JAMES A. GARFIELDthe Martyred PresidentJAMES A. GARFIELDthe Martyred PresidentCopyright and Published by J. F. RYDER, Cleveland, O.The sitting for this portrait was made June 10th, 1880
JAMES A. GARFIELDthe Martyred PresidentCopyright and Published by J. F. RYDER, Cleveland, O.The sitting for this portrait was made June 10th, 1880
Until yesterday Houdini has been so occupied with his other invitations to break out of the police cells and the other penal institutions that he had abandoned the idea of an adventure at the jail. Not wishing to seem discourteous, he concluded about noon yesterday to present his compliments to Warden Harris and assure him that he would be pleased to test the jail.
The news of his presence traveled the length of the offices on the inside of the big structure, and here there gathered in the warden's office the following officials and visitors: Deputy Warden W. Grayson Urner, Capt. Ed. S. Randell, Guards John C. Campbell, George C. Gumm, James Corrigan, and John P. Hickey, Jail Physician Dr. D. Kerfoot Shute, Dr. H. I. Sout, Dr. T. Sullivan, Clerk J. Fred Harris, and Messrs. Robert R. Mahorney, Theo Judd, Frank Jones, David M. Proctor, and John T. Ward.
Houdini was invited to examine the cell arrangement and was shown first to Murderers' Row, which is in the south wing and comprises seventeen cells, containing Walter H. Hamilton, sentenced to be hanged last November, but now living through stayed proceedings; Richard Chase, sentenced to twelve years for manslaughter; Thomas S. Whitney, John Mercer, Edward Ferguson, Jeremiah Donovan, and Henry Gaskins—these having been indicted for murder, their alleged crimes being still fresh in the public mind; also James A. Backus, the alleged money-order raiser, and Clarence Howlett, sentenced for housebreaking.
GUITEAU, the assassin of President Garfield. Houdini escaped from the murderer's cell in which this assassin was secured.Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1881, byC. M. BELLin the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.GUITEAU, the assassin of President Garfield. Houdini escaped from the murderer's cell in which this assassin was secured.
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1881, byC. M. BELLin the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.GUITEAU, the assassin of President Garfield. Houdini escaped from the murderer's cell in which this assassin was secured.
Houdini was chiefly interested in cell No. 2, the one occupied by Guiteau, and presumably the safest of the lot, althoughit was from the outside of this cell that "Avenger" Jones shot into it in his effort to kill the assassin. It now holds Hamilton, who is alleged to have smothered his wife to death and then sat all night beside the body of his victim, indulging in a drunken orgy. The officials say that he is one of the most orderly prisoners ever out there. Howard Schneider, who murdered his wife and her brother, and Shæfer, the murderer hanged a short time ago, also occupied this cell.
All these cells are brick structures with their doors sunk into the walls fully three feet from the face of the outer corridor wall. When the heavily barred door is closed, an armlike bar runs out to the corridor wall and then angles to the right and slips over a steel catch which sets a spring that fastens the lock. The latter is only opened by a key, and there are no less than five tumblers in the lock. One key opens all the doors in the corridor.
With Houdini there, it was very natural that everybody should express the ardent desire to have him then and there go into a cell and see if he could release himself, and Houdini, with his accustomed courtesy, yielded a ready acquiescence. He insisted, however, that he preferred to try cell No. 2, for the reason that it is the hardest one there to get out of alive, as he expressed it, and because of the notorious murderers who have spent their last moments on earth within its whitewashed walls.
This was agreed upon, and then he was stripped to the skin and locked into No. 2 with Hamilton, the negro, who crouched in the far corner of the cell, presumably laboring under the belief that one of the arch-fiends was already there to get him for a red-hot furnace. In two minutes Houdini was out of that cell, free, the lock holding him hardly longer than it took him to get into the place and get his bearings. Then, without the knowledge of the waiting officials who had retired from view, Houdini quickly ran to the cells of Chase, Whitney, Mercer, Ferguson, Donovan, Gaskins, Backus, and Howlett. To each occupant the unclad cell-breaker seemed like an apparition from some other world, and the astonishment he created when he commanded each to come out and follow him can be better imagined than described.
Chase gave a gasp of fear, and then cried, "Have you come to let me out? What are you doing without clothes?" He supposed then that Houdini was an escaping fellow-prisoner. He followed at Houdini's heels and the cell-breaker dashed with him down to the end of the corridor, where he opened the cell containing Clarence Howlett.
"What are you doing here?" said Houdini to the astonished Howlett. "What are you in for?"
"I'm a housebreaker," said the prisoner, as though making his last confession.
"You're a bad one," said Houdini, "or you could get out of here. Come along." Howlett followed his strange captor, and Houdini then thrust Chase into the cell and rushed Howlett up to Chase's cell.
This scene, strange and strenuous, was repeated again and again, until every desperate man was changed into another cell than his own. All were in a tumult. Twenty-one minutes after Houdini had been locked in the cell he had done all the quick changing and stood before his free audience in the main hall, clothed as in every-day manner.
