Herman Pinetti

“ Cabinet tricks have always been a great stand-by for performers in spiritualism. A committee from the audience is usually chosen, and after tying the performer securely to a chair or board or in some other way binding him very securely, he is then placed in a cabinet, the curtains drawn, and immediately manifestations take place, such as the ringing of bells, the banging of tambourines and playing of guitars. ”

“ He instructs the audience that if any person’s name be called, whether he or she has written a question or not, to promptly respond by raising his hand so as to put himself in direct communication with the medium. Why the raising of the hand, which is somewhat embarrassing to a person, places him into closer or more direct communication with the medium the performer fails to explain. To assist the audience to concentrate their thoughts on the questions he bids them take out their questions from their pockets or purses or wherever they may be concealed, and occasionally read them over. ”

“ The treasurer or ticket seller of the theatre or hall is usually taken into the confidence of the performer, and he can furnish additional information, as he knows the people in town well and by name, and is able to tell the performer what seats they are sitting in. He is also able to draw out from those buying tickets what questions they intend to ask, or they will often volunteer the information, telling the treasurer that they are coming to see the performance to find out who stole their watch or who will be the next mayor, or whatever they may wish to know. ”

“ In this experiment the performer has an assistant, usually a young lady as the effect is better, whom he blind-folds, and she takes a seat in the room. He next borrows a number of coins from those in the audience, and has some one person select a coin. The performer asks this person to notice the coin carefully so that he can identify it. He then asks the person to hold the coin tightly in his hand and think very intently about it. The rest of the coins are now placed in a hat, and after a short period the person who has selected a coin is asked to drop the coin into the hat with the others. ”

“ The performer announces that his assistant, who is usually a woman, and whom I choose to call a medium in the following description, will read and answer questions written by the people in the audience, which they may have written at home on their own paper or at the theatre. He instructs them to write a short question and sign their name if they wish an answer, then to fold the question up and place same in their pocket or pocketbook. For the convenience of those who have not written their questions at home the performer and the ushers distribute slips of paper and pencils among the audience. ”

“ The ushers armed with a handful of good solid boards and four or five “fake” boards now pass among the audience. By a little practice they are able to pick out a skeptic or any one whom they think may cause trouble by stealing a board or tearing it open for the purpose of discovering the secret in the board. To those they give the genuine boards, and if that person should now break it open for the purpose of exposing the performer he feels very cheap on finding no preparation about it. ”

“ By the following method quite mysterious tricks may be performed in one’s own house. The performer’s assistant is blind-folded and sits in a remote part of the room. She has attached to her finger an end of a fine black silk thread. The other end of this thread the performer carries. He is now able by sharp twitches upon the cord to communicate with his assistant, telling her the dates of coins, the suit of a card, the number of a watch and many other experiments by using a little code which they have arranged between them. ”

“ It will be seen now that if at every performance the four or five “cappers” sitting among the audience are all successful in finding out two or three questions which are written at home or outside of the theatre and a description of what they are written upon, together with what information is obtained from the treasurer of the house, and also the questions which the medium obtains from the “fake” boards, the medium has now obtained abundant ammunition of mystery to fire at the audience for about an hour, the solution of which passes over their heads. ”

“ The performer in turn passes them through trap opening in the step to the assistant concealed under same, or possibly drops them over the railing of the lower box, if the assistant is concealed there, where they are gathered in from the floor of the box by the assistant and telephoned to medium.
The medium is now able to answer the person’s inquiry about their missing sister. She utilizes as much dramatic power as possible in her answers and works them up cleverly, often-times giving information in her answers which she gains from the written question alone. ”

“ The performer wears a ring with a slot in it. The body of the pin easily enters the slot in the ring, but the head of the pin being of good size prevents the table from falling away from the hand. After the table has been floated successfully an extra strong upward pressure of the hand pulls the pin out and the table can be examined. This trick may be performed when the table is covered with a borrowed silk handkerchief, as the handkerchief, being of fine, soft texture, does not prevent the pin slipping into the slot cut into the ring. This addition makes the trick a little more effective. ”

