El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-07-19
The Scinitar
tBy Victor Cholnoky.)

TN THE city Of Kiussin in Japan there
is whole quarter whose inhabit-
| q ants made living by their dexterity
| and acrobatic skill.
The jugglers Of Kiussin travel all
over the world and are we'll received
| in the music halls everywhere, for they
| accomplish marvels Of gymnastic
| tricks.
Takaissivo and his wife, Minamoto
both came from Kiussin. They travelled
I from one country to the other and re-
! ceived an enormous salary everywhere.
| Their most sensational feat was this:
Dressed in plain tights, Minamoto
placed herself In front of a board wall,
her arms across her chest, while
| Takaissivo faced her about 30 PAGES
away. Next to him stood a basket con-
| tanning AZ exceedingly sharp and
pointed daggers, each about 10 inches
long and encased in wooden scabbards.
Minamoto greeted the audience with
smile-and you must admit that no.
body knows how to smile more grace
fully than young Japanese woman
then she spread out her arms and stood
with her back against the board wall.
Takaissivo took a dagger in each
hand and sharpening them one against
the other he exhibited them to the au-
.dience. Then he threw them against his
wife. The daggers tore through the air
and embedded themselves deep into the
wood close to Minamoto's body. One
followed the other with lightning
swiftness and like swarm of bees the
daggers flew towards the human tar
get following the outlines of her body
and striking close against her flesh.
When the As daggers had been
thrown, came the last, a heavy scinitar
III sd IA
encased in a scabbard of snakeskin.
Every time Takaissfvo took this ter
rible weapon from the basket he
shouted:
"Ha! ha. This is the way to throw
st."
The long scimitar sped through the
air and buried itself in the wood with
,, unerring precision right against
Minamoto's breast as close as possible
to the heart.
Smilingly, Minarioto then crossed her
arms over her chest and stepped away
from the boards, on which the shudder-
Ing audience saw her form outlined by
the daggers
This was Takaissivo's specially and
you may imagine that he made piles OF
money everywhere but nowhere more
than in San Francisco.
The people of the far west, used to
daily sensations, went wild at this dan
gerous exhibition of marvellous skill.
and Takaissivo made many thousands
of dollars.
Money may be blessing in two ways;
It is a curse in only one. When 1t is
scarce 1t stimulates you to work and
sobriety. Taken in exceedingly large
doses 1t promotes charity and prompts
you to good deeds; I'M medium doses it
tends TO make you greedy and misery.
Takaissivo grew reckless in spend
ing his money But what could he
spend money on? Liquor would have
robbed him Of his skill of eye and hand
and for the same reason he dared not
TO try the delights of the opium pipe.
Besides, we Japanese are habitually
sober even when rich.
But the Geishas of San Francisco are
very pretty and to these Takaissivo
gave champagne, oysters and opium as
much as they wanted After the per-
Torrance. he spent his nights in San
Francisco's tea houses. There he lis
tened with an air of Indifference to
the stupid music, admired the dancers
and threw away one $50 bill after the