£1000 REWARD.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 115, 13 May 1909, Page 2

£1000 REWARD.

THE MASKELYNE BOX TRICK

I will pay the above reward to the first person who can do both of the two following things:—(l) Prove that he has discovered the secrets of my box trick; and (2) produce a box and in public competition before a committee to be mutually selected, show that it will stand the same tests of examina-. tion and securing to which I shall submit my own box at the competition. The expenses of the competition shall' be guaranteed by both parties, but paid by the loser. I also give notice that I will withdraw all rewards hitherto offered by me in connection with my box trick. Imitators have compelled me for many years past to offer a reward in order to establish the correctness of my statements, viz., that my box is a unique mechanical problem, to which I have devoted two years of labour and experiment, and that its secrets have never been discovered. The reward of £1000 is now offered, because it has been found that the terms of my previous offer can be misconstrued. Some appear to believe that " a correct imitation" means any performance which to inexperienced persons may seem to resemble mine, however different it may be in reality. Thus, escaping from a simple trap box, such as may. be purchased at any conjuring apparatus depot, for a small sum, the secrets of which can be readily discovered, and which may easily be tried so that the performer cannot escape, is regarded as correctly imitating my box trick.

T. N. MASKELYNE, Egyptian Hall

Respecting this trick and a celebrated Court action for the reward of discovering its secret. Professor Robert Kudarz, formerly a wellknown conjuror, and now resident in Wellington, wrote in 1900 to the Otago Witness as follows: — As originally presented, the trick consisted in Maskelyne getting inside a box which had been apparently locked, corded, and sealed, and afterwards placed in a canvas wrapper, which was also corded and sealed, without in any way tampering with the fastenings. Afterwards Maskelyne elaborated the idea and worked

the feox trick in conjunction with an extremely clever magical sketch entitled "Will, the Watch, and the Watchman." The box trick took all London by storm, and for years was the sensation in the world of magic. At the same time as Maskelyne and Cooke were giving their entertainments in the large Egyptian Hall, another "mystery man"—Dr. Lynnwas showing his cunning m sleight-of-hand at the smaller hall or the same building, and he, too, very soon had a box trick. Great rivalry soon took place between Maskelyne and Dr. Lynn, and great publicity was given to the box trick in consequence. Barnum, the celebrated American showman, soon scented a .''good thing" in the trick for his side of the "herring pond," and went over to London expressly to purchase it at any cost. Dr. Lynn disposed of the trick to him for, it is said, the sum of £500, and Barnum started at once with it to open in New York, only to find on landing there that Hatton, a clever American illusionist, had played the box trick in New York city for all it was worth, and reaped the full benefit of the trick. Dr. Lynn was a thorn in Maskelyne's side, especially as he claimed to be the inventor of the trick, so in 1874 Maskelyne gave a complete expose of the "other fellow's" box trick, which was "given away" every evening to those attending Maskelyne and Cooke's entertainment.

Soon box tricks were to be seen at almost all conjuring entertainments, all professing to be the original one, and we soon had the box trick in New Zealand, it being first done here by "Zerlinda," and afterwards by Professor Henicke and Burdetta Stella. During the presentation of Dr. Lynn's box trick it was that Maskelyne offered £500 for an exact duplication of his box, but no one seems to. have claimed the reward till Messrs Stollery and Evans, of London, came forward in 1898. They took the claim to a court of law, and obtained judgment for the full amount. There can be no doubt but that Maskelyne, for once, Avas caught napping in the wording of his offer, for it does not stand to reason that Maskelyne would offer such a sum for an "imitation," seeing that there had been scores of them all over the world since he produced the original box in 1873. But the jury evidently thought that a "correct imitation" meant any performance that seemed to resemble Maskelyne's, however difficult it might be in reality, and so found against Maskelyne. Now, the question has been asked, "How came Stollery and Evans to succeed, in their action Avhen Maskelyne took it to the House of Lords?" The latter offers a reward to anyone who shall discover the secret of his "box," or who shall produce a box exactly like, claiming that his box is a unique mechanical problem, to which he devoted two years of labour and experiment. Stollery and Evans say they have discovered the secret, and produce a box which, to all appearances, is the same as Maskelyne's, and produces the same effect. Maskelyne, on the other hand, produces his box in court, and defies Stollery and Evans to discover the secret in connection with it, and show it to the court, but the latter decline to do so. Unless Maskelyne exposed his own modus operandi, and snowed how his box was different to that of his imitators, how were the jurymen (who were not experts in conjuring) to find any other verdict than they did? To them the effect was exactly the same. But why did not Maskelyne show his method. Simply because he dares not! He put forward this box as a trick one, and offered a reward to anyone discovering, the secret. Now in connection with the magical sketch, "Will, the Witch, and the Watchman," in which the box trick takes such a prom&ent part,. there, is no trick about the box at all! There being no trickery about the box, .he would lose his prestige were he to give the necessary explanation. You will see that all through the trial Maskelyne has been fighting for his "standing," which is more to him than the £500, and which he would never have had to pay had the case been brought before a' jury of experts.—Dominion.