When the officials found what he had done with their prisoners, their amazement passed all bounds. They took the slight change Houdini made in their plans with the utmost good nature, and soon had everything straightened out, and each of the men back in his cell. At the conclusion, Warden Harris gave the cell-breaker a certificate, of which the following is a copy:
"This is to certify that Mr. Harry Houdini, at the United States jail to-day, was stripped stark naked, thoroughly searched, and locked up in cell No. 2 of the south wing, the cell in which Charles J. Guiteau was confined from the date of his commitment, July 2, 1881, until the day on which he was executed, June 30, 1882. Mr. Houdini, in about 2 minutes, managed to escape from that cell, and then broke into the cell in which his clothing was locked up. He then proceeded to release from their cells all the prisoners on the ground floor. There was positively no chance for any collusion or confederacy.Mr. Houdini accomplished all of the above-mentioned feats, in addition to putting on all his clothing, in 21 minutes.
"This is to certify that Mr. Harry Houdini, at the United States jail to-day, was stripped stark naked, thoroughly searched, and locked up in cell No. 2 of the south wing, the cell in which Charles J. Guiteau was confined from the date of his commitment, July 2, 1881, until the day on which he was executed, June 30, 1882. Mr. Houdini, in about 2 minutes, managed to escape from that cell, and then broke into the cell in which his clothing was locked up. He then proceeded to release from their cells all the prisoners on the ground floor. There was positively no chance for any collusion or confederacy.Mr. Houdini accomplished all of the above-mentioned feats, in addition to putting on all his clothing, in 21 minutes.
"J. H. Harris.
"Warden United States Jail, D. C."
Major Sylvester yesterday prepared for Houdini the following statement:
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: No individual should be disinclined to profit by the abilities displayed by others, and, in order that defective means of restraint might be discovered in the holding of prisoners in this jurisdiction, and with a view to remedying any insecurity which might exist, Mr. Houdini, the expert man with locks, was permitted to examine a modern cell lock and attachment, and then placed in an entirely different cell from the one he examined. He was searched, and in a nude condition placed behind the bars, and, as supposed, secured. This was in the presence of the Engineer Officer of the District of Columbia, myself, and several officers. In 26 minutes he emerged from the cell and corridor fully attired."The experiment was a very valuable one in that the department has been instructed as to the adoption of further security which will protect any lock from being opened or interfered with. The act was interesting and profitable, and worthy of study."Mr. Houdini impressed his audience as a gentleman and an artist who does not profess to do the impossible.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: No individual should be disinclined to profit by the abilities displayed by others, and, in order that defective means of restraint might be discovered in the holding of prisoners in this jurisdiction, and with a view to remedying any insecurity which might exist, Mr. Houdini, the expert man with locks, was permitted to examine a modern cell lock and attachment, and then placed in an entirely different cell from the one he examined. He was searched, and in a nude condition placed behind the bars, and, as supposed, secured. This was in the presence of the Engineer Officer of the District of Columbia, myself, and several officers. In 26 minutes he emerged from the cell and corridor fully attired.
"The experiment was a very valuable one in that the department has been instructed as to the adoption of further security which will protect any lock from being opened or interfered with. The act was interesting and profitable, and worthy of study.
"Mr. Houdini impressed his audience as a gentleman and an artist who does not profess to do the impossible.
"Richard Sylvester,
"Major and Superintendent."
Broke out of the Siberian Prison Van in Moscow, Russia, in May, 1903.Leaped, heavily handcuffed, in zero weather, from Belle Island Bridge, in Detroit, Mich., in December 2nd, 1906, and released himself under the icy water.Leaped into San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, Calif., on August 26th, 1907, handcuffed with hands behind his back, with more than 75 pounds of ball and chain locked to his body.Escaped from a plate glass box made by the Pittsburg Plate Glass Co., and did not even scratch the glass. Boston Mass., Jan. 20th 1907.After being rivetted into a large hot water boiler by the employees of the Marine Boiler Works, of Toledo, on March 15th, 1907, Houdini escaped without leaving any traces of his exit.
Broke out of the Siberian Prison Van in Moscow, Russia, in May, 1903.
Leaped, heavily handcuffed, in zero weather, from Belle Island Bridge, in Detroit, Mich., in December 2nd, 1906, and released himself under the icy water.
Leaped into San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, Calif., on August 26th, 1907, handcuffed with hands behind his back, with more than 75 pounds of ball and chain locked to his body.
Escaped from a plate glass box made by the Pittsburg Plate Glass Co., and did not even scratch the glass. Boston Mass., Jan. 20th 1907.
After being rivetted into a large hot water boiler by the employees of the Marine Boiler Works, of Toledo, on March 15th, 1907, Houdini escaped without leaving any traces of his exit.
Houdini swallows 100 needles, 20 yards of thread, and brings up the needles threadedThe biggest-little mystery feat—the East Indian needle masterpiece, wherein Houdini swallows 100 needles, 20 yards of thread, and brings up the needles threaded.
