VI.

VI.Houdin called his villa at St. Gervais the “Priory,” a rather monastic title. It was a veritable palace of enchantments. Electrical devices played an important part in its construction, as well as automata. The Pepper ghost illusion was rigged up in a small pavilion on the grounds. A mechanical hermit welcomed guests to a grotto: Houdin’s friends jestingly called the place “L’Abbaye de l’Attrape(la Trappe),” or “Catch’em Abbey.” The pun is almost untranslatable. “Attrape” is a trap, in French. You have a Trappist Monastery. I need say no more. During the Franco-Prussian War, Houdin’s neighbors brought their valuables to him to be concealed. He had a hiding place built which defied detection. But the Prussians never bothered him.Says William Manning (Recollections of Robert-Houdin, London, 1891):“Robert-Houdin’s employment of electricity, not only as a moving power for the performance of his illusions, but for domestic purposes, was long in advance of his time. The electric bell, so common to us now, was in every-day usefor yearsin his own house, before its value was recognized by the public.“He had a favorite horse, named Fanny, for which he entertained great affection, and christened her ‘the friend of the family.’ She was of gentle disposition and was growing old in his service; so he was anxious to allow her every indulgence, especially punctuality at meals and full allowance of fodder.“Such being the case, it was a matter of great surprise that Fanny grew daily thinner and thinner, till it was discovered that her groom had a great fancy for the art formerly practised by her master and converted her hay into five-franc pieces! So Houdin dismissed the groom and secured a more honest lad, but to provide against further contingencies and neglect of duty he had{154}a clock placed in his study, which with the aid of an electrical wire worked a food supply in the stable, a distance of fifty yards from the house. The distributing apparatus was a square funnel-shaped box which discharged the provender in prearranged quantities. No one could steal the oats from the horse after they had fallen, as the electric trigger could not act unless the stable door was locked. The lock was outside, and if any one entered before the horse finished eating his oats, a bell would immediately ring in the house.“This same clock in his study also transmitted the time to two large clock-faces, placed one on the top of the house, the other on the gardener’s lodge, the former for the benefit of the villagers.“In his bell-tower he had a clockwork arrangement of sufficient power to lift the hammer at the proper moment. The daily winding of the clock was performed automatically by com­mu­ni­ca­tion with a swing-door in his kitchen, and the winding-up apparatus of the clock in the clock-tower was so arranged that the servants in passing backward and forward on their domestic duties unconsciously wound up the striking movement of the clock.”The Priory is now a partial ruin. It has passed out of his family. Houdin died there June 13, 1871, after an illness of ten days. His death was caused by pneumonia. The following is an extract of the notice of his decease, taken from the registers of the civil authorities of St. Gervais:“June 14, 1871. Notice of the death of Robert-Houdin, Jean-Eugène, died at St. Gervais, June 13, 1871, at 10 P. M., sixty-five years of age. Son of the defunct Prosper Robert and Marie Catherine Guillon; widower of his first wife Josephe Cecile Eglantine Houdin; married the second time to Françoise Marguerite Olympe Naconnier; Court House of St. Gervais, signed—The Mayor.” The signature is illegible.William Manning was an intimate friend of Houdin. When the famous conjurer went to London to exhibit, he lodged at the house of Manning’s father. William was a young man at the time and deeply enamored with conjuring exhibitions.{155}Houdin showed him many favors and presented him with a number of souvenirs, among them being a magic clock, a harlequin-in-the-box, etc., also a photograph of himself, a copy of which Mr. Manning sent to me a few years ago, during the course of a correspondence I had with him concerning Houdin. Up to the time of his death the great conjurer exchanged letters with his friend, then a grown man. Houdin’s closing years were saddened by the tragic death of his son, Eugène, who was killed at Reichshoffen in the Franco-Prussian War. He was a sub-lieutenant in the French army and a graduate of the military school at St. Cyr. He assisted his father on the stage, but abandoned conjuring for a military career. In a letter to William Manning, dated September 11, 1870, Houdin describes the affair at Reichshoffen: . . . . “My son was 33 years old; he was captain since 1866; he belonged to the 1st Zouaves and was considered one of the bravest in that brave corps. You can judge of it by the following extract from an article in theFigaro, of Sept. 3, entitled ‘An episode of Reichshoffen,’ an extract from a private letter. This letter was undoubtedly written by a soldier in my son’s company; it is signed with an X. I omit the harrowing incidents which preceded this sad retreat. . . . . ‘The line had received orders to break up and were defeated, 35,000 against 140,000! My company (1st Zouaves) was drawn up on the battle-field, to be used as sharp-shooters, alone, without artillery; we were to resist the retreat. Upon the order of Captain Robert-Houdin, Lieutenant Girard advanced with two men to reconnoitre the enemy. He took three steps, and fell, crying: ’Do not give up the Coucou, (a familiar expression applied to the flag). We carried him away and the Captain shouted ‘Fire!’ The order to retreat came, but we did not hear it, and continued to beat against a wall of fire which illuminated our ranks. Soon our Captain fell, saying: ‘Tell them . . .that I fell facing the enemy.’ A bullet had pierced his breast. He was taken in the ambulance to Reichshoffen where he died, four days later, from his wound.”