“ The medium has gained knowledge of the question in some of the preceding methods I have described, and when she answers this question she calls out the questioner’s name, and states that he or she is thinking about a watch, about a game, or coin, or whatever the question may be about. She states she cannot seem to see more, asking the person to think intently about it and she may get it. ”

“ Regarding the part of performance where the medium describes a card or envelope which the performer holds in his hand on which some person has written his question, she is not only reading the question but the printed matter on the card or envelope as well. ”

“ It is needless to say that the assistant must always pull the trap down and hold it tightly by the rope after each test so the committee can discover nothing upon examining the cabinet. The medium gives the assistant a signal when to open the trap by tapping his foot on the trap. ”

“ A great many signs can be used, and most performers have their own. The telegraphic method is very good for tests in numbers, but for the communication of words or questions is too slow, and it is also difficult for medium to get the question, if it be a long one, as she cannot write it down, and, therefore, this method is not often used in anything but number tests. ”

“ It should be borne in mind, however, that it is not so much the apparatus employed as it is the shrewd, ever-observing methods employed by the performers, who are very sharp, keen men. The devices employed by the performers are so numerous that it is impossible to say just what methods they will use next. As soon as one method is exposed they immediately begin to plan, and evolve an entirely different method of performing the same illusion. ”

“ In boring the hole through the post the medium starts the bit so that there is no danger of the committee boring the hole too low or so high that it will strike the chisel. When the nail is driven in the top of the post it forces the chisel down and cuts the rope. The medium may now ring bells, etc. After the medium is through he puts the rope ends back in the hole in the post and holds his hands very tightly against the post while the knots are inspected by the committee. ”

“ The signal to stop is a series of two pulls in rapid succession.
It sometimes happens that the assistant cannot see what [Pg 28] number is required, say, for instance, the number on a watch or the date on a coin. In this case the performer communicates with the assistant by sign language, and the assistant now telegraphs the desired number or numbers to the medium. The signs may be gotten up as in the following table ”

“ The end of the rod in back of the curtain was firmly fitted into a heavy block which slid up and down in a perpendicular frame. This block, by means of ropes and pulleys, could be raised or lowered by the assistants in back of stage. Without a doubt, however, the method of performing this illusion now, where the performer stands over the girl in the center or even in the front part of stage, is very much better and more mystifying in every way. ”

“ The apparatus may be raised up as high as performer’s waist or even higher, and the hoop will then be encircling his body, while the rod connected to “F” running through the floor will be hidden by the performer.
This illusion was first performed by having the girl lie [Pg 23] on a couch or upon a board supported by two wooden horses, quite close to the rear curtain of the stage, and instead of having the connection made underneath the floor a rod was passed through a slot in the back curtain which connected to the metal coil. ”

“ She makes what manifestations she chooses, and by placing her wrists one on each side of the ring and clasping her hands together, pressing all tightly together, she is ready for examination. The ring being wound with cotton cloth the same as used in the bandages the committee cannot see that anything has been changed, and, being a little ill at ease upon a public stage, they are ready to say that she is bound without making the most thorough examination possible. ”

“ The performer and [Pg 45] one of the ushers go upon the stage and lift her, chair and all, on to the floor. The performer and usher have in their hands a quantity of questions they have collected from the audience, or copied, rolled up in little balls, and in lifting medium down from the table place their hands under the sheet in a perfectly natural way to take hold of the chair. Under cover of the sheet, however, the medium takes the questions from their hands, and now has ammunition for a lot more mystery. ”

“ She cuts the bandage which connects her wrists close to the band which fastens her to the ring and slips this bandage off, leaving it whole and still tied to the ring, and now has the free use of both hands, and as the strips tied around her arms were tied above her elbows she has full use of her forearms, and is thus able to raise a glass of water to her mouth, tie knots in a handkerchief around her neck and drive nails into a chair. ”

“ When the medium is covered with the sheet an assistant under the stage passes up through a small hole or trap in the floor either a rubber speaking-tube or a small telephone receiver connected by wires. ”