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The Miracle Mongers, An Expose'
An Expose' by Harry Houdini
February, 1996 [Etext #435]
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MIRACLE MONGERS
AND THEIR METHODS
A COMPLETE EXPOSE' OF THE MODUS
OPERANDI OF FIRE EATERS, HEAT
RESISTERS, POISON EATERS, VENOMOUS
REPTILE DEFIERS, SWORD SWALLOWERS,
HUMAN OSTRICHES, STRONG MEN, ETC.
BY
HOUDINI
AUTHOR OF
``THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT HOUDIN,'' ETC.
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
TO MY LIFE'S HELPMATE,
WHO STARVED AND STARRED WITH ME
DURING THE YEARS WE SPENT
AMONG ``MIRACLE MONGERS''
My Wife
PREFACE
``All wonder,'' said Samuel Johnson, ``is the effect of novelty on ignorance.'' Yet we are so created that without something to wonder at we should find life scarcely worth living. That fact does not make ignorance bliss, or make it ``folly to be wise.'' For the wisest man never gets beyond the reach of novelty, nor can ever make it his boast that there is nothing he is ignorant of; on the contrary, the wiser he becomes the more clearly he sees how much there is of which he remains in ignorance. The more he knows, the more he will find to wonder at.
My professional life has been a constant
record of disillusion, and many things that
seem wonderful to most men are the every-day
commonplaces of my business. But I have
never been without some seeming marvel to
pique my curiosity and challenge my investigation.
In this book I have set down some of
the stories of strange folk and unusual
performers that I have gathered in many years
of such research.
Much has been written about the feats of
miracle-mongers, and not a little in the way
of explaining them. Chaucer was by no means
the first to turn shrewd eyes upon wonderworkers
and show the clay feet of these popular
idols. And since his time innumerable
marvels, held to be supernatural, have been
exposed for the tricks they were. Yet to-day,
if a mystifier lack the ingenuity to invent a
new and startling stunt, he can safely fall back
upon a trick that has been the favorite of
pressagents the world over in all ages. He can
imitate the Hindoo fakir who, having thrown
a rope high into the air, has a boy climb it until
he is lost to view. He can even have the feat
photographed. The camera will click; nothing
will appear on the developed film; and this,
the performer will glibly explain, ``proves''
that the whole company of onlookers was
hypnotized! And he can be certain of a very
profitable following to defend and advertise
him.
So I do not feel that I need to apologize for
adding another volume to the shelves of works
dealing with the marvels of the miraclemongers.
My business has given me an intimate
knowledge of stage illusions, together
with many years of experience among show
people of all types. My familiarity with the
former, and what I have learned of the
psychology of the latter, has placed me at a
certain advantage in uncovering the natural
explanation of feats that to the ignorant have
seemed supernatural. And even if my readers
are too well informed to be interested in my
descriptions of the methods of the various
performers who have seemed to me worthy of
attention in these pages, I hope they will find
some amusement in following the fortunes and
misfortunes of all manner of strange folk who
once bewildered the wise men of their day. If
I have accomplished that much, I shall feel
amply repaid for my labor.
HOUDINI.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. Fire worship.--Fire eating and heat resistance.--The Middle Ages.--Among the Navajo Indians.--Firewalkers of Japan.--The Fiery Ordeal of Fiji
II. Watton's Ship-swabber from the Indies.-Richardson, 1667.--De Heiterkeit, 1713.--Robert Powell, 1718-1780.--Dufour, 1783.--Quackensalber, 1794
III. The nineteenth century.--A ``Wonderful Phenomenon.''--``The Incombustible Spaniard, Senor Lionetto,'' 1803.--Josephine Girardelli, 1814.--John Brooks, 1817.--W. C. Houghton, 1832.--J. A. B. Chylinski, 1841.--Chamouni, the Russian Salamander, 1869.--Professor Rel Maeub, 1876. Rivelli (died 1900)
IV.--The Master--Chabert, 1792-1859
V. Fire-eating magicians. Ching Ling Foo and Chung
Ling Soo.--Fire-eaters employed by magicians:
The Man-Salamander, 1816.-Mr. Carlton,
Professor of Chemistry, 1818.--Miss Cassillis, aged
nine, 1820. The African Wonder, 1843.--Ling
Look and Yamadeva die in China during Kellar's
world tour, 1877.--Ling Look's double, 1879.--
Electrical effects, The Salambos.--Bueno Core.--Del
Kano.--Barnello.--Edwin Forrest as a heat-resister
--The Elder Sothern as a fire-eater.--The Twilight
of the Art
VI. The Arcana of the fire-eaters: The formula of Albertus Magnus.--Of Hocus Pocus.--Richardson's method.--Philopyraphagus Ashburniensis.--To breathe forth sparks, smoke and flames.--To spout natural gas.--Professor Sementini's discoveries.-- To bite off red-hot iron.--To cook in a burning cage. --Chabert's oven.--To eat coals of fire.--To drink burning oil.--To chew molten lead.--To chew burning brimstone.--To wreathe the face in flames. --To ignite paper with the breath.--To drink boiling liquor and eat flaming wax
VII. The spheroidal condition of liquids.--Why the hand may be dipped in molten metals.--Principles of heat resistance put to practical uses: Aldini, 1829.--In early fire-fighting.--Temperatures the body can endure
VIII. Sword-swallowers: Cliquot, Delno Fritz, Deodota, a razor-swallower, an umbrella-swallower, William Dempster, John Cumming, Edith Clifford, Victorina
IX. Stone-eaters: A Silesian in Prague, 1006; Francois Battalia, ca. 1641; Platerus' beggar boy; Father Paulian's lithophagus of Avignon, 1760; ``The Only One in the World,'' London, 1788; Spaniards in London, 1790; a secret for two and six; Japanese training.--Frog-swallowers: Norton; English Jack; Bosco; the snake-eater; Billington's prescription for hangmen; Captain Veitro.--Water spouters; Blaise Manfrede, ca. 1650; Floram Marchand, 1650
X. Defiers of poisonous reptiles: Thardo; Mrs. Learn, dealer in rattle-snakes.--Sir Arthur Thurlow Cunynghame on antidotes for snake-bite.--Jack the Viper.--William Oliver, 1735.--The advice of Cornelius Heinrich Agrippa, (1480-1535).--An Australian snake story.--Antidotes for various poisons
XI. Strongmen of the eighteenth century: Thomas Topham (died, 1749); Joyce, 1703; Van Eskeberg, 1718; Barsabas and his sister; The Italian Female Sampson, 1724; The ``little woman from Geneva,'' 1751; Belzoni, 1778-1823
XII. Contemporary strong people: Charles Jefferson; Louis Cyr; John Grun Marx; William Le Roy.-- The Nail King, The Human Claw-hammer; Alexander Weyer; Mexican Billy Wells; A foolhardy Italian; Wilson; Herman; Sampson; Sandow; Yucca; La Blanche; Lulu Hurst.--The Georgia Magnet, The Electric Girl, etc.; Annie Abbott; Mattie Lee Price.--The Twilight of the Freaks.-- The dime museums
CHAPTER ONE
FIRE WORSHIP.--FIRE EATING AND HEAT
RESISTANCE.--IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
--AMONG THE NAVAJO INDIANS.--
FIRE-WALKERS OF JAPAN.--THE FIERY
ORDEAL OF FIJI.
Fire has always been and, seemingly, will always remain, the most terrible of the elements. To the early tribes it must also have been the most mysterious; for, while earth and air and water were always in evidence, fire came and went in a manner which must have been quite unaccountable to them. Thus it naturally followed that the custom of deifying all things which the primitive mind was unable to grasp, led in direct line to the fireworship of later days.
That fire could be produced through friction
finally came into the knowledge of man, but
the early methods entailed much labor.
Consequently our ease-loving forebears cast about
for a method to ``keep the home fires burning''
and hit upon the plan of appointing a person
in each community who should at all times
carry a burning brand. This arrangement had
many faults, however, and after a while it was
superseded by the expedient of a fire kept
continually burning in a building erected for the
purpose.
The Greeks worshiped at an altar of this kind which they called the Altar of Hestia and which the Romans called the Altar of Vesta. The sacred fire itself was known as Vesta, and its burning was considered a proof of the presence of the goddess. The Persians had such a building in each town and village; and the Egyptians, such a fire in every temple; while the Mexicans, Natches, Peruvians and Mayas kept their ``national fires'' burning upon great pyramids. Eventually the keeping of such fires became a sacred rite, and the ``Eternal Lamps'' kept burning in synagogues and in Byzantine and Catholic churches may be a survival of these customs.
There is a theory that all architecture, public and private, sacred and profane, began with the erection of sheds to protect the sacred fire. This naturally led men to build for their own protection as well, and thus the family hearth had its genesis.
Another theory holds that the keepers of the sacred fires were the first public servants, and that from this small beginning sprang the intricate public service of the present.
The worship of the fire itself had been a legacy from the earliest tribes; but it remained for the Rosicrucians and the fire philosophers of the Sixteenth Century under the lead of Paracelsus to establish a concrete religious belief on that basis, finding in the Scriptures what seemed to them ample proof that fire was the symbol of the actual presence of God, as in all cases where He is said to have visited this earth. He came either in a flame of fire, or surrounded with glory, which they conceived to mean the same thing.
For example: when God appeared on Mount Sinai (Exod. xix, 18) ``The Lord descended upon it in fire.'' Moses, repeating this history, said: ``The Lord spake unto you out of the midst of fire'' (Deut. iv, 12). Again, when the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses out of the flaming bush, ``the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed'' (Exod. iii, 3). Fire from the Lord consumed the burnt offering of Aaron (Lev. ix, 24), the sacrifice of Gideon (Judg. vi, 21), the burnt offering of David (1 Chron. xxxi, 26), and that at the dedication of King Solomon's temple (Chron. vii, 1). And when Elijah made his sacrifice to prove that Baal was not God, ``the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust and the water that was in the trench.'' (1 Kings, xviii, 38.)
Since sacrifice had from the earliest days been considered as food offered to the gods, it was quite logical to argue that when fire from Heaven fell upon the offering, God himself was present and consumed His own. Thus the Paracelsists and other fire believers sought, and as they believed found, high authority for continuing a part of the fire worship of the early tribes.
The Theosophists, according to Hargrave Jennings in ``The Rosicrucians,'' called the soul a fire taken from the eternal ocean of light, and in common with other Fire-Philosophers believed that all knowable things, both of the soul and the body, were evolved out of fire and finally resolvable into it; and that fire was the last and only-to-be-known God.
In passing I might call attention to the fact that the Devil is supposed to dwell in the same element.
Some of the secrets of heat resistance as
practiced by the dime-museum and sideshow
performers of our time, secrets grouped under
the general title of ``Fire-eating,'' must have
been known in very early times. To quote
from Chambers' ``Book of Days'': ``In ancient
history we find several examples of people who
possessed the art of touching fire without being
burned. The Priestesses of Diana, at
Castabala, in Cappadocia, commanded public
veneration by walking over red-hot iron. The
Herpi, a people of Etruria, walked among
glowing embers at an annual festival held on
Mount Soracte, and thus proved their sacred
character, receiving certain privileges, among
others, exemption from military service, from
the Roman Senate. One of the most astounding
stories of antiquity is related in the `ZendaVesta,'
to the effect that Zoroaster, to confute
his calumniators, allowed fluid lead to be
poured over his body, without receiving any
injury.''
To me the ``astounding'' part of this story is not in the feat itself, for that is extremely easy to accomplish, but in the fact that the secret was known at such an early date, which the best authorities place at 500 to 1000 B.C.
It is said that the earliest recorded instance,
in our era, of ordeal by fire was in the fourth
century. Simplicius, Bishop of Autun, who
had been married before his promotion,
continued to live with his wife, and in order to
demonstrate the Platonic purity of their intercourse
placed burning coals upon their flesh
without injury.
That the clergy of the Middle Ages, who
caused accused persons to walk blindfold
among red-hot plowshares, or hold heated
irons in their hands, were in possession of the
secret of the trick, is shown by the fact that
after trial by ordeal had been abolished the
secret of their methods was published by
Albert, Count of Bollstadt, usually called
Albertus Magnus but sometimes Albertus
Teutonicus, a man distinguished by the range of
his inquiries and his efforts for the spread of
knowledge.