“My dear Manning, would you believe it, my brave son, mortally wounded as he was, had the heroic courage amidst{156}flying shot to take from his pocket a pencil and a card and to write these words: ‘Dear father,I am wounded, but be reassured, it is only a trifle.’ He could not sign this. The card and the envelope are stained with his blood. This precious relic was sent to me from Reichshoffen after my son’s death.”LITHOGRAPHEDINVITATION-TICKETDESIGNEDBYHOUDIN.(The signatures are those of Houdin and Hamilton.)Emile, the elder son who distinguished himself in the “Second-Sight Trick,” as soon as his father retired from the stage, became a watchmaker. He published a work on horology to which his father wrote the following preface:“I have often been asked why my son did not follow the career I had opened for him in pre­sti­di­gi­ta­tion, but preferred instead the study of horology. My answer to the question may be used fitly as a preface to this pamphlet.“If you believe in hereditary vocations, here is a case for their just application. My son’s maternal great-grandfather, Nicolas Houdin, was a watchmaker of great merit in the last century. J. F. Houdin, his son, has gained, as is well known, a prominent place among the most distinguished watchmakers of his time. A certain modesty, which you will understand, prevents me from praising my father as highly; I shall only say{157}that he was a very skilful and ingenious watchmaker. Before devoting myself to the art of conjuring, based on mechanism, I, too, was for a long time a watchmaker and achieved some success.“With such genealogy, should one not be predestined to horology? Therefore my son was irresistibly drawn to his{158}vocation, and he took up the art which Berthoud and Bréguet have made famous. It was from the latter of the two celebrated masters that he learned the elements of the profession of his forefathers.”Emile was subsequently induced to take up the magic wand, and in conjunction with Professor Brannet gave many clever entertainments. During his management the old theatre22in the Palais Royal was abandoned, and a new theatre erected on the Boulevard des Italiens. He held this property until his decease in 1883. The theatre was partly destroyed by fire, January 30, 1901, but was rebuilt.22Houdin’s original theatre in theGalerie de Valoisof the Palais Royal has long ago been swallowed up in the alterations made in the building. M. Trewey, in the spring of 1905, met an old man, a former employee of the Palais, who remembered seeing Houdin perform in 1845–46, but he could not even locate the little theatre. How soon are the glories of the past forgotten by a fickle public. The theatre has been divided into two or three shops.The only surviving members of the family are Madame Emile Robert-Houdin, widow of the elder son, and a daughter who is married to M. Lemaitre Robert-Houdin, a municipal officer of Blois, who has adopted the name of Houdin. Robert-Houdin is interred in the cemetery of Blois. A handsome monument marks his grave.At the Paris Exhibition of 1844, Houdin was awarded a medal for the ingenious construction of automata; at the Exhibition of 1855 he received a gold medal for his scientific application of electricity to clocks. He invented an ophthalmoscope to enable the operator to examine the interior of his own eye. From important papers in the possession of M. Lemaitre it seems more than probable that Houdin had worked out the secret of the modern telephone before it had been made known to the world at large.Houdin has been considered of such importance and interest in France that in Didot’sNouvelle Biographie Généralea whole page is given him. His personal appearance is thus described in Larousse’sEncyclopédie: “He was a man of small stature. His manners were engaging and vivacious. His face was clean-shaven, showing a large and eloquent mouth. In his old age,{159}his head was covered with snow white hair. His eyes up to the last retained the fire and brilliancy of a man of twenty-five.”On December 6, 1905, the French Society of Magicians celebrated the hundredth anniversary of Houdin’s birth. The exercises were held at the Theatre Robert-Houdin, Boulevard des Italiens, Paris. The little theatre was crowded with conjurers and their friends. Among the wielders of the magic staff were Caroly, the editor ofIllusioniste, M. and Mme. de Gago, Folletto, M. and Mme. Talazac, and M. Raynaly. M. and Mme. Talazac, in their “mind-reading” act, evoked great applause. M. Miliès, the manager of the house, exhibited the automaton, “Antonio Diavolo,” invented by Robert-Houdin. M. Renaly, the well-known drawing-room conjurer, read a poem in honor of the great master, at the close of which a bust of Robert-Houdin, which stood upon the stage, was crowned with a wreath of laurel. Strange to say, not a word of this interesting event was recorded in the newspapers.Houdin was the first conjurer to be employed in an official capacity by a civilized Power. The second case we have record of was on the occasion of the English Mission to the late Sultan of Morocco when Mr. Douglas Beaufort was appointed conjurer to the party by the British Government. The object was to surprise the Arabs with the skill of an Anglo-Saxon pre­sti­di­gi­ta­teur. During the journey to Fez from the coast, Mr. Beaufort gave a number of séances. The news of his necromantic powers soon spread like wild-fire among the natives. When the Embassy reached the Arab Capital, the Sultan refused to see the “Devil Man,” as he termed the conjurer. He imagined that the British proposed to cast a spell over him. For eight weeks he held out, but finally curiosity got the better of him. The Grand Vizier was ordered to produce the Disciple of Beelzebub at the Royal Palace. The performance of Mr. Beaufort so delighted the ruler of Morocco that he presented him with a silver dagger, a fine Arabian steed from the royal stable, and a bag containing 500 dollars, as a token of esteem and regard.

