The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-01-21
A SAMPLE OF THE TAHlTtAN
MAGIC.
a Large crowd Watches the Perform
ance and None are Much Impressed
By Its Wonders

Papa Ita's exhibition Of magic from
Tahiti was given on Saturday night.
and now the people of Honolulu are
divided over the question of whether
he Is "a fake or not tia walked the
stones, but there are many people who
think they could have done the same.
ltas performance did not do much to
bear out the wonderful stories that
have been related regarding the fire.
walkers of Tahiti.
There was very large crowd pres
ent TO see the man from Tahiti do his
trick. The people who had paid 81
for ticket sat on chairs around the
stones under which the fire was burn
ing. others stood up behind them
The fire had simmered down until il
was only burning high in the very mid
die of the pile of stones. Here flames
were shooting up from beneath the
rock At the edges there was some red
fire underneath, but the stones on the
outside were not hot, as was proved
by many people who placed their hands
on them before the performance be-
gan,
lta was dressed i'm a loose gown of
white girded with ii leaves and he
had chaplet of ii leaves on his head.
In his right hand he carried "a large
bunch of ii leaves, with which he smote
the ground in front of the stones before
ne NtuluItu OUT On lntnls
The first time tia walked a across
the stones there We're ripples of APP
plause. The old Tahitian walked
slowly, but he did not step on the hot
test stones I'm the middle of the pile.
He walked back and forth once, and
then sat down while the crowd talked
about 1t and began to argue over it.
Four times tia walked back and forth
and by the time he had finished the
crowd was full of "joshes" The exor-
cising of spirits by shifting the ground
with ii leaves aroused laughter, and II
was evident that many of the crowd
was enjoying the idea that such a vast
assemblage had been so wonderfully
humbugged. tia took himself very Sc
riously. He solemnly walked back and
forth. In the middle of the perform
ance some hard showers came, and the
people watched tia through a lot of
| umbrellas that dripped onto one an
others necks.
Many people are of the opinion that
Saturdays performance is a sample OF
the fireworking that so much has beer
written Of and it will be hard to con
vince them that there is anything in
the performances. With proper acces-
sories, which the management neglect
| ed the show might be impressive anG
even thrilling, for the fire could be
much more spectacular without adding
much to the heat, Darkness, 10 snow
the fire, proper Introductory ceremo-
MES. with due attention to the need
of Tahitian lamentations, and a few
other such details, would have deeply
| impressed many people with the show
! After tia had done, a large number
| of the crowd gathered round the pile
/ of stones to see how hot they We're
/ A number of the spectators VentureC
on the pile and soon many We're hasten
! ing across while others laughed, on,
man walked quickly over the very cen
| ter where tia had not gone, but will
shoes on. In the meantime tia an'
his managers had gone. Until lat
hour some of the audience remained
growing more bold as the stones grew
cooler.
tia walked the stones all right, bu
the management did not provide any
thing like the white hot stones tina
were promised. tia says himself tina
the stones We're not hot enough, bu
il was observed that he avoided thos
that were hottest as II was
One explanation that found many
adherents was that the porousness o
the stones made their surfaces coo
very rapidly as the wind blew owe
them. tia will have no other kind o
rock than this porous lava rock ant
tests showed that 1t does not retain
heat. for stones near the edge whicl
had had fire under them all afternoon
were quite cool. Metal, or hard stones
would have remained very hot unde
such circumstances.
The show was a financial success,