What To Do and How To Do It

The Magnetic Ring. Take a gold ring,—the more massive the better. Attach the ring to a silk thread about twelve inches long; fasten the other end of the thread around the nail-joint of your right forefinger, and let the ring hang about half an inch above the surface of the table, on which you rest your elbow to steady your hand. Hold your finger horizontally, with the thumb thrown back as far as possible from the rest of the hand.

If there be nothing on the table, the ring will soon become stationary. Then place some silver (say three half-dollars) immediately below it, when the ring will begin to oscillate backwards and forwards, to you and from you. Now bring your thumb in contact with your forefinger (or else suspend the ring from your thumb), and the oscillations will become transverse to their former swing. Or this may be effected by making a lady take hold of your disengaged hand. When the transverse motion is fairly established, let a gentleman take hold of the lady’s disengaged hand, and the ring will change back to its former course. These effects are produced by the aid of animal magnetic currents given forth by the hands of the experimenters.

To Tell the Hour of the Day or Night by a Suspended Quarter. Sling a quarter or a dime at the end of a piece of thread by means of a loop; then, resting your elbow upon a table, hold the other end of the thread between your forefinger and thumb, and thus suspend the coin in an empty goblet. Observe, your hand must be perfectly steady; and if you find it difficult to keep it in an immovable posture, it is useless to attempt the experiment. Premising that the quarter is properly suspended, you will find that, when it has recovered its equilibrium, it will for a moment be stationary; it will then, of its own accord and without the least agency from the person holding it, assume the action of a pendulum, vibrating from side to side of the glass, and after a few seconds will strike the hour nearest to the time of day. It is necessary to observe that the thread should lie over the pulse of the thumb, and this may in some measure account for the vibration of the quarter, but to what cause its striking the precise hour is to be traced remains unexplained; for it is no less astonishing than true that when it has struck the proper number its vibration ceases, it acquires a kind of rotary motion and finally becomes stationary as before.

The Spirit Calculator. A piece of paper and a pencil are handed to the audience, with a request that four different persons will each write down a row of four figures, one under the other, to form an addition sum. The paper is then given to a fifth person to add up the figures, but before he can call out the result the performer writes it down on a blackboard.

The secret lies in the fact that the performer is in possession of a piece of paper exactly the same in every detail as that handed to the audience, on which, previous to the entertainment, he has had four rows of figures written in different handwritings. In the course of the entertainment, all is fair and aboveboard until it comes to adding up the sum, when the performer, in the act of giving the paper to the fifth person, changes it for that of his own, with the total of which he is already acquainted. He has now only to run to the stage and write down the answer on the blackboard.

A more startling conclusion than the prosaic one above mentioned may be obtained by the use of sympathetic ink, composed of sulphuric acid and water, one part of the former to three of the latter. Writing done with this ink will be invisible until heat be applied, which will bring out the characters in jet black.

The performer, then, being provided with a piece of paper bearing the answer written with the invisible ink, gives a plate containing a little alcohol to the person adding up the sum, and asks him to set fire to the alcohol, first, however, taking careful note of the total. The prepared piece of paper is now held over the flames caused by igniting the alcohol on the plate, when the heat will bring out the answer, which is proved to be correct. The greatest care should always be exercised in producing any kind of flame.

The Square of Sixteen Numbers. Arrange the numbers from 1 to 16 in a square, so that the sum of the figures in any row, vertical, horizontal, or diagonal, will be 34.

163213
510118
96712
415141

The Square of Nine Digits. How may nine digits be arranged in a rectangular form so that the sum of any row, whether horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, shall equal 15?

492
357
816

Making a Bird Enter a Cage. Draw upon a sheet of paper an empty bird-cage and then very near the cage at the right draw a bird. The problem is to make this bird enter the cage.

Place a visiting-card between the two figures, holding the card perpendicularly on the paper. Press the end of your nose on the border of the card and look at the cage and the bird. You will thus see the cage with your left eye and the bird with your right. But in a moment the bird will seem to move, then enter the cage.

The Handkerchief Snake. A fine black-silk thread is stretched across the stage from one side to the other, the ends being in the hands of two assistants. Having obtained the loan of a handkerchief, the performer, standing behind the thread, takes it diagonally by two corners and twists it up rope fashion. He then ties three knots in it, one a little below the centre, one a little above the centre, and the third at one end. While this is being done, the assistants raise the thread, around which the last knot, forming the head of a snake, is actually tied; but owing to the thread being invisible, this will pass unobserved.

Having made the last knot, the performer drops the handkerchief on the floor, when its imitation of a live snake will depend entirely on the adroit manner in which the assistants manipulate the thread.

Finally, it should be made to jump into the hand of the performer, who should at once hand it with the knots still tied to the owner. This is managed by the assistant at one end dropping the thread and the other one pulling it clear of the handkerchief. Other tricks may be invented.

To Pass your Body through a Postal Card. Fold the card once lengthwise in the middle so that there will be two equal flaps. Now commence at the folded edge and cut almost to the straight edge, double thickness, then commence at the straight edge and cut almost to the folded edge, and so on alternately, until there have been about twenty-five or thirty cuts made, leaving a very small margin between each cut. Then cut each loop on the folded edge except the two outside loops, and open.

Silhouettes. Choose a part of the room where there is a clear wall space. Attach a piece of silhouette paper to the wall with thumb tacks or pins (or against a broad board if you fear that the tacks may injure the wall), the white side of the paper being out.

