{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 267, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIX\nIn 1904 I paid the old master a second visit. To his\nprofessions of pleasure at meeting me once more, he\nadded the gift of several rare programmes now in my col-\nAlexander Heimburger, a veteran conjurer who presented the suspension\ntrick in 1845-46 during his American tour. From a photograph in the Harry\nHoudini Collection.\nlection, and when our hands met in a farewell clasp he told\nme that he had set all things in order and was ready for\nthe coming of the Grim Reaper. Soon after that visit,\n[ 238]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 266, "folder": "", "text": "THE SUSPENSION TRICK\nened at the coming of one interested in his beloved art,\nwhose eye brightened with each fresh detail of a long\nand successful professional life, and who, in fifty years of\nretirement, had not only written a book, but had kept in\ntouch with the world of magic, giving me information\nwhich the most exhaustive encyclopaedia could not yield,\nanswering questions on topics never yet discussed in\ndusty parchments and fading scripts. It was like having\nthe history of magic unrolled before my eager eyes, in a\nliving, palpitating, human scroll.\nIt had been my intention to remain but a few hours in\nM\u00fcnster, but the old master held me as if hypnotized and\nthe hours fairly drifted past. Letter after letter, clipping\nafter clipping, token after token, he spread before my\nfascinated eyes; and I allowed him to speak without\nquestion or interruption of any sort. Early in our inter-\nview he had remarked that he was beginning to feel old\nand that only the impetus of my presence was responsible\nfor his unusual strength of speech. For over seventy\nyears he had been collecting books on conjuring and kin-\ndred topics, which he was able to read in English, French,\nSpanish, and German.\nThe dinner hour found us still engrossed in conversa-\ntion, and Frau Heimburger extended a most hospitable\nand cordial invitation for me to join the family circle.\nBut my hunger was purely mental, and the true savor\nof the meal was the reminiscent chat of Herr Heimburger,\nwho, from his post at the head of his household, looked\nas hale and hearty as if he had found the Elixir of Life\nwhich so many of his charlatan predecessors claimed to\nhave \"discovered.\"\n[ 237 ]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 265, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nsonally that being pressed for time he had entrusted the\nwriting of his \"Memoirs\" to a Parisian journalist.\nAs he warmed up to these reminiscences, he held me\nspellbound. Had he risen from the grave to tell of his\nMrs. Leona A. Anderson, daughter-in-law of John Henry Anderson, as\nshe appeared with him in the suspension trick about 1868. From the Harry\nHoudini Collection.\ncontemporaries, he could not have riveted my attention\nmore securely.\nHere was a man of eighty-four, whose memory quick-\n[236]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 264, "folder": "", "text": "THE SUSPENSION TRICK\nwas living in his native town of M\u00fcnster, in Westphalia, I\ndetermined to secure an interview with him if possible.\nOn March 17th, 1903, while playing in Cologne, I\nboarded an express train and arrived in M\u00fcnster bright\nand early. From the city directory I learned that one\nHeimburger resided in Krumpentippen, 16. Hailing a\npassing droschke I was soon carried to my destination,\nwhere a bright-faced German girl opened the door and\nushered me, without formality, into the presence of the\nman to whom I desired to pay my respects.\nAn old man, bent with years, snow-white of beard and\ngray of head, came forward slowly to greet me. Finding\nthat he was quite deaf, I raised my voice and fairly trum-\npeted my mission, adding that I felt especially honored to\nstand in the presence of the only magician who, up to that\ndate, had ever appeared at the White House, Washington,\nby request of the President of the United States, my na-\ntive land. Alexander had been asked to entertain Presi-\ndent Polk and his guests on several occasions, and the\nfact that I knew this seemed to please the old conjurer\nand pave the way to a pleasant and profitable interview.\nIn a few moments we were sitting side by side, and he\nwas adding to my store of information by relating the\nmost fascinating experiences, stories of fellow-magicians\nlong since dead; and tales which he could corroborate by\nhis own collection of bills, programmes, etc., his diary,\nand his personal correspondence. He had known Robert-\nHoudin, Frikell, Bosco, Count Pererilli, John Henry\nAnderson, Blitz, the original Bamberg of Amsterdam,\nCompars Herrmann, and many lesser lights among the\nold-time magicians. Robert-Houdin had told him per-\n[ 235 ]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 263, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-IIOUDIN\nIXTRADREIMARY MEW\nRECEPING\nIN\nTHE\nAIR\nCORDENSED\n\" 'Suspension Chloriforcene,' as presented be Anderson and his son, from a\nlithograph used by him on his return from the Continent, December, 1848.\nFrom the Harry lloudini Collection.\n[234]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 262, "folder": "", "text": "THE SUSPENSION TRICK\nin the field of magic a clever rival, Compars Herrmann;\na few months later came John Henry Anderson, the\nWizard of the North. Both of these men presented the\nsuspension trick in precisely the same manner claimed by\nRobert-Houdin as his original invention of 1847. Neither\nAnderson nor Herrmann claimed the honor of having\ninvented the trick, and it is more than likely that the\nmechanician who made their apparatus for the suspension\ntrick made the one used by Robert-Houdin also. Herr-\nmann, like Robert-Houdin, called the trick ethereal sus-\npension. Anderson gave it the title of \"Chloriforcene\nSuspension,\" as the reproduction of an Anderson litho-\ngraph on page 234 will prove.\nDuring precisely the same period of time a brilliantly\nsuccessful German conjurer, Alexander, was presenting\nthe same trick in America, where he remained as a pro-\nfessional entertainer for ten years. In my collection,\ntogether with corroborative handbills and programmes,\nthere will be found this statement from Alexander:\n\"The suspension was at first produced by me in 1845\nor 1846, after reading in an Oriental annual, edited by\nseveral officers of the Indian Army, the trick of a fakir\nwho made a companion sit in the air by using a bamboo\nstick. My trick had no success, because the sitting was\ntoo near the ground. I then made him stand in the air,\nand the effect was marvellous.\"\nMy meeting with Alexander, of which this correspond-\nence was the result, marked an era in my search for\nmaterial for this volume. Having read in a small book on\nmagic, dated 1896, that a man named Heimburger, who\nhad travelled in America as \"Alexander the Conjurer,\"\n[ 233]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 261, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nof the iron rod from the back, which would have been in\nplain sight from the gallery. The stage would not permit\nthe suspension to be worked out of range of the gallery gods.\nWhen Robert-Houdin went to London in 1848 he found\nSvesimg, the - Satreer\nperformed by\nwith -\nThe BOTTLE,\nas the commend Tine\nPRINCESS'S THEATRE\nALL KINDS-OF LIQUEURS.\nThe Juggier of the Sum and Moon.\n- -\nThe Bagic Sword, or the Skuful Player at\n-\nBlind-Man's Buil.\nGENERAL REQUEST\nSOUS and its\nisclated Bell. (Mechasic.)\nmose.\nThe July Colums, of the Docile Cart.\n(Mechanic.)\nHERRMANN\nThe Philanthrepic Banker.\nA Chinese Metamorphose.\nThe Funtastic Glass.\nPierro the Magician. (Mechanic))\nThe Marriage at Cana.\nThe Disappearance of\n*\n*\n*\nThe\nDOVES\nTHE\nFirst Professor of Magic in the World\nThe Miracle of Flowers (Mechanie,)\nThe BANDEER of SATAN.\nWill give six MORE of his\nThe Multiplication of Guinea Pigs.\nThe Flower Garden.\nENTERTAINING\nThe Universal Thought.\nThe Miraculous Production of Plumes.\nOIREES\nThe Enchanted Vases.\nThe Puzzled Choice, or four in one.\nEMIDA's o BALICE, or the\nGENEVA CLOCK wons.\nThe Mysterions Chest.\nAnd MAGIQUE.\n-\nTHE ONLY NIGHTS HK CAN REMAIN IN LONDON,\nmany Provincial\nBONDAY Evening, August 21st. 1848,\nTORSBAY, 22ud,\nWEDNESDAY, 23rd,\nPRURSDAY, 24th, FRIDAY 25th,\nAnd SATURDAY, 26th,\nTHE\nBENEFIT of M. HERRMANN\nAnd\nwill be varied with\nNEW & WONDERFUL ILLUSIONS\nEN ERIMEENT T al.\nSUSPENSION ETHER\nMADAME HERRMANN\nselncomprehensible Handkerohief\n\" MAND\nvases FILLED WITH\n--\nAstenishing\nFrate\nANTI-MACNETISM\nGold Fish!\nThis extraordinery Feat is executed in a plaia Evening Brees,\nand must be seem to be belleved.\nDress Circle, 4s.\nBoxes, **\nPit, **\nand\nGallery, le\nas.\nthe\nCLAIRVOYANCE\nloors open at half past Seven. Commence at\nBalf.price at Nime . Cleek\na\na\nA Compars Herrmann programme of 1848 in which suspension is featured.\nFrom the Harry Houdini Collection.\n[ 232]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 260, "folder": "", "text": "Fire Nights only.\nAT THE NEW ASSEMBLY ROOMS.\nThe celebrated CHING LAU LAURO,\n- - - --- - - -\n- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -\n-\n-\nCLA - - - - - - - - - - - - -\n- - - - - - - - - - - -\n- - - - - - - - -\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\na\n-\n-\n-\n- - - - -\n-\n-\n- -\nThe - - - - 1 - - - -\nCHING LAULAURO\num - -\n-\nOs Munday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday,\nMarch the the 1218 121h, and 14th, 1834.\n= - - - - - - - - -\nPART #.\nTHE CHEST OF ARCHIMEDES,\nThe Column of\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n- - - - - - - -\nA at Whet Tim the Wax Candies Eschanted\nELEPHANT OF KNOWLEDGE,\nForge, Printiag! Flying Watch,\nMAGE SOTTLE,\nAPPLES OF BEELZEBUB,\nMAGIC EGGS, LOTEAL 440 with WARIETY -\nFART n.\nVENTRILOQUISI\n-\n-\nROGEERIES OF NICHOLAS.\nof the Creation, - - the Thruals, Blackbied.\nLark, A.\n- - - - - - de\nHir Surprising Poccers of Imitation,\nCHANGES OF CDUN.\n- - - Agwy - - the\nLND DECEPTIONS.\nPARTE 101.\nof Strength,\n- . SEPTO\nASTIC EXERCISES.\nthe Jir upou Nothing!!\n- - -\n- - - - Allesdance.\n- - -\n- - - - M. PABAER\n- MALE PRICE - - Fim -\n- - - - - Friday Morsing, at\n-\n- 2 -\nCollection.\nsumpension in 1832. From the Harry"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 259, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOU\nesraping from a bladder or tube. When the\nblanket was again withdrawn, the conjurer wa\non the ground.\nThe mystery was supposed to have been sol\nSheshal, commonly known as \"the Brahmin of\nexhibited the trick in 1832 in Madras. It was\nthat his stool was ornamented with two inlaid\nit was suggested that one of these might concea\nfor a steel rod. passing through the bamboo,\nanother rod. screwed to the perpendicular one\n..... In the piece of hide, might be connect\n```... of the same metal, passing up the S\n......\ninc. and forming a circular seat.\n:\nwas not far from the truth,\n:\nis means the greatest of authorities\n\"A\ni.\n:\nthis particular instance I be\nis correct.\ninformation I have\nthat wonderful F\nsoll Ching Lau Lauro. Presumab\nand from the programmes in my\nfart in England, in 18:28\nperform between scenes of\n- and Jerry,\" at the\none of Ching L.\nde passibly di veir\nand\n. -\n: -\n..... this"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 258, "folder": "", "text": "Five Nights only.\nAT THE NEW ASSEMBLY ROOMS,\nThe celebrated CHING LAU LAURO,\nNorcules, and the - furope, Magaro, Nechanicies,\nof the - and veluable Mechssical, Optical, and Nagient Transformatives\n- whese Performances the greatest and\nthey\nhate\nbeen\neshibited.\nC.L.L. be had the of Serforming before thes \" the \" Rreghtee, and\nressived letter, by chais Mayesties commend, &m al approvel of ear% Perfermasce, wich\nSagether\nwith\nseveral\nothers\nfrom\nthe\nEarts\nof\nDewlogh,\nNredfent,\nMarquia\nleses\n. Nr Passs's, High etreet of whrth the folloning \" repy - Sie\nrese.\nSte,\nNy these I have to state that vour Performiece+ \" the Pevilion. . the isth of\nsembei were appreved of by these Majestive\nChing Les Lovre,\n- em vou' Servant\nSee Notel.\nH\nThe Nebility, Gestry. and the Publer of eiverhamptor and \" we s\u00e9formers the\nCHING AULAURO\nLATF or VAUNHALL GARDENS AND DHUNY LINE 1H1 ATKE\nWell have the beneut of appearing be fore them\nOn Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday,\nNarch the 10th, lith, 12th, 13th, and 14th, 1934,\nTo Talente in . complete serice of Ammements. combreing-\nPART I.\nTHE CHEST OF ARCHIMEDES,\nAND\nThe Column of\nThese self-ecuing pleces of were recruted by the celebrated am! entraded\nthe Cablest of Curiosities at Paris, ber unforeces the\nGefore the completies of these Master pieces of Art, they sere dieposed of and\ngower - gratify the Public with anch advaired pieces of\nA Game at Whist, Time Flies, the Wax Candles Enchanted\nELEPHANT OF KNOWLEDGE,\nFulcan's Forge, Miraculous Printing Flying Watch,\nNAGIC BOTTLE,\nAPPLES OF BEELZEBUB,\nMAGEC mags, LOYAL NETAMORPHOSE, &c. with , \"\nII.LUSIONS TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION\nPART II.\nVENTRILOQUISII.\nCHINO LAU LAURO - the hesour to ansounce that, previons to bas return to Loudon to resume his\nEagagements, be bes been induced to preseet novel and popular SATIRICAL LEC TURE. and\nNOV DIVENTI<EMENT, en.itled\nROGUERIES OF NICHOLAS.\nImitations of the Feathered Crestion, such as the Thrush, Biackbird.\nNightingale, Sky Lark, &c.\nAlso vertraying a variety of Eecentric and Cheracters diawn from Nature. entroductory of\nHis Surprising Powers of Imitation,\nORIGINAL ANECDOTES, INCONCEPTIBLE CHANGES OF COUN-\nTENANCE, and extraordinary Illusions in ALIOI.OQUY, (erroneously ternied\nVentriloquy.) explaining its Ageucy in producing the numberles\nMYSTERIOUS PHENOMENA, WOVDERS, AND DECEITIONS.\nPART m.\nFeats of Strength,\nIN THE CHARACTER or A CHINESE BUTFO\nGYMNASTIC EXERCISES.\nAnd will conclude wonderful Entertalaments by\nSitting in the Air upon Nothing\nA:\nthe same time play bith the GOLDEN BALLS. &c.\nA Quadrille Band will be in Attendanco.\nDese se be opened at Seven and the Performance to commence at Quarter before Eight.\nFRONT\nSEATA, 2.-BACK SEATS. I.-CHILDKEN HALF PRICE to the Front Seate anly\nTICKETS to be had at Mr PARKE'S, High-street.\nwill be given on Friday Merning, at half-past\nTwolve o'Clock.\nPerte. y -\nChing Lau Lauro handbill featuring suspension in 1832. From the Harry\nHoudini Collection.\n[231"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 257, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nescaping from a bladder or tube. When the screen or\nblanket was again withdrawn, the conjurer was standing\non the ground.\nThe mystery was supposed to have been solved when\nSheshal, commonly known as \"the Brahmin of the Air,\"\nexhibited the trick in 1832 in Madras. It was observed\nthat his stool was ornamented with two inlaid stars, and\nit was suggested that one of these might conceal a socket\nfor a steel rod, passing through the bamboo, and that\nanother rod, screwed to the perpendicular one and con-\ncealed by the piece of hide, might be connected with\na\nmechanism of the same metal, passing up the sleeve and\ndown the back, and forming a circular seat. This con-\njecture probably was not far from the truth, for while\nFrost is by no means the greatest of authorities on magic\nand magicians, in this particular instance I believe that\nhis explanation of the trick is correct.\nThe next authentic early information I have gathered\nregarding suspension concerns that wonderful performer\nwho called himself Ching Lau Lauro. Presumably he was\na Chinaman, and from the programmes in my collection\nhe evidently appeared first in England, in 1828, when he\nwas engaged to perform between scenes of various plays,\nincluding \"Tom and Jerry,\" at the Coburg. I repro-\nduce on page 23I one of Ching Lau Lauro'sprogrammes.\nAbout 1833, or possibly a year earlier, he cut out some\nof his singing, and introduced the suspension with which\nhe closed his performance. At this time he gave the\nentire programme. According to his programmes, in some\nplaces he excluded the public from the gallery, so I\njudge that his suspension was accomplished by the use\n[ 230]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 256, "folder": "", "text": "THE SUSPENSION TRICK\nThe Brahmin suspension as shown in an illustration found in Robin's\nl'Almanach de Cagliostro.\n[229]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 255, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nare absolutely impossible, yet so popular did his works\nbecome that, barring the Scriptures, more copies and\nmanuscripts of the books containing his various \"Magi-\ncian Stories\" have been handed down to posterity and\nexist to-day than any works of his contemporaries.\nStill, Mandeville did not mention this suspension trick,\nwhich is sometimes attributed to the Chinese and some-\ntimes to the Hindoos.\nIn Cologne, Germany, I purchased an encyclopaedia,\npublished in 1684, from which I reproduce a double-\npage engraving, which shows the Chinese magicians\ndoing the tricks previously accredited, in the stories of\ntravellers, to Hindoo conjurers.\nIn \"Lives of the Conjurers,\" Thomas Frost describes\nthe suspension trick as offered about 1828 or 1829 at\nMadras by an old Brahmin with no better apparatus than\na piece of plank with four legs. This he had formed into\na stool, and upon it, in a little brass socket, he placed a\nhollow bamboo stick in a perpendicular position. Pro-\njecting from the stick was a kind of crutch, covered with\na piece of common hide. These properties he carried\nwith him in a bag, which was shown to all those who\ndesired to witness his exhibition. The servants of the\nhousehold then held a blanket before him, and, when it\nwas withdrawn, he was discovered poised in midair\nabout four feet from the ground, in a sitting posture, with\nthe outer edge of one hand merely touching the crutch,\nwhile the fingers deliberately counted beads, and the other\nhand and arm were held in an upright position. The\nblanket was again held up before him, and the spectators\ncaught a gurgling sound, like that occasioned by wind\n[228]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 254, "folder": "", "text": "Die Chineilche\nReproduction of an engraving in an old German Encyclopaedia in the Harry Houdini Collection,\nwhich credits to the Chinese the trick of climbing into the air and having the body fall down piecemeal\nand being set together again."}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 253, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nthis date, he had used only the ordinary platform and\nrod.