CHAPTER II.TABLE LIFTING.
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Mostspiritualistic performers usually perform a test of table lifting or of floating tables. Small, light tables are lifted by the mere “laying on of hands.” The arms are raised in the air and the table is seen to cling to the hands and follow every motion. This is accomplished by a pin driven well into the table, projecting above the table about a quarter of an inch. There is a good-sized head to this pin. The performer wears a ring with a slot in it. The body of the pin easily enters the slot in the ring, but the head of the pin being of good size prevents the table from falling away from the hand. After the table has been floated successfully an extra strong upward pressure of the hand pulls the pin out and the table can be examined. This trick may be performed when the table is covered with a borrowed silk handkerchief, as the handkerchief, being of fine, soft texture, does not prevent the pin slipping into the slot cut into the ring. This addition makes the trick a little more effective.
There is also another method employed of raising a table which has been examined beforehand by a committee, who also examine the performer’s hands to see that there is no sticky substance on them. In this method, instead of havinga slot cut into the ring, a strong needle point is soldered to the outside of the ring and at a slight angle to it. This ring is placed upon the performer’s hand so that the point is sticking toward the tips of his fingers. The ring may be turned upon his finger so that the point can be concealed between the fingers when his hands are being examined. When he performs this trick he merely turns the point around to the inside of his hand, and the top of the table being of some soft texture, such as cardboard or wood covered with felt, he is able to push this needle point well into the top of the table, and is thus able to raise it without trouble.
Small, light tables are sometimes floated in the air with the performer holding his hand well above the table and not touching it at all. This is easily accomplished by having two strings running from one side of the stage to the other worked by assistants. They merely raise these strings from the floor so they come underneath the table, when by a little effort they are able to raise the table completely off the floor.
This little trick is usually performed in connection with some other handkerchief trick or with some act in hypnotism.
The performer having borrowed a handkerchief from some one in the audience for some trick, before returning same to the owner states that he is going to try and make the handkerchief stand alone. He ties a knot in one corner of the handkerchief, rubs it between his hands, “to endow it with magnetism,” and then places same on the floor. At hiscommand the handkerchief rises or falls, it dances to music, and altogether acts in a very strange manner. He now picks the handkerchief up and carries it forward to its owner.
There are several methods of performing this little experiment, and, while not much of a trick in itself, if well presented it is very interesting. The old method used to be of having a string extending from the floor to the ceiling and thence passing over a small pulley to the back or side of the stage. On the end of the string on the stage was a small bent pin or a pellet of wax. The performer when tying the knot in the handkerchief stuck the pin in the corner of same or stuck the wax to the handkerchief, whichever method was used. His assistant from the side of the stage was now able to operate the handkerchief. This was somewhat of a clumsy method, as it took a little dexterity to release the handkerchief from the string after the performance. The method now usually employed, and on which the details are worked out with care, is to have a fine black string passing from one side of the stage to the other. The performer has an assistant at both sides. When he is to perform this trick they raise the string to the height of his hands, and in tying the knot in the handkerchief he ties it loosely around the string. He now drops it to the floor, and at his command the assistants are able to raise the handkerchief and make it move forward and backward in a very mystifying manner. To heighten the effect the performer passes a chair or a tambourine over the handkerchief, thus showing that there is no connection made from above, which is the method usually supposed to be employed. Now, when he returns the handkerchief one assistant drops his end of the string and theother holds his firmly, and the performer walking down to the front of the stage with the handkerchief, the string is drawn through the knot.
Another method of fastening the string to the handkerchief may be employed where the performer is able to carry the handkerchief to the side of the stage before performing the experiment. In this case he passes a needle to which is attached a thread through a corner of the handkerchief, and then walks to the other side of the stage, where he gives one assistant an end of the string, the other end being held by the assistant on the first side.
There is also another method of performing this, in which the performer passes a solid hoop completely over and around the handkerchief while it is suspended in the air This little contrivance, being one of my own, consists of a fine piece of wire made on the same plan as the apparatus used in suspending a woman in mid-air, which I will explain in the next chapter.