IN-DOORS DECORATION
By Ellis Stanyon
The first of this series of papers on Magic, commencing with the March number, included directions to the beginner for Palming and the Pass.
The first of this series of papers on Magic, commencing with the March number, included directions to the beginner for Palming and the Pass.
Tricks with Handkerchiefs.—For the following experiments, you will require three fifteen-inch silk handkerchiefs, an ordinary small sliding match-box, a candle in a candlestick, and a conjuring wand; also a false finger and a conjuring pistol, hereafter described.
You prepare for the series of tricks by rolling up one of the handkerchiefs very small and pushing it into the match-box, which you open about one inch for the purpose; another is rolled up and placed behind the collar on the left-hand side of the neck; and the last is loaded into the false finger and placed in the right-hand trousers pocket. You are now ready to commence.
Handkerchief and Candle.—“Ladies and gentlemen, the following experiment was suggested to me at the age of twelve, while studying chemistry. I then learned that all matter was indestructible. Proof of this, as you are well aware, is afforded with an ordinary candle. You may light a candle at one end and let it burn to the other, but you do not destroy the matter of which it is composed. What really takes place is the formation of new substances, as hydrogen, carbon, water, etc., which any of the text books on chemistry will explain. I will, however, give you one striking illustration.”
Pick up the match-box and, while taking a match therefrom, push the handkerchief into the right hand, and throw the box down on the table. Take the candle from the candlestick and place it in the right hand, which masks the presence of the handkerchief. You now appear to take something from the flame of the candle with the left hand, which you close as if it really contained an article. Open the hand slowly, looking surprised to find that you have failed and remark: “Well, really, I cannot understand this. I am generally successful with this trick. Oh! I know what is the matter. You see, I am using the left hand. If you do things left-handed they can’t possibly be right. I will try the right hand.” Saying this, you place the candle in the left hand and immediately produce the handkerchief from the flame, closing the hand as before. It now only remains for you to open the hand and develop the silk slowly.
To Fire a Handkerchief into a Gentleman’s Hair.—For the purpose of this trick you will have to make use of what is known as a conjuring pistol, which, being in constant use in magical surprises, I will describe. It consists of an ordinary pistol fitted with a conical tin tube eight inches long. The mouth of this tube is about two inches in diameter, and is supplied with a tin cup one and one-half inches deep, having its outer edge turned over all around so as to afford a ready grip to the palm. The conical tube is fitted with an inner tube to keep it firm on the barrel of the pistol (Fig. 10).
Pistol with conical extension over barrel and cap for extension.Fig. 10
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
Taking up the pistol, you place the two handkerchiefs, which look like one, in the cup; push them well down and remark: “I shall now fire direct at the gentleman’s head, and after the shot the handkerchief will be found firmly imbedded in his hair, and will, not unlikely, be seen protruding from one of his ears. It just depends on the force of the shot, you know, and I need hardly say I loaded the pistol myself, and am totally ignorant of firearms. Are you ready, sir? Then good-by!” Place the muzzle of the pistol in the left hand while you shake hands with the gentleman. In taking the pistol back into the right hand to fire it, you leave the cup behind in the left hand, and, at the instant you pull the trigger, you drop it into the pocket on the left side. When discharging the pistol you will, of course, stand with your right side to the audience.
You now ask the gentleman to take the handkerchief from his hair, telling him that it is just behind his left ear; and, while he is trying to find it, you stand with your hands in your trousers pockets, telling him to make haste, you cannot wait all evening. When he has tried some time and failed to find it, you take your hands from your pockets, having got the false finger into position between the second and third fingers. Showing the hands back and front (the addition of the extra finger will not be noticed), you pass them several times over the head of the gentleman, then, lowering them to his head, you detach the finger and draw out the handkerchief. The false finger is then laid down on the table under cover of the handkerchief.
False finger.Fig. 11
Fig. 11
Fig. 11
The finger is made of thin spun brass, painted flesh color. It is quite hollow from tip to root, and is shaped for fitting between the second and third fingers (Fig. 11). It can be used in many tricks, and is really an indispensable accessory to the amateur magician.