\nDuring the course of researches covering many years,\nduring which I visited national libraries in various coun-\ntries, the first trace of the suspension trick was discovered\nin the writings of Ian Batuta, who flourished about the\nthirteenth century. He mentions two conjurers who per-\nformed before the court of the Mogul in Delhi. One of\nthe men assumed the form of a cube and rose into the air,\nwhere he remained suspended. The other man then took\noff his shoe, struck it against a rock, and it also rose and\nhung in midair, close to the suspended conjurer or human\ncube. On being touched on the neck, the cube descended\nto the ground, and the conjurer resumed his natural form.\nThe historical verity of this tale cannot be determined,\nand it may be classed with the familiar story which crops\nup periodically, describing the ball of cord thrown into\nthe air for a youth to climb into the clouds. Once out of\nsight, the youth is said to draw the cord up after him;\nthen presently a leg falls from the unseen heights, then\nanother, followed by an arm, a rib or two, and so on\nuntil the entire body is scattered upon the ground, the\nhead coming last with the neck standing upward. At\nthe command of the magician, the body seems to crawl\ntogether, so runs the tale, and eventually the youth stands\nup to be examined by the astonished populace.\nThese stories belong in the very first of the travellers'\ntales. In 1356 Sir John Mandeville, called by some au-\nthorities \"the Father of English Prose,\" after travelling\nthirty-four years, published a book detailing some of his\nmarvellous \"witnessings.\" Though many of his stories\n[226]\n-"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 252, "folder": "", "text": "THE SUSPENSION TRICK\nbe strong, invisible to the audience, and still be perfect\nin mechanism.\nRobert-Houdin, with characteristic ambiguity, does not\nrefer to a complicated mechanism, but lays stress on his\nability to keep his tricks up-to-date and in line with\npopular movements of the hour. In writing of the sus-\npension trick, he gives the impression that but for the\nsensation created by the use of ether as an anzesthetic he\nwould never have thought out the new trick. His own\nwords as presented on page 3I2 of the American edition\nof his \"Memoirs\" are reproduced in this connection :\n\"It will be remembered that in 1847 the insensibility\nproduced by inhaling ether began to be applied to surgical\noperations; all the world talked about the marvellous\neffect of this anzesthetic and its extraordinary results.\nIn the eyes of the people it seemed much akin to magic.\nSeeing that the surgeons had invaded my domain, I asked\nmyself if this did not allow me to make reprisals. I did\nso by inventing my ethereal suspension, which I believe\nwas far more surprising than any result obtained by my\nsurgical brethren. This trick was much applauded, and\nI am bound to say that my arrangements were excellently\nmade. This was the first time that I tried to direct the\nsurprise of my spectators by gradually heightening it up\nto the next moment, when, so to speak, it exploded.\"\nWhile Robert-Houdin, in his \"Memoirs,\" claims to\nhave invented the trick for the season of 1847-48, in the\nillustrated appendix of the French edition he states that\nthe first production of the trick, with improvements, was\nin October, 1849. The improvement consisted of working\nthe trick with a stool upon a platform, when, previous to\n15\n[225]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 251, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nInventions are a matter of evolution, but as the tricks\nwhich Robert-Houdin presented in his new r\u00e9pertoire\nwere not new, he was able to offer them as the result of\nthree months' work. To the expert mechanician or\nbuilder of conjuring apparatus his claim is farcical. The\nST. JAMESS THEATRE,\n- -\nSTs THRATRE\n-\nDAY PERFORMANCE\n-\nWEDVESDAY MORMING\n1846\nsuns 7,\n1848\nSOIREES\nA ALMO -\nSOIREES\nANTASTIQUES,\n-\nov -\nat\nTUESDAY, THURSDAY,\nTUESDAY, THURSDAY,\nSATURDAY EVENINGS,\nSATURDAY EVENINGS,\n-\na\n-\n- -\nINVENTSD SV -\n-\n- -\n-\n- -\n-\n- -\nis .\nthe\n- - -\n- - -\n.\n-\n- - -\n-\nE - . - -\n- - -\n- - - n\n-\n-\n2\n-\n-\n- - -\n- - -\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n-\n- -\n---\nSottle,\nvea\n....\n--\nSESPENSION\nvva,\nsa\nParvars\n-\nPoster used by Robert-Houdin during his first London engagement,\nfeaturing suspension. From the Harry Houdini Collection.\nmajority of the tricks mentioned require skilled hands and\ninfinite patience, if they work in a way that will completely\ndeceive the public. Particularly is this true of the first\nsuspension apparatus such as Robert-Houdin must have\nused. This included a steel corset or frame for the sub-\nject, and both the corset and the supporting rods had to\n[224]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 250, "folder": "", "text": "TATERLOO\nFor me Few\nthe PATRONAGE OF\nHER\nH. PRINCE ALBERT, a THE ROYAL FAMILY,\nAud as represented by at me of * -\nAT ALL THE COURTS OF EUROPE.\nThis Grent Artito of in the Art of Magio, Inventor of the Insxhanstible Bottle, the Suspension\nthe Kegle Punch Bowl, the Second Sight, and . great sumber of other Tricks, is a Member of the Bociety\nin Pariz, and the only Conjuror who bes received Notional Rewards of Morit for bis Uuparalleled\nThisks Magle Transformations and Astomatons, which have astomished and delighted the Sciontine Mep of\noverz will mot, in of ammeroms Engagemente, be able to remain mose than . limited period in\n-x-\nOBLEBRATED\nFrench Conjuror,\nPropricter & Manager of the Palais-Royal Theatre, & late of St James' Theatre, Londen,\nWILL orve A SERIES or\nMAGIC SOIREES\nFANTASTIQUES:!\nCONMENCING ox THS EVENING\nos\nMonday, June 14, 1852.\nGeneral\nreox WEICE A SELECTION WILL BE OIVEN RACH EVENINO.\nThe Gorfoind of Mewers\nNavele Antente (Mechanic Flece)\nThe Transparent Casket\nthe of\n- of the\nThe Imexhanstible Bettle\nThe Nagle Oupper\ntoa of Rebert Noudin\nThe Glass of Wise, or the Secret of\nThe\nThe Turtie Boves\na Contrabendist\n- Impossibility realiteed\nThe Enchented Cravat, producing\nThe Miracuions Fishery\nThe Irea Crowa\nFenthers, de.\nThe Orange, Lemen, and Walunt\nThe Narvellous Orange Tree\nThe Sugar Loaf\nThe Unifilited of\nThe Gomims of Reses\nThe Socond Nght, witheut any Ques\nSevereigne\nThe Book\ndes\nThe Bell-riager (Mechanic Pleee)\nThe\nThe\nThe Flewer Basket\nThe Nagmotined Cards\nThe Magie Pertiolle\nThe Neapelitam Mariequia\nThe Remertable\nThe Ball of Lambr Weel\nThe Feather and Cannom Ball\nthe Caballatie arying\nAurici (Mechamical Plece)\nThe Great\nThe Sporismes - Cupt\u00e9\nThe Exercise of as Auto-\nThe Emperer Nicholas\nThe Impressice\nmates\nThe Two Lemons\nThe Orystal Delle\nThe Ariel Gleck\nThe Phenix Pecket Handkerchief\nThe Colome and Glove\nThe Sugpension Chieroforeeme\nThe Magle Tableam\nThe of Flowerp\nThe Young Saveyard (Mechanic Plece)\nThe Swerd\nWONDROUS PUNCH BOWL,\nAs - New Trick, producing BON-BONS and PUNCH, ed libitum.\nDeors open at Secen ; Performance to commence at a Quarter-past Eight o'clock.\nA\nmission Stalls, 3s; Reserved Seats, 2s; Back Seats, is; Gallery, 6d.\nFamily Tickets, admitting Four to Stalls, ios 6d.\nChildres under tem years of age, to Reserred and Back Seats, Nalf-price.\nA\nGRAND MORNING PERFORMANCE\nour SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1962, AT TWO O'CLOCK.\nDeors epen at Half-past Onc.\nTickuts and Fiaces may be sccured at the Roums, from 11 till 3 o'clock; at Mr Wood's, 12 Waterloo Place\nand at all the Musicsellers.\nPRINTER, if SOUTU MANOVER STREIT.\nA Robert-Houdin poster on which his complete repertoire appears, under\ndate of June 14th, 1852. From the Harry Houdini Collection.\n[223]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 249, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER VIII\nTHE SUSPENSION TRICK\nI'\nN chapters XVI. and XVII. of the American edition\nof his \"Memoirs,\" Robert-Houdin states that\nhe closed his theatre during the months of July,\nAugust, and September, 1847, and devoted his time\nto producing new tricks for the coming season. He chron-\nicles as the result of these labors the following additions\nto his r\u00e9pertoire: \"The Crystal Box,\" \"The Fantastic\nPortfolio,\" \"The Trapeze Tumbler, \"The Garde Fran-\n\u00e7aise,\" \"The Origin of Flowers,\" \"The Crystal Balls,\"\n\"The Inexhaustible Bottle,\" \"The Ethereal Suspension,\"\netc.\nHad these inventions really been original with the man\nwho claimed them as the result of his own brain-work and\nhandicraft, three years would not have sufficed to bring\nthem to the perfection in which they were presented at\nthat time. It is not always the actual work that makes\na trick a success, nor the material from which it is con-\nstructed, but it takes time to plan a new trick; and then\nafter you have worked out the idea, it takes more time to\nmake it practical. The same piece of apparatus may\nhave to be made dozens of times, in as many shapes,\nbefore it is presentable. Therefore, when Robert-Houdin\nclaims to have invented and built with his own hands the\ntricks mentioned in the list given above, it is time to prove\nthe improbability and falsity of his statements.\n[222]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 248, "folder": "", "text": "SECOND SIGHT\nert-Houdin used both the speaking and the signal code,\nbut so did Breslaw, and all evidence points to the fact\nthat Robert-Houdin merely improved upon the trick em-\nployed by Breslaw,\nPinetti, and others THE DOUBLE-SIGHTED\namong his predeces-\nBeautiful Hog,\nsors in magic, by uti-\nCARLOS,\nzs sow sas\nlizing the newly found\nEgyptian Hall, Piccadilly,\nUNDER THE\nassistant to the magi-\nPatronage of the KING & Royal Family.\ncian, electricity. In\nhis tiny theatre it would\nhave been entirely\nfeasible to have had\nTRIS astonishing Animal is from New York, whose sagacity and decility have\nbeea the surprise and admiration of all who have witneesed performances, parti.\nelectric wires run from\ncularly at Basontow, where Mr. HAMINOTON had the bonour of exhibiting, on the\n17th of Dec. 1831, Dow CARLOS' wonderfal abilities, by special Command before\nall points of the audi-\nHis Most Gracious Majesty William IV.\nan D ROTAL PAMILY.\nAt the Pavilion; on which occasion hie Majesty and thr tyal Pivinily were pleased\ntorium to the stage,\nto express the approbation and delight they experiences, as his most extraordinary\nperformances. A visit to this haif-reasoning Dog will amply gratify the levers of\nNature's works. This very extraordinary and handsome creature is a Spaniel of the\nthus doing away with\ntrue Spanish breed, and in addition to his wonderful faculties, is of so mild and tract-\nables dispesition, that he may be managed by a child with perfect case and enfety.\nRis acquirements consist chiefy of Performances with Cards, wherein he displaye\nboth the speaking and\nthe greatest precision. He will also select the handsomest Lady l\u00e9 the Room, -\ncording to his judgment (which is seldom.questioned), eldest de youngest Pereom, .\nsay question put by the Company, and the Gentleman most partial to the Ladico.\nordinary signal codes,\nDON CARLOS IS NOW FOR SALE:\nHis price is Fifty Guineas. The present owner of this beautiful animal would be\nhappy to let him accompany him to America, for which be will shortly embark, but\neven the pneumatic\nDOS CARLOS particulas objection to a sea voyage is the only reason for bie part-\ning with him.\nTh\u00e9 Proprietor of DON CARLOS, begs to inform the Nobility and Gentry,\ntube. For this im-\nthat he is in readinest to attend Parties at their own houses, on moderate charges.\nAho to be seen (alive) a fine\nBOA CONSTRICTOR,\nprovement, and this\nFrom the Island of Java, and two small Specimens of Crocodiles, from the Banks of the\nNile, perfectly harmless Together with the\nalone, should Robert-\nBeautiful Canary Bird, (Tipesabe),\nWho will perform a variety of amasing Tncks; bikewise the MAOICAL Frovass.\nAdmission to the whole 1s.\nHoudin be given credit.\n13\nN.R.\nThs Perchaser of DON CARLOS will be sutructed to perform him as well as hie\npresent Master. Opegifros 10 in the Morring will et Night.\nNearly all magicians\nPrieser, 03. Street, Chy.\nimprove or redress\nBilling used for Don Carlos, the double-\ntricks or apparatus\nsighted dog. From the Harry Houdini\nCollection.\nhanded down to them\nby their predecessors, but Robert-Houdin was not willing\nto admit that he owed anything to his predecessors.\n[ 221]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 247, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nis offered not to belittle the human mediums, but to prove\nthat from start to finish, from the day that Breslaw\noffered the trick to the present moment, when a number\nTo the Public in general, and thofe of real Knowledge\nParticularly.\nTo be teen from Tea m the Morning. 6ll Four is the Afternean\nAt Mr. BECKET's, Thank Maker, No. 3r. HAY. - MARKET.\nAlter all thet has been produced in the Warld, fagacious of the Annial Species,\nLearnid Pig, the Dancing Dosa &c &c. and which have been acceptad, and acknew ledged\nwith Truff, as WONDERS, Ivt in the fame time, of natural intelle that who could\nbelleve, (exeept feeing,) that themeR Stupid and Infenfate of the CRE ATION\nCould be Brought to fuch a degree of Sagacity, and Wunderful Learning. of\nHunenur Animal Tricks, as the Prodigious\nG\nS\nE,\nPids\nct Crede\nLately arrived from Abroad.\nWhan spropity before acandid and Public, to levite them to\nfee, and be Fithe Durrag arfucha (for have\na a a particalar sckined fram them - Agilitad as the misd\n- gevinally (s. Aveg OF\nLETE le will furdy find, and asknowlar ge to the\nAdfere A\nLEARNED GOOSE\nWho Performs the following Tricke, viz. Perfonning upon Cards, Maney and\nWatches; telling the Day of the Manth, andtle Month of the Year, as allo the value\nof any Plece, \u00e9ither English or Foreign: all furte ard (meft\nprodigioully. and certainly unbelieuing to thaie who lonow the of . Gouse.)\nthe tells Ladias and Gentlemen in the Company; uf any Perfon's thought\nay at Lady drawing of the Pack, thoughever fo fectet\nblindfoldad at the faine time will And out the draw,\nIt Te aut of the compsis efa Bilt, to enumerate all the Tricks the doa befides.\nAdmittaner, Tua Shillings each Poyun.\nRare poster announcing the performance of the learned goose, one of the\nfirst of the second-sight animal artists. Traced from the original poster in the\nBritish Museum by the author.\nof skilful so-called mind-readers still mystify the public,\nsome sort of speaking or signal code has been used. Rob-\n[220]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 246, "folder": "", "text": "SECOND SIGHT\nhaving trained his son's eye and memory by patient effort\nso as to have a mutual transferrence of thought, I will\nnext show that animals had been trained for years to do\ntricks by secret signals before the alleged \"discovery\" of\nsecond sight.\nTwo rare old bills in my collection advertise the mar-\nvellous \"mind-reading\" performances of a goose and a\nblindfolded dog respectively. The first, dated 1789,\nannounces that a Mr. Beckett, a trunk-maker of No. 3I\nHaymarket, is exhibiting \"a Learned Goose, just lately\narrived from abroad.\n\"It performs the following tricks: performing upon\ncards, money, and watches, telling the time of the month,\nyear, and date, also the value of any piece either English\nor foreign, distinguishing all sorts of colors and (most\nprodigiously and certainly unbelieving to those who know\nthe intellects of a goose) she tells the number of ladies\nand gentlemen in the company or any person's thoughts;\nany lady or gentleman drawing a card out of the pack,\nthough ever so secret, the Goose, blindfolded at the same\ntime, will find out the card they drew. Admittance two\nshillings each person.\"\nThe second bill features Don Carlo, the Double-\nSighted dog, which gave an exhibition of his mysterious\nskill at the Pavillion by special command, before King\nWilliam and the royal family on December 17th, 1831.\nThis dog was blindfolded and could present almost in\nduplicate the second-sight tests offered by the Highland\nlad who five days later gave a similar exhibition before\nthe royal family at the same place.\nThis proof regarding the use of animals as \"mediums\""}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 245, "folder": "", "text": "SECONDE VUE DE M\nROBIN:\nSecond sight as offered by M. and Mme. Robin, in which Robin employed the bell and the goblet. From the\nlatter she sipped liquor, claiming it tasted like the wine secretly named by a spectator. Robin's stage\nwas\nequipped with electrical appliances. From the Harry Houdini Collection."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 244, "folder": "", "text": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\n1 029 714 238 0"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 244, "folder": "", "text": "SECOND SIGHT\nArmy, under how many Monarchs he has served, in how\nmany battles he has been engaged, and whether he has\never been wounded and how many wounds he has received.\nBy throwing the Dice, she will every time exactly tell the\nvery number of spots which may have been determined\non.\"\nThis wordy announcement is signed by W. Sahm, of\nHolland.\nIn my collection there is also an interesting handbill ad-\nvertising the tour of \"The Mysterious Lady\" who offered\nsecond-sight tricks in the eastern part of the United States\nin 1842-43. Her name was never stated on the programmes,\nbut the latter, together with a clipping dated Boston,\nFebruary 20th, 1843, will suffice to prove my claim that\nshe was offering second-sight before Robert-Houdin did,\nand therefore could not be copying his trick. She also\nappeared in England fully a year before Robert-Houdin\n\"discovered\" second sight.\nHenri Robin and his wife featured second sight in\nItaly just when Robert-Houdin first offered it in Paris.\nIt is barely possible that they antedated Robert-Houdin\nin the production of this trick, for I have in my collection\na brochure entitled \"Album des Soir\u00e9es de M. et Mme.\nRobin,\" which contains an engraving of the couple offer-\ning second-sight, a short poem in honor of Mme. Robin's\nremarkable gifts as a second-sight artist, and a poem\ngenerally eulogistic of M. Robin's talents dated distinctly\nFebruary 7th, 1846. Robert-Houdin presented second-\nsight for the first time, according to his own \"Memoirs,\"\non February 12th, 1846.\nTo prove the utter folly of Robert-Houdin's claims to\n[ 217]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 243, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nleast thought, not until then explored. She guesses the\nage of every one, whether they be married or not; how\nmany children they have, of what sex, and whether they\nbe living or dead at the present time, etc. She does the\nlike for any one having a chance in the lottery, as to what\nis its number, and what will be its share of gains. She\nthe MYSTERIOUS LADY,\nReproduction of the cut used on the mysterious lady's handbills, distributed in\nAmerica in 1841. From the Harry Houdini Collection.\nalso guesses at every one of the most different sorts of\ncoin, and even at the year with which they were stamped.\nShe guesses at every number which any one shall secretly\nset down, even though it amount to upward a million.