The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1891-07-25

The Jussisrs Of the EzIndoos ars Psss
Understanding.

The JuggIers Of the Hlndoos ars Psse
Understanding.
was always anxious, oven from
youth, to see the jugglers OF India,
says q returned traveller. / had heard
OF them. read OF them and, now l was
landed in Calcutta my mind was fully
resolved to see and experience them for
myself The questions asked, the
places / sought and the money paid
are not important; lot me 90 directly
and state distinctly what saw.
found. In the first place. that Jug
glers In India made claim to magic and
stoutly asserted that they performed no
tricks. As their audiences werc Qener,-
ally OF the very common. ignorant
class. their pretentions got them into
no trouble, and. indeed, added to the
eclat OF their performances. The
priests are almost without exception
jugglers and mystifers more or less
adroit. There are some matters. too.
like the telephone, which we in Yankee
land deem recent as discoveries, which
have been known to these Indian
priests, 10! these centuries. They are
only employed to dumfound tho people.
however, and assist the church in its
schemes OF plumber. No good use.
true. but rs yet the only one. found
the priests of one temple talking to
their holy neighbors In some other,
and, in certain cases. quite distant tenn
pie, by means OF these rude telephones.
India is land OF secrets. When
anyone makes discovery he keeps il
to himself. 1t is his find, and. whilo
they have no patent Office there these
dusky egoists put upon it the patent of
their selfishness, and should you ever
go there you would find this an ample
protection against infringement. So I
found it with the temple telephones.
The robed priest would not let me in
on the deal, albeit l proffered actual
money OF the realm in considerable
quantities for India. So all could
see was that the talking. or whispering
rather, was into cup Of metal covered
with tightly drawn. thinly scraped hide
OF some sort snakes believe, like q
little drum head. and that string. or
wire. carried the sound from one tenn
pie to the other. How the operator
heard what was said-got possession
of the message. so to speak--I could
not fathom.
Another miracle the priests had in
constant performance in one temple,
and which was great and awe-inspir-
ing sight to the congregation. showed
them to be acquainted with the siphon
and its possibilities. This was the
figure Of a woman holding child in
her arms. Beneath was a basin. and
the pose OF the woman was as II she
were holding the child to be finally
immersed or drowned whenever the
water, which is ever running into the
basin from pipes connected with an un-
dying spring, attained n proper height.
While you stand and watch the
water coming in in quite a stream rises
in the basin with somo rapidly. Mat
tiers look gloomy for the infant. High
err and higher comes the water; but
just as they are about TO touch the
child they suddenly and rapidly disap-
pear and leave the basin empty. Then
the basin will begin to refill and the
miracle will be repeated, / poked
about this piece of magic until / dis
covered that imbedded in the sides Of
the basin, with its mouth opening into
the bottom of it and the waste pipe
carried down through the figure OF the
woman under the temple. was a siphon.
This was the explanation. aud the
whole forms cheap and effectual
miracle which never fails to work and
needs no tinkering to keep in order.