The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-11-12
THE JUGGLERs OF INDIA.
Two Of Their Principal Tricks Very
Gauxy Frauds


The one class who interested me
particularly IN India were the Jug
glers. I have always had q fancy for
prying into the secrets Of prestidigita-
lion, and lost no opportunity Of see
ing these sleight-of- gentry st their
tricks, and found occasion to witness
many Of their performances in differ
ent parts of India Mr. Investigations
lead ne 70 state positively that the
most remarkable stories told about
them are fictions. based upon the finn
siest foundation Of fact The great
majority Of people like 70 be deceived
IN s1ch matters, and viii shut their
eyes to palpable evidence Of fraud.
while travellers who eagerly seize upon
every chance to pad their narratives
with sensational points naturally throw
4 veil OF mystery around the tricks Of
the Indian iagglers. Let us take, for
instance, the TWO performances that
have been most frequently and most
maryelously written up-that is to say,
the mysterious basket and the mango
growing tricks. I have seen both of
them over and over again, and have
found the same easily detected frauds
bell shaped and have a false bottom.
between which and the exterior wall of
the basket there is ample room for q
very small child to stow itself away.
The spectators are not allowed 10
touch. or even TO come very near to
the basket, and in 3 casual glance at
the interior one is not apt 10 detect the
false bottom. The basket IS placed
over the child, who squats upon the
hard ground. and after sufficient time
has elapsed for the youngster TO crawl
into its place of concealment, the Jug
gler horrifies his audience by passing
his sword through the basket, and then
upon upsetting it, shows that the child
has disappeared. Meanwhile . dupli-
cate child that closely resemble the
first one enters upon the scene from the
background, and the wonderful trick is
completed. The famous mango-grow-
ing trick is even sillier than this. You
have of course read how a man of mys-
FERROUS arts plants 4 mango seed in a
flower pot and then makes q dwarfed
fruit-bearing tree spring up from that
seed. The facts of the case are sim
ply these: The seed is planted and the
DOb - LAEu D4dCGu uuueE i SUIT VI lcutr
whose volun.inous folds must not be
touched by any but the juggler. The
latter then waters the earth in the pot
and does a lot of manipulating while
his hands are concealed in the tent.
Meanwhile a fellow-juggler is perform
ing q series of other tricks to amuse
and distract the attention of the spec
tators. When juggler number one has
had time TO change the pot for another
that is hidden in the folds OF the tent,
he opens one side of the canvas a little
and the second pot can be seen with a
half-grown mango tree in it. After
another interlude OF the same sort the
tent door is again opened and a third
pot is disclosed which contains a little
tree bearing a mango. The whole
thing is such a weak attempt at decep-
ton that a person after studying il
once or twice can only really wonder if
any one has ever been really deceived
by it. l always enjoyed the palming
performances OF the clover jugglers,
for their skill and rapidity of action
were something extraordinary, but
their undertaking tricks were such
palpsble absurdities that there was
actually no fun in detecting them.-In-
terr5el0 Nth Hon. Jolus Sl0itt in San
Francisco Call