The press covered the tragedy in great detail and a

The press covered the tragedy in great detail, and a
statement was released on behalf of Queen Victoria: “The
Queen is terribly shocked by this awful calamity, and her
heart bleeds for the many poor bereaved parents. She prays
that God may support them. Her Majesty is most anxious to
hear how the injured children are.”
Playing with Fire
A magician who has lost the spark of life is not a careful
magician, and
is not a magician for long. —Glen David Gold Carter Beats
the Devil

Conjurers have always wished to appear the masters of fire.
Flashes are good misdirection, and flames are intrinsically
dramatic. For escapologists, fire raises the stakes. Magicians
play with fire, and sometimes they get burned—or, in the
case of Balabrega , blown up.
Born John Miller in Helsingborg, Sweden, Balabrega’s
family immigrated to the United States in 1868. As a child,
he achieved some degree of success as “The Boy Magician.”
In January 1900, Balabrega and his wife appeared in
Boston, on a bill shared with Houdini. But Balabrega was
restless for a tour of his own.
Balabrega

He booked a tour in Brazil and then purchased “The Moth
and the Flame” illusion from fellow performer Harry Rouclere.
This pyrotechnic vanish of six women, costumed as moths,
into a candle flame required a supply of gas, a commodity
not common in Latin American theaters of the day. To
compensate, he purchased gas-bags of acetylene, a
transportable alternative that would allow him to fuel the
illusion on any stage.
On June 12, 1900, Balabrega and his assistant, Lew
Bartlett were setting up his show at the Theatro Santa
Roza in João Pessoa, Brazil. An acetylene gas-bag
exploded and blew pieces of Balabrega and his assistant
all over the surrounding cast and crew. Balabrega’s
manager, standing several paces away, was severely
injured. Balabrega was forty-two years old.
In most magic shows, fire appears in the form of a hot,
white flash

that burns clean and leaves no ash. The most common
method of producing such an effect is flash paper.
The July 1928 issue of The Sphinx offers an explanation for
brave readers on how to make the stuff. “You must buy a few
ounces of fuming nitric acid,”
2
it begins, “and a similar quantity
of the best commercial sulfuric acid [...] having all this ready at
hand, put on old clothes and get out to the back yard
somewhere where it will not hurt if you splash the acid [...]”
Walter Price knew the process by heart and was, for a brief
time, America’s premiere flash-paper manufacturer.
3
His
credentials certainly qualified him: Price served as a captain in
the Army’s Chemical War
fare Division. After World War II, he
was discharged in Los Angeles and moved to Winter Park,
Florida, with his wife, Margaret . Like many postwar veterans,
the Prices wasted no time in procreating. They welcomed
Mary Tudor Price into their home in 1945.