A lamp, or better a candle, having been placed so that it will throw a strong light on the sheet of paper, turn off all the other lights in the room. Each one then takes his place between the lamp and the wall so that a clear shadow of his profile may be thrown on the paper. Now draw a firm, strong line carefully around this shadow. The sitter must sit perfectly still, during the drawing. If possible have a head-rest, the shadow of which must not be seen upon the paper. Having thus outlined the shadow, take the paper from the wall and cut out the silhouette neatly or pass it to another to do the same.

Gymnastics for the Tongue. Say these several times as rapidly and distinctly as you can: “She sells sea shells at the sea shore,” and these also: “John sawed six sleek, slim, slender saplings.” “There was an old woman and she was a thistle sifter. She had a sieve of sifted thistles, and a sieve of unsifted thistles, and she was a thistle sifter.” “Mixed biscuits.” “Gig whip.” “Six thick thistle sticks.” “She stood at the door welcoming him in.” “Shoes and socks shock Susan.”

The Passenger to Boulogne. The requirements for this touching picture are an orange, a pocket-handkerchief or soft table-napkin, and a wine-glass. The orange is first prepared by cutting in the rind with a pen-knife the best ears, nose, and mouth which the skill of the artist can compass, a couple of raisins supplying the place of eyes. A pocket-handkerchief is stretched lightly over the glass, and the prepared orange laid thereon.

The pocket-handkerchief is then moved gently backwards and forwards over the top of the glass, imparting to the orange a rolling motion, and affording a laughable but striking caricature of the agonies of a sea-sick Channel passenger.

The performance terminates by draping the pocket-handkerchief hood-fashion over the supposed head, and squeezing the orange into the glass. The last scene, however, is disagreeably realistic.

Mind-Reading. Before appearing to the audience, fasten a fine black thread to the thumb (or any part desired). The other end is retained by an assistant seated back to the audience, and in back from the performer, so that the thread will not be noticed. While the performer is promising a mind-reading exhibition, the assistant will have time to make the thread tight, and it must be kept so during the performance. Show a small blackboard, or some other similar arrangement, that can be held in one arm, and ask any one to secretly suggest figures, which are put down in columns, for the purpose of addition. The figures must be large enough for every one to see, and it is advisable not to have too many, as experience will show it takes too long for the trick. The performer then mentally adds the right column of figures, after which he secretly pulls the thread, fastened to the thumb, as many times as necessary to make the correct number. The assistant counts the little jerks, and then announces the number, which proves to be the correct number to set down. This is continued until all the figures are added. If the sum of a column is a “zero” no pull should be made. The details must be plainly understood between the performer and assistant, and with a little ingenuity the trick will seem quite puzzling.

Blowing a Card on Twine. Procure some of the nicest twine, that is hard, smooth, and very slippery, and cut into lengths of fifteen or twenty feet, according to room available, fastening both ends to something stationary. The number of these lines may be optional, but not less than two. On each line, near the end, place a card four inches square, with a hole exactly in the centre, about three times the diameter of the twine. Care must be taken that the hole is large enough to allow the card to move properly but not too freely. At a given signal the card is blown the length of the line. The one arriving at the end first, wins.

Naming a Card. This trick can be shown at any time and at any place where two performers are together and desire to show a little skill to amuse their friends. The idea in the trick is to announce that you can tell the name of a card written on a sheet of paper, the paper folded and placed on the table, all being done while you are out of the room. After you have announced the trick and have left the room, your assistant (who of course acts as if he were disinterested) takes a pencil, and when some one names the card he writes it on the paper and folds it up. For example, we will say that the four of diamonds was named. When he has finished writing the name of the card, he, in an offhand way, places the pencil on the table, so that the point would indicate four in an imaginary clock, he of course sitting opposite to six. The paper is then folded and placed in a casual way on the opposite side on the table, in a section which we will designate as diamonds. These sections may be like this: diamonds at the top of the imaginary clock, hearts at the right, clubs at the bottom, and spades at the left. The face of the clock can be imagined to be about a foot or so round. You may now be called in by anybody, and upon entering, you must, to make the trick effective, take up the paper, and hold it to your forehead as if in deep thought. Of course you have taken in at a glance the entire situation, and in a most mysterious way, name the card. In case a court card is named you will understand that a jack is eleven, a queen twelve, and if a king is named, the pencil is not laid down, the paper only being left to indicate the suit. Now some are bound to name the joker. In that case your assistant simply places the paper on top of the pencil or uses some other arrangement agreed upon.

A Horse Race. Each man in the party receives a little bag containing one hundred beans. Each woman adopts the name of some horse. Strips of tape or paper are fastened at one end of the room farthest away from where the races are to begin. All attached ends are on the same line. The loose ends are held by the women on the other side of the room, armed with scissors. The men bet their beans on the outcome of the race. At a given signal, each woman begins to cut the tape, the one to reach the end of her strand quickest being the winner. The narrowness of the tape obliges the women to work with extreme care, as well as quickly, for if the strand is cut before reaching the end, the “horse” is disqualified. When the first entries have been raced, if there are more women than strips, more come forward for another “heat,” and so on until all have competed. The man winning the most beans in all the races wins the prize, and each lady who comes out ahead receives something in appreciation of her dexterity.