The biggest-little mystery feat—the East Indian needle masterpiece, wherein Houdini swallows 100 needles, 20 yards of thread, and brings up the needles threaded.
Escaped from paper bags, zinc lined piano boxes, packing cases, padded cells, straight-jackets, insane cribs, willow hampers, iron cages, a U.S. Mail Pouch furnished with a rotary lock belonging to the U.S. Government,a large Football, made by Reach Company, of Philadelphia, a large Derby Desk, with secret locks, Burglar-proof safes, etc., etc. Handcuffed nailed into a packing case, 200 lbs. of iron weights chained to the box and was then thrown overboard into New York Bay.Houdini has escaped from cells in almost every city in America, the most notable one being from the Murderers' Cell in U.S. Jail at Washington, D.C., which confined Guiteau, the murderer of President Garfield.Houdini presents the largest, the smallest and most perplexing mystery in the world and history of magic.The smallest. The East Indian Needle Mystery, in which he swallows 50 to 100 needles, 20 yards of thread, and brings them all up threaded, after his mouth and throat have been examined by a committee of Surgeons. In Boston, at Keith's Theatre, 1906, at special morning performance, he performed this feat before sixteen hundred physicians, and not one could give a correct solution as to his method.The largest and one of his original inventions being the complete vanishing of a Ten Thousand pound Elephant, in full glare of the light and right over the tank of a Quarter of a Million Gallons of Water on the stage of New York Hippodrome, 1916-1917. He performed this the entire season, creating the greatest amount of talk ever caused by any Illusionist with any vanishing mystery.The greatest mystery ever presented, original inventions of Houdini, one of the Chinese Torture Cell, and the Escape from a Packing Case which being weighted with 300 lbs. of pig iron is thrown overboard into the ocean, and from which he releases himself in less than two minutes.
Escaped from paper bags, zinc lined piano boxes, packing cases, padded cells, straight-jackets, insane cribs, willow hampers, iron cages, a U.S. Mail Pouch furnished with a rotary lock belonging to the U.S. Government,a large Football, made by Reach Company, of Philadelphia, a large Derby Desk, with secret locks, Burglar-proof safes, etc., etc. Handcuffed nailed into a packing case, 200 lbs. of iron weights chained to the box and was then thrown overboard into New York Bay.
Houdini has escaped from cells in almost every city in America, the most notable one being from the Murderers' Cell in U.S. Jail at Washington, D.C., which confined Guiteau, the murderer of President Garfield.
Houdini presents the largest, the smallest and most perplexing mystery in the world and history of magic.
The smallest. The East Indian Needle Mystery, in which he swallows 50 to 100 needles, 20 yards of thread, and brings them all up threaded, after his mouth and throat have been examined by a committee of Surgeons. In Boston, at Keith's Theatre, 1906, at special morning performance, he performed this feat before sixteen hundred physicians, and not one could give a correct solution as to his method.
The largest and one of his original inventions being the complete vanishing of a Ten Thousand pound Elephant, in full glare of the light and right over the tank of a Quarter of a Million Gallons of Water on the stage of New York Hippodrome, 1916-1917. He performed this the entire season, creating the greatest amount of talk ever caused by any Illusionist with any vanishing mystery.
The greatest mystery ever presented, original inventions of Houdini, one of the Chinese Torture Cell, and the Escape from a Packing Case which being weighted with 300 lbs. of pig iron is thrown overboard into the ocean, and from which he releases himself in less than two minutes.
Kansas City, Mo., April 11, 1900.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: We, the undersigned, do hereby certify that we saw Harry Houdini stripped nude, thoroughly searched from head to foot, and his mouth sealed up, making it an utter impossibility for him to have anything concealed on his person. We saw him handcuffed and leg-ironed with five different cuffs, and his hands locked to his feet.He was led into a cell, which was also securely locked with what is known as the three-bond lock, guaranteed by the makers to be burglar proof. Nevertheless, Houdini succeeded in making his escape out of all the irons, also from the cell, in less than 8 minutes. There was no possible chance of confederacy.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: We, the undersigned, do hereby certify that we saw Harry Houdini stripped nude, thoroughly searched from head to foot, and his mouth sealed up, making it an utter impossibility for him to have anything concealed on his person. We saw him handcuffed and leg-ironed with five different cuffs, and his hands locked to his feet.
He was led into a cell, which was also securely locked with what is known as the three-bond lock, guaranteed by the makers to be burglar proof. Nevertheless, Houdini succeeded in making his escape out of all the irons, also from the cell, in less than 8 minutes. There was no possible chance of confederacy.
Signed and sealed byJohn Hayes, Chief of Police.
John Halpin, Inspector of Detectives.
J. C. Snavly, Jailer.
THE DISAPPEARING ELEPHANTTHE DISAPPEARING ELEPHANTThe largest vanish the world has ever known, as invented and presented by Houdini at the New York Hippodrome.
