Harry Houdini Miracle Mongers And Their Methods

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The Doctor was famous, also, for his
four-horse turnouts in Broadway,
alternating, when he saw proper, to a change
to the ``tandem'' style. He married an
Irish lady whom he at first supposed to
be immensely rich, but after the nuptials
it was discovered that she merely had a
life interest in a large estate in common
with several others.
The Doctor, it appears, was formerly a
soldier in the French Army, and quite
recently he received from thence a medal
of the order of St. Helena, an account of
which appeared in the Herald. Prior to
his death he was engaged in writing his
biography (in French) and had it nearly
ready for publication.
Here follows a supposedly humorous speech
in broken English, quoted from the London
Lancet, in which the Doctor is satirized.
Continuing, the articles says:
``The Doctor was what was termed a
`fast liver,' and at the time of his death
he kept a drug store in Grand Street, and
had very little of this world's goods. He
leaves three children to mourn his loss,
one of them an educated physician, residing
in Hoboken, N. J.
Dr. C. has `gone to that bourne whence
no traveller returns,' and we fervently
trust and hope that the disembodied
spirits of the tens of thousands whom he
has treated in this sphere will treat him
with the same science with which he
treated them while in this wicked world.''
CHAPTER FIVE
FIRE-EATING MAGICIANS: CHING LING FOO
AND CHUNG LING SOO.--FIRE-EATERS
EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS: THE MAN-
SALAMANDER, 1816; MR. CARLTON,
PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, 1818; MISS
CASSILLIS, AGED NINE, 1820; THE AFRICAN
WONDER, 1843; LING LOOK AND YAMADEVA
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MIRACLE MONGERS AND THEIR METHODS
36
DIE IN CHINA DURING KELLAR'S
WORLD TOUR, 1872; LING LOOK'S DOUBLE,
1879.--ELECTRICAL EFFECTS, THE
SALAMBOS.--BUENO CORE.--DEL KANO.
--BARNELLO.--EDWIN FORREST AS A
HEAT-REGISTER.--THE ELDER SOTHERN
AS A FIRE-EATER.--THE TWILIGHT OF
THE ART.
Many of our most noted magicians have
considered it not beneath their dignity
to introduce fire-eating into their programmes,
either in their own work or by the employment
of a ``Fire Artist.'' Although seldom presenting
it in his recent performances, Ching Ling
Foo is a fire-eater of the highest type, refining
the effect with the same subtle artistry that
marks all the work of this super-magician.
Of Foo's thousand imitators the only
positively successful one was William E. Robinson,
whose tragic death while in the performance of
the bullet-catching trick is the latest addition to
the long list of casualties chargeable to that
ill-omened juggle. He carried the imitation
even as far as the name, calling himself Chung
Ling Soo. Robinson was very successful in
the classic trick of apparently eating large
quantities of cotton and blowing smoke and
sparks from the mouth. His teeth were finally
quite destroyed by the continued performance
of this trick, the method of which may be
found in Chapter Six.
The employment of fire-eaters by magicians
began a century ago; for in 1816 the magician
Sieur Boaz, K. C., featured a performer who
was billed as the ``Man-Salamander.'' The
fact that Boaz gave him a place on his
programme is proof that this man was clever, but
the effects there listed show nothing original.
In 1818 a Mr. Carlton, Professor of Chemistry,
toured England in company with Rae,
the Bartholomew Fair magician. As will be
seen by the handbill reproduced here, Carlton
promised to explain the ``Deceptive Part'' of
the performance, ``when there is a sufficient
company.''
In 1820 a Mr. Cassillis toured England with
a juvenile company, one of the features of
which was Miss Cassillis, aged nine years,
whose act was a complete reproduction of the
programme of Boaz, concluding her performance
with the ``Chinese Fire Trick.''
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MIRACLE MONGERS AND THEIR METHODS
37
A Negro, Carlo Alberto, appeared in a benefit
performance given by Herr Julian, who
styled himself the ``Wizard of the South,'' in
London, on November 28th, 1843. Alberto was
billed as the ``Great African Wonder, the Fire
King'' and it was promised that he would ``go
through part of his wonderful performance as
given by him in the principal theaters in
America, in Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
etc.''
A later number on the same bill reads: ``The
African Wonder, Carlo Alberto, will sing several
new and popular Negro melodies.'' Collectors
of minstrel data please take notice!
In more recent times there have been a number
of Negro fire-eaters, but none seems to
have risen to noticeable prominence.
Ling Look, one of the best of contemporary
fire performers, was with Dean Harry Kellar
when the latter made his famous trip around
the world in 1877. Look combined fire-eating
and sword-swallowing in a rather startling
manner. His best effect was the swallowing
of a red-hot sword.[1] Another thriller consisted
in fastening a long sword to the stock of a
musket; when he had swallowed about half the
length of the blade, he discharged the gun and
the recoil drove the sword suddenly down his
throat to the very hilt. Although Look always
appeared in a Chinese make-up, Dean Kellar
told me that he thought his right name was
Dave Gueter, and that he was born in Buda
Pesth.
[1] I never saw Ling Look's work, but I know that some of
the sword swallowers have made use of a sheath which was
swallowed before the performance, and the swords were simply
pushed into it. A sheath of this kind lined with asbestos
might easily have served as a protection against the red-hot
blade.
Yamadeva, a brother of Ling Look, was also
with the Kellar Company, doing cabinet
manifestations and rope escapes. Both brothers
died in China during this engagement, and a
strange incident occurred in connection with
their deaths. Just before they were to sail
from Shanghai on the P. & O. steamer Khiva
for Hong Kong, Yamadeva and Kellar visited
the bowling alley of The Hermitage, a pleasure
resort on the Bubbling Well Road. They were
watching a husky sea captain, who was using [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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