SIGNOR BLITZ. 1 93 



as a " thaumaturgist," and the son of Antonio and Amelia 

 Blitz. Mademoiselle Marie Van Zandt, the noted prima 

 donna of the present day, is a granddaughter of Signer Blitz ; 

 and during her girlhood she passed many months at Mr. 

 Eaton's dwelling, and attended school in the town. She is 

 remembered with much interest and pleasure, not to say 

 pride, by many of her former playmates. 



The following obituary notice is taken from the " Boston 

 Evening Transcript," January 30, 1877: 



Signer Blitz, whose death at Philadelphia [on January 28] was 

 announced yesterday, was born in Deal, Kent County, England, on 

 the coast, June 21, 1810. When about the age of twelve he learned 

 something in legerdemain. In September, 1823, his father sent him 

 in the care of a special attendant to Hamburg, where he made his 

 first appearance in public. His first appearance in his native country 

 was in Dover in December, 1825. After travelling through England, 

 Ireland and Scotland, he started for America, leaving Liverpool on 

 the ist of August, 1834, and arrived in New York in the early part 

 of September, making his initial bow before an American audience 

 at Niblo's Garden some weeks later. After a visit to Boston he went 

 to Philadelphia (which he afterward made his home) and established 

 himself in a large hall at Eight and Chestnut streets. The Quaker 

 City seemed to suit the artist so well that after making an extended 

 tour of the country he returned, and permanently established himself 

 in the Assembly Buildings, where, during the later years of his life, he 

 performed to large audiences. He was a great favorite, being very 

 affable in his manners, and it will be a long while before the pleasant 

 memories of Signor Blitz, and his wonderful boy " Bobby," are effaced 

 from the minds of the residents of Philadelphia. About fourteen 

 years ago [July 23, 1863], his first wife having died, he married a 

 Miss Eaton, of Groton, Mass. This lady survives him, but the chil- 

 dren are those of his first wife. He was the father of the celebrated 

 opera singer Mme. Van Zandt, who is now in England, and also of 

 Mrs. Metz, residing in New York city. During the later years of his 

 fife he performed only for the benefit of charitable institutions, having 

 amassed a large fortune for himself and family by his previous efforts. 

 The automaton trumpeter, the never-failing egg-sack, and the Sphinx 

 were the results of fiis creative fancy. During his life he performed 

 before many of the reigning sovereigns of Europe. 



