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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
189
The
thread
may
be
drawn
in
various
ways.
Sometimes
this
is
done
by
the
performer
himself,
standing
behind
or
beside
the
table.
Another
plan
is
to
have
the
thread
attached
to
a
small
cylindrical
weight
within
the
pillar,
which
is
made
hollow,
and
filled
with
sand.
The
weight
rests
on
the
sand
until
the
operator
desires
the
cards
to
rise,
when,
by
moving
a
trigger
at
the
foot
of
the
pillar,
he
opens
a
valve,
which
allows
the
sand
to
trickle
slowly
down
into
a
cavity
at
the
base;
and
the
weight,
being
thus
deprived
of
its
support,
gradually
sinks
down,
and
pulls
the
thread.
(The
pillar
in
this
case
is
made
about
two
feet
high,
as
the
weight
must
necessarily
travel
six
times
the
length
of
a
card.)
Others,
again,
draw
the
thread
by
means
of
a
clockwork
arrangement
in
the
table,
or
in
the
pillar
itself,
answering
the
same
purpose
as
the
sand
and
weights.
The
arrangement
which
we
ourselves
prefer,
where
practicable,
is
to
have
the
thread
drawn
by
an
assistant,
who
may
either
be
placed
behind
a
screen,
or
may
even
stand
in
full
view
of
the
audience,
so
long
as
he
is
at
some
little
distance
from
the
table.
The
silk
thread
is
quite
invisible,
if
only
you
have
a
tolerably
dark
background.
The
only
portion
as
to
which
you
need
feel
any
anxiety
is
that
immediately
connected
with
the
cards.
To
conceal
this
it
is
well,
if
you
use
a
special
table,
to
have
a
small
hole
bored
in
the
top,
through
which
the
thread
may
pass.
The
card-stand
being
placed
immediately
in
front
of
the
hole,
the
thread
will
pass
perpendicularly
downward
for
the
first
portion
of
its
length,
and
will
thus
be
concealed
behind
the
pillar.
In
default
of
a
hole,
a
ring
of
bent
wire
attached
to
the
table
will
answer
the
same
purpose.
The
great
advantage
of
having
the
thread
pulled
by
a
living
person
instead
of
a
mechanical
power
is,
that
you
can
take
your
own
time
in
the
performance
of
the
trick;
whereas,
if
you
use
a
weight
or
clockwork,
there
is
always
a
danger
of
a
card
beginning
to
rise
before
you
have
called
for
it,
or
possibly
not
rising
at
all--either
contingency
being
rather
embarrassing.
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