A Jam-eating Contest. For this, thin slices of bread are spread with jelly or jam and placed upon a small plate at the edge of the table. Those who enter the contest must have their hands tied behind them, so that they are obliged to eat their bread and jam without touching it with a hand. The one who succeeds in disposing of his slice first receives a prize.

A Potato Race. Use peach-baskets for the goals. Potatoes, apples, or oranges are laid three feet apart in rows for the gathering contest. Each one must be picked up and carried on a spoon to the basket at the end of the row.

Guessing Contests. A pumpkin, a large ear of yellow field-corn, a pint of peanuts in the shell, a pound of pecans in the shell, a basket of apples, one chrysanthemum, a large bunch of Malaga grapes, and a bough of oak leaves are the requisites for this entertainment. These same articles may serve as decorations for the room during the evening. The game is to guess the number of parts of each one of the list, for instance:

How many grains on the ear of corn?

How many seeds in the pumpkin?

How many grapes in the bunch?

How many pecans in a pound?

How many petals on the chrysanthemum?

How many peanuts in a pint?

How many leaves on the oak bough?

How many apples in the basket?

Of course, the answers have actually been obtained beforehand, except in the case of the chrysanthemum, which is counted after the company have guessed.

A Phonograph Concert. The removal of a large screen exposes a most extraordinary contrast. It consists of a large square packing-box, the open side being set across a doorway leading into another room. On top of the box is fastened a clothes-wringer and a megaphone, while a curtain conceals the part of the doorway not hidden by the box. The record is a narrow slip of paper, yards in length, which is inserted between the rollers. The crank is turned and the record announced amidst a grating noise peculiar to phonographs. A person behind the scenes, with his head in the box, drawls out the subjects of the records, making the scraping noise by rubbing something rough against a tin can. The people who are to do the feats on the phonograph are in the room behind the curtain and, as their turns come, stick their heads into the box and shout through the megaphone, which is sticking out of the hole bored through the box.

To Lift Fifteen Matches with One. On a match place fourteen other matches so that one third of the match, with its phosphorus tip, will be in the air and the other end resting on the table. These ends should point alternately right and left. If one is asked to lift them, holding only one extremity of the lower match, it seems clear that the fourteen matches on top will fall to the table by the force of gravity. Here is a way to render the operation feasible. Above the matches and along the angle formed by the interlacement, place one last match. They can now be lifted safely by the extremity of the under match. The matches will take an oblique position, embracing the upper one within their angle as though they were possessed of jaws, and will remain without further support just as long as you wish. By preference, employ the largest matches you can find.

A Donkey Party. Each one tries, blindfolded, to pin a tail to a donkey drawn on a sheet. The prize is given to the one who comes nearest to pinning it in the right position.

The Dwarf Exhibit affords one of the most amusing entertainments, and will cause wonder to your friends as to where you got “him.”

Two persons play the dwarf, a third acting as the exhibitor, who should prepare beforehand a humorous speech, setting forth the history and accomplishments of the dwarf, which will be told later.

To arrange and dress the dwarf, place a table in a doorway between two rooms, and cover it with a cloth or a curtain that will reach to the floor on the side farthest from the audience. Or the table may be placed entirely in the room next to that in which the audience is seated, the edge of it reaching to the doorway, so that the curtains between may act as a screen while you are getting the dwarf ready.

One person stands behind the table and places his hands on it. These, with his arms, form the feet and legs of the dwarf. Over his arms should be drawn a pair of boy’s trousers, and on his hands should be a pair of shoes. The trousers should be drawn down until they reach the heels, like a man’s. This completes the lower part of the dwarf.

The second person stands behind the first and passes his arms around his shoulders. By putting a coat over the arms and buttoning it down the figure of the first impersonator and then throwing a cape around his neck so arranged as to cover the head of the person behind, you will complete the dwarf’s dress.

Of course, you may have to improvise a jacket to fit, or you may dress the dwarf fantastically, as a Turk, or woman, for instance, but the means of doing so will suggest themselves readily.

The hands of the second person act as the hands of the dwarf, and as the latter makes his appearance they raise his hat when he bows to the audience. The exhibitor then begins his history, which can be made very ludicrous; and he should recite the various accomplishments of the dwarf, including dancing, and even his ability to suspend himself in the air without support.

The dwarf should then be invited to entertain the audience, and he should begin by making a little speech, in either a thin falsetto or a heavy bass voice, assumed, of course, to add to the grotesque effect. The second player makes gestures to the speech, which in themselves will create a laugh.

Then the dwarf should begin to dance. The hands of the first performer do this, and all of a sudden, in the middle of a quickstep, they both are lifted from the table and remain suspended in the air for a quarter of a minute. Then they drop to the table again, and the dwarf appears to be exhausted with this unusual effort.

In making his parting salute to the audience the dwarf astonishes them all by putting both feet to his mouth and throwing kisses with his toes.

Stick-and-Pea Amusement. A box of toothpicks and a pint of dried peas will furnish excellent amusement for children on a rainy day. Soak the peas until they can be pierced with a toothpick. Tables, chairs, boxes, figures, letters, etc., can be made by sticking the toothpicks into the peas.

An Introduction to the Doll Family. If you straighten a hairpin, then bend one end of it until it resembles a shepherd’s crook, and hang it on the edge of a table, it will swing back and forth many times like the pendulum of a clock. The slightest touch sets it in motion, and if you have just the right angle to the crook it will sway back and forth many times.

