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Bess houdini1/5/2024 ![]() Thereíll be another one soon to take my place.î This compelling statement and total guess by Harry floored the Osbornís. Through Bess, Joe communicated to his mom, ìDonít cry, Momma. The boyís name was Joe Osborn and his parents, Mr. This time the Houdiniís ìmade contactî with a local 6-year-old boy who passed away on November 15th and was buried in the Garnett Cemetery. Likely the next day, another sÈance was held. Harry pleaded with the spirit to reveal the murderer, then suddenly Bess fainted and fell to the floor, unable to reconnect with the departed. She slowly revealed information transmitted to her as she made ìcontactî with the deceased. The lights were turned down, and Bess, the ìPsychometric Clairvoyant,î was put into a dramatic trance by Harry. The Opera House was packed that night, and tensions were high. The news was spread that the Houdiniís would reveal the name of a murderer on the loose in Garnett after the recent unsolved killing of a local woman. Houdiniís idea was to hold a sÈance based on the religion of Spiritualism and contact with the dead. While Harry was not a religious man, what follows next are multiple days that Houdini and many people in Garnett would never forget. Pratt, asked Harry to come up with something religious in nature to draw in more customers. 22nd, a paid attendance record was set with 1,030 tickets sold.ĭespite the reviews and one big night of ticket sales, things were already not looking good for the company. The reviews in the Garnett newspapers were positive, even singling out the Houdinis. The first performance at the Opera House was on November 17th. At night their shows were at the Grand Opera House located on the northside of the town square on 4th Avenue. Bess and Harry would stay at the rooming house of Mrs. Their first stop was Garnett, and it was a memorable one. While working for a medicine show was considered the bottom of the entertainment hierarchy, it was at least a paying job. The owners offered the Houdiniís $75 a week to perform magic in the evening shows and help sell magic elixir on street corners during the day. In the fall of 1897, an opportunity to work for a medicine show called the California Concert Company in Kansas presented itself. Barely finding work in dime museums and circuses, the pair were starving in 1897. The Houdinis had only been married a few years and struggled to make money as a magic duo. Today most are not aware that the great Harry Houdini and his wife spent over two months in Kansas during the winter of 18. When the two stepped off the train, no one in Garnett or the rest of the world cared who Harry & Bess Houdini were. The four trunks represented everything they had, including one that was very special. Harry and Bess were 23 and 21 years old and barely had enough money to make it to Garnett. Finally, the train engineer exclaimed, ìhis damned trunks were onboard.î Two brakemen tried to pull him off, but his iron grip could not be defeated. ![]() Before he could finish the sentence, Harry immediately flew out of the passenger car and proceeded to lay face down on the tracks in front of the train. He pleaded with the conductor to wait, but he would not. Constantly aware of their only possessions, Harry realized the train was leaving without two of their four travel trunks. Harry and Bess wearily woke and made their way to the next train, to Garnett, Kansas. on a cold November morning in 1897 when it was time to change train cars. A playbill from the era of Houdini's performance in Garnett.īy Don Creekmore, special to The Anderson County Review
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