The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1882-12-06
THE MANGO TRICK.
How II IL Done-Not u Wonderful PER
formance.

THArper's wcealy)
With certain Indian jugglers the
''mango" trick Is their most effective
feat. A mango seed is produced, and q
flower pot filled with mold, and after q
lot Of ceremony lin plain English fuss),
the seed is put Under the mold and sew
eral coverings Of baskets and cloths are
placed over the pot. Then there is more
ceremony and lingering about the GOV.
cred basket, and the pot is shown with
the mango leaves just sprouting up.
Then 1t IA covered over again and more
hocIssing goes on, and the cover is
lifted up again and the plant Is seen to
have grown. The covering, hocussing,
go on, the plant meanwhile having
further grown and become strong enough
to bear fruit, the blossom to appear, the
fruit to ripen, which is then plucked of
and given to he eaten.
Now, we, for our part, can not under-
stand how any one can see through the
performance. Nay, even when to n
fellow spectator, who once viewed this
performance, we explained the details of
the trick after it was over, he would not
believe, but reckoned tho affair wonder
lnl, AID even partaking Of the super.
natural. We can only attribute it to his
having been 50 mystifed as to have been
nrlaally me@neri2ed, though partaking
Of conscience. The real truth about this
feat was that the green and ripe fruits,
AID every branch and shoot Tint was
exhibited, were actually there, just a3
much rs The seed and the flower pot
all in the wraps and folds and baskets
whirl, formed the covering We were
carefully watching the mans proceed
ings, and at that time had acquired some
knowledge of Juggling tricks As we
were not allowed TO touch the in
Stumants Of the exhibition after the par
ticular performance began, the baskets,
wraps, etc, could not he disturbed; but
with our own eyes we saw the performer
draw out the branches, etc, from the
folds OF the cloth, and noticed him stick.
ing them into the pot beneath the cover
ing, working away with his hands, and
- We thought, very clumsily.
The question may be asked by a
d0uhtcr Of our account of the process,
how nbout green and ripe fruit, as
well rs blossoms, being produced sim
| ultmcously, say at period when there
were no such things; that is, when obey
ere ont Of season? This, indeed, has
been brougl: forward MS a complete
answer hy those who believe in these
iugglcrs. To answer this is not SO diff
iicult, however, MS ii appears. India is Il
vast continent, and from its southern
most limit ON the Indian Ocean, where
there is little difference between summer
and winter, to its northern boundary ON
the snowy Hinalayas there is existing
every variety of climate Mt any given
time Of the year The mango ilourishes
equally i'll Ceylon and in the sub
| IImalayan countries. We have our
selves in passing through the plains
into the upper !iimalayas, i'll the course
of successive weeks, seen the mango
season just over on the plains; Il little
higher up mangoes were just in season;
the fruits forming higher up still; the
blossoms in full flush couple OF
Thousand feet higher; while higher still
the blossoms Ind not yet made an up
pearance. With this fact are to be taken
two others, the first, that Indian Jug
| glcrs all belong to one Masonic brother
hood, and are in intimate commuica-
ton with one another, all ever on the
move; and the second, that even they
will decline at times to perform this par
tcular feat that IL, when they are not
provided with the blossoms, green and
ripe fruits. The seeds, shoots, etc, are
always everywhere procurable.
If there be still any other doubter, let
us only add that after the performance
detailed above we took the man aside
unwilling naturally to expose the man,
and destroy the credit by means o
which he made his living) and asked hin
if it was not true that the branches and
fruits were all there in the wraps. The
glance of our eye told him that we knew
everything that he did, and so he con,
fessed that what we said was the truth,
and apologized by saying that he must
make living.