The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-11-16
TRAVELS Of A MAGICIAN ,
Kellar Relates Some Of His Ex-
periences.
TRICKS OF THE FAKIRS.
Difficulties Encountered in Getting
Out of Mexico with the Prof.
it's of Season.

cuIcS. LII lle u ulIeu states liz uNS SILL
ply had the ordinary ups and downs
which fall to the lot of nearly every
Snowman. But in Burmah they took
him for the very devil. In India the
theosophists wanted him to become one
Of their number. They thought hc had
rare powers. He dealt with them for ii
time and refers to them quite as ire
Nuently as spiritualists as theosophists
Kelar has Travelled pretty much all over
the world during the forty years he has
been III the business OF amusing and as
founding the public with his tricks
While i'll his journeys have been for ex-
hlbltlon purposes he did not miss the op-
portunty to study the magic Of the Hin.
docs, and some Of the tricks which he
now does were suggested by what he OBJ
served in India.
Juggling Priests of India,
ke.lar does not think so much of the
work. OF ht.~ordinary street fakirs OF In
OF thesr fellows arc the tricks Of ALL 1t
is the priests who do the great tricks and
they do not make them common by per-
forming them often. These priests are
particularly skilled in hypnotisn. The
American performer tells of one exhibit
very thorough test. A British military
surgeon was present with Kcllar. \
man was hypnotized his mouth, nose,
ears and eyes sealed up with clay, ana
he lay in that condition for thirty min
utes; The doctor ran a bodkin through
serum, followed. a hot coal simply
burned the flesh, but did not disturb the
man under the spell The stethoscope
did not reveal signs of lite and q mir
ror placed before the mouth and nose aft
or the clay was removed showed no
signs of breath. The doctor said he
would pronounce the man dead had he
not seen what had been done and had
previous experiences. The hypnotist
brought his man out Of this condition all
right with few passes. though he had
TO ply his mouth open and straighten out
his tongue. which was dou;jly,,:: back.
kellar deemed this wonderful perfornl@
ance.
The American conjurer says that an
other trick which is done in India is 70
place a body on three swords. remove all
the supports and then pass a sword ali
around the body which is suspended in
mid-air. This is a very good trick, he
says: and he does it himself on the stage.
During the last few years Kellar has
not been travelling in foreign parts, but
ne is soon to leave this country on q long
journey: Last spring he had intended to
go to South Africa, which he considers
one of the best places in the world ac-
cordms to population. for IL Snowman.
The Boer war, however, put an end to
this contemplated trip. Kellar is now
figuring on going to that land as soou as
4 peaceful condition of affairs is restored
Trouble in Mexico.
In Mexico, in 1874, Kellar got into con-
siderable trouble, but made lots of money.
He was travelling with William Fay OF
the Davenport brothers. His trick of
making violins, mandolins and guitars,
covered with phosphorus, float about the
darkened stage set the clergy against him
preached against him, said he was an
agent. of the Evil One come to earth to
test the faith of the faithful and they
threatened to excommunicate those who
attended his performances. One of the
Mexican papers came out with perfect
TRADE against him. 1t became necessary
tor kellar to apply to the American min
lister for protection. During his engage
ment in the capital of the neighborins
republlc ne was escorted from the hotel
to the theater and from the theater to the
hotel by squad of soldiers. The pa
the, country there was no attempt to
modest Kellar and his party, but man;
people fought shy Of him. Business was
good and presently there was an en-
PART IS mt Of riches. The country at
magician had $4,000 in gold and hc
was anxious to get it out of the country.
He found that charge Of 20 per cent.
was made for carrying it to the City Of
Mexico, where it could be shipped, this
large fee being exacted because it was
hsTe Guard Of naf to
to pay. this high rate, he packed the coins
IN chest in asphalt so that they voulG
not clink
Treasure Mule Got Lost.
Allowing the old trunk to lie around
the hotel courtyard as carelessly as he
did his toolchests, he averted suspicion
as to its contents by means of a bluff.
After allowing this coin to be knocked
about in this manner for some time, Kel-
lar engaged muleteer to take it and
some other packages to a seaport town
on the Pacific ocean, the Kellar party to
follow. When the party arrived the
muletecr informed them that one of the
mules and its packages was lost. A
the mule with the $4,000 which WAS
missing. Kellar' heart sank within him,
but he did not betray the fact that the
loss was u considerable one. Without
an undue show of interest in the matter,
he searched for the missing mule in the
MOUNTAINS and found it. He says he
browsing in valley and the click of the
paddock and chain on the trunk was de-
tected by the searchers.
Later came the difficulty of getting the
money out of the country without the
payment of 5 per cent. export tax.
Search the packages as they would, the
Mexican officers could find no money in
the trunks as they examined them prior
to their being placed upon shipboard.
The Mexcans knew Kellar had lot of
money as the result of his successful
tour. but they could not get at it. Kel-
lar says he was never so glad to get out
Of country as he was on this occasion
He breathed a sigh of relief when the
steamer plowed her way out into the
Pacific and he was done. with stage
coach and horseback rides through
rough and lawless country, with so much
money with him.
Kellar says he we'll remembers his first
visit to Mil waukee, thirty years ago. It
was scarcely successful as the pres
ent one and those which he has made
in later years: During the present week
the magician has not been in the best of
spirits, as he has been racked with pain
and has spent most of his snare time
in a dentists chair. He says his style
Of entertainment is not losing it's popu-
larity by any means and that his bust