These secrets will be fully explained in the section of this history devoted to the Arcana of the Fire-Eaters (Chapter Six).
I take the following from the New York
Clipper-Annual of 1885:
The famous fire dance of the Navajo
Indians, often described as though it
involved some sort of genuine necromancy,
is explained by a matter-of-fact spectator.
It is true, he says, that the naked
worshipers cavort round a big bonfire, with
blazing faggots in their hands, and dash
the flames over their own and their fellows'
bodies, all in a most picturesque and
maniacal fashion; but their skins are first
so thickly coated with a clay paint that
they cannot easily be burned.
An illustrated article entitled Rites of the
Firewalking Fanatics of Japan, by W. C.
Jameson Reid, in the Chicago Sunday InterOcean
of September 27th, 1903, reveals so
splendid an example of the gullibility of the
well-informed when the most ordinary trick
is cleverly presented and surrounded with the
atmosphere of the occult, that I am impelled
to place before my readers a few illuminating
excerpts from Mr. Reid's narrative. This man
would, in all probability, scorn to spend a dime
to witness the performance of a fire-eater in
a circus sideshow; but after traveling half
round the world he pays a dollar and spends
an hour's time watching the fanatical incantations
of the solemn little Japanese priests for
the sake of seeing the ``Hi-Wattarai''--which
is merely the stunt of walking over hot coals
--and he then writes it down as the ``eighth
wonder of the world,'' while if he had taken
the trouble to give the matter even the most
superficial investigation, he could have
discovered that the secret of the trick had been
made public centuries before.
Mr. Reid is authority for the statement that
the Shintoist priests' fire-walking rites have
``long been one of the puzzling mysteries of
the scientific world,'' and adds ``If you ever
are in Tokio, and can find a few minutes to
spare, by all means do not neglect witnessing
at least one performance of `Hi-Wattarai'
(fire walking, and that is really what takes
place), for, if you are of that incredulous
nature which laughs with scorn at so-called
Eastern mysticism, you will come away, as has
many a visitor before you, with an impression
sufficient to last through an ordinary lifetime.''
Further on he says ``If you do not come away
convinced that you have been witness of a
spectacle which makes you disbelieve the evidence
of your own eyes and your most matterof
-fact judgment, then you are a man of
stone.'' All of which proves nothing more
than that Mr. Reid was inclined to make
positive statements about subjects in which he
knew little or nothing.
He tells us further that formerly this rite was performed only in the spring and fall, when, beside the gratuities of the foreigners, the native worshipers brought ``gifts of wine, large trays of fish, fruit, rice cakes, loaves, vegetables, and candies.'' Evidently the combination of box-office receipts with donation parties proved extremely tempting to the thrifty priests, for they now give what might be termed a ``continuous performance.''
Those who have read the foregoing pages will apply a liberal sprinkling of salt to the solemn assurance of Mr. Reid, advanced on the authority of Jinrikisha boys, that ``for days beforehand the priests connected with the temple devote themselves to fasting and prayer to prepare for the ordeal. . . . The performance itself usually takes place in the late afternoon during twilight in the temple court, the preceding three hours being spent by the priests in final outbursts of prayer before the unveiled altar in the inner sanctuary of the little matted temple, and during these invocations no visitors are allowed to enter the sacred precincts.''
Mr. Reid's description of the fire walking itself may not be out of place; it will show that the Japs had nothing new to offer aside from the ritualistic ceremonials with which they camouflaged the hocus-pocus of the performance, which is merely a survival of the ordeal by fire of earlier religions.
``Shortly before 5 o'clock the priests filed from before the altar into some interior apartments, where they were to change their beautiful robes for the coarser dress worn during the fire walking. In the meantime coolies had been set to work in the courtyard to ignite the great bed of charcoal, which had already been laid. The dimensions of this bed were about twelve feet by four, and, perhaps, a foot deep. On the top was a quantity of straw and kindling wood, which was lighted, and soon burst into a roaring blaze. The charcoal became more and more thoroughly ignited until the whole mass glowed in the uncertain gloom, like some gigantic and demoniacal eye of a modern Prometheus. As soon as the mass of charcoal was thoroughly ignited from top to bottom, a small gong in the temple gave notice that the wonderful spectacle of `Hi-Wattarai' was about to begin.
``Soon two of the priests came out, said prayers of almost interminable length at a tiny shrine in the corner of the enclosure, and turned their attention to the fire. Taking long poles and fans from the coolies, they poked and encouraged the blaze till it could plainly be seen that the coal was ignited throughout. The whole bed was a glowing mass, and the heat which rose from it was so intense that we found it uncomfortable to sit fifteen feet away from it without screening our faces with fans. Then they began to pound it down more solidly along the middle; as far as possible inequalities in its surface were beaten down, and the coals which protruded were brushed aside.''
There follows a long and detailed description of further ceremonies, the receiving of gifts, etc., which need not be repeated here. Now for the trick itself.
``One of the priests held a pile of white powder on a small wooden stand. This was said to be salt--which in Japan is credited with great cleansing properties--but as far as could be ascertained by superficial examination it was a mixture of alum and salt. He stood at one end of the fire-bed and poised the wooden tray over his head, and then sprinkled a handful of it on the ground before the glowing bed of coals. At the same time another priest who stood by him chanted a weird recitative of invocation and struck sparks from flint and steel which he held in his hands. This same process was repeated by both the priests at the other end, at the two sides, and at the corners.
``Ten minutes, more or less, was spent in various movements and incantations about the bed of coals. At the end of that time two small pieces of wet matting were brought out and placed at either end and a quantity of the white mixture was placed upon them. At a signal from the head priest, who acted as master of ceremonies during the curious succeeding function, the ascetics who were to perform the first exhibition of fire-walking gathered at one end of the bed of coals, which by this time was a fierce and glowing furnace.
``Having raised both his hands and prostrated
himself to render thanks to the god who
had taken out the `soul' of the fire, the priest
about to undergo the ordeal stood upon the
wet matting, wiped his feet lightly in the white
mixture, and while we held our breaths, and
our eyes almost leaped from their sockets in
awe-struck astonishment, he walked over the
glowing mass as unconcernedly as if treading
on a carpet in a drawing-room, his feet coming
in contact with the white hot coals at every
step. He did not hurry or take long steps,
but sauntered along with almost incredible
sang-froid, and before he reached the opposite
side he turned around and sauntered as
carelessly back to the mat from which he had
started.''
The story goes on to tell how the performance
was repeated by the other priests, and
then by many of the native audience; but none
of the Europeans tried it, although invited to
do so. Mr. Reid's closing statement is that
``no solution of the mystery can be gleaned,
even from high scientific authorities who have
witnessed and closely studied the physical
features of these remarkable Shinto fire-walking
rites.'' Many who are confronted with something
that they cannot explain take refuge in
the claim that it puzzles the scientists too. As
a matter of fact, at the time Mr. Reid wrote,
such scientists as had given the subject serious
study were pretty well posted on the methods
involved.
An article under the title The Fiery Ordeal of Fiji, by Maurice Delcasse, appeared in the Wide World Magazine for May, 1898. From Mr. Delcasse's account it appears that the Fijian ordeal is practically the same as that of the Japanese, as described by Mr. Reid, except that there is very little ceremony surrounding it. The people of Fiji until a comparatively recent date were cannibals; but their islands are now British possessions, most of the natives are Christians, and most of their ancient customs have become obsolete, from which I deduce that the fire-walking rites described in this article must have been performed by natives who had retained their old religious beliefs.
The ordeal takes place on the Island of Benga, which is near Suva, the capital of Fiji, and which, Mr. Delcasse says, ``was the supposed residence of some of the old gods of Fiji, and was, therefore, considered a sacred land.'' Instead of walking on the live coals, as the Japanese priests do, the Fijians walk on stones that have been brought to a white heat in a great fire of logs.
The familiar claim is made that the
performance puzzles scientists, and that no
satisfactory solution has yet been discovered. We
are about to see that for two or three hundred
years the same claims have been made by a
long line of more or less clever public
performers in Europe and America.
CHAPTER TWO
WATTON'S SHIP-SWABBER ``FROM THE
INDIES.''--RICHARDSON, 1667--DE
HEITERKEIT, 1713.--ROBERT POWELL, 1718-
1780.--DUFOUR, 1783.--QUACKENSALBER, 1794.
The earliest mention I have found of a public
fire-eater in England is in the correspondence
of Sir Henry Watton, under date of
June 3rd, 1633. He speaks of an Englishman
``like some swabber of a ship, come from the
Indies, where he has learned to eat fire as
familiarly as ever I saw any eat cakes, even
whole glowing brands, which he will crush with
his teeth and swallow.'' This was shown in
London for two pence.
The first to attract the attention of the upper classes, however, was one Richardson, who appeared in France in the year 1667 and enjoyed a vogue sufficient to justify the record of his promise in the Journal des Savants. Later on he came to London, and John Evelyn, in his diary, mentions him under date of October 8th, 1672, as follows:
I took leave of my Lady Sunderland,
who was going to Paris to my Lord, now
Ambassador there. She made me stay
dinner at Leicester House, and afterwards
sent for Richardson, the famous fire-eater.
He devoured brimstone on glowing coals
before us, chewing and swallowing them;
he melted a beere-glass and eate it quite up;
then taking a live coale on his tongue he
put on it a raw oyster; the coal was blown
on with bellows till it flamed and sparkled
in his mouthe, and so remained until the
oyster gaped and was quite boil'd.
Then he melted pitch and wax with
sulphur, which he drank down as it flamed:
I saw it flaming in his mouthe a good while;
he also took up a thick piece of iron, such
as laundresses use to put in their smoothingboxes,
when it was fiery hot, held it
between his teeth, then in his hand, and
threw it about like a stone; but this I
observ'd he cared not to hold very long.
Then he stoode on a small pot, and, bending
his body, tooke a glowing iron with
his mouthe from betweene his feete, without
touching the pot or ground with his
hands, with divers other prodigious feats.
The secret methods employed by Richardson were disclosed by his servant, and this publicity seems to have brought his career to a sudden close; at least I have found no record of his subsequent movements.
About 1713 a fire-eater named De Heiterkeit, a native of Annivi, in Savoy, flourished for a time in London. He performed five times a day at the Duke of Marlborough's Head, in Fleet Street, the prices being half-a-crown, eighteen pence and one shilling.
According to London Tit-Bits, ``De Heiterkeit had the honor of exhibiting before Louis XIV., the Emperor of Austria, the King of Sicily and the Doge of Venice, and his name having reached the Inquisition, that holy office proposed experimenting on him to find out whether he was fireproof externally as well as internally. He was preserved from this unwelcome ordeal, however, by the interference of the Duchess Royal, Regent of Savoy.''
His programme did not differ materially from that of his predecessor, Richardson, who had antedated him by nearly fifty years.
By far the most famous of the early fireeaters
was Robert Powell, whose public career
extended over a period of nearly sixty years,
and who was patronized by the English peerage.
It was mainly through the instrumentality
of Sir Hans Sloane that, in 1751, the Royal
Society presented Powell a purse of gold and
a large silver medal.
Lounger's Commonplace Book says of
Powell: ``Such is his passion for this terrible
element, that if he were to come hungry into
your kitchen, while a sirloin was roasting, he
would eat up the fire and leave the beef. It
is somewhat surprising that the friends of REAL
MERIT have not yet promoted him, living as we
do in an age favorable to men of genius.
Obliged to wander from place to place, instead
of indulging himself in private with his
favorite dish, he is under the uncomfortable
necessity of eating in public, and helping
himself from the kitchen fire of some paltry alehouse
in the country.''
