The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-04-14

iron nerve.
Word came to Mr.. and Mrs
Thurston in Indianapolis that theil
daughter Jane was critically i'll with
influenza at her school in the East
Mrs. Thurston hurried to her. Or
the way, she, too, was stricken anc
her condition was said to be serious
Mr.. Thurston stayed with the show
Made Train Reservations
He made reservations on all trains
going east. The tension was almost
too much. How could he enter
tain an audience with his wife and
daughter i'll, perhaps dying? The
overture was played. Just before
he was to step on to the stage, ne
was given telegram. Terror
stricken, opened it. 1t was an added
blow. His brother Charles, a de-
tective in Columbus, O., had been
slain by gangsters. Yet the show
went on.
Since he ran away from home at
the age of Z, Howard Thurston's
show" had been going on. His
life story, told excellently in his
autobiography, "My Life of Magic,
published in 1929, reads at times,
like an Alger romance.
The primary inspiration to be-
come a magician first struck the
boy when he saw the Great Her
mann perform at the Columbus
City Hall. Howard, entranced by
the great mans magic, followed
him to his hotel after the show.
Father Carriage Maker
His father was a carriage maker
and an inventor on the side. Such
things. as a curling iron (still in
use), two-wheeled roller skates, a
cigar making machine and a beef
steak FOUNDER, were produced orig
inally by the elder Thurston. With
the family in dire straits, young
Howard and his brother went from
door to door one winter selling the
steak Founders, and the proceeds
went far toward supporting the
family.
At 9 he had become an expert
newsboy, turning over most OF his
earnings to the home. But the
Wanderlust, malady from which
he never recovered, took him, and
he ran away with a jockey friend.
They hoped a freight train for
Cincinnati. Howard sold papers for
food. Not quite small enough to
be jockey, he went to Chicago,
where he carried on his newspaper
trade, selling in front of the Pal
mer House. His spare time was
spent in practicing the easier
slight-of- hand tricks; making small
coins disappear and picking them
out of his friends pockets.
Gets Job as Jockey
Trying his luck at jockeying
again, he got job. Because he
was overweight, his employers
wrapped him in a sheet and at
tempted to sweat the avoirdupois
out of him. But he was too weak to
ride. When police raided the Dali
las (Tex.) tracks he was arrested.
Fearing life on the poor farm he
tied blankets together, slid between
the bars and escaped from a Sec
ond-story cell.
After several years of tramping
about the country, one cold wintry
night found him standing in the
alley near the stage door of the
McVickers Theater in Chicago. He
vowed to return to the theater some
Cay with his own magic show. So
earnest was his oath that he
scratched his initials on the brick
wall.
Twenty-three years later, Howard
Thurston, the great magician, took
Harry Kellar, his friend and part
ner out into the same alley, showed
him the initials, still visible on the
wall. Kellar, the worlds greatest
sleight-of hand artist, had chosen
ThurSton as his successor, and was
taking him on his farewell tour.
meets GhllanCnrOplSc
In 1885, young Thurston acct
dentally met w. M. F. Round, a
New York philanthropist, who i'm
mediately took a liking to him.
So engrossed did Howard become
in religious thought that in 1886
he enrolled in the Mount Hermon
School, intending to become a
medical missionary.
Christmas night, 1887, he gave his
first magic show, before members
and friends of the school. His card
tricks baff1ed the students and
when he performed his first lady
slicing" act two women tainted.
Another sight of the Great Her.
mann decided him definitely on a
theatrical career and he went back
to his fathers home, studied hard
for more than a year. With his
mother as. his audience he perfected
all the tricks he had seen Hermann
do. When he was ready to leave on
hiS nry,, a,@V,r1ooIOI ~ 81 ~, -