I.

I went on one occasion to dine with Mr. Francis J. Martinka, and while waiting for the repast to be served, seated myself upon an old-fashioned sofa in his drawing-room.

“Pardon me,” said my host, gaily, “while I put a bottle of wine on ice. I will be back in a little while. In the meantime, you may amuse yourself looking over these photos of eminent conjurers. And, by the way, you are seated on the very sofa {189} which Robert Heller used in his second-sight trick. Examine it carefully and you will see where the wires and electric battery were located. I came into possession of the relic after the death of Heller.”

So saying he went out to look after the wine.

And so the piece of furniture I was seated on was the veritable up-to-date tripod of that High Priestess of Delphi, Miss Haidie Heller, who assisted Robert Heller, acting the part of clairvoyant. It called up a flood of memories to me.

The magician of the Arabian Nights transported himself from Bagdad to Damascus upon a piece of carpet. In imag­i­na­tion that old sofa carried me back thirty years into the past. I was seated in the gallery of the old National Theatre, Washington, D. C., at a soirÉe magique of the famous Heller. I shall never forget his second-sight trick. It was the most wonder-provoking, the most mysterious experiment I have ever seen. In his hands, it was perfect. Robert Heller saw Houdin give an exhibition of this feat of mental magic in London. His acute mind divined the secret, and he set about devising a code for working the experiment. He added many new effects. Nothing seemed to puzzle him and his assistant.

At an entertainment given in Boston, and described by Henry Hermon in his work on Hellerism, a coin was handed to Heller. He glanced at it and requested Miss Heller to name the object.

“A coin,” she quickly answered.

“Here, see if you can tell the name of the country, and all about it?” he next asked.

Without a moment’s hesitation she replied: “It is a large copper coin—a coin of Africa, I think. Yes, it is of Tripoli. The inscriptions on it are in Arabic; one side reads ‘Coined at Tripoli;’ the other side, ‘Sultan of two lands, Sultan by inheritance, and the son of a Sultan.’”

“Very well,” said Heller, “that is correct. But look, what is the date, now?”

“The date is 1-2-2-0, one thousand two hundred and twenty of the Hegira, or Mohammedan year, which corresponds to 1805 of the Christian year.” {190}

Tremendous applause greeted this feat.

Mr. Fred Hunt, who was for a number of years Robert Heller’s assistant, revealed the secret of second sight soon after Heller’s death. The performer has first to be initiated into a new alphabetical arrangement, which is as follows:

A is H; B is T; C is S; D is G; E is F; F is E; G is A; H is I; I is B; J is L; K is Pray; L is C; M is O; N is D; O is V; P is J; Q is W; R is M; S is N; T is P; U is Look; V is Y; W is R; X is See this; Y is Q; Z is Hurry. “Hurry up” means to repeat the last letter. For example, the initials or name in a ring is wanted. Say it is “Anna.” By the alphabetical arrangement H stands for A. D for N. The exclamation “Hurry up” always means a repetition of the last letter, and again H will give the answer when put as follows:

“Here is a name. Do you see it? Hurry up. Have you got it?”

Attention is paid only to the first letter of every sentence, and it will be perceived that the name of Anna is spelled.

After the alphabet we have the numbers, which are arranged as follows: 1 is Say or Speak; 2 is Be, Look or Let; 3 is Can or Can’t; 4 is Do or Don’t; 5 is Will or Won’t; 6 is What; 7 is Please or Pray; 8 is Are or Ain’t; 9 is Now; 10 is Tell; 0 is Hurry or Come. “Well” is to repeat the last figure. Now for an example: The number 1,234 is needed. The conjurer remarks: “Say the number. Look at it. Can you see it? Do you know?”

Suppose the number called for is 100.

“Tell me the number. Hurry!”

So much, dear reader, for the spelling of proper names and conveying numbers to the clairvoyant on the stage. In regard to colors, metals, precious stones, countries, materials, fabrics, makers of watches, playing cards, society emblems, coins, bills, jewelry, wearing apparel, surgical instruments, etc., etc., Heller had them arranged in sets of ten. The first question he asked gave the clue to the set; the second question to the number of the article in the set. Thus but two short questions were necessary to elicit the proper reply from the assistant. {191} Miscellaneous articles were divided into nineteen sets. I will give examples of two:

Supposing a spectator handed a Rosary to the conjurer. He would call out to his assistant, “What is this?” (Clue to the second set.) Then he would exclaim, “Are you ready?” The word are would give the clue to number 8. And so on.

