Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-07-10
HINDOO HYPNOTISTS.
PERFORMANCES
OF INDIAN FAKIRS.
Each Band OF oonJur Has Its Peculiar
Line of Tricks and Performances
Which 1t Uses as n Spec
ialty Piece.

in shed-like building and had fenced
of one end by means OF ropes. This
was whore they were to perform. 1t
was night but the room was we'll
lighted. They allowed full examin-
alton of their stage but we learned
nothing of profit by it. Their most
wonderful feat was their first. All
three began whirling like dervishes.
This was kept up for two minutes
Then they whirled together in the
center, and then they began to sep
was done again and again, and the
number was augmented each time by
two and three new ones, until square
dozen were leaping and whirling be-
fore us. All this was done, too on a
solid earth floor, and no chance for
traps. After the twelve had whirled
q minute or two. they whirled together
for the last time in tho center and kept
it up with q dizzy velocity which
baffled the eye. Finally. they seemed
to be merging into one big man and
at last there he stood alone. The
others had disappeared. His two
original companions reappeared pres
emily, no one knew how, and the show
proceeded. l could not buy this
scheme either.
Another illusion | witnessed was
this. 1t was performed by a band Of
conjurers who had great renown and
made a speciality OF it. There were
seven of them in the band, aud they
bore quite burden Of properties. :"
A strange matter was that they limited
their audience to exactly seven people
and absolutely declined to add the
eighth for love or money. They would
only perform the trick every other
day. The performance came off in q
high and absolutely tight enclosure,
the walls being at least fourteen feet
in height. They stationed us-the
audience--at equal distances from each
other and surrounding the scene OF
operations. distant from it about
twelve feet.
Our conjurers. who were grave and
well-clad fellows. and evidently men
of a very superior caste, then gathered
about the center, squatting like tailors.
They began hum drum chant. which.
like all Hindoo music, was very ex-
asperating TO me. At last, an old.
dignifed operator arose. and. going to
each OF us in the audience, stared fixed
ly in our eyes. For my part, returned
his stare with the utmost nonchalance,
and even pursed my mouth into what I
held to be certain merry and derisive
forms. However. it did not seem to
worry him any.
Having stared at the seventh and
last OF u.s. he stepped back among his
brethren. and. taking large roll of
what seemed knotted silk rope as
large as a big ten pin ball. he tossed
it into the air. l watched it, OF course,
narrowly, and, to my establishment, it
never came down but unrolled and
kept on until lost to sight in tho
heavens. There it was. a rope de-
pending from the skies. the upper end
out of sight. as it were, in the clouds.
and fastened to them. The singing
went on. Suddenly light and agile
young man sprang up. and, shaking
eff his loose, outer robe, said some
thing to No. l, and then. selling the
rope, began swiftly to climb.
He kept on and on, getting smaller
and smaller, until he, too. was lost in
the air above. The old man was gaz-
ing after him and holding the end OF
the rope as If to steady ii. All at once
he called after the climber in Hind
doostanee. An answer hoated down
out OF nowhere. The old man yelled
back again and was promptly and APP
oarently not very respectfully an
swered. Now he fell into rage and
began hurting all sorts Of Hindoo ad-
iectives, epithets and maledictions after
the man in the air. A good many
were returned, it would seem. for his
rage grew. At last he turned to a
dark, Notwithstanding fellow and
seemed to issue a command to him. He
arose from little band OF singers, cast
of his robe and taking a short, ugly
looking knife in his teeth. began to
climb the rope. He. too, went out OF
sight.
Then we heard shouts and cries in
the air, and next the arms and legs
and head and trunk of the first climber
began to tumble down among us. Next
down came the ruffian with the dagger.
hand over hand, via the rope. Tho
several pieces of the young man were
collected, a cloth was spread over them
and a grand song of mourning was in
dulged in by the bereaved six; the
murderer and the old man joining in
as il they had ken no part in the
killing. When the song ceased the
cloth was whipped of and the young
man sprang to his feet, good as new
and sound in wind and limb. The
silk cord, too, had come down and lay
there in roll as before.
To say was astonisHed did not half
tell IT, tried to bride an explanation
out OF the magicians, one by one but
got nothing but a grave shake of the
head. / thought of the matter and
consulted my companions. Our recol.
lections OF the affair Tailed exactly,
How was IL done7 Did it actually hap.
pen or were our eyes in some way
/ daiudadt did that old f.oacol r,aaarna,.