The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-07-26
60N S
O. NDIfl
THEIR FEATs COMPARED svvITH
THOSE OF OUR MAGiC.ANS.

| The wonders That an English OH
Ger Saw Performed by, n High Caste
Observation-Disclosures Pigeon TriclS
That Bewildered the orienta1s..
The wonderful tales that have been
told of the feats OF Hindoo con5urers
doubtless derive much of their effect
from the inability of unframed observ-
ers to report truly what they have
SEEN An ordinary trick of sleighr of
hand may be SO described in all sin
cerity by one having no Knowledge. OF
the art as to be utterly ineNplicable.
a simple reversal of the sequence OF
movements may be sufficient to make
the described feat an utter impossihiil-
ty, and Yet the relater will demand that
you account for it as he thinks he saw
it or admit that the dead or the devil
had.a hand in it.
Hermann went to India to see for
himself what tie jusglers of the orient
could do, hoping to pick up some Won
derfully clever tricks but he was pit
terly disappointed. Heller, Hertz. he!-
lar and other western magicians, I be-
lieve, had similar experiences in In
dia At least, none OF them brought
back any notable addition to his roper
tory. of illusions. Hermann told me
that the Hinloo fal1irs had few stock
tricks depending upon apparatus, such
as the mnnErove feat and the basket
deception, but We're not adept in pure
sIeight of hand. His featS OF palminS
mystitied them completely.
For example, q party of native Jug
glers boarded the stea mship in port and
performed some of their feats. Herr
mann appeared before them with live
pigeon in his hand, twisted off the
birds head and threw the body over
the ships side and directed their at
tention to the severed head, which he
then vanished He then held his
empty hand outstretched, and the pi-
geon alighted upon his palm unhurt.
The Hindoos We're deeply impressed,
but the trick was simple. The pigeon
was 4 pet bird, trained to come to Herr
manns hand. When he pretended to
twist its neck he tucked its head under
its wing and brought into view a pre-
pared head which had been palmed.
Tossed over the side, the bird fell until
it got it's head out from under the
wing, and so was lost to sight for
moment. While Hermann was hold
ing the attention Of his audience by
vanishing the fake head the pigeon was
soaring to get its bearings, and it came
to hand at the right time.
Yet there are travellers who aver
that Hermann and his fellows saw
only the common jugglers of India and
that the tales of oriental marvels are
not all lies out of whole cloth. If their
descriptions of what they profess to
have seen are to be accepted as ap-
proXimately accurate, there is fine
field for pSychical research in Hindu
stan, and our western mystiiers have
much to learn.
Some years ago I met veteran of
the British army who had served sew
enteen years in India and had seen
many strange things in his time. His
name was O'Farrell, and when he re-
tired he was sergeant major of the
Eighty-fourth regiment of foot. He
was one of the garrison OF Lucknow
during the siege in the time of the Sc
poy mutiny and wore the defense Of
Lucknow medal. I told the veteran
what Hermann had said about Hiudoo
magic, and he replied that it was more
than probable that nothing remarkable
was done by the sort of fakirs one
would be likely to see in run about
the country. But O'Farrell declared
that he had seen tricks which could not
be performed by sleight of hand nor
explained by any theory based upon
the methods Of western conjurers, and
he referred for specific confederation
to General a. Herbert, Sir Havelock
Allen General Thomas Lightfoot, Gen
erai Barton and other British officers
OF note, who. he averred, We're present
at remarkable exhibition in Lucknow
in April, 1850, and made notes of what |
they saw. I never have had an oppor-
tunity to verify the references.
Sergeant Major O'Farrell produced |
what he said was his diary of 1859, and |
from the entries then made lie verified |
ull the essential features of his mar
rative of an exhibition given by Il M
tive conjurcr before the officers of the |
garrison at the request OF Lieutenant
Burns OF Tic Royal artillery. The
scene was enc of the officers mess
rooms. selected without consultation
with the performer.
The coniurer," said the old soldier.
tcame without any apparatus or bag
gage other than q ca Siet the size of
cigar box. He was tall, di.nihed
man about Gfty-tive years OF age and
evidently OF high caste. He Wore Il lur'
ban towing white robe. white BAHAMAS
and rcd slippers. When lie entered lie
room lie bowed to his audience s:Il
then directed upon each person in turn
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