The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-10-23
FAMOUS AFRICAN MIMIC.
Wonderful Performances of the Jes
ter Of a Deposed Potentate.

Ter q USpOSGQ
Ivadi-Half Letter in London News:
Before proceeding to the scene of the
days operations-our own train having
gone forward While we we're at break
fast, and the second train being late,
as usual, by reason of dafiche Niffus-
we had time to make the acquaintance
of d somewhat remarkable character
resident in the camp. This was no less
a person than the licensed jester Of the
Eynir Dad-ol- Bishara, who was cap
tured at the taking Of Dongola last
September. No doubt we saw him
there but we're ignorant of his infinite
varieties. Every dog has his day. This
clever fellow was then a slave, and
W2d Bishara a potentate. Now Wad
Bishara is disgraced person, eXiled
to some lonely station on the upper
waters of the White Nile, while Sonnit-
Jester is now the persona grata of all
this camp.
He is indeed a marvellous mimic. and
in his pantomime there is this sinister
interest that he portrays only that
which he has seen, and, no doubt, seen
frequently. For instance. he gave us
in dumb show a presentment of the
scene in the dervish trenches (behind
their works) when we were bombarding
Haffir and Berber last year. He repre-
sentod the passage and explosion of our
bursting shells, the agony of appre-
hension Of the dervish riflemen, who,
poor fellows. had never seen rife fire.
and the demeanor of the emirs. who
stalked sternly among them, giving
the word when to shoot.
Then turning from grave to gay, he
gave US the telephone lit works from
rail-head to Halfa, and, like the tele-
graph, is carried forward with every
length of line). doing the irritating
whir-r-r Of the instrument, and the
nasal 'Enta meen?" (who are you0
and the sharp Mann" q beg your par
don) of the clerk with admirable and
delightful fidelity. Then he gave us
limitations of musical Instruments
the usual semi blind and wholly imhe-
Gle native clerk-reading documents
and taking evidence. of catching mice,
and number of other performances.
each faithful in every detail to nature
But his chief triumph-and he gave
it every time-was the presentation of
a scene he had evidently witnessed
very, very often-the most horrible
piece OF mimicry I have ever seen in
my ife-the presentment of the hang
ing of a man. 1t has been my misfor-
tune to be present (in Bulgaria during
the war, in Egypt after the lombard
ment. and in Morocco and other places
at many of these primitive and horri-
BILE executions, and it was evident that
Sonit had had an infinity of opportun-
ity for study. The performance was
the most horrible I have seen in my
life, aye, and the minicry the most
complete and exact. The hideous spas
nodic grin. the protusion of the eyes
and the tongue. the horrible rictus of
the muscles, drawing up the lip at the
corner and exposing the gum
but there, why continue the descrip-
ton? The man too obviously knew his
business.
He could, indeed, initiate anything.
He took off even ourselves, and gave
an admirable presentment OF one of our
artists taking a picture. One Of Somit' S
happiest conceits is to go each morn:
ing to she cantiueer -> charge of the
army and navy stores trucks and bad
ger him for cigarettes; and when the
hapless Greek suffer refuses to be vic
tinized he turns his back on him. and.
seated in the doorway. whistles a
quaint bird-like note that always
brings an audience around him, to
whom he gives an accurate and elabor-
ate description of the hanging of the
cantineer. which is always received
with wild enthusiasm.