Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-06-26
Oriental Snake Charmers.

The Oriental has an inexhaustibIe
appetite for entertainment, and pro-
Vlded 1t can be seen for nothing, and
sitting, he viii squat all day before a
puppet-show. That the exhibition in
question is stale one matters nothing.
and the same performer is therefore
certain of welcome as often as he
chooses to come. This partially ex-
plans the extraordinary popularity of
the SNAKE charmer's entertainments. for
though judged on its own merits. it
has little IN it either to arrest attention
or to evoke admiration, the tubri-wal-
lahs performance at all times an in
terested audience; for, of all the many
castles or tribes which pretend to power
over the serpent world, the Sanyis. or
tubrl-wallahs, constitute the chief In
dian snake charming guild. He is, as
rule, a wild-looking creature-the
snake charmer-with his yellow cloths
all tfnttering about him, and his hair
arranged IN strange confusion of coils
ana wlsps, under and among rags of the
same color-the professional hue-as
he struts into village, piping on reed
stuck into gourd, while his assistant.
O small, unkempt morsel of humanity.
iapors IN his wake, with box of mys-
tefles and basketful of wonders.
Arrived at the well, the couple seat
themselves, and the villagers collect to
see the show. But first the performer
mas to insure some payment-a meal
and nights lodging, at least-and this
arranged satisfactorily, the proceedings
pegin. The same stupid old toothless
COBRA Is hustled out of its basket. picked
up and propped hundred times, as if
1t was a dangerous thing, and then. with
abolsterous ostentation of pluck and
dexterity, finally seized by his neck,
haif throttled and thrust back into his
bag. This wonderful feat, enacted over
and over again with precisely the same
business and pantomime, constitutes
the hrst part of the entertainment, and
then the wonder worker proceeds to
charm. The old cobra, sick to death
OF what 1t has come to consider ill-timed
iooiery, Is once more jerked out from
the bag and while the magician plays
on his execrable pipe the poor, battered
reptile lifts a foot of its length off the
ground, and, distending its hood, sways
gracefully to and fro in time with the
music. The master now requires no
stick to keep his pupil at work, for it is
evident that the cobra enjoys the me-
Iody, and that it's motions are yolun-
tarily and naturally sympathetic. But,
except as an Illustration of the power
OF music over tho dreadful thing, the
second part of the entertainment is as
dull as the first.
There can be no doubt, however. that
the terrific power given by nature to
venomous snakes invests them, even for
the most Intelligent, with extraordinary
interest; and any performance that re-
quires the handling of them must have
corresponding excitement for others
besides native villagers In his fearless
manipulation of the deadliest species,
the tubri-wallah has a certain claim to
respect-the same claim as have all ex-
hibitors who, for the entertainment of
their audience trife with sudden death.
Yet, as regards the supernatural power
they profess to have over the creatures
which they torment and play with,
there is hardly another mposture-even
in the East, the home of impostures-so
inadequately supported by performance.
The parade of fangless worms is absurd
enough, and in the never-failing crop of
reptiles to be gathered by the pipe
player from among the furniture Of a
room or the shrubs in garden, there
is only food for laughter. Phil Robin
SON.