Youth Who Reads Through Metal Charges Trickery at Tests.

The second test by Joaquin Maria Argamasilla, the 19-year-old Spaniard, who contends that by a super-light, although blindfolded, he can read through metals, was begun yesterday at the Hotel Pennsylvania, as a challenge to Houdini, the conjuror. After two hours of wrangling between the young man and Houdini and their respective associates, no demonstration satisfactory to the guests assembled had been made, and the final test was postponed.

It was said the next test would be made before a group of scientists. Houdini did not duplicate the Spaniard’s feats as he had said he would, and in all the proceedings the friends of the Spaniard accused the conjuror of trying to trick the young man. In addition to this, it was asserted that Argamasilla could not read through metal so well on a cloudy day.

Several newspapermen acted as judges and assisted Houdini, who placed a card in the metal box. The Spaniard failed altogether in this test, and when the box was opened it was found that Houdini had placed therein a real estate advertisement from a newspaper, the type of which was so small that many in the room could not read it without the aid of glasses. Darkness finally stopped the tests.

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