MYSTERIOUS MR JANSEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3035, 15 May 1912, Page 61

MYSTERIOUS MR JANSEN.

A NOVEL COMPETITION. The prospect of obtaining £5 for nothing seems to possess attractions for some even ' in this most prosperous community; at least it may be presumed that that consideration, among others, helped to draw the large crowd that surged round Custom House square between 5 and 5.30 p.m. on the Bth. The pavements about the Telegraph Office were practically empty at | 5 o'clock, but in less than five minutes trams and expresses had difficulty in ' making their way through the people who had overflowed from the footpath on to the street. The concourse was a puzzle . to not a few, passers-by. " Whatever'e on?" one would ask, and then a light would dawn, and he would say: " Oh, I know. It's this Jansen search business." And so it was. The fact was that Mr Jansen, the clever illusionist and transformist, who is mystifying audiences nightly just now at His Majesty's Theatre, had undertaken to move about in front of the Telegraph Office between 5 and 5.30 p.m. in disguise and to give the sum of £5 to the first person who should penetrate the disguise and accost him by name. This was an opportunity for the amateur detective not lightly to be missed, and he was there in hundreds. By a quarter past 5 the crowd must have numbered fully three thousand, including the inevitable, swarm of children with their insatiable love of mystery and excitement. Everybody was in the best of humour and» just in the mood to laugh at everybody else for being there. Some enterprising wag had come to the scene armed with a placard reading " I'm Mr Jansen. £5," and the necessary bent pin with which to affix it to unsuspecting coat tails. The placard found its way from the nether garments of one to another, remaining in each case just till the laughter of those behind the victim led to the discovery of the joke. Some variation of the question, "Are you it?" or " Are you the mysterious Mr Jansen? " seemed to be the only possible form of greeting for the time being between friends. The crowd had only begun to assemble when someone raised a shout " Here he is! This is Jansen!" and immediately the cry was taken Tip, and everyone seemed possessed' with the one desire to get as near as possible to the seat of the biggest noise. This was only typical of what followed on till half-past 5 and afterwards. _ Every here and there some young humorist would seize orpoint to somebody else and . shout " Here's I Mr Jansen, 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 vehicles came in for special attention,- and were greeted with cheers and shouts apd questions as they strove to urge their horses through the excited, careless throng. When half-past 5 came it was evident that the illusionist had outwitted the eager searchers. Some of the disappointed ones were ungenerous enough to suggest that the object of their search might have been enjoying the view comfortably, from an adjoining -window; but most took the more sportsmanlike and complacent view that the crowd was so large that they had never really had a chance to see him. Many seemed to expect that Mr Jansen would announce himself from the Telegraph Office step* after the hunt was over; but that was never in the programme, and it was hot done.