Houdin called his villa at St. Gervais the “Priory,” a rather monastic title. It was a veritable palace of enchantments. Electrical devices played an important part in its construction, as well as automata. The Pepper ghost illusion was rigged up in a small pavilion on the grounds. A mechanical hermit welcomed guests to a grotto: Houdin’s friends jestingly called the place “L’Abbaye de l’Attrape(la Trappe),” or “Catch’em Abbey.” The pun is almost untranslatable. “Attrape” is a trap, in French. You have a Trappist Monastery. I need say no more. During the Franco-Prussian War, Houdin’s neighbors brought their valuables to him to be concealed. He had a hiding place built which defied detection. But the Prussians never bothered him.

Says William Manning (Recollections of Robert-Houdin, London, 1891):

“Robert-Houdin’s employment of electricity, not only as a moving power for the performance of his illusions, but for domestic purposes, was long in advance of his time. The electric bell, so common to us now, was in every-day usefor yearsin his own house, before its value was recognized by the public.

“He had a favorite horse, named Fanny, for which he entertained great affection, and christened her ‘the friend of the family.’ She was of gentle disposition and was growing old in his service; so he was anxious to allow her every indulgence, especially punctuality at meals and full allowance of fodder.

“Such being the case, it was a matter of great surprise that Fanny grew daily thinner and thinner, till it was discovered that her groom had a great fancy for the art formerly practised by her master and converted her hay into five-franc pieces! So Houdin dismissed the groom and secured a more honest lad, but to provide against further contingencies and neglect of duty he had{154}a clock placed in his study, which with the aid of an electrical wire worked a food supply in the stable, a distance of fifty yards from the house. The distributing apparatus was a square funnel-shaped box which discharged the provender in prearranged quantities. No one could steal the oats from the horse after they had fallen, as the electric trigger could not act unless the stable door was locked. The lock was outside, and if any one entered before the horse finished eating his oats, a bell would immediately ring in the house.

“This same clock in his study also transmitted the time to two large clock-faces, placed one on the top of the house, the other on the gardener’s lodge, the former for the benefit of the villagers.

“In his bell-tower he had a clockwork arrangement of sufficient power to lift the hammer at the proper moment. The daily winding of the clock was performed automatically by com­mu­ni­ca­tion with a swing-door in his kitchen, and the winding-up apparatus of the clock in the clock-tower was so arranged that the servants in passing backward and forward on their domestic duties unconsciously wound up the striking movement of the clock.”

