A MAGICIAN'S LIFE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 715, 14 January 1910, Page 7

A MAGICIAN'S LIFE.

, I . 7. . - T : -\ L ■ ■ .. 'Charles J.;Carter, ,the- American. magi-: • cian; wwho will;open for limited engage- ■ ment :in YVellihgton: at. the .Opera itouse- f; oil .Monday "evening,, has had' a .varied career. 1 : Ee'says that 'touring';the, world ' one sees and hears: much' more' as a ;pubr lie: man: than 1 : otherwise. "A magician's lifo is sometimes .fraught with ail -that is ; .strange.' and 'amusing,said' Mr. ; Cartor yesterday.' "For instance,-when. iHvas in. ; Manila Father ■ Tinnegan,:: the , chaplain of the famous' Bilibid • Prison,' arranged for me to present an entertainment; for the 3000' or more ; native''and white -pris- , oners in, this wonderful penal'institution. Imagine these unfortunate men and wo-- : ■men, ; who, . like a small .army,, marched out and 'on the,;ground liko so'' many children, with, a handful of'guards 1 bver ; them,-and cantiou trained; : on usi all ; from the walls of: tho prison. yAVhen I treated .them .to 'any : kind 'of ."a drink ' from .the :same.'. bottle, . and .. afterwards broke,the bottle; and.found therein a live \ guinea pigi, their amusement :knew. no' bounds; , Just in. the . middle of .my, per- : forniance, a rain: storm, began, but these, men and . women : laughed at: the; simple. wonders they., saw,, and; were dreiichfcd to. ■ the skin. I Was told before ,1 left Manila - that the performance- was still tho great theme of conversation among the-pris- - oners. In Chicago, Warden Whitman,' of .j the county,'gaol,-often' invited:me to. the' l prison to- entertain his charges, and-, I I remember' on one. occasion that I pre- c sented my entertainment. on. the gallows, j and my. most. attentive and. enthusiastic .J auditor was a - man: who - was awaiting | sentence of ■ death, and who was hanged ■ from these samo gallows thrco days l later. Hiving been' a student of law and J a practitioner; in Chicago,,, whiphi profes- t sion I adopted as a diversion and as a , help to the 'subtlety of .magic," more. op- « jiortunitios were accorded, me to dolvo c deepiir 'into ' magic and' 'trickery' than .I j should had otherwise. This remark ■ is not meant to be facetious,' but you: 1 know that really''there l are tricks "in ill ■trades' but mine. Sometimes : I cannot 5 resist the. temptation, to have a little'fun \pth some unsuspecting being, and whilo a my last tour—l - was.'in New li Zealand,. at' Rotortia, which by the 'way ,t is one of the most wonderful places I. have .'ever seen, an old chieftain I met had a collie dog, of which ho seemed ' quite fond. y I admired the canine one > day, and casually extracted a sovereign from his tail. Without seeming to no- F ticp the incident I inquired whether ho liked his dog or not,'and before he had time to reply I extracted another gold ° piece from- puppy's ear. I remarked that the dog was a very valuable ani- i ijml, apparently, and, stroking his tail, H at the. same time showered a' handful • ■ ofsovereigns into my cap. This was too 0 much-for the Maori, who, upon my olTer X to buy tho dog, _ shook ! his head wisely. . V and led doggie into his hut, where 1 s learned afterwards.lie killed and . dis- p sected poor Rover, thinking that he was filled with gold." .