THE BEWITCHED PALANQUIN.
In our description of the Indian Basket Trick we showed how the person
placed in the basket, and supposed to remain there, really takes refuge
in a "bellows-trap," or a bag constructed on the principle of the
collapsible open hat. A machinist of the Paris Lyric Theatre adapted
the idea to the stage, and it figured, first in "Les Amours du Diable"
and then in "The Black Crook," at the Alhambra Theatre, as well as in
New York.
In the piece, the heroine is carried upon the stage in a light
litter, borne on the shoulders of four slaves. There is no appearance
of a double bottom. Suddenly the silken curtains are drawn, and on
their opening almost instantly, the actress is gone !
Explanation.—The four posts, though thin, were metal
tubes, in which worked the counterweights. The cords by which these
were suspended ran up over pulleys in the top corners, and were secured
to a board on which rested the cushions, on which again the actress
reposed. When the spring was released by the performer or one of the
bearers, at the same time as the curtains closed, the board rose and
carried the lady up to the top of the structure. The dome had an
openwork centre, through which she could breathe, and there she lay
quite invisible. The bearers were stout fellows, who upon the curtains
being withdrawn and revealing the empty palanquin, trotted away with it
like a feather.
Contents
|
