FIRE-EATING MAGICIANS: CHING LING FOO
AND CHUNG LING SOO.--FIRE-EATERS
EMPLOYED BY MAGICIANS: THE MAN-
SALAMANDER, 1816; MR.CARLTON, PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, 1818; MISSCASSILLIS, AGED NINE, 1820; THE AFRICAN
WONDER, 1843; LING LOOK AND YAMADEVA
DIE IN CHINA DURING KELLAR'S
WORLD TOUR, 1872; LING LOOK'S DOUBLE, 1879.--ELECTRICAL EFFECTS, THESALAMBOS.--BUENO CORE.--DEL KANO.
--BARNELLO.--EDWIN FORREST AS A
HEAT-REGISTER.--THE ELDER SOTHERN
AS A FIRE-EATER.--THE TWILIGHT OF
THE ART.
Many of our most noted magicians have considered it not beneath their dignity to introduce fire-eating into their programmes, either in their own work or by the employment of a ``Fire Artist.'' Although seldom presenting it in his recent performances, Ching Ling Foo is a fire-eater of the highest type, refining the effect with the same subtle artistry that marks all the work of this super-magician.
Of Foo's thousand imitators the only positively successful one was William E.Robinson, whose tragic death while in the performance of the bullet-catching trick is the latest addition to the long list of casualties chargeable to that ill-omened juggle.He carried the imitation even as far as the name, calling himself Chung Ling Soo.Robinson was very successful in the classic trick of apparently eating large quantities of cotton and blowing smoke and sparks from the mouth.His teeth were finally quite destroyed by the continued performance of this trick, the method of which may be found in Chapter Six.
The employment of fire-eaters by magicians began a century ago; for in 1816 the magician Sieur Boaz, K.C., featured a performer who was billed as the ``Man-Salamander.'' The fact that Boaz gave him a place on his programme is proof that this man was clever, but the effects there listed show nothing original.
In 1818 a Mr.Carlton, Professor of Chemistry, toured England in company with Rae, the Bartholomew Fair magician.As will be seen by the handbill reproduced here, Carlton promised to explain the ``Deceptive Part'' of the performance, ``when there is a sufficient company.''
In 1820 a Mr.Cassillis toured England with a juvenile company, one of the features of which was Miss Cassillis, aged nine years, whose act was a complete reproduction of the programme of Boaz, concluding her performance with the ``Chinese Fire Trick.''
A Negro, Carlo Alberto, appeared in a benefit performance given by Herr Julian, who styled himself the ``Wizard of the South,'' in London, on November 28th, 1843.Alberto was billed as the ``Great African Wonder, the Fire King'' and it was promised that he would ``go through part of his wonderful performance as given by him in the principal theaters in America, in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, etc.''
A later number on the same bill reads: ``The African Wonder, Carlo Alberto, will sing several new and popular Negro melodies.'' Collectors of minstrel data please take notice!
In more recent times there have been a number of Negro fire-eaters, but none seems to have risen to noticeable prominence.
Ling Look, one of the best of contemporary fire performers, was with Dean Harry Kellar when the latter made his famous trip around the world in 1877.Look combined fire-eating and sword-swallowing in a rather startling manner.His best effect was the swallowing of a red-hot sword.[1] Another thriller consisted in fastening a long sword to the stock of a musket; when he had swallowed about half the length of the blade, he discharged the gun and the recoil drove the sword suddenly down his throat to the very hilt.Although Look always appeared in a Chinese make-up, Dean Kellar told me that he thought his right name was Dave Gueter, and that he was born in Buda Pesth.
[1] I never saw Ling Look's work, but I know that some of the sword swallowers have made use of a sheath which was swallowed before the performance, and the swords were simply pushed into it.A sheath of this kind lined with asbestos might easily have served as a protection against the red-hot blade.
Yamadeva, a brother of Ling Look, was also with the Kellar Company, doing cabinet manifestations and rope escapes.Both brothers died in China during this engagement, and a strange incident occurred in connection with their deaths.Just before they were to sail from Shanghai on the P.& O.steamer Khiva for Hong Kong, Yamadeva and Kellar visited the bowling alley of The Hermitage, a pleasure resort on the Bubbling Well Road.They were watching a husky sea captain, who was using a huge ball and making a ``double spare'' at every roll, when Yamadeva suddenly remarked, ``I can handle one as heavy as that big loafer can.'' Suiting the action to the word, he seized one of the largest balls and drove it down the alley with all his might; but he had misjudged his own strength, and he paid for the foolhardy act with his life, for he had no sooner delivered the ball than he grasped his side and moaned with pain.He had hardly sufficient strength to get back to the ship, where he went immediately to bed and died shortly afterward.An examination showed that he had ruptured an artery.
Kellar and Ling Look had much difficulty in persuading the captain to take the body to Hong Kong, but he finally consented.On the way down the Yang Tse Kiang River, Look was greatly depressed; but all at once he became strangely excited, and said that his brother was not dead, for he had just heard the peculiar whistle with which they had always called each other.The whistle was several times repeated, and was heard by all on board.Finally the captain, convinced that something was wrong, had the lid removed from the coffin, but the body of Yamadeva gave no indication of life, and all save Ling Look decided that they must have been mistaken.
Poor Ling Look, however, sobbingly said to Kellar, ``I shall never leave Hong Kong alive.
