He agreed that the gate was "tougher," as he expressed it, than the cell.
Houdini is an American. Only his strong arms and his supple, yet powerful hands give the slightest clue of his prison-breaking capacity.
He does not look a gaolbird, but the escape he made for the benefit of Express readers was his 61st.
Bright-eyed, smart, active, and a good talker, he has traveled far and wide, and has broken out of the prisons of many countries.
"I have never failed," said Houdini, "but I don't say there is no cell I cannot break out of. As to handcuffs, the hardest job I ever had was with a pair made at Krupp's. It took me 40 minutes to get out of them, but I did it."
Hou'di-ni, 1 hū'dī-nī; 2 hu'dï-nï, Harry (4/6 1874- ). American mystericist, wizard, and expert in extrication and self-release.—hou'di-nize, vt. To release or extricate oneself from (confinement, bonds, or the like), as by wriggling out.
FROM FUNK & WAGNALL'S NEW (1920) DICTIONARY