late Frederick Bancroft, magician, for an accurate
expos of this experiment in white magic:
It was performed with the aid of six soldiers under the command of a
sergeant. At the rise of the curtain the soldiers marched upon the stage
and took a position in oblique line, near the right wing. After they had
been brought to attention and order arms, the sergeant crossed the
stage to the left third entrance for the assumed purpose of depositing
his gun, and taking from the same place a salver on which the bullets
were to be placed. This salver was in the form of an ordinary waiter,
about six by twelve inches, and about one inch deep. In the centre
there was a small hole or well just large enough to hold six cartridges.
Concealed in the interior of the salver was another compartment
exactly the same size as the exposed well containing six blank
cartridges, which were naturally hidden from view. Underthis salver
was a small peg connecting the two compartments.
The salver was taken by the sergeant to the committee, who deposited
therein the six bullets which had been loaded and sealed. The sergeant
then passed among the audience, and various people took the six
cartridges from the salver, and placed marks upon the leaden bullets,
after which the cartridges were deposited back into the well. The
sergeant then walked on the stage with the salver held at arm's length.
http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans01.html (3 of 5) [4/23/2002 4:04:22 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-1

In the act of crossing the platform he shifted the compartments of the

salver by means of the peg, thereby causing the blank cartridges to
occupy the place occupied by the loaded cartridges. The loaded
cartridges naturally were then covered up, and nothing was exposed
but the blanks. This salver the sergeant handed to the soldiers, and
each one took out a cartridge. This is where the mystery came in,
because everyone in the audience was ready to swear that the salver
with the cartridges had never left his or her sight, and that the sergeant
had held it at arm's length. Furthermore that each soldier had taken a
cartridge therefrom and held it aloft. What the failed to notice,
however, was the fact that the soldiers held the cartridges with the rim
up, and not the bullet end up.
After the soldiers had taken their cartridges, the sergeant crossed the
stage to the third left entrance for the purpose of returning the salver
and securing his gun. This was the critical point of the experiment.
The minute he deposited the salver, two confederates who were in the
third entrance took the cartridges, extracted the bullets, and put them
on a plate which had been heated so as to make the bullets feel warm.
The performer, who had been standing in the centre of the stage all
this time, them walked over to this entrance for the purpose of
securing the plate upon which he proposed to catch the bullets. In the
meantime the soldiers had loaded their guns with the blank cartridges
and marched to the platform in the auditorium and faced about ready
to fire. The performer secured the plate and the bullets at the same
time. Concealing the bullets in the palm of the hand, he held the plate
before him, and nodded to the sergeant to give the command to fire.
An explosion followed, whereupon the performer turned the plate over
with the bullets on it amidst great applause.
The greatest care was taken to see that the soldiers had no ammunition
of any kind. As there were but six loaded cartridges in use, and as the
magician did not give the signal to fire until he had received the six
bullets, there could be no danger connected with the feat.
Herrmann's sword trick was a clever one. A number of cards were
drawn from a pack, shuffled up, and handed to the magician's
assistant. Herrmann took a rapier in his hand and bade the assistant
throw the pack into the air, whereupon the drawn cards were caught
upon the point of the weapon. The cards of course were forced upon
the spectators by sleight-of-hand, duplicates of which were in
possession of the magician. These duplicate cards were concealed in
the handle of the sword. On releasing a spring they flew to the point of
the weapon, carried there by a piece of elastic thread. The falling cards
thrown into the air by the assistant prevented the spectators from
seeing the flight of the drawn cards from the handle of the rapier to its
point. The cards had holes cut in their centres to facilitate their being
http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans01.html (4 of 5) [4/23/2002 4:04:22 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-1

pushed along the blade of the sword after being caught.

Since Herrmann's death, his wife has started out as a sleight-of-hand
artiste. She has developed a surprising aptitude for magic.
Next: Robert Heller

http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans01.html (5 of 5) [4/23/2002 4:04:22 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-2

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks

The
Learned (Continued: Robert Heller)
By
Pig
Henry Ridgely Evans
Project In the magic mirror of the imagination, I now evoke from the shades the
figure of Robert Heller: All hail: Thou admirable Chrichton of fantaisistes:
magician, mimic, musician: Never shall the stage see thy like again. No
better "all-round" entertainer ever lived. Robert Heller, or Palmer, was born
in London in the year 1833. Early in life he manifested a wonderful talent
for music, and won a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music at the age
of fourteen. He was led to become a conjurer, after seeing, Robert-Houdin
perform in London. In I852 he appeared in New York at the Chinese
Assembly Rooms.