\nShe moreover tells exactly whether any one be in the\n[216]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 242, "folder": "", "text": "enormous poster which would be unintelligible if reduced\nto a size suitable for reproduction.\nIt is now a part of my collection and reads as follows:\n\"The Holland Maid, Twenty Years of Age, from Am-\nsterdam, whose powers, both in her residence there and\nin all other places to which she has gonc, have excited\nthe Formemance of the\nISTEOUS\nLADY.\n8 The peculiar acquirements and faculties of this highly Talented\nLady are almost beyond the reach of description. By some unknown\nand\nEXTRAORDINARY ENDOYMENT\nShe is enable. to declare the names of articles produced by the company,\nalthough aitting at a distance of 50 to 60 feet, with her face turned from\nthe audience? She will also divine the whispered wish ot any one.\nalthough satisfactorily out of hearing. She will also, describe the dress,\nornaments, &c. of any iudividual who may wish it, with an accuracy\ntruly surprising; upon a card being selected from a pack, she will\ndeclare its name; but as the performance varies and depends in a great\nmeasure on the pleasure of the company, no regular routine can be speci-\nSied, but of this the company may rest assured that every consistent\nstiort will be used to gratify and afford them satisfaction.\nReproduction of original billing matter used by the mysterious lady who\noffered second sight in the United States in 1841-42-43. From the Harry\nHoudini Collection.\ngreat astonishment and much applause, and she will\nalso in this place endeavor to obtain the same tribute\nof public applause. She will after the exhibition place\nherself before the eyes of all the spectators on the outside\nand gravely stand thereon and at all times give an answer\nof assurance to any one present to whom her judgment in\nall questions gives the most accurate response. She con-\ntrives also by her acuteness to discover and reply to the\n[ 215]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 241, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nTalented Highlanders and most extraordinary Second-\nSighted Young Highlanders.\"\nThese lads, I believe, were three brothers, one the\noriginal M'Kean, or the latter working in conjunction\nwith two other boys trained to the tricks in order to\nsecure more impressive results. The trio appeared\n1897\nDecoration on the broadside used to advertise a young Dutchwoman who\ncreated a sensation in the early part of the eighteenth century. From the\nHarry Houdini Collection.\neight years before Robert-Houdin became a professional\nentertainer.\nHolland also contributed a successful performer of\nsecond-sight tricks, the medium in this case being a\nDutchwoman who created a profound sensation while\n[ 214]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 240, "folder": "", "text": "SECOND SIGHT\ncards for this trick, also outlining the manner of giving\nthe medium the cue for certain phrases. For instance,\nwhile explaining to the audience that he will not speak at\nall, in the very sentences addressed to the spectators he\ninforms the medium which cards have been selected.\nPinetti's code must have been clever, as Decremps\nwas unable to explain the entire second-sight act. He has\nomitted the principal part of the mystification, that is,\nnaming the articles held up for the performer to see.\nThat the card trick was only one test of his second-sight\nperformance, and that Pinetti's medium did not retire\nafter naming the cards, are facts shown by the following\nclipping from one of his announcements:\n\"Signora Pinetti will have the special honor and satis-\nfaction of exhibiting various experiments of new discovery,\nno less curious than seemingly incredible, particularly\nthat of her being seated in one of the front boxes with\nan handkerchief over her eyes, and guess at everything\nimagined and proposed to her by any person in the\ncompany.\"\nThird on the list of second-sight performers, according\nto the data in my collection, was Louis Gordon M'Kean,\nwho created a sensation at the Egyptian Hall Bazaar,\nPiccadilly, London, in 1831, or fifteen years before Robert-\nHoudin, according to his claims, \"discovered\" second\nsight. Young M'Kean was featured as possessing dou-\nble, not second, sight, and one of his bills is reproduced\non page 212.\nAnother programme in my collection, dated the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre\nScarboro, Friday evening, August 4th, 1837, announces\n\"For a limited engagement of three nights the Three\n[ 213 ]\n1"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 239, "folder": "", "text": "UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF\nHis Most Gracious Majesty WILLIAMIV.\nThe\nWonderfal\nDOUBLE\"\nSIGHTED\nPhaeno-\nmenon:\nYoung Master M 'KEAN,\nSince his arrival in London, has had the honor of performing\n(on Friday, Dec. 23rd. 1831,) before their\nMaster M'KEAN, only . Years old!\nONK\nor\nMost Gracious Majesties & Prince George.\nGREATEST PRODIGIES of the Age\nHis Grace the Duke of Argyle.\nHas just returned from the Pavilion at Brighton:\nHis Grace the Duke of Gordon.\nTowhich plare be lad de heaer of a Sperial Conmand, aud is again exhibiting his mest\nHis Grace the Bruke of St. Albans and Duchess.\nAt the Egyptian Hall Bazaar, Piccadilly.\nHer Grace the Dachess of Nortbumberland.\nThe Rt. Hon. the Earl of Coventry.\nIn addition to his performance before thair MASESTIES and their Court, this\nThe Rt. Hon. the Earl of Errol.\nextraordinary Child, siace his arrisal in Town, has had the bonor to exhibit his sur-\nprising talent before several of the Nobility of the highest rank, wheee admiration and\nThe Rt. Hon. the Earl of Bellast.\nastoniehment have heen uniformly expresaed in the strongest terma.\nThe Rt. Hon. the Earl and Countess of Morley.\nThe fuculty which be possesses has defied the research of all the Medical men, by\nwhom he has been seen-a faculty. which enables him to distingruish colour, read either\nThe Rt. Hon the Countess of Essex.\nprint or manuscript, tell the hour of the day on a watch, or declare any other fact as pra-\nThe Rt. Hon. Lord Adolphus Fitzelarence\nmisely R$ the cleverest sighted person, although his eyes are at the time, completely\nThe Rt. Hon. Lord Augustus Fitzelarence.\nblindfolded, and his back turned to the object of examination.\nAnning other aurprising performances, may be mentimed the fallowing\nThe Rt. Hon. the Viscountess Faulkland.\nHe will read in English, Latin, French, or Italian. Any one present may insert\nThe Rt. Hon. Lord and Lady Dever\nnames or figures ad libitum, and he will instantly presounce the same, and tell the\nSir Edward, Sir Arthur Berkeley, & Lady Paget.\nname of esch figure separately, and their value together. A piece, or pieces of money,\nkeys, er trinkets of any description may be produced by any of the company, and be\nAdmiral Sir Manly Dixon.\nwill instantly tell how many there -whother componed of\nAdmiral Lukin.\nGold, Silver, Brass, or Copper?\nAdmiral Daker.\nThe date and valire of the Coins, and describe every other article very minutely, avee\nahould there appear a spot upon them. He will also describe the drese of any person,\nAnd many others of the Nobility of the United Kingdon.\nand in what pesdition they ait of stand. MASTER MOKEAN will ask the fawor of any\nLady or Gendlemas in the company to apeak softly within themaelves, ao that they\n**\nmay not be heard by those who ait on the right or left, and he will instantly repeat\nThe HIGHLAND YOUTH's Figure is erect, his Features\nthem, althongh at ene hundred yards' distance. Should there be 100 Watchen produ-\nend, and each differently set, be will tell the hours and minutos indicated by each, and\nparticularly handsome, and of bis age considered re-\nparform many other Frate, which must be seen to be credited\nmarkably tall.-He daily gives increasing satisfaction\nHours af Enhibillos are 11, 1, 3, and A. Admissura, la. 6d. halj-price.\nto the most distinguished characters.\nthe Parties may have . Prieste . deu - the 6 s'cluck in the \"\nTho\n05"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 238, "folder": "", "text": "L'ENVOI\nWITH these last lines I lay down my pen, as I\nhave long since laid down the wand. I do SO with\nregret, for writing about magic has always been to\nme a labour of love, but failing energy and failing\neyesight warn me that my day is over, and that\n\"the night cometh, wherein no man can work.\"\nWhen I first began to discourse of magic, I had\nthe whole field, in a literary sense, to myself. That\nstate of things has long since ceased to be. Fertile\nbrains and ready writers have taken up my task,\nand magic has now a worthy literature, growing\nday by day. \"So mote it be!\"\nFurthermore, if I may be allowed a word of ad-\nvice, let me say that every lover of magic, be he\nprofessional or amateur, should join a magical so-\nciety. No great work can be carried forward with-\nout organization, and the success of such bodies as\nThe Magician's Club and the Magic Circle here,\nand the Society of American Magicians over seas,\nhas proved that magic is no exception to the rule.\nI must not close without a word of hearty thanks\nto Harry Houdini, Oscar S. Teale and John W.\nSargent, of the Society of American Magicians, for\ntheir generous offices in connection with the publi-\ncation of my book. With this last legacy to the\nfriends, at home and abroad, who have derived\npleasure or profit from my writings, I bid them\na cheery farewell.\nLOUIS HOFFMANN.\n222\n3477-3"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 238, "folder": "", "text": "SECOND SIGHT\nThe talking code employed by Pinetti was not original\nwith him, as it dates back to the automaton worked by a\nconcealed confederate who controlled the piston for the\nmechanical figure or pulled the strings to manipulate the\ndancing coins or moving head. It was novel only in its\napplication to the supposed thought-transferrence by a\nhuman being instead of an automaton.\nThis code is described by various reliable authors.\nOn page 388, Volume III. of Hooper's \"Recreations,\"\nedition 1782, it is stated that the confederate worked the\napparatus from another room. \"By certain words, previ-\nously agreed on, make it known to the confederate,\" is\nthe advice given to would-be conjurers.\nBeckman in his \"History of Inventions\" relates that\nhe knew an exhibitor of a \"talking figure\" whose con-\ncealed confederate was cued to answer certain questions,\nthe answers being given in the manner of putting the\nquestion, also by different signs. These instructions will\nbe found on page 3II of Volume II., edition of 1817.\nDecremps undertook to expose Pinetti's method of\nworking the second-sight trick in his famous book, but in\nthis attempt he scored one of the few failures which\nmarked the bitter fight he waged against Pinetti. In his\nbook \"La Magie Blanche D\u00e9voil\u00e9e\" (White Magic\nExposed), first edition, 1784, he offers on page 40 \"Les\nCartes d\u00e9vin\u00e9es, les yeux band\u00e9s\" (The Divination of\nCards with the Eyes Blindfolded). In this feat Decremps\nexplains that Pinetti would allow cards to be drawn, then\na lady (Signora Pinetti) would appear on the stage, would\nbe blindfolded, and would name all the cards that were\ndrawn. Decremps explains the prearranged pack of\n1"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 237, "folder": "", "text": "A FEW WRINKLES\n221\nand shorten it to an exact square, closing the lower\nend as before. Envelopes of the above kind are\nprocurable in many varieties of paper, and in\nwidths ranging by various fractions of an inch\nfrom four inches upwards.\n13. To make a line, thick or thin, run freely over\na pulley-wheel or through an eyelet, use as a lubri-\ncant powdered talcum, otherwise known as French\nchalk. This is equally useful for minimising fric-\ntion between wooden surfaces, or between wood\nand metal, say between a pulley-wheel and the\npivot on which it turns. Where the slight extra\ncost is not an obstacle the use of ivory as the mate-\nrial of a pulley-wheel secures the perfection of easy\nrunning.\nIt is, I trust, hardly necessary to say that wher-\never I have mentioned an article to be had by pur-\nchase, my recommendation is based solely upon\npractical experience of its merits. I have no inter-\nest, direct or indirect, in any of the articles men-\ntioned, and my knowledge of their manufacturers\nis derived solely from their respective labels."}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 237, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nalmost sixty-two years before Robert-Houdin presented\nit as his original invention.\nThe London Morning Post and Daily Advertiser of\nH A Y . M A R K E TI\nBy PERMISSION of the LORD CHAMBERLAIN,\nSignor and Signora PINETTP S\nMolt grand, aitotifining and inimitable\nN\nE\nW\nE X FI IB L: T I o N,\nA\nT the Theatre-Royal, in the-Hay-Market,\nTO-MORROW, Decembier 2,\n$ guor PINET r', Knight of the Order of Merit of St.\nPhilip, &c. &c. with all duc deference informs the publick,\nthat be is juft returned from Windfor, and that he will, by\nthe above permillion, open ag\u00e1in this Theatre on Thurfday\naud philofophical and abfolutely pieces, which inimitable, his recchanical, deep wonderful, ferutiny phyfical jo\naud with his Confort, will-exhibit moft\nrecent\nthofe friences, and afliJuous exertique have enhabled him to\ninyent and confruct among wh;ch Siguora Pinetti will\nhave the fperia honour and facisfaction of exhibiting vari-\ncus experiments of new difcovery, no lefs zurious than\nficmingly incredible, particularly that af her being feated\nin one of the front hoxes with an handkerchicf over hes\nryes, and guefa at every thing imagined and propefed to\nber, by any perfon in the company.\nSignor Pinetti being moit unsious and ambitious of re-\nreiving the countenance and farction of this great and dif-\nterming nation, in his endeayours It fhall ba his conftant\nAudy Nill to find out nteans which m\u00e0y euable him to: prc-\nTent, at interavals, mon curinus, furprizing, and interelling\noriginal pieces befote the publick during his thort my in\nnever but ever\ndifplay thiskingdom what inof of which his of pieces, invention hie having and been difrovery, honoured producing approbation, and with in only the\nown\na\nwritten teltimony Britanuic Majefty's\nfigned with his own hand (befides being poffelled of carti-\nficases of the like niture from Several other Sqvereigns)\nhunably bopes and Lolicits for the continuance of that pir\ntromage and encouragement, which he moft gratefully ac-\nknowledges to have already fo impartially: and amply ex-\ngrrienced from the Britifh nation.\nHis excellent and humourous int\u00e9rpreter will tentinue\nwith him during hie ftay.\nBoxes 5&, Pit 3. Firft Gal. as. Upper Gal. IR\nthe boxes to be takeu of Mr. Rice at the Thearre.\nDoors open at Six, and begin at Seven.\nClipping from the London Post, December 1st, 1784, in which Pinetti\nfeatured second sight. From the Harry Houdini Collection.\nDecember ist, 1784, contains the above advertisement\nreproduced from my collection.\n[210]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 236, "folder": "", "text": "220\nLATEST MAGIC\nyard lengths, and in half a dozen grades of thick-\nness, the finest being not much thicker than a hair\nline. The breaking strain of this is much greater\nthan that of ordinary thread, and it has the fur-\nther advantage that being plaited instead of\ntwisted it does not unroll or \"kink\" in use. All-\ncock, of Redditch, a name familiar to all anglers,\nis a noted maker of such line, but he has no mo-\nnopoly of its manufacture. It is usually sold\nwhite, but may be easily dyed any desired colour.\nFor this last valuable \"tip\" I am again indebted\nto my often-quoted friend, Mr. Holt Schooling,\nwho, as an enthusiastic angler, is an expert as to\nlines of all descriptions. The reader will find\nnumerous instances of the practical use of such\nline in the earlier part of this book.\nA good way of dyeing line is to thread a needle\non to one end, and pass it by the aid of the needle\nthrough one corner, moistened with the appropri-\nate dye, of a soft sponge, and then back again\nthrough the dry part of the sponge to clean off any\nexcess of moisture. When dry, if necessary,\nrepeat the process.\n12. Square envelopes, for the purpose of form-\ning \"nests\" or otherwise, are now and then needed\nby the conjurer, but envelopes precisely square\n(save the small variety known as \"pence\" envel-\nopes) are not kept in \"stock\" by stationers in the\nordinary way. When such are needed the readiest\nplan is to take an envelope of the long \"bag\" shape"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 236, "folder": "", "text": "SECOND SIGHT\nhaving stumbled upon, quite by accident, a trick which\nhe did not know that others had offered before him.\nSuch a statement is illogical and absurd. Books of\nmagic to which Robert-Houdin had access and which\nhe admits having read describe the trick in a more or\nless crude form. Pinetti, whose tricks were fully described\nto Robert-Houdin by his old friend Torrini, used the\nsecond-sight mystification with excellent effect. Robert-\nHoudin could not have been ignorant of its existence as\na trick. In making the claim to its discovery in his\n\"Memoirs\" he simply trusted to the ignorance of the\nreading public in the history of magic.\nAccording to programmes and newspaper clippings in\nmy collection, Philip Breslaw was the first conjurer to feat-\nure second sight in his performance. Breslaw was a clever\nGerman who so established himself in the hearts of\namusement-loving Englishmen that he remained in\nEngland for forty years, dying in Liverpool in 1803. In\n1781, while playing at Greenwood's Rooms, Haymarket,\nLondon, he announced as Part One of his entertainment:\n\"Mr. Breslaw will exhibit his new magical deceptions,\nLetters, Medals, Dice, Pocket pieces, Rings, etc., etc.,\nand particularly communicate the thoughts of any person\nto another without the assistance of speech or writing.\"\nPinetti comes next as an eminent presenter of second\nsight. Between these two well-known conjurers there\nmay have been various unimportant, unchronicled per-\nformers who made use of Breslaw's trick, but they have\nno place in the history of magic.\nThe trick appeared on a Pinetti programme at the\nRoyal Haymarket, London, England, December ist, 1784,\n14\n[209]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 235, "folder": "", "text": "A FEW WRINKLES\n219\nmill-board, without folding or bending, preference\nshould be given to \"Bristol\" board, sold by artists'\ncolour-men. This is somewhat more expensive but\nis stiffer and harder and has a better surface than\nthe commoner articles.