MYSTERIOUS MR JANSEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15449, 9 May 1912, Page 4

MYSTERIOUS MR JANSEN.

A NOVEL COMPCTITION. SEARCHING CROWD OUTWITTED. The prospcct of obtaining £5 for nothing seems to possess attractions for some even ill this most prosperous community; at least it may be presumed tli.it that consideration, among others, helped to draw tho large crowd that surged ronnd Custom House square between 5 and 5.30 p.m. yesterday. Tho pavements alwut the Telegraph Ofliec were practically empty at 5 o'clock, "brut in Ic-ss than five minutes trams and expresses had difficulty ill making their way through the people who had overflowed from tho footpath on to tho street. The concourso was a puzzle to not a few passcrs-by. " Whatevcr's on?" one would ask, ami then a light ■would dawn, and ho would say: " Oh, I know. It's this Janscu search business." And so it was.

The fact was that Mr Jansen, the elever illusionist and transformist, who is mystifying audienccs nightly just now at His Majesty's Theatre,, hiid undertaken to move about in front of tho Telegraph Ollicc between 5 and 5.30 p.m. in disguise and to give the sum of £5 to the first person who should penetrate Hie disguise and accost him by name. This was an opportunity for the amateur detective not lightly to be missed, and lie was there in hundreds. .

, By a (|uarkr past 5 tho crowd must have numbered fully three thousand, including the incvitablo swarm oi children ■with their insatiable love of mystery and pxcitcment. Kveryhmly was in the host of humour and just in the mood to laugh .•it everybody else for being there. Some enterprising wag had conic to the sccnc nrincd with a placard reading " I'm Mr Jansen. £5," and the necessary bent pin with which to allix it to unsuspecting coat tails. Tho placard found its way from tho nether garments of one to another, femainiug in each caso just till the laughter of t!ic*so behind the victim led to the discovery of the joke. Somo variation of the question, ."Are you it?" or " Arc you tho mysterious Mr Jansen?" seemed to be the only possible form of greeting for tho time being between friends. The crowd bad only liegtm to a.wmblc when someone, raised a shout " Here ho is! This is Jansen!" and immediately tho cry was taken up, and everyone seemed possessed with the one desire to get as near as possible to tho neat of the biggest noise. This was only typical of what followed 011 till half-past 5 and afterwards. Every here and there Ronio young humorist woidd scizo or point to somobodv else and shout " Here's Mr Jansen, h and instantly the crowd would surge round, pushing and shoving and shouting. Sometimes the hustling developed into something very like horseplay, and ladies, young or old, received no more consideration than did men from groups of young lads who got together, shoulders down, and pushed like a pack of Rugby forwards. All drivers of vehicliti came in for special attention, and wercs greeted with cheers and shouts and (|iietf.io!Vj as they strove to urge, their horses through ' tho excited, careless throng. When half-past 5 camc it was evident that tho illusionist had outwitted the eager searchers. Some of tho disappointed onr/> were ungenerous enough to suggest that tho object of their search might have been enjoying tho viev; comfortably from an adjoining window; but most took the more sitortsmaiilike and complacent view that the crowd was so largo that they had never really had a chance to see him. Many seemed to expect that Mr Janscu would announce himself from tho Telegraph Ollicc steps after the hunt was over; but that was never in the programme, and it was not done.

When al the Grand Hotel shortly after 6 o'clock Mr Jansen bore the appearnnco of having had a strenuous time, lie was dressed in a well-worn light grey suit, loose and careless at tho neck, and on his nose thero worn traces of a dark imiudge. such as might lie seen on any workman's face at the end of the day. " They pnvo ymi a pretty lively time. Mr Jauseii " (|iiericil the reporter. " Oil, don't mention it!" he replied with some feeling. They were a " very ambitious " lot he explained, and evidently his ingenuity had been seriously taxed to efrojw detection. As he was not a little tired and had not had time to change, an apIMiintmeiit was made for later in tiio evening.