Suppose you fix several hairpins in this fashion and set them all to swinging at once. It will much resemble a lot of very slender gentlemen bobbing up and down in stately, graceful bows. Very well; suppose we have some real gentlemen to bow to us. Get two or three old magazines and look through the advertising sections. You will find lots and lots of figures of all kinds, men, women, and animals; some of them just the size you want. Cut out some of these very carefully, selecting those just a little longer than your bent hairpins.

Now thrust a hairpin through one of the figures and hang the bent end of the hairpin on the edge of a table; or, better still, a big book whose cover overlaps the leaves inside. Blow gently at the figure and it will answer by bowing most politely, bobbing back and forth in the funniest way you can imagine. Now fix the rest of the figures in the same way and you will have one of the most amusing collections of dolls that ever was. Whenever you blow at them, they all will nod and bow at once, but no two will move alike, for the shapes of their figures will all be different, and the different ways in which their weight or centre of gravity inclines them will cause the various motions.

Just try it with some of your little friends and see what fun these odd little actors will make for you.

Second Sight. This cannot fail to make a hit, providing the rule is not generally known by the audience.

Take a piece of paper and write on it the figures 1,089. Fold this paper and ask one of your spectators to place it in his pocket without looking at it. Now ask another spectator to think of three figures (a). He having done so, get him to write them upon another piece of paper. Now ask him to write the same figures under the first row, only in reverse (b) order. Subtract the smaller from the larger (c). Now reverse the remainder (d) and your total will be the answer on the piece of paper in the first spectator’s pocket. For instance:

(a) Number thought of621
(b) Result of reversion126
——
(c)““subtraction495
(d)““second reversion594
——
(e)““addition1,089

The Blind Feeding the Blind. Spread a sheet on the floor, and having blindfolded two players, seat them on the floor facing each other. Give to each a spoon and saucer containing some dry food such as ground pop-corn or wheat grains and let each attempt to feed the other.

An Amateur Vaudeville. For the entertainment of a large number of people, an amateur vaudeville program meets every requirement, and does so in a unique manner.

If you go over your list of friends and acquaintances, you will find among them many a clever person who has some talent which can be utilized in preparing the program; this one can dance, that recite, another sings coon songs, some do “cake-walks,” some play, others sing, one can tell an Irish story or a Dutch one, or perhaps perform a feat of legerdemain, and so on, until your program is filled.

The Elusive Coin. Set a coin upon the edge of a table, and, closing one eye by the opposite hand (that is, the left eye closed by the right hand and vice-versa); attempt to knock it off with the forefinger of the disengaged hand.

You will find that your judgment is at fault, and that, in nine cases out of ten you are dabbing away at nothing but thin air.

To do this effectively, you should stand at arm’s length from the coin, and you will be surprised at your apparent bad judgment.

Novel Paper-Cutting. A long strip of paper is shown to the audience; it is then rolled up into cylindrical form, a few cuts are made with a scissors, or if the paper is not too thick, it may be torn with the fingers. You make a twist or two, and the audience are surprised to see what a good resemblance to a “fir tree,” five or more feet in length, makes its appearance in the performer’s hands. This is managed in the following way: Cut a strip of paper about nine feet long and eight inches wide; to increase the effect, the strip of paper can be made up of three or four short lengths of different colored papers pasted together. Roll the paper up into a cylinder of about 1¼ inches in diameter, then with a pair of scissors make cuts through the cylinder from one end, to halfway down its length. These cuts should be at small, equal distances from each other around the roll. Then bend over into horizontal position each piece of loose paper to form the branches of the tree, pull out from the centre of the top in the same way as for the familiar barber’s pole; the tree will then be complete.

To thoroughly grasp the idea, the instruction should be carefully followed with scissors and paper in hand.

The Mysterious Remainder. A mother of several children amused them frequently by the following simple puzzle. It was a never-failing source of entertainment and a delightful mystery. She never told the secret. Had she done so, much of the charm would have been lost.

“Think of a number.”

Perhaps some one would think of four.

“Double it.”

The child thought, but did not say eight.

Perhaps she would say, “Add six to it.”

“Divide it by two.”

“Take away the first number you thought of and the remainder will be three.”

Sure enough, four from seven does leave three; the children were much puzzled to know how mother knew. The next thing was always a request to try it again.

Suppose 1000 was chosen.

“Double it,” was the order.

“Add ten to it,” was the next command.

“Divide by two.”

“Take away the first number thought of and the remainder will be five.”

One might think of six, another of eleven, another of twenty. The result was the same. Mother could always guess right.

When the children grew older they were surprised to learn that mother did not know the number thought of at all. They learned for themselves that the remainder was always half of the number added.

Home Field-Sports. (a) One-Yard Dash. This race consists in the attempt to push a penny a distance of one yard across the floor by means of the nose.

(b) Tug of War. A raisin is tied firmly in the middle of a long piece of twine, and each contestant takes a firm hold of one end of the twine in his mouth, and begins to chew this string for the raisin. No one is allowed to use his hands.

(c) Standing High Jump. Three doughnuts are suspended in a doorway about four inches above the mouths of the jumpers. The contestants with hands tied attempt to take a bite. One bite from the doughnut wins a prize.

(d) Hurdle Race. The contestants take seats and thread six needles. The one who gets through first is the winner.

(e) Drinking Race. Each contestant is given a glass of water, which is to be absorbed by means of a spoon.

