July 13 found Harry back in front of the law, this time at the police headquarters, to prove that he didn’t use a key to release himself from handcuffs. ![]() It was his first straightjacket escape –he was out of the elaborate garment in about 10 minutes. “I want to see the best straight-jacket you have in the place.” He was then laced up tightly in the contraption by a hospital employee, and placed in a room. “I am going to make a somewhat peculiar request,” the Jedition of the San Francisco Call notes him as saying. The mystery man was seen sizing up San Francisco’s Receiving Hospital, heading over to what was then known as the “insane ward,” and putting in an odd order. Houdini was continuing to cast his spell of awe on the city in July. “Then take a long piece of sewing thread, swallow it judiciously…catch the end of the thread…and, drawing it slowly forth, find all the needles unbroken and neatly threaded.” Once again, Houdini escaped danger with ease. “Put a handful of needles in your mouth, masticate them thoroughly, swallow them carefully,” the Call described the trick. On June 25, Houdini appeared to outdo his Orpheum feats with his Needle Trick. As part of his act at the Orpheum (on O’Farrell) he would challenge people in the audience to tie him up to a chair with a rope tied into as many complicated knots as conceivable. He easily escaped from handcuffs in front of “several hundred spotless policeman,” claimed the Jedition of the San Francisco Call. Houdini visited the city’s law enforcement to show off his skills. ![]() He arrived in the city on June 2 with his wife, and assistant, Beatrice “Bess” Houdini, and wasted no time in amazing others. The 25-year-old had just been discovered by Martin Beck, who added the struggling yet talented magician to the Orpheum Circuit. June 1899 marked the first time Harry Houdini performed in San Francisco.
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