Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1867-06-22
An Evening with the Jugglers.

The Japanese jugglers are wonderful.
The immense audience which Overfowed
every corner of the Academy of Music
last nj ght watched with intense interest
Ior two hours and half, succession OF
acrobatic and gymnastic feats which de-
fed the laws OF gravitation and made ev-
cry spectator catch his breath.
At the rise of the curtain the whole
company were presented. A score of
men, women and children, surrounded by
curious parap hernalia, simultan eously
knocked their foreheads against the floor
OF tie stage, by way of expressing their
abasement before thethrong of American
sovereigns. Then came a short oration,
in soft and flowing japanese, delivered
by the earnest master of ceremonies-no
doubt a mastery fort, but not genera
ly understood. 1t was intented to in
troduce the performances of two "prod-
igies." These little persons, endowed
with the names,o of Thoyokichi and Thom-
atzt, were even more extraordinary than
the excellent Mr.. Crummels's Infant Phe-
nomenon. Their posturing and group
ing proved one thing conclusively-that
they hadn't bone in their bodies; at
least no bone that was inconvenient to
them. They placed their feet on their
necks and walked about the stage on
their hands: they bent over backwards
and trotted around with their heads be-
tween their ankles: they tied themselves
together in the most incomprehensible
way and rolled like wheel with wonder
ful velocity; they did with their hands
that the feet should do, and with the feet
what the hands were made for. In short
these little Japs were the funniest little
chaps-wlth the exception of one, still
smaller, who came in later.
Next came series of gymnastic evo-
lutions by the chief of the company-Mr
Hamaikari Sadakichi- his son a
queer little lad of eight or nine years,
known as Hamaikari Mikishi, otherwise
Cali right" The nickname is bestowed
because this sprightIy little creature has
a habit of shouting cut in his shrill treb-
lie Cali right whenever he happens to get
into peculiarly perilous position-and
he got into about twenty such places be-
fore the evening ended. The father, ly-
ing upon cushioned table, with his head
to the audience, elevated his feet and his
son, simultaneously, and after tossing the
little fellow about in the most reckless
manner, proceeded to elevate him by
slow degrees by the process of putting
one small tub after another under him,
until twelve of these tubs had been piled
up, with the boy perched like monkey
upon the uppermost. Then the pyramid
began to revolve and the boy to cut ca
pers. 1t was an extraordinary feat of
balancing. The boy shouted All right
and grinned with delight at his success
in keeping his footing on SO precarious
foundation. After while the tubs were
kicked away by the elder Hamaikari, and
the falling boy was caught upon the faith
er's upturncd feet.
Top-spinning was the next thing in or
der. Every American boy who saw the
double performances in this line of busi-
ness will poster the household till he gets
an assortment Of tops and goes through
a series of experiments, for the "possibili-
ties' of the art of top-spinning were nev--
er so revealed to the gaze OF an aston
ished public. To spin tops is ordinarily
an amusement for children; but Mr.. Mat:
zui Kikeojirt and his sunny-faced little
daughter, Otsunee, bring it up to the
rank of high art. Tops thrown into the
air with a jerk come down upon the
point of a stick and spin away; tops
travel up an inclined plane, into lacq-
uered pagoda spin around inside, come
out through an opposite door still spin
ming away, and keep on spinning; tops
put on mans shoulder spin about his
back, around his neck, down his arms,
and still spin; tops thrown spinnln up
the highth of 20 feet, fall upon the sharp
edge of sword blade, and spin back and
forth upon that slender bridge, with as
little danger of falling off or stopping as
the Mohammedan saint passing into Par
adise over a similar footway. Once or
twice the top failed to obey the hand of