HERR LOUIS DOUBLER, THE NECROMANCER.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 11, 6 September 1842, Page 4

HERR LOUIS DOUBLER, THE NECROMANCER.

This great magician, the most wonderful of all wonders, has at length made his public appearance among us, on Monday, at St. James’s Theatre. He is an agreeable looking personage and wore a graceful fancy costume; but this, perhaps, may be part of the imposition, because' it would not be very difficult to believe that one who was capable of achieving such marvellous feats as he exhibited to his numerous auditory would also have the power of rendering himself not only an agreeable but a most fascinating personage. To describe even the main features of each successive, tour de magic would far exceed our limits ; but we will set down a few of them, in the expectation that ere long the town will flock to see him, and, if their bewildered faculties will allow, supply for themselves that which, with regret, we must at present withhold from them. On the rise of the curtain some 200 wax candles (unlighted) are seen arranged around the stage, and on Dobler’s appearance he discharges a pistol, when they all instantaneously burst into illumination. Having got a watch from a lady in the stalls he placed it apart, and afterwards presented her with a dark ball enveloped in a towel. He then placed an orange within a small metal vase, which stood on one of the tables near at hand. Presently, on opening this vase, the orange had given place to the dark ball, which was itself found within the towel still held by the lady. Upon this orange being cut open the watch was found deposited within it. Two handkerchiefs presented by persons in the stalls were inclosed in vases, and seemed to undergo an invisible transition from one to the other. Upon Dobler’s firing a pistol they were found to have disappeared, and upon looking up in the direction of his aim, they were seen dangling from the ceiling of the theatre —another shot brought them down almost into the very laps of their owners. A pack of cards was handed to a gentleman, and he having taken note of one, handed the whole back to the magician, who, having a delicate small sword in his hand, flung them up into the air, and, as they confusedly fell, transfixed precisely the selected card. The following illusion is entitled “The Travelling Bottle.” Dobler, filling a common bottle with water, transforms this water into a collection of the wines of all countries, amicably assembled together in one receptacle, and he fills out first a glass of sherry, then one of port, then one of champagne, and so on. The glass of champagne, which Dobler drank off with apparent considerable relish, sparkled and frothed up in the handsomest manner. Then, when all the wine was emptied out, Dobler broke the bottle, and extracted thence a silk handkerchief, the property of a gentleman in the pit, who had previously seen it very carefully deposited on a table at the other end of a stage. In the “ Miraculous Washing,” some eight or ten handkerchiefs, volunteered for the occasion, were, to all appearance, thoroughly immersed, soaked in water, and put through the process of ablution, Next moment, upon opening the drawer of a box on a neighbouring table, and which had previously been shown to be empty, the whole were discovered neatly folded up, as if fresh from the blanchisseuse. After many other achievements quite sufficient to perplex all ordinary philosophy, Dobler concluded his incantations by conjuring from an old hat which Tie, in the first instance, exhibited in a state of utter inanity, and secondly trod recklessly under foot, a seemingly inexhaustible supply of very delicate bouquets of flowers, which he continued to fling to the ladies in both stalls, boxes, and pit, until they were all inclined to cry, “ Hold, enough.” With these floriture he brought his evening to a close, amidst the very zealous applause of a well attended house. The only

drawback that attends this most interesting and astonishing performance is the want of acquaintance, on the part of Dobler, with the English language, because, owing to that circumstance, the exact meaning and scope of some of the more refined touches of the art are lost to the majority of the spectators, although the feats themselves are “ obvious to the meanest capacity.” A distinguishing feature of Dobler’s exhibition is the ease and masterly perfection with which he effects his tricks and illusions. — Observer.