TABLE LIFTING.
Most spiritualistic performers usually perform a test of table
lifting or of floating tables. Small, light tables are lifted by the
mere “laying on of hands.” The arms are raised in the air and the
table is seen to cling to the hands and follow every motion. This is
accomplished by a pin driven well into the table, projecting above
the table about a quarter of an inch. There is a good-sized head to
this pin. 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.
There is also another method employed of raising a table which has been
examined beforehand by a committee, who also examine the performer’s
hands to see that there is no sticky substance on them. In this method,
instead of having a slot cut into the ring, a strong needle point is
soldered to the outside of the ring and at a slight angle to it. This
ring is placed upon the performer’s hand so that the point is sticking
toward the tips of his fingers. The ring may be turned upon his finger
so that the point can be concealed between the fingers when his hands
are being examined. When he performs this trick he merely turns the
point around to the inside of his hand, and the top of the table being
of some soft texture, such as cardboard or wood covered with felt, he
is able to push this needle point well into the top of the table, and
is thus able to raise it without trouble.
Small, light tables are sometimes floated in the air with the performer
holding his hand well above the table and not touching it at all. This
is easily accomplished by having two strings running from one side of
the stage to the other worked by assistants. They merely raise these
strings from the floor so they come underneath the table, when by a
little effort they are able to raise the table completely off the floor.
THE OBEDIENT HANDKERCHIEF.
This little trick is usually performed in connection with some other
handkerchief trick or with some act in hypnotism.
The performer having borrowed a handkerchief from some one in the
audience for some trick, before returning same to the owner states
that he is going to try and make the handkerchief stand alone. He ties
a knot in one corner of the handkerchief, rubs it between his hands,
“to endow it with magnetism,” and then places same on the floor. At
his command the handkerchief rises or falls, it dances to music, and
altogether acts in a very strange manner. He now picks the handkerchief
up and carries it forward to its owner.
There are several methods of performing this little experiment, and,
while not much of a trick in itself, if well presented it is very
interesting. The old method used to be of having a string extending
from the floor to the ceiling and thence passing over a small pulley to
the back or side of the stage. On the end of the string on the stage
was a small bent pin or a pellet of wax. The performer when tying the
knot in the handkerchief stuck the pin in the corner of same or stuck
the wax to the handkerchief, whichever method was used. His assistant
from the side of the stage was now able to operate the handkerchief.
This was somewhat of a clumsy method, as it took a little dexterity to
release the handkerchief from the string after the performance. The
method now usually employed, and on which the details are worked out
with care, is to have a fine black string passing from one side of the
stage to the other. The performer has an assistant at both sides. When
he is to perform this trick they raise the string to the height of his
hands, and in tying the knot in the handkerchief he ties it loosely
around the string. He now drops it to the floor, and at his command the
assistants are able to raise the handkerchief and make it move forward
and backward in a very mystifying manner. To heighten the effect
the performer passes a chair or a tambourine over the handkerchief,
thus showing that there is no connection made from above, which is
the method usually supposed to be employed. Now, when he returns the
handkerchief one assistant drops his end of the string and the other
holds his firmly, and the performer walking down to the front of the
stage with the handkerchief, the string is drawn through the knot.
Another method of fastening the string to the handkerchief may be
employed where the performer is able to carry the handkerchief to the
side of the stage before performing the experiment. In this case he
passes a needle to which is attached a thread through a corner of the
handkerchief, and then walks to the other side of the stage, where he
gives one assistant an end of the string, the other end being held by
the assistant on the first side.
There is also another method of performing this, in which the performer
passes a solid hoop completely over and around the handkerchief while
it is suspended in the air This little contrivance, being one of my
own, consists of a fine piece of wire made on the same plan as the
apparatus used in suspending a woman in mid-air, which I will explain
in the next chapter.