The clues to the sets were worded very nearly alike, so as to make the spectators believe that the same questions were being constantly asked.

Evoking the aid of electricity, Robert Heller was enabled to convey the cue words and numbers of the sets to Miss Heller without speaking a word. It was this wonderful effect that so puzzled everybody. A confederate sat among the spectators, near the center aisle of the theatre, and the wires of an electric battery were connected with his chair, the electric push button being under the front part of his seat. Heller gave the cue to the set in which the article was, its number, etc., by some natural movement of his body or arms; and the confederate, rapidly interpreting the secret signals, telegraphed them to the clairvoyant on the stage. The receiving instrument was attached to the sofa upon which Miss Heller sat. The interchangeable use of the two methods of conveying information—spoken and unspoken—during an evening, completely bewildered the spectators. It was indeed a sphinx problem.

Robert Heller, or William Henry Palmer, was born in Canterbury, England, in 1833. At the age of fourteen he won a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music. In the year 1852 {192} he made his dÉbut in New York City at the Chinese Assembly Rooms. On this occasion he wore a black wig and spoke with a Gallic accent, believing that a French conjurer would be better received in this country than an English magician. He failed to make a success, and eventually drifted to Washington, where he taught music for a number of years. All this time he was perfecting himself in legerdemain. Finally he reappeared in New York and won unbounded success. He visited Europe and India, returning to the United States in 1875. His last performance was given at Concert Hall, Philadelphia, on November 25, 1878. He died in the same city on November 28, 1878. Soon after his death an absurd story went the rounds of the {193} press that he had directed his executors to destroy his automata and magical paraphernalia. Such is not the case. Mr. Francis J. Martinka, of New York, possesses a number of his tricks. Heller was a magnificent pianist and always gave a short recital of his own compositions and those of the masters during his entertainment. He used to append the following effusion to his posters:

The following is one of Heller’s programmes (Salt Lake City, Utah, May 23, 1867):

A curious exhibition of silent second sight was that of the Svengali trio. The effect as described by the New York Herald, August 11, 1904, is as follows:

“Two persons (lady and gentleman) are on the stage, both with their backs toward the audience. A third one goes into the auditorium, with his back towards the stage, to receive the wishes of the audience. If the name of any international celebrity is whispered to him, with lightning rapidity the thought is transmitted. The gentleman on the stage turns round immediately and appears in features, bearing and dress as the desired personage—with wonderfully startling resemblance.

“One can likewise whisper to the gentleman in the auditorium the name of an international opera, operetta or international song. The thought flies like lightning, and the lady sings what is wanted, instantly accompanying herself on the piano.

“The secret of this trick is as follows: When the curtain rises, the master of ceremonies walks to the front of the stage and in a pleasing voice begins: ‘Ladies and gentlemen—I have the pleasure of introducing to you, etc., etc. I will call your attention to the fact that the spectators must confine their whispered wishes to international celebrities, names of well-known personages, songs and operas of international fame,’ etc.

“This limitation of choice is the key to the performance. They have lists of these ‘international celebrities,’ rulers, statesmen, diplomats, great writers and musical composers; songs of world-wide reputation, popular selections from the operas, etc. And the secret of the evening is that all of these carefully selected names, titles, etc., are numbered, as in the following examples:

• STATESMEN AND RULERS.
  • 1. Bismarck.
  • 2. King Humbert of Italy.
  • 3. Napoleon Bonaparte.
  • 4. King Edward VII.
  • 5. Paul Kruger.
  • 120. Lincoln.
• POPULAR SONGS.
  • 1. “Home, Sweet Home.”
  • 2. “Last Rose of Summer.”
  • 3. “Marseillaise.”
  • 4. “The Jewel Song in Faust.”
  • 5. “Walter’s Prize Song.”
  • 101. “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye.” {195}
• OPERAS.
  • 1. “Faust.”
  • 2. “Lohengrin.”
  • 3. “Bohemian Girl.”
  • 4. “Lucia di Lammermoor.”
  • 5. “Carmen.”
  • 120. “Trovatore.”
• GREAT WRITERS.
  • 1. Thackeray.
  • 2. Victor Hugo.
  • 3. Dickens.
  • 4. George Eliot.
  • 5. Shakespeare.
  • 101. Dante.