"All wonder," said Samuel Johnson, "is the effect of novelty on
ignorance." Yet we are so created that without something to wonder at
we should find life scarcely worth living. That fact does not make
ignorance bliss, or make it "folly to be wise." For the wisest man
never gets beyond the reach of novelty, nor can ever make it his boast
that there is nothing he is ignorant of; on the contrary, the wiser he
becomes the more clearly he sees how much there is of which he remains
in ignorance. The more he knows, the more he will find to wonder at.
My professional life has been a constant record of disillusion, and
many things that seem wonderful to most men are the every-day
commonplaces of my business. But I have never been without some
seeming marvel to pique my curiosity and challenge my investigation. In
this book I have set down some of the stories of strange folk and
unusual performers that I have gathered in many years of such research.
Much has been written about the feats of miracle-mongers, and not a
little in the way of explaining them. Chaucer was by no means the
first to turn shrewd eyes upon wonder-workers and show the clay feet of
these popular idols. And since his time innumerable marvels, held to
be supernatural, have been exposed for the tricks they were. Yet
to-day, if a mystifier lack the ingenuity to invent a new and startling
stunt, he can safely fall back upon a trick that has been the favorite
of pressagents the world over in all ages. He can imitate the Hindoo
fakir who, having thrown a rope high into the air, has a boy climb it
until he is lost to view. He can even have the feat photographed. The
camera will click; nothing will appear on the developed film; and this,
the performer will glibly explain, "proves" that the whole company of
onlookers was hypnotized! And he can be certain of a very profitable
following to defend and advertise him.
So I do not feel that I need to apologize for adding another volume to
the shelves of works dealing with the marvels of the miracle-mongers.
My business has given me an intimate knowledge of stage illusions,
together with many years of experience among show people of all types.
My familiarity with the former, and what I have learned of the
psychology of the latter, has placed me at a certain advantage in
uncovering the natural explanation of feats that to the ignorant have
seemed supernatural. And even if my readers are too well informed to
be interested in my descriptions of the methods of the various
performers who have seemed to me worthy of attention in these pages, I
hope they will find some amusement in following the fortunes and
misfortunes of all manner of strange folk who once bewildered the wise
men of their day. If I have accomplished that much, I shall feel amply
repaid for my labor.