Reminiscences of a Raconteur, Between the '40s and the '20sHam, George H. (George Henry)
History
Reminiscences of a Raconteur, Between the '40s and the '20s
Ham, George H. (George Henry)
Canada; Ham, George H. (George Henry), 1847-1926; Journalists -- Canada -- Biography
Then there are the necromancers and the hypnotists and the Anna Eva
Fays; also the Georgia Wonders and such like. McKeown, a nephew of the
Scotch wizard, Anderson, did remarkable feats which I can’t explain;
Malina, who never appeared in public, but received $100 a night at
private houses, was a mystery, which he claimed he wasn’t. The Georgia
Wonders increased in numbers as the subject of points and angles became
known. Charlie Kelly, the well-known Winnipeg singer, travelled with one
troupe and at Halifax was astounded when the manager of the show told
him he would have to get another “Wonder” as the one he had was getting
too fat and wouldn’t “draw.” So he advertised for one—of course
discreetly—and after Charlie had witnessed a couple of rehearsals, he
resigned in disgust.
Anna Eva Fay performed remarkable feats. One day while visiting Winnipeg
I met Billy Seach, manager of the Princess Opera House, and while
enjoying an evening stroll he told me of the successes and failures of
the previous season. Anna Eva Fay had made the greatest hit and packed
the house every night. He then went on to tell me that Miss Fay had
scouts out at every place she performed. I knew that, for my next door
neighbor in Montreal, Billy Cameron, was one of them.
Well, one morning, Anna’s scout happened to drop into Archibald &
Howell’s law office to see a clerk of his acquaintance. There was a
minister in the waiting room, and one of the members of the firm came
out and greeted him. He was from a little town not far from Winnipeg, in
which city he was well known. This reverend gentleman remarked that
things were not going well with him, that his little boy had broken his
arm, but was getting better, and that he had lost a drove of pigs, but
thought he would find them in a slough near a red barn a couple of miles
away.
That night, the minister attended Anna Eva Fay’s performance and
standing up handed in some written questions. He was directly spotted by
the scout, who conveyed the intelligence Miss Fay desired. She answered
the questions quite satisfactorily, and the wonder-stricken reverend
gentleman freely communicated to those near him the accuracy of the
answers. Shortly after Miss Fay predicted that Hugh John Macdonald would
beat Joe Martin by 1,435 majority and Peter Rutherford, a staunch Grit
and a firm believer in Miss Fay’s prophecies, rushed out of the show and
ran down to the Liberal committee rooms and shouted for them to close
the place as they were licked already. Hugh John was elected all right,
but not by the majority she said he would have.
Adventures in the Occult.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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