HOUDINI.

Although it would be impossible to record a detailed account of Harry Houdini's life story in the small amount of space at my disposal, I feel I should be guilty of a grave omission if I failed to give a brief synopsis of the great magician's early struggles and subsequent rise to fame. Many of the published stories concerning Houdini have been remarkable for the manner in which they have deviated from the truth. The facts which I am about to set down, however, were given to me by the magician himself, and have been verified from several authoritative sources.

Houdini was born very humbly in New York. His father was a poor and overworked Jewish clergyman named Weiss, whose income was insufficient to provide even the plainest food for his large and growing family. Mrs. Weiss' life was one long struggle to keep things going, and the fact that she was starving herself into an early grave was not lost upon young Harry. He loved his mother beyond anyone else in the world, and the sight of her slaving to keep up the appearances her husband's position demanded, caused him the most acute mental agony.

Unknown to his parents, he sold newspapers in the streets. The few cents he was able to earn in this manner were given to his mother with the explanation that he had "just been doing a job." That Houdini never so much as retained a single dime from his small earnings speaks volumes for his youthful courage and unselfishness.

For a time this scheme worked well. But it was inevitable that the truth should become known. When Houdini's parents discovered the source of their son's income they begged him to find some other calling.

"You see, Harry," his father explained, I have my position to consider. What would my congregation think if they knew my son was a newspaper boy?" This argument was convincing enough, and Harry determined to try his luck in other fields.

Without much difficulty he obtained a post in a necktie factory. His particular job was to cut out the tie linings, and although the pay was very poor, he found this somewhat more lucrative than his former occupation. Strange as it may seem, Houdini would probably never have become a magician had he not started out as a necktie cutter, for it was in this factory that he had his first introduction to the art of conjuring.

The youth who worked on the bench next to him was interested in a small way in magic. One day he suggested to Harry that they should both go along to the Bowery to purchase a few tricks.

"Tricks?" said Houdini, "Whatever for?"

"My hobby is conjuring," was the reply. "It's great fun-you should try it."

The demonstration in the Bowery was a great success. Harry was so amazed at the apparent miracles which the salesman performed, that he determined there and then to become a conjurer. That he was almost penniless did not worry him in the least. His youthful imagination was fired, and he decided that nothing on earth would stop him climbing the ladder of magical fame.

His first step was to go to the public library, where he spent many hours in studying all the books on magic. The volume that appealed to him above all others was Professor Hoffmann's "Modern Magic." He read and re-read this work until he knew practically every word by heart. He demonstrated his "infinite capacity for taking pains" more at this period than at any other time during his life.

He was far too poor to purchase any tricks for he still adhered to his policy of handing over all his earnings to his mother. However, he invented many ways of performing tricks by using ordinary unprepared household objects, and most of his spare time was devoted to practising.

He gave several entertainments at charity bazaars and similar functions, charging a small fee for his services. But his tricks were too commonplace, and he had not the necessary money to buy fresh illusions. It did not take him long to realise that he was a failure, and dreams of making himself world famous began to fade as quickly as they had materialised. He realised bitterly that money means power in this hard and unsympathetic world.

It was at this time that Fate, which had hitherto been so unkind to him, lent a helping hand and set his footsteps in the right direction. An out-of-work conjurer offered Houdini a small box escape. After much haggling a price was agreed upon, and young Harry, for the first time in his life, was forced to borrow money. He bought the trick and decided to incorporate it in his programme.

His luck continued. A few days later he was introduced to a performer named Dexter, who specialised in handcuff escapes. He purchased a few of Dexter's secrets, and decided he would have an entirely new show consisting only of handcuff escapes, with the box trick as a grand finale.

But a new problem presented itself. How was he to get an assistant? His income was hardly sufficient to provide for himself, let alone pay a second salary. This difficulty provided Harry with much food for thought. And then he met Bessie.

This young lady was much taken in Houdini's personality. She had her fair share of good looks, but was very young and had little knowledge of the world. In fairness to Houdini I must say that he was considerably attracted by Bessie, and it occurred to him that two might live as cheaply as one. He persuaded her to leave home and they had a romantic runaway marriage. Thus was the problem of the assistant solved.

Houdini acquired his skill in handcuff, chain and leg iron escapes by studying the methods of the various magicians with whom he came in contact. He made a point of meeting lock, smiths and key makers, and his knowledge increased considerably. When he thoroughly understood the workings of locks and master keys, he invented many ingenious fakes for his own use. There is absolutely no truth in the widely spread story that Houdini spent many months as a locksmith's apprentice. He never worked in a locksmith's shop in the whole of his life.

Houdini brought the escape business to a fine art. He also understood the value of newspaper stories and articles as a form of publicity. He once confessed to me that he spent every cent he could spare in advertising himself. He learnt to swim, and his first sensational trick was an escape from a milk can filled with water. This illusion was invented by one of his assistants.

Sensation! That was Houdini's pass word. He was not, of course, the first man to escape from handcuffs and boxes, but he certainly was the pioneer in escapes of a sensational nature. He aimed at being different from all other performers, and I have known him to scrap many illusions because he thought he was being imitated.

At the beginning of his performances, Houdini always told the audience that he did not possess supernatural powers. He emphasized the fact that his escapes were tricks--not miracles. In spite of this assurance, many people were firmly convinced that he had the power of dematerialising his body at will. When Houdini's fame had spread through England and the Continent, many imitators sprang up. The American reduced their number in an incredibly short time by means of a scheme which was as simple as it was effective.

He organised a service of professional "challengers." These men attended the shows of the various imitators, and challenged the performers to escape from an "ordinary" pair of handcuffs. These ordinary handcuffs were so constructed that once they were closed they could only be opened with a special key. After a good deal of helpless struggling, the performers invariably admitted defeat.

There was however, one escape act which Hotdini could not humble. This was "The Brother Cirnocs". The Cirnocs were not Jmitators in the strict sense of the word, for they were performing in England some time before Houdini came to this country. Their turn was very similar to Houdini's, and, what was more important from the American's point of view, it was equally as clever.

In vain did Harry try to corner the Cirnocs by means of his "challengers." At last he gave it up as a bad job. But, realising that he had opponents in England who were just as astute as himself, he decided to delete the handcuff escapes from his programme.