“THE APPEARING LADY.”
Of the many new illusions recently presented in Europe, an ingenious one is that of the appearing lady, the invention of that clever Hungarian magician Buatier de Kolta.
TABLE READY FOR THE APPEARANCE.
On the stage is seen a plain round top four-leg table, which the magician has been using as a resting place for part of the apparatus used in his magic performance. Eventually, the performer removes all articles from the table and covers it with a cloth that does not reach the floor. Our first [engraving] represents the table in this condition. On command, the cloth gradually rises from the center of the table as though something were pushing it up. In a few moments it becomes very evident that some one, or something, is on the table covered by the cloth. The magician now removes the cloth and a lady is seen standing on the table, as shown in our second [illustration].
THE APPEARING LADY.
The secret of this, as in all good illusions, is very simple, as the third [illustration] will show. In the stage there is a trap door, over which is placed a fancy rug that has a piece removed from it exactly the same size as the trap, to which the piece is fastened. When the trap is closed the rug appears to be an ordinary one. The table is placed directly over the trap. Below the stage is a box, open at the top, with cloth sides and wood bottom. To this box are attached four very fine wires, that lead up through the stage by means of small holes where the trap and floor join, over small pulleys in the frame of the table and down through the table legs, which are hollow, through the stage to a windlass. In the table top is a trap that divides in the center and opens outward. The top of the table is inlaid in such a manner as to conceal the edges of the trap. The lady takes her place in the box in a kneeling position, the assistant stands at the windlass, and all is ready. [Fig. 1] of our third engraving shows the arrangement beneath the stage, and [Fig. 2] the under side of the table top.