The cover will require 2-1/2 sheets of tissue paper, 20 by 30 in., which should be pasted together as the sketch indicates. Cut out the paper, allowing 2 in. margin for lapping over the cord on the frame. Place the frame on the cover with the convex side toward the paper and paste the margin over the cord, allowing the paper to bag a little to form pockets for the air to lift the kite. The corners should be reinforced with circular pieces of paper pasted over the ends of the sticks.
The flying cord is attached to the points A and B of the frame. There is no cross cord. The kite will fly at right angles to the flying cord. It is easily started flying from the ground by laying it with the head toward the operator and pulling it up into the wind.
Contributed by Chas. B. Damik, Cooperstown, N. Y.
The Levitation—A Modern Stage Trick
Raising the Subject in Midair
This illusion has mystified thousands of the theater-going public, in fact, it has been the "piece de resistance" of many illusion acts. The ordinary method of procedure is as follows: The person who is to be suspended in the air, apparently with no support—usually a lady—is first put in a hypnotic (?) sleep. She is placed on a couch in the middle of the stage, and in most cases the spotlight is brought into play. The performer then takes a position close to the couch and with dramatic effect makes a few hypnotic passes over the subject. She then slowly rises from the couch until she has attained a height varying from 4 to 5 ft. above the stage, as shown in Fig. 1. The couch is then taken a way and a hoop is passed over the floating lady. The performer now causes the lady to float back to the couch or board that she may have been resting on, after which the so-called hypnotic spell is withdrawn.
In spite of the claims that the illusion owes its origin to Hindoo magic, it is nothing more nor less than a clever mechanical contrivance, the construction of which will be readily understood by a glance at the accompanying illustrations.