The Man With X-Ray Eyes-Kuda Bux

When I was just a young teen trying to learn everything I could about magic, I came across a fellow named Kuda Bux on TV. At the time he was an elderly gentleman with a full head of white hair. He wasn't going to do an illusion or an escape or manipulation. He wasn't going to read minds or do card tricks either. He claimed he could see without the use of his eyes and he would demonstrate his unique ability. I had seen magicians do tricks with blindfolds, so I was sure what I was about to see was nothing more than yet another blindfold trick. He began by handing two large clumps of dough (flour and water) to a committee on stage and instructing them to put the dough over his eyes and push it deep into his eyes to prevent his eye sight. Then he handed two very large piece of medical gauze, about an inch thick and those too were placed over his eyes. Next his head was wrapped in bandages and after that cloth bands were wrapped over his head in every conceivable direction.

Kuda Bux then instructed his on stage volunteers to write things on a chalk board and he would duplicate anything they wrote or drew. True to his word, he did just that. With his face and head covered he duplicated everything they wrote. It was amazing all by itself. But sometime later I had learned that Kuda Bux was legally blind at the time of the performance and that made it even more incredible.

Kuda Bux was born Khudah Bukhsh in Kashmir Pakistan in February 17th 1905. He began his career in the mystic arts as a conjurer doing the same kinds of tricks we are all used to, linking rings, cards tricks that kind of stuff. But he always had an appetite for real magic which led him into studying yoga. Noted historian John Booth writes in his book "Psychic Paradoxes" that Kuda Bux first started doing the blindfold act as early as 1919. He also mentions that early in his career Kuda Bux billed himself as Professor K. B. Duke. Later he went by the name we know him by, Kuda Bux and added 'The Kashmir Mystic' as his title.

Kuda's fame seemed to rise in the 1930's following a highly publicized 'fire walking' stunt in front of the University of London Council for Physical Research. He repeated the same stunt in NYC in the location of where the Rockefeller Center now stands. His fame continued to grow and his moniker changed to 'The Man With X-Ray Eyes'. In March of 1950, CBS Television debuted a show called "Kuda Bux, Hindu Mystic".

In William Rauscher's book 'The Mind Readers', he relates a story that appeared in Argosy Magazine, July 1952 and was written by author Roald Dahl. The short version of the story is that Kuda and Dahl were discussing his X-Ray eyes and he was asked if he could see through steel. Kuda Bux said no, because he had to be touching the object in order to really see it. So a test was devised where a book was held behind a door, Kuda put his arm through the door, held his hand above the book and within a few moments began to read from the book even though it was completely out of his site!

Later in life, Kuda settled down in Hollywood California and was known for regularly visiting the Magic Castle. It's interesting to note that even though Kuda Bux performed regular magic, and even an illusion show at one time in his career, his blindfold act fooled many magicians to the point they weren't sure if it was a trick or if he could really see without his eyes.  He died in Hollywood on Feb 5th, 1981, just a few days short of his 76th birthday.

Kellar's Sunken Treasure

I've always been intrigued with the story from Harry Kellar's life where he lost all his props in a shipwreck. It's an exciting story and a tragic one and frankly a turning point for Harry Kellar. I had read the account in KELLARS WONDERS by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel, and the story is also found in the new book THE AMAZING HARRY KELLAR GREAT AMERICAN MAGICIAN by Gail Jarrow. But upon digging, I've discovered some of the details are incorrect.

The shipwreck happened on the evening of Friday August 13th, 1875, not the 18th as listed in the KELLARS WONDERS book. According to the various magic history accounts I've read the ship hit rocks near the Island of Ushant in the Bay of Biscay. This was the region of the shipwreck, but I've discovered some more specifics which give a better idea of exactly where the ship ran ground. First however, let me share with you a little back story that leads up to the shipwreck.

TIME LEADING UP TO SHIPWRECK

After leaving the employment of the Davenport Brothers, William Fay and Harry Kellar joined forces in the Spring of 1873 and began to tour the United States. Calling themselves Fay & Kellar, probably because William Fay was older than Harry and it was a case of age before beauty. Harry Kellar would do the act that he learned while working with the Fakir of Ava and then the conclusion of the show would be a recreation of The Davenport Cabinet, or what is known today as The Spirit Cabinet. The act apparently was not an immediate success as lack of money left them occasionally stranded.

Their luck would change however. Kellar secured some dates for them in Cuba. At the Albisu Theatre in Havana it was said they made over $3000 during their first night on stage. Success continued for them on their tour of Cuba. From there the two went to Mexico and again met with great success. To cut down on their travel expenses they hit upon the novel idea of leaving the Spirit Cabinet behind in each city they played and simply had a new one built when they got to their next destination. Back in this time, the Spirit Cabinet was just that, a very large wooden cabinet. There was nothing faked or gimmicked about it so having the locals build a new one was easy.

Royal Mail Steamship Boyne

From Mexico they sailed on to South America and toured all over the country. The tour of South America was successful with the exception of a couple weeks in December 1874. By July 1875, the South American tour was complete and Fay and Kellar got on board a steamship called the BOYNE and set sail for London. They had smooth sailing across the Atlantic Ocean and made it safely to Lisbon, Portugal.

