pages: unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf, 93
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unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 93 | THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN which are to catch the figures of the flowers and fruit when the latter expand by the air driven through the branches to which they were fastened by a silk thread. "The tree or nosegay is then placed on a table, through Decremer which runs a glass tube to supply air from beneath the stage, where a confederate works this end of " the trick, and causes the tree to 'grow' at the prearranged sig- nal." Decremps's signature writ- ten by himself on the last Later it was described as being page of a copy of his book now in the Harry Houdini accomplished entirely by springs, Library. and real oranges were first stuck on the tree by means of pegs or pins, and the leaves were so secured around them that at first appearance they could not be seen. Then a piston was used to spread all the leaves, another that forced the blossom up through the hollow branches, etc. Pinetti's personality was almost` as extraordinary as his talents. A handsome man who knew how to carry himself, acquiring the graces and the dress of the nobility, he became rather haughty, if not arrogant, in his bearing. He so antagonized his contemporaries in the fields of magic and literature that he was advertised as much by his bitter enemies as by his loving friends. Many of his methods of attracting attention to himself were singularly like those employed by modern press agents of theatrical stars. He never trusted to his performances in theatres and drawing-rooms to advertise his abilities, but demon- strated his art wherever he appeared, from barber-shops to cafés. [76] - |