Robert Heller

Haidee Heller

He wore a black wig and spoke with a Gallic accent, having come to the
conclusion that a French wizard would receive a more cordial reception in
the States than an English one. His success was but meagre. Eventually he
settled in Washington where he taught music, but the old love proved too
strong. He eventually abandoned music for magic, and made his second
debut in New York. After a splendid run he returned to London and and
opened what is now Poole's Theatre. Subsequently he visited Australia and
India, returning to the United States in 1875. He died November 28, 1878,
in Philadelphia, after a brief illness. In his will he directed his executors to
destroy his magical apparatus and paraphernalia, so that they should not fall
into the hands of others.

http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans02.html (1 of 5) [4/23/2002 4:04:25 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-2

Heller was a clever advertiser, The following original effusion appeared

on his theatrical posters:-"Shakespeare wrote well
Dickens wrote Weller;
Anderson was ******,
But the greatest is Heller."
When he arrived in a city, he sent out men with placards, upon each of
which was painted a gigantic letter, when lined up side by side. the letters
formed themselves into the following sentence: "Go to Heller's." Frequently
the men who transported the last three letters would find their passage
through a crowded thoroughfare blocked. The reader may imagine the
result. It is needless to say that this accident often took place, purposely or
not, it is difficult to say.
Superb renditions of original and other compositions on the piano
constituted a most agreeable part of Heller's entertainments. Those who did
not care for magic came to hear the music. But Heller's mystifying
http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans02.html (2 of 5) [4/23/2002 4:04:25 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-2

"Second-sight" trick was the piece-de-resistance of his performances. It

made his fortune. Robert Heller did not conceive the idea of this trick. It was
originated by the Chevalier Pinetti, a conjurer of the XVIIIth century. On
this subject, the "Enclycopaedia Britannica" says:
"In I783 Pinetti had an automatic figure about eighteen inches
in height, named the Grand Sultan or Wise Little Turk, which
answered questions as to chosen cards and many other things
by striking upon a bell, intelligence being communicated to a
confederate by an ingenious ordering of words, syllables, or
vowels in. the questions put. The teachings of Mesmer and
feats of alleged clairvoyance suggested to Pinetti a more
remarkable performance in 1785, .when Signora Pinetti sitting
blindfolded in a front box of theatre, replied to questions and
displayed her knowledge of articles in the posession of the
audience,"
Robert-Houdin revived, or re-invented the experiment. On the 12th of
February, 1846, he printed in the centre of his bill the following
announcement:
"In this programme M. Robert-Houdin's son who is gifted with a marvellous
second sight, after his eyes have been covered with a thick bandage, will
designate every object presented to him by the audience."
Robert Heller saw Houdin give an exhibition of "second sight" in London.
Everybody thought it was the result of animal mag-netism, but the acute
mind of Heller solved the Sphinx problem He went to work to perfect a
system of his own, adding to it certain effects that made the trick all but
supernatural. In this performance he was assisted by a lady, known as
Haidee Heller. Nothing seemed to baffle them.
At a performance in Boston, described by Henry Hermon in his work
"Hellerism", a coin was handed to Heller.
He glanced at it and asked Miss Heller to name the object.
"A coin", she quickly answered.
"Here, see if you can tell the name of the country, and all about it?" he next
asked.
Without a moment's hesitation she replied: "It is a large copper coin--a coin
of Africa, I think. Yes, it is of Tripoli. The inscriptions on it are Arabic; one
side reads 'Coined at Tripoli;' the other side, 'Sultan of two lands, Sultan by
inheritance, and the son of a Sultan.'"
"Very well", said Heller, "that is correct. But look, what is the date, now?"
"The date is 1220, one thousand two hundred and twenty of the Hegira, or
http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans02.html (3 of 5) [4/23/2002 4:04:25 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-2

Mohammedan year, which corresponds to 1805, of the Christian year."

