TOOLE'S CONJURING AND OTHER CONJURERS.

I have seen some curious and amusing blunders in conjuring, but one which amused me very much was made some years ago by Toole at his theatre. He was going to produce a farce, called, I think, “The Wizard of the Wilderness,” and engaged Bland, the well-known conjurer of Oxford Street, to show him some tricks. Amongst them Toole was anxious to accomplish the well-known feat of producing a glass bowl of water containing gold fish from a pocket-handkerchief. As is well known, the bowl of water with the fish in it is concealed in a large back pocket in the conjurer's coat, and, to prevent the water escaping, an almost invisible piece of india-rubber is strained tightly over the rim of the bowl, the art of doing the trick well consisting in taking the bowl out of the pocket with one hand whilst doing a lot of flourishing with the handkerchief in the other, and the moment the bowl is safely hidden by the handkerchief, the india-rubber is released and easily drops off without being seen by the audience. There is neither art nor trouble in doing the trick slowly, but there is some art in doing it very quickly, which means, of course, some or a good deal of practice. Bland, whose nature corresponded to his name, was pleased to practise the trick, and show how easily it was done, and it was easy enough without the water and fish.