\n9. For joining wood to wood without glue where\nthere is no great thickness to be penetrated,\n\"needle-points,\" procurable of any ironmonger,\nwill be found useful. These are stout eyeless\nneedles, of very brittle steel, about two inches in\nlength. To use them, bore with a fine bradawl a\nhole partially through the wood, then drive in the\nneedle-point by gentle tapping with a hammer, and\nwhen it has penetrated the desired depth snap off\nall that remains above the surface.\n10. Also useful for many purposes are what are\ncalled by drapers \"blanket\" pins. These are of\nbrass, and a card of such pins in three sizes, rang\ning from two to three inches in length and varying\nproportionately in thickness, may be bought for a\npenny. Pins a trifle shorter and thinner than the\nabove are known as \"laundry\" pins. Apart from\ntheir normal uses, pins of these kinds are very\nuseful for bending into hooks, or to cut up into\nshort lengths of stiff straight wire for pivots or\notherwise.\n11. For all effects dependent upon a thread pull\nuse, in place of ordinary thread, plaited silk fish-\ning line. This is procurable of any sports' out-\nfitter or fishing tackle dealer, in twenty and forty"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 235, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\npiston to touch the sole of the foot whenever the con-\nfederate presses the bulb or pushes the button.\nFrom this array of facts it will be seen that second sight\nis and always has been a matter of well-drilled phrases\nor signals, prearranged rotation of articles, well-built\nThe author at the long-neglected grave of Robert Heller, in Mt. Moriah\nCemetery, Philadelphia, U. S. A. From a photograph in the Harry Houdini\nCollection.\napparatus or well-trained confederates, but never a feat\nof actual thought-transferrence.\nSome of Robert-Houdin's ardent supporters insist that\nin claiming the invention or discovery of second sight,\nthe French conjurer was merely an unconscious plagiarist,\n[208]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 234, "folder": "", "text": "218\nLATEST MAGIC\nthat the \"marker\" is replaced by a little spade-\npointed cutter. This tool is only available for cut-\nting wood up to say eight inches in width, but to\nthe amateur attempting small work only, it will be\nfound invaluable.\n5. For staining wood or cardboard a deep dead\nblack I have found nothing better than the \"Record\nJet Stain,\" manufactured by the Record Polish\nCompany, Eccles, Manchester. It is normally\ndesigned for staining leather only, the makers not\nhaving apparently realised its usefulness in other\ndirections. It is to be had of any dealer in leather\ngoods, in twopenny and sixpenny bottles. In\nmany cases I have found it best to rub it in with\na pad, rather than to apply it with a brush, but\nthis will of course depend largely on the nature\nof the article to be treated.\n6. An excellent polish for use after staining, or\nfor other purposes, is made by dissolving white\nwax in turpentine, to the consistency of cream.\nApplied sparingly, with plenty of friction to fol-\nlow, this produces a clean hard gloss, free from the\nstickiness which is sometimes left after the use of\nother polishes.\n7. For enamelling small articles use Maurice's\nPorceleine (the makers of which are Walter Car-\nson & Sons, Grove Works, Battersea, S. W.) pro-\ncurable at \"oil and colour\" men in tins from three-\nhalfpence upwards.\n8. For any article to be made of flat card or"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 234, "folder": "", "text": "SECOND SIGHT\nthe signal button so that it could be easily reached on the\narm or front part of the seat. The receiving instrument\nwas attached to the sofa on which the medium was\nseated. The latter would be silently informed as to what\nwas being shown and would answer all questions. As\nproof that these statements are not mere hearsay, the\nHeller sofa can now be seen in the possession of Mr.\nFrancis J. Martinka, of New York; and Dr. W. Golden\nMortimer, who once presented \"Mortimer's Mysteries,\"\na show on the style of Heller's performance, furnishes\nthe information that when Heller died in Philadelphia,\nNovember 28th, 1878, he engaged the dead magician's\nchief assistant, an expert electrician named E. J. Dale,\nwho had acted as secret confederate, assisting the medium.\nAfter travelling with Mortimer some time, Dale eventu-\nally returned to England, and retired from the profession.\nHe opened a large shop in London under the firm name\nof H. & E. J. Dale, Manufacturing Electricians, 4 Little\nBritain, E. C., in October, 1882.\nIt was the easiest thing imaginable for Robert-Houdin\nto have his theatre arranged with secret confederates\nand wires back of the scenes, where a man with powerful\nopera-glasses could stand. The place being small, he\ncould look all over the room and see the minutest article.\nWhen not making use of the talking code; the simplest\nmethod employed by second-sight artists is to have a con-\nfederate in the audience, with either an electrical push but-\nton or a pneumatic bulb, who gives the medium the signal.\nThis is received by a miniature piston, which requires\nonly a small hole in the stage, while the medium has a\nmatching hole in the sole of his shoc. This allows the\n[207]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 233, "folder": "", "text": "A FEW WRINKLES\n217\nmany purposes for which Seccotine is too aggres-\nsively viscous, while ordinary paste is not adhesive\nenough. In such cases I can strongly recommend\nPastoid, a composition midway between glue and\npaste. For all purposes for which paste (in small\nquantity) is ordinarily used, Pastoid may be sub-\nstituted with advantage. I myself came across it\naccidentally two or three years ago, \"since when,\"\nlike the gentleman in the soap advertisement, \"I\nhave used no other.\" The maker is Henry Rob-\nerts, Middlesborough, but it should be obtainable\nof any up-to-date stationer or fancy dealer. It is\nsupplied in glass jars, at sixpence and a shilling.\n3. Where an actual glue, of fine quality, is\nneeded, procure sheet gelatine, to be had of any\ngrocer. Cut into small pieces and melt in an\nordinary gluepot using water enough to make the\nresulting solution about as thick as ordinary gum\nwater. It should be used as near boiling point as\npossible, and the joined surfaces left to dry under\nthe heaviest pressure available. A joint made with\nthis glue is practically invisible.\u00b9\n4. For dividing up thin stuff (wood or card-\nboard), into rectangular slabs, the handiest tool\nis the \"cutting gauge.\" This is practically iden-\ntical with the better known \"marking gauge,\" save\n1 For the information contained in this paragraph, as also that re-\nlating to the use of Veneers I am indebted to Mr. Holt Sehooling, who\nis an expert in such matters. My own essays in the direction of fancy\ncabinet-making have for the most part been limited to rough models to\nbe reproduced in finished shape by more practised hands."}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 233, "folder": "", "text": "MELODEON\nFOR POBITIVELY\nTWO WEEKS ONLY.\nMONDAY, MAY 15TH,\nFIRST NIGHT or\nROBEAT\nTHE FAMOUS\nSOMATIC CONJURER,\nPIANO-SOLOIST AND CAUSEUR,\nwae MAS rest ass\n365TH PERFORMANCE IN NEW YORK,\nBelag . career \" success which . other Conjurer has, et asy time, accemplished le that eity,\nPART 1.-MAGIC.\nWONDER 1\nHELLER'S CABALISTIC CLOCK\nWONDER II.\nTHE ERIAL DELI.\nVONDER III\nINPORNAD celebrated Patent Medicin\u00e9 Ware-\nbouse in the Netherlund\nWONDER IV\nTHE_ WITCHES POLE, with singular developments in\nCartomancy\nWONDER V\nANIMATED DOLLARS, with Life and Intellegence Manifested\nWONDER VI.\nHELLER'S ARABESQUE RINGS\nWONDER VII\nTHE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL\nPART II-MUSIC.\nNo. &\nGRAND FANTASIA on Airs from the \"Sonnambula\" of Thalberg,\nperformed by ROBERT HELLER, on Steinway's Grand Pianoforte.\nNo. 3\nMa Laughable Description the Piano-practice of a Boarding\nSchool Young Lady.-Illustrated. The Young Lady by Robert Heller.\nPART II.--MBTE.\n200. 2.\nHELLER'S SECOND-SIGHT MYSTERY\nAnvented\nby Sim, by \u00e9le and which has made bie colebrity frota hio appresesee\nin public, being designated as\nNo. PLUMES OF VICTORY\n. wisse\nPART\nPARLOR KAOIC, or Tricks Made Ensy, every - person in the Audiends not\n,\nonly shown the Tricks, but taught publicly how to do them, do that they\nmay go and start out asconjurers for them esivesani achieve as great\na\nfortune as bas fallen to the lot of Rosear,\nPoster used by Robert Heller during his Boston engagement in 1853. From\nthe Harry Houdini Collection.\n[206]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 232, "folder": "", "text": "216\nLATEST MAGIC\n1. For woodwork on a small scale, an old cigar\nbox will often be found suitable material. Where\nsuch a box is not available or not suitable for the\nparticular work in hand, what is called \"three-\nply\" may supply the need. This consists of three\nlayers of thin wood glued together under pressure,\nwith the grain of the intermediate layer running\ncrossway to that of the other two, the tendency\nto warp being thereby greatly reduced. Drawing-\nboards are, for this reason, now usually made of\nwood SO combined, and a drawing-board makes for\nmany purposes a good enough extempore work-\nbench. For a finer class of work, the amateur\nmechanic, if he is willing to take the trouble, may\nmake his own three-ply. For this purpose he\nshould procure a supply of what is called \"knife-\ncut' veneer, i.e., thin sheets of walnut, mahogany,\nsatin,-0 other hard wood, and glue them together\nwith the white glue to be presently described. Ve-\nneer merchants form a distinct trade, and are com-\nparatively few in number, but the resident in Lon-\ndon can obtain veneer and thin woods of all descrip-\ntions from Messrs. McEwan & Son, 282 Old Street,\nE. C. In country districts the shops which hold\nagencies for \"Hobbies' materials also sell planed-\nup woods of various kinds, ranging like veneer\nfrom one-sixteenth to half an inch in thickness.\n2. As a handy substitute for glue, most people\nare acquainted with the virtues of Seccotine, in its\nway a most useful preparation. But there are"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 232, "folder": "", "text": "SECOND SIGHT\nat his own theatre, February I2th, 1846. Unquestionably\nat this time he employed the speaking code, wherein the\nanswer is contained in the question asked of the medium\nby the performer. As he describes scene after scene in\nwhich he and his son participated, it is almost possible\nfor a conjurer or any one interested in magic to follow\nhis code. Apparently the amusement-loving public be-\ncame familiar with his speaking code, for three years\nlater, according to the illustrated appendix of the French\nedition of his \"Memoirs,\" he adopted a code of signals,\nwhich he states was especially arranged to confuse those\nwhom he terms his \"fearless discoverers.\"\nA mysterious bell was used in this connection, but he\nadmits that it mattered not whether the bell struck or\nwas silent, his son could name the object under consid-\neration or answer the question. While Robert-Houdin\nasserts that he did not employ electricity for working his\nsilent code, investigations make it almost certain that this\nwas the method used. It is known throughout the world of\nconjuring that in 1850-51 Robert Heller (William Henry\nPalmer) reproduced Robert-Houdin's entire r\u00e9pertoire of\ntricks, with the exception of the suspension, and all\nworked precisely by Robert-Houdin's methods. In the\nsecond-sight trick, which he first presented with a young\nman as the medium, then later with Miss Haidee Heller,\nthe medium was seated on a sofa fully equipped with wires\nand electric batteries. Heller's second sight was worked\nwith both the speaking and silent codes. His confederate\nwas concealed behind the scenes watching Heller through\na peep-hole, or possibly he used another, seated in the au-\ndience, and had the wires strung under his chair, arranging\n[ 205"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 231, "folder": "", "text": "A FEW WRINKLES 1\nEVERY conjurer who has in him, as all conjurers\nshould have, the creative instinct of the artist, and\naims therefore at putting something of himself\ninto his work, must of necessity be to some small\nextent an amateur mechanic. The hints which fol-\nlow are addressed to the reader in that capacity.\nI have no pretension to teach him how to do things\nin the way of construction, but merely to make the\ndoing of them easier. Though relating to matters\nin themselves small, the \"tips\" which follow may\nsafely be said to come within the scope of Captain\nCuttle's celebrated counsel, \"when found make\na note of.\" It often happens that the amateur\nmechanic has to take considerable trouble and\npains in procuring some special requirement,\nwhile there is already on sale, at small cost, just\nthe thing he wants, if he only knew what to ask for,\nand where to get it. The paragraphs which follow\nwill, in some at any rate of such cases, supply the\nneedful information.\n1 This book having been written primarily with a view to British\nreaders, some of my recommendations will naturally be of no value to\nmy American friends, but I have not thought it necessary to delete\nthem. L. H.\n215"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 231, "folder": "", "text": "NEW STRAND\nTHEATRE.\nC\nSOIREZE\nMYST\u00c9RIEUSES\nDE\nROBERT HELLER.\nThese elegant and original Performances will be\ngiven at the above Theatre\nC\nCommencing at 8\nA MORNING PERFORMANCE\nEVERY MONDAT TEUREDAY,\nAT HALF-PAST 2 O'CLOCK.\nOn each occasion will be presented the following\ninexplicable experiments, invented and performed\nby Ecbert Heller.\nPART I.\nThe Cabaliatic Clock\nLe pendule Cabalistique\nThe Obedient Dove\nLa colombe Ob\u00e9imente\nThe Fans and Balle\nLes eventails et les boulets de\nCanons\nThe Plumes of Feathers\nLes plumes\nThe Basket of Flowers\nLa corbeille de Flueis\n000\nThe Marvelious Orange Tree.\nL'Oranger\nPART II.\nThe Mysterious Port-folio\nPort-feuille mysterieus\nThe Mystic Boquet\nLe bouquet mystique\nThe Wonderful Balance\nL'equilibre\nThe Automaton Cook\nLe cuisnier automate\nThe Safety Casket\nL'\u00e9crin de Suret\u00e9\nThe Magio filtration\nLe filtration magique\nPART III.\nTHE SECOND SIGHT I LA SECONDE VUE\nor ERNEST HELLER.\nESCAMOTAGE or ERNEST HELLER WHO WILL VANISH FROM\nTHS ETES or THE AUDIENCE\nThe Bottle\nLA bouteille\nThe cornucopies\nLe corne d'abondance\nFrom which Fana, Toys, Bonbons, Journals, &c. will be shovered\nupon the audience in the greatest profusion.\nDears de epm at 7, and at sfer the Morning\n-\nPRIVATE moxes\n1s. a \u00a31 11s 6d.\nStalls 3a.;\nBoxes\nPit\nGellery 6d.\nThe Bes Cillee epea from \" to & dally: where Tickets and Finses\nmay be secured.\na -\nProgramme used by Robert Heller in 1851-52, when he was about e\nyears of age. Probably the only programme of this date in existence.\nin the Harry Houdini Collection.\n[2041"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 230, "folder": "", "text": "214\nLATEST MAGIC\nI should like to mention. You hear people talk\nabout the quickness of the hand deceiving the eye.\nI don't know whether the quickness of the hand\never does deceive the eye, but I want you to under-\nstand that you must not expect anything of that\nsort from me. I am naturally slow. I was born\ntwenty minutes after I was expected, and I have\nbeen getting slower and slower ever since.\n\"To-night, I intend to do everything even more\nslowly than usual: SO that you will only have to\nwatch me closely to see exactly how it is all done.\nThen, when you go home, if you do as I do, and say\nas I say, without making any mistakes, no doubt\nyou will be able to produce the same results. If\nnot, there must be 'something wrong with the\nworks.''"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 230, "folder": "", "text": "SECOND SIGHT\n\"Memoirs\" of spending hours with his son in poring\nover an enormous collection of coins, medals, etc., which\nsevere lesson helped them both in future performances.\nTo the conjurer, this tale is farcical. Not only was there\nno need of forcing the boy to become a coin expert, but\nthe task was one which could not be accomplished in the\nbrief time which Robert-Houdin allowed himself for\nperfecting the trick.\nThe only knowledge required about coins is to recognize\na coin when you see it. Some one may hand a coin of\npeculiar stamp, and the operator must signal to his medium\nthe metal and all he knows about it. Of course, if both\nknow the various coins, then they can understand each\nother with less signaling than if the coins were unfamiliar\nto either.\nInaudi, the French calculator, can look at a blackboard\nfilled with numbers for a few seconds, then turn his back\nupon them and add the entire amount that he has just\nseen and memorized. But let the reader understand that\nInaudi is peculiarly gifted by nature, while second sight\nis a trick in which the person on the stage known as\nthe medium is assisted by words, signs, prearranged\nmovements, or articles or figures in rotation, which to\nthe layman have the appearance of being unprepared.\nAt a familiar cue, however, the operator touches articles\nthat have been memorized, a ring, a watch, a scarf-pin,\na\nlady's fan, an opera glass, all in rotation. At a snap\nof the fingers the medium will know that the articles are\nto be named in consecutive order, and only after the snap\nof the fingers or another cue agreed upon.\nRobert-Houdin presented the trick for the first time\n[203]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 229, "folder": "", "text": "THE USE OF THE WAND\n213\nhoist him up and drop him in the water-butt, or\ninto the Red Sea, according to order. If the\nmagician wanted a week at the seaside, he had no\nneed to pay railway fare. The familiar would just\npick him up, house and all, and land him gently in\nthe middle of the mixed bathing. The only draw-\nback was that, sooner or later, a time came when\nthere was no performance, because the magician\nhad been carried off by his familiar on a pitchfork.\n\"As the French say, nous avons chang\u00e9 tout\ncela, Familiars are as extinct as the dodo. Per-\nhaps it's as well, but it makes it very much harder\nto be a magician. In the first place you must know\nall about astrology, anthropology, Egyptology and\nall the other ologies. You must be well posted in\nmathematics, hydrostatics, pneumatics and numis-\nmatics. You must know all about clairvoyance,\npalmistry and thought reading, sympathy and\nantipathy, magnetism, mesmerism, wireless teleg-\nraphy, X rays and all the other kinds of rays.\nOf course you must be well up in Greek and Latin,\nand a little. Hebrew, not to mention a few other\nthings which I forget for the moment, but I won't\nstop to think of them now. When you have stud-\nied these little matters fourteen hours a day for\nnine or ten years, you will be as 'chock-full of\nscience' as old Sol Gills himself, and you will be\nable to do all sorts of wonderful things, some of\nwhich I hope to show you this evening.