(f) Bun Race. Two poles are set up at a good distance apart, connected with a clothesline, from which are suspended strings of different lengths, according to the height of each boy, and a bun is tied to each string. The boys line up, hands tied behind their backs, and at the signal each tries to eat his bun. The constant moving of the line caused by their efforts makes it almost impossible to get a bite. Soon a boy gets a hold with his teeth, gets his bun on the ground, and, with his hands still behind, finishes the bun and gets the prize.

(g) Cracker-eating Contest (for girls only). Girls choose sides and line up facing each other. Each girl has a cracker which she is to chew and swallow as quickly as possible. The side which has a girl able to whistle first wins the prize.

(h) Rainy-Day Race. This race is run by several girls. They stand in a line with a closed satchel in front of each one, in which is a pair of rubbers, a pair of gloves, and also an umbrella. When “three” is counted, they open the satchels, take out the rubbers, put them on, take out the gloves, put them on, open their umbrellas, take the satchels and walk (not run) about one hundred feet to a line. Here they lower the umbrellas, take off their gloves and rubbers, put them in the satchels, close them and return, carrying the satchels and having the umbrellas closed. The first one back to the starting point wins. Other additions may be made.

The Gentlemen Nurse-maids. It is best to have several ladies, who know the trick, to dress the dummies, as it is too long a task for one.

When the gentlemen are seated, carefully blindfold each one, and request him to double up his right fist. Upon the back of the fist mark the eyes, nose, and mouth of a face with a burnt match or a little water-color. Tie around this a doll’s cap, or a lace frill or muslin ruffle, and fasten around the wrist a full white apron or skirt. Bend the left arm to lie across the waist, and put the right fist into the inner bend of the elbow, drawing the apron down over the right arm, and each of the blindfolded gentlemen will appear to be tenderly nursing a young baby. Have blindfolds removed.

New Year’s Resolutions for Others. The simplest entertainments are often the most successful. The literary efforts are sometimes desirable, but for a really enjoyable, social time, the following is sure to be a success. This should be arranged on New Year’s eve. Resolutions for improvement in conduct for the coming year are then in order. Supply your guests with pencil and paper. A party invited to see the old year out is quite sure to be an intimate one. For the resolutions, have each guest write a set of them for some one else in the party. This may be decided by inviting each one to write of his neighbor or by writing the names on paper and letting each one draw his subject. They are to be collected and read to the company. The writer is at liberty to sign any name to his resolutions.

Can You Draw a Watch-face? Some people have the happy faculty of seeing what they look at, others go through the world blindly. We may look at a familiar object numberless times, and yet be ignorant of many of its striking characteristics. An amusing little test of this faculty can be arranged. There is no object with which we should be more familiar than the face of a watch, yet when we attempt to reproduce it, we will be astonished at our ignorance.

Have prepared squares of cardboard with pencil attached. If it is designed to use them as souvenirs, one side may be decorated, and the date and occasion written on it.

Provide one of these for each guest, and when you are ready for your entertainment request each of the company to draw on the blank side, the face of a watch as he can remember it. It is well to furnish something to use as a guide for the first circle, as that has very little to do with the memory of detail, and only rarely is one able to draw even an imperfect circle. Allow all the time required, and when the papers are collected, a committee can judge on the merits, if it is designed to give a prize.

The Endless Thread. The joker is seen walking about, until some one observes a piece of white cotton thread sticking on the back of his coat. Of course, the unfortunate individual is asked whether he has been sewing his buttons on, etc., being generally laughed at, until some one attempts to remove the piece of cotton. Then the laugh is turned, for, as the obliging gentleman pulls the cotton away from the joker’s coat, so does it become longer until some hundreds of feet have been extracted. The amusement is then brought to a climax by the gentleman turning round and drily remarking, “Well, I never! You had better start putting that back now!”

Before entering the room, the party that is going to play the joke should provide himself with a reel of white cotton. Without breaking the cotton, two or three feet must be unwound and threaded through a needle, which must be passed through the centre of the back of his coat. Then the reel should be deposited in his inside breast pocket, and the coat put on; afterwards pulling a little of the cotton through the garment to see that the reel works properly; the needle, of course, being removed, and the cotton being cut until only two or three inches project through the coat at the back. Now it will appear that the cotton is only sticking to the nap of the coat, but as soon as any one pulls, the reel will revolve and allow the thread to be dragged out until the supply is exhausted.

The Telltale Glass. Procure an ordinary glass tumbler, and invert it on the table. Then request anybody present to lend you a penny. Placing the coin on the top of the glass, you leave the room, telling the company at the same time, that if a person will take the penny and conceal it, you will tell them, when you return, which person has it.

Some one having concealed the coin, you make your appearance, and request each one round the table to place his first finger on the glass, one after another, and not all at once. This done, you take up the glass, and place it to your ear, remarking at the same time that, by the aid of the sound which you hear, you will be able to tell which person has the coin. Then you listen for a second or two, put down the glass, and turning to the person who has the coin, make some remark, such as “Mr. ——, please give me the penny.” Whereupon the person addressed produces the coin and hands it to you.

How you got to know who possesses the coin will seem remarkable to the company, you having been out of the room when the coin was taken off the glass and concealed.

This is how it is done: when you tell the persons to place their fingers upon the glass, your confederate, who is one of them, must place his on after the person who has the coin.

