Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-05-09

Professor Ksllaf, ninetssoth cent
ury, up 70 date magician, ndds he To-
timonlal 70 Ill the superiority Of 0rien-
tai over Occidental magic. Profoesof
Kellsr, Il seems, be- Alec Travelled 10
India In search for the wonderful and
succeeded 10 finding what he could NOT
understand.
NJ spent considerable time 10 indis,
travsllng through the country, and visit
Ing the principal cities. That V tho
land OF the magician, and nowhere on
earth 70 the art 20 thoroughly known.
The Indian maglclans appear to have
been born for the business, and they have
developed their natural ability 70 such
wonderful degree that many OF the na-
tives believe them 70 possess superuat-
ursl power. Indeed, one almost finds
himself coucurring with the general
Idea after he has Witnessed some Of their
feats.
"I have attended many wonderful
seanccs, but can remember none that
Impressed me more than the one which
saw 10 the rooms Of the Chuddermun-
I'll Club at Lucknow. Twas q guest OF
the club and was invited TO attend the
performance Of one Of the native Jug
glers. gladly consented TO be present,
and, together with Captain Jenkins, the
president Of tho club, and Captain
Powers, an officer In the Queens
Navee, who had Just returned from the
Zulu war, took seat near the stage.
"During the early part Of the enter.
talnment there were . half dozen Jug
glers who performed only ordinary
tricks, and then the star Of the evening
was introduced. lie performed one OF
the most wonderful tricks ever saw.
He took board and placed II on four
glass g0blets, thus elevating Il from the
door. A youngster sitting on the board
Was then requested to place his hands
together, palms up; then the juggler
took a glass of water and poured II Into
the 0utstretched hands OF the boy. In
the meantime the boy had been mes
merized and bis attention was fixed on
point indicated by the magician.
"Gradually the water turned green In
color and then II devolved into q Jelly
which increased In density until II be-
came rs solid as any stone article you
ever saw. Out Of the centre OF this
there appeared the head OF snake,
which gradually developed until In the
place OF the water there appeared q
Kissing reptile. was amazed, l can
assure yOu, but the trick was not yet
completed. Hitting the reptile upon the
head with his wand the juggler took It up
carefully and placed It back in the glass.
"As we looked II became transformed
| Inf Ill Al, L.. kra m pn I'D
Into greenlsh c0l0red water. Clearer
and clearer became the fluid until II was
Of Its original color, and then the juggler
placed 1t to his lips and drank the entire
contents. That was the most wonder.
full trick ey0r saw performed, and II IL
as mysterious to me to-day as 1t was
then. There was another trick per-
formed the same evening which was not
quite so wonderful, but was, neyerthe-
less, remarkable.
"A woman with a baby swung In
bag around her waist entered the stage
and endeavored to balance ball upon
her nose. This she failed to do on ac-
count Of the hlndrance afforded by the
child. She repeated the attempt, but
met with no better success than on the
first trial. The juggler all the while
was standing on the side Of the stage,
apparently furious at the repeated
failures of the woman, and finally In q
rage he rushed toward her aud tore the
babe away from her. The woman
screamed rs she realized the danger In
to which the child Was thrown, and the
indignation spread to the audience.
"Unconcerned, apparently, about the
babe, Its mother or the audience, the
juggler took the child and threw II Into
the bag which he held Ia his right hand.
Then, taking firm hold on the neck OF
the bag, he whlrled It over his head and
brought II down upon the floor with a
force that BODIED no good to the occu-
pant. At the same time the woman
screamed aud fell on her knees, begging
the juggler to deslst, but he told her to
keep quiet and repeated the performance.
"By this time Captain jenkins and
Captain Powers were on the stage and
were struggling with jugglers, trying In
vain to get hold of the bag. The magi-
clan pushed them to one side and scOwl-
ed angrlly over their Interference and
then forced them of the stage. Then
bowling and smiling to the audience he
placed his hand In the bag and drew out
pair of white doves, which few on
both shoulders Of the juggler. A scream
In the corner attracted our attention and
there In cradle we saw the babe, whom
We had supposed by this time had be-
come an immortal, laughing and clap
ping his hands with JOY"