The Priory is now a partial ruin. It has passed out of his family. Houdin died there June 13, 1871, after an illness of ten days. His death was caused by pneumonia. The following is an extract of the notice of his decease, taken from the registers of the civil authorities of St. Gervais:

“June 14, 1871. Notice of the death of Robert-Houdin, Jean-Eugène, died at St. Gervais, June 13, 1871, at 10 P. M., sixty-five years of age. Son of the defunct Prosper Robert and Marie Catherine Guillon; widower of his first wife Josephe Cecile Eglantine Houdin; married the second time to Françoise Marguerite Olympe Naconnier; Court House of St. Gervais, signed—The Mayor.” The signature is illegible.

William Manning was an intimate friend of Houdin. When the famous conjurer went to London to exhibit, he lodged at the house of Manning’s father. William was a young man at the time and deeply enamored with conjuring exhibitions.{155}Houdin showed him many favors and presented him with a number of souvenirs, among them being a magic clock, a harlequin-in-the-box, etc., also a photograph of himself, a copy of which Mr. Manning sent to me a few years ago, during the course of a correspondence I had with him concerning Houdin. Up to the time of his death the great conjurer exchanged letters with his friend, then a grown man. Houdin’s closing years were saddened by the tragic death of his son, Eugène, who was killed at Reichshoffen in the Franco-Prussian War. He was a sub-lieutenant in the French army and a graduate of the military school at St. Cyr. He assisted his father on the stage, but abandoned conjuring for a military career. In a letter to William Manning, dated September 11, 1870, Houdin describes the affair at Reichshoffen: . . . . “My son was 33 years old; he was captain since 1866; he belonged to the 1st Zouaves and was considered one of the bravest in that brave corps. You can judge of it by the following extract from an article in theFigaro, of Sept. 3, entitled ‘An episode of Reichshoffen,’ an extract from a private letter. This letter was undoubtedly written by a soldier in my son’s company; it is signed with an X. I omit the harrowing incidents which preceded this sad retreat. . . . . ‘The line had received orders to break up and were defeated, 35,000 against 140,000! My company (1st Zouaves) was drawn up on the battle-field, to be used as sharp-shooters, alone, without artillery; we were to resist the retreat. Upon the order of Captain Robert-Houdin, Lieutenant Girard advanced with two men to reconnoitre the enemy. He took three steps, and fell, crying: ’Do not give up the Coucou, (a familiar expression applied to the flag). We carried him away and the Captain shouted ‘Fire!’ The order to retreat came, but we did not hear it, and continued to beat against a wall of fire which illuminated our ranks. Soon our Captain fell, saying: ‘Tell them . . .that I fell facing the enemy.’ A bullet had pierced his breast. He was taken in the ambulance to Reichshoffen where he died, four days later, from his wound.”

“My dear Manning, would you believe it, my brave son, mortally wounded as he was, had the heroic courage amidst{156}flying shot to take from his pocket a pencil and a card and to write these words: ‘Dear father,I am wounded, but be reassured, it is only a trifle.’ He could not sign this. The card and the envelope are stained with his blood. This precious relic was sent to me from Reichshoffen after my son’s death.”

LITHOGRAPHEDINVITATION-TICKETDESIGNEDBYHOUDIN.(The signatures are those of Houdin and Hamilton.)

LITHOGRAPHEDINVITATION-TICKETDESIGNEDBYHOUDIN.(The signatures are those of Houdin and Hamilton.)

(The signatures are those of Houdin and Hamilton.)

Emile, the elder son who distinguished himself in the “Second-Sight Trick,” as soon as his father retired from the stage, became a watchmaker. He published a work on horology to which his father wrote the following preface:

“I have often been asked why my son did not follow the career I had opened for him in pre­sti­di­gi­ta­tion, but preferred instead the study of horology. My answer to the question may be used fitly as a preface to this pamphlet.

“If you believe in hereditary vocations, here is a case for their just application. My son’s maternal great-grandfather, Nicolas Houdin, was a watchmaker of great merit in the last century. J. F. Houdin, his son, has gained, as is well known, a prominent place among the most distinguished watchmakers of his time. A certain modesty, which you will understand, prevents me from praising my father as highly; I shall only say{157}that he was a very skilful and ingenious watchmaker. Before devoting myself to the art of conjuring, based on mechanism, I, too, was for a long time a watchmaker and achieved some success.

