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

for funds with which to finance his
career. His father handed him a
quarter.
Combining magic with business,
Thurston sold potato peelers as the
climax to series of tricks, before
small street gatherings. In Cleve-
land he saw the Sells Bros. circus
and landed his first real job at Sc
week. He was billed as "Ander-
son, the Wizard of the North" The
routine included 30 or 40 perform
ances a day.
In the show he met Billy Burke,
the great clown of the day, and his
wife and daughter, Billie Burke.
Billie, 10-year-old with curls, trav-
eled in the wagon with Thurston
and the troupe as they lived hand
to-mouth existence for several
months. The show broke up and
Thurston was stranded. He landed
his first and last acting job. 1t was
in a melodrama, "TriX, the Pet of
Black Canyon" and Mr.. Thurston
admitted he didn't fit.
Moving boldly to Broadway,
Thurston spent more than a year
looking for work. He spent hours in
Union Square Park, practicing his
card tricks, often went for days
without food. Finally he was told
to meet two theatrical agents for an
interview. Knowing his type of
show demanded an audience, he
spent his last cent for an ad:
Wanted: 1000 men for one hours
work at 81 each"
He Got the Job
The auditorium was damned. He
told the men that there must have
been some mistake and went
through his act for them. The
audience appeal they furnished
proved his talent to the agents and
he got job.
After very successful engage
ment at Tony Pastors vaudeville
house, where he worked for $50 a
week, Thurston's success seemed as
sured. He went to London, ap-
peared at the Palace Theater in
1900 and was an overnight hit. Back
stage one evening King Edward VII
sat on the dressing room trunk and
learned card tricks from Thurs
ton.
During his European tour he gave
private performances for the Shah
of Persia, Baron Rothschild, Presi-
dent Loubet of France, the Kings
of Siam and Belgium, and the En-
peror Franz Josef of Austria. The
latter rewarded him with gold
watch which struck the hours.
Builds big" Show
Feeling that the trend of the
times was toward more lavish
shows, Thurston spent months,
working 18 hours day, building his
"big" magic show. The $4,000 he
had saved was spent by the time
the show opened in Boston in 1902.
1t was a hit and jumped immediate
ly to the Fourteenth Street Theater
in New York, where it ran for sew
eral months. There followed
another world tour, on which the
show was received excellently.
He came home only when Kellar
offered to introduce him as his sue
cessor on his farewell American
tour. Although he longed to return
to the Far East, Thurston lived
the rest of his life here, travelling
extensively with his shows, spend
ing his spare time devising new
tricks. Until four years ago he
appeared at English's almost an
nually. In 1893 he gave his show
at the Indiana and his last local
performance was at the Circle in
1885.
He met Mrs. Thurston while
travelling with one CT his shows.
She became an ardent fan and adj
wiser. After their daughter, Jane
was born, Thurston never gave a
performance without mentioning
her name. In recent years she was
with the show.
Incident in Georgia
In little Georgia town years ago,
Thurston happened to be in the
railway station when a Negro boy
was run over by a train. The boys
leg almost was severed and none of
the men would lift him. Desperate
ly Thurston tried hypnotism. 1t
didn't seem to work.
Send me Jesuh, send me Jesus"
the boy cried. Then, seeing Thurs
ton STOPPING over him, he asked:
us you Jesus?" Thurston knew
what negative answer would
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