236 



THE WORLD'S ADVANCE 



with some dark cloth. The row of lamps 

 serves to hide the 1 act that at this point 

 the edges of two mirrors come together, 

 the opposite edges being hinged to the 

 rear corners. When the mirrors are in 

 their normal positions they reflect the 

 sides of the cabinet, therefore deceiving 

 the audience into believing that they can 

 see the back of the cabinet. The backs 

 of the two mirrors are lined with the 

 same kinds of cloth as the inside of the 

 cabinet. 



At the beginning of the illusion the 

 mirrors are placed so as to reflect the 

 sides of the cabinet and behind them 

 four people take their places ; two being 

 the ordinary assistants while the other 

 two are the substitutes and are made up 

 to resemble the performer and his lady 

 assistant as closely as possible. This is 

 very easily accomplished if the persons 

 are of the same build. When the per- 

 former holds up the first two pieces of 

 cloth, the assistants push open the mir- 

 rors and take their places beneath the 

 respective cloths. However, when the 

 performer holds up the third cloth his 

 double takes hold of the cloth while the 

 performer stays under the sheet and thus 

 hidden from view steps down to the foot- 

 lights with the two assistants. The lady 

 assistant then takes her place in the cab- 

 inet, going through the some procedure 



Rear Doors 



Hincjed 

 Mirror- 





Hinqed 

 'Mirror 



Floor Plan 



Plan View of the Cabinet for Performing the 

 Illusion. 



as the performer. When the lady's 

 double takes hold of the cloth the two 

 mirrors are pushed over to the sides of 

 the cabinet where they are held by small 

 metal clips. Thus the two rear doors 

 can be opened and the cabinet freely 

 shown. After the cabinet has been 

 shown the performer's double steps into 

 it and while the cabinet is being turned 

 he closes the mirrors and steps behind 

 them, hiding himself from view. The 

 lady's double then follows suit. Thus, 

 when the pistol is fired it is a very sim- 

 ple matter for the performer and his as- 

 sistant to jump up and throw their covers 

 off, bringing the illusion to a very strik- 

 ing climax. 



To obtain the best results the illusion 

 must be worked with snap and energy. 

 It is a very good idea to have the assis- 

 tant do most of the work so as to have 

 the attention of the audience diverted 

 from the performer and his collaborator. 



NAPHTHALINE AS MOTOR FUEL 



The war blockade is forcing Germany 

 to save her store of gasoline by develop- 

 ing acceptable substitutes for motor fuel. 

 The distillation of coal tar gives her 

 great quantities of benzol, and when this 

 is properly purified it can be used with- 

 out a bad deposit of carbon in the cylin- 

 ders. The Feld process of distillation 

 now used in Germany furnishes the de- 

 sired grade of benzol. 



Naphthaline, another product of coal 

 tar distillation, is receiving much ex- 

 perimental attention in Europe. At pres- 

 ent it has no use except as the base for 

 about twenty million dollars output of 

 artificial indigo and a very limited use 

 in the form of moth balls. Germany 

 alone makes 175,000 tons of naphthaline 

 every year and she has already demon- 

 strated that with special apparatus for 

 making an explosive mixture with air, 

 melting the solid, of course, at 79 de- 

 grees Centigrade, power may be ob- 

 tained at an extremely low cost. 



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