Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-06-10
BICYCLE BY MAGIC.
A Fakir from India Produces a
Wheel from His Cloak.


He has Amazed ParIs-6ut the Trick 10
Very Simple. Though Requiring Great
Dsxtsrity- In Small Pieces.
Arrayed in gown of spottless white,
his coal black hair covered by q snowy
turban, with many folds, an Indian
juggler, who calls himself the Nawab
Of Jellabad, has sbeen startling the
people Of Paris nightly with a marvel
lous trick and then poking fun at them
with his explanation Of how simple it
is to do. 1t is not so simple a trick,
perhaps, to the unskilful, for it is
nothing less than the production of q
bicycle from beneath that flowing
cloak, where the greatest doubters in
all the audience would have sworn no
bicycle could have been concealed.
Inasmuch as it is manifestly impos-
sible to carry bicycle in ones pocket
or under the arm without being seen
the onlookers puzzle their brains in
vain to discover how on earth this
seemingly remarkable man is going to
carry out the promise he has made.
They are not long in discovering that
he means to perform exactly what he
has promised. Suddenly there is
thrown to him by his assistant a large
sheet of ordinary muslin, folded. He
unfolds this sheet in full view, and
then, bowling politely to those who are
watching him, filings it over himself
and disappears beneath the muslin
cloud.
Beneath the muslin he remains, but
the muslin is in plain sight of every
one, and too far from anything to per-
nit even the suggestion of aid from an
outside source. The cloth undulates
like the tall grass on rolling prairie,
when the wind is blowing in stiffish
fashion. There are regular pillows.
Then, here and there, appears a sug-
gestion of some object. All at once
the muslin shows the distinct outline
of q wheel. Then the excitement
becomes intense.
Why, the man is really going to
do it r. is heard on all sides.
The cloth moves more violently. A
click, click, click, sounds clear and
distinct from under the muslin. Then
the cloth shakes vigorously. Sud
denly it rises as if impelled by dozen
hands, and almost simultaneously with
that rising there darts from beneath it
the figure of the juggler, riding sill
yer mounted wheel, upon which he
makes the circuit of the stage several
times. Then he alights as deftly as
the greatest of trick riders, and bow
ing to the audience, says Mes
danes ct Messieurs, sill vous plat"
1t is done. The juggler has kept his
word to the letter.
And now for the explanation. The
Nawab smiles in his most charming
Indian fashion as he tells those who
are about him that what he has done is
the simplest thing in the world if only
it is understood.
"Any one of you could do it, am
sure" he says.
Could they? Let us see. This is
the explanation, condensed from the
elaborate fabric of language which the
Indian juggler rears for the enlighten-
ment of those who have watched him.
In word, the secret is that the bicy-
Gle, all in pieces, is hung about his
body beneath the cloak. 1t seems as
if it would he difficult task 10 do
that, so that there would be no knobby
projections, but the Indian is clever
man.
To begin with, the rubber tires are
allowed to empty themselves of air, and
are then coiled about the mans waist.
Each of the spokes folds in three
pieces, and thus condensed about the
hub of the wheel, the whole hangs
down toward the mans heels like the
big pendulum of clock.
The handle bars are fastened about
the waist. The frame of the machine
is in five pieces, but fits together with
snap and locks that make it as firm as
if it were all cast in one piece. The
chain is wound around his leg. The
saddle is carried over his breast
With all this, weighing perhaps al
together eighteen pounds upon him,
the juggler has appeared before those
who have come to see the wonder he
has promised. The folds of his cloak
SO thoroughly conceal the dismantled
Dlht tIldb tucIt 10 lOt tAc sliSntCst CNl-
!ence of its presence. The usual ex
PLANTATION is made and then comes the
enveloping with the sheet. Instantly
the sheet covers him, the juggler
loosens from about him the sections of
the bicycle that make a complete
whole. First of all he arranges the
frame. Then the two wheels are
quickly turned into proper shape.
Following this he blows air into the
rubber tires and adjusts them. Then
comes the gearing, the adjustment of
saddle and handle bars, and 10, the
wheel is complete and ready for use.
Then the iuggler dexterously filings the
sheet from him and at the same mo-
ment mounts the wheel. The rest has
been told. New York Herald.