Three Hundred Things a Bright Boy Can Do

by Unknown

Fig. 2.     Fig. 3.
CREMATED ALIVE.

An examination of the conditions under which the disappearance has taken place does not in the least reveal the methods by which it has been so rapidly accomplished; but as it is clearly inadmissible that the sacrifice of a young and beautiful person should thus take place every evening for the simple gratification of the public, one is, of course, pushed to the conclusion that there must be some trick. And a trick there is of a most ingenious character, as will be seen by the following explanation, the comprehension of which will be aided by Fig. 4.

Fig. 4.

In this particular case the illusion is a happy combination of suitable appliances underneath the scene and of the well-known properties of plane mirrors placed on the incline. The table upon which our victim mounts for cremation has, as a matter of fact, only two legs, instead of four, and the two others are only seen by the spectators as a reflection of the two real legs in the two glasses inclined at an angle of 90 degrees with each other, and at 45 degrees with the two side panels of the three-fold screen which contains the scene of the disappearance. It is precisely the same with the two candles, which, in consequence of their reflection in the mirrors, appear to be four in number, whilst the central rod hides the edges of the mirrors.

Thanks to the combination of the glasses and panels, and to the adoption of a uniform surface for these panels, the reflection of the two sides in the two lower glasses appears to be but the continuation of the panel at the back. The triangular box, of which the two glasses comprise the two sides, and the floor the bottom, has its surface formed of two parts; the one made up of the top of the table itself, and the other of pieces of mirror which reflect the back panel, and pieces of material of the same colour as the panel itself.

It is easy from this to understand the whole course of the operations, more or less fantastic, which the spectator watches with such breathless interest. As soon as the victim is hidden by the sack which comes down upon her, she at once escapes by a secret trap-door in the top of the table, as is shown in Fig. 4; she then rapidly puts into position the skull and bones, as well as some inflammable material, to which she sets fire when she hears the pistol shot. She then, closing the trap, tranquilly retires, and remains hidden in the triangular space arranged between the back panel and the two glasses until the fall of the curtain.

Money Dissolved in Water.—For this trick the young magician needs a glass, which may be either the ordinary tumbler or a wine-glass, as shown in our illustration (Fig. 2). It must be of such a size that if a half-crown be dropped into the glass, it shall, lying flat, nearly or quite fill the bottom space. The conjuror must be provided also with a glass disc, of the thickness of a half-crown, and in diameter exactly corresponding with the bottom space of the glass. This, when about to perform the trick, he holds concealed in his right hand, after the manner of A in Fig. 3. Filling the glass about three-quarters full, as shown in Fig. 2, he hands it to a spectator to hold. He then asks the loan of a half-crown, and a lady’s pocket-handkerchief. Taking the coin as C in Fig. 3, he accordingly throws the handkerchief over it, or, rather, makes believe to do so, for in reality, under cover of the handkerchief, he deftly substitutes the glass disc, and holds this between his fingers, while the coin takes its place in his palm.