Pairing Ten Half-dimes. Place ten half-dimes in a row upon a table. Then taking up any one of the series, place it upon some other, with this proviso, that you pass over just ten cents. Repeat this till there are no single half-dimes left.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 half-dimes.

Place 4 upon 1, 7 upon 3, 5 upon 9, 2 upon 6, and 8 upon 10.

Deceptive Heights. (a) Ask a person, or several persons, to point out with a finger or walking-cane, on a wall, above a table, about what he supposes to be the height of an ordinary hat. You will find he will place his mark about a foot above the table. Place the hat under it, and he will find, to his surprise, that the space indicated is more than double the height of the hat.

(b) The height of a common flour-barrel is just the length of a horse’s face, and much merriment may be made by asking the company to mark their idea of the height of a flour-barrel upon the wall. In nine cases out of ten the mark will be several inches, or even a foot, too high.

Slang. The players may be young or old and of both sexes. They are given pencils and paper and asked to write down all the slang words they can think of in five minutes. When the time limit is reached the hostess collects the papers, and reads the names and the list of slang words aloud.

This is where the fun commences. Imagine a quiet little mouse of a woman having the following expressions to her credit: “Soak him,” “Chase yourself,” etc. Imagine a dignified old gentleman writing the following: “Put out his lamps,” “Me for the dreamy eyes,” etc. In one case, a lawyer seemed to be right at home, and at the end of the five minutes had a list of thirty expressions. But the prize unexpectedly went to a little lady who could think of only one word of slang. In presenting it, the hostess said, “You have used the best English, and the best slang.”

The lawyer, whose list of slang was the longest, received a booby prize. The point, of course, is that the least slang is the best.

Observation Contest. Have on tables and pinned on curtains, etc., quantities of small objects. Provide pads for all and let each have three minutes to observe each table, each part of the room, etc., and then five minutes to note down in another room all that she remembers to have seen. This is great fun. The prize should be given to the one with the keenest power of observation.

The Bargain-Counter Game. The Christmas bargain-counter is a charming fireside game for Christmas night that will amuse and at the same time instruct the nursery children. The bargain-counter may be the nursery table set in front of the fireplace or hearth. On the counter are laid as many as one likes of the toys which the children received from tree and Christmas stockings. One child is chosen to take charge of this play toy shop, and a second child leaves the room after looking carefully first at all the toys on the counter to determine their names. While this child is absent from the room a third child selects and hides one of the toys. When the second child returns he must try at one guess to say which of the toys was sold during his absence. If he guesses successfully he may be the next toyman. To make the game more difficult two or more toys may be hidden. Another and slightly more difficult way of playing the bargain-counter game is to have the toyman change the positions of the toys while the child is out of the room. The child on returning must rearrange them, if he can, in exactly the same positions. They may be scraps of color instead of toys. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet ribbons, balls or Christmas tree candles may be laid out in the order of the rainbow colors. While one child is either blindfolded or outside the room, the child in charge of the colors removes one from sight or alters the color order, and the other child must guess the hidden color or restore the rainbow order on his return.

The “Thirty-five” Trick. An envelope, handed to any person in the company at the outset, contains a slip of paper, bearing the number 35. This is kept in the person’s pocket until the close of the trick; or the number 35 can be written on the inside of a trick slate, or elsewhere, for production in due course.

The performer now goes around with a slip of paper, which he hands to some one, with a request to place any single figure thereon. This done, he gives the paper to a second person to place another figure under the first, and so on to as many persons in succession as necessary. As each figure is written, he secretly adds all together until the total reaches 26 or over; when this is the case, he stops calling for more figures and, retaining the paper, remarks, “That will do, thank you, but I would like to place this gentleman’s initials on the paper for the purpose of identification.” The initials are given and written on the paper by the performer, who at the same time takes the opportunity thus afforded of placing another figure, to make the sum total 35, at the foot of those already written. This done, the paper may be handed to any person to add up the sum, for the simple reason that the trick cannot now fail. Of course no one ever thinks of checking the number of figures on the paper with the number of persons who wrote them. The envelope containing the slip of paper is now opened, and the two amounts compared.

An Ink Shock. Cut a piece of black paper to imitate spilled ink. Lay it flat on a white table cover. Beside it, place an upset dry ink bottle. This will shock the mistress of the house.

Reading from Folded Papers. For this trick, you enlist the service of a friend. Each one is given a slip of paper and told to write on it a question. Fold up well and drop into a hat. Mix them up, and, holding the hat over your head, pick out any paper, and without unfolding it, answer the question, doing the same with the rest.

In order to do this, you must know your friend’s question, and as you collect the papers, slip it under the band inside the hat. When performing, take any slip, but answer your friend’s question first. Now open, to prove yourself right, and thereby see another question. This is answered while the next is held, and so on until the last, when all and the one in the hat are mixed and left for the audience for investigation.

Blind Man’s Buff with Dominoes. Sit opposite another player, each placing his right foot on the other’s left. Turn the dominoes face down and the game now begins. Of course each one must look at his domino before he plays it, but he does not show it to the other. The pressure of your foot on his shows the number with which you begin, without the possibility of a blunder, although playing the dominoes face downward. He now counts the movements of your foot, which indicate the number he is to match. He then presses your foot with the number you are to match. This is continued until all the dominoes are played. When the game is finished, turn the dominoes over to show that the numbers have been played with perfect exactness.

