The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1877-09-01

least t0at p0fQO0 on t00m VINO II
ssaround town" much, have seen some
thing of the peculiar performances of {
young mulatt0 named Albert Rhodes
who follows the river for regular liv
ing, but whose chief delight is in ex
hibiting his skill as . whistler and ven
triloquist before crowds, wherever h
can End them. It is only on rare coca
sions, however, that Rhodes sslets him
self out'' in the whistling line, reservine
his best powers for select audiences who
are able to Judge critically of the arts
tic qualities of his exhibition. There il
not steamboat, tug or ferry-boat be
tween st. Louis and New Orleans thu
whistle of which he can not closely imi
tate. The Imitation of each, in fact, is
so perfect that any person familiar witt
the whistle of q given boat would al
once recognize it. This, however, il
merely one of his accomplishments, as
he seems to have power to duplicate any
sound he ever hears. The believing
like bull, cackling like chickens, bark.
ing like dogs, roaring Of lion, or the
caterwaul Of the midnight cat, are as
easy to him as talking. The lowing Of
cattle, noise of moving trains with puff:
ing of engines, chipping of birds, and
the scraping of the violin, are almost
perfectly initiated. Several times the
reporters have seen him entertain q
crowd with lively tune ON an imagin-
airy violin while he kept time on banjo
of equally imaginary character. His
imitation Of terrier catching a rat and
the subsequent squeal of the rodent in
its efforts to get away is perfect mar
vel, and SO realistic as to almost con-
vince the looker-on that there is an ac-
tual rat in the case. -
The most remarkable features of
Rhodes's voice, however, are its ventrilo-
quail and duplex qualities. He is able
to carry a tune in two distinct notes,
alto and tenor, each being clearly de-
fined and apparently produced by sep
arate agencies. This feat is not by any
means perfect, but enough so to make
it one Of wonderful nature. Rhodes
is a natural ventriloquist, and though
he is rude boy, and his voice as yet un-
developed, is able to throw sounds in
any given direction with startling effect.
What he calls his "echo" is a genuine
triumph. In q large hall or room he
gives low halo, and in q moment you
hear the echo on the opposite wall then
it bounds to the next wall, and the next,
and next, ard then to the ceiling, and
dies away. There is really no echo at
all, the sound being produced solely by
ventriloquial agency, but the i'm
itation is perfect, and tho
deception complete. Several persons
who witnessed this performance at a
saloon on Pine Street, few days ago,
could scarcely be convinced that it was
simply the trick of ventriloquist. At
the same place Rhodes initiated the
neighing Of horse SO perfectly that he
was Immediately answered by sympa-
thetic neighs from two car horses in the
adjacent street. On another occasion,
and in another part of the city, he
threw his voice up an alley with the
cry of murder!" and watch!" and
within three minutes there were six po-
licemen on the spot to catch the sup
posed assassin. At Vicksburg, about
two moths ago, he attended the funeral
of a colored person, who was being
buried by Baptist congregation of
that city. There were at least 800 per-
sons present, including the widow,
children and mother Of the deceased.
The burial service was recited,
the coffin lowered into the grave and
the boards adjusted. As the first clod
of earth fell on the boards there came a
low moan, as if from the coffin. The
sounds at first were very indistinct, but
in a moment they became loud and
frantic, as if the corpse had come to life
and was struggling to free itself from
the habaiments of the grave. There
was, of course, intense excitement
among the crowd, and the greater por-
ton Of those present fled in dismay,
the women and children shlieking at
the top of their voices. Those remaining
hastily raised the coffin from the grave,
aud without waiting to unscrew the lid,
pried it off with an Ak, in order that the
resurrected body might get air as soon
as possible. 1t was at once discovered
that it was not possible that there could
be a spark of life in the corpse. Decom-
position had in fact set in, and the body,
which had been encofined two
days before burial was rapid
ly losing all human shape. Of
course, there was nothing to be done
except to replace the lid, lower the coffin
and fill in the grave, which the crowd
hastily did and then hastily left. The
event served as a great sensation among
the colored people of Vicksburg, and
old women shook their heads ominously
as if it presaged something terrible that
was about to happen. OF course, Rhodes
was the author of the trick, using his
power as ventriloquist to produce the
sounds in the grave. The
next day it leaked out among the colored
folks that Rhodes was the offender, and
if he had not discreetly left the city a
few hours before the discovery, they
would undoubtedly have made it very
for him.-GLobe- Democrat.
The Improbable In War.
Every man who has ever. been in the
thick Of fight knows that, to all APP
the escape of any man so
placed is utterly improbable, if not well
nigh impossible also. Bullets fly around
him thick as hail; shells burst and solid
shot scream around his head for hours.
That some one of the thousand missiles
shall hit him seems to be almost newt
able; and yet in very few battles does
one man in ten sustain any sort of harm.
The writer of this article has seen thir-
mortar-shell fall and explode
in q mortar-pit fifteen feet square, in
which eight men were standing, with
out doing any harm to any one Of them.
times in q hundred such an