The morning news., 1892-03-26
INDIAN MIRACLES.
An Eastern FAkir Who Pierces His
Body With Needles.
a. -.


From The Boston Herald.
BERLIN, March 1.-Ancient. as well as
modern, descriptions o. India which have
told Of the miraculous feats Of the native
fakirs have found but little credence In Eu-
rope and America, and their performances,
which seemed to belong to sorcery and
witchcraft, were always explained on the
basis OF prestidigitation.
Recent scientific researches, however
have demonstrated that fraud and decep-
tion had no part in these wonderful per-
formances, which cannot be explained.
neither can they be denied. Tests made
under the closest surveillance OF the En-
glish authorities in India have shownsthat
some of these fakirs possess the faculty OF
suspending the process OF life for days,
weeks and even months, and to revive after
ward, apparently unharmed, as il the prog
ress Of their existence had never been inter
rupted.
These people caused themselves to be over
come by artificial stupefaction by inhaling
the smoke of certain narcotics aud drinking
certain kinds of wines. They were then
placed in metal coffins, which were locked
and sealed by the cautious EngIishmeu
themselves, aud buried about foot under
the ground. The graves were carefully
guarded, and often months were allowed to
pass before they were reoDenod. At that
time the bodies showed but slight signs of
animation and the minimum degree Of
bodily warmth. The companions of these
fakirs called the apparently dead back to
life, or rather to consciousness, and after a
few hours time they had entirely recovered
aud were as good as new.
Experiments of this kind have been re-
peatedly made under the strictest control,
excluding every possibility or fraud.
Other Indian travellers reported that
these fakirs were invulnerable and could
absolutely not be wounded. This, too, was
taken with grain of allowance. until the
audiences Of the "Panoptikum," at Berlin,
have, within the last few weeks, had ocoa-
sion TO see for themselves. An Indian,
Soliman Ben Aissa by name. is now making
trip around the world, engaged by the
CASTOR brothers, and will shortly appear
also on the other side of the Atlantic. He
has given his performances not only before
public audiences, but before a narrow circle
OF physicians and anthropologists who came
prepared to doubt and dsbelieve.
Soliman is rather a handsome man, well
built and about 30 years old. He speaks
French very intelliglbly and explains his
productions as he goes along. He burned a
powder in an open basin filled with live
Goals, and he inhaled the smoke TO put him
self In condition for the experiments He
then took a number of large hat pins, suoh
as ladies use for pinning their hats, and
with them pierced his cheeks, his nose, his
ears and at last his throat, inviting the by
ISLANDERS to convince themselves that the
pins had really penetrated the flesh.
No blood flowed from the wounds, unless
1t was especially desired, when tle obliging
Soliman would allow it to trickle from the
wounds
For his second experiment the Indian
used larding-needies. lie bored one through
his tongue, and then turned needle and
tongue until the latter appeared like q cork
screw. Then he barred his body and held
sharp sword against it, which he seemed to
drive into the flesh with a wooden mallet
The skin, however, was not even cut, and
only little disooloration showed where the
sharp edge OF the blade had pressed his
flesh.
Another feat was simply narrowing. The
Indian pierced his eye and lifted 1t out Of
it's socket with one of the large needles so
that it hung suspended by the nerve-threads
about an inch from his cheek, balanced il
on his finger and allowed it to slip back
again. In the face OF such a wonderful
feat his playing with poisonous serpents,
which bit him until he at last himself bit Off
one of the reptiles heads and swallowed it,
appear almost OF small CONSEQUENCE.
In closing this wonderful exhibit of in~
vulnerability he took a live coal from the
basin and placed it upon his bare arm.
When at the end of ten minutes he removed
the coal, there was absolutely no trace of
burning.
Productions of this character cannot be
explained, except on the basis that these
fakirs are in possession of secrets more than
centuries upon centuries old, which tradi-
tion has brough down in the various reliR-
ious orders. Soliman Ben Aissa belongs to
the order of Saadi, which was founded by
Saadeddln Dschebari in 1885