Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1891-07-17

burl, Oh u uulnDeT Oh CuDlcdl ulc6 u
forget, at this distance of time, If they
were six or seven) strung together on
a slender metal rod. Each cube was
made of brass, and had cabalistic fig
ures on each of It's four exposed sur
faces. Through the other two surfaces
the rod passed, and on 1t each cube
two Of its sides almost touching the
next two-revolved freely, and indie
pendently of the other cubes. The
man having made his salaam, sat down
as desired on the edge of the carpet on
which we were all seated.
"Do you know why sent for your"
asked my friend The Rammall made
no reply; but producing his three long
dice, or rather sets of dice, he handed
them to my friend to cast. For this
purpose, he laid them side by side in
the open palm of his right hand, the
fingers being slightly curved. With a
gentle but quick motion, alternately
advancing and retiring his hand, he
caused the dice to roll, now westward,
and now fingersward, on his hand.
Shaking them thus for few seconds
both the absolute and the relative posi-
tions of the cubes and their surfaces
necessarily changing at each roll-he
ut length cast them on the carpet on
which we were sitting. AS he did this
with some violence apd to little dis
lance, the dice rolled good deal before
they came to final rest. The fortune
teller gathered them up together, care
fully avoiding any disarrangement Of
the order and position of the cubes or
their surfaces. He placed the three sets
of dice on the carpet before himself,
and seemed, after carefully examining
the cast of the dice, to go into deep
thought and complicated calculations.
Let us see. There were, say, six
cubes on each of the three slender rods,
and each cube had four marked sur
faces. There were therefore seventy.
two surfaces, to combine in sets of six
exposed surfaces on each rod and these,
again, with the positions of planets and
other fortune-telling matters. The
number, therefore, of the possible com
binations mot permutations) is practic.
ally as limitless as are the eventualities
of human life.
After awhile, the Rammall said: "Yor
wish to consult me regarding you,
House" = meaning, of course, my
friends wife. Both being Mohammed
ans, etiquette did not allow more di
rect allusion to the lady. My friend
admitting that he had guessed rightly
land thus far it might easily have beer
good guess and no more), again tool
up the proffered dice, and went with
them into the private apartments of the
house to get the lady's cast. A NOLAN
medan gentlemans wife is never shown
to any Of the opposite sex except thu
nearest relatives The fortune tellel
meanwhile took his 'tasbeeh" or rosary
off his wrist, and began telling the
names of God in Arabic on his beads
The lady having made cast as he
husband had done, he carefully brough
back the dice undisturbed to the for
tune teller. The rosary was replaced
round the wrist; and the Rammall ex
amined the dice carefully. He pro
duced and consulted self-made alma
nae, the sun, moon, stars and planet
all coming in for their share of ques
tioning. He took paper, pen and ink
and made calculations. After about
quarter of an hours work, he read GU
the results; ~ The lady would Civ,
} birth to child-(S) Who would be
daughter mot so welcome an addition
to oriental families as son)-(3) On
, day which he named and which wa
yet over seven months off. (4) TIL
, child would die withiL five months aft
5 err its birth; and (5) she would be hi
) last child; but why, he could not 70
. would not) tell, as in the ordinary cours
Of nature my friend might expect sew
eral more.
J The man was paid a sum of money
and went his way. Months passed
The child was born on the day fore
, told proved to be daughter; died
+, week after completing It's fourt
t month Of life; and my friend himsel
, died within the year. All the five pre-
t dictions were effectually fulfilled. Sue
E q complicated series of verified coinc
. dences or guesses would be as wonder
full at least as the mans having some
a how got the knowledge of the future.
!. There are jugglers and jugglers, VIII
t perform the celebrated mango trick
I the mango being luscious India
X fruit, in perfection in July and August
t The ordinary juggler causes mise
= able mango tree, stunted abortion
n like small branch, to grow out of
d handful of earth from seed deposite
: there before you, and covered with
c sheet. And from this, In half an hour
l. time, he produces mango more or les
o ripe, which you can eat, but which
d evidently not fresh. Such perform
|. anoes are generally done 80 clumsil
t. that ordinary observation will enabl
o you to detect the sleight-of-hand pra
II ticed. The real mango trick is quite
d different affair. 1t was once performe
st in the veranda of my own house
1t March, myself and three other incre,
$. ulous and sharp-eyed persons witness
AhS ohS WhOiOs oOovSo Al u AlOUiC SCul
e circle, at the center of which w,
IS placed large fower-pot filled fresh
y with earth out of our own garden. TT
W juggler mixed something with Il
X earth, and in it he planted a dry mane
If seed. He watered it and covered 1t
y placed about six feet from us-with
N square sheet of long cloth. He and h
"a only attendant then proceeded to pc
ID form few yards off many other a
Or tonishing feats of jugglery for the r
g mainder Of the audience, and we TO,
Ell confined our attention to the mang
n determined that no deception shou
IN take place. We noticed the sheet gra
n ually rising in the middle, as If push,
!, up from below with stick High
n; and higher; 1t is now about eight inch
ID above the fower-pot. The juggler a