Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1901-09-27
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Arl Indian ~ \
FalSir's Trick
Magic Wn8cf a British officer
Expiains by Hypnotisn1. = >
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A N OFFICER Of the British army
IN who served 10 India with the
Seventh and the Fourteenth hussars
is spending few weeks in New York.
The other day some friends were
talking with him about India and his |
experiences there, and the converse
ton turned TO Indian faSirs and their
wonderful performances.
gThese fellows do perform some OK
trnordnary tricks" said the British !
officer. "but, extraordinary as they |
are, the tricks are not so fearfully
wonderful rs some of the stories OF
them which are brought away from
India by the tourists who learn all
about India and its people in the
course of few weeks sojourn in
some of the coast towns.
"As a matter of fact, the greatest
of the fakirs are never seen in the
towns and cities Their religion and
superstition will not permit them to
wander from their native haunts, and
only those who have travelled or lived
| in the widest and most remote parts
of India have Witnessed the perform
ance of the really great tricks of the
fakirs.
"The first time ever met a no-dis-
count falir was in a wild, unfre-
quented part of India, where two 9th
er officers of the regiment, an army
surgeon and myself had gone ON a
hunting trip. We had spent the day
beating for tiger, which got away,
and had returned to camp tired and
out of sorts. Taking an early dinner,
for we were horribly hungry, we sat
down outside the tent to smoke our
cheroots.
| 'Suddenly, just before shutdown, we
noticed an uncanny-lool1ing person
coming toward us, grinning like a
black devil, salaaming at every step
and mumbling something which none
of us could understand We knew.
of coarse, that our visitor was one
of the mountain faltirs, and we calm
ly waited for him to proceed to bust
ness.
GAS he put down his bag with great
elaboration, the boy accompanying
him curled himself up on the ground
and seemed to be paying attention to
nothing in particular. After a little
the old codger produced, seemingly
from nowhere. a ball of ordinary cot
ton string, which had once beer
white, such string as shopkeepers or
dinarily use to tie up light parcels
with.
"The mans hair was gray and hi
hide was as black as Erebus. He wor,
a dirty turban and loin cloth, whicl
two articles constituted his apparel
The boys outfit was no less elaborate
after tossing the ball of strinI
about for awhile-it was about the siz
of a billiard ball-he threw it high int
the air, retaining the free end of tn
string in his hand. Up and up and u
went the ball, growing smaller an
smaller the higher it Travelled, until
disappeared from sight altogether. T
all appearances it had sailed up unit
it reached the nearest stratum o
clouds and disappeared behind it. l
was the mightiest ball throwing w
had ever seen and was quite sufficien
to attract our attention to anything
that the old boy might subsequent
do-and that was just what he wanted
"As soon IS the ball had disappeared
the falSir let go the free end of tn
lstring and there we had line of cot
| ton Irvine extending from about fiv
feet from the ground up to the Lori
knows where. When the old ma
found that the ball remained in tn
air, refusing absolutely to come down
no matter how wildly he gesticulate,
Tor how loudly he yelled at it, he wa
apparently much annoyed
"He tugged and tugged at the cord
but he couldn't pull the ball out o
space, and as an evident last resort
NE called the boy, told him to climb thu
4 cord and bring the ball down. TheI
n we saw the spectacle of boy ~ OF
i IA years old, climbing hand over hand
i ZAP line of cotton Irvine about the siz
4 of a large pin.
"Up and up, higher and higher, th'
4 urchin went, climbing as sailor
cIimbs a rope, until he, too, had dis
\ appeared behind the clouds which hi(
the ball. When last we saw him, HI
looked to be just about as big a the
\ ban did when it disappeared.
|As soon as the urchin disappeared
81 there was more trouble for the fakir
4 The boy appeared very well satisfied
\ with the roosting place he had founS
4 and the old man was no more success
full in getting him back TO earth thar
! he had been with the ball of Irvine
Then we did'have a sample of splendit
rage.
"The old rascal worked himaelf III
into perfect fury. He yelled anC
danced and gesticulated and gave tn,
best exhibition of human demon tina
4 / ever saw. BY way ofheightening tn,
] effect and increasing our interest il
the show, he dropped into broken blu