\n\"Before I begin, there is just one little matter"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 229, "folder": "", "text": "Robert and Haidee Heller from photographs taken at the time that they were presenting second sight accord-\ning to the Robert-Houdin method by an electric code. From the Harry Houdini Collection."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 228, "folder": "", "text": "212\nLATEST MAGIC\nhaving been executed as a special favour to Pal-\nmer, by Hassoun, an eminent professional\n\"scribe.\"\nI am reluctantly bound to admit that the Pal-\nmer wand, in my hands, did not exhibit any special\nmagical virtues, and when I ceased myself to use\nit, it seemed to me that it could not find a worthier\nhome than in Dr. Ellison's fine collection.\nReverting for a moment to the subject of patter,\nI will conclude by quoting, for the amusement\nrather than the instruction of the reader, an ora-\ntion which (with variations) now and then formed\nmy introductory boniment, and might on occasion\nstill serve, in default of better.\n\"Ladies and Gentlemen, and members of the\nRoyal Family, if any happen to be present, I am\nabout to exhibit for your amusement, a few experi-\nments in Unnatural Philosophy, otherwise Magic.\n\"Magic in the olden times was a very different\nthing, as I daresay you know, from what it is at\npresent. In those days every respectable wizard\nkept a familiar spirit: a sort of magical man of all\nwork. He cleaned the boots and knives, and\nwhen his master gave a show, it was the familiar\nwho worked all his miracles for him. The\nmagician only did the talking, and pocketed the\ntakings. But the familiar did much bigger things\nthan that. If his master's next-door neighbour\nmade himself disagreeable, the familiar would"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 228, "folder": "", "text": "SECOND SIGHT\nThen, picking up the long idle quill of Baron Mun-\nchausen, he proceeds to explain the methods by which he\nperfected the trick and trained his son. To the layman\nthese methods read most entertainingly. To the expe-\nrienced conjurer or his humblest assistant they appeal\nas absurd and impossible, a sheer waste of time, of which\nRobert-Houdin and his son Emile, presenting second sight. Here the\nbell is used as it was by Henri Robin. From an illustration in the original\nFrench edition of the Robert-Houdin \"Memoirs.\"\na man who reproduced the tricks of his predecessors as\nrapidly as Robert-Houdin did, would not be guilty.\nHe claims to have trained the eye and memory of his\nson, by leading the latter past shop windows, and after\nallowing him one glance, demanding the names of articles\nseen at this single glance. When the boy could mention\nforty things after passing the window, his education was\npronounced good. Robert-Houdin also tells in his\n[201]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 227, "folder": "", "text": "THE USE OF THE WAND\n211\nHis skill in sleight-of-hand, which he had in the\nfirst instance taken up merely as a pastime, proved\nto be of immense service to him in his desert wan-\nderings; adding not only to his popularity but fre-\nquently gaining for him the prestige of a genuine\nmagician, and thereby increasing his influence.\nIn 1871 he was appointed to the professorship of\nOriental languages at Cambridge, his official title\nbeing the Lord High Almoner's Reader of Arabic.\nIn 1882, in anticipation of the Arabi trouble in\nEgypt, he was entrusted by the then Government\nwith the difficult and dangerous task of winning\nover the Sinaitic tribes, and preventing the threat-\nened destruction of the Suez Canal.\nHis first trip, extending from Gaza to Suez, was\ncarried out successfully, but on penetrating farther\ninto the desert, he and his two companions, Captain\nGill, R.E., and Lieutenant Charrington, R.N.,\nfell into the hands of a tribe to whom Palmer was\nunknown, and were barbarously put to death.\nHappily, their bodies were recovered, and received\nfrom the nation the posthumous honour of burial\nin St. Paul's Cathedral.\nThe wand presented to me by Professor Palmer\nis a curiosity in many ways. It is made of acacia\nwood (the \"shittim\" wood of the Old Testament)\nbrought by Palmer himself from Mount Lebanon.\nAround it, in spiral form, is inscribed an invoca-\ntion from the Koran, in Arabic characters. The\nwriting of the inscription is a genuine work of art,"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 227, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER VII\nSECOND SIGHT\nE\nVIDENTLY second sight was the foundation-\nstone of Robert-Houdin's success. Reading be-\ntween the lines of his autobiography, one finds\nthat this was the trick which carried him into the\nsalons of fashion and royalty. Before he introduced\nsecond sight into his r\u00e9pertoire, his tricks were so com-\nmonplace that they did not arouse the interest of the court\ncircle, whose approval furnished the seal of success.\nThis trick of second sight he claims body and soul,\nas the favorite child of his brain. He even goes as far\nas to relate a story to prove that the trick came to him\nin the form of an inspiration. I quote directly from the\nAmerican edition of his \"Memoirs,\" page 255:\n\"My two children were playing one day in the drawing-\nroom at a game they had invented for their own amuse-\nment; the younger had bandaged his elder brother's eyes\nand made him guess the objects that he touched, and\nwhen the latter happened to guess right they changed\nplaces. This simple game suggested to me the most\ncomplicated idea that ever crossed my mind. Pursued\nby the notion, I ran and shut myself in my workshop,\nand was fortunately in that happy state when the mind\nfollows easily the combinations traced by fancy. I rested\nmy head in my hands, and in my excitement laid down\nthe first principles of second sight.\"\n[200]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 226, "folder": "", "text": "210\nLATEST MAGIC\nsies are chary of speaking Rommany except\namong their own people, and the inquisitive strang-\ners were frequently told that there was no such\nlanguage; whereupon, one of them would turn to\nthe other, and in purest Rommany quietly express\nan opinion that their temporary hosts were not\nthorough-bred gipsies, but of some inferior stock.\nThis produced Rommany in plenty, and the visi-\ntors were energetically taken to task for that,\nbeing themselves gipsies, they should ape the dress\nand manners of the Gorgio. A friendly explana-\ntion made all end happily.\nPalmer made his first start in life as a clerk in\nthe City of London, where in his spare time he\nmade himself master of French and Italian. A\nlittle later he took up the study of Persian, Arabic\nand Hindustani, and speedily conquered them:\nIn 1867, after taking his degree at the University\nof Cambridge, he was elected a Fellow by his Col-\nlege, an honour conferred on him in recognition of\nhis mastery of the Oriental languages. During\nthe years 1868-1870 he was employed on behalf of\nthe Palestine Exploration Fund, to make a survey\nof Mount Sinai, in the course of which he became\nupon friendly and indeed almost brotherly terms\nwith many of the wild Arab tribes, among whom\nhe was known as the Sheikh Abdullah. As in Eng-\nland he had been made free of the gipsy tent, so in\nPalestine he could drop in upon many a Bedouin\nencampment, and be sure of a hearty welcome."}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 226, "folder": "", "text": "THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\nLondon he also appeared at the Egyptian Hall. He\npublished his own magazine, L' Almanach d'Cagliostro,\nan illustrated periodical which was quite pretentious.\nRobin presented all the tricks and automata that\nRobert-Houdin claimed as his original inventions, and in\nthe famous controversy, Robert-Houdin came out second\nbest. Robin proved that he had used the bottle trick\nbefore Robert-Houdin did, by showing back numbers of\nhis magazine, whose illustrations pictured Robin perform-\ning the trick at his theatre in Milan, Italy, July 6th, 1844,\nor three years before Robert-Houdin presented it in Paris.\nRobin, however, never wrote an autobiography nor\nany exhaustive work dealing with the history of magic,\nwhile Robert-Houdin did. The latter set forth his claims\nover other magicians so skilfully that for more than half\na century the intelligent and thoughtful reading public\nhas been deceived and has accepted his statements as\nauthoritative. According to an article published in\nL'Illusionniste, scientists to this day, in explaining the\nlaw of physics as operated by the use of air-holes in the\ninexhaustible bottle, refer to it as the \"Robert-Houdin\nbottle,\" when in reality the honor of its invention belongs\nto some obscure mechanic or magician whose name must\nremain forever unsung by writers on magic.\n[ 199 ]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 225, "folder": "", "text": "THE USE OF THE WAND\n209\nportions of one-while walking-sticks, promoted to\na nobler use. Mr. J. N. Maskelyne's \"wand\" is\nan ordinary file, which, from the inventor point of\nview, he regards as the greatest of wonder-work-\ning appliances.\nMy own contribution may claim to be of excep-\ntional interest, not merely as being in itself a curio,\nbut as a memento of a very remarkable man, SO\nremarkable, indeed, that a brief notice of his career\nmay be interesting. It was presented to me by\nProfessor Palmer, a gentleman who was not, like\nmyself, a bogus professor, but the real thing, and\nwithal an exceptionally eminent man. Skill in\nsleight-of-hand was the least of his accomplish-\nments. He had a marvellous gift of tongue, there\nbeing scarcely a European or Oriental language\nwith which he was not thoroughly familiar. He\nwas born at. Cambridge in 1840, and from his\nearliest years showed indications of his peculiar\ngift for acquiring languages. As a school-boy he\nmade friends among the gipsies, and learned to\nspeak their queer language so perfectly as to\ndeceive even those to whom it was their native\ntongue. In later life it was a favourite joke of his\nto saunter, in company with his equally accom-\nplished friend, Leland, into some gipsy encamp-\nment where they were not known, and after pay-\ning their footing by having their fortunes told,\nto ask some of the nomads gathered round the fire,\nto talk a little Rommany for their benefit. Gip-"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 225, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nabout 1839-40, when he toured the Continent. He was\npopular in London, Paris, and both the English and French\nprovinces. A polished man, famous for the elegance of\nhis speech and manners, he conducted his performance\nHenri Robin, generally conceded to have been the most polished conjurer\nin the history of magic. From the Harry Houdini Collection.\nand all his business in a quiet, conservative fashion. In\nboth Paris and London, he had playhouses named tem-\nporarily in his honor, Salle de Robin, and at one time in\n[ 198 ]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 224, "folder": "", "text": "208\nLATEST MAGIC\nfamous magicians, past and present, especially in\nthe shape of wands, as being the most characteristic\npossession of the wizard. Accordingly, some\nyears ago, he began to collect wands, and he now\npossesses more than eighty such, each a wand which\nhas been habitually yielded by some more or less\nfamous magician. By the courtesy of Dr. Ellison\nI am enabled to furnish particulars of some of\nthem; as given in a very interesting pamphlet by\nEpes W. Sargent, a well-known American writer.\nThe catalogue commences with a wand formerly\nbelonging to Professor Anderson, the once famous\n\"Wizard of the North.\" Here are found also the\nwands used by the two Herrmanns (Carl and\nAlexander), Buatier de Kolta, Lafayette, Martin\nChapender, Carl Willmann and others who tread\nthe stage no more. As regards the living, there is\nhere a memento of nearly every English-speaking\nconjurer of note: besides many others of cosmopol-\nitan celebrity.\nThe wand here exhibited is not always the con-\nventional ebony and ivory affair, some of the speci-\nmens being indeed of a highly original character.\nFor instance, the wand contributed by a Hindu\nmagician consists of the leg bone of a sacred mon-\nkey from the temple of Hanuman, the monkey\ngod, at Benares. The wands of Madame Adelaide\nHerrmann and Chung Ling Soo take the shape of\nfans. Horace Goldin's is a cut-down whip-handle,\nand those of Clement de Lion and Imro Fox are"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 224, "folder": "", "text": "THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\nhonor of having invented this trick arose between Robert-\nHoudin and Henri Robin, who were contemporaries.\nRobin, whose right name was Dunkell, was of Holland\nbirth and died in Paris in 1874. He was at his prime\nPoGA\nLAY-MARKET\n-\nEvening. Tharsday, April seth.\n- a - - Manager, ou\nLe Velage des Cartes: with Carts.\nLE BOUTELLE INEPOISABLE; THE\nMereary.\nT\nArlogala le DisMe quetre, Mariogale, the Bevil.\nL'Egee Magigne: The Magle Sword.\nWONDER OF THE WORLD:\nL'Tacomotage de Lose et de Soliel the Saggier et the and the -\nLE CADRAN MATERMATICIEN:\nLes Colombes Sympothetiques: The Sympethetie Devea,\nLe Rie Enchente The\nLa Cafetiore de Grend Megal The Coffee Pes or the Geand Megal\nLe - de - Magique: The Nogle Swestenks.\nShe Last Two Nighte!\nLe frelerd Serpont The\nla Borme Magique: The Magle Stove\nla - du Poimon reage, execute - bebit de ville, The math of\nperformed in -\nLa Some tome dus Cartes et de - blanche; Now Masions wills\nThursday, Saturday,\n- Whise\nLe Billet de Solomee Note.\nLes the\nApens sea, and ns4s.\ndes pieces de messaire: the\nTRAND\nNEW ILLUSIONS\nFROW\nM. HERRMANN.\nLe SUSPENSION THEREENNE\n- maseva\nPRESTIDICITATIUR OF PRANCE,\nom\nIN\n-\n-\n-\nSOIR\u00c9ES\nMAGIQUE\nit\n- - -\nthe caly cosasions he cas\nSUSPENSION \u00c9TN\u00c9REENNE.\naggear is this Seasom.\nLE DOUBLE VUE!\nzm. EEREMANN\nOr, Second Sight,\nBY\nwas -\nMADAME EERRMANN.\nNew anes Startling y\nWETHE VARIOUS\n. vasions paste . -\nILLUSIONS WITH CARDS\nAND\nMAGIE\nMADE. HERRMANN\nAND\n,\n-\n-\n- - ber gevere os\nBECOND SIGHT:\nII IMITATION OF VABIOUS BIRDS,\nar\nHEREMANE.\nINTI-MAGNETISM\nasalle a Boxes &u. PK Se. Galleries 2s. a ls.\nSecond Price as N ine o'cloek.\nages, any that may be\nDeses\nopee\nMalf-past\nSeven:\nthe\nPerformance\nEight\n.\nse\nPlases\n1\nA Herrmann programme dated April, 1848, showing that Herrmann pre-\nsented the inexhaustible bottle two months before Robert-Houdin appeared\nin London.\n[ 197 ]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 223, "folder": "", "text": "THE USE OF THE WAND\n207\neven though he be a Past Grand Everything, knows\nno more than the veriest outsider.\nWhen in this direction there were no more mys-\nteries left for him to conquer, Dr. Ellison natur-\nally turned his attention to Magic: and in accord-\nance with his habitual determination to know all\nthat there is to be known with regard to his hobby\nfor the time being he began to collect books upon\nthe subject. At first there were but few to collect,\nbut the literature of magic has grown, and grown,\nand side by side with its advance Dr. Ellison's col-\nlection has grown larger and larger till it numbers\nsome hundreds of volumes. Harry Kellar, the\ndean of American magicians, and himself an\nenthusiastic collector, yearned to possess it, and\noffered the doctor for it the handsome sum of two\nthousand dollars, equivalent in English money to\nabout four hundred pounds. But Dr. Ellison was\nnot to be tempted. In order that the collection\nshould be preserved intact, he donated it, some\nyears ago, to the New York Public Library, also\nproviding a fund for its upkeep and further devel-\nopment.\nBut Dr. Ellison's interest in, and services to\nMagic did not end here. He has made a collection\nof models, entirely the work of his own hands, of\nthe appliances for over sixty stage illusions.\nSome are of full size, others quite miniature\naffairs, but one and all exact to scale. Further, the\ndoctor has a special affection for souvenirs of"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 223, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nTheatre. A bill used by Herrmann at the Princess is\nreproduced on page 232. It evidently proved satisfactory to\nthe public and he used it without change for many years.\nProbably the most notable warfare waged over the\nBOTAL,\nPOGAM E\nle Velage dus Carte: with\nNr. a. WESSTER, Sele Leisse - ou Bromptes.\nLe des Dames the -\nLA DOUTEILLE merna\nFAREWELL\nRebia le Sercior, ( - -\nLe Poche the Mervelless\nMORNING\nLee Noces de Canna: -\nSolme \" - and\nLee Colmmbee the\nLS CADRAN MATREMATICIEN; TME cseom.\nLe Timbre Soula, - - Restated Cleets Mell.\nLe - de - Nagique: The\ntome de Cartes et de magie New with\nCaste - Whitte\nMADONDE\nla\n- dus reages, esecule - de ville; The -\nporformed - - Brom.\nMAGIQUE\nCRAND NEW ILLUSIONS\nFROM\nLe SUSPENSION ET LE REENNE\nCommencing at Two o'Clock.\nWONDER OF THE WORLD:\nTHIS MORNING.\nSATURDAY, May 6th, 1846,\nM. HERRMANN.\n(ou MANOVERN\nPREMIER PRESTIDICITATEUR OF FRANCE,\n11\n...\nFIRST PROFESSOR OF MAGIO IN THE WORLD,\nthe Nobility, Geeary . Puble general, thet be will\n- LAST A\nMorning Performance,\nSUSPENSTON \u00c9TH\u00c9R\u00c9ENNE.\nFrevious to als departure se the provinces, and will Intreduce\nSix New Extraordinary Tricks,\nDOUBLE VUE!\nNEVER BEFORE :\nOr, Second Sight,\nL'Alben Heneveries; The Maseveriam Albsta.\n\"\nLes Chapeses Diaboliquee: The Diabelical Mata,\nLe Cufre infernale: The Seformal\nMADAME HERRMANN.\nLe Vase d'Armite: - l'horiogerie de Geneve: Armida's Vase er, The Gemeva\nCleckweek.\nWETE VARIOUS\nLe Mudtiplication des Indes:\nLes Mysteres de Perie; The of Paris,\nILLUSIONS WITH CARDS\nno Endame\nMAGIE\nas performed - weeke simee as she Thentre Megral, Adelght,\nAND\nMADE HERRMANN\n+\no\n,\n.\n3\nR\nWill also exbrbit her extraerdinary pevent of\nII IMITATION OF VABIOUS\nSECOND\nIME. REMANE.\noa,\nANTS MAGNETISM\nstalle and mexes\nen\nDoom\negee\nat\nOsse\nthe\nay with Clesed Eyee, any objecte that may be submitted\nse thie preef, whica - assomished the mees acientifie,\nBilling used by Compars Herrmann when he played in opposition to Robert-\nHoudin on the latter's arrival in London. This shows that Herrmann dupli-\ncated all of Robert-Houdin's tricks. From the Harry Houdini Collection.\n[196]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 222, "folder": "", "text": "206\nLATEST MAGIC\ncards, or to effect some other substitution neces-\nsary for the purpose of his next item.\nVerbum sap, by all means cultivate the use of the\nwand, and for the sake of effect, let it be of an ele-\ngant and distinctive character. An office-ruler or\na piece of cane would serve many of its mechanical\npurposes, but would lack the prestige attached to\nwhat is, professedly, the genuine article.\nOne of the most striking proofs of the extensive\nuse and appreciation of the wand by modern\nmagicians is furnished by the remarkable collec-\ntion of such implements got together by Dr. Saram\nR. Ellison, of New York.