LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Harry Houdini: Sir Arthur
built 648 days ago
Houdini passed the slate to Sir Arthur for examination. He was then requested to suspend the slate in the middle of the room, by means of the wires and hooks, leaving it free to swing in space, several feet distant from anything. In order to eliminate the possibility of electrical connections of any kind, Sir Arthur was asked to fasten the hooks over anything in the room which would hold them. He hooked one over the edge of a picture-frame, and the other on a large book, on a shelf in Houdini's library. The slate ... swung free in space, in the center of the room, being supported by the two wires passing through the holes in its upper corners. The slate was inspected and cleaned.
Source:
Houdini's varied career would take another turn. "After the death of his mother in 1913, " as Steve and Patricia Hanson related in a Los Angeles magazine article, the illusionist "became obsessed with 'making contact with those who had gone beyond."' This venture brought the performer into contact with another notable figure of turn-of-the-century pop culture - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
Source:
Houdini now invited Sir Arthur to examine the four cork balls in the saucer. He was told to select any one he liked, and, to show that they were free from preparation, to cut it in two with his knife... verifying the fact that they were merely solid cork balls. This was accordingly done. Another ball was then selected, and, by means of the spoon, was placed in the white ink, where it was thoroughly stirred round and round, until its surface was equally coated with the liquid. It was then left in the ink to soak up as much liquid as possible. The remaining balls Sir Arthur took away with him for examination, at Houdini's request.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Sir Arthur