OUR HISTORY – NO DISAPPEARING ACT

A Justice of the Peace found he had before him a man accused of sleight of hand, of being an imposter, in that he said he was the well-known magic man “Carter the Great” when he was not. Audiences saw through the illusion…the phoney had been booed and slow-clapped in Napier and when police investigated it was found his act of pretence had been carried out 7 times in different towns. The Justice of the Peace, fearing a disappearing act, remanded him in custody: a Magistrate later sentenced him to one month’s jail for false pretences. 

Researched and compiled by Ric Carlyon