VI.
(Conclusion.)
"How does Professor —— cause a handkerchief to leave a decanter which he holds in his hand, and appear in another at a distance?" writes a correspondent.
Well, that depends on who the "Professor" is. One man, who says he would as lief receive a slap in the face as to be called Professor, does a trick somewhat like it in this way:
Two water-bottles, or carafes, the kind with large round bottoms and wide necks, are used. Concealed in his right hand this man has a red silk handkerchief folded into small compass. One of the carafes he proceeds to wrap in a large handkerchief, holding it mouth downward for this purpose, and it is while so wrapping it that he pops the concealed handkerchief into the mouth of the bottle, which he stands, covered, on the table. So much for getting the handkerchief in.
FIG. 1.
Running up his right sleeve is a fine strong cord; this goes across his back and out of the left arm hole of his vest, and ends in a loop which reaches nearly to his waist. At the end of the cord by the right hand is a piece of fine black sewing-silk, which is fastened into the eye of a strong, short needle, and this needle is bent[1] into the form of a double-jointed hook, as shown in Fig. 1. In this shape it will not catch in the sleeve.
As the man is returning to his stage after showing the second carafe and handkerchief to the audience, he attaches the hook to the latter. Then he pushes it well down into the carafe, using his wand for the purpose. Taking the carafe around the neck with his right hand, so that the mouth is almost at his wrist, he swings it back and forth, and then counting "One—two—three!" slips his left thumb into the loop, and at the word "three," gives a sharp jerk, and the handkerchief flies up his sleeve. As he stands with his right side toward the audience, and all eyes are fixed on the carafe, the movement of the left hand and arm is not noticed. The carafe which is on the table is now uncovered, and most of the audience, seeing the handkerchief, imagine it is the same one that was in the bottle, and that in some way inexplicable to them it has passed invisibly from one place to the other.
Another performer pursues a different method. When he comes on the stage, he too has a handkerchief concealed in his right hand, but it is already fastened to the thread attached to the cord which goes up the sleeve. This cord is connected with what is known as a spring-barrel—that is, a heavy coiled steel spring in a brass box, very much like a spring tape-measure.