Houdini Gave Interesting Exhibition

Mr. Harry Houdini, the expert at escaping from handcuffs and other bonds, gave an extraordinary exhibition of his strength and skill last night in the Living Room of the Union. The entertainment was through the courtesy of Mr. A. P. Keith '01.

Last night Mr. Houdini performed three astounding feats, of which the first was to remove five pairs of handcuffs of different makes. Under cover of a small curtained box he successively opened three pairs affixed at the same time by members of the University, then a new pair provided by Inspector J. W. Deehan of the Cambridge police force, and finally some old English manacles lent by a member of the University. It took but one minute to remove each of the first four, but the last pair, in which the keyhole was closed by an iron plug screwed in reversely, occupied him for three minutes.

The second feat was the most wonderful of the evening and was performed in full sight of the audience. A strait jacket was buckled on by straps fastened behind his back. By violent exertion of the trunk he managed to work the strap fastening his hands up to his left shoulder and then slipped it forward by grinding his shoulder on the floor. It was then possible for him to unbuckle this strap with his teeth, and to undo with his hands, although enclosed in the sleeves, the strap behind his neck. Thus the jacket was sufficiently loosened to enable him to drag it over his head.

Following this P. N. Coburn 3L. and J. McMasters tied him fast to a chair with 60 feet of stout rope. Their work of nine minutes was undone by Mr. Houdini after an exhausting strain of 12 minutes.