The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1907-02-01

"Stopr'
s"Stopv' And it stops.
Once more:;
Spout
And thus the crystal fountain spouts
| and stops as hidden until more water
is running over the deck than Is alto
gether comfortable for bystanders.
During his whole performance the
| juggler repeats over again the mystic
but apparently irrelevant words:
"Bandar ka kopra! Bandar ka ko-
prav' e"Skull of monkey! Skull of
| a monkeyio
"Backsheeshr' the holy man now sug-
gests and indicates the red cloth as an
| appropriate receptacle for cash ac-
acknowledgement of his occult power.
AS coins fall he deftly RECEIVERS them
and bites each one to test its genuine
ness. At last he piles the contribu-
lions neatly, shakes the cloth and
again spreads 1t on the floor
Again the juggler's eyes fix them
selves in cataleptic trance. Again he
| PAGES around the red square, muttering
OuflandlSh words.
Something begins to move beneath
the cloth. 1t grows in size as the
| spellbound audiences ,gazes. There is q
faint sound-and-ou hops grinning,
chattering monkey, while from the far
Their edge Of the red rag a cobra pokes
| its venomous head and writhes its bulk
along the planks.
The passengers-even the sailors
shrink and shudder, but their feet seem
spiked to the deck No one moves,
though disgust and horror are mani
fest ON every face.
A much larger object heaves beneath
the cloth-slowly, gracefully, Hindoo
girl rises to her feet, casts the red
cloth from her shoulders and smiles
upon ships company, as silent and
aghast as were the. Yoyagers in that
dread ship, the Mystery"
Before anybody is able to stir the
| juggler elaps his hands, his creatures
vanish, he rolls up his.coins in the red
cloth, ties it around his neck, leaps
over the rail into the stream and
swims away.
There can be no doubt as to these
mystic performances being illusions,
for any attempt to photograph them re-
suits in an empty plate.
Hindoo jugglers simply have the pow
er to make not only, one person, but an
unlimited number Of persons, see, taste
and hear things which do not exist.
To attribute this power to hypnotism
does not detract from the marvel of the
phenomena. We must admit that the
basic principle Of the mystery is the
subjugation of the weaker to the
stronger will.
Secondarily, there Is in the Hindoo
! race an increase in the power Of
thought, resulting from their intense
love Of solitary meditation, one Of the
nations most pronounced traits from
time immemorial We cannot dispute
that the Hindoos have acquired mental
faculties of which the younger western
civilizations are altogether ignorant.
as matter of experience.
The Hindoo has attained marvellous
results on speculative philosophy.
Through centuries he has developed
his mental powers by persistent exer-
else and persistent effort-as with us,
athletes develop and perfect the mus
cles of the body.
The Hindoo conjuror is no unlicensed
charlatan. He Is man with "voca-
ton" 1t may be while he works in
the rice field that the Hindoo boy
hears the mysterious call Of Brahma
and tells his parents: H.
"Kopal me llkkha" CIT is written
upon my forehead..1
At first "the chosen" wanders
through the streets of his Native town
black ropes of dank hair falling
about his face, streaks Of clay across
his forehead and down his nose. sin
gle cotton rag wound about his mid
die The million gods that 5000 Hin
doc years have accumulated for faith
full souls know that the chosen" has,
vowed pilgrimage to Benares-the
residence of the gods = the Hindoo,
Olympus, not striding over the journey
erect with strong young limbs, but
falling nat on his face, measuring his
length with his brass water bottle for
all the weary way.
Thus does the chosen" accomplish
his pilgrimage, never lacking food or
drink or sleeping mat, for all jewellers
in the land know that he Is 80 Bari
agee" - he helps to. keep the world
straight with the gods. At last, eyes
bloodshot, feet blistered, he washes In
the sacred Ganges and bows in the
great temple at Benares and the
priests recognize his holiness and say.
1T is written upon his forehead" Aft
err which the chosen" is for years Sc
cluded in the silent places Of India
that by prayer and austerity and medi-
tation he may subdue the body and de-
velop the mind until he acquires the
occult force whereby he compels his
fellow mortals to see things which are