THE DISAPPEARING ELEPHANTThe largest vanish the world has ever known, as invented and presented by Houdini at the New York Hippodrome.
Daily Express, London, Feb. 3, 1904.
OPENS CELLS AND IS TAKEN FOR THE DEVIL.HIS 61st ESCAPE.
I certify that to-day Mr. Harry Houdini showed his abilities in releasing himself from restraint.He had three pairs of handcuffs, one a very close-fitting pair, placed round his wrists, and he was placed in a nude state in a cell which had been previously searched. Within 6 minutes he was free from the handcuffs, had opened the cell door, and had opened the doors of all the other cells in the corridor, had changed a prisoner from one cell to another, and had so securely locked him in that he had to be asked to unlock the door.(Signed)Leonard Dunning,Head Constable, Liverpool.Feb. 2, 1902.
I certify that to-day Mr. Harry Houdini showed his abilities in releasing himself from restraint.
He had three pairs of handcuffs, one a very close-fitting pair, placed round his wrists, and he was placed in a nude state in a cell which had been previously searched. Within 6 minutes he was free from the handcuffs, had opened the cell door, and had opened the doors of all the other cells in the corridor, had changed a prisoner from one cell to another, and had so securely locked him in that he had to be asked to unlock the door.
(Signed)Leonard Dunning,
Head Constable, Liverpool.
Feb. 2, 1902.
Mr. Dunning has since been knighted and is now head of the Police Constabulary, being located in London, his official title being His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary, London, England.
For him it is literally true that—
Stone walls do not a prison make,Nor iron bars a cage.
Stone walls do not a prison make,Nor iron bars a cage.
Stone walls do not a prison make,Nor iron bars a cage.
Were he a criminal—his clear, straightforward eyes negative the suggestion—he would be a nightmare to the police of Britain, for he would walk out of gaol as coolly and smilingly as he did twice out of Liverpool Bridewell yesterday.
It was an eventful day at the sinister-looking building that stands off busy Dale Street.
High police officials, clever detectives, leading city business men who hold office on the watch committee, all sustained a severe shock by their loss of faith in what they had regarded as an inviolable stronghold.
No one has been known previously to escape from the bolts and bars behind which Liverpool quarters its criminals.
In the afternoon Houdini had a pleasant interview with Head Constable Dunning.
"Want to try our locks? Certainly. You're welcome; but, of course, we will take some precautions."
"I want you to do so," replied Houdini. "I will strip naked. You can then handcuff me and put me in your strongest cell, and after you have searched me and the cell you leave me, locking the door. I will join you in a minute or two."
Houdini was as good as his word. Not only did he escape, but he had torn from his hands and arms three pairs of handcuffs, which had been put on him by officers with absolute belief in their restraining power.
Even these feats were not enough for this man, who does things that would have made Jack Sheppard die of envy. He felt sure there was nothing in Bridewell to baffle him.
Running along the corridor, he opened the doors of other cells, which he had thought were all empty. When he reached No. 14 and flung open the door, he confronted a prisoner.
"I don't know which of us was the more surprised," said Houdini to anExpressrepresentative.
Here was I, standing absolutely nude before a terrified, miserable object.
Poor fellow! what a shock it was for him. He was an Irishman just recovering from a drunken bout.
"'Arrah!' he said, when he had recovered; 'I thought it was the divil.'"
The shivering prison-breaker hurried the wretched prisoner out of cell No. 14 into No. 15 and locked him in. Then he ran along the passage to greet the head constable and the other officials.
Only 6 minutes had elapsed since he had been locked in the cell naked and handcuffed. The cell door was inspected and found uninjured.
Then one of the gaolers, walking along the corridor, espied door No. 14 open and a prisoner gone.
"That's all right," said the irrepressible Houdini. "I've had him out and locked him up in No. 15." Hearty laughter followed the narration of this achievement, and the officials went to No. 15.
So securely had the Irishman been locked up that it was necessary to call upon Houdini to unfasten the door. TheIrishman was found in a somewhat bewildered state, but he probably "sobered" quicker than he would have done in less eventful circumstances.
Houdini left the bridewell the proud possessor of the certificate which is reproduced at the head of this article.
In the evening Houdini, accompanied by an Express representative, again walked into the bridewell to settle a point which had been raised since his feat in the afternoon.
Was the door which had been fastened against him single, double, or triple locked?
The matter could easily be settled. Houdini would just do the trick again. Only this time he would do it with his clothes on, as time was pressing.
Liverpool's bridewell is as an unsightly a place as a bridewell can be. No one would mistake it for a spa hotel or a convalescent home.
Beneath a dark arch you pass, and in the great door which you find opposite is a little window which is unlocked when you knock, and through which you are viewed before you are permitted even to stand upon the threshold.
Houdini and his companion were admitted.
"More lock-breaking?
"Yes; I am ready for more—as many as you like."
Accompanied by a gaoler, Houdini and theExpressrepresentative ascended a flight of stone steps and passed along dimly lighted corridors, whose atmosphere seemed to reek with crime and mystery.
