The Optical Magic Lantern Journal (July 1899)

85 In the entertainment entitled ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” there were several instances of this, which will be more easily understood by reference to our sketch, Fig. XXVI. The story of Baron Munchausen is familiar to most of us who have not yet reached the advanced age when the joys of our youthful | days have sunk into the forgotten past. The mendacious hero of the wonderful adventures treated of in that eventful history was on one occasion taken prisoner by the Sultan of Turkey, and as it was at that time the custom in Turkey to retain prisoners of war as slaves, the Baron was told off to protect the beehives in the Royal garden. Being night, the scene was necessarily dark, few details being visible Fig. XXVI. besides the garden path bordered by high hedges, over which a few domes and minarets were to be seen, also a large flower pot in the left-hand bottom corner. The Baron is not visible; he is possibly round the corner somewhere, busily engaged in watching his precious charges. I was not previously aware that bears | roamed in a wild state in the streets of Constantinople, but according to the story two of these animals found their way into the Sultan’s gardens, and being proverbially fond of honey proceeded to attack the hives. Disagreeing, however, in the division of the spoil, a terrible fight ensued between them, which was illustrated by drawing out the two slips a and 8, causing the bears to appear in the centre of the picture. As they were painted in dark colours on separate glasses it was possible, by moving the slips independently, to give a fair idea of a bear fight (Queensberry rules not observed). The Baron, wishing to scare them away, threw his hatchet at them, but to his surprise it was carried right up to the moon into which it was seen to be fastened. Here was a pretty situation; he was afraid to return home without it and was at a loss to know how to regain his weapon, but suddenly remembering that he had one of the beans which grew upon the stalk mentioned in the tale of ‘‘ Jack and the Beanstalk,” he planted it in the flower pot seen in the left hand corner, and awaited the result. Soon the plant is seen to rise above the edge of the pot, and continues growing until it reaches the crescent moon; the method of its growth being apparent on reference to our diagram, where it will be seen that it is painted ona long glass sliding beiween uprights, the Fig. XXVIL. length of the glass being about twice the width | of the picture. From another lantern is thrown on a small figure of the Baron in a climbing attitude, and this. slide being mechanical he apparently climbs the magic beanstalk until he reaches the moon, when the stalk quietly withers away and leaves him hanging in space. By referring to Fig. XXVIL., we see the mechanism by means of which this effect is carried out. The small figure is painted upon a blacked out strip of glass a, which, travelling _ between uprights in a vertical direction, may be made to rise and fall by means of the lever handle seen on the right of our sketch. As this glass rises in the frame, a portion of the main glass plate B would be uncovered, but to avoid this and do away with the necessity for a long black glass to follow it up, a long ' strip of stiff paper the same width as the glass ' Is folded backwards and forwards like the bellows of a concertina and packs away in the