Jim Steinmeyer by The Last Greatest Magician in the World

Author:The Last Greatest Magician in the World [World, The Last Greatest Magician in the]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA), Inc.
Published: 2015-05-21T16:00:00+00:00

FORTUNATELY, Kellar was unaware of the real problem: Thurston’s debts had already surrounded him like a roaring inferno, licking at every investment and threatening to engulf his career. In August 1912, Thurston mortgaged the entire show to Hyman Fish, a New York commission salesman, for a quick $1,000. Included in the loan was a full accounting of the show, including the crates containing Kellar’s levitation, the props from Maskelyne and Devant, the Lion Cage, electric equipment, backdrops, tools, and Thurston’s personal trunks. Mr. Fish now owned it all, until Thurston paid it off—nearly one hundred cases, baskets, and crates—a train-car load of specialized equipment, the parts and pieces of the America’s greatest magic show.

Hyman Fish is a surprising name. He was convicted by the New York State Supreme Court in early 1915 for forging a set of books in conjunction with another 1912 loan, then charged again for perjury during the case. He was a loan shark. Apparently Fish was unrelated to Thurston’s business. When the magician found him, it was for the same reason anyone went to a loan shark: they’d reached the limit from friends, associates, and family members.

Howard Thurston had returned to America just five years earlier with $50,000—and he was a millionaire by today’s standards. Now he was forced to pawn one last property. And, of course, he couldn’t let any of his partners or acquaintances know what he’d just done, or have anyone in show business gossiping about such a loan. The situation suggests that Thurston may have simultaneously, dangerously, mortgaged the show for similar loans.

“Don’t worry, George. Never worry,” Thurston habitually advised his loyal assistant. Now he knew that he had to keep his eyes forward, trusting that one of his business ventures would succeed. Something would work. Something would finally pay off. After all, it couldn’t get any worse.

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