Evening Star Newspaper, November 25, 1929, Page 5

- THORSTON PLARNED HELIOUS CAREER His Early Days as Student at Bible Institute Recalled by Magician. Howard Thurston, whose feats of | magic have mystified millions, has con- fided to local Y. M. C. A. officials that but for a trick of fate he might today 4 ‘have been a “Y" secretary or a forelgn | ‘missionary. The noted magician, just closing a ! direct to me. That sermon has always remained imprinted in my memory. Begins ‘!Myl.n‘ Bible. “Round induced me to become & re’u- lar church attendant. I began studying the Bible, joined a mission club of young men, and before long was mount- ing: soap boxes in the Bowery as & ‘curbstone preacher.’ I wrote my mother about my conversion, and she was over- joyed. Not long afterward she died. “I made up my mind I would give up all idea of becoming a magician and devote my life to religion. I entered Moody’'s Mount Hermon School, intend- ing to become a medical missionary. I took the regular Bible course, indulged in athletics, and finally amused some of my classmates with legerdemain. “It was at the Mount Hermon School that I gave my first public debut as a magician. I performed at a Christmas | entertainment and made a big hit by extracting coins from the ears of my classmates and frisking a gross of poker cards out of the pocket of Will Moody. I climaxed the show by slicing off the head of one of my boy friends. The illusion was so realistic that four of ~THE ‘EVENING STAR, 'WASHINGTOX, D. ¢, MONDAY, NOVEMBFR 25 19%9. declared. ‘All right, I sald, ‘T1l go to Syracuse.’ And I did. “That was the turning point in my life. I put my religious career behind me, watched Hermann perform at Syracuse, and determined definitely then and there to become a magician. That's about all there is to the story. “Except,” he added as he made final preparations for his stage a rance, “I would like to repeat I 1 never regret that early training back in Mas- sachusetts. It has helped me over many a difficulty through the years.” g Steel houses, complete with bath room, electric light and central heating, and which can be constructed in eight minutes and erected on their sites in a few hours, are to be built in Paris as part of a housing scheme. BUILDS STRENGTH THE MATCHLESS MELODIES OF APRICELESS STRADIVARIUS ~ ARE PRODUCED ON vTO FIGHT Wweek of mystification at a local theater, | the students fainted and I -was later disclosed that he. was trained for a|warned by the school authorities against religious career at the same “Bible in- | trying the guilotine trick any more, al- stitute” as that attended by Leonard |though they asked me to continue my W. DeGast, general secretary of the | Shows on other occasions. Washington Y. M. C. A., and Pred W.| “To make a long story short, my Dawson, assistant director of education | Success in these school entertainments WF the local association, | brought the old lure of magic back to And to these men he made a confes- |me. I wavered more than ever aiter sion in no spirit of shame. in the midst of his activities as a con- Jurer of evil spirits he finds time to in- dulge in prayer as he was taught to do by a deeply religious mother and by such instructors as Will Moody, son of the famous evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, Interviewed in his dressing room at Poli’s Thurston paused in his work of daubing his face with grease paint to look back upon those early days and Teflect upon their influence upon his life. Doesn't Regret Bible Teachings. “You know,” he sald a: moment later. | “I feel as if I were cheating—doing | something I shouldn’t do—by pasting | this lock of hair on my forehead.” He bent his head toward the mirror of his dressing table and stuck a freshly-glued strip of hair over a bald spot. “The | gubli(’ wouldn't like me as I really am,” e said with a smile. “Yes,” he continued, “it is true I was educated under the Moody and Sankey influence, and I don't regret it for a| minute. I had a wild streak in me as & boy, andgran away from home to be- come a race track jockey. It nearly killed my poor old mother, and she prayed constantly that I would return. After leading a dangerous and adven- turous life around the tracks and hobo- ing my way around from city to city, I succumbed to the pangs of conscience and -went back home. “It was then I began to practice rrlor magic,” and mother laughed but id not discourage me. Down in my heart I knew she wanted me to indulge in more serious pastimes, but the lure of the occult was too much. I kept on trying those old tricks. “At 17 I went to New York, and be- fore long was falling into my old ways again. I hung around the race tracks and finally werft broke. I met a young fellow who had served a term in prison, &l"ld he took me with him one day to e Prison Association in the old Bible | Building, .where I met a man named D. E. Kimball. Kimball introduced me to a philonthropist, W. M. F. Round, who seemed to take an interest in me. He gave a lecture in a church that night on the topic ‘There Is a Man in You’ He looked right at me most of the time, and I felt he was talking | | NN L 2 p 3 We Can Supply Everything to | Enclose Your } % Back Porch We have all the necessary W prcl e FIgie Sheetrock, nd ex, paint and hardware. Orders _Given Careful X x X e g e X % 1 Frank Kelly, fnc. * X x 2101 Georgia Ave. N.1343 Tt ‘was that | seeing Hermann the Great perform one day just before I was to go to Phila- delphia to arrange for entering the University of Pennsylvania. That eve- ning I went to the depot to buy my ticket for Philadelphia, and there stood Hermann and his wife before me at the ticket window. They bought a ticket to Syracuse. Turning Point Arrives. “When my turn came I asked the clerk for a ticket to Philadelphia. He handed me the wrong change, .and I called his attention to the mistake. ‘You asked for a ticket to Syracuse,’ he children ‘Why buy caps made of 70% cotton cov- eredwith30%wool? 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