Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-10-16
THE WEEKLY sTAg
The Magical Mango

Everybody has heard Of the rnd;. T..
gler trick Of producing a young mango !s !,.s.
from seed which he takes from hi, bss srS
| submits TO your examination. The seed =
sound and fit for planting. The jugglcr col
| lects quantity Of earth, moistens IL With
water, and taking mango stone from nj,
4 bag, plants IL in The earth he has prepared
| Over all, he places a moderate sized round
basket, upon which he spreads his cloth or
| baliFe blanket. After an interval OF dis
1 eordant music and incantation, the cloth and
easket Is removed, tho muddy seed is taken
rom the earth, and you observe that long,
aenaer white hbres, forming the root, havo
! covered as before, and the music becomes
more dlscordent, and the incantstiop more
furious At length tho charm is comnlete
ana the removal Of the basket displsys A
young and tender shoot, with two openinr
leaves at its summit. Explanations Of sur.
prise from the bystanders, and satisfaction
from the band Of Jugglers, complete the second
act Again all is covered up anew and The
ear-splitting music goes on Suddenly the
coverings are removed, and to the amaze
ment and delight Of all, the first shoot OF |.
young mango tree, with its small light-colored
leaves makes its appearance Seven years
ago, was the inspector Of such a scene az
Madras, where had gone on sick leave, and
was glad OF any amusement to relieve the
monotony Of a forced confinement 10 the house.
had shrewd suspicion that, if could er-
anime this tree Of miraculous growth, it would
turn out very simple affair Acting on this
idea, suddenly seized il, and, in spite Of the
clamor of the jugglers, bore il off 1t certain
~ had the appearance Of a real mango shoot.
There was the dirty stone, wet and discolored,
with the earth clinging to it, From its lower
part, the white hbres OF the recent root stream
ed out with q most natural appearance whilst
from the upper side sprang a perfect young
snoot, SIX or eight inches in height, with the
leaves In their earliest growth. A basin of
water solved the mystery, for on washing the
stone found il old and dry, and split dsvn
on one side. From its cavity L took out A
small bundle of grass roots, one end of which
was tied with thread, and withdrew the youpe
seoot OF the mango from the top Of the stone.
mere you have only part Of the apparatus of
deception. 1t is perfected in the following
manner The mango, an evergreen, grows in
almost every large garden in India A con-
feGerate first pulls sufficient quantity of the
roots OF grass, which are white, long, and 6.
brous, and resemble the fret growth of roots
from the mango seed He ties them up, in
serts the tie end in the cleft stone, and gives
them secretly with the cloth to his chief who
plants mango stone before your eyes, and
whilst putting the cloth over the basket dex-
terously withdraws it, and substitutes the
stone with the roots The moist earth in
which IT IS buried removes all appearance Of
deception Again the confederate is ready
with his progressive slips of mango, which. at
every removal of the basket, he contrives to
place within reach Of the operator without
being seen and the latter, in his manipula-
tions whist covering up the basket with the
cloth, slips them into the upper part of the
slit In the mango stone. The same process
may be continued so as to give you the fruit
growing In its various stages, but this of
course must depend on the trick being per-
formed In the fruit season. L was twenty
three years in India, and never met with any-
body who could explain the Daodus opsrandE
OF this trick, though almost all-not aIl,-felt
satisfied it was atrick.-ChGm5ers's Journal.