Passing through a gate, a row of cells was reached, upon any one of which Houdini might operate.
Here was one marked with a strange device. Houdini would try this one.
It was a felon's cell—stronger than some of the others, though it could not have been darker or more forbidding.
Houdini entered. He was backed in by theExpressrepresentative. He was inside, safe and sound.
There could be no doubt about that. At the first turn of the key the lock went forward twice; at the second, once. Houdini was behind a triple lock in the dark, dreary cell.
TheExpressrepresentative and the gaoler left him there, and retired beyond an iron gate which bars the passage.
"The gate is a greater test than the cell," said the gaoler.
"It's locked before it's locked, if you understand. Shut it, and it's locked, and then you can lock it again."
The gaoler hand only secured it when Houdini presented himself.
"That's as quick as I've ever done it," said he. And then he tackled the gate.
A moment's hesitation. The gaoler shook his head, and a smile was just overspreading his features, when lo! Houdini flung open wide the gate.
He agreed that the gate was "tougher," as he expressed it, than the cell.
Houdini is an American. Only his strong arms and his supple, yet powerful hands give the slightest clue of his prison-breaking capacity.
He does not look a gaolbird, but the escape he made for the benefit ofExpressreaders was his 61st.
Bright-eyed, smart, active, and a good talker, he has traveled far and wide, and has broken out of the prisons of many countries.
"I have never failed," said Houdini, "but I don't say there is no cell I cannot break out of. As to handcuffs, the hardest job I ever had was with a pair made at Krupp's. It took me 40 minutes to get out of them, but I did it."
Dictionary entry for HoudiniHou'di-ni, 1 hū'dī-nī; 2 hu'dï-nï,Harry(4/6 1874- ). American mystericist, wizard, and expert in extrication and self-release.—hou'di-nize,vt.To release or extricate oneself from (confinement, bonds, or the like), as by wriggling out.FROM FUNK & WAGNALL'S NEW (1920) DICTIONARY
Hou'di-ni, 1 hū'dī-nī; 2 hu'dï-nï,Harry(4/6 1874- ). American mystericist, wizard, and expert in extrication and self-release.—hou'di-nize,vt.To release or extricate oneself from (confinement, bonds, or the like), as by wriggling out.FROM FUNK & WAGNALL'S NEW (1920) DICTIONARY
Houdini, the man of mystery, who is now appearing in our midst, is certainly a peculiar species of a human being. From all accounts, the energy, the work and feats of this man will, sometime in the future, be the finish of this now wonderful and famous performer.
The restless striving to do something better than another human being has brought him to the highest pinnacle of fame, has earned for him princely salaries, and when one considers the risks he has taken, no one can begrudge him the prime minister's salary, which he is earning.
To show the restless craving of this man for excelling in things where it is impossible to be of any value to him in any way or form, an incident regarding this man is well worth relating. He was returning from Australia, and the steamer, after leaving Brisbane touched Suva, on the Fiji Islands, a place infested with the most voracious man-eating sharks, known in the world's history. It is stated that they will not touch a black man, and perhaps, that is why the Fiji Islanders stand in no fear of being devoured by sharks, and whenever a shark enters the harbour, it is one of the sights of the country, same as it is in Colombo or Port Said. The Natives dive for coins that the passengers throw overboard. One big fellow seemed to be a most wonderful diver and would always come up with the coin in his mouth, pretending to the average spectator that he had cought the coin in his mouth.
Houdini, being an observant spectator, claimed that the man caught the coins in his hand, that is, picked the coin in the water with his hand and placed it in his mouth. This was disputed. Houdini, being offered to wager that if the man's hands were tied behind his back, which would not impede him in making his dive, that he could not catch the coin in his mouth, and Houdini agreed that he would allow himself to be handcuffed, with his hands behind his back, and that he would come up with the coin in his mouth.
An interpreter was called and the Black agreed to undergo the test. The dive was to be made off the steamer, and the Captain warned Houdini that he stood in grave danger of the sharks.
Undaunted, Houdini went below, donned a bathing suit, had a pair of regulation handcuffs locked behind his back; the Black had his hands tied behind him with a cord—he refused to have the handcuffs placed on him, and he said they were too heavy—two coins were thrown overboard, two splashes were simultaneously heard.
Quick as a tiger's spring the Fiji Islander, with his sleek, glossy body, hurled himself through the air and was beneath the surface of the water even while Houdini was perched for his spring. But the jumps were so quickly made, one after the other, that unless you saw the men as they entered the water, you would have thought that it was one prolonged splash. Thirty seconds passed; neither one of the two men appeared. One minute passed, and the black head of the Fiji Islander came up, almost livid for want of air. Fifteen seconds passed by, and, feet first, up came Houdini.
The Fiji Islander did not have his coin, and it seems that Houdini had gathered both of them and had them in his mouth.
