Milton was a stage magician who worked in London. His ingénieur was John Cutter, who designed all of his tricks. In the early stages of his career Milton was inventive and a good magician, but later on he became lazy and unwilling to try new and interesting acts.
He was doing a show at The Orpheum in London involving a water cell trick, using his assistants Julia McCullough and her husband Robert Angier. Cutter hired a new stagehand, Alfred Borden, who tied the knots for the trick. One night Borden tied a different knot and McCullough drowned on stage, despite Cutter's efforts to rescue her. Milton attended her funeral, but did not perform on stage again.