Ling Look, one of the best of contemporary
fire performers, was with Dean Harry Kellar
when the latter made his famous trip around
the world in 1877. Look combined fire-eating
and sword-swallowing in a rather startling
manner. His best effect was the swallowing
of a red-hot sword.[1] Another thriller consisted
in fastening a long sword to the stock of a
musket; when he had swallowed about half the
length of the blade, he discharged the gun and
the recoil drove the sword suddenly down his
throat to the very hilt. Although Look always
appeared in a Chinese make-up, Dean Kellar
told me that he thought his right name was
Dave Gueter, and that he was born in Buda
Pesth.


[1] I never saw Ling Look's work, but I know that some of
the sword swallowers have made use of a sheath which was
swallowed before the performance, and the swords were simply
pushed into it. A sheath of this kind lined with asbestos
might easily have served as a protection against the red-hot
blade.


Yamadeva, a brother of Ling Look, was also
with the Kellar Company, doing cabinet
manifestations and rope escapes. Both brothers
died in China during this engagement, and a