When seen in liis room Mr .Tausen gnvo a vorv oonrtroii.i ami frank account of his adventures while masquerading as the man of invslery. " I began," )io said, " hi mingle with the crowd iihortly hoforo five minutes past 5 o'clock, ami I was at. first, afraid that 1 was running greatest risk of being detected rwy early, on account, (if thi> fad, that tlio crowd was so sea! If red. However, if. was astonishing to son how quickly tlio crowd swelled after five minutes past, 5. Tlio people seemed to eomc from all directions, and I felt, moro secure. 'I'll? ilisgiiiso I had determined on for this occasion was one of the best 1 had ycl adopted, ant! was calculate, to put even l tlio keenest observer off tlie-trail, lint I hog,in to lose faith in it. hy 5.15. and managed to cot to a right-of-way behind one of the buildings, and rearrange a portion of my disguise. It was at litis moment that I saw my malinger, Mr Frank Tnlbnl, and Mr ]>•' llollis, one of my fellow artists, in tlio crowd." I noticed lavo ladies- stop them and tap Mr Talbot, on. tlio shoulder, lint it was apparently done only as a joke. It hail an effect, however, 'which it was not calculated to produce. Some of the crowd mistook Mr Tallxit for mo, and I saw him surrounded by several people, but I heard a mail in tlio crowd say they had mndn a mistake: 'thai was .lansen's manager,' Then by somo process of reasoning which I could not follow the crowd decided that .Mr He llollis was myself, and despite his protestations they surrounded him in great utimlws. It was fortunate for me that this diversion occurrcd, bceaitso two men. one with a very black moustache and pale blue necktie, were eyeing mo very suspiciously. Ono had a paper in his hand, and I felt that my time had come, but the excitement engendered by the crowd' mistaking another person for me evidently put him off tlio scent. 1 slipped away over towards ('oak's Tourist I'liiklings. If was from this point of view that 1 saw a clergyman Wing surrounded bv the crowd. 'This made me feel safer, and 1 gradually made my way towards the crowd, ami was pleased to see how good-iiaturediv the clergyman had taken the whole proceedings. Indeed, I was more than pleased to see the great good humour anil the absence of horseplay in (he crowd, which, 1 think, at that time numbered over 5000 people. I succeeded in making another change iu my appearance and went into lirown's tea rooms opposite the Grand Hotel and asked the young lady behind the counter for smite maeartMiis. She was too r.usy to serve me. and 1 was ultimately sn'vcii by a gentleman whom I took to lie the proprietor. Having paid for the cakes, 1 asked him to be good enough to put them kick on the counter till 1 called for tlumi, which I did later on. After 5.J0 1 made inv way round to the back of the Grand Hotel, with ;i portion of my disguise on, and had a glass of wine at tlio counter. Several people recognised me there, but it was an easy, task, as 1 had discarded the most effective part of my disguise. Yes, it was a very good-natured crowd, and a humorous one. and its orderliness compared most favourably with fiinil.tr gatherings iu the other big cities of the world 1 have appeared in." Mr .lansi'ti did not care about explaining his disguise fully, as. the experiment may be repeated again before he leaves Dunediii, br.t he stated that for part of tlio time he sought to impersonate as far rs possible his manager (Mr Talbot). Darhncss came on sooner than he had expected, and in the dusk after a quarter iwst 5 ho felt fairly satire. No one. not even professional detectives—at least one of whom whs among the crowd—arc barred from the competition. The Duncdin crowd appealed to Mr Jansen as being particularly keen and businesslike. In other places lie had soon men going lMiml slapping everyone on the shoulder indiscriminately, but here they seemed to lie carefully studying the faces. " Von would have had a bad time if you had bum for,ml out!" the reporter suggested. " Oh, uo." be replied. "The crowd did rlos'i round me when 1 was detected in Wellington, but two brawny policemen inado way to me, and 1 got

away t-o my hotel iri a hansom. Tho winner of tJio £5 was Mr Vcale, the usher of tho Supremo Court there." -Mr Jansen evidently carried through a very difficult and enterprising piece of acting yesterday, and should ho attempt a similar feat again there is 110 doubt that tho next crowd ho would liavo to face hero would not mako things a whit easier for him.