The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1916-08-19

geous bouquet of dollhouse flowers the '
moment our Hindu attempted to chastise
his little son with it, the white mice which
Chanler produced from the pockets of boys
all over the room-these were wonders
specially devised for the occasion, and pro-
duced roars of laughter from his apprecia-
tive audience. Then we had the magic
stewpot in which two pigeons, plucked and
trussed, were placed to cook over a spirit
lamp, with the result that few minutes
later, when the lid of the pot was raised,
two live birds few out and futtered round
the room.
Then followed the wonderful bottle which
appeared to pour forth whatever liquid the
audience might choose; the daring trick in
which little Rao apparently catches in his
teeth the bullet from the revolver fired by
his father; and the startling thought-read-
ing and "second-sight" experiments which
seemed too puzzling for applause, and left
the onlookers speeches. with amazement.
Then the stage was cleared for the great
feature of the evening-the production Of
Chanler Rao's new automaton, Khokan.
Now, can tell you nothing of the secret
of this marvellous mechanical figure, which
afterwards drew all London and made
Chanler famous. Even to this day, l be-
ieve, no one has really solved the mystery.
Of course, as Rao was careful to explain,
there may be quite sufficient mechanism
inside the figure to account entirely for the
movements by which Khokan is enabled to
write down his revelations. The puzzle is
as to the directing intelligence which guides
his answers. Chanler himself never ap-
~, Ill
performance, except to wind up the ma
chinery and to renew, from time to time,
the paper on which Khokan writes his replies
to questions.
The fgure-ana almost life-size representa-
ton of an Indian fGkir-rests upon trans
parent glass cylinder which apparently
excludes all possibility of outside influence.
And yet, when once Khokan has been
placed in position with the pencil in hand
and the paper on the sloPing board in front
of him, there seems to be hardly any ques-
ton or problem to which he will not furnish
a ready answer.
On this occasion Chanler began by
requesting the assistance of committee
of vigilance" By Directing to the Sixth
Form as too old, and the Fourth as too
young, he secured the services of the boys of
the Fifth Form whom he seated on a semi
circle of chairs round the automaton on the
platform. Then, opening a sort of door in
the back of the figure, he showed them
the mass of complicated machinery which
moved the hand, at the same time demon
strating the impossibility that any live
person could be hidden in so small a
space. The door was then locked, the
automaton duly wound up, and the writing
began.
In Difference, suppose, to the place and
occasion, the first questions answered were
of the nature of mathematical problems.
Khokan extracted the square root and cube
root of a series of preposterous numbers.
Then he wrote out the value Of to fifty
places of decimals. Then he added up
four long columns of figures written out by
the boys themselves. These papers were
duly handed to DR.. Searson, who after a
brief examination, declared, amidst deafen-
: ing applause from the spectators, that the
: results were all perfectly correct.
: Then we passed to more general expert
ments. Khokan was invited to give details
ofyvarious articles handed to Chanler-tht
: number Of boys watch, the dates of vari
Gus coins, the postmarks on the envelopes
2 of letters. All these were furnished writer
= in a somewhat jerky and angular hand
2 writing, but with absolute accuracy.
= Then the boys on the platform wert
directed to join hands, one of them graspinl
7 the disengaged left hand of the automaton
i while Chanler requested the figure to writ,
4 down the names of some articles of whicl
any two boys might happen to be thinking
e simultaneously.
e There was a slight pause after the cues
D ton. Then Khokan's pencil was seen to b
moving rapidly. A moment later Chanle
e took the paper and read out what was writ
ten.
S "a gold-mounted fountain-pen. A valu
S able pocket-knife. Three sovereigns i
e gold. These articles lie hidden. Khokal
e can find them"
A movement of surprise was NANTES
e amongst the lads on the platform as tn
s missing articles were thus enumerated. Fo
4 a moment Rao himself appeared to b
: puzzled by what he had read. Then b
:, called his son to help, and between ther
o they wheeled off Khokan into the adjoinin
IS classroom. Little Rao came back to hi
a place at once. After a brief absence
C Chanler also returned to the stage, an
; addressed the audience
81 find" he said, ''that Khokan believe
= that these articles gold-mounted four
n tain-pen, sportsman's pocket-knife, an
u three sOVereignS-haye been put away some