FEATS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1413, 21 December 1878, Page 2 (Supplement)

FEATS.

An Eatable Oandlb.-— Agood deal of amusement may be created by making and eating what is apparently the old stump of a tallow candle. This is done by cutting a piece of apple the shape required, and sticking into it a little fragment of nut or almond. You then have a candle stump. The almond wick can be lighted, and will burn for more than a minuute, so that the deception is perfect. You can afterwards eat it in the presence of the company. To Walk upon a Hot Iron Bar.— Take half an ounce of camphor, dissolve it in two ounces of aqua vitos, add to it one ounce of quicksilver, one ounce of liquid storax, which is the droppings of myrrh, and prevents the camphor from firing ; take also two ounces of hematis, which is a red stone, to be had at the druggists' ; and when you buy it, let them beat it to a powder in their great mortar, for, being very hard, it cannot well be reduced in a small one ; add to this the ingredients already specified, and when you purpose to r walk upon the bar, anoint your feet well with it, and you may do so without the slightest danger. •The Flying Gift. — Place a little common white wax, or beeswax, on the top of your thumb. Get a sixpence, and showing it to anyone standing near, offer to put the same in his hand. Talk to him the while as pleasantly as maybe, so as to divert his attention. Then press it down on the palm of his hand with your waxed thumb, talking to him the while and looking him in, the face. Take your thumb away suddenly, and you will find the coin adhering to it. As you do so close his hand tightly with your disengaged hand, and he will be under the impression that he has possession of the sixpence, as the feeling caused by the pressure still remains. Tell him he is at liberty to keep the coin. On opening his hand he will find it is not there. The Winged Sixpence. — Pierce a hole on the edge of a sixpence, and attach it to a piece of white sewing silk, at the end of which is a piece of elastic cord about twelve inches in length. Sew the cord to the lining of your left-hand coat sleeve, taking care that the end of the cord to which the coin is attached does not extend lower than within two inches of the «nd of the sleeve when the coat is on. Then bring down the sixpence with the right hand, and place it between the thumb and the forefinger of the left hand, and, showing it to the company, tell them you will give it to anyone present who will not let it slip away. You must then select one of your audience, to whom you proffer the sixpence ; and, just as he is about to receive it, you must let it slip from between your fingers, and the contraction of the elastic cord will draw the coin up your sleeve, and its sudden disappearance will, doubtless, astonish the would-be recipient. You can change the feat, by pretending to wrap the coin in a piece of paper or a handkerchief. Care must be taken not to let any part of the cord be seen, or the illusion is lost. Flying Money.— Provide yourself with a sovereign and two shillings. Conceal one of the shillings in the right hand. Place the other shilling and the sovereign on the table in full view ef the company. Borrow two handkerchiefs. When you have got them, take the sovereign up and pretend to roll it in one of the handkerchiefs ; instead of this, however, roll the shilling up, which has been concealed in the right hand, and retain the sovereign. Next give the handkerchief to one of the company to hold. Then take the shilling off the table and pretend to roll that up in the second handkerchief, but substitute the sovereign instead. Give this handkerchief to a second person, and bid him hold it tight, while you command the sovereign and shilling to change places. On the handkerchiefs being opened, the coins will appear to have obeyed your command. _____^^ 4t Cooking his Goose." — He (fervidly): What a glorious time is Christmas. 'Tiß then one feels the ties and bonds of human sympathy. 'Tis then one realises how great is the benefaction of being a Christian, and of having She (disgustedly) : Nothing better than a loin of pork for dinner on Christmas Day. I'm ashamed of your meanness. If a beggar stops you on Christmas Bay tell him you are cent-nickle-ness, and he will go away.

part of the players to gain the highest number, is shown in the next illustration. In this (fig. 2) the dimensions of the board are as in figure 1. Within five inches of one end there is placed an arch of wood or wire, one foot in height, and should be so arranged as to be readily removed, or fold down upon the board when not in use. A leaden ball, half an inch in diameter, is suspended by a string from the top of the arch ; the lower part of the ball should just miss the board when swinging. Circles and a traingle are drawn upon the board and numbered as in figure 2. A common-sized marble is placed one inch toward the centre from the ball. The game is played by taking the swinging ball in one hand, and holding it out over the end of the board, and, when the proper position is thought to be reached, to let it swing inward : it will be quite likely to strike the marble, and that will come at rest perhaps near the opposite end of the board. Five strokes are allowed each player ; a stroke is the first swinging movement of the ball after leaving the hand, and two atrokeß in succession missing the marble, is called one stroke, and is to be so counted, also should the marble be moved just to or a little beyond the dotted lines (E) ; it is