The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-09-27

hciinr. the Magician. Thinks an
Magic - Mere Trickery.

Magic u Mere Trickery.
From thc Ncw YORK sunday telegraph
keilar. the magician while "a traaicker
IN things mysterious does no, himself nut
any faith in the belief 81 supcrstIuous
pcrsons who because they cannot explain
what they $50. say it can only be through
powers acquired directly from thc super.
humtr thtt mysteries car - worked
During nik ~ me HOFFMAN House re-
.entIH He -a.d
tt only U4kcs very small thing some
imes o. rlzzle great minds. ana wnl.-
ever is the least bic mysterious and hsf-
hes explanation VII make men ascrlbe
what they see 90 the supe natural be-
cause OF their cuuceif tn their own intel
lscnce " nat they cannot explain they
say must be- due 90 uncxplainab bic powers
"of course. this is au folly. for IL any
thing but natural laws were AZ work
about US We would not be able 70 deter
mine our action Eve minutes III advance
Anything that iuterferred for one instant
With the natural law OF graVitafi0n would
SEQ things al ngog about u.s.
But REGARDLESS % this there g. a great
deal OF superstition among the intelligent
and. when you come 10 think OF a. Il is
not 60 be wondered at When the great
over some little thing they cannot OK
plain. we wonder why there Is not more
superstition. Tho great Betini was so
puzzled once over q Simple little trick IN
magnetism that I performed FOR him that
he old not rest for weeks until 7 had ex-
planned IL TO him
"Of an the people In the world the
Hindoos are well-known 10 be the most
expert Ia the mysterious things Of magic.
make him superstitious unless he a. men
tally pretty well balanced. There are two
classes Of Hindoo lsklrs: First. the fell
lows who carry their tricks around in a
bag and FOR a few rupees viii perform
with snakes ana swords and other trink-
cts, and then those who are OF the higher
class. who study magic as a part Of their
religious ceremonies and attempt 20 make
converts by making people believe they
have a supernatural power and are d.
viuely appointed 20 preach the faith Of
the great Hindoo goo
The men of the latter class are very
expert ana perform things that are mar
velsus. Ia my Indian travels ! have seen
them do things that are beyond the
explanation OF any but tho priests. when
one hears OF such things as a man throw
Ing "a rope into the air and then. without
the slightest appearance OF anything 90
climb on, going up after 70. he h. apt 10
be skeptical. but / have seen things just
as marvellous.
''The priests Of India are scientific mon
who have studied their art for years, not
Cor money gains but for the sake ~
their religion. They are taken good care
Of for their entire lives and study and
dclve into the mysteries of science with
the fervor of religious fanatics OF
course, when their tricks are learned Il
IS found that the simplest scientific prin-
ciples are beneath them all What we
learn as youths IN school about the siphon
ana the sucker and other fundamental
tricks IN physics, they put 20 the most
startling uses.
For instance. In the northern part
Of India there Is a temple Of the mother
of the god Buddha, where great fhrongs
so 10 worship. In the temple there r. "A
statute Of the mother with "a child god
Ia her arms Around the mother there Is
a great chalice into which runs steady
stream OF water. The superstition about
the statue is that Il b. impossible Tor
the water ever 90 touch the feet OF the
god. The water viii flow into the challce
ana on - clear up 90 the feet OF Buddha.
ara then Il Will suddenly begin To sink
down TO the bottom OF the cup. The
challce h. constantly filled and emptied in
this way. and che people think that there
Is a magical power IN the god. or course.
Il is nothing more than a trick performed
by siphon within the statue but for
centuries the priests have made the popu-
lace believe IN the divinity Of Buddha
through a.
There Is no doubt that the HiudOos
have found out the secret OF many laws
OF nature unknown 20 us For centuries
they have known things which for centu-
ries TO come We may not know Things
are occurring there constantly that hafiie
the English officers. and an efforts 10
bride and threaten the secrets out OF the
Hindoos have utterly failed. The British