The Washington herald., 1911-06-11
Eastern Magic
copvR,cBr by JAMES sLVBRsoN

COPYRIGHT BY SAAhc
@RoM the earliest times the East mas
VT been known an the home OF msgle.
~ There are performed wonders which
Ill wn,id onne he called miracles, though
n in these later days science tines 10
trace the marvels TO hpyn9tism,
trickery, or some natural CAUSES "'n
Several years of my life have been Spent pen.
IN india where Eastern magic may pe seen
In its highest development. Durlng thIS Po.
ton q my life a%S hsyf bs~Ta wp' q others, which
Il shall try to repeat to you. f1rst, noweyett
7 shaH write of some tricks which L mSSen
have seen performed .,,- .. ,d,,r-
In Matheran and other hills stations our
;,e the season numbers Of Jadujars go from
honse 10 house, and show of their skill Tor
few cents. Usually their first trick Is the
aManVo Seed" The juggler digs q hole IN
the ground, places therein mango mango sesS sex
paces. Upon his retiring, the cloth gradually
rises, and, when lifted, there appears a small
tree. upon which are leaves, he covers II
over again, and lifts the cloth OIL in 1ew
minutes and the tree is much larger ana
ioadei With fruit, which he hands to the spec
Then he takes cone-shaped basket and
puts It over his assistant-gcneraly a sma0
Ynences to stab all over the basket with a
sword. The boy yells and moans, put suo-
denly ceases his cries The connror then
covers the basket with a. cloth, and turns II
over. The boy has disappeared, but atet q
few moments he emerges from behind the
An Of these tricks are done in front OF the
bouse before every one, and without the ara
of trap-doors and looking glasses, WITH which
American and European stages are nttea.
l have also seen good many snake-chaim-
ers. Their stock in trade ordinarily consists
Of half a dozen snalses-Cobra di Capena
(hooded snake) and q mangoust OF as LIS 70
often erroneously spelt, mungoose. Tins man
goust is a small animal of the weasel tribe,
,and il the deadly enemy OF the snake, with
which he fights to the death whenever they
meet. They are jolly little animals easily
tanned, and make nice pets
The snake charmer puts them together, and
after they have fought a bit he separates
them and puts them into their respective pas
kets The snakes obey the flute OF the charml :nI
er Just as rats and children oDeyeu the Pieu
piper of Hameln.
These are the more common, or garden
conjurors' tricks, but the more extraordinary
tricks are very seldom shown OF.
A friend of mine told me that some twenty
FIVE years ego he was stopping at Watsons,
the principal hotel in Bombay, and an osa
yogi CAME along, and gave wonderful exhibi-
ton to large crowd of spectators. One
Of his tricks was this:
caught by some invisible agency. He took
knife in his hand and climbed up the rope;
He cut the lower part Of the rope OIL and
joined it to the top; and 80 continued Until until
ward he emerged from the rear Of the hotel.
/ can't account for this. nor, do know any
one else who can. but / see no reason to
dsnbt my friends word
Another wonderful thing heard was said
70 have happened on board one Of the British
India steamers; carrying pilgrims up the Per
nian Gulf
There was a very old man sitting aloofi
from all the rest. The report went around
that he. was celebrated magician. Some OF
the passengers, therefore, asked him TO show
them q specimen Of his art.
he lifted his coat from the ground. and
underneath IL was black cat. he recovered
the animal, stamped upon il, and cnt off II.
had Taking OF the cloth, he disclosed
. IEkite eat. he did the eame thing with
this, and then black eat with q white head
appeared; again, and there was a white cat
With black head, and then again there was
the Original black cat The next time he
pulled OF the cloth there was no cat at all in
dght, and the captain told rs there was none
IN hoard M