"The Wizard of the Norths."

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3374, 30 November 1889, Page 2

"The Wizard of the Norths."

Thore was a wrolohecl woman singing for penco in the slums last week who Inula history. She was none oilier than the favorite daughter oi\ Professor Anderson, " the Wizard of tho North," who used to mystify the last generation with the wonders of elementary electricity, Many people who marvelled at the'' professor's show—and whodid not marvel at it in those days?—will remember• his , handsome daughter. She used to . lmVe little to do with the performance beyond playing the piano sometimes, \ butshowas always on'view, and sho | was always seen about with her father. He left a good deal of money ' behind him, and sho had her share, r but by this time she had married a New-York professional man, and he quickly made ducks and drakes of it. ' She left him, and sought to make a living on the stage. A good musician \ and afair singer; she managed to get ;on pretty woll for a time,.and camo ' to England: but a run of ill-luck came and engagements failed her. Sho partod with her wardrobe, and | came down at last to singiug in tho T ■ i streets. Last week came worse still. ' Her strength gave way, her- voicfc failed, and even this wretched means*! ■ ' of subsistence was lost.. For two ; days she had nothing at all to eat, r and for-two nights she slept in tho ' park, Then, and not till then, sho i overcame her pride, and called to sco ; a gentleman who in the old days' ' knew her and her father very well. 1 She is being cared for how, and i is being put in the .way to earn'a'' ' livelihood. The wizard was a reJ markable man in many ways. He ! was a cook by trade, and practised his profession as chef 'at an hotel in | Aberdeen. He loft his hotel to become a wizard. The tricks by which ho ' mado his fame would hardly puzzle a schoolboy nowadays, But those ; were the early days of electricity, and when people saw caudles suddenly light up without a match being put to them, and heard rappings and bell ringings and drum beatings coming in tho most mysterious maimer from ! all parts of the hall they were a litllo , iriglitoiied as woll as being , Some of what were accounted ' professor's most marvellous tricks*" t were accomplished by concealing , underneath'the. carpot on the stage a [ copper plate communicating with an M.. ; electric battery, In tho heels of his •*" , boots wore fixed spurs in such a ' manner that whonover he liked ho ; could drive them through the carpet j and make electrical connections with the copper plato underneath. Whon people did not know of tho ingenious ' little arrangement the easily-pro- , duccd electrical phenomena were ' sufficiently marvellous. He used to ' give his audience shocks, and do a little in the electric faith-healing line | by way of varying tho performance. . Tho wizard was a horn mechanic, | and used to manufacture all bis own I apparatus as far as possible. ,He r possessed'also a large measure of that great quality of the successful inventor, the power of appropriating other ; people's idea's, If anyone brought [ him a new piece of trick apparatus that showed ingenuity he would contrive in examining to break ji Then tho artful wizard wouS send for tho inventor to repair it, and if ho showed any cleverness, would keep him hangiug about till ho had fou.id out. what ingenious ideas tho unsuspecting inventor had-got float- ' ■-. ing about his head Tho professor W. always had his own workshop in *& every town ho visited, and to this ho would retire with such ideas as ho had managed to pick up, and work them out as his own invention. Ho was very "canny" was Professor • Anderson, and apart from tho merits . of his performance, he is accounted one of tho cleverest "showmen', that ever lived. Professor Anderson had another daughter bosides the unfortunate lady referred to above. Sho used to take a prominent part in the performance, and regularly accomplished some really marvellous mnemonic feats. Every day she used to learn off by heart the contents of three newspapers. At night her father would blindfold her, invite the people in tho audience to indicate tiny paragraphs ill cither of tho* papers which they would like the. young lady to read by. second sight. She would repeat it word for word' without ever making a mistake, This is, perhaps, tho most remarkable feat of memory oil record.' She is a middled-woman now, and is engaged ill literary work in 'Leeds.—Loudon Star. ADesgrsedSuuhlpg,,. A smart reporter of a Chicago • gaper [the 'Tribpnp') was .probing about tho other day in search of news jk in connection'with the Maybrick cape W j vki it occurred, to him Wit wouflj'

*fr bo a good stroke of business to interwew Sir JamesFitiyamos Stephou on tbo matter, thinking no doubt that k going to the .fountain head ho would be sure to get something pithy. So Mr Reports put on his best visiting emt of clothes, and hired a swell trap wth servaut in livery, and drovo up to tlio residoucc of the Judge in great stylo, Tiio servants of the house thought it must be somo person of i conseqiioncn; and as the visitor's sscard bore a well-known English namo without ii smell of the Press about it, tho visitor had no difficulty in getting into tho presence of the august Judge, when the following speeches took place:-Judge Slophoii: "Well,sir, what do you want?" Reporter: "Well,! want to ask your Lordship a few questions with reference to tho Maybrick affair, which you alone can answer. lain, sir, a reporter from the 'Chicago Tribune.'" Judge Stephen, in his awful judicial voice: "Sir, thero is tho door," and, turning to the servant close at baud, o said: " See thai ho leaves by it." The reporter did not stay to ask any jjm questions. He had a great ambition W to put distance between his valuable self and the torrible Judge asquickly as possible, and now that reporter has the greatest respect for British Judges,