Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-02-21
MARVELS OF MESMERISNI'
ASTOUNDING PERFoRrIANCES IN
THE ORIENT.
Man Burned With IL Glowing
Coal Without Feeling It-Buricd
Alive for E'Orty Days,

America and Europe. l have been per-
mittcd to carefully examine their per-
formanccs and TO note the precise effect
produced upon the subjects BIZ their
manipulations. With this experience |
think am able to judge whether II per
lormancc of that character is well or
poorly done, and Isay TO you that there
were ten years ago, and presume are
now, i'll India mcsmcrists whose per
formanccs Transcend i'll wonder the COM
bincd efforts Of such of their Christian
rivals rs l have ever seen. Let me
describe one performance.
1t was in Secmtlcrabad in 1878, and
it took place in the broad corridor in the
palace of Salcr Jung, the Nyzam. was
ono of party of Englishmcn, among
whom were DR.. Crawford, surgeon Of
the British army, and Mr.. John lIodg-
kins, formerly an officer in Her Majesty S
Lanccrs, but at that time i'll the employ
of an English banking and mercantile
firm i'll Hong Kong. We were in the
front ranks of the spectators nearly all
of whom were Europeans. After we
had waited II few minutes. tanning our
selves, for the day was opprcssivcly hot,
the fakirs made their appearance. There
were eight in the party. An old man,
with aquilinc features, patriurchal
white beard and pair of flashing black
eyes, was the leader. lis wife, II pretty
little woman, young enough To be his
daughter, was his chief assistant, and his
six remaining men served us subjects and
under assistants.
After the fallirs arrived they proceeded
at once TO business The old man bound
bandagc tightly around the forehead
of one of his young men, placing small
wedgc-shapcd piece of pith under the
cloth and directly between the eyes.
Then he handed him small, round
mirror, telling him 10 place il OH his
hand and gaze upon it intcntly. This
the young man did. Meanwhile the
other fallirs madca circle partially around
ran something us follows:
Ram, ram, amaram, nmaran, ram.
Amnram, amarain, nmuran, ram"
This was repeated over and over again
In sing-song tones, resembling the distant
hum of IL hive of bees, and when the
chant was ended we were nearly rs drowsy
as the poor subject was.
Directly the song was finished we
started from our lctliargy and brought
our tagging senses to bear upon the vic
tim of this remarkable incubation. lie
was lying on the parlor floor, to all ap-
pcarance dead. His fnce was of the
ghastly pallor of the tomb. Ills arms,
legs and fingers were rs though they had
been suddenly turned to ice. His blood
seemed to have been frozen on day
when VIC living spectators were almost
sulfocatcd by the heat.
We felt his fingers. They were IS rigid
IS though modelled from marble. Dr..
Crawford raised his cyelids. The pupil
had been upturncd and nothing but the
white was visible. The doctor examined
his heart and felt his pulse His blood
had stopped flowing through his veins.
TO make the test even more complete the
doctor stopped his nosirils, his eyes and
his ears and his mouth with II thick,
putty-likc pastc, that made breathing an
impossibility. In every previous mes
mcric or hypnotic experiment had wit
messed the subject had brcathcd.
Now cane some further tests, and cruel
ones they were, too. Large bodkins
were thrust entirely through the hand
and he never moved Il muscle. Neither
did single drop OF blood follow the
withdrawal of the steel This prodding
was repeated upon his cheeks, his finger
points, and arms, with precisely the same
results. Then the old mnn took glow
fpf, nna1 nf ,,t,o L.;
placed it on the upturncd palm of his un-
conscious victims hand. Here il first
smoked, then siZzlcd, and the corridor
became pcrincaNed with the Odor of burn
ing human flesh. Still the man was un-
conscious. At last the doctor forced the
old man 10 remove the charcoal for fear
that it might do the young man some
permanent injury.
The subject was then turned over to
the doctors care. The physician made
every effort known to medical science to
rcsuscitate him, all for nauyht. After
Inc had been in this trance for nearly an
hour, the old fakir made some wide
spreading passes over his body with his
arms, and leaned back to watch the re-
suit a shiycr passed over the subjects
form, and grim smile of triumph curcd
the corners of the old mans mouth. We
gathered around the PROSTATE man, and
watched him until we grew sick at heart
and felt faint Such torture, such hor-
riblc agony never bchcld on human
beings face. His features were twisted
and distorted out Of all human rcsem-
blancc. His limbs became knotted, and
he writncd into II thousand different
shapes from his finger tips to his toes
After five minutes. that seemed to us
an age, he opened his eyes, rubbed the
moisture from his forehead, and sat up
us one who was dazcd a minute later
he rose and took his place AMONG the
others as though nothing whatever had
happened.
While this vas very wonderful, the old
man now proceeded to astonish Us still
more. With no one 20 help him, save
the singers AMI tss $50 sS OF his own
volition, ho threw himself into this, same