“My Aunt Has Arrived from Paris.” A circle is formed, all kneeling on the floor. The leader says to the one on his right side, “My aunt has arrived from Paris,” and the one addressed, asks the question, “What did she bring you?” The leader answers, “A pair of scissors,” and at once imitates the opening and shutting of the scissors with two fingers. This same question is asked, answered, and imitated by each one around the circle.

The leader again says, “My aunt has arrived from Paris,” and the one addressed asks, “What did she bring you?” The leader, still keeping up the scissors motion, says, “A fan,” and at once imitates fanning with the other hand. This goes around the circle as before.

The leader then announces in the same way, “A Japanese doll,” and imitates by bowing his head backward and forward, which goes around the circle. Then a rocking-horse is announced by the leader, and is imitated by moving the body up and down, all the while remaining on the knees. This also goes around the circle.

Finally in the same manner the leader announces a cuckoo, and immediately gives the imitation of a cuckoo, which is also done in turn around the circle. All five imitations are to be kept up continuously by each one until the players are exhausted. The one holding out the longest is the winner.

Surprising Strength. Just lightly put the tips of your fingers together. If you invite any one to separate them by taking your wrists and trying to draw them apart in a direct line with each other, they will be surprised to find that no amount of strength will avail them at all, as the thing is really almost impossible.

Place your clenched fists one upon the other, and ask some one to separate them by pushing them aside. They will be quite unable to do so, although you are exerting your strength but little against them.

Let them, however, approach you with the forefingers only, and give a sharp rap at your knuckles in opposite directions. You will find in this case that you are quite powerless against this, and cannot keep your fists together at all.

Card-passing Contest. Divide the players equally and seat them in two rows facing each other. The leader of each row is provided with a pack of playing cards. At a given signal, each leader passes one card to the next person, who in his turn gives it to the next person, and so on down the line until the last one drops it on the floor beside him.

The side that gets the last card on the floor first wins the game. The cards may be passed to the right on each side, moving in opposite directions.

A Cobweb Tangle. Have as many balls of twine as there are players. Starting at a given point, fasten each end securely. Starting from this point, wind the twine in every conceivable place, wherever you care to have the players go; under tables, around chairs, door-knobs, upstairs, and anywhere that can be made difficult without doing any injury to the surroundings. When the winding is completed, fasten the string to a small round stick about three or four inches long. All this should be done before the guests arrive, as it takes some time to do it. When ready for the game, have the guests draw the sticks and then proceed to wind the twine until they arrive at the end. The one arriving there first wins a prize.

A Novel Masquerade. Each gentleman receives a printed card asking him to call at the house of a lady who is to be his partner for the evening. The ladies change places with one another, so that when the gentlemen call for them, they will not be in their home but in the home of one of the other ladies. As the ladies are masked and do not have to talk, the gentlemen never find out their mistake until all are unmasked.

Hit the Bag. A bag about the size of a person’s head, or larger if desired, made of tissue paper, or other very thin paper, containing candy, is suspended from the ceiling by a string so that it will be about six feet from the floor. A person is blindfolded and a cane, or a stick about the length of a cane, is placed in the person’s two hands, allowing the farther end to touch the bag. The performer is then requested to take three steps backward and then turn around three times, alone. When this is done, he is requested to take three steps forward, strike three times and break the bag. The cane can have only a perpendicular motion. Each one tries the same, until the bag is broken, when all present scramble to see who will gather the most candy.

A Pretended Illusion. Place three coins on a table, coins 1 and 2 being only a short distance from each other, while the coins 2 and 3 are more than double the distance apart. Now point out to a spectator that a curious optical illusion can be observed by placing one eye on the level of the table edge and looking along the line of the coins. The spectator having done so, ask him which two coins he considers are the farthest away from each other and to point them out. He will probably point out coins two and three. You immediately point to the coins 1 and 3, and say you consider these coins are the farthest away from each other.

Dancing Fairies. Most of you have seen the smooth, round beans called “magic beans.” They were brought to this country several years ago from the East Indies, and were a great curiosity until their secret was discovered.

First get a half-dozen or more of the dancing or “magic” beans. These are now sold in most of the large Japanese stores.

Cut out a half-dozen of tiny paper dolls. They must be made so that they are light, and so that their feet can be pasted securely to both sides of the bean. Cut out skirts of tissue paper which will cover the dolls’ legs and hide the beans without touching them. When these are made so that they will balance well, place them upon a heated plate and soon every little fairy will begin to dance in a mysterious way.

Describing a Lady’s Costume. When the guests arrive, have them all meet in one room. Every gentleman is presented with a card on which is written the name of some lady present, and the hostess announces that each gentleman must talk five minutes to the lady whose name his card bears. The reason for the conversation is not divulged. At the end of the appointed time, the ladies withdraw, and then the men are told to each write out a description of the dress the lady wore, the color of her eyes, of her hair, the fashion of wearing it, etc., etc. The ladies are now admitted and each one stands out, while a description of herself and costume is read aloud.

The Wonderful Hat. Upon a table place three pieces of bread, or any other eatable, at a little distance from each other, and cover each with a hat. Take up the first hat, and, removing the bread, put it into your mouth, letting the company see that you swallow it. Then raise a second hat and eat the bread which is under that, then proceed to the third hat in the same manner. Having eaten the three pieces, ask any person in the company to choose which hat he would like the three pieces of bread to be under, and when he has made his choice of one of the hats, put it on your head and ask him if he does not think they are under it.