His advertisements show that he was before the public from 1718 to 1780. One of his later advertisements runs as follows:
SUM SOLUS
Please observe that there are two
different performances the same evening,
which will be performed by the famous
MR. POWELL, FIRE-EATER, FROM
LONDON:
who has had the honor to exhibit, with
universal applause, the most surprising
performances that were ever attempted by
mankind, before His Royal Highness
William, late Duke of Cumberland, at
Windsor Lodge, May 7th, 1752; before
His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester,
at Gloucester House, January 30th,
1769; before His Royal Highness the
present Duke of Cumberland, at Windsor
Lodge, September 25th, 1769; before Sir
Hans Sloane and several of the Royal
Society, March 4th, 1751, who made Mr.
Powell a compliment of a purse of gold,
and a fine large silver medal, which the
curious may view by applying to him; and
before most of the Nobility and Quality in
the Kingdom.
He intends to sup on the following
articles: 1. He eats red-hot coals out of
the fire as natural as bread. 2. He licks
with his naked tongue red-hot tobacco
pipes, flaming with brimstone. 3. He
takes a large bunch of deal matches, lights
them altogether; and holds them in his
mouth till the flame is extinguished. 4.
He takes a red-hot heater out of the fire,
licks it with his naked tongue several
times, and carries it around the room
between his teeth. 5. He fills his mouth with
red-hot charcoal, and broils a slice of beef
or mutton upon his tongue, and any person
may blow the fire with a pair of bellows
at the same time. 6. He takes a
quantity of resin, pitch, bees'-wax, sealingwax,
brimstone, alum, and lead, melts
them all together over a chafing-dish of
coals, and eats the same combustibles with
a spoon, as if it were a porringer of broth
(which he calls his dish of soup), to the
great and agreeable surprise of the
spectators; with various other extraordinary
performances never attempted by any
other person of this age, and there is
scarce a possibility ever will; so that those
who neglect this opportunity of seeing the
wonders performed by this artist, will lose
the sight of the most amazing exhibition
ever done by man.
The doors to be opened by six and he
sups precisely at seven o'clock, without
any notice given by sound of trumpet.
If gentry do not choose to come at seven o'clock, no performance.
Prices of admission to ladies and gentlemen,
one shilling. Back Seats for Children
and Servants, six pence.
Ladies and children may have a private
performance any hour of the day, by giving
previous notice.
N. B.--He displaces teeth or stumps so
easily as to scarce be felt. He sells a
chemical liquid which discharges inflammation,
scalds, and burns, in a short time,
and is necessary to be kept in all families.
His stay in this place will be but short, not exceeding above two or three nights.
Good fire to keep the gentry warm.
This shows how little advance had been made
in the art in a century. Richardson had presented
practically the same programme a hundred
years before. Perhaps the exposure of
Richardson's method by his servant put an
end to fire-eating as a form of amusement for
a long time, or until the exposure had been
forgotten by the public. Powell himself,
though not proof against exposure, seems to
have been proof against its effects, for he kept
on the even tenor of his way for sixty years,
and at the end of his life was still exhibiting.
Whatever the reason, the eighteenth century
fire-eaters, like too many magicians of the
present day, kept to the stereotyped
programmes of their predecessors. A very few
did, however, step out of the beaten track and,
by adding new tricks and giving a new dress
to old ones, succeeded in securing a following
that was financially satisfactory.
In this class a Frenchman by the name of Dufour deserves special mention, from the fact that he was the first to introduce comedy into an act of this nature. He made his bow in Paris in 1783, and is said to have created quite a sensation by his unusual performance. I am indebted to Martin's Naturliche Magie, 1792, for a very complete description of the work of this artist.
Dufour made use of a portable building,
which was specially adapted to his purposes,
and his table was spread as if for a banquet,
except that the edibles were such as his
performance demanded. He employed a trumpeter
and a tambour player to furnish music
for his repast--as well as to attract public
attention. In addition to fire-eating, Dufour
gave exhibitions of his ability to consume
immense quantities of solid food, and he
displayed an appetite for live animals, reptiles,
and insects that probably proved highly
entertaining to the not overrefined taste of the
audiences of his day. He even advertised a
banquet of which the public was invited to
partake at a small fee per plate, but since the
menu consisted of the delicacies just described,
his audiences declined to join him at table.
His usual bill-of-fare was as follows:
Soup--boiling tar torches, glowing coals and small, round, super-heated stones.
The roast, when Dufour was really hungry, consisted of twenty pounds of beef or a whole calf. His hearth was either the flat of his hand or his tongue. The butter in which the roast was served was melted brimstone or burning wax. When the roast was cooked to suit him he ate coals and roast together.
As a dessert he would swallow the knives and forks, glasses, and the earthenware dishes.
He kept his audience in good humor by
presenting all this in a spirit of crude comedy
and, to increase the comedy element, he
introduced a number of trained cats. Although
the thieving proclivities of cats are well known,
Dufour's pets showed no desire to share his
repast, and he had them trained to obey his
commands during mealtime. At the close of
the meal he would become violently angry with
one of them, seize the unlucky offender, tear
it limb from limb and eat the carcass. One
of his musicians would then beg him to produce
the cat, dead or alive. In order to do this
he would go to a nearby horse-trough and
drink it dry; would eat a number of pounds
of soap, or other nauseating substance, clowning
it in a manner to provoke amusement instead
of disgust; and, further to mask the
disagreeable features--and also, no doubt, to
conceal the trick--would take the cloth from
the table and cover his face; whereupon he
would bring forth the swallowed cat, or one
that looked like it, which would howl piteously
and seem to struggle wildly while being
disgorged. When freed, the poor cat would rush
away among the spectators.
Dufour gave his best performances in the evening, as he could then show his hocus-pocus to best advantage. At these times he appeared with a halo of fire about his head.
His last appearance in Paris was most
remarkable. The dinner began with a soup of
asps in simmering oil. On each side was a
dish of vegetables, one containing thistles and
burdocks, and the other fuming acid. Other
side dishes, of turtles, rats, bats and moles,
were garnished with live coals. For the fish
course he ate a dish of snakes in boiling tar
and pitch. His roast was a screech owl in a
sauce of glowing brimstone. The salad proved
to be spider webs full of small explosive squibs,
a plate of butterfly wings and manna worms,
a dish of toads surrounded with flies, crickets,
grasshoppers, church beetles, spiders, and
caterpillars. He washed all this down with
flaming brandy, and for dessert ate the four
large candles standing on the table, both of
the hanging side lamps with their contents,
and finally the large center lamp, oil, wick and
all. This leaving the room in darkness,
Dufour's face shone out in a mask of living flames.
A dog had come in with a farmer, who was probably a confederate, and now began to bark. Since Dufour could not quiet him, he seized him, bit off his head and swallowed it, throwing the body aside. Then ensued a comic scene between Dufour and the farmer, the latter demanding that his dog be brought to life, which threw the audience into paroxysms of laughter. Then suddenly candles reappeared and seemed to light themselves. Dufour made a series of hocus-pocus passes over the dog's body; then the head suddenly appeared in its proper place, and the dog, with a joyous yelp, ran to his master.
Notwithstanding the fact that Dufour must
have been by all odds the best performer of his
time, I do not find reference to him in any
other authority. But something of his originality
appeared in the work of a much humbler
practitioner, contemporary or very nearly
contemporary with him.
We have seen that Richardson, Powell,
Dufour, and generally the better class of fireeaters
were able to secure select audiences and
even to attract the attention of scientists in
England and on the Continent. But many of
their effects had been employed by mountebanks
and street fakirs since the earliest days
of the art, and this has continued until
comparatively recent times.
In Naturliche Magie, in 1794, Vol. VI, page
111, I find an account of one Quackensalber,
who gave a new twist to the fire-eating industry
by making a ``High Pitch'' at the fairs and
on street corners and exhibiting feats of fireresistance,
washing his hands and face in
melted tar, pitch and brimstone, in order to
attract a crowd. He then strove to sell them a
compound--composed of fish glue, alum and
brandy--which he claimed would cure burns in
two or three hours. He demonstrated that this
mixture was used by him in his heat resistance:
and then, doubtless, some ``capper'' started the
ball rolling, and Herr Quackensalber (his
name indicates a seller of salves) reaped a
good harvest.
I have no doubt but that even to-day a clever performer with this ``High Pitch'' could do a thriving business in that overgrown country village, New York. At any rate there is the so-called, ``King of Bees,'' a gentleman from Pennsylvania, who exhibits himself in a cage of netting filled with bees, and then sells the admiring throng a specific for bee-stings and the wounds of angry wasps. Unfortunately the only time I ever saw his majesty, some of his bee actors must have forgotten their lines, for he was thoroughly stung.
CHAPTER THREE
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.--A ``WONDERFUL
PHENOMENON.''--``THE INCOMBUSTIBLE
SPANIARD, SENOR LIONETTO,'' 1803.
--JOSEPHINE GIRARDELLI, 1814.--JOHN
BROOKS, 1817.--W. C. HOUGHTON, 1832.
--J. A. B. CHYLINSKI, 1841.--CHAMOUNI,
THE RUSSIAN SALAMANDER, 1869.-- PROFESSOR
REL MAEUB, 1876.--RIVALLI (died 1900).
In the nineteenth century by far the most distinguished heat-resister was Chabert, who deserves and shall have a chapter to himself. He commenced exhibiting about 1818, but even earlier in the century certain obscurer performers had anticipated some of his best effects. Among my clippings, for instance, I find the following. I regret that I cannot give the date, but it is evident from the long form of the letters that it was quite early. This is the first mention I have found of the hot-oven effect afterwards made famous by Chabert.
WONDERFUL PHENOMENON
A correspondent in France writes as
follows: ``Paris has, for some days, rung
with relations of the wonderful exploits
of a Spaniard in that city, who is endowed
with qualities by which he resists the
action of very high degrees of heat, as well
as the influence of strong chemical
reagents. Many histories of the trials to
which he has been submitted before a
Commission of the Institute and Medical
School, have appeared in the public papers;
but the public waits with impatience
for the report to be made in the name of
the Commission by Professor Pinel.
The subject of these trials is a young
man, a native of Toledo, in Spain, 23
years of age, and free of any apparent
peculiarities which can announce anything
remarkable in the organization of his
skin; after examination, one would be
rather disposed to conclude a peculiar
softness than that any hardness or thickness
of the cuticle existed, either naturally
or from mechanical causes. Nor was there
any circumstance to indicate that the
person had been previously rubbed with any
matter capable of resisting the operation
of the agents with which he was brought
in contact.
This man bathed for the space of five
minutes, and without any injury to his
sensibility or the surface of the skin, his
legs in oil, heated at 97 degrees of Reaumur (250
degrees of Fahrenheit) and with the same
oil, at the same degree of heat, he washed
his face and superior extremities. He
held, for the same space of time, and with
as little inconvenience, his legs in a
solution of muriate of soda, heated to 102 of
the same scale, (261 1/2 degrees Fahr.) He stood
on and rubbed the soles of his feet with a
bar of hot iron heated to a white heat; in
this state he held the iron in his hands and
rubbed the surface of his tongue.
He gargled his mouth with concentrated
sulphuric and nitric acids, without
the smallest injury or discoloration; the
nitric acid changed the cuticle to a yellow
color; with the acids in this state he
rubbed his hands and arms. All these
experiments were continued long enough to
prove their inefficiency to produce any
impression. It is said, on unquestionable
authority, that he remained a considerable
time in an oven heated to 65 degrees or 70
degrees, (178-189 degrees Fahr.) and from
which he was with difficulty induced to retire,
so comfortable did he feel at that high
temperature.
It may be proper to remark, that this
man seems totally uninfluenced by any
motive to mislead, and, it is said, he has
refused flattering offers from some
religious sectaries of turning to emolument
his singular qualities; yet on the whole it
seems to be the opinion of most philosophical
men, that this person must possess
some matter which counteracts the operation
of these agents. To suppose that nature
has organized him differently, would
be unphilosophic: by habit he might have
blunted his sensibilities against those
impressions that create pain under ordinary
circumstances; but how to explain the
power by which he resists the action of
those agents which are known to have the
strongest affinity for animal matter, is a
circumstance difficult to comprehend. It
has not failed, however, to excite the wonder
of the ignorant and the inquiry of the
learned at Paris.''
This ``Wonderful Phenomenon'' may have
been ``the incombustible Spaniard, Senor
Lionetto,'' whom the London Mirror mentions
as performing in Paris in 1803 ``where he
attracted the particular attention of Dr.
