Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1907-05-01
THE MAGIC Of INDIA.
Not a Bit More Wonierful Than
That of the occident.
TRICKS OF alNDoo WIZARDS.

There Is None Of Them That Ar,ori-
can or European conjurers Cannot
Do as Well IL Not 6stter-The Truth
About the Famous Rope Trick.
Charles Bertran. the English conjur-
er, made three trips to India. where he
studied the tricks for which the Indian
jugglers have long been famous. He
came back With the opinion that tray
elers had exaggerated their skill.
Il have no hesitation In saying" he
said TO friend on his last visit to this
country, that after seelng 176 different
Hindoo conJrrers. who were gathered
in various parts of the country by the
different rajnhs before whom l per-
formed. there is not single trick
which the Indians perform that the
European or American magicians can
not do as we'll and even better.
"They are clever ut swallowing long
chains, which are made to clink In
their stomachs.s and skillful at swallow
ing swords. eating FIRE. chewing glass
and encircling the body with redhct
chains. but they are really no more
adept at these things than the ordinary
freaks and human salamanders that
play the dime museum circuit
AS for the rope trick. the throwing
up of a rope into the air. up which
man or boy Chambers hand over hand
and Is seen no more, all that can say
is-moonshine. There Is no such trick
During my tours OF the far cast
for thar erNoofo1 frs~k md NOT an
single soul did 1 find who could do 1t
or who had even seen il. l heard Of
men who had heard OF others who had
seen 1t, but 1 could get no direct evil
dence.
"All that l could discover about il
from the Indians themselves was voic-
ed by one man, who said to me In his
curious English: All I'm Imagination.
all In travellers tales. I've been all
over India looking for tricks. Would
not have that II could get itr
There is rope trick that the Indian
jugglers do and which is very dex-
trous. 1t consists in taking a coil OF
rope several feet long, tossing IL into
the air and balancing IL on the open
palm. The rope, however, has a very
thin wire running down the middle so
as TO enable il to remain sin for nine
OK ten seconds, during which ii Is bal
anced, and that is how that trick is
done. although-a great deal OF delicacy
is involved in throwing the rope up
with the exact amount OF force TO
straighten out the coils. for anything Il
shade under or over would interfere
withsthe success of the feat, which ut
Its best is only Juggling interlude.
The other two great tricks OF the
Hindoos are the basket trick and the
mango tree trick. In the first trick a
boy is put into n basket, n sword IL
passed through II I'm various directions,
and the boy is seemingly killed. while
later on he appears either from the
basket or else Is discovered some dis
lance away. perhaps up tree
1.-THE secret Is simple. The basket is
peculiarly shaped, being much larger
at the bottom than Mt the top. There is
plenty Of room In the bottom OF the
basket for a why Hindoo lad TO curl
round 1t eelwise. The performer IN
driving the sword through the basket
takes excellent care TO miss the boy.
although to the spectators II seems as
IL the sword penetrated every part OF
the basket
''The mango trick is even more simple.
and the reports OF travellers that they
had Witnessed with their own eyes the
growth OF the tree is as absurd as
their tales OF Hindoo lads who climb
up ropes and disappear q la Jack and
the Beanstalk in thin air. The mango
tree is really n small twig, not more
than eighteen inches high, which is
deity introduced into can of dirt
while the latter is being covered with
a cone made OF cloth and bamboo.
THE most startling trick I saw IN the
far east was performed by mendicant
In the Malay peninsula. While wait
Ing for the mango tree TO grow he did
a few Hindoo hanky panky wrinkles.
"He took little ball CT rough cotton
about the size OF a walnut and threw
1t to woman who formed one of the
| party that We're assisting him. The
| Jerk unraveled about three yards, and
she broke the end or and kept the ball.
THE conjurer placed the end which
he held into his mouth, and by deep
breath the cotton few into his mouth,
i
borrowed n penknife from me and with
the big blade made q motion as II he
would stab himself in the throat, the
woman preventing him with a rather
artistic stimulation OF horror and ex-
| element.
Presently she turned her back, and
the man seized the opportunity to
plunge the knife into his abdomen.
That part of the trick he did so reals
tically that confess felt rather faint.
He then put his hand under the loose
linen shirt he was wearing and began
to draw out the piece OF cotton.
when he had drawn out nearly as
much as the length OF the piece that
had been broken Off he lifted his shirt
slightly and showed the end OF the cot
ton apparently imbedded in the skin.
BE then took the knife and moved It
upward against the skin as II he were
pressing out the last bit of thread,
which was tinged with red as If with
blood
This was an admirably executed lit
tie trick, although by no means diff
cult. The sucking In Of the cotton is
skillful, but may be acquired readily
after little practice. OF course the
chewing of the cotton is merely a
method of secreting it. and anothe
piece or cotton of similar length is roll