Tremendous applause greeted this feat.
Mr. Fred. Hunt, who was for a number of years Robert Heller's assistant,
revealed the secret of "second-sight", soon after Heller's death. The
performer has first to be initiated into a new alphabetical arrangement,
which is as follows:
A is H; B is T; C is S; D is G; E is F; F is E; G is A; H is l; I is B; J is L; K
is Pray; L is C; M is O: N is D; O is V; P is J; Q is W; R is M; S is N; T is P:
U is Look; V is Y; W is R; X is see this; Y is Q; z is Hurry, "Hurry up"
means to repeat the last letter. For example, the initials or name in a ring is
wanted. Say it is "Anna". By the alphabetical arrangement H stands for A. D
for N. The exclamation "Hurry up" always 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 paid
only to the first letter of every sentence, and it will be perceived that the
name of Anna is spelled.
By the above method, one is enabled to secretly convey to his assistant the
name of any article. But it is too cumbersome, except for the spelling of
proper names. Something simpler is necessary. A system is used, which is
so arranged as to include every variety of article classified in sets (usually
ten in a set) one question, with a word or two added, sufficing to elicit a
correct answer for the different articles: There are sets representing
numbers, colors, metals, precious stones, countries, materials, fabrics,
makes of watches, secret society emblems, sex of persons, playing cards,
and a great variety of miscellaneous things, such as wearing apparel,
surgical instruments, ancient coins, modern money, bijouterie, &c. The first
question asked is usually a clue to the set which contains the article to be
described, the next query, the number of the article in the set, and so on. The
different questions are worded very nearly alike, so as to make the
spectators believe that the same question is being constantly asked, An
example will better illustrate the working of the trick, full details of which
Will be found in nay chapter on mental magic, contained in "Magic, Stage
Illusions, and Scientific Diversions."
But let us first give the tables for fabrics, numbers and the first
miscellaneous set. The Fabric: 1. Silk; 2. Wool; 3. Cotton; 4. Linen 5.
Leather; 6. Kid; 7. Buckskin; 8. Lace.
Numbers: 1 is Say or Speak 2 is Be, Look or Let; 3 is Can or Can't; 4 is Do
or Don't; 5 is Will or Wait; 6 is What; 7 is Please or Pray; 8 is Are or Ain't:
9 is Now; 10 is Tell; 0 is Hurry or Come.
First Miscellaneous Set: (what article is this?): 1. Handkerchief; 2.
Neckerchief; 3. Bag; 4. Glove 5. Purse; 6. Basket; 7. Beet; 8. Comforter; 9.

http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans02.html (4 of 5) [4/23/2002 4:04:25 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-2

Headdress; 10. Yam

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 the solution for "bag"; it being third on the list.
"Say the fabric?" The reply would be "silk", that being the first in the line of
fabrics, and, as before stated, "say" representing No. 1. If a leather bag, it
would be: "Will you tell the fabric?" "will" standing for No. 5.
Evoking the aid of electricity, Robert Heller was enabled to convey the cue
words of the sets, besides other information to Miss Heller, without
speaking a word. It was this wonderful effect that so puzzled everybody. A
confederate sat among the spectators, near the centre aisle of the theatre, and
the wires of an electric battery were connected with his chair, the electric
push button being under the front part of his seat. Heller gave the cue to the
set in which the article was, its number, etc., by some natural movement of
his body or arms; and the confederate, rapidly interpreting the secret signals,
telegraphs them to the clairvoyant on the stage." The receiving instrument
was attached to the sofa upon which Miss Heller sat. The interchangeable
use of the two methods of conveying information--spoken and
unspoken--during an evening, completely bewildered the spectators. It was
indeed a sphinx problem. In closing this part of his entertainment Heller
declared that "second-sight" was neither "mesmerism" nor "ventriloquism,"
but simply Hellerism.
With this brief exposition of the "second-sight" trick, one of the most
mysterious ever presented on the stage, we bid adieu to Robert Heller. The
black curtain of death descends, shutting out the form of this genial
magician forever.
Next: D'Alvini Previous: Alexander Herrmann

http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans02.html (5 of 5) [4/23/2002 4:04:25 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-3

