The Secret Life of Houdini by William Kalush, Larry Sloman
Authors: William Kalush, Larry Sloman
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relayed.
The fact was Mrs. Osbourne was pregnant, a shrewd guess by Houdini since they were a young, grief-stricken couple. After the séance, an irate Harry Osbourne came backstage to give Houdini a thrashing.
“How could we know of your family circumstances if the medium was not clairvoyant?” Houdini asked him. Then he had Bess rattle off a number of other family secrets that had Osbourne mystified as he left the opera house. This incident made an indelible mark on Houdini. Twenty-six years later, Hallie Nichols, who had been in the opera house that night, went to see Houdini give a lecture on Spiritualism in Kansas City. Receiving a note that she had been in his audience in Garnett years earlier, Houdini asked her to come backstage after the show. She dined with Bess and Harry, and Houdini asked her if she was still in contact with the Osbournes. She said she was and gave Houdini their new California address. He eventually sent the Osbournes a long letter of abject apology for trifling with their emotions.
By the end of Dr. Hill’s engagement in Garnett, two local businessmen actually came to Houdini’s dressing room and offered him $25 if he would promise not to give any more séances in town. Perhaps they feared the skeletons in their closets might be rattled next.
It was the same at every stop for the rest of the tour. In Galena, before another packed audience at the local opera hall on January 9, 1898, Harry played the role of the medium. Prior to the show, a local tipster had told Houdini that a black man named Benny Carter had been murdered recently, and two of his associates, who were suspects in the killing, were actually in attendance. Later, during the séance, Houdini seized on the information.
“I’m getting a message now. I see coming before me, uh, it’s a man. A black man,” Houdini said, then paused dramatically, pawing at the air in front of him.
“He’s lame—and his throat is cut from ear to ear. Who can this be?”
He was almost screaming now.
“He says his name is Benny. Benny Carter.”
There was the sound of commotion from the gallery.
“He says that he has a message for Bill Doakes and Jim Saunders. He says, ‘Yo’ boys bettah put yo’ razors away, or yo’ is sho’ goin’ ter be where Ah is now.’ Are Bill Doakes and Jim Saunders present?” Houdini asked.
The hall was deathly silent. Then two men jumped up in the gallery and knocked some chairs over in their haste to make it to the exit.
“Yes, dey is here, but they ain’t staying,” someone yelled out.
By the beginning of February the Dr. Hill show had finished, and now Bess and Harry barnstormed the Midwest on their own. Houdini had made some good coin doing the Spiritualist séances, enough to buy himself a nice overcoat for $10, to spend $15 on a “fine red dress” for Bess, and to write in his diary that he “lived like a king.” There was even enough to deposit $100 cash on February 23, 1898 with L.A. Vories, the mayor of St. Joseph, Missouri, who was instructed to deliver said sum to “any person who can furnish or place upon him handcuffs from which he is unable to extricate himself or to so fasten him to a chair that he cannot release himself therefrom.” Bess was aghast—for one, she had no idea that he had saved up such a large sum of money. Then she felt it was reckless and rash to risk their nest egg on a challenge like that. She needn’t have worried. No one could defeat him, even though the mayor did hold the bankroll two extra weeks to see if there were any late challengers.
Houdini’s newfound affluence was solely due to his séance work. His legitimate shows weren’t setting the box offices on fire. So for the next few months he decided that he and Bess would set up in the medium business. For the blueprint he had only to consult his well-used copy of The Revelations of a Spirit Medium . From that book he learned of the existence of what was called “The Blue Book,” a central
The fact was Mrs. Osbourne was pregnant, a shrewd guess by Houdini since they were a young, grief-stricken couple. After the séance, an irate Harry Osbourne came backstage to give Houdini a thrashing.
“How could we know of your family circumstances if the medium was not clairvoyant?” Houdini asked him. Then he had Bess rattle off a number of other family secrets that had Osbourne mystified as he left the opera house. This incident made an indelible mark on Houdini. Twenty-six years later, Hallie Nichols, who had been in the opera house that night, went to see Houdini give a lecture on Spiritualism in Kansas City. Receiving a note that she had been in his audience in Garnett years earlier, Houdini asked her to come backstage after the show. She dined with Bess and Harry, and Houdini asked her if she was still in contact with the Osbournes. She said she was and gave Houdini their new California address. He eventually sent the Osbournes a long letter of abject apology for trifling with their emotions.
By the end of Dr. Hill’s engagement in Garnett, two local businessmen actually came to Houdini’s dressing room and offered him $25 if he would promise not to give any more séances in town. Perhaps they feared the skeletons in their closets might be rattled next.
It was the same at every stop for the rest of the tour. In Galena, before another packed audience at the local opera hall on January 9, 1898, Harry played the role of the medium. Prior to the show, a local tipster had told Houdini that a black man named Benny Carter had been murdered recently, and two of his associates, who were suspects in the killing, were actually in attendance. Later, during the séance, Houdini seized on the information.
“I’m getting a message now. I see coming before me, uh, it’s a man. A black man,” Houdini said, then paused dramatically, pawing at the air in front of him.
“He’s lame—and his throat is cut from ear to ear. Who can this be?”
He was almost screaming now.
“He says his name is Benny. Benny Carter.”
There was the sound of commotion from the gallery.
“He says that he has a message for Bill Doakes and Jim Saunders. He says, ‘Yo’ boys bettah put yo’ razors away, or yo’ is sho’ goin’ ter be where Ah is now.’ Are Bill Doakes and Jim Saunders present?” Houdini asked.
The hall was deathly silent. Then two men jumped up in the gallery and knocked some chairs over in their haste to make it to the exit.
“Yes, dey is here, but they ain’t staying,” someone yelled out.
By the beginning of February the Dr. Hill show had finished, and now Bess and Harry barnstormed the Midwest on their own. Houdini had made some good coin doing the Spiritualist séances, enough to buy himself a nice overcoat for $10, to spend $15 on a “fine red dress” for Bess, and to write in his diary that he “lived like a king.” There was even enough to deposit $100 cash on February 23, 1898 with L.A. Vories, the mayor of St. Joseph, Missouri, who was instructed to deliver said sum to “any person who can furnish or place upon him handcuffs from which he is unable to extricate himself or to so fasten him to a chair that he cannot release himself therefrom.” Bess was aghast—for one, she had no idea that he had saved up such a large sum of money. Then she felt it was reckless and rash to risk their nest egg on a challenge like that. She needn’t have worried. No one could defeat him, even though the mayor did hold the bankroll two extra weeks to see if there were any late challengers.
Houdini’s newfound affluence was solely due to his séance work. His legitimate shows weren’t setting the box offices on fire. So for the next few months he decided that he and Bess would set up in the medium business. For the blueprint he had only to consult his well-used copy of The Revelations of a Spirit Medium . From that book he learned of the existence of what was called “The Blue Book,” a central
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