pages: unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf, 268
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unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 268 | THE SUSPENSION TRICK however, I received a card with the following melancholy message My DEAR FRIEND-Have not been very well of late, and have been expecting my last days. All preparations have been made and Death the Visitor arrived, but instead of calling for me, he has taken away my beloved wife. I am not capable of writing more. God be with you. From your old friend, ALEXANDER HEIMBURGER. Alexander Heimburger or, as he was billed, Alexander the Conjurer, was born December 4th, 1818. From I 844 to 1854 he toured North and South America, return- ing to his native country with the intention of there follow- ing his calling as a professional entertainer. But his fame had preceded him, and, as his fortune was large, his souvenirs and tales of travel many and interesting, he was taken up by the world of fashion and lionized. This practically closed his career as a conjurer, for in those days magicians occupied no such reputable position in the professional world as they do to-day, and to have returned to his stage work would have closed the doors of aristocracy to him. He married one of Münster's prettiest girls, who bore him six children, two sons and four daugh- ters. So he passed the remainder of his days, living modestly but comfortably on the money he had amassed in America, entertained by a large circle of appreciative friends, and well content to live thus, far from the madding crowd in which the professional entertainer must move. While the recollections of his public career and his meetings with other magicians, as well as notable men in other walks of life, were fresh, he wrote his book, "Der Moderne Zauberer" (The Modern Magician), which he [ 239 ] |