He was drawn up with exciting hurry, for the fins of the sharks were seen moving about with rapidity, and, being hauled on deck, Houdini was declared to have won the wager.
The Black's hands were released, were cut apart, the handcuffs were unlocked from Houdini's wrists, and instead of keeping the money, Houdini made it a present to the Black.
In a private interview, on being asked how he defeated the Black, Houdini said with a good-natured smile, "You can pick up a coin in a glass tank with your hands tied behind your back, because you can use your mouth, teeth and tongue to manipulate the coin, but when you are in an ocean and the coin is falling downwards it is almost next to impossible to catch a coin and bring it up in your mouth."
"You ask me how I did it? I will let you in the secret—I didn't do it at all. When I was under the water I released one of my hands which gave me the use of both of them; I caught my coin and I noticed that the Black was unable to get his coin. I swam after him until he had given up trying to get it, and we had gone down to such a distance that my earsrang, my head was splitting, and all I could see was the white shining piece of money—it was an English two-shilling piece. Eventually I grabbed the coin, put it in my mouth and came up. As I came up, I happened to have my hands free and as I could not stop myself with the force I had sent myself up with my hands I turned around and came up feet first, and this allowed me to put my hands behind my back and the regulation handcuff, as you know, being a snap lock, I locked my hands together and to all intents and purposes my hands were locked during the entire feat. That is why I gave the Fiji Islander the entire amount at stake."
"Was I afraid of the sharks?"
"Yes and No! Being able to see under water, I kept a sharp look-out, and as soon as I would have seen anything that looked like a shark I would have done a record swim to the boat."
"No, I would not care to do it again; it was not for the money, it was simply to show that I was as good a swimmer as some of those Fiji Islanders."
It used to be the fashion among inventors to challenge the trade and other persons, to pick them.
In some cases, even rewards were offered to any one who could do so.
It is believed that Mr. Joseph Bramah was the first to do this and in 1801, he displayed in his shop window in Piccadily, London, a board to which was attached a padlock, manufactured by himself, and which bore the following inscription:—
"The artist who can make an instrument that will pick or open this lock shall receive 200 guineas the moment it is produced."
In 1832, a Wolverhampton locksmith, having claimed to having picked 18 Chubb locks, Mr. Chubb challenged him to open one of his locks under certain conditions.
Mr. Hart tried and failed, giving the explanation that it was not the regular commercial Chubb lock, but one that had a special bridge ward.
Mr. Chubb replied that Mr. Hart did not pick any lock, but made false keys by a process of cutting blanks.
In America the great lock of Dr. Andrews, in 1841, being heralded as an unpickable lock, with two sets of tumblers, was produced, the inventor offering 500 dollars to any one who could pick this.
It was picked by Pettitt and Hall, of Boston, with what is known as the smoke process.
1851. HOBBS PICKS BRAMAH AND CHUBB LOCK.
In 1851 Mr. A. C. Hobbs arrived from America, picked a Chubb lock before a committee, and picked the Bramah lock, winning thereby the 200 guineas that for 50 years no one was able to claim.
Mr. Hobbs offered 200 guineas to anyone who would pick his lock. An engineer named Garbutt, known as an expert, took up the challenge, and failed after trying thirty days.
1855.—YALE PICKS HOBBS' LOCK.
As an additional element to this controversy, in 1855, Linnius Yale, Jr., discovered how to pick the then celebrated Day and Newell Parautoptic Bank Lock.
It was of American origin, and was known in England as Hobbs Lock, but was the invention of a Mr. Pyle.
Yale also discovered that he could pick the best Bank Lock—the Double Treasury, which he himself had designed.
And eventually demonstrated that any lock having a key hole could be opened by any expert with the necessary skill and time at his disposal.
Accordingly Mr. Yale proceeded to develop the combination or Dial Lock.
1870.—SARGENT PICKS YALE LOCK.
The general use of this lock led to the controversy in the United States in 1870; and the Yale lock was picked by James Sargent, of the firm of Sargent and Greenleaf, a lock inventor, a leading maker of Bank Locks, and the inventor of the Time Lock.
1905.—HOUDINI PICKS SARGENT LOCK.
Houdini bearded the lion in his den by escaping from a Police Cell in Rochester, N. Y., which was securely locked with one of the Sargent and Greenleaf Locks, placing himself on record as one of the great lock pickers of the world.
Of the thousands of locks he has picked all over the world, the following police certificates places him among the historical lock pickers, in fact, second to none.
POLICE HEADQUARTERS, ROCHESTER, N. Y.U. S. OF AMERICA.
We, the undersigned, certify that we saw Harry Houdini, the bearer of this note, stripped naked, searched, locked in one of the cells at Police Headquarters, and handcuffed with three pairs of cuffs, also strapped with a strap extending from pair of cuffs and buckled at the back.He removed the cuffs, unlocked the cell, got into an adjoining cell and returned with his clothes on.After unlocking the cell in which he was first placed, he had to unlock the cell in which his clothing was left.This was witnessed by the following persons, at Police Headquarters, this city, December 4th, 1905.J. C. HAYDEN, Chief of Police.
