Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1890-06-18
Indian Jugglers.

or pauper, Christian or heather. With
the facilities of the present day for
carrying on research in foreign lands
it seems to me that fuller and more
accurate reports should be made of
what is seen and heard. During my
stay in India 1 was frequently in re-
ceipt of books, papers and magazines
from home, many of which contained
what purported to be stories of life in
India.
ITO say that l was amazed at the
lack of truth and meagerness of detail
in those articles, would but feebly ex-
press my opinion on the subject. In
all the articles there was something
lacking, but the most glaring omissions
were made in stories of native Hindoo
jugglery. BY comparing my person.
al experience with the established ac-
counts, l can truthfully say that the
Hindoo juggler is the most grossly
misrepresented human being on the
face of the earth.
ut was my good fortune to witness
one performance in this line which
will give you faint idea of what the
Hindoo can do. Along about the first
of April two other missionaries and
myself stopped at the home of friend
on the outskirts of Delhi.
"After a bounteous dinner of fried
chicken, we repaired with our host to
the veranda Of the bungalow to enjoy
an after-dinner cigar. While in the
midst of an animated religious discus
sion native sikh or leader appeared,
followed by two attendants. He was
hollow-eyed and sallow, and wore no
clothes except turban and scanty
waist-cloth. The attendants seemed
to be enjoying better health and each
carried large bundle of bamboo poles
tied around the middle with a bit of
rope.
"'That fellow, said our host, is a
sleight-of.hand man, or juggler, and if
you wish he will perform some feats
that will astonish you
"The sikh stood mutely by with
folded arms while his helpers went to
work with the poles, and in remark
ably short space of time produced a
light pointed ladder at least eighty
feet long, with rsngs one foot apart.
When the ladder was finished it was
laid fiat ON the ground, the two help
ers taking their place at one end and
the SIKH at the other. Removing
his turban the juggler, who was at
bottom of the ladder, stood with his
heels on the ground and with the balls
of his feet resting on the extreme end
of the ladder. Then the helpers rails
ed the other end of the ladder and
moved rapidly toward their chief.
raising the ladder up with their hands
as they came. In this manner the
ladder was placed in perpendicular
position at tn sikh's feet.
"Then the attendance withdrew a
short distance and sat upon the ground
humming a low, monotonous chant,
to the music of which the juggler
slowly mounted the ladder, balancing
it as he went. Keeping his eyes fixed
on the top he mounted step by step,
removing each rung with his toes as
he climbed and tucking them under
his arms. Slowly aud steadily he
mounted higher and higher on his
frail support, while we scarcely dare
breathe for fear he would lose his
balance. The removal of the rungs
caused the sides of the ladder to sway
and bend in frightful manner, but
the marvellous dexterity of the juggler
prevented them from falling.
"On reaching the top the juggler
pulled out the last rung and then
stood on the extreme summit Of the
two naked, eighty-foot poles. The
oscillations at first were terrible, but
the sikh had wonderful control of his
legs, and, gradually decreasing the
swaying motion, he finally stood
motionless as statue at that dizzy
height. Then at given signal, which
we didn't see, the attendants jumped
up and removed the two poles, laying
them carefully on the ground.
"While we were gazing spell-bound
at this uncanny phenomenon a dense
blue mist enveloped the juggler. I'M
mediately after low, believing was
heard and moment later half
grown live giraffe at the end of a
stout rope was lowered rapidly to
the ground.
Before we could recover from our
astonishment the rope was hauled up
and the next instant the mate of the
first giraffe slid out of a cloudless sky.
l was never believer in the super
natural, but at that moment l felt the
presence of an unseen power. While
was wondering what would come
next the juggler slid down, and
while he tied the giraffes' necks