Sementeni, Professor of Chemistry, and other
scientific gentlemen of that city. It appears
that a considerable vapor and smell rose from
parts of his body when the fire and heated
substances were applied, and in this he seems
to differ from the person now in this country.''
The person here referred to was M. Chabert.
Dr. Sementeni became so interested in the subject that he made a series of experiments upon himself, and these were finally crowned with success. His experiments will receive further attention in the chapter ``The Arcana of the Fire-Eaters.''
A veritable sensation was created in
England in the year 1814 by Senora Josephine
Girardelli, who was heralded as having ``just
arrived from the Continent, where she had the
honor of appearing before most of the crowned
heads of Europe.'' She was first spoken of
as German, but afterwards proved to be of
Italian birth.
Entering a field of endeavor which had
heretofore been exclusively occupied by the sterner
sex, this lady displayed a taste for hot meals
that would seem to recommend her as a matrimonial
venture. Like all the earlier exploiters
of the devouring element, she was proclaimed
as ``The Great Phenomena of Nature''--why
the plural form was used does not appear--
and, doubtless, her feminine instincts led her
to impart a daintiness to her performance
which must have appealed to the better class
of audience in that day.
The portrait that adorned her first English
handbill, which I produce from the Picture
Magazine, was engraved by Page and published
by Smeeton, St. Martins Lane, London.
It is said to be a faithful representation of
her stage costume and setting.
Richardson, of Bartholomew Fair fame,
who was responsible for the introduction of
many novelties, first presented Girardelli to
an English audience at Portsmouth, where her
success was so pronounced that a London
appearance was arranged for the same year; and
at Mr. Laston's rooms, 23 New Bond Street,
her performance attracted the most fashionable
metropolitan audiences for a considerable
time. Following this engagement she
appeared at Richardson's Theater, at Bartholomew
Fair, and afterwards toured England
in the company of Signor Germondi, who
exhibited a troupe of wonderful trained dogs.
One of the canine actors was billed as the
``Russian Moscow Fire Dog, an animal
unknown in this country, (and never exhibited
before) who now delights in that element, having
been trained for the last six months at very
great expense and fatigue.''
Whether Girardelli accumulated sufficient
wealth to retire or became discouraged by the
exposure of her methods cannot now be
determined, but after she had occupied a prominent
position in the public eye and the public
prints for a few seasons she dropped out of
sight, and I have been unable to find where
or how she passed the later years of her life.
I am even more at a loss concerning her contemporary, John Brooks, of whom I have no other record than the following letter, which appears in the autobiography of the famous author-actor-manager, Thomas Dibdin, of the Theaters Royal, Covent Garden, Drury Lane, Haymarket and others. This one communication, however, absolves of any obligation to dig up proofs of John Brooks' versatility: he admits it himself.
To Mr. T. Dibdin, Esq. Pripetor of the Royal Circus.
May 1st, 1817. Sir:
I have taken the Liberty of Riting those
few lines to ask you the favour if a Greeable
for me to Come to your House, as i
Can do a great many different things i
Can Sing a good Song and i Can Eat Boiling
hot Lead and Rub my naked arms
With a Red hot Poker and Stand on a
Red hot sheet of iron, and do Diferent
other things.--Sir i hope you Will Excuse
me in Riting I do not Want any thing
for my Performing for i have Got a
Business that will Sirport me I only want to
pass a Way 2 or 3 Hours in the Evening.
Sir i hope you Will Send me an Answer
Weather Agreeple or not.
I am your Humble Servant,
J. B.
Direct to me No. 4 fox and Knot Court
King Street Smithfield.
JOHN BROOKS.
We shall let this versatile John Brooks close
the pre-Chabert record and turn our attention
to the fire-eaters of Chabert's day. Imitation
may be the sincerest flattery, but in most cases
the victim of the imitation, it is safe to say,
will gladly dispense with that form of adulation.
When Chabert first came to America
and gave fresh impetus to the fire-eating art
by the introduction of new and startling
material, he was beset by many imitators, or--
as they probably styled themselves--rivals,
who immediately proceeded, so far as in them
lay, to out-Chabert Chabert.
One of the most prominent of these was a man named W. C. Houghton, who claimed to have challenged Chabert at various times. In a newspaper advertisement in Philadelphia, where he was scheduled to give a benefit performance on Saturday evening, February 4th, 1832, he practically promised to expose the method of poison eating. Like that of all exposers, however, his vogue was of short duration, and very little can be found about this super-Chabert except his advertisements. The following will serve as a sample of them:
ARCH STREET THEATRE
BENEFIT
OF THE AMERICAN FIRE KING
A CARD.--W. C. Houghton, has the
honor to announce to the ladies and
gentlemen of Philadelphia, that his
BENEFIT will take place at the ARCH
STREET THEATRE, on Saturday evening
next, 4th February, when will be
presented a variety of entertainments aided
by the whole strength of the company.
Mr. H. in addition to his former
experiments will exhibit several fiery feats,
pronounced by Mons. Chabert an
IMPOSSIBILITY. He will give a COMPLETE
explanation by illustrations of the
PRINCIPLES of the EUROPEAN and the
AMERICAN CHESS PLAYERS. He
will also (unless prevented by indisposition)
swallow a sufficient quantity of phosphorus,
(presented by either chemist or
druggist of this city) to destroy THE LIFE
OF ANY INDIVIDUAL. Should he not feel
disposed to take the poison, he will
satisfactorily explain to the audience the
manner it may be taken without injury.
In our next chapter we shall see how it went with others who challenged Chabert.
A Polish athlete, J. A. B. Chylinski by name, toured Great Britain and Ireland in 1841, and presented a more than usually diversified entertainment. Being gifted by nature with exceptional bodily strength, and trained in gymnastics, he was enabled to present a mixed programme, combining his athletics with feats of strength, fire-eating, poison-swallowing, and fire-resistance.
In The Book of Wonderful Characters,
published in 1869 by John Camden Hotten, London,
I find an account of Chamouni, the Russian
Salamander: ``He was insensible, for a
given time, to the effects of heat. He was
remarkable for the simplicity and singleness
of his character, as well as for that idiosyncrasy
in his constitution, which enabled him
for so many years, not merely to brave the
effects of fire, but to take a delight in an
element where other men find destruction. He
was above all artifice, and would often entreat
his visitors to melt their own lead, or boil their
own mercury, that they might be perfectly
satisfied of the gratification he derived from
drinking these preparations. He would also
present his tongue in the most obliging manner
to all who wished, to pour melted lead upon
it and stamp an impression of their seals.''
A fire-proof billed as Professor Rel Maeub, was on the programme at the opening of the New National Theater, in Philadelphia, Pa., in the spring of 1876. If I am not mistaken the date was April 25th. He called himself ``The Great Inferno Fire-King,'' and his novelty consisted in having a strip of wet carpeting running parallel to the hot iron plates on which he walked barefoot, and stepping on it occasionally and back onto the hot iron, when a loud hissing and a cloud of steam bore ample proof of the high temperature of the metal.
One of the more recent fireproofs was
Eugene Rivalli, whose act included, besides the
usual effects, a cage of fire in which he stood
completely surrounded by flames. Rivalli,
whose right name was John Watkins, died in
1900, in England. He had appeared in Great
Britain and Ireland as well as on the Continent
during the later years of the 19th century.
The cage of fire has been used by a number
of Rivalli's followers also, and the reader will
find a full explanation of the methods
employed for it in the chapter devoted to the
Arcana of the Fire-eaters, to which we shall
come when we have recorded the work of the
master Chabert, the history of some of the
heat-resisters featured on magicians'
programmes, particularly in our own day, and the
interest taken in this art by performers whose
chief distinction was won in other fields, as
notably Edwin Forrest and the elder Sothern.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE MASTER--CHABERT, 1792-1859.
Ivan Ivanitz Chabert, the only
Really Incombustible Phenomenon, as he
was billed abroad, or J. Xavier Chabert, A.M.,
M.D., etc., as he was afterwards known in this
country, was probably the most notable, and
certainly the most interesting, character in
the history of fire-eating, fire-resistance, and
poison eating. He was the last prominent figure
in the long line of this type of artists to appeal
to the better classes and to attract the attention
of scientists, who for a considerable period
treated his achievements more or less seriously.
Henry Evanion gave me a valuable collection
of Chabert clippings, hand-bills, etc., and
related many interesting incidents in connection
with this man of wonders.
It seems quite impossible for me to write of any historical character in Magic or its allied arts without recalling my dear old friend Evanion, who introduced me to a throng of fascinating characters, with each of whom he seemed almost as familiar as if they had been daily companions.
Subsequently I discovered an old engraving
of Chabert, published in London in 1829, and
later still another which bore the change of
name, as well as the titles enumerated above.
The latter was published in New York, September,
1836, and bore the inscription: ``One
of the most celebrated Chemists, Philosophers,
and Physicians of the present day.'' These
discoveries, together with a clue from Evanion,
led to further investigations, which resulted in
the interesting discovery that this one-time
Bartholomew Fair entertainer spent the last
years of his life in New York City. He resided
here for twenty-seven years and lies
buried in the beautiful Cypress Hills Cemetery,
quite forgotten by the man on the street.
Nearby is the grave of good old Signor Blitz, and not far away is the plot that holds all that is mortal of my beloved parents. When I finally break away from earthly chains and restraints, I hope to be placed beside them.
During my search for data regarding Chabert I looked in the telephone book for a possible descendant. By accident I picked up the Suburban instead of the Metropolitan edition, and there I found a Victor E. Chabert living at Allenhurst, N. J. I immediately got into communication with him and found that he was a grandson of the Fire King, but he could give me no more information than I already possessed, which I now spread before my readers.
M. Chabert was a son of Joseph and Therese Julienne Chabert. He was born on May 10th, 1792, at Avignon, France.
Chabert was a soldier in the Napoleonic wars, was exiled to Siberia and escaped to England. His grandson has a bronze Napoleon medal which was presented to Chabert, presumably for valor on the field of battle. Napoleon was exiled in 1815 and again three years later. Chabert first attracted public notice in Paris, at which time his demonstrations of heat-resistance were sufficiently astonishing to merit the attention of no less a body than the National Institute.
To the more familiar feats of his predecessors he added startling novelties in the art of heat-resistance, the most spectacular being that of entering a large iron cabinet, which resembled a common baker's oven, heated to the usual temperature of such ovens. He carried in his hand a leg of mutton and remained until the meat was thoroughly cooked. Another thriller involved standing in a flaming tar-barrel until it was entirely consumed around him.
In 1828, Chabert gave a series of performances
at the Argyle Rooms in London, and
created a veritable sensation. A correspondent
in the London Mirror has this to say of
Chabert's work at that time: ``Of M. Chabert's
wonderful power of withstanding the operation
of the fiery element, it is in the recollection
of the writer of witnessing, some few years
back, this same individual (in connection with
the no-less fire-proof Signora Girardelli)
exhibiting `extraordinary proofs of his
supernatural power of resisting the most intense
heat of every kind.' Since which an IMPROVEMENT
of a more formidable nature has to our
astonished fancy been just demonstrated. In
the newspapers of the past week it is reported
that he, in the first instance, refreshed himself
with a hearty meal of phosphorus, which
was, at his own request, supplied to him very
liberally by several of his visitors, who were
previously unacquainted with him. He washed
down (they say) this infernal fare with
solutions of arsenic and oxalic acid; thus throwing
into the background the long-established fame
of Mithridates. He next swallowed with great
gout, several spoonfuls of boiling oil; and, as
a dessert to this delicate repast, helped himself
with his naked hands to a considerable
quantity of molten lead. The experiment,
however, of entering into a hot oven, together with
a quantity of meat, sufficient, when cooked, to
regale those of his friends who were specially
invited to witness his performance, was the
chef-d'oeuvre of the day. Having ordered
three fagots of wood, which is the quantity
generally used by bakers, to be thrown into
the oven, and they being set on fire, twelve
more fagots of the same size were subsequently
added to them, which being all consumed by
three o'clock, M. Chabert entered the oven with
a dish of raw meat, and when it was sufficiently
done he handed it out, took in another, and
remained therein until the second quantity was
also well cooked; he then came out of the oven,
and sat down, continues the report, to partake,
with a respectable assembly of friends, of
those viands he had so closely attended during
the culinary process. Publicly, on a subsequent
day, and in an oven 6 feet by 7, and at
a heat of about 220, he remained till a steak
was properly done, and again returned to his
fiery den and continued for a period of thirty
minutes, in complete triumph over the power
of an element so much dreaded by humankind,
and so destructive to animal nature. It has
been properly observed, that there are
preparations which so indurate the cuticle, as to
render it insensible to the heat of either boiling
oil or melted lead; and the fatal qualities
of certain poisons may be destroyed, if the
medium through which they are imbibed, as
we suppose to be the case here, is a strong
alkali. Many experiments, as to the extent to
which the human frame could bear heat, without
the destruction of the vital powers, have
been tried from time to time; but so far as
recollection serves, Monsieur Chabert's fireresisting
qualities are greater than those
professed by individuals who, before him, have
undergone this species of ordeal.''