\nDr. Ellison\u00b9 is an eminent and popular phy-\nsician, whose ruling passion is wanting to know\nthings, particularly things that other people don't\nknow. Such being his temperament, it goes almost\nwithout saying that at an early period of his\ncareer he became a Freemason. Having been duly\ninitiated into the mysteries of the ordinary lodge,\nand learnt all it had to teach him, he still yearned\nfor \"more light,\" and accordingly worked his way\nup step by step through intervening degrees in\nmasonry till he reached what is known as the\nthirty-third degree, an order even more exclusive\nthan that of the Garter, and claiming to possess\nsecrets as to which the ordinary \"blue\" mason,\n1 Since this was written Dr. Ellison has passed into the mysterious\nbeyond."}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 222, "folder": "", "text": "THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\nNew York, however. In December, 1848, and January,\n1849, he played at the same theatre, and announced that\nhe had just concluded a successful engagement at the\nGrand Theatre Tacon, Havana, Cuba.\nAlthough Macallister claims to have invented \"The\nInexhaustible Bottle\" trick, it is more likely that, having\nbeen connected so long with Phillippe, he knew the secret\nseveral years before Robert-Houdin appeared in public.\nBut as Macallister also claimed to have invented the\npeacock and the harlequin automata, both of which are\nrecognized as the inventions of his predecessors, his claim\ncannot be given serious consideration.\nHe advertised to produce twenty-two kinds of liquors\nfrom one bottle, and therefore he must have utilized the\nessence glasses in connection with the bottle.\nWhat must have been Robert-Houdin's feeling when,\non arriving in London in 1848, he found another magician,\nCompars Herrmann, heavily advertised at the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre\nRoyal, and already offering each and every trick included\nby the Frenchman in his r\u00e9pertoire. Even the much-\nvaunted bottle was in Herrmann's list of tricks. No one\nseems able to tell where Compars Herrmann obtained\nthe tricks he used, but he must be given credit for never\nadvertising them as his own inventions. His record in\nthis respect was clean throughout his life as a mysterious\nentertainer.\nThe programme presented by Herrmann at the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre\nRoyal during Robert-Houdin's opening week at the St.\nJames Theatre is herewith reproduced. Herrmann re-\nmained some time in London, playing at the Adelphia,\nthen at the Royal Princess, and finally at the Surrey\nr 1"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 221, "folder": "", "text": "THE USE OF THE WAND\n205\nproduced. There is much virtue in what may be\ncalled a magical atmosphere, and after the wizard\nhas proved his magical power by performing two\nor three apparent impossibilities, the mind of the\nspectator (though in his calmer moments, he\nknows, or should know, better), is led to adopt in a\ngreater or less degree the solution \"forced\" upon\nhim by the conjurer. Habitual use of the wand,\nwith apparent seriousness, goes far to create the\ndesired atmosphere.\nA good effect may be produced by \"electrifying\"\nthe wand now and then, by rubbing it with a hand-\nkerchief. The main uses of electricity are so\nwidely known, and so little understood by the mil-\nlion, that they are quite ready to give it credit for\nstill more marvellous possibilities.\nMy friend Mr. Holt Schooling, mentioned in\nconnection with The Secret of the Pyramids, finds\nan additional use for the wand. He uses, not one\nonly, but half a dozen, of different appearance, each\ncredited with some special magical virtue. At the\noutset of his show these are arranged horizontally,\none above another on pins projecting from a small\nsloping blackboard. For each fresh trick the\nwand professedly appropriate to it is brought into\naction, the one last used being at the same time\nreplaced on the stand. The spectators do not sus-\npect that behind each top corner of the board is a\nsmall servante, enabling the performer, under\ncover of the change of wands, to change a pack of"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 221, "folder": "", "text": "The original Compars Herrmann, who was Robert-Houdin's very active\nrival during the latter's first engagement in London. Best portrait now in\nexistence, and only one showing Herrmann in his prime. Original photograph\nloaned for this work by James L. Kernan. of Baltimore, Md., U. S. A.\n[194]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 220, "folder": "", "text": "204\nLATEST MAGIC\nthe first difficulties of the novice, as he comes for-\nward to introduce himself to his audience, is to\nknow what to do with his hands. He can hardly\nadvance with hand on heart, within his vest, \u00e0 la\nPecksniff. Held open, with arms hanging down\nby the sides, the hands look too stiff, and to advance\nwith them in his pockets would hardly be good\nform. By coming forward wand in hand, he\navoids these difficulties. The hand holding it auto-\nmatically assumes an easy and natural position,\nand he ceases to think about the other. With the\nwand held in the right hand across the body, its\nfree end resting on the palm of the opposite hand,\nhe is in an ideal attitude for delivering his intro-\nductory patter. Later on, by holding the wand in\nthe hand, he effectually disguises the fact that he\nhas some object, a card, a coin, or a watch con-\ncealed therein. If he has occasion to call atten-\ntion directly to any object, the wand forms the most\nnatural pointer. If he finds it necessary, for some\nreason connected with the trick in hand, to make\na turn or half-turn away from the spectators, the\nfact that he has left his wand upon the table affords\nhim the needful opportunity.\nLastly, if the wand is habitually used as the pro-\nfessed instrument of a desired transposition or\ntransformation, a certain portion of an average\naudience gradually becomes impressed with the\nidea that there really must be some occult connec-\ntion between the touch of the wand and the effect"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 220, "folder": "", "text": "THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\nviously been deposited under lock and key at a consider-\nable distance.\"\nMacallister, the Scotch brick-mason, who became the\npupil and assistant of Phillippe, as described in the\nchapter on \"The Pastry Cook of the Palais Royal,\" also\nAndrew Macallister as he appeared during his engagement in the United States.\nFrom the Harry Houdini Collection.\nclaimed the bottle trick as his invention. I have been\nunable to obtain any of the early programmes used by\nMacallister, but I am reproducing the one he utilized\nduring his engagement at the Bowery Theatre, New\nYork City, in 1852. This was not his first appearance in\n13\n[ 193 ]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 219, "folder": "", "text": "THE USE OF THE WAND\nCLOSELY connected with the subject of patter is\nthe use of the wand, which in my own opinion can-\nnot be too sedulously cultivated. To the cases in\nwhich the wand itself forms the prominent item\nof the trick, I devoted a special chapter in \"Later\nMagic.\" To these therefore I need not further\nrefer. More important, however, is the part\nplayed by the wand from the point of view of gen-\neral utility.\nIn the first place, it is the only remnant of the\ntraditional outfit of the magician. Time was,\nwhen the regulation costume of the wizard was a\nsugarloaf hat, and a robe embroidered with highly\ncoloured mystic symbols. Such a robe is still worn\nas part of their make-up, by Chung Ling Soo and\na few other Orientals, but the orthodox costume of\nthe latter-day wizard is ordinary evening dress.\nThe wand alone remains; the symbol and the pro-\nfessed instrument of his mystic powers, and from\nits traditional connection with magic, there is a\nspecial prestige attached to it.\nFor these reasons alone it would be desirable to\nretain the use of the wand, but apart from them,\nits practical uses are many and various. One of\n203"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 219, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\ninto Different Liquids-Sherry, Port, Champagne, Gin,\nBOWERY THEATRE\nMilk, Rum, and Water.\"\nThe London Sun of\nDomes.\nPit.\n1-9 Conte\nSeate de Orchostra Beses.\nse Conte\nDomes for\nFIV Dellase\nBoots egee from 9 A.\na\nApril 18th, 1843, says:\nThe Deors will open et asd the Seiree et . e'slesh.\nThese le se Cheatrical Eshibition with these\n\"Mr. Anderson, be-\nNIGHTLY JAMMED!\nTHE GREAT WIZARD\nsides the feats by which\nMAGALLISTER!\nhis reputation was es-\ntablished in his former\nbie Trimmbant Career, and sightly exhibite bie Grand and De'ginal\nexhibitions in the metro-\nExperimente in MAGXO, x.\nac., in bie Gorgeous Temple before\nAMAZED THOUSANDS\npolis, performed with per-\n\"Men of Mighty Words and Little Deeds!\nWhe elaim the sele right to the name el WIZARD try in vais to convince the werld of\nfect ease and success\nbeis greatness!--They may well writhe under the exposure of their FRES\nSYSTEK, by which they seek to obtain es sudiesce, while the daily assouncement of ous\nTRIOKS under www show the strait to which they ase driven! They have\nlearned \" their cost, that\nsome of greater difficulty\n\" Feels rash in where Angels fear to tread.\"\nFor the time bere. Macallister will perfores hie\nthan those by which Herr\nGREAT LIGHT FEAT\nD\u00f6bler astonished the\nAND INSTANTLY\nIliuminate the Interior of the Theatre\nworld, such as serving\nAT A PISTOL SHOT\nRequert, will be repeated the\nseveral kinds of wines\nMYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE\nANDITS\nfrom the same bottle.\"\n\" GREAT GUN .FEAT!\" or, FEAT A LA Wm. TELL.\nwas - sine Wendes the em origimal\nMAGIC BOTTLE -\nThe Morning Adver-\nANCALLISTERS\ntiser (London) of the\nORICINY\nsame date said\nBOTR\nKINDS OF LIQUOR\n\"With the utmost ease\nOUT or MACALLIITER'S\nhe produced from an\nBOTTLE\nworld\nthat\ncas\nempty bottle wine, water,\nproduce\nkinds\nof\nLiques\nand\nthe\nsame\nDottle.\nport, sherry, and cham-\nednesday Evening, August 11, 1852\npagne, and immediately\nwm be gives the Mystorics of the\nENCHANTEDPALACE\nafterward, under a blaze\nProgramme used by Macallister at the\nof wax and gas, he broke\nBowery Theatre, August 11th, 1852, during\nhis second engagement in New York City.\nthe same bottle and pro-\nFeaturing the Magic Bottle\" from which\nduced from it half a\ntwenty-two kinds of liquor could be\ndrawn. Careful reading will unearth\ndozen cambric handker-\nMacallister's ill-will toward Anderson.\nFrom the Harry Houdini Collection.\nchiefs, which had pre-\n[ 192 ]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 218, "folder": "", "text": "202\nLATEST MAGIC\nbe left to take care of itself. It should auto-\nmatically improve with each of its earlier repeti-\ntions as good wine improves in bottle. Faults will\ncorrect themselves, and being made perfect by\npractice, the performer will thenceforth be able to\n\"speak his piece\" without effort, and devote his\nwhole energies to the actual working of the trick.\nTo the amateur, only performing on special occa-\nsions, with perhaps considerable intervals between\nthem, I commend a plan from which I myself\nderived great benefit, viz.: Write out from\nmemory the patter for each trick on the pro-\ngramme a day or two before a coming performance.\nAfter you have given your show, go through your\nmanuscript again carefully, noting and correcting\nit in any point in which the patter failed to be ex-\nactly right. The interpolation of a single sen-\ntence, the transposition in point of sequence of two\nmovements, or the alteration of some trifling detail,\nsuch as standing at a different angle to your table\nat a given moment, may make all the difference be-\ntween partial failure and complete success."}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 218, "folder": "", "text": "THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\ntogether in one receptacle, and he fills out first a glass\nof sherry, then one of port, then one of champagne, and\nso on.\"\nThe critic then describes how the bottle was broken, and\nthe borrowed handkerchief was found inside the bottle.\nProbably because of the prominence which Herr D\u00f6-\net. James's Theatre, King St,\nLAST NIGHT BUT FOUR OF\nHERR DOBLER'S\nTUEBRAY,\nJULY 5,\n(on thero will - NO\nSATURDAY, JULY 9.\nLOUDS\nNATURAL\nMAGIC\n-\nWALL shortty\nANO NUMEROUN HEW EXPERIMENTS INTRODUGED\n-\n- - -\n-\n-\nA\nde - ed.\n. -\nWalle - Gallery -\n- as. qui\nD\u00f6bler programme with illustrations of his tricks, used during his engagement\nat the St. James Theatre, London. From the Harry Houdini Collection.\nbler gave to this trick it attracted more attention when\nAnderson presented it during his London run of 1843.\nHe announced it as \"Watervs. Wine, or Changing Water\n[ 191 ]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 217, "folder": "", "text": "CONCERNING PATTER\n201\nthat he is actually the person whom he represents.\nThe modern magician should do the same. If he\nhas enough of the true artistic spirit to imagine,\nwhen he steps forward on the platform, that he is\na magician, and that his miracles are genuine, he\nwill go a long way towards producing a like impres-\nsion in the minds of his audience. Bearing this in\nmind, describe what you propose to do as an\n\"effect,\" a \"marvel,\" an \"experiment,\" or a\n\"phenomenon\"; never by any chance as a \"trick.\"\nIt may be objected that I have myself repeatedly\nused the obnoxious word in the course of the fore-\ngoing pages, but that is another matter. This\nbook is written by a conjurer for conjurers: and as\nbetween ourselves we are forced to admit, painful\nthough it be to do so, that our greatest miracles are\nonly tricks. But we need not tell the public SO.\nLogically-minded persons know it well enough, if\nthey are allowed to think about the matter. Our\nbusiness is to make them, for the time, forget it.\nA wise old Roman said: Populus vult decipi:\ndecipiatur. Your audience wish to be deceived; in\nfact they have come together for that purpose. By\nall means let them be deceived to the top of their\nbent; and the first step towards effectually deceiv-\ning them, is to persuade them, if possible, that there\nis \"no deception.\"\nThe patter for a given trick, once composed, and\ntested by a few performances in public, may\nthenceforth, SO far as the professional is concerned,"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 217, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nFLORA'S GIFTS.\nHERR DOBLER\nLudwig D\u00f6bler in his prime, offering his most popular trick, \"The Creation\nof Flowers.\" From a rare lithograph in the Harry Houdini Collection.\n[ I90 ]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 216, "folder": "", "text": "200\nLATEST MAGIC\nited in the right hand, he has only to say, \"Now I\nwant you particularly to keep an eye on this\"\nwhatever the article in the right hand may happen\nto\nbe. All eyes are for the moment, instinctively\ndrawn to the object in question, and in that moment\nthe deed is done. The artifice is ridiculously sim-\nple, but it is effective, and it is on being fully pre-\npared with the right thing to say and do at the crit-\nical moment that the success of a magical enter-\ntainment largely depends. Careful rehearsal, pre-\nferably before an expert friend, will furnish the\nbest hints as to the danger-spots in the working\nof a trick, and how best to devise patter to meet\nthem.\nA final word of advice-advice that has been often\ngiven, but cannot be too often repeated if you\nreally aim to carry your audience with you. Never\nlose sight of the fact that you are, in the words of\nRobert-Houdin, \"an actor playing the part of a\nmagician,\" and take your office seriously. In par-\nticular, never before an audience use the word\n\"trick,\" which at once gives away all your preten-\nsion to magical power. An actor never tells his\naudience that he is an actor or that he is playing a\npart. He does not call their attention to his\nmake-up, however excellent, or tell them that his\nwig comes from Clarkson. On the contrary, he\ndoes his best to make his audience for the time for-\nget that he is Hubert de Barnstormer, or whatever\nhis stage name may be, and to keep up the illusion"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 216, "folder": "", "text": "THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\n\"DOBLER-ST. JAMES THEATRE.-Among the illusions\nthat more particularly struck our fancy was one entitled\n\"The Travelling Bottle,' where Herr D\u00f6bler, filling a\ncommon bottle with water, transformed this water into\na collection of wines of all countries, amicably assembled\nD\u00f6blers Strauschen\nund gervidmet.\n2ins to ging's mil anbern Stanfe...\nou Ann\u00e3,\nDie ber gethan,\nNech in Wintee, - ate Sife\naccce aberneg bie\nm\u00e9efat Gunt,\nward fatt Davan-\nmis Am J\u00e4nben, girrig\nmit Den Mingen. mit bem Spiegef,\nFingen Re Die Samen anf.\nund mit der Flaghs Wein.\nQiefe Kafges\nNicmans Grach bas biegef\n9u Des. Singe Sanf.\nyes es Acia.\nSem was ensfeeret\nTeinen Rufym ou nacf, Jashm.\nfonber gaft.\ngevif uns jur\u00fcch,\nSat man nene Segefycet\nWenn Die wea bu\nes Die keine\nmit Magiers Qatich.\nben Samber gn\nTann mafangen wir bich wisbes,\nhore, But was wieber vell,\nLafen biefj auch nieft mefje aup,\nin\nBie on\nans las ;bemp fifjun v\u00f6ffig tell.'\nSefellef hier\nfich in Reife anf So in Theatey.\nD\u00f6bler's farewell programme in verse, used when he played his last engage-\nment in the Josephstadter Theatre, Vienna. Original given by D\u00f6bler per-\nsonally to Henry Evanion; now in the Harry Houdini Collection.\n[ 189]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 215, "folder": "", "text": "CONCERNING PATTER\n199\ncheerful. Geniality of manner is one of the most\nvaluable assets of the conjurer. Above all, don't\nbe nervous. You may say \"I can't help it,\" but to\na great extent you can. It is largely a matter of\nwill. Start with the idea that all will go well, and\nit will probably do SO. On the other hand, a low-\nspirited conjurer always makes a low spirited\naudience.\nIn any case, be sparing of puns, which have been\ndeservedly described as the lowest form of wit. A\nsingle pun, if good enough (or bad enough) may\nwin a laugh, and score to your credit, but to pep-\nper an audience with verbal shrapnel in the shape\nof puns is an outrage on good taste.