CHINESE JUGGLING.

North Otago Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 979, 2 December 1901, Page 1

CHINESE JUGGLING.

GOME EXTRAORDINARY TRIGKS, A writer in tho" New York Times" gives Bomoiulctcstiogdutails as to feats of Cliineso juggling. la the courso of hi> remarks li» says:— Tho throw off his jacket, thon twincrt his long blaok pigtail round liis Bbaven . ecalp, and was ready for business. All oyes wero fixed on Lira, Ho had no accomplice visiblo to tho obseivors in tlio company. Opening tho box, ho took out a porcelain vessel similar iu shape and sizo to a common wash-bawl, This ho carried round the robiu, allowing each to examine it witli eyo and hand, lie placed tho basiu on tho bare floor tivo or six foot away from tho bx, unwound hij muslclolli, and with it covered I he b.ifin, which, eo far i« our stnsea of sight imd touch could distinguish, was empty. All tho time he had bmm mumbling to himself in a touti what was presumably an incantation to Joss, In a miuuto's time he withdrew tho doth. Tho basin was full of wafer, and a lively lishllneo inelits ItJiijr was swimming in ii, . Eaih spectator satisfied himself that thero was no deception, His second performance was tho familiar feat of anming a small tico ftom seed. This is common in India, but tho Uhineeu vvizaul srnpaiactl any Hindoo fakir I had evor seen. Out of Ihe box he produced a lluworpot, pasted it mind, allowed it to be prodded with a stick in order that womight boctnuncfdlhatlt contained Bnlhing butoartli. Jlo planted tho seed uudoorcred tho pot will) I tic cloth, in twenty luinulcs the seed had grown iuLo a nlant. Half au hour later tho plant had become a shrub, and after an interval of abjut the samo length tho shrub was iu bloom, tho dowers resembling those of an aster. At no I itne except when covering oi uncovering thu pot did ho apprcuoh it ncaior than livuftet.

The. Ihiril trick wan stringer still, and tut: much longer to perform, Uut of tho box bo jMoiluced n lingo blue duh, on which he placed ti pound or so of unboiled rice, All of lis ,!i;iiidle'J tlio dish and tho rice. According to our tests there w nothing abnormal about the platter, and the iico was iiniiiistakeably raw, if munching fur ut few sample graios between tho teeth was uny ctitcrion. The lid of llio box was closed. Tliu dish of nco was laid upon the I lloor, and tho macic cloth concealed it fiom view, Then, squatting on his haunches, lir bared liis hands and arras up to his elbow, and to tho accompaniment of his incantation peifanned a number tf quaint mauipulalioiHi.'iidcrtlionholloroftheclclli, After a while, (jnecr movements of un nndulatoi) 1 .kind weio visible beueatli tho cloth at a distance apparently bcyoud his rrach, In half nnhmirtlio veil was removed. Instead of the single dish of unboiled rico wilh which ho h(iiau operations, wo \vero astonished to heboid tix platters of uneven stssis each lillcd wilh soiuo comestiblo of the country, and ouo only containing rico-this time boiled I Tim necromancer passed the plutts round for inspection, Komo of the boldest of us not only looked but tasted. The dishes of fish, (Josh, and fowl were pronounced capital. Tho show concluded by the placing of tho dishes in one long row, each beside the other, laying tho cloth on top, and after an interval of twenty minutes repealing thorn piled in a pyramid in symmetrical sizes, food aud platters together. All coueiinod that the methods by which themagician accomplished his feats wcro inexplicable to the company that witnessed them, Thoro was no acceniplico, no trap door, and tho box, so far as we could see, was just an ordinary box, quite un normal ns llio dishes, the bowl, and the living liah. Poi haps feats more surprising could bo accomplished willi the aid of stage nccctnorios and confederates by the modern juggler, but given a half-naked 'Jhinaman as the aelo actor, a box, and n cloth as the only "properties," I think all must conclude that "tho jugglor was one of the masters of his profession.