THE NEW YORK TIMES:

HOUDINI DIES TRAGIC DEATH

By: Kennedy

          We are standing at the grave sight of world famous magician, Harry Houdini.  He died of an appendix rupture yesterday.  Eleven days ago on October 31st in Canada, Houdini   invited three students to his dressing room backstage, after his speech on spiritualism.      One of the young men was very tall and muscular and challenged Houdini on his claim of being in such great shape that a blow to the stomach would not hurt him.  He asked if he could punch Houdini in the stomach to test his claim.  Houdini said yes and when he turned to face the young man, the student punched him in the stomach three times. Houdini did not have time to tighten his stomach muscles and ten days later Houdini died at the age of 52.   As we mourn the death of this great entertainer let’s look back to how he got started.

            Ehrich Weiss was born in Budapest, Hungary and changed his name to Harry Houdini when he arrived in America.  When in Budapest he greatly admired a magician named Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. A friend advised Ehrich that in French when you add an “i” to the end of Houdin it meant “like Houdin”.  He changed his first name to Harry because when he was at home his parents called him Ehrie, which he thought sounded like Harry.  Thus he became Harry Houdini.  He was interested in magic from a young age, and being unable to spell found performing easier than other jobs.  Harry and his brother had already put on a few magic shows for people once they had moved to America.  When Harry was older he started to make more magic shows with a friend.  He wasn’t very successful until he realized he wanted to be an escape artist and add his death defying tricks to his show.

            One of the first tricks that he mastered was the “Chinese water torture cell.”  This was a huge milk can with 22 gallons of water in it.  He went inside dressed in a bathing suit and the lid was quickly secured with padlocks by the police.  He was under the water for three minutes and then appeared from backstage soaking wet yet fully dressed and very happy.  The audience was overjoyed with his performance and wanted him to do more, and he gladly continued.  He would perform anywhere. Later in his career he performed this trick upside down.

            At age 18 he met a girl named Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner and fell in love. Three weeks later they were married. He nicknamed her “Bess” and often referred to her as “his large wife”.  She weighed about 90 pounds and was barely five feet tall.  Houdini became very famous. He was traveling the globe doing very dangerous stunts.  When he visited a new town he would promote his show by making his “jail escape”. He would be locked in one jail cell and his clothes would be locked in another cell.  In less than one minute he would march out of jail with his clothes on, and with a group of puzzled policemen and onlookers wondering how he possibly escaped.  

            Houdini’s salary continued to rise and his popularity increased as his tricks became more dangerous.  In another famous stunt he allowed himself to be shackled up and nailed inside a box.  The box would then be dropped into a river.  He would then come up out of the water, unshackled and having the chains that locked him up in one big chain.  Today we know the secret to this trick.  When Houdini got in the box, he would tap on the box to tell the people assisting him in the trick that he was free of the shackles.  They would then carefully lower the box into the water.  The nails in the bottom of the box were not secure and extremely easy for Houdini to push out.  Houdini created and first performed this trick.  Houdini often said, “My brain is the key that sets me free”.

            Houdini had a rival named Rahmn Bey.  Rahmn challenged Houdini to bury himself alive.  Houdini rose to the challenge and was able to escape from being buried two to three feet underground.  Then he attempted four feet and escaped.  Then he allowed himself to be buried at six feet and the trick failed.  Although he managed to escape it took him forty five minutes to get out and he collapsed on the ground.  He was close to death and this event made him give up being a magician and shift his focus to what happens to you after death.  He wanted to prove that spirits did not come back and he began to travel and give speeches on his thoughts.  It was at one of these events that his tragic death occurred. Many people were inspired by the stunts and tricks that he performed.  One day I may give up journalism and try a few tricks as well.