It was announced some time ago, in one of
the French journals, that experiments had
been tried with a female, whose fire-standing
qualities had excited great astonishment. She,
it appears, was placed in a heated oven, into
which live dogs, cats, and rabbits were
conveyed. The poor animals died in a state of
convulsion almost immediately, while the Firequeen
bore the heat without complaining. In
that instance, however, the heat of the oven
was not so great as that which M. Chabert encountered.
Much of the power to resist greater degrees of heat than can other men may be a natural gift, much the result of chemical applications, and much from having the parts indurated by long practice; probably all three are combined in this phenomenon, with some portion of artifice.
In Timbs' Curiosities of London, published in 1867, I find the following:
At the Argyle Rooms, London, in 1829,
Mons. Chabert, the Fire-King, exhibited
his powers of resisting poisons, and
withstanding extreme heat. He swallowed
forty grains of phosphorus, sipped oil at
333 degrees with impunity, and rubbed a red-hot
fire-shovel over his tongue, hair, and face,
unharmed.
On September 23d, on a challenge of
L50, Chabert repeated these feats and won
the wager; he next swallowed a piece of
burning torch; and then, dressed in coarse
woolen, entered an oven heated to 380 degrees,
sang a song, and cooked two dishes of beef
steaks.
Still, the performances were suspected, and in fact, proved to be a chemical juggle.
Another challenge in the same year is
recorded under the heading, ``Sights of
London,'' as follows:
We were tempted on Wednesday to the
Argyle Rooms by the challenge of a person
of the uncommon name of J. Smith
to M. Chabert, our old friend the Fire
King, whom this individual dared to
invite to a trial of powers in swallowing
poison and being baked! The audacity
of such a step quite amazed us; and
expecting to see in the competitor at
least a Vulcan, the God of all Smiths,
was hastened to the scene of strife.
Alas, our disappointment was complete!
Smith had not even the courage of a
blacksmith for standing fire, and yielded
a stake of L50, as was stated, without
a contest, to M. Chabert, on the latter
coming out of his oven with his own two
steaks perfectly cooked. On this occasion
Chabert took 20 grains of phosphorus,
swallowed oil heated to nearly 100 degrees above
boiling water, took molten lead out of a
ladle with his fingers and cooled it on his
tongue; and, besides performing other
remarkable feats, remained five minutes in
the oven at a temperature of between 300
and 400 degrees by the thermometer. There was
about 150 persons present, many of them
medical men; and being convinced that
these things were fairly done, without
trickery, much astonishment was expressed.
The following detailed account of the latter challenge appeared in the Chronicle, London, September, 1829.
THE FIRE KING AND HIS
CHALLENGER.--An advertisement appeared
lately in one of the papers, in which a
Mr. J. Smith after insinuating that M.
Chabert practised some juggle when he
appeared to enter an oven heated to five
hundred degrees, and to swallow twenty
grains of phosphorus, challenged him to
perform the exploits which he professed
to be performing daily. In consequence
M. Chabert publicly accepted Mr. J.
Smith's challenge for L50, requesting him
to provide the poison himself. A day was
fixed upon which the challenge was to be
determined, and at two o'clock on that
day, a number of gentlemen assembled in
the Argyle-rooms, where the exhibition
was to take place. At a little before three
the fire-king made his appearance near his
oven, and as some impatience had been
exhibited, owing to the non-arrival of Mr.
J. Smith, he offered to amuse the company
with a few trifling experiments. He made
a shovel red-hot and rubbed it over his
tongue, a trick for which no credit, he said,
was due, as the moisture of the tongue was
sufficient to prevent any injury arising
from it. He next rubbed it over his hair
and face, declaring that anybody might
perform the same feat by first washing
themselves in a mixture of spirits of
sulphur and alum, which, by cauterising the
epidermis, hardened the skin to resist the
fire.
He put his hand into some melted lead,
took a small portion of it out, placed it in
his mouth, and then gave it in a solid state
to some of the company. This performance,
according to his account, was also
very easy; for he seized only a very small
particle, which, by a tight compression
between the forefinger and the thumb,
became cool before it reached the mouth. At
this time Mr. Smith made his appearance,
and M. Chabert forthwith prepared himself
for mightier undertakings. A cruse
of oil was brought forward and poured
into a saucepan, which was previously
turned upside down, to show that there
was no water in it. The alleged reason
for this step was, that the vulgar
conjurors, who profess to drink boiling oil,
place the oil in water, and drink it when
the water boils, at which time the oil is
not warmer than an ordinary cup of tea.
He intended to drink the oil when any
person might see it bubbling in the
saucepan, and when the thermometer would
prove that it was heated to three hundred
and sixty degrees. The saucepan was
accordingly placed on the fire, and as it was
acquiring the requisite heat, the fire-king
challenged any man living to drink a
spoonful of the oil at the same temperature
as that at which he was going to drink
it. In a few minutes afterwards, he
sipped off a spoonful with greatest
apparent ease, although the spoon, from
contact with the boiling fluid, had become too
hot for ordinary fingers to handle.
``And now, Monsieur Smith,'' said the
fire-king, ``now for your challenge. Have
you prepared yourself with phosphorus,
or will you take some of mine, which is
laid on that table?'' Mr. Smith, walked
up to the table, and pulling a vial bottle
out of his pocket, offered it to the poisonswallower.
Fire-king--``I ask you, on your honor
as a gentleman, is this genuine unmixed
poison?''
Mr. Smith--``It is, upon my honor.''
Fire-king--``Is there any medical
gentleman here who will examine it?''
A person in the room requested that
Dr. Gordon Smith, one of the medical
professors in the London University,
would examine the vial, and decide
whether it contained genuine phosphorus.
The professor went to the table, on
which the formidable collection of poisons
--such as red and white arsenic,
hydrocyanic acid, morphine and phosphorus--
was placed, and, examining the vial,
declared, that, to the best of his judgment,
it was genuine phosphorus.
M. Chabert asked Mr. Smith, how many
grains he wished to commence his first
draught with. Mr. Smith--``Twenty
grains will do as a commencement.''
A medical gentleman then came forward
and cut off two parcels of phosphorus,
containing twenty grains each. He was
placing them in the water, when the fireking
requested that his phosphorus might
be cut into small pieces, as he did not wish
the pieces to stop on their way to his
stomach. The poisons were now prepared.
A wine-glass contained the portion
set aside for the fire-king--a tumbler the
portion reserved for Mr. Smith.
The Fire-king--``I suppose, gentlemen,
I must begin, and to convince you that
I do not juggle, I will first take off my
coat, and then I will trouble you, doctor
(speaking to Dr. Gordon Smith), to tie my
hands together behind me. After he had
been bandaged in this manner, he planted
himself on one knee in the middle of the
room, and requested some gentleman to
place the phosphorus on his tongue and
pour the water down his throat. This was
accordingly done, and the water and
phosphorus were swallowed together. He then
opened his mouth and requested the company
to look whether any portion of the
phosphorus remained in his mouth. Several
gentlemen examined his mouth, and
declared that there was no phosphorus
perceptible either upon or under his
tongue. He was then by his own desire
unbandaged. The fire-king forthwith
turned to Mr. Smith and offered him the
other glass of phosphorus. Mr. Smith
started back in infinite alarm--`Not for
worlds, Sir, not for worlds; I beg to
decline it.'
The Fire-king--``Then wherefore did
you send me a challenge? You pledged
your honor to drink it, if I did; I have
done it; and if you are a gentleman, you
must drink it too.''
Mr. Smith--``No, no, I must be excused: I am quite satisfied without it.''
Here several voices exclaimed that the
bet was lost. Some said there must be a
confederacy between the challenger and
the challenged, and others asked whether
any money had been deposited? The fireking
called a Mr. White forward, who
deposed that he held the stakes, which had
been regularly placed in his hands, by both
parties, before twelve o'clock that morning.
The fire-king here turned round with
great exultation to the company, and pulling
a bottle out of his pocket, exclaimed,
``I did never see this gentleman before this
morning, and I did not know but that he
might be bold enough to venture to take
this quantity of poison. I was determined
not to let him lose his life by his foolish
wager, and therefore I did bring an
antidote in my pocket, which would have
prevented him from suffering any harm.''
Mr. Smith said his object was answered by
seeing twenty grains of genuine phosphorus
swallowed. He had conceived it
impossible, as three grains were quite
sufficient to destroy life. The fire-king then
withdrew into another room for the
professed purpose of putting on his usual
dress for entering the oven, but in all
probability for the purpose of getting the
phosphorus out of his stomach.
After an absence of twenty minutes, he
returned, dressed in a coarse woolen coat,
to enter the heated oven. Before he
entered it, a medical gentleman ascertained
that his pulse was vibrating ninety-eight
times a minute. He remained in the oven
five minutes, during which time he sung
Le Vaillant Troubadour, and superintended
the cooking of two dishes of beef
steaks. At the end of that time he came
out, perspiring profusely, and with a pulse
making one hundred and sixty-eight
vibrations in a minute. The thermometer,
when brought out of the oven, stood at
three hundred and eighty degrees; within
the oven he said it was above six hundred.
Although he was suspected of trickery by many, was often challenged, and had an army of rivals and imitators, all available records show that Chabert was beyond a doubt the greatest fire and poison resister that ever appeared in London.
Seeking new laurels, he came to America in 1832, and although he was successful in New York, his subsequent tour of the States was financially disastrous. He evidently saved enough from the wreck, however, to start in business, and the declining years of his eventful life were passed in the comparative obscurity of a little drug store in Grand Street.
As his biographer I regret to be obliged to chronicle the fact that he made and sold an alleged specific for the White Plague, thus enabling his detractors to couple with his name the word Quack. The following article, which appeared in the New York Herald of September 1st, 1859, three days after Chabert's death, gives further details of his activities in this country:
We published among the obituary
notices in yesterday's Herald the death of
Dr. Julian Xavier Chabert, the ``Fire
King,'' aged 67 years, of pulmonary
consumption. Dr. C. was a native of France,
and came to this country in 1832, and was
first introduced to the public at the lecture
room of the old Clinton Hall, in Nassau
Street, where he gave exhibitions by entering
a hot oven of his own construction,
and while there gave evidence of his
salamander qualities by cooking beef
steaks, to the surprise and astonishment
of his audiences.
It was a question to many whether the
Doctor's oven was red-hot or not, as he
never allowed any person to approach him
during the exhibition or take part in the
proceedings. He made a tour of the
United States in giving these exhibitions,
which resulted in financial bankruptcy.
At the breaking out of the cholera in 1832
he turned Doctor, and appended M.D., to
his name, and suddenly his newspaper
advertisements claimed for him the title of
the celebrated Fire King, the curer of
consumption, the maker of Chinese
Lotion, etc.
While the Doctor was at the height of
his popularity, some wag perpetrated the
following joke in a newspaper paragraph:
``During some experiments he was making
in chemistry last week, an explosion
took place which entirely bewildered his
faculties and left him in a condition
bordering on the grave. He was blown into
a thousand atoms. It took place on
Wednesday of last week and some accounts
state that it grew out of an experiment
with phosphoric ether, others that it was
by a too liberal indulgence in Prussic acid,
an article which, from its resemblance to
the peach, he was remarkably fond of having
about him.''
