MASKELYNE'S FAMOUS BOXTRICK.

Otago Witness, Volume 02, Issue 2420, 2 August 1900, Page 55

MASKELYNE'S FAMOUS BOXTRICK.

By Pkofessor Robert Kttdakz

(Specially Written- fou the Otago Wit-

Dear Bis, — Since this celebrated trick formed the basis of a court case in England, I have been repeatedly asked what it really consists in. I Have 'therefore thought an account of this famous illusion might be of interest to your numerous readers, and at the same time supply an answer to the many inquiries I have received.

The box trick of Mr Maskelyne is calculated to have been, like the round towers of Ireland, invented to public posterity. It was first submitted to the critical examination of a London audience at the -Crystal Palace, when Maskelyne and Cooke presented for the first time in the great metropolis their now well-known entertainment in 1873. They afterwards performed in the great St. James's Hall, and then founded their "Home of Mystery" in the large Egyptian Hall, where they have ever since "run" their mystic performances.

As originally presented, the flick ons^tcd in Maskelyne getting 1 inside a box which hadbeen 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. -AfKiwaids Maskelyne elaborated the idea and worked the box trick in conjunction with an extremely clever magical sketch entitled, "Will, the Witch, and the Watchman." The box trick took all London by storm, and for years was the sensatior; in the world of magic. At tht same time as Maskelyne and Cooke were giving theii entertainments in the large Egyptian' Hall, another "mystery man" — Dr Lynn — was showing his cunnmg in sleight-of-hand at the smaller hall of the same building, and he, too, very soon had a box trick. Great rivalry soon took place between MasKelyne and Di 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 ia 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 all Barnum' s publicity and clever advertising oi 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 cornplate expose oi the "other 'ellow's" box trick, which was "given, away" every evening to those attending Maskelyne and Cooke's entertainment. Soon box tricka were to be seen at almost

all conjuring entertainments, all pijtfessiu^ to be the original one, and we soon had bojf trick in New Zealand, it being first done here by ' 'Berlin da," and afterwards by Professov Henicke and Burdetta Stella.

During the presentation of Dr Lynn's bos 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 110 doubt but that Maskelyne, for once, was caught napping in the wording .of his offer, for it does not stand to reason that Maskelyne would ofiei such a sum for an" '"imitation," seeing that there had been scores of theni 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 different it might be m reality, and so found against Maskelyne." „ . Now, the question has been asked, "How came Stollery and Evans lo succeed in theii action when Maskelyne took it to the House, of Lords?" The latter offers a reward tc anyone who shall discover the secret of his "box," or wjio shall produce a box exactly like it, claiming . that his box is a unique mechanical problem, to which lie devoted two years of labour and experiment. Stollery anq Evans say they have discovered the secret, and produce a box' which, to all appearances, is the same as Maskelyne' s, arid produces the , same effect. Maskelyne, on the other hand, produces his bojx in court, and defies Stollery and Evans to discover the secret in connection I with it, and show it to the court, but the I latter decline to do so. Unless Maskelyne exI posed his own modus operandi, and showed iow his box was different to that Of his imitators, how were the jurymen (who were no! experts in conjuring) to find any other verdici than they did? To them the effect was exactly the same.

But why did not Maskelyne show his method? Simply because Le dare not! Foi years — ever since he took to the business — he has posed before the British public as the very essence of virtue and exposer of shady practices, card-sharping, spiritualism, mind reading, etc. 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 prominent part, there is no trick about the box at all! There being bo trickery about the box, lie would lose his prestige as a gentleman wero ha to give the necessary explanation.

You will see that all throiigh the trial Maskelyne, has been fighting for his "honour," 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.

"Will, the Witch, and the Watchman" is once more a part of the Egyptian Hall programme, and creating just as much wonderment as it did in 1873, and from the following description of it, which I give, you will see what a really good illusory sketch it is: — A. certain indiscreet sajloi named William has not taken a watch, but been taken by the watch, and with head and hands securely locked m a pillory, is placed within a cabinet otherwise empty, and left to bewail his unhappy fate, whilst" his sweetheart endeavours, with briboiy^ and coaxing, to soften the heart of Ms wire- 1 , lcnting custodian- Suddenly a witch, apper.rs upon the scene, and under her spell the pri- ' soner, upon the opening of the cabinet, -is found to have disappeared. The cabinet is ■ again closed, when, the hand, and presently, the visage, of a large monkey appears through. » a hole in the door, to the discomfiture of the • ■watch, who, rusMng away in a state of alarm, encounters a butcher, "to whom, he relates in most extravagant language -what he has seen. Whilst he is talking, the monkey again appears and carries the butcher bodily into the cabinet. Groans are then heard, and the butcher is seen in the gallery at !fo end of the hall, and passes through the audience on to the stage. The capture of the monkey is at- t tempted, and, being at lßngth effected, he ia' taken and doubled up into a "box — the box. This is securely locked, placed within a canvas wraper, and thrown into the cabinet. Not 10 seconds elapse when the hairy hand is again free", and waving through the hole in the looi. The box is taken out, opened, and, of course, found empty. The witch appeaxs again upon the scene, and a dance between the monkey and herself ensues, after which the shaggy individual dives into the cabinet, ancl when the doors are again opened the sailor Will is discovered still confined and grumbling in. the pillory. — Yours truly, ROBERT KUDARZ.

Wellington, 21/7/.00.