Houdini’s Tyneside escape
WHO from our area could fail to be fascinated if we were able to turn the lost pages of North East history?
So many strange tales, news items and remarkable people have slipped from living memory.
Tyne and Weird is a collective of filmmakers, artists and animators based in the region dedicated to unearthing forgotten historical facts, local lore, history and culture.
Rob Kilburn runs the group’s Facebook page. Here he uncovers three of the strange tales his Tyne and Weird group has uncovered.
■A daredevil American cyclist in Newcastle, 1909
Max Schreyer was a famous American daredevil cyclist and athlete born some time in the middle of the 19th century.
Between 1885 and 1919 he travelled the world performing his amazing feats, eventually arriving in the UK.
In 1906 he came to Newcastle to perform his most famous stunt. It involved riding a bicycle down a ramp over 100ft high, then propelling himself off and landing in a tank filled with water.
The selected venue for the stunt was the long-gone Olympia Theatre on Newcastle’s Northumberland Road.
There was, however, not enough room for the ramp used in the stunt and a portion of the roof had to be removed.
Thousands gathered to watch the dangerous feat performed successfully a number of times.
Schreyer continued touring the world to packed arenas and theatres until in 1919 his luck unfortunately changed.
While performing at Van Cortlandt Park in New York in front of 20,000 people, including his wife and infant son, he struck the side of the tank and was injured.
He survived a few days in hospital before succumbing to his injuries in May 1919.
■Houdini escapes from jail in South Shields, 1904
In February, 1904, world-famous magician and escapologist Harry Houdini arrived in South Shields to perform at the Empire Theatre on King Street.
During his stay he decided to prove his skills, as he had done in many other places in the country, by breaking out of a local police cell.
He was marched to the cell by Superintendent Cowe and was reportedly stripped nude before being handcuffed in front of an audience of policemen using three different types of handcuffs.
He was then taken to a different cell and sealed in with a triple lock before the cells were inspected at Houdini’s request.
The inside of the cell door was sheeted with a quarter-inch iron plate that was bolted down and had no access to the lock on the inside.
Before the spectators were led away, Houdini remarked: “I don’t say I’ll do it, but I’ll try”.
With that, the audience was sealed outside an iron gate waiting for the situation to develop.
Surely enough it was not long before the sound of handcuffs falling could be heard along with the cells being unlocked.
Houdini emerged only a few moments later, fully dressed having unlocked both cells and declared himself a free man.
Despite his quick escape, after the stunt he remarked the cells in South Shields were exceptionally good and strong. This was the 52nd escape he had made from cells in this country, but it is one the police of South Shields did not forget.
■Murder in the Graveyard: Tynemouth, 1808
An article in published in The Times on October 29, 1808, describes how while digging a grave, the Sexton of Tynemouth Church heard a voice beneath his feet.
“Murder” the feeble voice cried, much to the alarm of the Sexton.
After a brief period of silence, he resumed digging only to hear the ghastly cry again.
Dropping his shovel he fled the churchyard much to the amusement of a soldier watching from afar who had been practising his ventriloquism skills!
■To read more strange and forgotten North East tales, follow Tyne and Weird on Facebook: www.facebook. com/TyneandWeird