CONJURORS.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10013, 18 April 1898, Page 2

CONJURORS.

The greatest of all French conjurors. Jean Eugene RoWd, popularly known as Robe , fc Houdin, the son of a watchmaker, was born at Blob h. 1805, and died in 1871. He was an admirable " all round" magician, bit he attained his chief successes by utilising the phenomena of electro-magnetism, wlucu were almost unknown to the general public when, in 1845, he made a great and sensational success by means of the spirit cash box. Robert Houdin always considered that the chief event of his life was the embassy hr w as asked to undertake to Algeria by the French Government—only a French Go vernment would have thought of such a thing—to checkmate the influence of the Marabout* or Mahometan miracle workers, which was skilfully exercised to undermine the authority of their conquerors. By his digital dexterity and hie marvels of optics, chemistry, electricity and mechanics, he beat the fakirs on their own ground. After Houdin the chief conjurors would seem to have been Robert Heller (or Palmer), who was "a magician, a mimic and a musician—a combination of talents rarely seen in one individual—was, indeed, the Admiral Crichton of fantastistes"; and the brothers Carl and Alexander Hemnanp. who were great favourites in the United Sutes. Referring '.o the miracle performed by Aaron with his rod when he contendel ajpunst tit* magicians of Egypt, Heller, the famous and quite sceptical prestidigitateur, sir-ted th.-tt he had seen this feat performed in Cair> luai-y times hy the Derviahes." Tiie iods actually were serpents and hypnotised to such an extent as to become perfectly stiff and rigid. When thrown upon the earth and recalled to life by sundry mystic passes and strokes, they crawled away alive and hideous as ever."