Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-10-17
THE MAHATMAS ARE FRAUDS.


What Il said of Thorn by a Snowman who
visited Them mt Their Homes-w ouid Not
Perform Any Wonderful Feats for Him.
Chicago Times-IIeraid.
- am thoroughly convinced that the
occult power attributed to certain scots
IN India and pointed to by the theoeo-
phists of England and this country in
proof of their belief is nothing more
than highly developed ability at fax
ing said George o. Starr, who form
erly performed the gentlemanly and
urbane act with the Barnum Il Bailey
circus. Mr.. Starr Is now the general
agent in foreign lands for Manager
Bailey and was at the Auditorium last
night. He recently returned from the
orient, where he went in quest of at
fractions for the greatest show on
earth for next season. His mission
was. to secure, for one thing, some
OF the mysterious people whose marvel
Gus feats of supernatural order have
been written of 30 extensively in
articles on theosophy that they might
perform in the sawdust ring next sea-
son, but he has returned without
them.
II spent several months in India"
said Mr.. Starr: most of 1t in iuvesti-
eating the life of the religious sect
known as the Mahatmas, living up
near the Chinese border. Going north
as far as the railroads run the traveller
then journeys in bullock carts and on
horseback to the mountainous Jungles
inhabited by the Mahatmas. ] heard
wonderful stories about them all along
the way. The Mahatmas are the
adopts, or what might be called the high
priests of theosophy. At Madras are
the headquarters of the English Theo.
sophie Society, where the president of
the society lives, and the Mahatmas are
the ideals they study.
They are the people who can make
their astral bodies appear hundreds of
bodies and who have been written of
as being able to suspend animation
for periods of months, during which
they lie buried in the sand, and are
then eXhumed; who throw a rope into
the air, allow man to climb il and
disappear from sight, and then haul
the rope up after him, ana perform
other feats equally marvellous.
well. when got among the Mahat-
mas found that they were little more
than high-class beggars. They have
no property, live in caves, and devote
their lives to their religion, which,
having for its creed peace and harmony
throughout the world, is undoubtedly
beautiful religion, but that was
something that wouldn't cut much
figure in the show business. l wanted
to observe some of the effects of their
marvellous power to satisfy myself, so |
jollied' them up and made myself as
agreeable as possible. But | didn't see
anything. They told me that in order
to witness these manifestations of the
occult | would have to become one Of
them; that had not as yet arrived at
the stage of existence and faith which
would enable me to do so. Not having
any desire at present to give up the
world, l didn't stay, and so had to
come away more skeptical than when
went there l firmly believe the feats
attributed to them arc the result of
trickery, and not supernatural power.
Possibly they possess the power of
| hypnotism that enables them to make
others think they see things that they
don't see at all. AS for their feats, they
don't do them at all. They are the
result of the pitch of enthusiasm to
which people get worked up, and /
have been in the show business long
enough to know that the imagination
can accomplish almost anything.
wild animals are becoming scarce,
even in the countries of Asia and
Africa" said Mr.. Starr. "The giraffe
is the hardest of all the wild animals
to got now, owing to the wars among
the natives in Africa and tho wars
against the whites. 1t has been next
to impossible to get giraffe since the
Soudan was closed, and only one has
been shipped out of Africa in eight
years
Game in Africa is being killed off
the same as the buffalo we're in this
country, and it is only matter of
comparatively few years when there
will be none left In Somoliland, on
the east coast of Africa, | saw not less
than eight or nine caravans, loaded
with the skins of animals shot by
young Americans and officers of the
English Army. The English officers go
over from India and Alden, in Persia,
and, together with other sportsmen,
slaughter the game simply for tho
heads and skins The lion, hippopota
mus, rhinoceros and antelope are be-
coming rarities, and if the slaughter
keeps on will be extinct at no distant