\nPassing to the third function of patter, the mis-\ndirection of attention in the course of a trick, we\nwill assume that you have made a start in the right\ndirection at the outset, by suggesting some fanciful\nexplanation of the effect you intend to produce, SO\nthat your audience, starting from wrong premises,\ndo not know the points at which their too close\nobservation would be inconvenient. The best way\nof diverting their attention at one of these critical\npoints is obviously to attract it to some other direc-\ntion. A mere sentence, particularly if accom-\npanied by appropriate action, will suffice. Sup-\nposing, to take an elementary instance, that the\nperformer desires to drop unseen into the profonde\nfrom his left hand some small article for which he\nhas just deftly substituted a duplicate, now exhib-"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 215, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nonly breaking this rule when presenting his show before\nH. M. Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort.\nHe played the provinces, then went over to Dublin,\nwhere, although unable to speak English, he was a ver-\nitable sensation. In 1844\nD\u00f6bler played a return\nSTREET, ar.\nSATURDAY EVENING,\ndate at the St. James\nAPRIL. 10,\n1842\nla\nNe\n-\nby\nTheatre, London, and\nsme LOUIS\nDOBLER,\nthis time he had Ander-\nto - the of\nson as a rival at the Th\u00e9-\n-\n-\n-\nthe gener\nNATURAL\ncummer\n\u00e2tre Royal Adelphia.\nMAGIC\nD\u00f6bler amassed a for-\nlass keil the - of - de - of Name -\ntune very rapidly; in fact\n-\n-\n-\n-\nNER MAJESTY THE QUEEN & H.R.M. THE PRINGE ALBERT.\nThe - be divided inte Twe Para and with Mark -\nhe retired in 1847, and\nby M. - Eigli - -\nPROGRABNE OF PERFORMANGE\nPART L\nnever again appeared on\nThe Magle Illumination,\nTero Hundred Candles lighted by One Platol Shot\nThe Magle Looking Olass.\nThe Wandering\nThe Travelling Bottle.\nThe Witched Chair.\nthe stage. He always ex-\nThe Sympathetle Fruit.\nThe Wonder\nThe Corresponding Clooks.\nKitchen.\nPART n.\nplained his early retire-\nFarmes\nThe Magnetic Sword.\nThe Notallie newer Zoots.\nInstantaneous\nThe Great Necamotage.\nThe Miracuions Washing\nment by saying: \"The\nMore and There.\nFloga's aifta.\nvass\nTHURSDAY. APRIL 91; and ou SATURDAY, APRIL ss.\npublic loves me, and I\nPIt, Se.\nGallery Stalls, is. ed.\nA - Orehostre Datte - be 9a. -\n-\nPRIVATE BOXEA, ITALLA - TICKETS - be - -\nRoyal Librasy, ss, osd\nwant it to always love me.\nMr. asqunt's Librasy, Regent-street;\nMr. sams's Librasy, Jamos's-streed;\nAndas - - of the Thestre, whieb le - - . Pivo\nI may return and be a\n# - - at as\nfailure, so it is best to\nA D\u00f6bler programme from the Eva-\nknow just when to stop.\"\nnion collection, dated 1842, now in the\npossession of the author.\nHe died in a little village\nnear Tunitz, on April\n17th, 1864, when one of God's noblemen was laid to rest.\n\"The Travelling Bottle\" alluded to by D\u00f6bler in his\nprogrammes was nothing more or less than \"The Inex-\nhaustible Bottle.\" The following excerpt from the\nLondon Chronicle during D\u00f6bler's engagement at the\nSt. James Theatre, April, 1842, is illuminating:"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 214, "folder": "", "text": "198\nLATEST MAGIC\nto change the mode of presentation altogether, and\nto make the illusion no longer objective, but subjec-\ntive. He announced that by means of his magic\npower he could take away the strength of the\nstrongest man, and render him weak as a little\nchild. The \"chest\" was in this case merely\nbrought forward in a casual way, as a convenient\nobject wherewith the assertion of the magician\ncould be tested. The strongest man in the com-\npany was invited to come forward, and try whether\nhe could lift that little box. Of course he could,\nand did; a child could have done the same. \"You\nlifted it because I permitted you to do.so,\" said the\nmagician. \"But I take away your strength. Try\nto lift it now!'\nAgain the athlete tries his strength, but now he\nfails. With teeth set, and every muscle tense, he\nstrains, and strains, but in vain, and he has to con-\nfess that the infidel wonder-worker has, for the\ntime, taken away all his strength. Here was a\nwizard indeed!\nIn arranging your patter, be humorous if you\ncan, but if, like the gentleman we have all heard\nof, you \"joke with difficulty,\" don't force yourself\nto be funny. That it is possible for a man lacking\nhumour still to be a great conjurer is proved by\nthe case of Hartz, who was notably deficient in this\nparticular, but by his excellence in other directions\nwon a place in the very first rank of his profession.\nBut if you cannot be humorous, at any rate be"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 214, "folder": "", "text": "THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\nintaliset, minister of the King's mansions.\" He also\norms his friend that he expects to visit Paris the next\nson and build his own theatre. He states a fact most\nresting to all magicians, namely, that he has rented\n(lay Drive\nudwig D\u00f6bler in his prime, taken about 1839. The original of this rare\nre was discovered by the author in a small print shop in Moscow, Russia.\nnow a part of his Collection.\nSt. James Theatre in London for two thousand\nICS ($400) a night, or more than $2,400 rent for one\nk. D\u00f6bler drew such big audiences and made so\nch money that he refused to give private perfomances,\n[187]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 213, "folder": "", "text": "CONCERNING PATTER\n197\nbut with only a cloudy recollection as to what they\nwere.\nIn devising, as is sometimes desirable, new patter\nfor an old trick, an endeavour should be made to\nlook at the effect from an entirely fresh point of\nview, so as to make the trick practically a new one.\nA remarkable instance of such a transformation is\nfurnished by an incident in the life of Robert-\nHoudin. At one period of his career he was\nentrusted by the French Government with a very\nimportant mission. He was sent to Algeria, spe-\ncially charged to \"astonish the natives,\" and by\nhis greater wonders to destroy their belief in the\npretended miracles of the Aissoua.\nAmong other surprises, he decided to make use\nof his \"Light and Heavy Chest,\" a chest which, as\nthe reader is doubtless aware, became at command,\nby means of an electro-magnet in the pedestal on\nwhich it rested, so \"heavy\" that the strongest man\ncould not lift it from its base. This trick, pro-\nduced at a time when the phenomena of electricity\nwere but little understood, has produced an\nimmense sensation at his Paris performances.\nBut the Master instinctively felt that the trick in\nthat shape would produce little or no effect on the\nmore primitive mind of the Arab. He would sim-\nply have taken for granted some mechanical means\nof holding down the chest, beyond his own com-\nprehension, no doubt, but by no means to be\nregarded as miraculous. Robert-Houdin decided"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 213, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\n\" THE GREAT WIZARD OF THE NORTH,\"\nPerforming hie triak of\nPOURING FOUR DIFFERENT LIQUIDS FROM ONE BOTTLE.\nReproduction of a political cartoon in Punch, published during Anderson's\nLondon engagement, April, 1843, proving that the Inexhaustible Bottle Trick\"\nwas used by Anderson before Robert-Houdin was a professional entertainer.\nFrom the Harry Houdini Collection.\n[ 186]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 212, "folder": "", "text": "196\nLATEST MAGIC\nby the introduction, among the \"properties\" used,\nof some object professedly essential to the trick,\nbut as a matter of fact having no real concern with\nthe effect produced. The audience take for\ngranted that it must have something to do with the\neffect, or it would not be used, and are thereby led\naway the more effectually from the actual explana-\ntion. Numerous illustrations of the use of this\ndevice will be found in the foregoing pages.\nIf, in the case of a given trick, the performer\nis absolutely at a loss to produce a satisfactory\nfable to introduce it, he may evade the difficulty\nby stating that he is about to produce an effect for\nwhich he cannot himself account, and inviting the\nassistance of his audience in doing SO.\nThe second function of patter is the calling of\nthe attention of the audience to matters which you\ndesire them to take note of, and to give oppor-\ntunity to do SO. There is small credit to be gained\nby changing the ace of clubs into the ace of hearts,\nor making a given article pass invisibly from one\nspot to another, unless the spectators have been\nfirst made to realise the original state of things, and\nthey must be allowed sufficient time to do SO. I\nhave more than once seen an otherwise brilliant\nshow spoilt by being rushed through at railroad\nspeed. The mind of the spectator had not been\nallowed time to receive clear impressions. The\ncompany in such a case disperses with a conscious-\nness of having had a rapid succession of surprises,"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 212, "folder": "", "text": "THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\ngrammes used by John Henry Anderson, the Wizard\nof the North, in the same years. According to these\nprogrammes Phillippe and Anderson showed the bottle\nempty, filled it with water, and then served five different\nliquors.\nOn April 30th, 1838, Anderson thus announced the\ntrick on a programme used at Victoria Rooms, Hull:\n\"Handkerchiefs will be borrowed from three gentle-\nmen; the magician will load his mystic gun, in which\nhe will place the handkerchiefs; he will fire a bottle con-\ntaining wine, the bottle will be .broken and the handker-\nchiefs will appear.\"\nProgrammes in my collection show that Anderson pre-\nsented the trick, serving various sorts of liquors, when he\nplayed London in 1840, but little attention was drawn to\nthe wonderful bottle. In 1842 Ludwig D\u00f6bler, Germany's\nbest-beloved magician, came to London and featured\nwhat he termed \"The Travelling Bottle.'\nLudwig Leopold D\u00f6bler was born in Vienna in 1801. He\nwas the best-beloved magician who ever trod the stage. He\nstarted life as an engraver of metals, but his fancy turned\nto necromancy. He gave his best performances in his na-\ntive city. In 1841 he was touring Holland, and in a letter\nnow in my possession, which he wrote to a director and\neditor in Vienna under date of March I5th, 1842, he in-\nforms his friend that he has sent all his baggage to London\nfrom Amsterdam, and is on a visit to Paris. He regrets\nthat he has not all of his apparatus with him, but has\ngiven several performances, and mentions the fact that\n\" to-morrow I am engaged to give a performance in the\nprivate parlor of Rothschild and then by the Count\n[ 185 ]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 211, "folder": "", "text": "CONCERNING PATTER\n195\naway from the true explanation of the marvel, and\nto suggest, in a more or less plausible way, some\nother, remote from the real one.\nThe suggested explanation may be either pseudo-\nscientific, where possible based on some generally\naccepted truth (and it is surprising what a long\nway even a few grains of truth go in such cases) ; or\nit may be downright \"spoof,\" delivered however\nwith due appearance of seriousness. The explana-\ntions will naturally fall a good deal short of the\nGeorge Washington standard of truthfulness, but\nthe most tender conscience need not in such a case\nhave any scruples on the score of veracity. No\nsane person expects truth in a fairy tale, and a\nmagical entertainment, from beginning to end, is\nbut a fairy tale in action. To put the matter in an\nepigrammatic nutshell:\nTruth is \"a gem of purest ray serene,\"\nA virtue always to be cultivated,\nBut such depends,-you'll gather what I mean,\nOn how you happen to be situated.\nAt home, abroad, wherever I may be,\nI tell the honest truth, and shame the d-\n.\nBut when you ask to be deceived. Good gracious!\nYou can't expect me then to be veracious.\nIn that case only do I make exception,\nAnd most deceive when vowing \"no deception.\"\nThis function of patter, the leading away the\nminds of the audience from the true explanation of\nthe puzzle offered them, may be materially assisted"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 211, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nW'aterloo Rooms.\nthree sorts of wine, Port,\n\" est Agreenble et Plaimes de S'Instruire -\nSherry, and Cham-\nTHE LAST\npagne, out of one bottle.\nSpiendid, Brilliant and Fashionable\nThen he put them to-\nDAY PERFORIANOE\nWILL TAKE PLACE ON\ngether, and from such a\nSATURDAY Sist APRIL, 1939,\nUnder the High and Distinguished\nmixture produced sher-\nry in one glass, and port\nTHE RIGHT HONOURABLE\nLADY GIFFORD,\nin another.\"\nTHE RIGHT HONOURABLE\nFrom this notice it\nLady H. Stuart Forbes,\nwill be seen that Falck\nWHICH OCCASION had \"The Inexhaustible\ndec. dyc. dec.\nreligional\nMons\". PHILLIPPE\nBottle,\" and had some\nWILL SELECT\nThe most INTERESTING, ATTRACTIVR and\nmethod of returning all\nPRISING FEATS\nthe liquors not drunk\nFROM HIS EXTENSIVE STOCK or\nNECROMANTIC, MACICAL a DEXTERICAL\nback into the bottle\nDEMION-STRATIONS!\nand then pouring out\nLa Gaiet\u00e9 est la Sant\u00e9 de L'ame la tristesse on est le poison.\ntwo different kinds of\nProgramme.\nzase z.\nAed - -\nema\nliquor.\nIndian and Chinsee Meale !!!\nA CURIOUS OPERATION,\nsova wese\nEmpe ammid by -\nSer .\nNom P. - - -\nPerhaps he resorted\nsese\n- -\nA\n****ON som\nLe\nLa\nEsso\n- - - - Jehe\nLopes -\nWINGS AGAINST WHEELS, on THE\nla SRAND TOUS - -\nto chemicals, but one\nwarch:\nde\n/\nTRACIC SCENE - ACRECABLE\nLES\nPorssons woa !!.\ntothe -\nTare CONCLUSE\nthe BIBTH y\nthing is evident - the\nThe SUBLINE TUAT\nthe Auternal Nettle,\nPATRIOT\nand\nbottle was used for six\nay CAP.\nToing BALL - - ORANCE\nNoad of I#\nTHE. UNPARALLELED,\nzase sv.\ndifferent kinds of liquors\nJUPITKE . rulcan FIRES:\nThe - - - - \"\nThe OUN-AT PRACOCE,\nFICURES\nat one and the same\nas -\nreas ***.\n- sie\nA NIGHT IN THE\nFAD-JUNO - JUPITER-1\nPALACE OF PERIN:\n-The MACICIAN Hond\ntime.\nTWO BARBER\na Mess. PEILLIPFE wis appone\nThe UUN-ECLIPEE \"\nAS TRE OSSAT\nof BOYAL\nMAGIGIAN\nLEQUIN in\nQUEEN VICTOILA\nPhillippe from 1836 to\nIN PULL COSTUME,\nof SCOTLAND, ENOLAND, -\nON MONDAY\n1838 featured \"An In-\nMens. P. takes his BENEFIT.\nfernal Bottle\" trick, also\n\"The Inexhaustible\nPoster used by Phillippe during his\nEdinburgh engagement in 1838, featuring\nBottle\" trick. The trick\n\"The Infernal Bottle.\" From the Harry\nHoudini Collection.\nalso was seen on pro-\n[ 184]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 210, "folder": "", "text": "194\nLATEST MAGIC\na \"giant's robe upon a dwarfish thief,\" or the\nreverse, cannot be expected to be a becoming gar-\nment. Every man has, or should have, a style of\nhis own, and it is rarely good policy to imitate that\nof somebody else. If a low comedy man were to\nessay to play Hamlet, or a tragedian, however\neminent, were to try to give an limitation of Harry\nLauder, the result would be likely to be disappoint-\ning.\nThe reader, undertaking to write his own patter,\nand desirous of making it just what patter should\nbe, will find counsels of perfection in \"Our Magic,\"\nand the more nearly he can approach them the\nbetter. As, however, all have not the good fortune\nto possess that admirable work, I venture to indi-\ncate what to my own mind seem to be the chief\npoints to be aimed at.\nIt is almost a commonplace to say that the main\nobject of patter is misdirection. As the term is\nmore usually applied, this means something said or\ndone midway in the course of a trick to draw away\nthe attention of the audience at some critical\nmoment, and to create what the French conjurers\ncall a \"temps,\" i.e., an \"opportunity\" for doing,\nunnoticed, some necessary act. But misdirection\nmay very well start at an earlier stage than this:\nin fact, well in advance of the actual execution of\nthe trick. Each trick should have some sort of\nintroduction, and the patter serving this purpose\nshould be such as to lead the mind of the hearer"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 210, "folder": "", "text": "THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\nMr. Falck opened at the Queen's Bazaar, Oxford\nStreet, London, November 8th, 1835. Before opening,\nhowever, he gave a private performance for the press,\nand received quite a number of notices. A half-column\nclipping in my collection, dated November 4th, 1835,\nNATURAL\nMAGIC!\nMCR. FALCK,\nOf Konigaberg, Pupil of the celebrated Chevalier Pinetty, has\njust arrived in England, and will exhibit his surprising deceptions,\nNOW UNRIVALLED\nIN NATURAL MAGIC,\nAT THE\nQueen's Bazaar, Oxford Street.\nAMONG THE NUMEROUS FEATS EXHIBITED\nWILL BE FOUND THE FOLLOWING:-\nThe Enchanted Bread-The Walking Rice-Paying a Tavera\nKeeper-The Enchanted Egg-The Calculation of Money-The\nLost Ring-The Exchange of Wine-The Enchanted Dice-The\nCard in the Pocket-The Present, or Gift of Flora-The Wine and\nDessert-besides Surprising Deceptions with Cards, &c. &c.\nThe Performance to begin daily\nand at Three till half-past Four.\nADMITTANCE ONE SHILLING-CHILDREN SIXPENCE.\nGeo. Nichole, Printer, Earl's Court, Cranbourn Street, Soho.\n10\n-\nPoster used by Falck of Koenigsberg in 1835, featuring the trick of exchange\nof wine. From the Harry Houdini Collection.\nwhich I think is cut from The Chronicle or The Globe,\nthe trick among other effects like \"Flora's\nift,\" \"The Card in the Pocket,\" etc., and adds that\nthe \"exchange of wine was so that if once in Mr. Falck's\nCompany, we should not wish to exchange it, for he poured\n[r83]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 209, "folder": "", "text": "CONCERNING PATTER\n193\ngreat deal, and done very little, and that I had had\nvery little real magic for my money. On the other\nhand, the loquacious doctor was always amusing,\nand it must not be forgotten that to amuse, even\nmore than to puzzle, is the raison d'\u00eatre of the mod-\nern magician. It seems to me therefore quite\nlegitimate to use, to a reasonable extent, the art\nof the raconteur to supplement that of the\nmagician.\nIf my own patter is in some cases found super-\nabundant, I have at any rate done my best to make\nit amusing, and if the reader opines that I have not\npaid sufficient regard to the late Mr. Ducrow's cele-\nbrated maxim, \"Cut the cackle, and come to the\n'osses,\" he is quite at liberty to cut my cackle to\nwhat he may consider more reasonable proportions.\nNo doubt, time would be saved thereby. If, for\ninstance, he were to cut out the little romantic\nfictions with which I have introduced \"The Miracle\nof Mumbo Jumbo\" and \"The Story of the Alka-\nhest,\" and start \"right away\" with the bare per-\nformance of the trick, both could be exhibited in\nlittle more time than I have allotted to either alone.\nWhich treatment is likely to give the greater satis-\nfaction to his audience, he must decide for himself.\nWhere the performer has the gift (for a \"gift\"\nit undoubtedly is) of devising effective patter for\nhimself I am strongly in favour of his doing SO.