The evening world. Newspaper, February 18, 1922, Page 20

‘ ; THE EVENING WORLD'S FICTION SECTION, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1988. wane emeritea a Gbhe Evening Gorlt's "TRICKS PUZZLES: How It Is Done--Sawing a. Woman in Two Second in a Series of Articles Explaining Familiar Stage Tricks O moro sensational and mysti- fying trick has appeared in many years than that in which @ magician seemingly saws a woman in two. In some forms of the il- lusion the woman is not restored to her original form. In others the trick ends with the woman restored and showing no ill effects from her ex perience, A big box, deep and wide enough but not quite long enough to hold a person, stands on a substantial and low table. The table has castors so that it. can casily be turned around. The top of the box is opened and it is pulled over so that the audience can see that there is no one hidden in- side. A woman assistant of the magician appears. After delivering a more or less scientific lecture on bloodless surgery, the mugician hypnotizes the woman. Two assistants put her in the box. The ends of the box are made like old-fashioned stocks so that her feet can project at one end and her head at the other. These stocks are usually locked with padlocks. The cover is lowered, A big two-handled saw is produced. The magician and an assistant pro- ceed to saw the box in two through the middle. It seems almost obvious that the saw must cut through the woman. Separating the box slightly, the magician clamps two pieces of wood over the severed portions. Yhen the two parts are separated. If one is to believe what he has seen, the saw has severed not only the box but the girl The two portions are put together, the pieces of wood are removed and the girl is taken out. If she has been touched by the saw there jis nothing to indicate it. This is how it ts done: Two girls are used in the trick—a fact that many people suspect since what has apparently been done is ob- viously impossible. The heavy table is really a box on legs. (See Figure 1.) In this box made by clever designing to appear more shallow than it really is, the second girl is hidden. There is a trap door in the bottom of the box and a corresponding door in the top of the table. After the box has been shown, the girl gets out of the table and into the box. The time necessary for the hyp- notizing, &c., gives her plenty of time to do this quietly. When the girl who has been hyp notized is put into the box, the ',ox is quickly turned around so that the au- dience can see the operation of clamp- ing her head in the stocks. This gives the hidden girl a chance to get her feet in position to be clamped by the stocks at the other end of the box, Meanwhile the girl whose head the audience sees pulls her knees as near her head as she can. The other girl bends over so that her head rests on her knees, (See Figure 2.) Now the box can be sawed through the middle, because there is four or five inches between the two girls. Placing the pieces of board in posi- tion hides the real condition of facts. Then the boxes are separated. (See Figure 8.) When they are put to- gether again and the boards removed the assistants release the girl. First they release her feet. Then they turn the table around and release her head, That enables the hidden girl to hide in the top of the table while the head of the other girl is being released The Twin Crosses. of twin crosses may be cut from a sheet of paper with one cut of the scissors. If you will follow the diagrams closely you will know how to do it. Your paper should be about six inches long and three inches wide. First fold it lengthwise through the centre. Now fold down one of the I" you know how to do it, a pair The Three Enemies WOODEN HOUSE who lived in a certain town. They were sworn eneinies. The large square represents the town in which they lived. The first gman, whom we will call Mr. A., lived the brick house. The second man ved in a wooden house, We will call him Mr. B. The third man lived in @ concrete house. We will call him fr. C. They entered the town where You see them tp the picture. The in- T= puzale concerns three men tensity of their enmity made it seem necessary to them that each should get to his house without crossing the path of either of his enemies and without leaving the town. How did they do it? The next night, strangely enough, each tuok a route different from that taken the first night and still their paths did not cross. The smaller diagrams show how they did it, . . P l fs, La) upper corners (fold A to B) This will make your paper look like the second illustration. Now fold down the other corner, folding C to D. Your paper will look like the third picture. Now fold lengthwise through the mid- dle (E to F), being careful to crease all of the folds. Fold lengthwise again (G. to H), and the folding is completed. With the scissors cut the folded strip lengthwise through the middle. If you have followed directions ex- actly you should have two Grosses, joined, as in the illustration and a number of bits of paper that have nothing to do with the case. As a parlor stunt this trick is much more effective if the paper is torn instead of cut. You will, however, be unable to escape a ragged outline for your crosses. The Wizard’s Sight. LWAYS examine the cards care- A fully before presenting this little card trick. Occasionally a pack of cards is found with which the trick can not be done. It would be a shame to spoil a good trick for the lack of a little foresight. The magician places the picture cards in a row on the table. He talls the audience that he will leave the room. During his absence one of the spectators is te turn one of the cards around. When e returns he instant- ly points to tlf§ card which has been reversed. If you will @famine the picture cards in the family’s pack of cards you will probably find that there is just a little more margin at one end of each picture card than there is at the other. The difference is very slight but it is noticeable if you are looking for it. The cheaper the cards the more noticeable is the inequality. When you put the cards in a row you take care that all of the broad margins are together. When a card ia turned around you will detect it, False Hypnotism. F YOU use the tricks and puzzles explained in The Evening World for the amusement of your friends, do not tell them “how it is done” unless the nature of the trick makes that course necessary, Your friends will give you considerable credit for cleverness if they use their wit in vain to discover the secret of the trick and none at all if they know how very simple are the means by which they are bewildered. Here is a very simple trick that makes a very impressive parlor stunt. Pretend to friends. of the finger of the right. Ask your “hyp- notized” friend to grasp your wrists, one with each hand, and to pull your hands apart. Of course he succeeds. very wonderful about that. Press your forefingers again and say: “While your wrists this gone. You hands.” He can't. Even if he is much stronger than you are, he will need to exert every ounce of his strength to separate the fingers as much as hypnotize one Then left hand against the fore- of your press the forefinger Nothing together hands time your cannot rest on my strength is separate my a fraction of an inch against your will. Try it and see. The reason is—well, just whal is the reason? A Toothpick Paradox. WELVE toothpicks figure in this T problem. Ask that they be arranged to form four squares, all of the same size. This is easy. Figure 1 shows how they should be arranged. “The second part of the puzzle is a little more difficult,’’ you will say. ‘'We want to arange the same twelve ae FIG 1 rs Fic. 2 ‘ toothpicks so that they will form three squares, all of the same size. Four of the toothpicks must stay as they are."’ Figure 2 shows how they will be arranged when the puzzle is solved,