The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1892-01-16

iTaHle Vi Irlpou shape ne WOuIu throw n
shawl or cloth without which the fakir
would be like ship without rudder)
over it, so rs to make sort of tent.
One OF the conjurors, wearing a long
robe with side sleeves, would then produce
mango.seed, and. placing both hands
and arms under the lmpovlsed tent, would
plant the seed, his Lands and arms being
out of sight under the tent during the
operation. His comradas would then per-
form some simple tricks with cups, balls,
etc, after which the tripod would be re-
moved and a small sprout would be seen
on the side Of the mar ge seed
When tie cover was again thrown over
the tripod the fellow with the long sleeves
would once more put his arms under the
tent so formed After another interval Of
three or four minutes the cover would be-
again removed, and there would be seen a
branch OF the mango tree about two teet
In height, bearing IA few mangoes, some
green others ripe.
The secret of this trick is simple and so
shallow that it requires little explanation.
The man who placed his hands under the
cover first inserted the sprout in the seed
and the next time he drew from his ample
sleeves a branch cut from neighboring
mango Tree and thrust the cut end into
the earth, which had previously been
softened.
have been repeatedly asked il ! ever
saw the trick performed of their thf, ring
ball OF twine in the air TO form a sort of
Jack and the beanstalk. by which the Jug
gler climbs cut Of sight, pulling the string
after him, and that the pistol shot of a
companion juagler brought the aerial
climber to the earth in fragments, which
soon appear together and become living.
uninjured man again. As | said before,
| went from one end of India to the other,
and | tried in vain to find some one OF
:heir celebrated conjurors who would per-
form this trick. | offered fabulous sums
of money, to their ablest and most noted
fdklrs, but none Of them would attempt
II, and the only conclusion | can arrive at
is that the people who claim to believe it
can be done must have their brains yteep-
ell in hasheesh. Most of the wonders at
tribnted to Oriental juggIers have never
existed outside of the imagination of those
who tell them.
Their feats of snake-charming, how
ever. are marvellous, aud in tricks they
utterly defy detection. When | was at
Alahabad fellow came into my room
with nothing on but breech-clout and
said: Plenty big snakes here, Sahib;
Plenty big snake in room.
told him to go eff, that had seen all
his snake tricks and did not want to be
Bothered, but he insisted upon it that
there were plenty of snakes in the room,
so told him to 20 ahead and call them out
if there were any.
He stood up In the middle of the room
and began TO play on sort of flute he had
with him. Now, mind you, there was no
furri ure in the room but a cot bed and
two or three chairs. He had rot played
two minutes before | saw the sheet on tie
bed rise up till il looked like small tent.
and then an enormous cobra crawled
out and coiled itself on the floor with
its.head erect and its tongue darting out
in anger.
In an instant saw other snakes crawl
ing fro.u all corners of theapartments and
they placed themselves alongside their
companion. The fakir, still playing ON
his flute, led the way to the door and the
snakes followed him. He paused at the
threshold. and they reared their heads in
anger. Just as | was beginning to fee.
nervous another fakir crept up behind
them and cut their heads off with sharp
sword, whi h he carried.
Now have no otEer explanation for
lnlN t'lch 'LJn tIaL IIlt Sh lhts were tTlln-
Ell 10 wind themselves around the bodies
of the men underneath the breech clout.
When they entered my apartment my at
tention was attracted to the spokesman,
not to his companion. and Re mirSt have
placed the snakes In the room WI le | VAS
watching the flute player This is my only
explanation.
have often been asked If did not
think that hypnotism could offer an expla-
nation os some of the tricks done By HIM
docs. Well. | do know that me,mer-
ism, which Is sea!ly a form of hypno.i>m,
As yet in its infancy, and that the. future
will show wonderful results in this branch
of occultism. l. seems incredible, low
ever, that one man should possess the
power Of hypnotizing 200 or 300 people,
as there are snmetimes around fakir in
India. Hypnotsm ,s a profound 81 jeet,
and DO not pretend to solve It. can
only add tuat everything is in favor of the
Oriental fakir-his surroundings, the con-
dition OF the people who have already put
themselves in state If awe and expectl-
tation, which condition could not exist
had trese self same fakirs been compelled
to appear in one of our brightly iitumin-
a.ed theAters with no opportunity for
score OF assistants TO aid them in their
york. Prof Harma m.