Houdini bearded the lion in his den by escaping from a Police Cell in
Rochester, N. Y., which was securely locked with one of the Sargent and
Greenleaf Locks, placing himself on record as one of the great lock
pickers of the world.
Of the thousands of locks he has picked all over the world, the
following police certificates places him among the historical lock
pickers, in fact, second to none.
POLICE HEADQUARTERS, ROCHESTER, N. Y.
U. S. OF AMERICA.
We, the undersigned, certify that we saw Harry Houdini,
the bearer of this note, stripped naked, searched, locked
in one of the cells at Police Headquarters, and handcuffed
with three pairs of cuffs, also strapped with a strap
extending from pair of cuffs and buckled at the back.
He removed the cuffs, unlocked the cell, got into an
adjoining cell and returned with his clothes on.
After unlocking the cell in which he was first placed, he
had to unlock the cell in which his clothing was left.
This was witnessed by the following persons, at Police
Headquarters, this city, December 4th, 1905.
J. C. HAYDEN, Chief of Police.
Mr. James Sargent personally complimented Houdini on his rare skill.
They became friends and spent hours together exchanging lock opening
secrets.
NOTE.--We beg to acknowledge our indebtedness to
the following publications for data used in this
article--Price's Book on "Locks and Keys" 1856; New
International Encycleopedia 2nd Edition; (Dodd Mead
and Co., New York); and Encycleopedia Americana, J. M.
Stoddart, 1886.
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