The
Learned
Pig
Project

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks

(Continued: D'Alvini)
By
Henry Ridgely Evans
Our magic mirror is enveloped in
darkness for a minute. Then, "hey
presto"! It is brilliantly illuminated. It is a
phantasmagoria of the Mikado's palace
which we behold in the glass! Who is
this little man, gorgeously robed as a
Japanese thaumaturgist who presents
himself? Ah, that is D'Alvini, the juggler
and magician, whose extraordinary feats
of balancing and prestidigitation were the
wonder of the world. William
Peppercorn, known to fame as D'Alvini,
the "Jap of Japs" was born in London, in
1841. He was cousin to the celebrated
clown Governelli. He had a strongly
marked Japanese physiognomy, and this fact lent reality to the
assumption of Japanese costume and mise-en-scene. He brought over
the first company of Japanese jugglers that ever exhibited in this
country or in Europe. It was while performing in Japan that D'Alvini
decided to abandon the conventional attire of a Western conjuror and
appear in Oriental dress.
He traveled all over the world and gave entertainments before many
exalted personages, Queen Victoria, Napoleon III, the Mikado of Japan,
the Sultan of Turkey, Emperor William of Germany, and the late Czar
Alexander of Russia. He performed before the Czar on February 19th,
of the year in which the Autocrat of all the Russians was killed.
Speaking of this event to a friend in Chicago, he said: "When I was in
Russia I had an experience that drove me from the land of the Czars and
I Promise you I shall never go back to it. It was in 1880 that I visited.
Russia, and the Czar, Alexander, (who was afterwards assassinated by
the Nihilists) summoned me to give a private entertainment for him in
the south wing of his palace, I was glad he did not choose the west
wing, for on that very, night, February 19th, 1880, while in the midst of
my performance, the west wing was blown up by the revolutionists, but
nobody was hurt. It kept me in the palace under police surveillance for
four days, nevertheless, and I soon got out of that country, I won't go
back again unless I am chained."
Some of D'Alvini's feats were admirable. The Fairy Fountain was a

http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans03.html (1 of 3) [4/23/2002 4:04:26 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-3

triumph of balancing. In this act, "he built a Japanese pagoda out of

blocks of wood, the foundation resting on his chin. When the foundation
was completed a stream of water issued out of it. the structure revolving
ail the time. The climax was reached when in place of water, streams of
ribbon and showers of paper flew out of the fountain. He performed
with great skill the trick of the "Magic Portfolio" which was invented by
Robert Houdin. As originally presented by Houdin the effect was as
follows: The conjuror came on the stage with an artist's portfolio under
his arm. It contained apparently nothing except a few prints representing
various animals and objects. When closed it was not over an inch and a
half thick. The magician placed it in a sort of rack, and proceeded to
take from it a great variety of things, animate and inanimate, saucepans
filled with fire, ladies' bonnets, bird cages containing live birds, doves,
and last but not least, a small boy. Most of these were concealed upon
the performer's person and introduced by him into the portfolio in the
act of taking out the pictures, one by one, to exhibit to the audience. The
bird cage was of the collapsible kind and was concealed in the portfolio.
When it was exhibited, all the magician had to do was to shake it
vigorously, whereupon it assumed its normal shape, and the birds,
which were secreted in the top, flew about. The ladies' bonnets were
made on watchsprings and went into a very small space indeed. The
small boy was shot up into the portfolio through a trap in the stage,
while the attention of the audience was directed elsewhere.
D'Alvini worked the trick in a somewhat different manner. After
showing the portfolio empty he placed it on an ordinary table and
produced from it ladies' bonnets, shopping bags, bouquets, four large
trunks, live ducks, fowls, rabbits, doves, birds in large cages and a small
boy.
D'Alvini invented most of his feats. He was a very original man. He had
a curious play-bill, at the top of which he displayed his rivals
performing the same old tricks, while he. "Jap of Japs," occupied the
rest of the picture, doing all sorts of impossible things. The balancing
feats depicted in the illustration, will give the reader an idea of his work.

http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans03.html (2 of 3) [4/23/2002 4:04:26 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-3

Prominence is given to D'Alvini in this article, because of the fact that

he was a fine prestidigitator as well as a juggler. He died in Chicago,
July 3d, 1891, and was burried in Oakwoods cemetery.
Next: Other Magicians Previous: Robert Heller

http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans03.html (3 of 3) [4/23/2002 4:04:26 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-4

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks

The
Learned (Conclusion: Other Magicians)
By
Pig Project Henry Ridgely Evans
One of the most noted magicians on the stage to-day is Mr. Harry
Kellar, a Pennsylvanian by birth, who at one time acted as assistant
to the famous Davenport Brothers, spirit mediums. Kellar's
production of rosebushes, from flower pots that contain nothing but a
small quantity of white sand, is a clever trick.