We, the undersigned, certify that we saw Harry Houdini, the bearer of this note, stripped naked, searched, locked in one of the cells at Police Headquarters, and handcuffed with three pairs of cuffs, also strapped with a strap extending from pair of cuffs and buckled at the back.
He removed the cuffs, unlocked the cell, got into an adjoining cell and returned with his clothes on.
After unlocking the cell in which he was first placed, he had to unlock the cell in which his clothing was left.
This was witnessed by the following persons, at Police Headquarters, this city, December 4th, 1905.
J. C. HAYDEN, Chief of Police.
Mr. James Sargent personally complimented Houdini on his rare skill. They became friends and spent hours together exchanging lock opening secrets.
NOTE.—We beg to acknowledge our indebtedness to the following publications for data used in this article—Price's Book on "Locks and Keys" 1856; New International Encycleopedia 2nd Edition; (Dodd Mead and Co., New York); and Encycleopedia Americana, J. M. Stoddart, 1886.
NOTE.—We beg to acknowledge our indebtedness to the following publications for data used in this article—Price's Book on "Locks and Keys" 1856; New International Encycleopedia 2nd Edition; (Dodd Mead and Co., New York); and Encycleopedia Americana, J. M. Stoddart, 1886.
POLICE HEADQUARTERS, CHICAGO, ILL., U. S. OF AMERICA.
This is to certify that the undersigned saw Harry Houdini stripped stark naked, searched from head to foot, and shackled with handcuffs around the wrists and leg irons around his ankles.He was then placed in a cell which required TWO LARGE keys of different makes and patterns to open the lock. The keys are of such a nature that it would have been positively impossible for him to have concealed them on his body.We searched the cell and thoroughly searched Houdini from head to foot, also between his toes and the soles of his feet. Nevertheless in fifteen minutes he managed to release himself from the manacles and make his escape from the cell.There was positively no chance for outside assistance.(Signed), ANDREW ROHAN,Chief of Detectives. Nov. 24, 1906.
This is to certify that the undersigned saw Harry Houdini stripped stark naked, searched from head to foot, and shackled with handcuffs around the wrists and leg irons around his ankles.
He was then placed in a cell which required TWO LARGE keys of different makes and patterns to open the lock. The keys are of such a nature that it would have been positively impossible for him to have concealed them on his body.
We searched the cell and thoroughly searched Houdini from head to foot, also between his toes and the soles of his feet. Nevertheless in fifteen minutes he managed to release himself from the manacles and make his escape from the cell.
There was positively no chance for outside assistance.
(Signed), ANDREW ROHAN,
Chief of Detectives. Nov. 24, 1906.
The Only Paper in the City that Dares Print the News
Los Angeles Record
21st Year. WED. DEC. 1, 1915. No. 6485
CHAMPION DRIVEN FROM THEATER BY HOOTS AND CALLS
Boxing has been given its worst black eye here to-day by none other than Jess Willard, heavy-weight champion who was so badly worsted to a wordy clash with Harry Houdini, a performer at the Orpheum Theater, last night, that the audience hissed him from the house.
Nearly 2,000 persons were present at the dramatic scene and seemed unanimous in groaning, hooting and booing Willard.
The trouble was precipitated by Willard's gruff refusal to comply with a friendly request made by Houdini that he act on a committee to watch the performer's act from the stage.
It was not known that Willard was present until Houdini came before the footlights and requested any "gentleman" in the audience to step on the stage and guard those present from any possible deception.
After about 10 men had stepped on the platform, Houdini stepped forward and said, smiling:
"Now I need three more gentlemen on this stage and there is a man here to-night who doesn't know I am aware of his presence. He will be enough for three ordinary gentlemen if he will serve on this committee."
"He is Jess Willard, our champion."
Taken by surprise, the audience was silent for a moment and then broke into tumultous hand-clapping. Cheers and shrieks resounding throughout the house.
Houdini looked up on the balcony, where Willard was seated, and said:
"I will leave it to the audience, Mr. Willard. You see they want to see you."
A fresh outburst occurred, even more violent than before.
"Aw, g'wan with your act," came Willard's rough reply as the audience stilled itself. "I paid for my seat here."
"But, Mr. Willard," expostulated Houdini, "I—
"Give me the same wages you pay those other fellows and I'll come down," rumbled Willard's deep voice.
The audience, scenting something unusual, was very quiet.
"Sir, I will gladly do so," returned Houdini, heatedly. "Come on down—I pay these men nothing."
"Aw' g'wan with the show," roared Willard, growling something that sounded like "four-flusher" and "faker."
Willard's boorish replies evidently displeased those present, for a few scattering hisses came about this time.
Houdini stepped to the footlights and held up his hand for silence.
It was readily granted.
"Jess Willard, I have just paid you a compliment," said Houdini dramatically. "Now I want to tell you something else.
