MAGIC OF THE EAST

Opunake Times, 20 July 1934, Page 1

MAGIC OF THE EAST

SURPASSES ROPE TRICK AN AMAZING FEAT Whether tlie legendary Indian rope-trick has ever been performed has once again become a subject of controversy both in this country and in India. There are sceptics who say that no livingwitness of the feat can be produced —that no one has actually seen a wizard spiriting away a boy who has ascended a rope which by some miracle stands taut and upright in the air. That the East holds many strange secrets of the occult can scarcely be doubted, and the rope trick and other instances of magic may be explained away by mass hypnotism. A remarkable experience in India was recounted by Colonel Lionel James, of Chieveley, Newbury, Berks, in a letter to the London Times. "One evening after sundown," related Colonel James, "three of us young planters in were seated in lounge chairs on the circular masonry platform that is a cdmmon feature to the frontage of an Indian bungalow. My bearer presented himself and said there was a very celebrated travelling juggler, who craved permission to give us his entertainmeni.

"We told the bearer to produce the man, and the juggler arrived with his troupe. These comprised acrobats and contortionists. The first part of the entertainment displayed nothing outside the us. ual curriculum of strolling play, ers. Greatest Feat in World. "The juggler then said that if w e would guarantee him 20 rupees he would perform his mas. cerpiece, which he maintained was the "greatest feat in the world." Twenty rupees was an unheard of sum to give to an itinerant juggler. The man, however was so persistent that we told him that if the performance came up to his boast we would give him the money—if it fell short of it we would reward him with corporal punishment. The juggler agreed to this provided we could supply him with two properties. The one was a native ox-waggon, minus the oxen, the other a hog-spear. Both these necessaries of course, could be produced at once in a Bengal planter's establisment. The one a great lumbering, two-wheeled vehicle, weighing nearly a ton, the other a weapon, lead heeled, so sharp of point that it passes through a wild boar as if the latter were but a pat of butter. "The juggler affixed the hogspear along the single shaft of the ox-waggon with the point point outwards. It was securely tied into this position. He then summoned the crowd of attending household servants to mount iilto the cart. "While the cart was being thus loaded the hands of the juggler were tied behind his back by an assistant. The cart was balanced in such a manner that the hog spear along the shaft lay parallel with the ground. No Vestige of a Mark. "The juggler then placed his forehead against the naked point of the spear and, to our amazement, pushed the cart in a circle twice round the masonry platform upon which Ave were seated. The weight of the cart was such that ho single man could have moved it even with his hands

"The spear point was sufficiently sharp that it would have perforated human skin at a mere touch. Yet when the 'illusion'— it must have been an 'illusion' — was completed there was not a vestige of a mark upon the performer's brow." Colonel James does not attempt to give any explantion of the phenomena, but adds that the same jujjfider gave the identical performance before other Europeans in the neighbouring centres, and it created much discussion ai. the time.

The supersititiou that it's unlucky for three persons to "light up" from the same match is as old as the hills. It is said to mean death to one of the trio before the year's out. Present writer doesn't know whether it's true, but he does know that it's unlucky to lend tobacco to "an absent-mlno-edbeggar," because he may (and often does) pinch your pouch instead of returning it. It's wiser also not to oblige with the toau of a silver match box unless you are quite sure the borrower is O.K. On the other hand your luck is in if you contrive to borrow New Zealand "toasted" at a picnic, say, or on a long • railway journey, when you have forgotten to bring your own. Nothing like "toasted" to enhance the joys of picnicking or relieve the monotony of a long day in the train. You can puff this famous tobacco for hours on end without tiring if it —or burning your tongue. It's toasted! Onlv five Brands— Rivet-head Gold, Navy Cut No 3 (Bulldog), Cavendish, Cut Plus No 10 (Bullshead) and Desert Gold.