The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1901-09-19

Magic which a British officer
Explains by Hypnotisfn. - -


VI fi' ih OF lUr itFithN army
~ who served In India with the
Seventh and the Fourteenth hussars
" 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 fakirs and their
wonderful performances.
These fellows do perform some cX-
traurdinary tricks" said the British
officer. but. extraordinary as they
are, the tricks are not so feArfully
wonderful ~ some Of the stories OF
them which are brought away from
ludin by the tourists who learn all
about lndin and its people in the
course Of few weeks sojourn in
some Of the coast towns.
AS matter of fact, the Ereaiest
81 the fakirs are never seen In tho
towns and cities. Their religion and
superstition will not permit them TO
wandcr-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
aucc 81 the really great tricks ~ the
fakirs.
"Nuu must remember at the out
set that the real thing, 10 usr an
fakir Is q man ~ secrets and Of
nyrangc hihts. lie loves, or affects
tn love. solitude. and he works upon
the superstition uf hi fellows in per-
forming what are regarded by the
other Hindous ms surc-enough mir
Bclra. lie lives in comparative scvlu-
sion. existing un heaven knows what.
"Ut course. At every opportunity he
EFFORTS whatever he may from his
fellows. but that is not much And.
hduning, as he does, the cities, u n
only for a yenturcsumr foreign hunt
en- that he may now and then perform
and get any considerable hackshccsh.
Ia his native state he Is the dlthicst
human being ever clapp"h my ewes
on. and by long habit he has fallen
into q chronic state of weirdncss, so
to speak
Report travels much more rapidly
han one would suppose In the noun
'ain- Of India. and once e party Of
foreign -puTtsmDn or travellers APP
pears IN the up-country, iakir is not
long in striking the spoor. and he
keeps 20 It until he CONES up with
the strangers. At such times the
fakir usually travels with a small hoy
aud dirty bag filled with a promis-
ruuus jumhlc of nuts. shells. trick
pardphcrualia and what not.
The first time I ever met q uo-iis-
count iokir was IN wild, unfre-
gucntcd part 81 India, where two 9th
or officers Of the regiment, an army
surgeon aud myself had gone on a
hunting trip. We had spent the day
beating for q tiger. which got away,
and had returned 10 camp tired aud
ont OF sorts. Taking an early dinner,
for We were horribly hungry. we sat
down outside the tent TO smoke our
chcruots.
suddenly, just before shutdown. We
noticed an uncanny-luukiug person
coming toward Us, Rrinuing like a
black devil, salhaminV At every step
and mumbling something which none
AZ us could understand We knew,
81 course, that our visitor was Que
81 the mountain fakirs, and we calm.
IL waited for him to proceed 20 busi-
ness.
AS hc put down his bag with great
dclibcration. the boy accompanying
him curled himself up on the ground
and seemed to be paying attention to
nothing In particular After n little
che old codger produced, seemingly
rom nowhere, a ball al ordinary cot
ton string, which had once been
white, such string M shopkrcpcrs or
dinnrily use 20 tic up light parcels
with
The mans hair was gray and his
hide WIS as black as Ercbps. He wore
dirty turhan and loin cloth. which
two articles constituted his apparel.
The boys outfit was no less elaborate.
After tossing She ball OF string
about for awhile--lt was about the size
Of = billiard bali--hc threw IL high into
the air, reiaining the free end Of the
string IN his hand. Up and up and up
went the ball, growing smaller aud
smaller The higher II travelled, unit! Il
disappeared from sight altogether. To
all appearances Il had sailed up until
II reached the nearest stratum of
clouds and disappeared behind IL. IL
was the mlghtiest ball throwing We
had ever seen and was quite sufficient
to attract our attention TO anything
that the old boy might subsequently,
do--and that was just what he wanted.
"As soon as the ball had disappeared,
the iakir let go the free end of the
string and there we had line OF cot
ton Irvine extending from about i've
feet from the ground up to the Lord
knows where. When the old man
found that the ball remained IN the
air. refusing absolutely TO come 6osa.
no matter how wildly he gesticuiated
or how loudly he yelled at II. he was
apparently much annoyed.
"He tugged and rugged al the cord.
but he couldn't pull the ball ont Of
space, and ~ an evident last resort.
he called the boy. told him 10 climb the
cord and hiring the ball down. Then
ae saw the spectacle OF hey IS or
u years old. climbing hand over hand.
up line OF cotton twinc bout t:,s size
OF large pin.
"up and up. higher and higher, the
urehin went. climbing a. y sailor
climbs rope, until be. too, had dis
appeared behind she clouds which hid
ths bali. When last Ne ssw him, he
locked 10 BE- just about 81 big az the
bail dlf when Il dlssppesssA.
a. sOvu Is The urchin 6jss ppenrot.