Later Day Tricks
A. Roterberg
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The New Flying Glass of Water
IN the following trick I take pleasure of making my readers acquainted with a clever and entirely new method of disappearing a glass of water, a method which, on account of its originality and simplicity, deserves favorable mention. The beauty of the trick lies in the fact that absolutely no preparation of any kind is required. The performer simply covers an ordinary tumbler filled with water with a borrowed handkerchief and carrying the glass forward, while standing among the audience, causes it to instantly disappear although its entire shape is seen under the handkerchief up to the last moment. To prove that the glass is not concealed in his sleeve or pockets, the artist invites anyone who desires to examine him thoroughly.
The only condition necessary to the successful exe cution of this trick is that the performer must wear cuffs, one of which is loose, i.e., not attached to the wristband of his shirt. In covering the glass with the borrowed handkerchief the performer secretly slips the loose cuff over the glass and lifting up cuff and handkerchief with one hand, with the other adroitly places the glass on the servante of the table. He then goes forward with the handkerchief, which to all appearances still covers the glass, and introducing his disengaged hand under it, counts, "one, two, three," at the same time pushing his hand through the cuff and allowing the latter to slide back to its former place. The handkerchief is then freely shown, the glass of water having apparently melted away. The examination of the performer's person will prove of no avail, as nothing suspicious could possibly be discovered.
A variation of the trick, which admits of its performance anywhere, consists of borrowing a silk hat which is placed, opening upwards, upon any table. The performer introduces the tumbler of water and stating that he is about to disappear it, asks the spectators which method of disappearance they would prefer, a visible one or an invisible one. Some one is sure to desire the visible disappearance of the glass of water, whereupon the performer simply places the glass into the hat stating that it now has visibly disappeared. Every one laughs and some one remarks that any one can do that, so the performer offers to do the vanishing invisibly, by covering the hat with a handkerchief and taking up the latter with the glass seemingly under it. In reality he has secretly slipped the cuff over the glass in the hat and has taken this up with the handkerchief. He next goes among the audience and disappears the glass as already explained, stating that the glass of water has no doubt returned to the hat, from where he then removes it.
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