TESTING A FAKIR.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 13 October 1925, Page 8

TESTING A FAKIR.

A MAN INSENSIBLE TO' PAIN. EXTRAORIDINARY POWERS. REMARK. ABLE DEMONSTR ATI,ON. . An interesting demonstration of an Egyptian fakir’s powers was given in Paris on August 19 before what is left of isociiai land scientific P’aris, together with a, large contingent of tlie general public. The Fakir, Tahra Bey,. <subjected to every test which a band oi doctors and a crowd of 100 or so of the public on the stage itself could suggest. The fakir himself, looking, with liis sad and really beautiful face, his fine silky beard, and flowing white, burnous, exactly like an illustration to a children’s Bible, announced that lie had oome, not to work miracles, but to ask the opinion of the scientific West upon physical peculiarities which he could induce, but not explain. This modest warning was fully necessary and imperfectly appreciated, as subsequent event.', proved. Having thrown himself into a cataleptic t nance and suffered a .stone weighing 2001 b. to be shattered on his body by iblowis from a hammer, the fakir emerged therefrom with a (shudder (and announced that he was quite insensible to pain. Five doctors thereupon transfixed various parts of hi*body with knives and needles. Four of them announced themselves perfectly satisfied.

The fifth medical man. Dr. Bar re, ol Stnaisbourg, declared that lie had detected evidence of pain and a change in the pulse during the operation. As the fakir was moving about and talking quite happily with an armoury of grisly instruments still in him it did not seem to matter. The Experiment Repeated.

This was not the opinion, however, of the public, wlip loudly invited Dr. Biarre to do the same to himself. The i/akir then permitted the doctor to repeat the experiment and take his pulse before, during and after. It was found to be slightly slower during;, a.nd precisely the same before and after. The most convincing experiments, however, were those which did not quite succeed. The fakir asked that the weapons should be removed from his person and promised that the wounds should bleed or not at will. None ol them bled at all, and in a lew moments there wa,s no trace even of a soar. The second really remarkable inei 1 dent occurred during a thought-reading test. The fakir,' seizing his examiner, by the wrist, led him quickly down into the auditorium and darted to and fro among the audience, miaking little stops and points; like a setter dog. Finally, he explained, “it is the number of the seat you thought- of, but you do not know where it is nor who •is in it, so I cannot find it.’ - Yells for and against him rent the. air. An excitable man jumped on the back of his chair shrieking, “Tell us the mipi)b*r!” Another, waving his driving licence above bis head, demanded to he told the number of that. The fakir, with great dignity, quietly explained that he did not pretend to work miracles and that a mere number bad no thought form which could he transmitted. Those who, perceived that he had indeed correctly defined his companion Is thoughts, and that in this case there could he no possible collusion, were in the vlast majority. Buried for Twelve Minutes. The final test was that of remaining buried alive for 12 minutes. The fakir again threw himself into a cataleptic trance and w/ais tested by the doctors, who found no trace of breathing or blood circulation. He was then put in a coffin, his nose and month were stuffed with cotton-wool, the' remaining space filled with .sand, and the lid closed. The coffin was then buried in a heap of sand, and Dr. Bane wiled away the time of waiting by courageously stating how easy it would be to breathe in suclv circumstances. When the coffin was opened the fakir was discovered ghastly pale, but otherwise none the worse. ’ The seance concluded with a wild scramble for “talismans’’ thrown among the audience. The performance wa*s undeniably impressive from the point of view both of the actual experiments and the absence of any extraneous nonsense. The full fights were blazing the whole time, the doctors were allowed the fullest liberty of examination at all times, and the liakir him,self made no pretence to be other than a subject of scientific (Study. He claimed to- have beeil buried in Greece for 28 days. The audience were convinced that they were in the presence of-a- very remarkable man.