On Wednesday August 11th, the steamship Boyne set sail from Lisbon for London and there were no problems with the weather until Friday morning when a thick fog set in. At this point they plotted a course which would take them 15 miles west off the coast of Ushant Island. They checked the depth of the sea at 5pm and it was 450 ft deep. Another reading was to be taken at 7:15pm when the forward lookout alerted the captain that rocks were spotted. This information comes from a book called "The Shipwrecked Mariner" dated 1875. The book says "Captain Macauley, who was on the bridge, immediately ordered the engines to be stopped and the helm put hard aport." However, the ship hit the rocks right off the coast of the Island of Molene.


The captain commanded that the lifeboats be lowered and safely got passengers and crew into the boats in a orderly fashion. The book says that this happened 'without confusion'. The lifeboats full with passengers and crew were taken to the Island of Molene. Once the passengers were safe on the island, the captain actually returned and stayed with his ship. The next morning, Saturday August 14th, the ships crew returned via the lifeboats to the Boyne in an effort to salvage what they could.
A few bags belonging to passengers were recovered but most were lost. The Shipwrecked Mariner states that within an hour of hitting the rocks the water level was over the deck and that divers discovered the rocks completely penetrated the bottom of the ship. The Boyne was finished and so were the hopes that Fay & Kellar would be able to retrieve their show equipment and valuables.

TREASURE

According to Harry Kellar's book A Magicians Tour "he had  two chests of curios from Mexico and South America, including stuffed birds, images, a Mexican Saddle mounted with solid silver, a Mexican suit that cost $500, and specimens of the gold and silver currency of every country he had visited. He also had about $8000 worth of cut and uncut Brazilian diamonds". The estimated loss amounted to around twenty-five thousand dollars. Given that this baggage has been underwater for 137 years, I wouldn't think that the clothes or much of the curios would still be recoverable. However, gold and silver coins and diamonds, you bet!

If the diamonds alone were worth $8,000 back then, they'd be worth over $100,000.00 today. 

I would have to say that the drawing of the shipwrecked Boyne, along with the knowledge that the ships final resting place was off the coast of the Island of Molene gives a pretty good description where the shipwreck remains. Unfortunately for me, I'm not a diver. But if you find it due to my help, I'll happily accept a finders fee :)   

UPDATE
It would appear (see comment by Joseph P below) that some of the gold and diamonds had been found by the crew during salvage efforts. One of the articles states the crew was helping themselves and when they were discovered, they tossed the items back into the sea. The men were arrested.
Another attempt to bring up the valuables was attempted but it produced nothing. According to the article in the Otaga Daily Times, Oct 26th 1875, it was believed the treasure had either been secretly removed or sunk so deeply into the sand as to be near impossible to find.
So it appears that Kellar's treasure was either pilfered by the crew or probably lost forever. 

References
Besides the Kellar books mentioned in the article, I also used 'The Shipwrecked Mariner' page 232.
And a large section of this blog article was taken from a previous blog article I wrote on William Fay.

New HARRY KELLAR Book

It seems that every month there is a new book about Harry Houdini, but it's pretty rare to see a book for the general public on any other magician. Recently, Jim Steinmeyer put out an excellent book for the public on Howard Thurston. Now there is a brand new book called The Amazing Harry Kellar Great American Magician by author Gail Jarrow.

This book is published by Calkins Creek/Boyds Mill Press and is a great book about the first really famous American magician. It's really more a biographical picture book but it has plenty of story to go with it. The book is 96 pages and is filled with 27 full color photos of Kellar's posters, as well as many other b/w images of Harry Kellar and other famous magicians of the time. The book contains all the major stories from Kellar's life, like the drug store explosion from his youth, the ship wreck where he lost all his props, and the passing of the mantel of magic to Howard Thurston. The book does not gloss over the way Kellar obtained many of his illusions and automatons. Ms. Jarrow does a fine job showing just who Mr. Kellar was and why he was an important figure in show business and magic history.

The book came about because Lisa and Rich Gensheimer introduced Ms. Jarrow to the world of Harry Kellar. Lisa and Rich are film makers who are working on a documentary film about Harry Kellar called "American Mystic: The Magical Life of Harry Kellar" which is due to come out very soon. Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel, the authors of the almost 600 page book KELLARS WONDERS, were involved in the project as well.

To me it's exciting that young readers will get to learn about another character from the world of magic besides Houdini. And don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled with every book on Houdini that comes out. But Kellar is among my top 5 favorite magicians and his story deserves to be told. There just aren't a lot of books out there on Harry Kellar. Besides the two mentioned in this article, the only other book on Kellar I can think of is the one that Kellar wrote, A Magician's Tour, which was redone twice, once by Magico and then again by Phil Temple & Robert Olsen. On a personal note, I'm thrilled with The Amazing Harry Kellar Great American Magician because I will add it to the list of books I cover in my educational reading programs for schools.

The Amazing Harry Kellar Great American Magician is a fantastic book for young readers, adults, and especially magicians. It would certainly make a great gift for anyone interested in magic or interested in the history of the theatre or entertainment. Hey and for the Dad into magic, a great Father's Day Gift!

The book retails for $17.95 and is available through Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble stores.