Houdini loved to perform this escape [from a packing crate place underwater], though it sometimes caused him difficulty with the law. He was stopped several times by police who claimed the crowds were an obstruction and that it was too dangerous because Houdini might drown.
At one performance of this in Liverpool, he knew the police were going to try to stop him. While the crate was being constructed, the constables made their way through the crowd and announced, “Mr. Houdini, we cannot allow you to attempt this thing.”
As they began removing the construction material, to the disappointment of the crowd, there was suddenly a shout and the crowd quickly moved about fifty yards away where they joined another crowd. It turned out the constables had addressed a double of Houdini, while the real Houdini had actually begun the feat a short distance away from the advertised site. By the time the officers discovered this and reached the actual site, Houdini was already being lowered into the water.
Source:
Stephens, John Richard. “Odds and Ends.” Weird History 101: Tales of Intrigue, Mayhem, and Outrageous Behavior. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2006. 151-52. Print.
Further Reading:
Harry Houdini (born Erik Weisz, later Ehrich Weiss or Harry Weiss)
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