The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1906-09-28
REMARKABLE FEATS
Performed BY Indian Fakrs Are Said
to Be illusions.
(Pearson's Weekly

The India fakir is the worlds most
wonderful illusionist. 1t is easy to
declare his feats are all humbug; it is
easy to laugh at persons who having
seen his performances regard him with
awe and wonderment; yet it is fact
that no European juggler, illusionist,
scientist, or other person, has success
fully performed ony of the important
feats accomplished by Indian fallirs.
This article does not attempt to show
how the trick was done. 1t merely
gives the opinion of those best &C
quainted with the subject-expert in
occultism and hypnotism.
Understand in the first place, that
everything in, a fakir's performance is
lllusionary. Any attempt to photo
graph it results in failure The plate
reveals nothing. You are simply made
to see things which do not exist.
And what things? This is one trick
which you can see being performed in
India in many cities on the days of
general festivities. Round a fakir, a
wiry little man, whose clothing con-
sists only of a loin-cloth, are assembled
vast audience The little fellow in
the center gives a shrill whistle, and
throws up into the air what appears to
be a rope. You wait for this rope to
fall, but It doesn't.
1t straightens itself out, and looks
as if it were hanging from the sky.
The fakir claps his hands and gives
vent to another whistle. Apparently
out of nowhere, for the crowd it quite
lis feet from the fakir, boy apears,
clothed in the manner of his master.
The fakir picks up the boy and filings
him into the air, toward the dangling
rope.
You hold your breath, while the boy
clutches hold of the rope, and shins
up it, monkey fashion, till he disap-
pears from sight in the clear sky. A
few moments later, up goes the fakir
until he. too, is lost to view. Sudden
", from the sky, you see and hear
sections of the boys body fall and
strike the ground with a dull thud
Then the fakir reappears descending
the rope, first as mere speck in the
heavens, but gradually becoming lar
ger as he nears the ground. The fakil
gathers the boys head and limbs anc
body, sticks them together, and be
hold! the boy, all smiles and activity
runs once around the fakir, and ther
disappears as mysteriously as he came
This. the favorite feat of Indian
!, fakirs has been witnessed scores o
times by officers and other European
whose word is indisputable. The ON
GERS of a British warship, having sew
| eral officials aboard, vouch for the fol
lowing particulars. Their ship MAJ
/ come to a halt in an East Indian por
after a journey of many Thousand
miles. when the fakir made his appear
; ance. swimming through the surf ant
, scrambling to the deck by the ancho
chains. Thus he had no confederate
nor any means of assistance aboard.
! First he took from the hand OF al
t officer the half of cocoanut shell
r from which, when held aloft, he cause
| - pailfuIs of water to flow to the decl
A large earthenware dish was mex
/ borrowed from the pantry. The faki
) poured into it gallon OF water, an
= held It on his outstretched left hant
) placing the other hand on his fore
9 head. As the crowd of officers an
: men stood watching in wondermen
the dish began to SHRINK in size, III
S til it entirely disappeared. They sti
t stared, as brown object, like grail
/ of sand, gradually grew larger an
; larger and assumed its normal d1men
ions, and was found not to have Spite
i a drop of water poured into it.
u Another performance of this sam
e fakfr was still more amazing. On firi
: reaching the deck after leaving tn
water, he had united large red ciot
from the back of his neck, where
II had obviously been slowed to keep
) This he passed around the col
2 pany for inspection. r,Itswas mere
, an ordinary cloth, of coarse textur
a Spreading it fiat upon the deck, u
a fakfr walked around it several time
muttering in his throat, and occasio
ally turning his eyes upward.
Is eyes we're glued to the cloth, und
q, which something was apparently gro
ling In size.
Suddenly, out hoped a grinning al
chattering monkey, which danced
round the deck; 1t was followed mi
IS ute later by an ugly and venomo'
IN looking cobra, wriggling away from t
n 49, lid