Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1858-02-20
sU FEBRUARY os5a uMR -
NUMBER a. = :.
A .~~...'.-' U4"."' '.''' 4" AlssAlA'e

.-"..."-s S4.. 4" I.s' AW Algeria
Every one has seen mention made o.
heard of the great Robert Houdin. Be-
sides being the Prince of coniurers he IL
an able mathematician and inehaniciAn,
and his electric clock, made for the Hotel
dc Vile Of his native town Of Bl0is, OBJ
taincd medal of the Paris exhibition
1t is not generally known that he was
sent to Algeria by tho French govern
ment, on a mission connected with the
black art-probably the first time that
conjurcr has been called upon to exercise
his profession in government employ
Some details of his expedition have just
been published. Its object was to destroy
the influence exercised amongst the Arab
tribes by the marabouts-an influence Of
ten mischicvously applied. BY a few
clumsy tricks and imposturCs these mar
abOuts pass Off as sorccrcrs no one, It
was thought, was better able to eclipse
their skill and diScredit their science than
the man of incxhaustiblc bottles.
One Of the greatest pretcntions Of tho
marabouts was to invulnerability. At
the moment that loaded muskct was
fired at him. and the trigger pulled, no
pronounced few cabalistc words, and
the weapon did not go uf. Hondin de-
tcctcd the trick, and showed that the
touch-hOlc was plugged. The Arab wig
ard Was furious, and abused his French
rival. "You may revenge yourself, "Qui-
city remarked lIOudin "takc q pistol,
load it yourself; here are bullets, put one
in the barrel, but before doing so mark It
Will. your knife. The Arab did as hO
was told.
"You arc quite certain, now" said
Houdip, "that the pistol is loaded and
will go off. Tell me, do you feel no re-
morse in killing me thus, notwithstanding
that authorize your" "YOu are my
enemy" coolly replied tho Arab, ! will
kill you." Without replying, HOudiR
stuck an apple on the point Of q knife.
and calmly gave tho word to fire.
The pistol was discharged, tho apple
flew fur away, and there appeared in
its place, stuck on the point Of the knife,
the bullet the marabout had marked.
The spectators remained mute from
stupefaction; the marabout bowed before
his superior: ".Allah is great" he said,
~ am vanished. Instead Of the bottle
from which, in Europe, Robert lIoudin
pours an endless stream of every dcscrip-
ton of vino and liquor, he called for an
empty bowl, which he kept continually
full of boiling coffee; but few Of tho
Arabs would taste it, for they madO sUrC
that it came from the Devels own coffee
pot. lie then told them that it was In
his power to deprive them Of oil strength
l 4 - A.N ~
| produced small box, so light that lit
tic child could lift it with its finger; but
it suddenly became so heavy that tho
strongest man present could not raise 1t,
and the Arabs, who prize physical
strength above everything, looked with
terror ut the great magician who, they
doubted not, could annihiatc them by
the mere cxcrtion Of his will. They cx-
pressed this belief; lloudin confirmed
them in il, and promised that, on . day
appointed, he would convert ono Of them
into smoke. The day came; tho thrOng
was prodigious; u Eanatical mara6out
had agreed to give himself up to the sOr-
cercr. They made him stand upon alta.
bic and covered him with a transparent
gauzc; then lloudin and another person
lifted the table by the two ends, aud tho
Arab disappeared in II cloud Of smoke.
The terror Of the spectators WAS indc-
scribable; they rushed out OF tho place
and ran n long distance before some Of
the boldcst thought Of returning to look
after the marabout. They found him near
the place where he had been cvaporatcd !;
but he could tell them nothing, aud was
like drukcn man, ignorant Of what had
happened to him. Thenceforward Hou-
din was vcncrated, and the maraboUts
dcspiscd; the object OF the French gov
crnmcnt was completely attained.
The fashion Of testimonial" p" having,
it appears, infected even the Arabs, a
number OF chiefs presented tho French
conjurcr with piece Of Arab writing,
wonderfully decorated. hyperbOlical and
eulogistic, and to which they were so At
tcntivc as to append French translation.
Beside this memorial Of his Algerinet zip,
lloudin has rosary which no one day
borrowed from an Arab TO perform .
trick with, and which the owner, pcrsua.
ded that Sheltan in person was before him
refused to receive back.-LOM,iOn Times
Paris Correspondent.