Gloucester County Democrat., 1909-04-15
PLUCK or A MAGICIAN.
Houdin's Experience Among the
Marabouts of Algeria.
AN ARAB TRAP THAT FAILED.

The Great French coniurer Stood the
Test and Then by Another Trick
cowed His lnfuriated Antagonists.
The Story of Palmer's Curse.
There are some points of resem-
blance between the story of the great
French conjurer, Robert Houdin, and
the marabouts and the story of Palm
er's curse. The first named tale is,
strictly speaking, incredible only when
regarded from the oriental point Of
view.
In the fifties the administrators of
the French African empire were seri-
ously hampered by the fanatical mar
abouts, who by their tricks of juggling
persuaded their followers of their own
supernatural powers and used this be-
lief to fan the spirit of insurrection.
Houdin was sent officially on French
warship to Algeria to confound them.
While his task proved easy, the trip
was not without its dangers.
In Algiers he had allowed himself
to be shot at with pistols loaded by
the marabouts. But once in the inte-
rior, when he was absolutely without
the tools of his profession, he was
forced to repeat the experiment. He
was frightened, but he did not allow
his fears to be perceived He persuad-
ed his audience to postpone the test
until next morning in order that he
might pass the night in prayer, as he
was without the talisman that he
needed if the feat was to be perform
ed Immediately.
The night he devoted not to prayer,
but to insuring his invulnerability, and
the next day before great horde of
Arabs he submitted to the test. The
French conjger insisted that in the
sight Of every one the pistols should
be loaded by his enemies themselves.
Then he calmly took his place and
gave the signal The sound Of the pis-
tol had not died away when Houdin
opened his lips, showing the bullet
held firmly between his teeth.
the other pistol, but the conjurer was
too quick. 'You could not harm me"
he said, "but now see how much great
er my powers are than yours. Behold
the WALL He fired, and out on the
whitewash at the exact spot of his
aim there crept slowly great splotch
of blood. The marabouts, in terror,
covered before the prowess of the Eu-
ropean magician.
Less fortunate in his fate than Hou-
! din was the English orientalist e. II.
Palmer. He fell victim to fanati-
cism, but the story of his terrible curse
will long be repeated and cause shud-
ders to run round Bedouin campfres.
Only upon the theory of metempsycho-
sis can be explained his extraordinary
| powers of assimilating the languages
and ideas of the east.
He was brought up in the conven-
tional atmosphere of England, but
when he turned his attention to orien-
tai subjects he did not merely learn;
he simply absorbed. Not only were
Persian, Hindoostanee and Arabic per-
fectly familiar to him, but he knew
every obscurity of the slang of the
camel drivers, and during his long
voyages in the east his European ORR
gin was never suspected. just as
Houdin had been officially employed
by the French government, SO Palmer
was by the English, but in more
intimate capacity.
Before the exploit that proved fatal
he had many dangerous adventures.
Once he was led away by treacher-
Gus guide and betrayed to an Arab
gang who meant to rob and kill him.
He guessed their intentions, and when
they began to inf1ict upon him petty
annoyances he pretended not to notice
them. Finally, however, the abuse be-
came too obvious to be longer ignored.
He sprang to his feet and drew out a
letter that he had received from an
English lady ssThis to me! Down on
your knees, you dogs, and kiss the
handwriting of the sultanr' Down on
their knees, cowed and groveling, fell
his 300 captors.
l.
service mission among the Bedouin
tribes to persuade them against join
ing the rebellion of Arab Pasha. He
was betrayed and shot. But just be-
fore his death he laid upon his assas-
sins the weight of his terrible curse.
Now, in the east curse is something
not to be regarded lightly, and Palm
er's was one of particular awfulness.
1t was his last means of defense,
and, while it did not save him. it blast
ed the hearing and destroyed the lives
Of those upon whom it fell They
shrank away from one another in hor-
ror. Some Of them confessed their
crime and were executed; all of them
within a few months came to violent
deaths. Palmer's curse is still remem-
bered with terror in the east. Book