The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-23
THE FAMOUS MANGO TRICK.
BANCROFT OFFERS 4 LOGICAL EN-
PLANTATION or 1T.


Even n Professional for Mo-
menf.
Natural heat ripens; artificial heat
forces. II is possible almost to see the
plants grow in forcing house with the
naked eye; development can actually be
noted with a magnifying glass OF sum-
cient power.
In former paper ] have referred 10
what was probably a bad fake or the cele-
brated mango trick. Since, 1 have witness
ed a perfect performance Of this feat, just
~ celebrated for so many thousands OF
Years, and which, hitherto. has never been
done in Europe, OF. at all events, under
conditions similar to its enactment in In
dia.
The performer was a Yogi, not com
mon everyday vulgar conjurer. 1 had to
send for him, offer him a hundred rupees,
and, even then, my messenger had to use
tact and persuasion to induce him to come
TO me. My rooms at the Byculla hotel
Bombay. We're on the second floor I sat
in the doorway of my private room. The
Yogi performed on the back veranda a
place where concealed doors trap-doors.
cOllusion or cOnfederates We're alike inn
possible. The man did undoubtedly make
leaf spring out of a small mound of earth
piled on the p,anked flooring of the veran-
da did make it grow into a dwarf mango
and did hand me a mango from ii which
l actually tasted. 1t looked wonderful be-
cause of the perfectly acted simplicity of
the Juggler, but he performed his feat in
four processes and between each he shook
out his chudder, so that it passed for an
| instant between me and the plant Being
| in the business l was, of course, aware
| that this action was for the purpose of
distracting my attention and the man sue
I "a fin
poked suddenly at your eyes will make
You blink although you have solemn as
surance that you shall not be touched-the
blinking is merely uncontrolled nerves.
| (By the way this same uncontrolability
accounts for the unsupported but volun-
| tary assistance every audience lends
| every magician) My strong impression at
| the time was that the first leaf, the up
growing of leaves, the dwarf mango, and
| the mango fruit on it were all of wax or
/ other carefully made imitation. The wax
| mango was, by slight of hand. changed to
| the real fruit l tasted. Sending the man
away l repeatedly thought back over
| everything he had done and failed to salts
| fy myself that my first accounting for the
| Yogi performance was in any way correct.
| Determining to get at the mystery of the
| thing. if any way possible, put up anOth-
/ er hundred rupees and sent for the Yogi
| again. The old man was interested and,
I 4
| made no bones about telling him 1 was
| professional magician; it occurred to me
/ the information might make him nervous
/ and that a trining slip might reveal his
| methods. He became quite cordial at once;
| assured me there was no slight Of hand
at all about the mango trick, but that If
| the sahib would permit he would show him
| a good trick which was trick and moth
| ing more Naturally l acquiesced at once.
| He beckOned an attendant who had ac-
| companied him. 1t was young woman,
| who may have weighed seventy pounds.
| She lay down and the man placed over her
| a shallow fiat basket with a handle at the
back, exactly resembling the basket used
| for vegetables and called a "frail." Then
| with light and graceful gesture, he took
| up the basket and laid 1t down two or
| three feet off. The woman had vanished!
| For half a minute l was puzzled but my
| eyes roved over the basket with minute
care; a flaw in the wicker gave the trick
| away. The whole thing had been
piece of superb actingl The
| deception was ludicrously simple.
| The young woman had learned
to hook herself with her fingers and pre-
| hensile toes into the strong matwork form
ing the top of the frail and the man, who
| though slight was evidently powerful, had
| learned to lift her as if he were lifting
nothing but the basket! I am thinking of
| improving on this and using it myself
The Yogi then caused the mango
growth precisely as before and with the
same success, but this time 1 observed
! that he brought his own earth, and l re-
| membered he had done so on the first oc,
! casion. In answer to my questions the
| man vowed that the growth was d real
! growth and that he caused it by his mag
netism and with many ingeniously spe-
cious arguments he seemed to prove his
| case.
'If the artificial heat of common ma
| nure, concentrated under glass, can has
ten a natural growth so or 100 per cent,
| why should not the concentrated will
! power of a human being accomplish that
/ which was not very much more remark
/ able than the action of manure heatf
| Many years practice, Sahib, has ems
| abled me to concentrate my will and af-
| feet not merely human beings and ami
| mails, but vegetables and minerals. The
| secret of the growth l gladly give the
| Sahib. 1t is his. The Sahib has only to
learn to govern his will power as I do,
and he will be able to do-what 1 do
| The Yogis own translated words are
| given as nearly as memory permits. Tho
! exercise Of will power on a seed was a
| novelty and however off, possible, for
/ ANYTHING / could tell The slightly Sar-
castle smile with which the words: This
/ Sahib has only to learn to govern his win
| power as l do and he will be able to do
/ what 90, was HOL lOSl upon me. II
was as much as to say: THE Sahib win
be a good while before he learns to gov
ern his will power" AS 1 pondered my
eyes fell upon the cloth containing the
| earth Instinctvely 1 asked to examine
it. The man, willingly enough, it seemed,
| put two or three handsfull on a news
| paper l provided and gave 1t to me. Its
! cursory examination Officially and nasally
revealed nothing. But 1 diverted his AZ
! tention and caused him to take his de.
| parture, leaving me in possession Of tho
earth It had struck me that the secret
| lay there.
1t is not necessary to detail the elabor-
ate steps took to ascertain that it was
! ant-hill EARTH which is, as all chemists
know, heavily charged with formic acid,
I believe the greatest vegetable stimu>
! liant known. Without any particular diff
! ficulty 1 procured a necessary quantity
| of this earth and a mango seed. Fol-
! lowing closely the methods of the Yogi
/ I soon had a miniature tree growing on
/ nv veranda, just as he had. No fruit
! grew on my tree, nor am 1 convinced did
| any grow on his-legitimately. Once in
/ the summer in New York city I remenl-
/ Der idly sticking a piece of trailing Vir-