Vu que bon sang ne peut mentir.”
The most exclusive and aristocratic salons of Paris and Vienna have engaged his services for private séances. In Spain, Belgium, Austria, Russia and England he was the sensation of the day. At the present time he is living in retirement at Asnières, near Paris, where he has purchased a charming home known as the Villa Traversière au clair de la lune. During the Exposition of 1900 he was the manager of the Theatre Phono-Cinéma. Trewey was a great friend of the French inventor, Lumière, and was the first to introduce the cinematographe to the public of London and Paris. At his villa he spends his time inventing and improving devices to be used in moving-picture apparatus, corresponding with his friends, meditating upon the works of his favorite authors, Confucius and {346} Epictetus, and writing songs, farces and dramatic articles. In the year 1903 he was made an Officier d’Académie by the French Government. He married Miss Ixa, of Trocadero fame. Among his pupils may be mentioned the lady conjurer, Mlle. Patrice.
FROM “THE ENTR’ACTE,” LONDON, MAY 7, 1887.
Trewey relates many interesting anecdotes of contemporary French magicians whom he has met on his travels. He is literally a man without envy. His admiration for Buatier de Kolta was unbounded. They were close friends.
He once toured the Continent with the Hungarian conjurer, Velle, who was the first to give exhibitions within a marked circle, where the audience could gather on all sides. Velle impersonated Mephisto to perfection. Trewey and August Lassaigne were once partners. Lassaigne was born in Toulouse, in 1819. Besides being a magician he was an æronaut, having made 347 ascensions. He died in Montpellier in the year 1887.
When Trewey first toured the United States, under the management of Alexander Herrmann, he was very much annoyed by impostors, who advertised themselves as Drewey, but their performances were only weak imitations of the original—the merest shadows of a shade. In the wake of the whale follow little fishes—“pikers”—who grab at the crumbs dropped by the monarch of the sea, being too lazy or indifferent to find hunting seas of their own.
“Many amateurs are more skillful than professionals,” said Trewey to me. “I have in mind my friend Alexandre Asso, who was born in Paris in the year 1828. While a student, he once happened to be present at a soirée where M. Comte was giving an exhibition. He was so fascinated that he afterwards took lessons in legerdemain from the professor. When he finished his schooling, he entered the service of the Count de Nigra, then Ambassador to Italy, and remained with him for forty years, visiting London, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and other great capitals. Asso often entertained the Count and his friends with conjuring séances. In this way he amused society at nearly all the Courts of Europe, besides giving many entertainments for the benefit of the poor. In spite of his advanced age, he still keeps in practice as a conjurer at his villa at Asnières. He {347} retired from an active life in 1903. We see a great deal of each other.
A LEAF FROM TREWEY’S NOTE BOOK.