\nBorrowed patter may be likened to a borrowed\ndress-coat. It is never likely to be an exact fit, and"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 209, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\ntory of that automaton. The programme published in\nthat chapter is dated\nFOR SIX NIGHTS ONLY,\n- NOWDAY, - To of - - nive FRIDAY, -\nle fue\n1827, and does not in-\nMr. Schmidt's BENEFIT,\n- SATURDAY to - LAST NIONT of the\nclude the famous bottle,\nMECHANICAL OPTICAL THEATRE\nAt the Mueic-Hall,\nbecause it was no longer a\nAlbion-Street, Leeds.\nnovelty in Herr Schmidt's\nzm. - respostfully the Ledice and of LEEDS\nVielaity, that aftee - Years laboer be hee completed some AUTOMATAN\nNOPE DANCERS, - lasge - Life, which go through Variety of Evelations es\n-\nr\u00e9pertoire; but the ad-\nTighs Repe. To Men of Selence they mest appess impossible, for though thay are estacity\nwith the they from tt, and balance\nle WITHOUT the UST or THEIR HANDS, AND INSTANT.\nLY CONNECT TREMSELVER wire THE MACHINERY AGAIN\nvertisement reproduced\nherewith, dated 1821,\nschedules the bottle trick\nthus: \"The Bottle of\nSobriety and Inebriety,\nproving the inutility of a\nset of decanters, when\nMe. will also introduce Variety of interesting and amasing Pieces of Mechonion,\nnever before exhibited in Loeda,\nRAMO SAMMEE,\nvarious liquors can be\nTNe - Nette Pigure will correctly inform the Company the Time by any Person's\nWatoh: be will also decipher Writing, and any Question proposed to bim.\nThe Dutch Coffee House,\nproduced by one.\" Thus\nAs elegast little Bullding: on the Travellers ringing the bell the door opene-th\nattende and provides h\u00e9m with any Liquor be may vall for.\nSchmidt antedated\nor SAPETY.\nwhich Proporty of any description can be placed on the direction of the Company : the\ncontente will imporceptibly ebange from drawer into another, or evem bobind the glanses.\nThe Bottle of Sobriety and Inebriely,\nHoudin's offering of the\nProving . instilley of est of Decastora, when varions Liquors be produced by -\nTHE MECHANICAL TEA CADDYS,\nAny Lady or Gentionna haring deaire to of any Article, locke in one Cuddy,\ntrick by more than a\nyet - opaning the ether is is lomed there, althongt the Cadity le la the hand of any othes\nPorsoa.\nAN GLASS PILLAR,\nquarter of a century.\nWhich will perform Feats,\nEXPERIMEEN'TS IN ELECTRICITY.\nNext the bottle turned\n-\nThe Engliab - will diccharge . Conmon githeut of\nAN ESTERTAININO' EXPERIMENT WITH TWO ELECTRICAL VASEA,\nThe\npower of Dectricity over de Vegolable Kingdom, prodecing . Cmp es\nIN ON& MINUTE, before the Eyes of the Spectutori.\nup in 1835 in London,\na.\nTHE UNFORTUNATE MAGAZINE,\n- - being placed la alghs of the Audienne a Th\u00e9nder Cloud will descend and the\n- direetly above it, beary finches of Lightining are obsesved striking. dowa apen 14,\nbet - being provided - Conductor they prove ineffectual; after a chort time\nwhere it was presented by\n- Conductup le femoved, the becomes more vivid, cape more strikes the\nin a ignited; asd. le concumed is eight of the\na German whostyled him-\nThe vhole of the Valushle - Splondid EXEIBITION of MECHANICAL amd\nMUSICAL AUTOMATA will be exhibited - Lady The\nArtiet: The Rope Dancer: Magnificons Yose; The The Walk.\n- Figare; A Teranfula As Egyption Limerd; Two Siberiom Mice A Goldem\nself \"Falck of Koenigs-\nA Humrisg Bird; Self-acting Plano-Forte. The whole of the Evening\nAmoument will conciate with the extroordinery\nDANCE OF WITCHES,\nberg, Pupil of the\nor which the folloting de Brief description Grotesque Ballet, representing the Soe\nesser's Anniversary or . Dance of with varions Evolations, Gambola, Dancos, and\ncelebrated Chevalier Pin-\nby - of fancy formeed Figures, producing the most\n. - - de de\n- One - - - AUTOMATA - be - -\n- The AUTUMATA - - la the - Soves -\n- - - their - - - - - Stage\nnetty,\" and who intro-\n- - - - BACH.-A BAND WILL ATTEXA\nPRINITA\nduced the programme\nA Schmidt programme of 1821, featur-\nwith which D\u00f6bler made\ning the Bottle of Sobriety and Inebriety.\"\nFrom the Harry Houdini Collection.\nsuch a sensation in 1842.\n[ 182]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 208, "folder": "", "text": "CONCERNING PATTER\nIT will doubtless have been observed that I have\nin the foregoing pages been somewhat lavish in\nrespect of patter. I have done SO for two or three\nreasons.\nFirst, in order to enable the reader to form a\nbetter estimate of the effect of the trick presented,\nduly clothed and coloured, to the mind of the spec-\ntator. A trick described, however minutely, from\nthe mere mechanical or technical point of view,\ngives scarcely more idea of its actual effect than\nthe rough charcoal sketch of the artist does of the\nfinished painting. Secondly, because ready-made\npatter, if the reader cares to use it, will save him a\nconsiderable amount of trouble. My third reason\nis more personal, namely, that it has been a labour\nof love to do SO. To my mind the devising of some\nlittle bit of appropriate fiction to serve as intro-\nduction to a trick is the pleasantest part of the\ninventor's work.\nIt may perhaps be thought that I have, in some\nof the more ambitious tricks, been overliberal in\nthis particular. I remember thinking, after wit-\nnessing a \"show\" by Dr. Lynn, a popular per-\nformer of the last generation, that he had talked a\n192"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 208, "folder": "", "text": "THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\na\nview of \"the Barrel that plays so many Liquors and is\nbroke in pieces before the Spectators.\" \"\nIn 1780 Dr. Desaguliers presented in London a per-\nformance entitled \"A Course of Experimental Philosophy\nwherein the Principles of Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneu-\nmatics, and Optics are proved and demonstrated by more\nthan 300 Experiments.\"\nIn the course of these lectures he produced a sort of\nbarrel, worked by holding the fingers over the air-holes.\nHe also exposed the real source of strength of the notorious\nstrong man of his day, John Carl von Eckeberg, who\nallowed horses to pull against him, permitted heavy\nstones to be broken on his bare chest, and who broke\nheavy ropes simply by stretching or straightening his\nknees. These lectures and expos\u00e9s made Dr. Desaguliers\nso famous that he has been given considerable space in\nSir David Brewster's \"Letters on Natural Magic,\" pub-\nlished in London in 1851, in which book the various de-\nceptions used by strong men are fully described. In fact\nthe book is one that should be in every conjurer's library.\nThe old Dutch books explain the barrel trick, and in\n1803 Charles Hutton, professor of Woolwich Royal\nAcademy, translated four books from Ozanam and\nMontucla, exposing quite a number of old conjuring\ntricks. The barrel trick will be found on page 94 of\nVolume II.\nThe first use of \"The Inexhaustible Bottle\" by modern\nconjurers I found in an announcement of Herr Schmidt,\na German performer, who for a time controlled the\noriginal writing and drawing figure, as will be found by\nreference to Chapter III., which is devoted to the his-\n[ 181 ]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 207, "folder": "", "text": "THE WIZARD'S POCKETBOOK\n191\nto call attention by name to the cards exposed, and\nsay, \"When these three cards appear in conjunc-\ntion, it is clear that the card drawn was the queen\nof spades\" (or whatever it may happen to be).\nAny one deluded, as the majority will probably be,\ninto believing that you really infer the name of the\ndrawn card from those on the table, will be farther\nfrom the real solution than ever."}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 207, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\ntarget revolve, or, if the frame is used, by having a black\nvelvet curtain pulled up by rapid springs or strong\nrubbers.\nWhile all this is going on, some one has brought on the\nstage the loaded bottle, and as no attention is called to\nthis, by the time the watches have been restored to the\nowners the conjurer introduces the bottle trick, pours\nout the various liquors, and eventually breaks the bottle\nand reproduces the borrowed article tied about the neck\nof the guinea-pig or dove.\nMany names have been given to this trick. The old-\ntime magicians who remained for months in one theatre\nhad to change their programmies frequently, so for one\nnight they would present the bottle without breaking it,\nand on the next they would break the bottle, so as to\nvary the trick.\nThis bottle trick originated in \"The Inexhaustible\nBarrel.\" The first trace that I can find of this wonder-\nful barrel is in \"Hocus Pocus, Jr., The Anatomie of\nLegerdemain,\" written by Henry Dean in 1635 (Second\nEdition). On page 2I is described a barrel with a single\nspout, from which can be drawn three different kinds of\nliquors. This was worked precisely on the same principle\nas was the inexhaustible bottle trick centuries. later, by\nshutting up the air-holes of compartments from which\nliquors were not flowing.\nIts first public appearance, according to the data in my\ncollection, clipped from London papers of 1707 and I7I2,\nwas when the \"famous water-works of the late ingenious\nMr. Henry Winstanly\" were exhibited by his servants\nfor the benefit of his widow; and the exhibition included\n[180]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 206, "folder": "", "text": "190\nLATEST MAGIC\nplease remember I have not touched since you\nshuffled it yourself, into six portions, one for each\npage of the book.\" This is done, the six packets\nbeing turned face down on the table.\nWe will suppose that the chosen card is not found\non the first page. \"Then,\" says the performer,\n\"this first packet will tell me nothing, and may be\ndisregarded. Now, for the second page, is your\ncard upon that ? It is ? Then I draw two cards\nfrom the second heap, and turn up one of them.\nAnd now for the third page. Do you find your\ncard there? You do ? Then I take up three cards\nfrom the third packet, and again turn up the last\none.\"\nWe will suppose that the chosen card is not found\nin either the fourth or the fifth page, but re-appears\non the sixth, whereupon six cards are counted off\nfrom the corresponding packet, and the last of\nthem turned up. The performer has by this time\nmentally added up the key numbers of the second,\nthird and sixth pages: viz., 2, 4 and 32, together\nmaking 38, and knows therefrom that the card is\nthe thirty-eighth in the list, viz., the queen of\nspades. He does not however at once display his\nknowledge, but pretends to make a mental calcula-\ntion from the cards exposed upon the table, giving,\nif he so pleases, and the cards lend themselves to\nit, some fanciful explanation of his method. It\nseems to me, however, that this last is a needless\nelaboration. Personally, I should prefer merely"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 206, "folder": "", "text": "THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\nAgain, this bottle can be genuine, with no loose bottom\nat all, and a small article can be inserted, but this makes\na great deal of trouble, and the effect is not greatly in- -\ncreased. In doing the trick thus, I was always com-\npelled to have an optician cut the bottom from the bottle,\nand then at times even he would break it.\nTo explain further how the article is \"loaded\" into\nthe bottle, the performer borrows several articles, for\nexample a ring and two watches. He will place the ring\nand watches into a funnel at the end of a large horse-\npistol, and shoot them at the target. The two watches\nappear on the target or in a frame or any place that he\nmay choose. In obtaining the articles, he may have\nwrapped them up in a handkerchief which he has hidden\nin the front of his vest. Alexander Herrmann was excep-\ntionally clever in making this exchange, his iron nerve\nand perpetual smile being great aids in the trick.\nThe performer now places the duplicate handkerchief\non the table in full view of the audience, and walks to\nanother table for a gun. While reaching for this gun, he\nplaces the criginal articles which he borrowed behind\nhis table on a servante, so that his hidden assistant may\nreach for them, place the two watches on the \"turn-about\ntarget,\" tie the ring on the neck of the guinea-pig, shove\nhim into the bottle, and insert the false bottom. The\ntrick is then ready in its entirety.\nThe magician calls for something to use as a target,\nand the assistant responds with the revolving target or\nframe. When the conjurer shoots, the two watches\nappear on the target or in the frame. This part of\nthe trick is accomplished by having the centre of the\n[179]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 205, "folder": "", "text": "THE WIZARD'S POCKETBOOK\n189\ning on the same page, their appearing under these\nconditions making no difference to the calculation.\nI am indebted to an ingenious amateur, Mr.\nVictor Farrelly, for the idea of a novel method of\nusing the pocket-book. Mr. Farrelly does not\noffer of his own accord to show what can be done\nwith it, but keeps it in reserve, for use in a special\nemergency. Every conjurer meets now and then\nwith the pig-headed person who absolutely declines\nto have a given card forced upon him, and persists\nin endeavouring to extract one from some other\npart of the pack. Armed with the pocket-book, the\nperformer can set such a person at defiance, and\nindeed get additional kudos from his objectionable\nbehaviour.\nHe cheerfully gives up the struggle, saying\"You\nseem to think, sir, that I wish to influence your\nchoice in some way. To prove the contrary, I give\nthe pack into your own hands. Shuffle it well.\nThank you. Now take from it any card you please.\nLook at it, and put it in your pocket. You are\nsatisfied, I presume, that I do not know that card?\nYou are quite right. I have not the smallest idea\nof it, but I shall discover it without the smallest\ndifficulty by a process of mathematical magic. I\nhave here\" (producing pocket-book) \"a little book\nof six pages, on each of which thirty-six cards are\nillustrated. Will you kindly see whether the card\nyou chose is represented among those on the first\npage? Meanwhile I will divide the pack, which"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 205, "folder": "", "text": "THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN\nnel which has a tapering nozzle made specially for this\npurpose.\nThe trick is generally started by proving to the audience\nthat the bottle is empty. It is then filled with water, whichn\nis immediately poured out again, all this time the five\npinholes being covered tightly with the hand or fingers\nwhich are holding the bottle. When a liquor is called for\nthe performer raises the finger over the air-hole above\nthat particular liquor, and the liquor will flow out. When\na large number of liquors may be called for, the performer\nhas one compartment filled with a perfectly colorless\nliquor, which he pours into glasses previously flavored\nwith strong essences. Certain gins and cordials can be\nsimulated in this fashion.\nVarious improvements have been made in this bottle\ntrick. For instance, after the bottle has yielded its various\nsorts of liquors, it is broken, and from the bottle the per-\nformer produces some borrowed article which has been\n\"vanished\" in a previous trick and then apparently for-\ngotten. This may have been a ring, glove, or handker-\nchief, which will be discovered tied around the neck of a\nsmall guinea-pig or dove taken from the broken bottle.\nThis is accomplished by having the bottle especially\nconstructed. Its compartments end a few inches above\nthe bottom of the bottle and the portion below having\na wavy or cracked appearance, is made to slip on and off.\nThe conjurer goes through the motions of actually break-\ning the bottle by tapping it near the bottom with a small\nhammer or wand, and the appearance of the guinea-pig\nor lost article causes surprise, so that the pretended break-\ning of the bottle passes unnoticed."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 204, "folder": "", "text": "188\nLATEST MAGIC\n8 + 2 = 10\n8+2+1=11\n8+4=12\n8+4+1==\nand SO on throughout up to 52, which being the\nlimit of the pack, is the highest number with which\nwe need concern ourselves.\nIn making up the pages of the pocket-book,\nadvantage has been taken of this principle. A\ngiven card is inserted on that page or pages (and\nthose only) whose key numbers, alone or added\ntogether, correspond with the position which the\ncard holds in the list. Thus the ace of clubs\nwill appear on the first page (not because it is the\nfirst card, but because the key number of that page\nis 1) and on no other. The deuce of clubs, in like\nmanner, on page 2, the key number of that card\nbeing two. The next card, the three of clubs, must\nappear on page 1 and page 2, their key numbers\ntogether amounting to 3. The process as to cards\nstanding at higher numbers is the same. Thus, the\nace of spades, being the twenty-seventh card, and\ntwenty-seven being the aggregate of 16, 8, 2 and 1,\nwill appear on the first, second, fourth and fifth\npages. Conversely, if the performer is told that\nthe card appears on the four pages last named, he\nknows that it is the twenty-seventh card, i.e., the\nace of spades. Any spaces remaining vacant on\nthe page after the whole pack has been dealt with,\nare filled up by duplicates of cards already figur-"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 204, "folder": "", "text": "THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\ntricks, and twenty London papers bear mute testimony\nto this fact. In a complete collection of press clippings\nregarding his first London appearance, only four of the\nLondon papers mention the trick. The Times, the great\nconservative English paper, in reviewing Robert-Houdin's\nperformance in its issue of May 3d, 1847, ignored the\ntrick entirely. The four London papers which made\nmention of the bottle trick, and then only in a passing\ncomment, were The Chronicle, The Globe, The Lady's\nNewspaper, and The Court Journal. Any one acquainted\nwith the two last-named periodicals will know that they\nrarely reach the hands of the humble artisans in Man-\nchester. Punch, London's great comic paper, gave the\ntrick some space, however.\nThe trick of pouring several sorts of liquors from the\nsame bottle has been presented in various forms and\nunder different names. To prove the futility of Robert-\nHoudin's claims I will explain the mystery of this trick,\nwhich is of an interesting nature.\nTo all intents and purposes the bottle used looks like\nglass; but it is invariably made of tin, heavily japanned.\nRanged around the central space, which is free from\ndeception, are five compartments, each tapering to a\nnarrow-mouthed tube which terminates about an inch or\nan inch and a half from within the neck of the bottle.\nA\nsmall pinhole is drilled through the outer surface of the\nbottle into each compartment, the holes being so placed\nthat when the bottle is grasped with the hand in the ordin-\nary way, the performer covers all but one of the pinholes\nwith his fingers and thumb. The centre section is left\nempty, but the other compartments are filled with a fun-\n12\n177]"}