CHAPTER II.
OPTICAL TRICKS.
The prestidigitateur has always been indebted more or less to the use of reflection from mirrors and plate glass as an important adjunct in conjuring. Many of the illusions in the succeeding pages have often been used as an entertainment in themselves so that it might really be termed “side show science.” Without doubt the most famous of all the illusions in which effects of lighting are used is “Pepper’s Ghost” which was devised by that eminent experimentor on physical and chemical science, John Henry Pepper. There are a number of variations of the Pepper Ghost of which the “Cabaret du Neant” is an excellent example.
THE “CABARET DU NEANT.”
The name “Cabaret du Neant,” or “Tavern of the Dead” (“non-existing”), has been given by the proprietors to a recent Parisian sensation; it was also exhibited in New York. The interest of course centers in the ghost illusion.
The spectators on entering the Cabaret pass through a long hall hung with black and find themselves in a spectral restaurant. Along the walls coffins are placed for tables, and on the end of each coffin is a burning candle. From the center of the ceiling hangs what is termed “Robert Macaire’s chandelier,” made to all appearances of bones and skulls. The spectators are here at liberty to seat themselves at the tables and are served with what they desire by a mournful waiter dressed like a French mourner with a long crape streamer hanging from his silk hat. Around the walls of the room are placed pictures to which the spectator’s attention is called by the lecturer. Seen by the light of the room these pictures are ordinary scenes, but a new aspect is given to each when lights directly behind it are turned on; the figures in it appear as skeletons, each picture being in fact a transparency giving a different effect as it is lighted from the rear or as seen simply by reflected light. The second chamber is now entered; it is hung with black throughout. On the walls tears are painted, and in close juxtaposition are two somewhat incongruous inscriptions, “Requiescat in pace,” and “No smoking.” The reason for the latter admonition, which is also given by the lecturer, is that for the success of the illusion an absolutely clear atmosphere is essential. At the end of this second chamber, at the back of a stage, is seen a coffin standing upright, in which one of the audience is requested to place himself. Entering the stage by the side door, he is conducted by an attendant to the coffin and placed in it. Blocks of wood are placed for him to stand on in quantity sufficient to bring his head to the right height so that the top of it just presses against the top of the coffin, and the attendant with great care adjusts his height according to the predetermined position. Two rows of Argand burners illuminate his figure, which is then wrapped in a white sheet. Now, as the spectators watch him, he gradually dissolves or fades away and in his place appears a skeleton in the coffin. Again, at the word of command the skeleton in its turn slowly disappears, and the draped figure of the spectator appears again. The illusion is perfect to the outer audience; the one in the coffin sees absolutely nothing out of the common. His interest, if he knows what is going on, is centered in watching the changing expression of the spectators, being increased by the fact that at their period of greatest astonishment he is absolutely invisible, although directly before them and seeing them more plainly than ever. After the restoration to life one or more auditors are put through the same performance, so that the recent occupant of the coffin can see what he has gone through.
THE SUBJECT AND HIS SKELETON.