The sun., 1912-07-08
.HA! WATCHFUL POLICE
FOIL HANDCUFF HARRY
Force Him TO Go OF Almost b,
Himself to Bc Dumped
Into River.
MOVING PICTURE SUCCESS
IlOudini Really Nailed in Box
and Thrown Overheard Be-
fore Small Crowd.


was cnlivcncd yesterday for several
hundred regular patrons Of Battery Park
and as many thousands Of transients as
could crowd into the choice places along
the waterfront without trcading on the
toes of the regulars
For Houdni, sclf-styled the "handcutf
king" was doing one OF his fifty odd
varieties of miracles. and this time the
! odds were seemingly against him.
What the crowd which jammed Pier
, in tn" East River at 1899 o'clock or there
about was to have seen was Houdini
nonchalnntly permitting himself to he
handcuired, shacklcd nailed securely
in large wooden box. ropcd and chained
and then dumped OIL into the river.
As matter of fact, only n chosen band
of reporters. magazine writer's, moving
picture men from the Gaunont Company
and friends of tho expert really saw the
act When Houdni and the box arrived
al the pier in an automobile Capt. Hogan
of the Precinct station on South street
parted the crowd and announced there
would bc no dumping of a box on Pier O.
The desk man M the police station house
on being questioned later in the day as
to what might have happened to Handcuff
Harry if he had been obstinate explained
that the expert might have been arrested
for several different reasons. chief among
them being that he would have been
performing on Sunday. giving public
performance without a permit. and that
he was temporarily insane
But HandcuT Harry and his retainers
l. 4 . .l.s A.. l.
tions from the police they had come up
against that proposition only last April
when Capt. Post of the East I26th street
station would no; permit lIoudini to jump
of the Willis avenue bridge all done up
III chains.
Consequently lighter and a tug. the
Catherine Moran, had been provided. and
, on the lighter the favored ones wer q
hustled under the scrutinizing eyes Of the
expert himself As soon as he saw any
one who did not look intellectual or carry
a camera Of some kind trying to jump
abroad he directed some one to put OF
the offender. In the confusing Of arguing
with the captain and showing people of
one small boy, costumed for bathing.
| managed to wriEgle aboard the lighter
IIe NdS IOuIitlN az iTFt Dut LOT
| the rest of the trip was aNectionately
known as "u.c stowaway."
The Catherine Moran and the lighter
| after barely escaping knocking large holes
in all the craft within reach. finally got
out into midstream and then the question
| arose as to where the exhibition should
take place II could not be done out in
, the open water. for there was the police
boat TO interfere.
Finally the outfit drew mp alongside
the quartermaster department dock
oN Governors Island and preparations
began. BY this time a real respectable
showing Of tugs and motor boats had
gathered around the Catherine Moran
and the captains and operators of the
several vessels were urged TO draw IN
close aud lend atmosphere To the scene
for IN" benefit Of the moving picture folk
s., this point the box was toted on, and
everybody crowded to have a look The
, receptacle looked to be an ordinary wooden
box twon;y-four inches wide thirty-si X
inches high and thirty eight inches long
IL had II hole the size Of IA silver dollar
perhaps and several smaller holes in
each end The corners were reinforced
10y wooden cl"ats made Of inch board
Houdin stepped in from, of the cameras
and submitted himself to the shackling
a pair Ot beg irons wer" put about his
ankles. and on his wrists were fastened
two pairs Of what one of the helpers sat
We're regulation handouts
HandcuT Harry was lifted into the box
Husky r"tnln"rs with their mouths full
Of nails alta ked the cove: of what many
Of thu spectators decided was TO hc the
expert = coffin and made il fast. Then they
fastened inch wide steel straps around the
ends IF the box androped II in good shape.
Attendants then dropped the box on
an lmprOvi>cd gangplank into the water.
II had been weighted on both sides with
iron pipes full of window weights the whole
weighing about 200 pounds, This arrange
mcnt WAS calculated. the attendants said.
To make the box float with the top side
just on the surface of the water. but il
did not right itself for several seconds
after II had gone overheard.
The spectators who crowded the sides
of III" lighter ard the vantage points ON
all tho other craft saw the floating box
being Violently twtch"d and many of
them confessed to feeling "A little afraid
that the expert would never come mp.
though ~ course som" one penctratngly
r"nirk.d, The man would be fool to
do III" thing if he wasn't sure he would
make Il 60 of II.
''ll Iltll't''ll marry fIt come up JnSt
one minute after he had been thrown
overheard We broke the surface of the
water with h!s b,lshy hair and the shout
that went up from the passengers on the
lighter was the signal for great footing
Of whistles from all the shipping in the
vicinity. Then the Handcuf King was
lifted into one Of the Catherine Moran's
small boa ,,dnd taken on board the lighter.
whcrc he posed for the camera t>aople
and received the congratulations of
many among them. Edmund Rrcese, actor.
Anna Steeso Richardson. ma zine writer.
and lir L. u, Weiss who was ON hand
in cas-" ot an emeIg gency.
Instead of returning to Pier the out
lit drew up against the Battery wall
and discharged its Passengers. who
were immediately surrounded bv an
eager throng asking whether he done il
Hcudini. MIR Breese and others hur-
riod away To their waiting automobiles
and the crowd addressed itself to the
task Of tiguring out how tho thing had
been done.