TRAP DOOR IN TRUNK.
Half the bottom of the trunk constitutes a trap door which is opened by inserting a round key in one of the ventilating apertures. As soon as the trunk has been tied, sealed, and placed under a canopy, the curtains of which are let down so as to hide the trunk from the spectators, the East Indian, who is also invisible to the spectators, lays the trunk down as shown in our second [engraving], unbuckles the cover and slides it down, takes his key, opens the trap door, gets into the trunk, puts the cover in place, buckles it, and then closes the trap door. To raise the trunk to its proper position, he takes a long screw, something like a gimlet, from his pocket, inserts it in one of the holes under him, and turns it; the trunk rises slowly, and when it has reached its point of equilibrium, it falls back suddenly on its bottom. The noise thus made is the signal for the operator, who immediately draws back the curtains, finds by the weight that something is in the trunk, and then unties it slowly and presents the mysterious traveler to the audience.
PUTTING ON THE COVER.
It will be seen by one of our [engravings] that the Indian appears tied in a bag in the trunk. This is a variation of the trick. The bag is made of some light or soft material, and is provided with a hem at the mouth. In this hem runs a cord or tape; the performer draws the string tight, and seals the knots at the same time. The bag is then placed in the trunk, and the trunk is secured as above. The assistant who enters the trunk has concealed under his blouse a similar bag, the string of which is long enough to correspond in appearance to that of the other bag when it is tied and sealed. There are a couple of stitches missing on each side of the hem, leaving space enough for the assistant to insert his fingers. When he enters the trunk he removes this bag from his blouse, placing the original bag in the place of the duplicate. He now goes into the duplicate bag and places it up over his head, and, inserting his four fingers into the opening in the hem, draws in all the slack of the string, thus closing the bag, which is, of course, to all appearances, tied and sealed as the original.