“With such genealogy, should one not be predestined to horology? Therefore my son was irresistibly drawn to his{158}vocation, and he took up the art which Berthoud and Bréguet have made famous. It was from the latter of the two celebrated masters that he learned the elements of the profession of his forefathers.”

Emile was subsequently induced to take up the magic wand, and in conjunction with Professor Brannet gave many clever entertainments. During his management the old theatre22in the Palais Royal was abandoned, and a new theatre erected on the Boulevard des Italiens. He held this property until his decease in 1883. The theatre was partly destroyed by fire, January 30, 1901, but was rebuilt.

22Houdin’s original theatre in theGalerie de Valoisof the Palais Royal has long ago been swallowed up in the alterations made in the building. M. Trewey, in the spring of 1905, met an old man, a former employee of the Palais, who remembered seeing Houdin perform in 1845–46, but he could not even locate the little theatre. How soon are the glories of the past forgotten by a fickle public. The theatre has been divided into two or three shops.

22Houdin’s original theatre in theGalerie de Valoisof the Palais Royal has long ago been swallowed up in the alterations made in the building. M. Trewey, in the spring of 1905, met an old man, a former employee of the Palais, who remembered seeing Houdin perform in 1845–46, but he could not even locate the little theatre. How soon are the glories of the past forgotten by a fickle public. The theatre has been divided into two or three shops.

The only surviving members of the family are Madame Emile Robert-Houdin, widow of the elder son, and a daughter who is married to M. Lemaitre Robert-Houdin, a municipal officer of Blois, who has adopted the name of Houdin. Robert-Houdin is interred in the cemetery of Blois. A handsome monument marks his grave.

At the Paris Exhibition of 1844, Houdin was awarded a medal for the ingenious construction of automata; at the Exhibition of 1855 he received a gold medal for his scientific application of electricity to clocks. He invented an ophthalmoscope to enable the operator to examine the interior of his own eye. From important papers in the possession of M. Lemaitre it seems more than probable that Houdin had worked out the secret of the modern telephone before it had been made known to the world at large.

Houdin has been considered of such importance and interest in France that in Didot’sNouvelle Biographie Généralea whole page is given him. His personal appearance is thus described in Larousse’sEncyclopédie: “He was a man of small stature. His manners were engaging and vivacious. His face was clean-shaven, showing a large and eloquent mouth. In his old age,{159}his head was covered with snow white hair. His eyes up to the last retained the fire and brilliancy of a man of twenty-five.”

On December 6, 1905, the French Society of Magicians celebrated the hundredth anniversary of Houdin’s birth. The exercises were held at the Theatre Robert-Houdin, Boulevard des Italiens, Paris. The little theatre was crowded with conjurers and their friends. Among the wielders of the magic staff were Caroly, the editor ofIllusioniste, M. and Mme. de Gago, Folletto, M. and Mme. Talazac, and M. Raynaly. M. and Mme. Talazac, in their “mind-reading” act, evoked great applause. M. Miliès, the manager of the house, exhibited the automaton, “Antonio Diavolo,” invented by Robert-Houdin. M. Renaly, the well-known drawing-room conjurer, read a poem in honor of the great master, at the close of which a bust of Robert-Houdin, which stood upon the stage, was crowned with a wreath of laurel. Strange to say, not a word of this interesting event was recorded in the newspapers.

Houdin was the first conjurer to be employed in an official capacity by a civilized Power. The second case we have record of was on the occasion of the English Mission to the late Sultan of Morocco when Mr. Douglas Beaufort was appointed conjurer to the party by the British Government. The object was to surprise the Arabs with the skill of an Anglo-Saxon pre­sti­di­gi­ta­teur. During the journey to Fez from the coast, Mr. Beaufort gave a number of séances. The news of his necromantic powers soon spread like wild-fire among the natives. When the Embassy reached the Arab Capital, the Sultan refused to see the “Devil Man,” as he termed the conjurer. He imagined that the British proposed to cast a spell over him. For eight weeks he held out, but finally curiosity got the better of him. The Grand Vizier was ordered to produce the Disciple of Beelzebub at the Royal Palace. The performance of Mr. Beaufort so delighted the ruler of Morocco that he presented him with a silver dagger, a fine Arabian steed from the royal stable, and a bag containing 500 dollars, as a token of esteem and regard.

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