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illegible sometimes wrongly spelled. Sometimes the exhibitor tore up the paper without showing
it, and repeated the word more loudly than before. The exhibition was strongly suggestive of a
concealed operator.
Since the original "ghost" made its successful débût, under the auspices of Mr. Pepper, several
similar optical illusions, all produced by new applications of the same scientific laws, have been
exhibited at the Polytechnic. One of the most remarkable illustrated a lecture on the discoveries
of Sir David Brewster, on the conclusion of which the curtain rose on the interior of an antique
dwelling, in which a Greek invoked the shade of Socrates. The head of the philosopher appeared
floating in the air, without a body, or any other visible means of support; and, in answer to a
question propounded by the Greek, delivered a rhymed speech, of about a dozen lines, with a
mobility of feature which left no doubt of its animation. While the "ghosts" puzzled the world by
rendering an absent person visible, the new illusion amazed the spectator by rendering invisible
a portion of a person of whose bodily presence there could be no doubt. On the disappearance of
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Lives of Conjurors--Chapter XVI
Socrates, Sir Joshua Reynolds's famous group of cherubs was exhibited, and the chubby faces
united in singing a chorus.
In 1870 another automaton chess-player, or what was professed to be automatic, was exhibited
at the Crystal Palace. it was a close imitation of Kempelen's famous mechanism, and like the
Hungarian baron's, the figure was that of a fierce-looking Turk, life-size, and attired in a rich
Oriental costume. Hajeeb, as he was called, sat cross-legged upon a chest, which ran upon
casters, so as to be easily moved over the floor, to show that there was no communication from
below. There were doors in the chest, and also in the back and breast of the figure, which were
opened to enable visitors to see the interior; but no candle was introduced, as mentioned in the
accounts of the exhibition of Kempelen's figure. The inspection revealed nothing but a complex
arrangement of cords, wheels, and pulleys.
Before commencing a game, the doors were all closed and locked, and the machinery wound up
with a key such as is used for winding a large clock. The sound produced by the operation was
similar to that which accompanies the winding of horological mechanism. Then a cushion was
placed under the right arm of the figure, the chessmen were set by the attendant, and the game
began. The first move was always made by the Turk, and he invariably made choice of the white
men, its play corresponding in both particulars with that of Kempelen's figure. The chess-board
was raised a little above the level of the chest by a circular pedestal of wood, ostensibly for the
purpose of enabling Hajeeb to reach more easily the farther side of the board; but the figure had
the power of bending forward from the hips, during which motion, and also that of the arm, the
sound of hinges or joints could be heard.
When he took a man, the Turk dropped it into the attendant's hand and placed its own on the
vacant square. On giving check, it bent its head; on giving checkmate, it placed the forefinger on
the mated king, and nodded three times; when mate was given or announced by its opponent, it
signified its abandonment of the game by removing its king, and placing it in a horizontal
position at the side of the board. If his opponent made a wrong move, he shook his head and
replaced the piece; if this occurred a second time, he removed the piece, and availed of the laws
of the game to move; and on a third wrong move he swept the board with his arm, and ended
the game. On the conclusion of a game, the figure, like Kempelen's, moved a knight over all the
sixty-four squares of the board without touching any square twice, the attendant placing a white
counter upon each square as it was touched, and the feat being performed in the short space of
one minute.
This was the closing marvel of the last decade.
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Lives of Conjurors--Chapter XVII
CHAPTER XVII
Signor Rubini--The Indian Basket Trick--Beheading a Lady--The Fakeer of Oolu--A Lady
Floating in Air--Professor Beaumont-- Doings of the Spiritualists--Miss Katie King--Her
Confession of Imposture--Mr. Maskelyne--His Exposure of the Brothers
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