Insurance Company Confirms Denial that Blow Killed Magician

MONTREAL, Dec. 22 (AP)–Had Harry Houdini, the magician, really died by a blow delivered by a student, as was reported and denied, his relatives would have received double the $25,000 insurance paid them, it developed today.

H.J.J. McKeon, local manager of a New York insurance company, who has concluded an investigation for his firm into the cause of Houdini’s death, said the magician carried a policy which was to be doubled in case of accident.

McKeon confirmed denials that Houdini had been injured in a scuffle with college boys behind stage, as was alleged just after his death. Houdini was ill when he arrived here, said McKeon, and there was no evidence that he had staged any stomach-punching demonstrations at any time during his stay here.

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