The Portland daily press., 1896-05-16
TO PROBE HINDOO MAGIC.
Hermann to Investigate the Famous
Tricks of India.

cline to Reveal the Secrets for $4,000
as They Can't Bother With Minor De.
taiis-Tricks That a mmission viii
Test.
Hermann, the magician" is about
to make a search for new tricks in tho
East. He hasn't time to go himself, SC
he and an Englishman have decided tc
Jointly send commission to India to in
vestigate Hindoo magic, says the New
York SIM. When asked about the COM
mission he said:
~ am determined to find out if the
Hindoo fakirs do the tricks they are SAID
by many travellers to do, and, if SO, how
they do them. A retired English officer,
who is my partner in the commission,
claims to have seen these miracles IN
India. He thinks that he was hyp-
Noticed, but wants to look into the mat
ter more carefully. The other members
of the commission are my agent in Lon
don, who understands every trick that
has been produced on the stage for the
last thirty years. photographer. scien-
fist and newspaper man. Perhaps there
may be one or two other people. Two
persons go from this country. They will
meet the others in England and sail from
there on June II. They are free to use
as much time and money as they choose,
provided they are back before open here
in November.
"Although the magic of the Hindoos
is by far the most celebrated, it is not
the most scientific in the world. While
they were undou btedly causing flowers
to grow ana blossom at the word of COM
mand, rearing trses from the seed and
pluoking ripe mangoes from them in a
few minutes time, doing decapitation
tricks, aerial suspension, and others
equally marvellous centuries before any
Caucasian attempted to entertain An au-
dience with anything of the kind, the
Yogis and magioians that appear before
the general public in India continue to
do exactly the same things in exactly the
same way that they did them centuries
ago, if the tales of old travellers and
those of the present day can be relied on
to any extent. Since Marcus Polo's &C.
cont of the miracles performed by the
jugglers of the East, daily journals, Pc
riodicals, books of travel, and even
standard works, bristle with long,
deliberately written accounts of the per-
formanoe of the impossible by these In
dian fakirs. But while all India is now
open to Europeans and Americans, and
has been carefully canvassed by the
agents of the greatest showmen in all
countries, not one Of them has thus far
succeeded in obtaining single novelty !;
in other words, it has never been possible
for European Or an American manager
to import any sort of performance from
Hindostan sufficiently interesting to en-
terrain an intelligent audience. The at
tempts to transplant the magic of the
East as done by the native magicians.
to European, American or Australian
fields have invariably proved decided
failures, after wrecking their managers.
others is no doubt that certain mem.
bers of certain societies In India, and in
India alone, perform experiments sc
truly wonderful as to astonish modern
scientists. l frankly admit that 1 do not
understand the workings Of the theoso.
phists of India any more than they un
derstand many natural effects brought
about by natural causes in this country
Ono of the most interesting experiment.
made by ths natives of India is known al
the basket trick. A child or 10 year
of age passes through the audience and
is marked for Identification. Say it ii
boy. He is placed in basket befor
the audience and the lid secured.
fastened. The principal performer make
a few passes with his sword over the bas
ket and fnallysathrusts it through the has
ket several times; the child groans ant
shrieks madly, the sword is withdrawn
dripping with blood, and at the sam,
time the child is shrieking a shot is free
in the audience. The people look and SCI
the child there pistol in hand, and th'
basket empty.
"The growth of the mango is ever
more astonishing. These fakirs usual!
work several of them together The,
throw down rug in an open square, ant
that is their stage. Commonly the.
have some women with them, and Otter
gather great numbers OF spectators abou
them. Many people from the West claim
to have seen these things; others say tina
they've travelled for years in India ant
have never seen anything of the. kind.
"But to return to the growth of tn
mango. A flower pot filed with eartl
and sand IS passed through the audience
and anyone has the privilege OF stirrin!
it up with stick, to see that there i
nothing concealed in the pot. The prln
cipal magician takes the pot, puts i
down before the people, plants mang
seed, and then makes a few mysterion
passes with his hands The seed grow
into plant, then to bush, and final.
into mango tree bearing fruit which
can be plucked
Another Of their tricks is to charm ;
snake by playing pipe. They make TIM
snake 20 anywhere they wish, but shall
not mako any snake go out into tho au
So.Hr