Maskelyne and Devant's Mysteries.

Hastings Standard, Volume XII, Issue 4129, 14 April 1909, Page 5

Maskelyne and Devant's Mysteries.

One of the most important illusions (.Mrs Daffodil Downey's Seance) to figure upon the new programme which Maskelvne and Devant will present on Thursday, April 15, possesses an almost historical interest, since it was invented as an attack upon the very man of whom Browning wrote in "Sludge the Medium." This Holmes hjd caught the hysterical- fancy of a section of the English people, and his seances were crowded by ladies who were desiious of holding communion with the spirits of dead people which the obliging doctor engaged to bring to the rendezvous. Maskelyne, then a young man, set to work to invent a remarkable cabinet from which results were obtained for transcending those effected by Holmes. A public performance was given and the trickery was embodied in a satirical playette "Mrs Downey's Seance." The success of the clever gibe and cleverer illusion was instantaneous for the dullest person was made to see how easily a conjuror can deceive the senses, even under stringent conditions. Just as "Patience" killed the extreme pre-Raphael movement, so Mr Maskelyne's illusions at the Egyptian Hall checked the truly alarmingcraze for supernatural sham. People who have seen the famous Pepper's ghost offer curious suggestions that the effect is produced by mirrors, but such a theory is not tenable for the lady who materialises is very cL-aiiy jlesn and blood.

Following Mr Barclay Gammon's i musical monologue, a general al- j liance between humorist and piano. \ Gintaro appears in a gorgeous act ! characteristic of his nation. Com-' mincing with lighter feats such as ! opening a silver bracelet upon an umbrella, he proceeds to examples of ; the most intricate balancing and top ; spinning. A climax is reached when of wooden cubes he builds a quiver- ; ing tower surmounted by a tumbler ; ol water. This is gently tilted, then 1 as the erection rocks to ruin, it is , caught upon the point of a fan and 1 held aloft. The pure skill of such an j exhibition, due only to incessant, practice, catches the imagination of a public who are never without veneration for excellence, and the juggler is invariably recalled three or four times.