Hough

prototype. In searching for material on his sub-
ject he found him to be a much overrated person
and published his study as The Unmasking of
Robert-Houdin (1908). His search for old play-
bills, papers, books, and prints, in connection
with the book, started him on a career as a col-
lector, and at his death he left a remarkable col-
lection of material on magic and spiritualism to
the Library of Congress in Washington. He had
also a fine drama library and collection of man-
uscripts. An intense desire to communicate
with his mother, who died in 1913, led him into
an investigation of spiritualism. Finding no me-
dium whose results he could credit, he launched
a strenuous campaign against spiritualists as a
class. As a result of his investigations he pub-
lished A Magician Among the Spirits (1924).
Among his other activities, Houdini for two
years, 1906-08, edited and wrote most of the
contents of the Conjurer's Monthly, and in 1920
he published Miracle Mongers and Their Meth-
ods. He organized the Magicians' Club of Lon-
don and was president for several years of the
Society of American Magicians. He starred in
three motion picture serials after the war. He
was a curious combination of aggressiveness and
sentimentality. Though he was capable of in-
dulging in bitter feuds and violent bursts of tem-
per, he was devotedly fond of his wife during
their thirty years together and, after 1913, spent
hours at the grave of his mother when he was
in New York. He died in Detroit of peritonitis
brought on by an unexpected blow on the ab-
domen.

[In addition to Houdini's books mentioned in the text
see: Harold Kellock, Houdini (1928), compiled from
the diaries and papers of the magician ; W. B. Gibson,
Houdini' $ Escapes (1930) ; the Outlook, Nov. 10, 1926;
Who's Who in America, 1924-25 ; J. B. Kennedy,
"Houdini Made Himself the Master Magician," N. Y.
Times, Nov. 7, 1926 ; obituary in N. Y. Times, Nov. i,

K.H.A.

HOUGH, CHARLES MERRILL (May 18,
iSsS-Apr. 22, 1927), jurist, son of Brig.-Gen.
Alfred Lacey Hough and Mary (Merrill)
Hough, was born in Philadelphia, Pa. His fa-
ther was of Quaker stock; Thomas Hough of
Macclesfield, England, the original settler, emi-
grated to Pennsylvania about 1685 and later set-
tled in central New Jersey. His mother was de-
scended from Nathaniel Merrill, who settled at
Salem, Mass., in 1632. Life at frontier army
posts afforded meager educational opportuni-
ties, but he had the advantage of a year at the
Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N. H., be-
fore entering Dartmouth College, from which he
graduated in 1879. Debarred by defective eye-
sight from army life, he taught school for a year

Hough

after graduation and then studied law in the of-
fice of Richard C. McMurtrie in Philadelphia.
Admitted to the bar in 1883, he removed to New
York City the following year to join the firm
of Biddle & Ward (later Robinson, Biddle &
Ward), with which he was associated through-
out his professional career. After twenty years
of active practice, during which he attained
a leading position in maritime law, he was ap-
pointed by President Roosevelt in 1906 United
States district judge for the southern district
of New York. Although a Republican in poli-
tics, he was appointed by President Wilson in
1916 United States circuit judge for the 2nd
circuit.

Hough's health was precarious throughout his
twenty years of judicial service, but his dynamic
personality made a deep impression upon his
contemporaries. The steady concentration of lit-
igation in his jurisdiction imposed an incredible
task. In ten years as a trial judge he conducted
more than 1,200 trials and filed 1,809 written
opinions. As an appellate judge, in the course
of a decade he participated in the hearing of
2,047 cases, in 675 of which he wrote the opin-
ion of the court. Only a vigorous and decisive
mind could cope with such labors; there was lit-
tle opportunity for reflection. His mind was
never tortured by doubt, and his courage in his
convictions was unfaltering. He was at his best
as a trial judge. There the high initial velocity
of his mind was conspicuously effective in mas-
tering facts, analyzing evidence, and applying
general principles to concrete cases. The force
of common sense and caustic humor could go no
further than in his drastic treatment of any ef-
fort to evade an issue. While he had a well-
stored mind, his distinction was due to the com-
bination of gifts not less essential than learning
to the successful discharge of his varied duties.
His reported opinions are scattered through 174
volumes of the Federal Reporter. Characteris-
tic specimens of his clarity of thought and vigor
of expression may be found in his exposition of
the constitutionality of the New York Housing
Law of 1920 (269 Fed., 306); and in his opin-
ions rendered in Associated Press vs. Internet
tiond News Service (245 Fed., 244), on prop-
erty rights in news; The Saturnus (250 Fed.,
407), on admiralty jurisdiction; and The Napoli
(278 Fed., 770), on novel problems of war risk
insurance. From 1919 to 1927 Hough was pres-
ident of the Maritime Law Association of the
United States and in 1922 was a delegate to the
International Conference on Maritime Laws at
Brussels. He made some noteworthy contribu-
tions to law reviews and lectured on legal sub-

249