Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1876-03-30
INDIAN JUGGLERS.

4Nc JuSSAcf party consisted OF two
men, a woman, lad, and . child Of about
years Of age. They had with them 3
large basket, containing their stock-in.
trade; and, with tho exception Of the
woman, were but scantily clad. The lat.
ter had small Indian tabor before her,
which she occasionally snatched up and
struck with the tips of her fingers; to
add expression to some Of the wild chants
which were introduced during the phases
of tho exhibition. We pass over the
dextrous manipulation of the cups and
balls..-the whirling Of dozen oranges in
the air. not one Of which ever touched
the ground, or clashed with another
the passing Of the long blade OF knife
and eye which kept from four to six
sharp knives flashing and circling in
the air, without inflicting scratch on
the performer Of the exploit. Wonder.
full too was the performance of the pig
my goat, made Of wood or some other
substance, and covered with the skin of
that animal, which drank upa pint Of
water presented to it in an carthen YES.
sci without any visible increase Of bulk.
We mention these rather as feats of dex.
terity, though they excited in no small
degree the admiration of the spectators |;
but what followed could not apparently
be referred to like cause.
For: instance, the boy was made to drink
powder dissolved in a little water, at
which he made wry face; the Fremont.
tory symptoms Of an attack Of retching
supervened, amid choral rccitative &C.
companied by the rat-tat.tat Of the ia
Dor; there was a spasmodic action Of the
stomach-a body seemed to ascend
through the gullet-the mouth was filed
was opened-and there dropped out on
the floor large, smooth stone. In
another minute the phenomenon was re.
peated this time the stone being so large
as TO pass out with difficulty between the
teeth. Another and another. and again
another followed, till some ten stones of
different shapes and sizes, but all smooth
lay on the floor, weighing, in the aggre.'
gate, probably about two pounds.
A leathern strap was unrolled and laid
on the ground open to vicw--a subducd
choral incarnation followcd--therc was a
slight but perceptib'e nervous twitching
motion in the strap, when one Of the per-
formers, crying out, Cover him up :!
cover him up, or he will bite us !" placed
a large wickcr.work basket, called a
tapah, over it, and covered it with a
cloth; then, Selling q Strengthening
musical instrument, the body Of which
consisted Of small dry gourd, he pro.
duced succession Of wild droning notes,
not unlike the treble 0f bagpipc. His
companion removed the basket, and, in
lieu Of the leathern strap, there was an
enormous live cobra: hooded snake,
with crest erect, darting out its double
tongue. aud swaying about foot Of it's
body FROM side to side, the rest being ar
ranged in close coil. All drew back
their chairs in undisguised alarm.
Meanwhile the snake, though evidently
charmed by the music, kept it's bright
eyes directed on the movements Of the
party, whom he seemed to regard as his
natural foes. The woman was the first
to attack her ancient enemy by slyly
attempting to nip his tail. lie Kissed
forth his displeasurc and made dart at
her hand, but she was too quick for him.
With equal success the lad and the man
who were not playisg continued to pro.
woke the reptile for minute or two, but
he at length bit the latter in the hand.
the blood trickled slowly from the wound,
but the man drew from small bag about
his person what appeared to be a small
dark. colorcd flat stone, and pressed it up.
on the wound left it there for it appeared
to have adhesive and styptic properties.
In At out two minutes the blood ceased to
flow, and the quasi stone dropped off:
The child is seated on the floor. The
father and mother simulate a quarrel :;
the former takes up and brandishes 4
sword, and the child, seeing its mother
threatened, yells Justify where upon the
the fathers rage is directed against it..
But the mother, seeing its danger, hast.
lily covers it with the large basket before
used. over which she throws large cloth !;
nevertheless the man thrusts his sword
through it into the basket, and makes q
lunge or two. Then the shrieks of the
child are heard, the basket is moved VIC.
lently, and presently all is still. A small.
stream Of blood is seen issuing from under
the basket which is lifted up, and the up.
parently dead body Of the child is shown
lying face DOWN. ard. The mother
snatches it up. presses it to her bosom,
and otherwise handles it, and after min.
ute replaces it with an air of resignation
under the basket, seemingly . lifeless
corpse. Meanwhile the blood has been
wiped up by the other confederatcs, and
short incarnation follows, at the end Of
which the basket is again raised, and 10 /,
the child is found seated, quite unhurt'
its laughing face indicating the eatisfac
ton it is deriving from short stick of
susar'cane which it is crunching between
tbs cleaning teeth.
One Of the jugslers then brought forth
a ball OF fine Irvine, and unwound about
fifty yards Of it in coil in his hand !;
this coil he cut through with knife, at
each end Of its diameter then doubling
the several lengths he cut through them
again, and repeated the operation till the
twinc had been divided in pieces not more
than four inches in length. Taking up
these disjccta he put them into the lads
mouth and badc him swallow them, which.
after some effort, he to all appearances
did. Then asking one of the company
for sharp penknife, the man obviously
made an incission in the skin of the lads
stomach. From this he picked out with
the point Of his knife, the end of thread;
this thread he pulled forth, at first gen.
tly, then faster, then hand over hand, un.
til he had coiled down on the ground
CONTINUOUS length of about 100 yards Of
wet sewing thread. This ifa deception,
was marvellous one E; for the operation
had all the appearance and tokens Of re.
atty, since the skin.of the stomach was
slightly raised round the oriticc through
which the thread was being evidently
drawn.
Our friends were fairly puzzled and
to add to their perplexity, the operator
cut off the thread close to the skim. and
placed piece Of sticking.plaster over it,
leaving it to be inferred that tho supply
ofthread was unlimited, and could be
drawn upon ''to order.''
"Master, give me one piece of money!"
said he who appeared to be the principal
juggler. suddenly speaking in English to
Mr.. Hawthorne. ,
"Why !" asked the latter, taking : ri.
hSe L.