The Doctor was extensively accused of
quackery, and on one occasion when the
Herald touched on the same subject, it
brought him to our office and he exhibited
diplomas, certificates and medical honors
without number.
The Doctor was remarkable for his
prolific display of jewelry and medals of
honor, and by his extensive display of
beard. He found a rival in this city in
the person of another French ``chemist,''
who gave the Doctor considerable opposition
and consequently much trouble.
The Doctor was famous, also, for his
four-horse turnouts in Broadway,
alternating, when he saw proper, to a change
to the ``tandem'' style. He married an
Irish lady whom he at first supposed to
be immensely rich, but after the nuptials
it was discovered that she merely had a
life interest in a large estate in common
with several others.
The Doctor, it appears, was formerly a
soldier in the French Army, and quite
recently he received from thence a medal
of the order of St. Helena, an account of
which appeared in the Herald. Prior to
his death he was engaged in writing his
biography (in French) and had it nearly
ready for publication.
Here follows a supposedly humorous speech in broken English, quoted from the London Lancet, in which the Doctor is satirized. Continuing, the articles says:
``The Doctor was what was termed a
`fast liver,' and at the time of his death
he kept a drug store in Grand Street, and
had very little of this world's goods. He
leaves three children to mourn his loss,
one of them an educated physician, residing
in Hoboken, N. J.
Dr. C. has `gone to that bourne whence
no traveller returns,' and we fervently
trust and hope that the disembodied
spirits of the tens of thousands whom he
has treated in this sphere will treat him
with the same science with which he
treated them while in this wicked world.''
CHAPTER FIVE
FIRE-EATING MAGICIANS: CHING LING FOO
AND CHUNG LING SOO.--FIRE-EATERS
EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS: THE MANSALAMANDER,
1816; MR. CARLTON,
PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, 1818; MISS
CASSILLIS, AGED NINE, 1820; THE AFRICAN
WONDER, 1843; LING LOOK AND YAMADEVA
DIE IN CHINA DURING KELLAR'S
WORLD TOUR, 1872; LING LOOK'S DOUBLE,
1879.--ELECTRICAL EFFECTS, THE
SALAMBOS.--BUENO CORE.--DEL KANO.
--BARNELLO.--EDWIN FORREST AS A
HEAT-REGISTER.--THE ELDER SOTHERN
AS A FIRE-EATER.--THE TWILIGHT OF
THE ART.
Many of our most noted magicians have
considered it not beneath their dignity
to introduce fire-eating into their programmes,
either in their own work or by the employment
of a ``Fire Artist.'' Although seldom presenting
it in his recent performances, Ching Ling
Foo is a fire-eater of the highest type, refining
the effect with the same subtle artistry that
marks all the work of this super-magician.
Of Foo's thousand imitators the only
positively successful one was William E. Robinson,
whose tragic death while in the performance of
the bullet-catching trick is the latest addition to
the long list of casualties chargeable to that
ill-omened juggle. He carried the imitation
even as far as the name, calling himself Chung
Ling Soo. Robinson was very successful in
the classic trick of apparently eating large
quantities of cotton and blowing smoke and
sparks from the mouth. His teeth were finally
quite destroyed by the continued performance
of this trick, the method of which may be
found in Chapter Six.
The employment of fire-eaters by magicians
began a century ago; for in 1816 the magician
Sieur Boaz, K. C., featured a performer who
was billed as the ``Man-Salamander.'' The
fact that Boaz gave him a place on his
programme is proof that this man was clever, but
the effects there listed show nothing original.
In 1818 a Mr. Carlton, Professor of Chemistry,
toured England in company with Rae,
the Bartholomew Fair magician. As will be
seen by the handbill reproduced here, Carlton
promised to explain the ``Deceptive Part'' of
the performance, ``when there is a sufficient
company.''
In 1820 a Mr. Cassillis toured England with a juvenile company, one of the features of which was Miss Cassillis, aged nine years, whose act was a complete reproduction of the programme of Boaz, concluding her performance with the ``Chinese Fire Trick.''
A Negro, Carlo Alberto, appeared in a benefit
performance given by Herr Julian, who
styled himself the ``Wizard of the South,'' in
London, on November 28th, 1843. Alberto was
billed as the ``Great African Wonder, the Fire
King'' and it was promised that he would ``go
through part of his wonderful performance as
given by him in the principal theaters in
America, in Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
etc.''
A later number on the same bill reads: ``The African Wonder, Carlo Alberto, will sing several new and popular Negro melodies.'' Collectors of minstrel data please take notice!
In more recent times there have been a number of Negro fire-eaters, but none seems to have risen to noticeable prominence.
Ling Look, one of the best of contemporary fire performers, was with Dean Harry Kellar when the latter made his famous trip around the world in 1877. Look combined fire-eating and sword-swallowing in a rather startling manner. His best effect was the swallowing of a red-hot sword.[1] Another thriller consisted in fastening a long sword to the stock of a musket; when he had swallowed about half the length of the blade, he discharged the gun and the recoil drove the sword suddenly down his throat to the very hilt. Although Look always appeared in a Chinese make-up, Dean Kellar told me that he thought his right name was Dave Gueter, and that he was born in Buda Pesth.
[1] I never saw Ling Look's work, but I know that some of the sword swallowers have made use of a sheath which was swallowed before the performance, and the swords were simply pushed into it. A sheath of this kind lined with asbestos might easily have served as a protection against the red-hot blade.
Yamadeva, a brother of Ling Look, was also
with the Kellar Company, doing cabinet
manifestations and rope escapes. Both brothers
died in China during this engagement, and a
strange incident occurred in connection with
their deaths. Just before they were to sail
from Shanghai on the P. & O. steamer Khiva
for Hong Kong, Yamadeva and Kellar visited
the bowling alley of The Hermitage, a pleasure
resort on the Bubbling Well Road. They were
watching a husky sea captain, who was using
a huge ball and making a ``double spare'' at
every roll, when Yamadeva suddenly remarked,
``I can handle one as heavy as that big
loafer can.'' Suiting the action to the word,
he seized one of the largest balls and drove
it down the alley with all his might; but he
had misjudged his own strength, and he paid
for the foolhardy act with his life, for he had
no sooner delivered the ball than he grasped
his side and moaned with pain. He had hardly
sufficient strength to get back to the ship,
where he went immediately to bed and died
shortly afterward. An examination showed
that he had ruptured an artery.
Kellar and Ling Look had much difficulty in persuading the captain to take the body to Hong Kong, but he finally consented. On the way down the Yang Tse Kiang River, Look was greatly depressed; but all at once he became strangely excited, and said that his brother was not dead, for he had just heard the peculiar whistle with which they had always called each other. The whistle was several times repeated, and was heard by all on board. Finally the captain, convinced that something was wrong, had the lid removed from the coffin, but the body of Yamadeva gave no indication of life, and all save Ling Look decided that they must have been mistaken.
Poor Ling Look, however, sobbingly said to Kellar, ``I shall never leave Hong Kong alive. My brother has called me to join him.'' This prediction was fulfilled, for shortly after their arrival in Hong Kong he underwent an operation for a liver trouble, and died under the knife. The brothers were buried in Happy Valley, Hong Kong, in the year 1877.
All this was related to me at the MarlboroughBlenheim,
Atlantic City, in June, 1908,
by Kellar himself, and portions of it were
repeated in 1917 when Dean Kellar sat by me
at the Society of American Magicians' dinner.
In 1879 there appeared in England a
performer who claimed to be the original Ling
Look. He wore his make-up both on and off
the stage, and copied, so far as he could, Ling's
style of work. His fame reached this country
and the New York Clipper published, in its
Letter Columns, an article stating that Ling
Look was not dead, but was alive and working
in England. His imitator had the nerve to
stick to his story even when confronted by
Kellar, but when the latter assured him that
he had personally attended the burial of Ling,
in Hong Kong, he broke down and confessed
that he was a younger brother of the original
Ling Look.
Kellar later informed me that the resemblance
was so strong that had he not seen the
original Ling Look consigned to the earth, he
himself would have been duped into believing
that this was the man who had been with him
in Hong Kong.
The Salambos were among the first to use electrical effects in a fire act, combining these with the natural gas and ``human volcano'' stunts of their predecessors, so that they were able to present an extremely spectacular performance without having recourse to such unpleasant features as had marred the effect of earlier fire acts. Bueno Core, too, deserves honorable mention for the cleanness and snap of his act; and Del Kano should also be named among the cleverer performers.
One of the best known of the modern fireeaters
was Barnello, who was a good business
man as well, and kept steadily employed at
a better salary than the rank and file of his
contemporaries. He did a thriving business
in the sale of the various concoctions used in
his art, and published and sold a most complete
book of formulas and general instructions
for those interested in the craft. He had,
indeed, many irons in the fire, and he kept
them all hot.
It will perhaps surprise the present
generation to learn that the well-known circus man
Jacob Showles was once a fire-eater, and that
Del Fugo, well-known in his day as a dancer
in the music halls, began as a fire-resister, and
did his dance on hot iron plates. But the
reader has two keener surprises in store for
him before I close the long history of the heatresisters.
The first concerns our great American
tragedian Edwin Forrest (1806-1872) who,
according to James Rees (Colley Cibber), once
essayed a fire-resisting act. Forrest was
always fond of athletics and at one time made
an engagement with the manager of a circus
to appear as a tumbler and rider. The engagement
was not fulfilled, however, as his friend
Sol Smith induced him to break it and return
to the legitimate stage. Smith afterwards
admitted to Cibber that if Forrest had remained
with the circus he would have become one of
the most daring riders and vaulters that ever
appeared in the ring.
His adventure in fire-resistance was on the
occasion of the benefit to ``Charley Young,'' on
which eventful night, as the last of his acrobatic
feats, he made a flying leap through a
barrel of red fire, singeing his hair and
eyebrows terribly. This particular leap through
fire was the big sensation of those days, and
Forrest evidently had a hankering to show his
friends that he could accomplish it--and he
did.
The second concerns an equally popular
actor, a comedian this time, the elder Sothern
(1826-1881). On March 20, 1878, a writer in
the Chicago Inter-Ocean communicated to that
paper the following curiously descriptive article:
Is Mr. Sothern a medium?
This is the question that fifteen puzzled
investigators are asking themselves this
morning, after witnessing a number of
astounding manifestations at a private
seance given by Mr. Sothern last night.
It lacked a few minutes of 12 when a
number of Mr. Sothern's friends, who had
been given to understand that something
remarkable was to be performed, assembled
in the former's room at the Sherman
House and took seats around a marble-top
table, which was placed in the center of
the apartment. On the table were a number
of glasses, two very large bottles, and
five lemons. A sprightly young gentleman
attempted to crack a joke about spirits
being confined in bottles, but the company
frowned him down, and for once Mr.
Sothern had a sober audience to begin
with.
There was a good deal of curiosity
regarding the object of the gathering, but
no one was able to explain. Each gentleman
testified to the fact Mr. Sothern's
agent had waited upon him, and solicited
his presence at a little exhibition to be
given by the actor, NOT of a comical nature.
Mr. Sothern himself soon after
appeared, and, after shaking hands with the
party, thus addressed them:
``Gentlemen, I have invited you here
this evening to witness a few manifestations,
demonstrations, tests, or whatever
you choose to call them, which I have
accidentally discovered that I am able to
perform.
``I am a fire-eater, as it were. (Applause).
``I used to DREAD the fire, having been scorched once when an innocent child. (A laugh.)
Mr. Sothern (severely)--``I HOPE there
will be no levity here, and I wish to say
now that demonstrations of any kind are
liable to upset me, while demonstrations
of a particular kind may upset the audience.''
Silence and decorum being restored,
Mr. Sothern thus continued:
``Thirteen weeks ago, while walking up
Greenwich Street, in New York, I stepped
into a store to buy a cigar. To show you
there is no trick about it, here are cigars
out of the same box from which I selected
the one I that day lighted.'' (Here Mr.
Sothern passed around a box of tolerable
cigars.)