"I will be Harry Houdini, Jess Willard, when you are NOT the heavyweight champion of the world."
A roar of applause shook the house. Men and women alike joined in the clapping and cheering.
A deep rumble from the balcony indicated that Willard was trying to make some retort, and the cheers veered suddenly to hoots and groans.
"I made a mistake," said Houdini, addressing the audience. "I asked GENTLEMEN to step on this stage and GENTLEMEN only."
A renewed outburst occurred, during which Willard evidently left the theater. He was not to be found after the next act had started.
THE PICTURE SHOW. Mar. 20th, 1920
"Danger does not mean anything to me; I was just born without the ingredient of fear. Apart from the many risks I have taken in the course of my professional career, I have saved lives any number of times, and I have simply taken it all as a matter of course. People talk of being afraid to die; on the contrary, I am so well prepared for such an emergency that not only is my will drawn up, but I have a bronze memorial bust all ready, because I thought it better to have one that was really like me!"
Thus spoke Houdini, the "handcuff king," the great magician and genius of escape, on a certain sunny morning a few weeks ago. He sat with his back to the light, but though his face was in shadow the compelling blue grey eyes, and strong, bronzed features glowed with an intensity and vitality such as one rarely meets.
"Tell me," I begged, "are the feats you do on the screen different to those you do enact before the footlights?"
"Entirely different," was the reply.
"In fact, some of the biggest critics have said that I am more wonderful on the screen than on the stage. That, I consider, is one of the greatest compliments ever paid me. But it has taken years of training to produce the tricks, or problems, I do in my films."
Houdini has made, to date, three pictures. The first of these, "The Master Mystery," a serial, is now enjoying enormous popularity all over the country. The remaining two, "The Grim Game," and "Terror Island," are feature pictures, and are still unreleased by Paramount Artcraft though this year will see the first-named on our screens. In the making of "The Master Mystery," Houdini sustained seven black eyes and a broken wrist. He also broke his wrist whilst making "The Grim Game."
"During the screening of this picture I thought at one time in the course of the action, that my end had come," he told me. "I was 3,000 feet up in an aeroplane, circling over another machine. The plan was for me to drop from my 'plane into the cockpit of the other by means of a rope. I was dangling from the rope-end ready for the leap. Suddenly a strong wind turned the lower plane upwards, the two machines crashed together—nearly amputating my limbs—the propellers locked in a deadly embrace, and we were spun round and round and round." Houdini pronounced the latter words with a peculiarly apt "whirring" intonation, graphically illustrating them by the circular action of the arms. "But," he continued, "by a miracle, the 'planes were righted into a half-glide, and, though they were smashed into splinters by their terrific impact, I managed to escape unhurt. As usual, Houdini became undone!" concluded the narrator with a laugh.
"What do you consider the greatest stunt you have done for the screen?" I asked, when I had recovered my breath.
"Another incident in the same picture," answered Houdini. "I stood in the archway of a prison, thus——" Here he took up a crouching position in the corner of the room, and enacted the whole thing for my benefit. "A heavily loaded lorry, going at twenty-two or four miles an hour rolled by me. I threw myself on the ground, completely rolling over between the fast revolving fore and hind wheels, over and over, till I caught the transmission bar, and hung there for very dear life! Thus was I carried to the aid of the heroine. Though my words may not convey very much, this was my greatest stunt. It allowed for no rehearsals—I said tothe camera-man, 'Get this now or never!' And had I made the slightest false move I should have been crippled for life, if not killed."
In spite of the risks he has taken before the camera, Houdini has a profound love and admiration for the "movies."
"I think the film profession is the greatest," he told me "and that the moving picture is the most wonderful thing in the world. One reason why I love the screen is because it has use for the derelicts of life, and gives employment to the old as well as the young. I entered the profession myself because I knew I should eventually be losing my strength, and before that happened I wanted to perpetuate my feats, and by so doing everyone, in all parts of the world, can see them. Pictures have increased my drawing power two-hundredfold."
Houdini, as related at the commencement of this chat, had one of his greatest compliments paid him by critics of his film work, but before I left him he confessed that what he considers the very greatest tribute ever made to his unique achievements is recorded in a dictionary! Turn to Funk and Wagnall's Standard Dictionary, and there you will find it:
"HOU'DI-NI. 1, hu'di-ni;2, hu'di-ni, HARRY (4-6, 1874). American mystericist, wizard, and expert in extrication and self-release HOU'DI-NIZĒ vt. To release or extricate oneself from (confinement, bonds, or the like), as by wriggling out."
"HOU'DI-NI. 1, hu'di-ni;
2, hu'di-ni, HARRY (4-6, 1874). American mystericist, wizard, and expert in extrication and self-release HOU'DI-NIZĒ vt. To release or extricate oneself from (confinement, bonds, or the like), as by wriggling out."
So, taking Houdini all in all, I may consider the fact that this wonder-man, this "expert in extrication," made no effort to escape from at least one thing this interview!
MAY HERSCHEL CLARKE.