Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1895-06-08
A QUEEN AND A CONJUROR,
ruE STORY or \ FRENCH MAGICIAN
AND \ SAVAGE RULER.
By His Wonderful slcight of Hand q
Wandering Trickstcr Bccame
Power in Madagascar.

Power in Madagascar.
This strange and amusing story has been
told in the French newspaper 1t has a
new ana timely interest now that France
Is az war with MadagasCar, ana the ma
tNes Of the island have arisen like one
man to eXpel the French invaders. The
queen OF Madagascar Ranavoa Manjaka
/ ILL.,, had tired of French diplomacy; and
the French resident as he Is called. and
who Is the agent Of the French govern
rent at the queens court, was rapidly
becoming unwelcome in Antananarivo. the
capital city of the island This state of
things was caused in part by the plots of
the English, VINO wanted to weaken the
influence Of France. However, very often
help comes at the last moment. and it
came now to the French resident In the
shape of a letter from Tdmatave. the near
est seaside town to AntananariNo. The let
lshing the natives at Tamatave by some
wonderful tricks. At a wave of his hand
fishes appeared in the air and birds flew
out Of his pockets. So great a magician
they had never seen and he hailed from
Toulouse. In his appearance he resembed
the devil as his Satanic majesty is repre-
seutcd on the stage in the opera of
Faust" The resident bethought him of
a great plan TO recover his prestige at the
very ConIurcr So he wrote to TamataVe
and invited the magician to visit him.
The resident was dazzled when the man
of mystery arrived, perfectly gorgeous in a
brilliant uniform and his breast covered
with decorations. Truly had the corre-
spondent described him Tall and spare of
ngure, he had thin, sallow face adorned
with pointed mustache and beard of dark
color. The resident lost no time in COM
missioninC him as a diplomat, and also as
signed him a secretary and a body guard
of two servants He was to go to the pal
ace and win over the queen to France. The
introduction to royalty was accomplished
in this way:
The resident ushered the conjurer into
the presence chamber as the envoy en-
ig.e
the League of Peace and Truth which was
announced to be- a very great institution,
that sent its emissares TO all places where
war prevailed or was threatened. This par
uCular envoy had been so fortunate in all
his missions that Supernatural powers
had been granted him by heaven as re-
The queen commanded the strange vis-
ltor TO give am exhibition of his powers.
ness H. Entirely equal to the occasion.
ms ilfSt act was to stand before the queens
make Of him a target. He calmly received
several shots, caught the bullets in his
hand, ana returned them with a low bow.
woman born" could injure him Then the
queen wrote note in her native tongue
and burned it to ashes. The magician told
He reads our secret thoughts" cried
queen que and ,fogErtiers, amazed. Next he
ana affixed seal Putting this chest in
side larger one he vanished behind
- ! biAA iil' Ild't VI 'OHNtdIIliflll ne
Called to the queen, asking her TO count
i've She had scarcely done SO when.
the small chest the % inyincibe yH e ,sif aoniHror
leaped forth, attired in a wonderful dress
OF many colorg He announced that this
MAS the official uniform of the League of
Peace and Truth No more was needed
to establish his reputation as a sorcerer.
Heucetorth he became Il welcome and
constant visitor at court. and the queen
him as she would an oracle. To
resident m
wrapped himself in an air OF mystery, ana
i was only, when the shades of night had
Soon an opportunity presented itself for
his helping the cause of French diplomacy
denly said thai he could read her thoughts
and then he uniulded TO her the things of
the future, prophesying the dire difficulties
in store for her country should she fail to
please France. lie spoke OF English in;
Of this interview was that the queen al
lowed the French to build a telegraph line
from the coast TO the capital Moreover,
llirf,w$orhs 70 honor some some great national
works We're the invention of evil spirits,
the conjuror was promptly on hand 10
give the queen his guarantee Of protection
He told her all would be well.
So the fireworks Were given with the royal
But il was as an enemy Of the English
that the great maslcian particularly
shone, lie so preiudiCed the queen
against the Britons that they lost ground
in every sense, and it is said that they
never recovered from the injury he in
hicted on them Nor did he stop at mere
trilles in order 10 accomplish his ends
Seeing that the queen was rather careless
IN her habit Of leaving secret state papers
lying around, he used to put them in his
pocket when her back was turned and
carry them off. If she said anything, he
satisfied her by explaining that in a vision
u had been revealed unto him that evil
spirits had taken them. All the efforts of
The English To- expose the conjuror dis
mally failed They offered TO explain his
tricks but the queen would not listen.
This conjuror diplomat might have been
there yet We're II not for the fatal results
1f his own vanity He grew so self-impor-
Iant that no one could approach him and
Inferior. He declared that the fortunes of
France Were in his keeping, and that with
lut nm the French might Just as well re-
ire from the island altogether.
The resident had to so on paying him
iberally, but, not content with this, he also
evied on the queen. His style of living
lar outshone that OF the resident in it's
and as he passed he was
'aluted by the soldiers as a parsonage of
nigh estate. From simply persuading
Ter and, upon one occasion, finding her not
quite so yielding as usual, he seized a treaty
he was thinking of making with the En-
;lish. and tore IL into bits before her eyes
BUT the. gods We're Just; the conjuror got
nto serious money difficulties. and finally
vas forced 10 accept the residents offer
II a sum sufficient to enable him 10 return
o France, where, according to the Paris
lress, he Is now pursing his regular pro-
ession, and complaining to those who will
ry.