``Well, I stepped to the little hanging
gas-jet to light it, and, having done so,
stood contemplatively holding the gas-jet
and the cigar in either hand, thinking
what a saving it would be to smoke a pipe,
when, in my absent-mindedness, I dropped
the cigar and put the gas-jet into my
mouth. Strange as it may appear, I felt
no pain, and stood there holding the thing
in my mouth and puffing till the man in
charge yelled out to me that I was swallowing
his gas. Then I looked up, and,
sure enough, there I was pulling away at
the slender flame that came from the glass
tube.
``I dropped it instantly, and felt of my
mouth, but noticed no inconvenience or
unpleasant sensation whatever.
`` `What do you mean by it?' said the
proprietor.
``As I didn't know what I meant by it
I couldn't answer, so I picked up my cigar
and went home. Once there I tried the
experiment again, and in doing so I found
that not only my mouth, but my hands and
face, indeed, all of my body, was proof
against fire. I called on a physician, and
he examined me, and reported nothing
wrong with my flesh, which appeared to be
in normal condition. I said nothing about
it publicly, but the fact greatly surprised
me, and I have invited you here to-night
to witness a few experiments.''
Saying this, Mr. Sothern, who had lit a cigar while pausing in his speech, turned the fire end into his mouth and sat down, smoking unconcernedly.
``I suppose you wish to give us the firetest,'' remarked one of the company.
Mr. Sothern nodded.
There was probably never a gathering
more dumbfounded than that present in
the room. A few questions were asked,
and then five gentlemen were appointed to
examine Mr. Sothern's hands, etc., before
he began his experiments. Having
thoroughly washed the parts that he proposed
to subject to the flames, Mr. Sothern
began by burning his arm, and passing it
through the gas-jet very slowly, twice
stopping the motion and holding it still in
the flames. He then picked up a poker
with a sort of hook on the end, and proceeded
to fish a small coil of wire from the
grate. The wire came out fairly white
with the heat. Mr. Sothern took the coil
in his hands and cooly proceeded to wrap
it round his left leg to the knee. Having
done so, he stood on the table in the center
of the circle and requested the committee
to examine the wrappings and the
leg and report if both were there. The
committee did so and reported in the
affirmative.
While this was going on, there was a
smile, almost seraphic in its beauty, on
Mr. Sothern's face.
After this an enormous hot iron, in the shape of a horseshoe, was placed on Mr. Sothern's body, where it cooled, without leaving a sign of a burn.
As a final test, a tailor's goose was put
on the coals, and, after being thoroughly
heated, was placed on Mr. Sothern's chair.
The latter lighted a fresh cigar, and then
coolly took a seat on the goose without the
least seeming inconvenience. During the
last experiment Mr. Sothern sang in an
excellent tone and voice, ``I'm Sitting on
the Stile, Mary.''
The question now is, were the fifteen
auditors of Mr. Sothern fooled and
deceived, or was this a genuine manifestation
of extraordinary power? Sothern is
such an inveterate joker that he may have
put the thing upon the boys for his own
amusement; but if so, it was one of the
nicest tricks ever witnessed by yours truly,
ONE OF THE COMMITTEE.
P. S.--What is equally marvellous to
me is that the fire didn't burn his clothes
where it touched them, any more than his
flesh. P. C.
(There is nothing new in this. Mr.
Sothern has long been known as one of the
most expert jugglers in the profession.
Some years ago he gained the soubriquet
of the ``Fire King!'' He frequently
amuses his friends by eating fire, though
he long ago ceased to give public
exhibitions. Probably the success of the
experiments last night were largely owing to the
lemons present. There is a good deal of
trickery in those same lemons.--Editor
Inter-Ocean.)
which suggests that the editor of the InterOcean
was either pretty well acquainted with
the comedian's addiction to spoofing, or else
less susceptible to superstition than certain
scientists of our generation.
The great day of the Fire-eater--or, should
I say, the day of the great Fire-eater--has
passed. No longer does fashion flock to his
doors, nor science study his wonders, and he
must now seek a following in the gaping
loiterers of the circus side-show, the pumpkinand
-prize-pig country fair, or the tawdry
booth at Coney Island. The credulous, wonderloving
scientist, however, still abides with
us and, while his serious-minded brothers are
wringing from Nature her jealously guarded
secrets, the knowledge of which benefits all
mankind, he gravely follows that perennial
Will-of-the-wisp, spiritism, and lays the
flattering unction to his soul that he is investigating
``psychic phenomena,'' when in reality he
is merely gazing with unseeing eyes on the
flimsy juggling of pseudo-mediums.
CHAPTER SIX
THE ARCANA OF THE FIRE-EATERS: THE
FORMULA OF ALBERTUS MAGNUS.--
OF HOCUS POCUS.--RICHARDSON'S
METHOD.--PHILOPYRAPHAGUS
ASHBURNIENSIS.--TO BREATHE FORTH
SPARKS, SMOKE, AND FLAMES.--TO
SPOUT NATURAL GAS.--PROFESSOR
SEMENTINI'S DISCOVERIES.--TO BITE OFF
RED-HOT IRON.--TO COOK IN A BURNING
CAGE.--CHABERT'S OVEN. TO
EAT COALS OF FIRE.--TO DRINK BURNING
OIL.--TO CHEW MOLTEN LEAD.--
TO CHEW BURNING BRIMSTONE.--TO
WREATHE THE FACE IN FLAMES.--TO
IGNITE PAPER WITH THE BREATH.--TO
DRINK BOILING LIQUOR AND EAT
FLAMING WAX.
The yellow thread of exposure seems to be
inextricably woven into all fabrics whose
strength is secrecy, and experience proves that
it is much easier to become fireproof than to
become exposure proof. It is still an open
question, however, as to what extent exposure
really injures a performer. Exposure of the
secrets of the fire-eaters, for instance, dates
back almost to the beginning of the art itself.
The priests were exposed, Richardson was
exposed, Powell was exposed and so on down the
line; but the business continued to prosper, the
really clever performers drew quite fashionable
audiences for a long time, and it was probably
the demand for a higher form of entertainment,
resulting from a refinement of the
public taste, rather than the result of the many
exposures, that finally relegated the Fireeaters
to the haunts of the proletariat.
How the early priests came into possession of
these secrets does not appear, and if there were
ever any records of this kind the Church would
hardly allow them to become public. That
they used practically the same system which
has been adopted by all their followers is
amply proved by the fact that after trial by
ordeal had been abolished Albertus Magnus, in
his work De Mirabilibus Mundi, at the end of
his book De Secretis Mulierum, Amstelod,
1702, made public the underlying principles of
heat-resistance; namely, the use of certain
compounds which render the exposed parts
to a more or less extent impervious to heat.
Many different formulas have been discovered
which accomplish the purpose, but the principle
remains unchanged. The formula set
down by Albertus Magnus was probably the
first ever made public: the following translation
of it is from the London Mirror:
Take juice of marshmallow, and white
of egg, flea-bane seeds, and lime; powder
them and mix juice of radish with the
white of egg; mix all thoroughly and with
this composition annoint your body or
hand and allow it to dry and afterwards
annoint it again, and after this you may
boldly take up hot iron without hurt.
``Such a paste,'' says the correspondent to the Mirror, ``would indeed be very visible.''
Another early formula is given in the 1763 edition of Hocus Pocus. Examination of the different editions of this book in my library discloses the fact that there are no fire formulas in the second edition, 1635, which is the earliest I have (first editions are very rare and there is only one record of a sale of that edition at auction). From the fact that this formula was published during the time that Powell was appearing in England I gather that that circumstance may account for its addition to the book. It does not appear in the German or Dutch editions.
The following is an exact copy:
HOW TO WALK ON A HOT IRON
BAR WITHOUT ANY DANGER
OF SCALDING OR BURNING.
Take half an ounce of samphire, dissolve
it in two ounces of aquaevitae, add to
it one ounce of quicksilver, one ounce of
liquid storax, which is the droppings of
Myrrh and hinders the camphire from
firing; take also two ounces of hematitus,
a red stone to be had at the druggist's, and
when you buy it let them beat it to powder
in their great mortar, for it is so very hard
that it cannot be done in a small one; put
this to the afore-mentioned composition,
and when you intend to walk on the bar
you must annoint your feet well therewith,
and you may walk over without danger:
by this you may wash your hands in boiling
lead.
This was the secret modus operandi made use of by Richardson, the first notably successful fire artist to appear in Europe, and it was disclosed by his servant.[2]
[2] Such disloyalty in trusted servants is one of the most disheartening things that can happen to a public performer. But it must not be thought that I say this out of personal experience: for in the many years that I have been before the public my secret methods have been steadily shielded by the strict integrity of my assistants, most of whom have been with me for years. Only one man ever betrayed my confidence, and that only in a minor matter. But then, so far as I know, I am the only performer who ever pledged his assistants to secrecy, honor and allegiance under a notarial oath.
Hone's Table Book, London, 1827, page 315, gives Richardson's method as follows:
It consisted only in rubbing the hands
and thoroughly washing the mouth, lips,
tongue, teeth and other parts which were
to touch the fire, with pure spirits of
sulphur. This burns and cauterizes the
epidermis or upper skin, till it becomes as
hard and thick as leather, and each time
the experiment is tried it becomes still
easier. But if, after it has been very often
repeated the upper skin should grow so
callous and hard as to become troublesome,
washing the parts affected with very
warm water, or hot wine, will bring away
all the shrivelled or parched epidermis.
The flesh, however, will continue tender
and unfit for such business till it has been
frequently rubbed over with the same
spirit.
This preparation may be rendered much
stronger and more efficacious by mixing
equal quantities of spirit of sulphur, sal
ammoniac, essence of rosemary and juice
of onions. The bad effects which
frequently swallowing red-hot coals, melted
sealing wax, rosin, brimstone and other
calcined and inflammable matter, might
have had upon his stomach were prevented
by drinking plentifully of warm
water and oil, as soon as he left the
company, till he had vomited it all up again.
This anecdote was communicated to the
author of the Journal des Savants by Mr.
Panthot, Doctor of Physics and Member of the
College at Lyons. It appeared at the time
Powell was showing his fire-eating stunts in
London, and the correspondent naively added:
Whether Mr. Powell will take it kindly
of me thus to have published his secret I
cannot tell; but as he now begins to drop
into years, has no children that I know of
and may die suddenly, or without making
a will, I think it a great pity so genteel an
occupation should become one of the artes
perditae, as possibly it may, if proper care
is not taken, and therefore hope, after this
information, some true-hearted ENGLISHMAN
will take it up again, for the honor of
his country, when he reads in the newspapers,
``Yesterday, died, much lamented,
the famous Mr. Powell. He was the best,
if not the only, fire-eater in the world, and
it is greatly to be feared that his art is
dead with him.''
After a couple of columns more in a similar
strain, the correspondent signs himself
Philopyraphagus Ashburniensis.
In his History of Inventions, Vol. III, page
272, 1817 edition, Beckmann thus describes the
process:
The deception of breathing out flames,
which at present excites, in a particular
manner, the astonishment of the ignorant,
is very ancient. When the slaves in Sicily,
about a century and a half before our era,
made a formidable insurrection, and
avenged themselves in a cruel manner, for
the severities which they had suffered,
there was amongst them a Syrian named
Eunus--a man of great craft and courage;
who having passed through many scenes
of life, had become acquainted with a
variety of arts. He pretended to have
immediate communication with the gods;
was the oracle and leader of his fellowslaves;
and, as is usual on such occasions
confirmed his divine mission by miracles.
When heated by enthusiasm and desirous
of inspiring his followers with courage, he
breathed flames or sparks among them
from his mouth while he was addressing
them. We are told by historians that for
this purpose he pierced a nut shell at both
ends, and, having filled it with some burning
substance, put it into his mouth and
breathed through it. This deception, at
present, is performed much better. The
juggler rolls together some flax or hemp,
so as to form a ball about the size of a
walnut; sets it on fire; and suffers it to burn
until it is nearly consumed; he then rolls
round it, while burning, some more flax;
and by these means the fire may be
retained in it for a long time. When he
wishes to exhibit he slips the ball
unperceived into his mouth, and breathes
through it; which again revives the fire,
so that a number of weak sparks proceed
from it; and the performer sustains no
hurt, provided he inspire the air not
through the mouth, but the nostrils. By
this art the Rabbi Bar-Cocheba, in the
reign of the Emperor Hadrian, made the
credulous Jews believe that he was the
hoped-for Messiah; and two centuries
after, the Emperor Constantius was
thrown into great terror when Valentinian
informed him that he had seen one
of the body-guards breathing out fire and
flames in the evening.