Mirror-Drawing. To carry out this test you will need a sheet of paper, a mirror about the width of the paper, a pencil, and another sheet of paper or a large card or book.

Lay the paper flat on the table. Then prop up the mirror opposite you and the paper so that it is at right angles with the paper and reflects it. You may stand the mirror against a pile of books if it has no standard of its own. After you have done this, take the extra sheet of paper in your left hand and hold it so that it is between your eyes and the piece of paper which is lying on the table. You must hold the piece of paper in your left hand so that you cannot see the paper lying on the table, except in the mirror.

You are now ready to begin drawing, first announcing what you intend to draw. It should be some simple object, represented by some few straight lines, such as a kite, a box, or a square, with a straight line going from each corner diagonally across. You draw with your right hand, holding the paper with your left, so that you cannot see what progress you are making except in the mirror. Watch the mirror all the time until the drawing is completed.

The Dancing Skeleton. Get a piece of board about the size of a large school slate and have it painted black. The paint should be what is known as a dead color, without gloss or brightness. (A large school slate would answer the purpose.) Sketch out the figure of a skeleton on a piece of cardboard and arrange it after the manner of the dancing sailors and other cardboard figures for sale in toy stores, so that by holding the figure by the head in one hand and pulling a string with the other, the figure will throw up his legs and arms in a very ludicrous manner.

Make the connections of the arms and legs with black string and let the pulling-string be also black. Tack the skeleton by the head to the blackboard. The figure, having been cut out is of course painted black, like the board.

Now to perform: Produce the board showing only the side upon which there is nothing. Request that the lights may be reduced about half, and take position at a little distance from the company. With a piece of chalk make one or two attempts to draw a figure; rub out your work as being unsatisfactory; turn the slate; the black figure will not be perceived; touch the edge of the cardboard figure with the chalk, filling up ribs, etc., taking care that nothing moves while the drawing is progressing. Then manipulate with the fingers. By pulling the string below the figure it will of course kick up its legs and throw about its arms, to the astonishment of everybody.

Pitching Cards at a Hat. Borrow a gentleman’s hat and try to throw a pack of cards from a distance of two or three feet, throwing the cards in one at a time.

Peanut Guessing. Fill a dish with peanuts, and let each one guess how many are contained in it; the one who guesses nearest wins.

Peanut Shelling. Give each contestant ten peanuts, and at a signal let all begin to shell them, removing also the inner skin. The one who finishes first, without breaking a kernel, wins. If one breaks into more than the two natural divisions of the nut, another peanut must be shelled in its place.

Peanut-rolling. Place peanuts across one side of the room at interval of about three feet. Give each contestant a toothpick. At a given word they all commence to roll the peanuts across the room with the toothpicks. The one who first gets his peanut across the room is the victor. Another row of contestants then take their places in the same way. After all are through the victors in the different contests have a final contest.

The Peanut Hunt. Peanuts are previously hidden in every conceivable place in the rooms to which the guests have access. The finder of the greatest number receives a prize.

Progressive Peanut Party. This is played exactly as all other progressive games. Arrange tables to seat four, choose partners, and provide score cards.

In the centre of each table, place a bowl containing one hundred peanuts in the shell, and lay a long, new, common hat-pin at each place. At the head table have a bell. Before being seated to play, each guest is to have the right hand securely tied down to the side by a ribbon or fancy cord. When ready to commence, a player rings a bell at the head table, and all begin to spear nuts from the bowl; when the bowl is empty at the head table, the bell is rung and all count to see how many nuts they have, the two having made the best score, progress, first replacing the nuts into the bowl ready for the next game; the cards are then punched according to the score and the game proceeds.

Five hundred may be the score limit, the one who first gets the five hundred winning; or it may be decided to have the game end when the players at the head of the table return to that table, or at least two of them.

Your Friends in Black. There are various advantages about a silhouette party. It admits of no small amusement, for occasionally the queerest object may be twisted to fit a name. The first thing to do is to prepare a list of your guests and find for each name something that will represent it. Set the wits of the entire family at work, for on this task two heads are infinitely better than one.

The longer time you have for the “rebusing” of the names the more entertaining the list will prove. Do not leave out a friend because at first it seems almost impossible to picture his name. The same license is allowed for a rebus as for poetry, and a point may be stretched to make the drawing fit the name, although it is not best to leave too much to the imagination.

For the mechanical part of the work provide ragged-edged cards of various sizes. One name will demand a long, narrow card for its representation; another name, a square card. The best surface for this purpose is a heavy, water-color paper which is neither smooth nor rough. Do not cut it. Crease it in such lengths as you wish to use, then tear it with a very blunt paper-knife. This gives an excellent ragged edge. Take the designs you have planned to use and trace them over black carbon copying paper on each card, leaving a generous margin. Sketch no detail except the mere outline of a figure. Fill a pen with India ink and go very carefully over the outline. Allow it to dry; then with a rather stiff, small sable brush dipped in the ink fill in the silhouette till it is perfectly black and even. Allow it to dry, and add in one corner the number which corresponds with the list. There is a good deal to learn in the adaptation of a design for a silhouette. If a human figure is chosen let it generally be in profile. As a rule, a full-face figure, either in an animal or a man, is almost meaningless unless it is full of action. When the silhouettes are completed, they should be pinned up in a conspicuous place, so that they may all be seen and examined easily and prizes awarded to the most successful guessers.