The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-20
EAST INDIAN Y0GIS
DEMONSTRATE THE MARVELLOUS
POWERS OF A FORCE THEY
CALL AGASA.

Again ExempIifies the Fact That
Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction.
have already related some Of my re-
markable experience with Yogis, one of
which. the disintegrauon Of the pebble
studied and experimental over with such
results that am able now positively to
say that the disappearing pebble is at one
and the same time a trick and marvel
In other words the conJurer can come
very near reaching by trickery result
which would otherwise seem to require
the occult adopts application Of the mar
velous Agasa, or life essence, of which
wrote at some length last week.
What happened on the occasion refer
red to was this:
A circle of Yogis caused a pebble I had
marked. which was placed on solid rock
floor. to disappear entirely, though I con-
stantly watched it, and reappear on the
hand of another Yogi who was seated
some yards away.
At the time this test experiment opera
ted 1 was entirely unable TO account for
the phenomena exhibited by any means
accessible to the professional magician.
Stn. one has right to question any won
der that can be duplicated by trickery. If,
by any process whatever 1 could disinte-
crate or seem to disintegrate a pebble,
the genuineness of its dissipation by
means of Agasa was to be questioned.
Again it is not impossible to assume that
the abnormal groWths due to formac acid
or forcing house heat, in other words an
added or multiplied natural energy-may
not be reached by what seems to us an
abnormal application Of Agasa. or the es-
sense of life.
After much study and numerous expert
ments L accomplished this:
Assembling my YOgis in the same rock
hoored temple, which had been the scene
of their interesting exhibition, 1 offered
them a choice of four differently marked
pebbles. The one they chose l placed on
the rocky floor in front of me. Producing
tumbler a small flask of common wa
ter and a fiacon of ordinary eau de cologne
the Yogis were permitted to examine these
articles and satisfy themselves that they
severally redeemed my cataloguing. Place
ing the water in a tumbler / added a few
drops of eau de cologne, explaining that the
perfume gave me strength. Processing
that if permitted to charge the perfumed
water with my magnetism and drip it on
the stone l could dissolve it. They scep-
tically agreed to let me try. 1 started in,
acting concentraCtedness and intensity
In five minutes the pebble was so reduced
the marking had disappeared! In less
than half an hour the pebble was gone.
Seeming to fall into trance 1 requested
somebody to trace, on the floor in chalk,
a map of a distant part of the temple as
the vision came. This was done. l stud
led it carefully and then gave out that
the stone pedestal which upheld small
statue Gunputty, the Monkey God, was
slightly followed at the base. If this was
lifted the pebble refrigerated, the mark
ing restored, would be found beneath. Two
'of the Yogis went in quest. They return
ed in a few minutes with the pebble re-
stored and marked as itFwasJbefore had
juggled with it. ~
The reader who has persued the seeming
marvels narrated in my paper on Agasa
will readily admit that 1 achieved a feat
which fairly rivalled that of my Yogi
friends.
Here let me at once admit that what
I did was pure trickery, and, that the
reader may be convinced, the details of
my trickery shall here and now be pub
lished that ''he' Cor she), ''who reads
may run"--and do likewise.
1t will be obvious to the meanest ca
pacity that to do this trick as a trick,
a pebble, as a pebble would have to be
don, mean Yogis. No trap table would
help me. l had to perform on a rock
floor.
Knowing the effects of certain acids
on stone / started in to eXperimentalize.
Considerable time was expended before l
hit on a mixture that seemed to evapo-
rize stone That is, by constantly wet
ting a stone with my mixture as it dried
the substance Of the stone was lessened.
What the mixture was VIII not be made
public, because being, a professional con-
jurer l need some secrets to live by. The
fact remains there is such mixture, 1t
looks like water, has no taste, and the
addition of a few drops of eau de cologne
does not interfere with it's stone-obliter-
ating powers. Anyway, I successfully
passed 1t off as water to the Yogis. Any
professional. and most lay readers. could
now finish the detailed explanation of my
trick on the Yogis
Before assembling the gentlemen at the
temple l obtained eight pebbles sufficient
ly closely resembling each other-a task
requiring in those regions, nothing but
patient search Four of these pebbles
marked separately. The second four du-
plicated the first. This second four ! hid
in different parts of the temple, taking
care to remember exactly where they
were from & spot ! determined on using
for my display ground. The rest is sim
pie. The Yogis selected their pebble.
touched It up with my acid till it disap-
peared. Next l assumed the franco and
the duplicate of the marked pebble was,
in due course, discovered.
But my triumph was short lived. The
Yogis were most courteous. They didn't
question the genuineness of my expert
mert for moment. When they asked
why l questioned their powers or dis
credited the existence and power of Agasa
when ! evidently understood its power
and application perfectly. This was some
thing Of a poser. Was It possible these
gentlemen were easy to impose upon
where a fairly good piece of legerdemain
was concerned because they themselves
were the possessors of such unusual pow
ers that the accomplishment of strange
feats by marvellous, but legitimate means
called for neither wonder nor cavail? ]
instantly determined TO satisfy myself
and, sIppressing all excitement 1 asked
the Yogis if they could depend on Agasa
to separate the component parts of a
stone undei somewhat different crcum-
stances to those which had obtained on
the occasion Of our first meeting. Their
affirmative reply brings me to the conclu-
sion Of this paper and forces me TO admit
that there are many things for conjurer
who distrusts, even his own eyes, ears