Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

The ladle may also be used to apparently burn and restore a paper on which one of the company has written any words or figures. In this case a blank half-sheet of note-paper, folded in four, is beforehand placed in the ladle, and a piece of paper folded in the same way is handed to one of the audience, with a request that he will write what he pleases upon it, again fold it, and place it in the ladle. It is then either apparently burnt (as in the case of the card), or placed in some other apparatus, the operator making a great point of the fact that he does not touch the paper. As the genuine paper remains in the ladle, it is, of course, very easy for the performer to ascertain what is written upon it, and having displayed his knowledge, to ultimately reproduce the paper under any circumstance which he thinks fit. Sometimes the trick is varied by requesting a spectator to write a question upon the paper, which is subsequently reproduced with an appropriate answer written beneath the question.