The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-09-17

teously seated us, he said
nave invited you to witness a mar
IoIInance which can at least promise
you no other foreigners but vo1rse1ves
nave ever SEEN Wang. the conrt inc,
ger, arrived here yesterday noorninSS,
ne mas never given a performance oI13-
side OF the palace before. I have asked
MN TO entertain my friends this even
ing. he requires no theater. STAGE ac-
cessorles or any confederate-notbing
more than you see here. VIII Won he
PIeased to examine the ground your-
selves, gentlemen?"
vi course we examined the premises
L was the ordinary basement or cellar
OI the San Francisco store-house. ce-
nehted to keep out the damp. We
Poked our stick into the pavement. and
raped on the wall to satisfy our polite
nosI' out Tor no other purpose. We
were quite content to be the victims of
any clever deception. For rnvseif 7
knew I was ready to be deluded To anv
exrent, and If I had been offered an ex-
planation Of what followed I sbouId
probably have declined it.
Although L am satisfied that VVano's
general performance was the first of the
KIND ever given on American soil, it has
probably since become so familiar to
many OF my readers that I shall not
bore them with it here. He began bv
setting to flight, with the aid of his fan.
the usual number of butterflies made be,
fore our eyes of little bits of tissue pa
per, and kept them in the air during
the remainder of the performance. I
have vivid recollection of the iudpe
trying to catch one that lit on his knee,
and It's evading him with the pertinac.
lty OF living insect. And even at this
time Wang, still plying his fan, was
taking chickens out of hats, making
oranges disappear, pulling endless
yards Of silk from his sleeve, apparently
nlI1ng the whole area of the basement
with goods that appeared mysteriously
from the ground, from his own sleeves.
from nowhere He swallowed knives
to the ruin of his digestion for years
tQcome, he dislocated every limb of his
body, he reciined in the air, apparently
upon nothing. But his crowning per
fOrmance, which have never vet seen
repeated, was the most weird, mysteri-
GUS and astounding.
He cleaned the ground of its incum-
bering articles for space of about fif,
teen feet square, and then invited us to
walk forward and again examine it,
We did so, gravely; there was nothing
but the cemented pavement below to be
seen or felt. He then asked for the
loan of a handkerchief, and as / chanced
to be nearest him, offered nine He
took it, and spread it upon the floor.
Over this he spread a large square of
silk, and over this again large shawl
nearly covering the space he had clear
ed. He then took a position at one of
the points of this rectangle, and began
a monotonous chant, rocking his body
to and fro in time with the somewhat
lugubrious air.
We sat still and waited. Above the
chant we could hear the striking of the
city clCck and the occasional rattle of a
cart in the street overhead. The abso-
lutte watchfulness and expectation, the
dim mysterious half-ight of the cellar
falling in a grewsome way upon the
misshapen bulk of a Chinese deity in
the background, faint smell of opium
smoke mingling with spice, and the
dreadful uncertainty of what we were
really waiting for sent an uncommon
thrill down our backs, and made us
look at each other with forced an I'M
natural smile. This feeling was height
ened when Hop Sing slowly arose, and,
without a word, pointed with his finger
to the center of the shawl.
There was something beneath the
shawl. Surely-and something that
was not there before. At first, mere
suggestion in relief, faint outline but
growing more and more distinct and
visible every moment. The chant still
continued, the perspiratiOn began to
roll from the singers face, gradually
the hidden object took upon itself Il
shape and bulk that raised the shawl in
A. 1fx fnnINne
vas now Enthusiastically the outline of "a
small but perfect human figure, with
extended aims and legs. One or two of
us turned pale, there was feeling of
general uneasiness, until the editor
broke the silence by a gibe that, poor
as it was, was received with spontaneous
enthusiasm. Then the chant sudd My
ceased. Wang arose, and, with quick,
dextrous movement, stripped both
shawl and silk away, and discovered,
sleeping peacefully upon my handker-
chief, tiny Chinese baby
The applause and uproar which fol-
lowed this revelation ought to have sat
isfed Wang, even if the audience was
small one it was loud enough to ava
ken the baby, pretty little boy about
a year old, looking like a cupid cut OF
sandal wood. He was whisked away
almost as mysteriously as he appeared.
When Hop Sing returned my handker-
chief with a bow, 1 asked if the Jug
qler was the father of my baby. " No
sabe," said the imperturable Hop Sing,
taking refuge in that Spanish form of
non-committalism so common IN Cal
ifornia.
Z" But does he have n new baby for
every performance ?" Iasked. g Per
hans who knows ?" '' But what will
become of this one ?" "Whatever You
choose. gentlemen" replied Hop Sing,
with a courteous inclination, 90 1t was
born here-you are its gOdfathers.
There are two characteristic peculiar
tiles of any Californian assembiage IN
1856 it was quick 10 take a hint, and
generous to the point of prodigality In
it's response to any charitable appeal.
No matter how sordid or avaTiciOus the
individual, he could not resist the infec-
ton of sympathy. I doubled the
points of nv handkerchief into a bag,
dropped a coin into It, and, without
vord, passed it to the judge. He qui-
city added a $40 gold piece, and passed
il to the next when il was returne to
me itrcontained over 500. / knotted
the money in the handkerchief, and
gave it to Hop Sing.
"For the baby, from the godfathers. "
but what name ?" said the judge.
There was a running fire of '' Ere
bus Nox." Alutus, Terra
@ tia" "Anteus," etc, etc. Finally
the question was referred to our host.
- WHY not keep his own name ?" he
said ouietly. "Wan Lee" And he did.
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