tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476836446638612873.post4430176238537093530..comments2024-03-27T02:30:04.482-05:00Comments on Carnegie: Magic Detective: Houdini's Life Changing Event In St. Paul That You Haven't HeardCarnegiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10142955905272650610noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476836446638612873.post-14142384492615315122014-08-31T03:23:39.512-05:002014-08-31T03:23:39.512-05:00Great work, Dean! Based on this article, and what ...Great work, Dean! Based on this article, and what I know about Houdini, he was already morphing into a handcuff escape artist around the time of Beck's appearance. Beck seems to be the nudge that encouraged Houdini to explore that avenue.Leo Hevianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476836446638612873.post-79185950884626421622014-08-30T19:09:34.083-05:002014-08-30T19:09:34.083-05:00First off let me start out by saying, I am a big f...First off let me start out by saying, I am a big fan of your work and have thoroughly enjoyed the 30 days of Houdini. <br />There are multiple claims on the web that Houdini’s “big break” came when he met agent Martin Beck in Woodstock, Illinois. However, you, Silverman, Kalush and other sources puts this meeting in St. Paul, Minn. I got to believe the experts got it correct.<br />Keep up the great work!Joe M. Notarohttp://harryhoudinicircumstantialevidence.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476836446638612873.post-20868139846800524902014-08-30T13:14:21.217-05:002014-08-30T13:14:21.217-05:00Nice work, Dean!Nice work, Dean!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476836446638612873.post-79216132918785970312014-08-30T11:01:45.704-05:002014-08-30T11:01:45.704-05:00Excellent find! Following your guidance to the 07 ...Excellent find! Following your guidance to the 07 March 1899 edition of the St. Paul Globe, I poked around and found the article after the fold on page 5. Here's a complete transcription:<br />-=-=-=-=-=-=-<br />MYSTIFIES THE POLICE<br />A Man Manacled and Handcuffed Slips Them in a Hurry<br /><br /> There was another escape at the central police station last evening, and Chief Schweitzer and Capt. Rouleau are very much puzzled over the manner in which the feat was effected.<br /> The get-away was made by a man handcuffed and shackled, with the shackles and handcuffs securely connected with a second pair of handcuffs. It required exactly two minutes for the prisoner to rid himself of the encumbrances, with the keys safely stowed away in the seclusion of Chief Schweitzer's vest. The victim of the shackles and handcuffs was Prof. Houdini, the magician now playing at the Palm Garden, and his feat was accomplished in the presence of all the officers around the central station, several newspaper men, and Manager Weinholzer, of the Palm Garden.<br /> Houdini, as part of his "turn," offers to rid himself of any kind of handcuffs that any one [sic] wants to bring up, and last night, in the middle of the show, some one [sic] suggested that it might be a good plan to give the police a chance to test the security of their cuffs. Between acts Houdini and Manager Weinholzer raced over to the central station and made their strange request. Chief Schweizter laughed.<br /> "I'll fix him," he said. "I've got a pair that would defy Mephistopheles himself."<br /> Everybody adjourned to the chief's private office, and the cuffs in which the chief placed his reliance were produced. Capt. Rouleau put them on. Then Houdini was shackled, and finally, to make everything safe, another pair of the latest up-to-date cuffs were brought out and adjusted to connect the wrist cuffs and the shackles.<br /> The prisoner was assisted out into the outer office and the door was closed. Capt. Rouleau chuckled.<br /> "Guess the show will have to go on with one of the parts cut out," he observed.<br /> The chief took out his watch.<br /> "If I were a betting man--" he began, when the door opened and Houdini walked in with the shackled and handcuffs securely locked together. And there were no keys in sight, either.<br /> It had required exactly two minutes to accomplish the feat.<br />-=-=-=-=-=-=-<br /><br />In the same newspaper, on page 2 after the fold, I also spotted this review:<br /><br />-=-=-=-=-=-=-<br /><br />AT THE PALM GARDEN.<br />A Bill This Week That Has Some Unusual Features<br /><br /> The bill for the week at the Palm Garden is an especially strong one. There is a good contortionist, plenty of first-class song and dance artists, a one-act comedy, "The Rehearsal," for a curtain raiser, and Miss Hunt, "the queen of the Roman rings." But the bright, particular star of the performance is Prof. Houdini, who, assisted by his wife, performs the most difficult feats of legerdemain and sleight of hand. Some are really remarkable.<br /> Prof. Houdini is tied, manacled and securely sealed up in a sack to the satisfaction of a committee. Then the bag, with its contents, is placed in a massive trunk and pushed in a cabinet. Three seconds later the cabinet is overturned and Mrs. Houdini is found in the place of her husband, with the seals and knots apparently intact.<br /><br />-=-=-=-=-=-=-<br />David Byronhttp://www.baroquepotion.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476836446638612873.post-27061167970671633662014-08-30T09:34:55.885-05:002014-08-30T09:34:55.885-05:00This is excellent. Yes, I think this could very be...This is excellent. Yes, I think this could very be the thing that brought Beck to the Palm Garden. Great work.John Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04391313393222271260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7476836446638612873.post-11122583487023332562014-08-30T08:54:18.162-05:002014-08-30T08:54:18.162-05:00Good find! Bravo!Good find! Bravo!DAVID SALTMANhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06270760638995836991noreply@blogger.com