“In addition to the above contrivance, we have in Figs. 2 and 3 another and simpler arrangement, in which only one train of clockwork is used. On the same axle as H is fixed a lever and weight, W, to balance the arm. A vertical rod, X, having a projection, Z, slides up and down in guides, Y Y, and carries the catgut, S and T. The quadrant, B, has cogs cut, between which Z slides and stops the motion of A, which is moved, as before, by clockwork. The lower part of X is connected directly with O. When X is slightly raised, as shown, A is free to move, but on exhausting the air and drawing X down, Z enters the cogs and stops the hand over a card; continuing to exhaust, the thumb closes and the card is lifted up.” The details of the clockwork the originator of this solution omits to give. He says there should be a fan on each train to regulate the speed. The figure should be so placed that an assistant can see the cards in the semi-circular rack Fig. 4.
One of Maskelyne’s best mechanical tricks is the “Spirit Music-Box,” for an exposé of which I am indebted to my friend Mr. Henry V. A. Parsell, of New York City, a lover of the art of magic. The construction of this novel piece of apparatus will afford a clue to many alleged mediumistic performances. Professor Parsons, of New Haven, Conn., is the owner of the box, reproduced in the illustration. Says Mr. Parsell:
“A sheet of plate glass is exhibited freely to the audience and proved to contain no electric wires or mechanism. This glass plate is then suspended horizontally in the center of the stage by four cords hooked to its corners. An ordinary looking music-box is then brought in by the assistant. It is opened, so that {120} the audience can see the usual mechanism within. The music-box is now placed on the glass plate and the performer comes down among the spectators. Notwithstanding the isolation of the box the command of the performer suffices to cause it to play, or cease, in obedience to his will. It matters not in what part of the room the conjurer goes—his word is enough to make silence or harmony issue from the box, always beginning where it left off and never skipping a note. The simple cause of this marvelous effect lies in the mechanism of the box and in its mode of suspension.
| Fig. 5. | Fig. 6. |
THE SPIRIT MUSIC BOX.
“A small music box of this kind is shown in Fig. 5. The box is seen with its mechanism removed and resting upon it. In addition to the usual cylinder, comb and wheel-work, there is a device for starting and stopping the box when it is tilted slightly endwise. This consists of a light shaft delicately pivoted and carrying at one end a lead weight (seen just in front of the cylinder), and at the other end an arm of light wire whose far end is bent down so as to engage the fly of the wheel-work. In Fig. 5 the mechanism is tilted so that the wire arm is raised; the fly is now free to revolve and the box plays.
“A front view of the mechanism is shown in Fig. 6. Here the arm is down, arresting the motion of the fly and producing {121} silence. When the box is resting on the glass plate an assistant behind the scenes causes the plate to tilt slightly up or down by raising or lowering the cords which support one end. The mechanism of the box is so delicately adjusted that an imperceptible motion of the plate is sufficient to control its playing.”
IV.
John Nevil Maskelyne, a descendant of Nevil Maskelyne, the eminent astronomer and physicist, was born in Cheltenham, England, and like Houdin was apprenticed to a watchmaker. At an early age, he manifested a wonderful aptitude for mechanics. He employed most of his spare time while working at the trade of horology in devising and building optical and mechanical apparatus for show purposes. In this respect his career exactly parallels that of Robert-Houdin. He was likewise interested in sleight of hand tricks, but never carried the art to perfection like the French magician. Later in life he abandoned legerdemain entirely and devoted himself exclusively to the construction of mechanical illusions. In this line, he has no equal. Most of the really clever and original illusions brought out within the past twenty years have emanated from his fertile brain. Houdin, Maskelyne, and Buatier de Kolta are the three great inventors of magic tricks and illusions. One day the Davenport Brothers came to Cheltenham and gave an exhibition of their alleged mediumistic powers at the town hall. Young Maskelyne was selected as one of a committee to tie the Brothers and examine their mystic cabinet. The falling of a piece of drugget, used to exclude light from one of the windows of the hall, enabled Maskelyne to see Ira Davenport eject some of the musical instruments from the cabinet, and re-secure himself with the ropes. Delighted at discovering the trick, the young watchmaker soon devised an imitation of the Davenport exhibition. Aided by a Mr. Cooke, afterwards his partner in the show business, he gave an exposé of the Davenport business, first at Cheltenham, and afterwards throughout England. Subsequently he located at St. James Hall, and afterwards at Egyptian Hall, London. Mr. {122} Maskelyne was called as an expert witness in the trial of the impostor, Dr. Henry Slade, and performed in the witness-box all of the medium’s “slate tests,” to the great astonishment of the Court. As a consequence of these revelations, Dr. Slade was sentenced to three months in jail, but he escaped imprisonment owing to legal technicalities interposed by his attorneys, and fled to the Continent. Mr. Maskelyne has written a clever exposé of gambling devices, entitled, Sharps and Flats, and various magazine articles on conjuring.