The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1910-08-18

gathered was the shows, the line OF
which would do Rir credit To the Mid
way Plaisance, or the Pike. Just now
the cinematograph is all the rage. and
we were told that 80 moving picture
theaters were in progress at one time:
besides these, however. were circuses
and theaters. dancing performances
and acrobats.
There was one show which made
but little outside clamor But the mo-
ment that We saw it's placerding we
hurried to pay the entrance fee and
entered. 1t was an enclosure open to
the air of heaven; the brilliant lights
to which We had been accustomed
were lacking here; few gas-jets en-
phasized the darkness. There was
lurid light from two bOnfires blazing
on the ground. over one of which a
great caldron of water was boiling A
fair crowd had gathered, perhaps $50
persons, really filling all the available
space for spectators. Beside a few
coolies who were assisting in the
preparation. the performers before us
were four white-robed priests of the
old religion. We were about to witness
the famous miracles, "-once purely
religious possibly, now frequently a
show in which there still fingers a
considerable amount of religious fer
vor and devotion. Percival Lowell. of
course, has described them adequate
ly, and many less able writer has
described them since. There may be
an element of craft and deception in
the whole performance, but 1t is al
ways interesting, and we were glad of
our first opportunity to witness it.
First, is the sword ladder, the least
interesting of the four; the priest who
was TO perform the miracle and an
assistant, after tedious preparation,
advanced TO the front of the ladder,
which consisted of wooden sides, in
which were set six or seven sharp
swords. The audience had already had
demonstration of the sharpness of
their edges; one sword had been passed
from hand to hand, that all might see
and feel. With the assistant, the per-
former engaged in earnest prayer, ac-
companied by the strange finger-twist-
ing so characteristic of many oriental
ceremonies. At the close of all these
preparations the priest mounted the
ladder firmly. step by step. on the
| sharp edges of the swords. Arrived
| at the summit he called for a she'll
| trumpet. on which he blew blast and
then descended. This act caused no
/ great enthusiasm, and indeed seemed
rather commonplace.
The next was more striking. The
priest was a gentle-faced, bearded.
long-haired enthusiast. Stating TO the
audience his purpose, he stood be-
/ fore them on a platform and made
strange passes with his open hands
/ from his shoulders down the sides of
his trunk TO his thighs; curious trem-
ors passed through his body and
his fingers went through the strange
twistings. He then seized a large
needle and with the utmost delibera-
! ton thrust it through the fleshy por-
| ton of his upper right arm. The act
would have been startling enough if it
had been done hurriedly; as 1t was.
the flesh of the spectators crept with
the deliberateneSs of the perform
ance. A second was thrust through
/ the same arm with the same delibera-
! ton; a third was thrust through the
| thick muscle of the left arm, and a
fourth; a fifth was thrust through the
| lobe of the right ear. This was done
with not the least appearance of pain.
/ The performer then taking a candle in
| the hand, walked around before the
audience and let them see the needles
in the flesh. 1t happened that We were
! the first to whom he showed himself,
and there was no question of the re-
atty OF the performance. After he had
demonstrated the act to the whole au-
dience he distributed a handful of
small needles to the spectators, wheth-
er as souvenirs or charms, we do not
know.
Meantime the assistants had been
piling wood under the caidron of boil
ing water. The performer this time
was a strong and healthy man, with
/ none Of the air Of dreamy abstraction
which had marked his predecessor.
Standing on the same platform before
the audience, he proceeded 10 make
some rotary movements with his open
hands. He too, played, with the fin.
ger-twistings. Meantime the water
had been thoroughly stirred-prob
ably 10 demonstrate to the audience
that it was hot throughout-th priest
then seized two great boughs, heavy
with leaves, and advanced to the cal
dron, from which the cover had been
removed; he was stripped to the
waist; dipping the boushs into the
thoroughly boiling liquid, he brought
out great quantities of it upon them
and splashed 1t thoroughly over his
head and shoulders, and upon his
chest and back. This he kept up &C
lively until two-thirds of the water
certainly, had thus been used
Public interest, however, was now
centered in the preparation for the next
and final act, the fire-walk The as
sistants brought forward chips anC
light kindling; this was carefully lait
over space upon the ground som,
four or five feet wide by perhaps 1:
feet In length.
After the whole space had been GOV
cred with this lighter stuff, heavie
ldndling and small logs Of firewoo,
: were carefully placed. All was thel
lighted and hot Goals from the neigh
boring fires thrown into every chinB
The needlesticker, with fans In bot
hands. ran along the sides of tn
wood bed thus laid. and blew the coal
, into a blaze. Soon the whole spac
was a roaring fire. When It was a
its height, two priests walked along il
throwing salt into the flames. We ha
expected that this would deaden tn