The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1894-08-30
hanuiL LAILAINED.
fHE STAR TRICKS OF hINpoo CON-
juRERS MADE EASY.

me Mango Trick Explained by KeIiar, tn,
n1agician--It Ia the Same Which Globs
frotter Stevens Claims Is siiraeuiousl,
Performed by Yogi Men.
Tho sleight of hand performances OF
Mr.. Maskeiyne. remarkably clover
3ugglor, have excited great deal Of in
forest in London. Not only arc his
tricks skillfully done. but his explana
lions of other tricks have attracted much
attention among class Of men who
seldom visit the halls where feats Of this
sort are presented.
Tho Mail and Express recently pub
lished an article from tho London Spec
tator in which the writer describes one
or two tricks which he s:w i'll India
and which Eystifed him greatly. Here
Is one, which, by the way, is described
by Thomas Stevens, the globe trotter,
who says that the Yogi men. who per-
form it, are aided by an occult force that
the world is as yet ignorant of.
A juSgler placed cloth over the pave
ment of the street, and presently he
removed it, and there was mango
growing between the stones. 1.-The Jug
gler," adds the writer, 'cne Of the he
fedit2ry caste. did undoubtedly mako a
Leaf spring out Of the ground; did make
IL grow into q dwarf mango, aud did
hand the mango from it to DO eaten. 1t
looked wonderful becs;;:sc of the eppar-
ox,< c;,,,ni;c,ev IF f,,a ;rrrlo, b,,f bn nov.
formed his feat In four processes, and
between each LIE shook out his chudder.
or muslin wrapper, SO that it passed for
an instant between the spectators and
the plant The writer had no doubt
then ard has no doubt now that this
was done not to conceal anything, but
to distract attention momentarily; that
the first Leaf, the rpsrowth of leaves,
the dwarf mango and the mango on it
Were all of wax or other carefully made
imitation, and that the whole miracle
was marvelously rapid sieight of hand. "
To Americans who are interested in
this sort of thing this mystery is almost
amusing. 1t was exposed several years
ago by Kellar, the prcstidigitateur. Four
or FIVE years ago Kellar publicly offered
81, 900 to any one who would perform a
trick which he could not duplicate and
which he could not provo to be done By
wholly human aids A number of per-
sons who had recently visited India i'm.
mediately deluged him with descrip-
lions of this and other specimens OF
oriental j1gglery. Of course Gs they
could not perform the trick themselves
they did not compete for his money offer,
and therefore they were not publicly
answered.
Kellar, however, gavo mo personally
a full explanation not only Of these
tricks, but Of several others which have
long baffied the cleyercst of the occi-
dental Investigators. Tho magician has
spent more than Is years Of his profos-
sional life in India ard the far east, and
no has closely studied the tricks Of the
native jugglcrs with more or less profit
to himself. This is how he explained
the mango or pineapple trick as nearly
rs can recall it:
1.-THE first time I saw the mango
trick" said he, was in Bombay in
1870 or thereabouts, and the man who
did it was the most siliiifUl conjurer l
ever saw in India. Even after l had
learned the secret Of his illusion could
not help adniring its ingenuity and the
dexterity with which 1t was performed.
The juggler and his TIVE comrades chose
q spot before the Prince of Wales stat
No ON the plaza He first laid down a
bag ON the hard ground and then drew
from 1t large bandanna handkerchief.
Digging o small hole, in the ground
with one finger, he buried pineapple
seed, and over this he placed his hand
kerchief. He carefully snoothed out
the cloth, rubbing swiftly from left to
right After this maneuver was ended
he made several passes with his arms
over the handkerchief, whilo his COM
rades beat industriously upon their
drums and blew upon their pipes
Suddenly, to my surprise, I saw the
handkerchief begin to slowly rise in the
center and gently sway from side to side
a. though plant were really sprouting
to life from the seed which he had
planted beneath the cloth. When the
handkerchief had risen like tent to a
height Of about IL inches, the conjurer
stopped his lamentations and cautiously
lifted up the left hand corner Of the
cover and psered beneath it. Then,
plunging both hands underneath to the
accompaniment of loud and discordant
music, he threw aside the cloth and
showed full grown pineapple plant.
''This is the way he did tie trick, a'
he afterward admitted to me:
In smoothing out tie cloth he reach
ed into the bag, the mouth Of which
was conveniently placed near the hand
kerchief, and whisked oct hooded CO.
ma snake. The moment the reptile was
laid down it began to coil. That made
The handkerchief rise. When it had
reached its full height, its angry hiss
ing meanwhile Being drowned by the
music of the assistants, the performer
looked under the cloth, taking care to
draw the corner close to the mouth Of
the bag. Then he adroitly whisked out
q hollow pineapple from the bag under
meath the cloth. TWAS now the work of
q minute only to force the snake into
the apple, close the aperture, and the
trick was done. Benjamin Northrup
In New York Mail and Express.