Two small tables draped within a foot or more above the floor are
seen on the stage. On each of the tables is a miniature stand on which
are flower pots. After the pots have been examined by the audience
the performer places them on the stands and plants seed in them. A
pasteboard cone, open at both ends, is exhibited, and placed over
flowerpot No. 1 for a second. When it is removed a green sprig is
seen, which the magician declares has just sprouted He then places
the cone over flower-pot No. 2. On removing it, a full grown
rosebush appears, covered with buds and roses in full bloom. A
second rosebush is then produced from flower-pot No. 1. The roses
are culled and presented to the ladies in the audience. The following
is an explanation of the trick:
The tables are open at the back, the
drapery not extending completely
around them. Attached to the leg of
each table is a small shelf, which is
of course concealed by the drapery.
The bushes are stumps, to the
http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans04.html (1 of 3) [4/23/2002 4:04:28 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-4

branches of which are tied the roses.

Each bush has as a base a circular
piece of lead which fits into the
flower pot. The bushes are suspended
inside of cones, which are placed on
the secret shelves above described.
The performer covers the first pot
with the cone in his hand, and drops
from his palm the green sprig which sticks in the sand. As attention
is being called to the sprout, the magician drops the empty cone just
shown down behind the table over the prepared cone and rosebush,
and brings them up under cover. The loaded cone fits closely into the
empty one, but as an additional security, is held in place by the
fingers of the performer. He goes to the second table and places the
cone over the flower-pot. The rosebush is allowed to drop into the
pot, the thread which fastens it having been detached. The bush is
shown. As soon as the cone is removed the hand naturally and
carelessly drops behind with it over the next prepared cone on the
shelf, and the performer produces a rosebush from the first
flower-pot. He has now three cones one inside of the other. To
facilitate the picking up of the cones in succession, the back of the
top of each table is cut out in crescent shape.
The marvellous "Levitation act" is another favorite trick of Keller's.
It was also exhibited by the late Alexander Herrmann, under the
name of Trilby, because of the supposed hypnotization of the
assistant, a young lady garbed a la Trilby. In this act Herrman billed
himself as Svengali, the mesmerist. Keller makes much of this feat,
advertising it as an oriental mystery. The effect is as follows: A
board is placed on the backs of two chairs or trestles and a young
lady, mounting on a foot-stool lies down upon it. The performer then
makes pretended mesmeric passes over her, and shows there are no
wires connected with the board, bypassing a stick about it. After this,
he draws away first one chair and then another, but the board and
lady are scan suspended in mid air. The magician makes a pass with
his hands whereupon the plank slowly rises, eventually assum lug an
inclined position, after which it returns to a horizontal one and the
chairs are placed beneath it. The young lady recovers from The
trance, decends from the plank and the levitation act is finished.
The illustration shows
the mechanism of this
very surprising trick.
Behind the scenes is a
strong frame, up and
down which works a
http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans04.html (2 of 3) [4/23/2002 4:04:28 PM]

Modern Magicians and Their Tricks-4

movable slide.
Cordage is provided
to raise and lower the
slide. An iron bar
having at its rear end
handles and in front a
socket is journaled in
the slide, and can also
he thrust in and out
through the journal
box. When the lady
has taken her place on the board, the socket is thrust through the
curtains forming the back scene. The magician, while arranging the
ladies' drapery, sees to it that the socket is properly secured to the
plank. The assistant behind the scenes works the cordage, thereby
raising or lowering the plank, and by means of the handles tilting it.
When the bar is in place, the performer cannot pass completely
around the plank. At the conclusion of the trick, the assistant pulls in
the socket behind the scenes. And so endeth the wonderful
"levitation act" which Mr. Kellar, the renowned Oriental traveller,
borrowed from the Fakirs of Simla and Thibetan adepts of Lhasse.
One of the neatest manipulators of cards in America is Mr. Adrian
Plate, of New York, who devotes his time mostly to seances at
private houses, lodges, clubs, etc. He was born in Holland, and was a
noted magician in his native land before coming to this country. Mr.
William E. Robinson is another clever sleight-of-hand artist at cards.
T. Nelson Downs is generally regarded as the coin manipulator par
excellence, but he has a close rival in M. Servais Le Roy, a
Frenchman. Perhaps the most inventive geniuses in the world of
magic are Messrs. Maskelyne and Cooke of Egyptian Hall, London,
and Buatier de Kolta, a Hungarian residing in Paris. Other excellent
artists in legerdemain are Imro Fox, Harry Houdini, Prof. Eugene
Powell, Hartz, Elliot, and Howard Thurston.
End of Article
Previous: D'Alvini

http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/magos/articles/evans/evans04.html (3 of 3) [4/23/2002 4:04:28 PM]