I was so grateful to Steinmeyer for revealing the facts about'The World & Its People' illusion. I'd searched for years for this and could only ever find a description of the effect, never the workings.
If you are interested in Chung Ling Soo you should also read:
The Riddle Of Chung Ling Soo by Will Dexter
A Gift From The Gods by Val Andrews ( if only for the 48 colour plates of
his posters)
The Silence Of Chung Ling Soo by Todd Karr.488 pages. This also includes some of Soo's published works.
Chung Ling Soo. The Man of Mystery by Gary Franks
Chung Ling Soo. The Man Behind The Legend by Gary Franks with help from Hector Robinson (Soo's youngest son)
The latter 2 books do not really reveal anything new but the pics & posters are worth having. One, in 'Man behind The Legend', shows Soo, 'The Daddy Of Them All' with 2 rows of magicians stretching back to infinity, I have never seen this elsewhere.
It also has 2 name errors 0n page 34. The lady is Lou not Olive . The little girl is Mary not May.
Chung Ling Soo's Mechanists: 'They Stayed Behind'
By Brian Mc Cullagh & Dr.J. Ernest Aldred. Dr.Aldred is the son of of one of the mechanists( Phil Davies was the other) The story of Soo's 2 chief mechanists reveals many an insight into the man & his work.They stayed behind in Australia.Also some fascinating documents like the list of passengers aboard the Moldavia) to Australia) of all Soo's Company & a colour repro of Soo's letterhead, with letter to Ellis Stanyon etc.
There is also an article by Brian McCullagh in Stan Allen's 'Magic', November 1997 pages 52 to 55 showing how The Birth Of The Pearl illusion evolved with illustrations.
There are on the spot descriptions, of Soo's performances in Australia in the book, ' Magical Nights In The Theatre' by Charles Waller & Gerald Knight.
Finally a wonderful article in The New Pentagram( July 1988, pages 42 to 44) by the legendary Peter Lane; a very knowlegeable expert & collector of Magic's History.
This gave me, and it was the
first time I had ever seen it in print, the story of Soo's, 'other woman' his mistress & mother of his 3 children.
This was Janet Louise Mary Blatchford, known as Lou or Mrs. Robinson to Chung Ling Soo's Company.
His real (& 2nd wife) wife was Olive Path, known as Dot because she was so tiny. She was referred to as Mrs. Soo.
They were married very early in his pre Soo career (Robinson, The Man of Mystery) probably for financial reasons. Soo, however, after each show always went back to Lou & his children in their house in Barnes.
Hector Robinson wanted the facts in print ' to clear up the confusion created by so many widespread errors'.
There are other accounts of course in Milbourne Christopher, David Price plus magazine articles etc.
There is a brief glimpse of Chung Ling Soo( in makeup) visiting a hospital; in the BBC's History Of Magic series.
Peter Lane was very kind to me at the IBM Conventiion in Scarborough 1989. Discovering I'd never even seen the Dante Memorial issue of Genii, he sent me a spare copy for my extensive Dante collection. Those were the days guys when the Brotherhood in Magic really meant that; Brotherhood!
Allen Tipton
Began magic at 9 in 1942. Joined Staffs M.S at 13. Nottm.Guild of M. (8 times President. Prog Director 20years)IBM. Awarded Magician of Month 1980 By Intern. Pres. IBM for reproducing Dante's Sim Sala Bim. Writes Dear Magician column for Abra. Mag.