The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1909-04-02

TIC 9Agly " alilSl . wi
There are some points Of resem-
tlauoc between the story Of the great
French coDjurer, 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 hftics the administrators Of
the French African empire were serl-
,usly hampered by the fanatical mar
aboult, who by their tricks Of juggling
persuaded their followers Of their own
supernatural powers and used this be-
lief to fan the spirit Of iDsurrection.
Houlin was sent officially on a French
warslip TO Algeria to confound them.
While his task proved easy, the trip
was not without its dangers.
In Agiers he had allowed himself
to be shot at with pistols loaded by
the marabouts. But once in the intc-
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 hIy audience to postpone the test
until next morning in order that he
might pass the night i'm prayer rs he
was without the talisman that lie
needed If the feat was to be perform
ed Immediately.
The night ne devoted not to prayer
but To iusuring his invulnerability and
the next day before a great horde OF
Arabs ne submitted TO the test The
French conjurcr 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 pi5-
tol had not died away when IIoudin
opened his lips, showing the bullet
held firmly between his teeth.
His infuriatod adversary reached for
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
Whitcwush at the exact spot Of his
aim there crcpt slowly Il great splotch
Of blood. The marabouts, in terror
covered before the proWcss Of the Eu-
magician.
Less fortunate I'm his fate than Hou-
din was the English oriRntalist e. ii.
Palmer. He fell a victim to fanati-
cism. but the story Of his terrible curse
will long be repeated and cause shud-
dcgs TO run round Bedouin campfres.
Only upon the theory OF mctcmpsychO-
Sis can be explained his extraordinary
powers OF assimilaung the languages
and ideas OF the east.
He was brought up I'm the cOnvcn-
donal atmosphere Of England, but
when me turned his attention to orien-
tai subjects ne did not merely learn;
ne simply absorbed. Not only were
Persian, uindoostance and Arabic per-
fccuy familiar to him, but ne knew
every obscurity Of the slang Of the
camel drivers, and during his long
voyages in the east his European ori-
gin was never suspected. Just as
Uoudiu had been officially employed
by the French government, SO Palmer
was by the English, but in a more
Intimate capacity.
Before the exploit that proved fatal
he had many dangerous adventures.
Once he was led away 10y treachcr-
Gus guide and betrayed to an Arab
gang who meant TO rob and kill him.
He guessed their intentions, and when
they began to inhict upon him petty
nnuoyauccs ne pretended not to notice
them. Finally, however the abuse be
came too obvious to be longer ignored.
He spraug to his feet and drew out q
letter that he had received from an
English lady. "This to me! Down on
your knees, YOU dogs and kiss the
handwriting of the sultan" Down on
their knees, cowcd and groyeling, fell
his 500 captors.
In 1852 Palmer was sent on secret
service mission among the Bodouin
tribes to persuade them against join
Ing the rebellion Of Arab Pasha. lie
was betrayed and shot. But Just be-
fore his death he laid upon his assas-
sins the weight of his terrible curse.
Now. I'm the east curse is something
not to bc regarded lightly, and Palm
er's was one of particular awfulncss.
1t was his last means Of defense.
and. while il 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 I'm hor-
ror Some Of them confessed their
crime and were executed; all Of them
within a few months came to violent
lCaths. Palmcr's curse Is still remem-
bered with terror i'm the east.-Book-
man.