Since Beckmann wrote, the method of
producing smoke and sparks from the mouth has
been still further improved. The fire can now
be produced in various ways. One way is by
the use of a piece of thick cotton string which
has been soaked in a solution of nitre and then
thoroughly dried. This string, when once
lighted, burns very slowly and a piece one inch
long is sufficient for the purpose. Some performers
prefer a small piece of punk, as it requires
no preparation. Still others use tinder
made by burning linen rags, as our forefathers
used to do. This will not flame, but merely
smoulders until the breath blows it into a glow.
The tinder is made by charring linen rags, that
is, burning them to a crisp, but stopping the
combustion before they are reduced to ashes.
Flames from the lips may be produced by holding in the mouth a sponge saturated with the purest gasoline. When the breath is exhaled sharply it can be lighted from a torch or a candle. Closing the lips firmly will extinguish the flame. A wad of oakum will give better results than the sponge.
Natural gas is produced as simply. A T-shaped
gas pipe has three or four gas tips on
the cross-piece. The long end is placed in the
mouth, which already holds concealed a
sponge, or preferably a ball of oakum, saturated
with pure gasoline. Blowing through
the pipe will force the gas through the tips,
where it can be ignited with a match. It will
burn as long as the breath lasts.
In a London periodical, The Terrific Record, appears a reprint from the Mercure de France, giving an account of experiments in Naples which led to the discovery of the means by which jugglers have appeared to be incombustible. They first gradually habituate the skin, the mouth, throat and stomach to great degrees of heat, then they rub the skin with hard soap. The tongue is also covered with hard soap and over that a layer of powdered sugar. By this means an investigating professor was enabled to reproduce the wonders which had puzzled many scientists.
The investigating professor in all probability,
was Professor Sementini, who experimented
with Lionetto. I find an account of
Sementini's discoveries in an old newspaper
clipping, the name and date of which have
unfortunately been lost:
Sementini's efforts, after performing
several experiments upon himself, were
finally crowned with success. He found
that by friction with sulphuric acid
deluted with water, the skin might be made
insensible to the action of the heat of redhot
iron; a solution of alum, evaporated
till it became spongy, appeared to be more
effectual in these frictions. After having
rubbed the parts which were thus rendered
in some degree insensible, with hard
soap, he discovered, on the application of
hot iron, that their insensibility was
increased. He then determined on again
rubbing the parts with soap, and after
that found that the hot iron not only
occasioned no pain but that it actually did
not burn the hair.
Being thus far satisfied, the Professor
applied hard soap to his tongue until it
became insensible to the heat of the iron;
and having placed an ointment composed
of soap mixed with a solution of alum
upon it, burning oil did not burn it; while
the oil remained on the tongue a slight
hissing was heard, similar to that of hot
iron when thrust into water; the oil soon
cooled and might then be swallowed without
danger.
Several scientific men have since
repeated the experiments of Professor
Sementini, but we would not recommend
any except professionals to try the experiments.
Liquid storax is now used to anoint the tongue when red-hot irons are to be placed in the mouth. It is claimed that with this alone a red-hot poker can be licked until it is cold.
Another formula is given by Griffin, as
follows: 1 bar ivory soap, cut fine, 1
pound of brown sugar, 2 ounces liquid
storax (not the gum). Dissolve in hot
water and add a wine-glassful of carbolic
acid. This is rubbed on all parts liable
to come in contact with the hot articles.
After anointing the mouth with this solution
rinse with strong vinegar.
No performer should attempt to bite off redhot iron unless he has a good set of teeth. A piece of hoop iron may be prepared by bending it back and forth at a point about one inch from the end, until the fragment is nearly broken off, or by cutting nearly through it with a cold chisel. When the iron has been heated red-hot, the prepared end is taken between the teeth, a couple of bends will complete the break. The piece which drops from the teeth into a dish of water will make a puff of steam and a hissing sound, which will demonstrate that it is still very hot.
The mystery of the burning cage, in which the Fire King remains while a steak is thoroughly cooked, is explained by Barnello as follows:
Have a large iron cage constructed
about 4 x 6 feet, the bottom made of heavy
sheet iron. The cage should stand on iron
legs or horses. Wrap each of the bars of
the cage with cotton batting saturated
with oil. Now take a raw beefsteak in
your hand and enter the cage, which is now
set on fire. Remain in the cage until the
fire has burned out, then issue from the
cage with the steak burned to a crisp.
Explanation: On entering the cage the
performer places the steak on a large iron
hook which is fastened in one of the upper
corners. The dress worn is of asbestos
cloth with a hood that completely covers
the head and neck. There is a small hole
over the mouth through which he breathes.
As soon as the fire starts the smoke and
flames completely hide the performer
from the spectators, and he immediately
lies down on the bottom of the cage, placing
the mouth over one of the small air
holes in the floor of the same.
Heat always goes up and will soon cook
the steak.
I deduce from the above that the performer arises and recovers the steak when the fire slackens but while there is still sufficient flame and smoke to mask his action.
It is obvious that the above explanation covers the baker's oven mystery as well. In the case of the oven, however, the inmate is concealed from start to finish, and this gives him much greater latitude for his actions. M. Chabert made the oven the big feature of his programme and succeeded in puzzling many of the best informed scientists of his day.
Eating coals of fire has always been one of the sensational feats of the Fire Kings, as it is quite generally known that charcoal burns with an extremely intense heat. This fervent lunch, however, like many of the feasts of the Fire Kings, is produced by trick methods. Mixed with the charcoal in the brazier are a few coals of soft white pine, which when burnt look exactly like charcoal. These will not burn the mouth as charcoal will. They should be picked up with a fork which will penetrate the pine coals, but not the charcoal, the latter being brittle.
Another method of eating burning coals
employs small balls of burned cotton in a dish of
burning alcohol. When lifted on the fork
these have the appearance of charcoal, but are
harmless if the mouth be immediately closed,
so that the flame is extinguished.
In all feats of fire-eating it should be noted that the head is thrown well back, so that the flame may pass out of the open mouth instead of up into the roof, as it would if the head were held naturally.
To drink burning oil set fire to a small
quantity of kerosene in a ladle. Into this dip an
iron spoon and bring it up to all appearance,
filled with burning oil, though in reality the
spoon is merely wet with the oil. It is carried
blazing to the mouth, where it is tipped, as if to
pour the oil into the mouth, just as a puff of
breath blows out all the flame. The process is
continued until all the oil in the ladle has been
consumed; then the ladle is turned bottom up,
in order to show that all the oil has been drunk.
A method of drinking what seems to be
molten lead is given in the Chambers' Book of
Days, 1863, Vol. II, page 278:
The performer taking an iron spoon,
holds it up to the spectators, to show that
it is empty; then, dipping it into a pot
containing melted lead, he again shows it
to the spectators full of the molten metal;
then, after putting the spoon in his mouth,
he once more shows it to be empty; and
after compressing his lips, with a look
expressive of pain, he, in a few moments,
ejects from his mouth a piece of lead
impressed with the exact form of his teeth.
Ask a spectator what he saw, and he will
say that the performer took a spoonful of
molten lead, placed it in his mouth, and
soon afterwards showed it in a solid state,
bearing the exact form and impression of
his teeth. If deception be insinuated, the
spectator will say. ``No! Having the
evidence of my senses, I cannot be
deceived; if it had been a matter of opinion
I might, but seeing, you know, is believing.''
Now the piece of lead, cast from a
plaster mould of the performer's teeth,
has probably officiated in a thousand
previous performances, and is placed in the
mouth between the gum and the cheek,
just before the trick commences. The
spoon is made with a hollow handle
containing quicksilver, which, by a simple
motion, can be let run into the bowl, or
back again into the handle at will.
The spoon is first shown with the quicksilver
concealed in the handle, the bowl is
then dipped just within the rim of the pot
containing the molten lead, but not into
the lead itself, and, at the same instant the
quicksilver is allowed to run into the bowl.
The spoon is then shown with the quicksilver
(which the audience takes to be the
melted lead) in the bowl, and when placed
in the mouth, the quicksilver is again
allowed to run into the handle.
The performer, in fact, takes a spoonful of nothing, and soon after exhibits the lead bearing the impression of the teeth.
Molten lead, for fire-eating purposes, is made as follows:
Bismuth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 oz.
Lead. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 oz.
Block tin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 oz.
Melt these together. When the metal has cooled, a piece the size of a silver quarter can be melted and taken into the mouth and held there until it hardens. This alloy will melt in boiling water. Robert-Houdin calls it Arcet's metal, but I cannot find the name elsewhere.
The eating of burning brimstone is an
entirely fake performance. A number of small
pieces of brimstone are shown, and then
wrapped in cotton which has been saturated
with a half-and-half mixture of kerosene and
gasoline, the surplus oil having been squeezed
out so there shall be NO DRIP. When these are
lighted they may be held in the palm of any
hand which has been anointed with one of the
fire mixtures described in this chapter. Then
throw back the head, place the burning ball in
the mouth, and a freshly extinguished candle
can be lighted from the flame. Close the lips
firmly, which will extinguish the flame, then
chew and pretend to swallow the brimstone,
which can afterwards be removed under cover
of a handkerchief.
Observe that the brimstone has not been burned at all, and that the cotton protects the teeth. To add to the effect, a small piece of brimstone may be dropped into the furnace, a very small piece will suffice to convince all that it is the genuine article that is being eaten.
To cause the face to appear in a mass of flame make use of the following: mix together thoroughly petroleum, lard, mutton tallow and quick lime. Distill this over a charcoal fire, and the liquid which results can be burned on the face without harm.[3]
[3] Barnello's Red Demon.
To set paper on fire by blowing upon it, small pieces of wet phosphorus are taken into the mouth, and a sheet of tissue paper is held about a foot from the lips. While the paper is being blown upon the phosphorus is ejected on it, although this passes unnoticed by the spectators, and as soon as the continued blowing has dried the phosphorus it will ignite the paper.
Drinking boiling liquor is accomplished by using a cup with a false bottom, under which the liquor is retained.
A solution of spermaceti in sulphuric ether tinged with alkanet root, which solidifies at 50 degrees F., and melts and boils with the heat of the hand, is described in Beckmann's History of Inventions, Vol. II., page 121.
Dennison's No. 2 sealing wax may be melted
in the flame of a candle and, while still blazing,
dropped upon the tongue without causing a
burn, as the moisture of the tongue instantly
cools it. Care must be used, however, that
none touches the hands or lips. It can be
chewed, and apparently swallowed, but removed
in the handkerchief while wiping the
lips.
The above is the method practiced by all the Fire-Eaters, and absolutely no preparation is necessary except that the tongue must be well moistened with saliva.
Barnello once said, ``A person wishing to become a Fire-Eater must make up his or her mind to suffer a little at first from burns, as there is no one who works at the business but that gets burns either from carelessness or from accident.''
This is verified by the following, which I clip from the London Globe of August 11th, 1880:
Accident to a Fire-Eater. A correspondent
telegraphs: A terrible scene was
witnessed in the market place, Leighton
Buzzard, yesterday. A travelling Negro
fire eater was performing on a stand,
licking red-hot iron, bending heated pokers
with his naked foot, burning tow in his
mouth, and the like. At last he filled his
mouth with benzolene, saying that he
would burn it as he allowed it to escape.
He had no sooner applied a lighted match
to his lips than the whole mouthful of spirit
took fire and before it was consumed the
man was burned in a frightful manner,
the blazing spirit running all over his
face, neck and chest as he dashed from his
stand and raced about like a madman
among the assembled crowd, tearing his
clothing from him and howling in most
intense agony. A portion of the spirit was
swallowed and the inside of his mouth was
also terribly burnt. He was tak