Tucked in the back - a philately connection

My last post on A sheet of stamps and a thick bundle of postcards discussing the stamps in 'Philatelic & Numismatic Holmes' by Benton Wood BSI. Peter Blau wrote to me to remind me of the excellent "The Philatelic Sherlock Homes" web page that was created and maintained by Stephen (Kepano) Trussel: www.trussel.com/detfic/sholmes.htm. The site indicates that Trussel passed away on June 26, 2020. Sadly I cannot find an obituary for Trussel, but he appears to have been a linguist who created and maintained Hawaiian and Pacific language online dictionaries, described also as a retired professor of English from Sanno College in Tokyo. Trussel apparently created and maintained the eminent Maigret site Simenon and his Inspector Maigret, and lived in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The information on Trussel's site is truly remarkable and detailed, and provides a list of all stamps ever released. So thorough is the site, that it goes beyond officially. issued stamps to also describe other reference works, as well as "Cinderella issues". Cinderalla stamps are non-postal labels that can look exactly like stamps. They are not 'postally usable', but can be created for a special purpose. Looking at Trussel's site, I browsed the Cinderalla stamps, and noticed something....

I recently obtained a copy of Susan Rice's 'A Compound Of Excelsior', which prompted me to write a blog post about beekeeping.

"For Mary Jane, It is my goal to keep the Master's memory not only green, but honey colored! Best Regards, Susan Rice, Hallowe'en '92."

Inside this wonderful book was the above inscription, indicating that Susan signed her book on October 31, 1992. Tipped into the book were two yellow cardboard sheets, as shown below. The list 1992 as the year, include perforations to tear out the four rectangles, the letters "ABS" and "LOCAL POST", with the signature of "L. Crane 1992" at the bottom.

I posted on the 'socials' to see if anyone could advise me of what they were... and didn't have any luck on what the item was for, though Scott Monty pointed out the ABS is likely 'Autumn in Baker Street'. This was an annual meeting held in .... Autumn!..... usually at Bear Mountain in NY.

The Philatelic Sherlock Homes website closes the loop - on the item and the date in the book. It is a sheet containing four Cinderella stamps! Linda Crane ASH established a 'Wigmore Street Post Office' that operated at the 1992 Autumn in Baker Street meeting - one would buy Cinderella stamps, hand the letter over, and they would be delivered to their recipient. Mystery solved! These Cinderellas never made it onto a letter.

This also explains exactly where Susan Rice signed the above copy of 'A Compound of Excelsior' - it must have been at the 1992 Autumn in Baker Street meeting !

Now if only I knew who Mary Jane was.... 

A sheet of stamps and a thick bundle of postcards

As a boy I was an enthusiastic collector of stamps. In my basement is a box of Australian 'stamp packs', 'first day covers' and other Australia Post memorabilia. While I outgrew the hobby, I still enjoy themed stamps, and have cast an occasional eye over the Sherlockian and Doylean world of philately.  I should acknowledge that this post is about stamps. I just can't get into coins (sorry Greg).

I picked up two different editions of 'Philatelic & Numismatic Holmes' by Benton Wood BSI ("A Scandal in Bohemia", 1927-2007), one from 1993 and one from 1995 (which is signed). Rev. Dr. Benton Wood was a chaplain, the chaplain of the BSI, and an ardent philatelist. 

These books are the convergence of his enthusiasm for Holmes and for stamps. It appears the first edition of this book appeared in 1990, then 1993 and 1995. The books aim to describe all stamp releases that include Sherlock Holmes, including images and some brief information about each release. The major change to the 1995 edition (apart from an update with a new stamp release) is the inclusion of color plates for each of the stamps to replace the black & white images in the 1993 edition.

As of 1993, there were surprisingly few stamp releases, and stamps are usually more affordable than books, so I decided to gather all the stamps within the books. While I'm missing a few first day covers shown in the books, I've gathered all the stamps, and those are shown here in colour over the top of the relevant images on the page. And here they all are!!

Nicaragua released the first Sherlock Holmes stamp (!!!) in 1972. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of INTERPOL, the Holmes stamps was one of twelve in a series of famous detectives. 

Next was San Marino, with a 1979 issue of stamps showing five different detectives. The next year, Comoro Islands issued a stamp for the 50th Anniversary of Arthur Conan Doyle's death. This stamp featured Holmes looking through his magnifying glass, with a small silhouette of a hound at the bottom.

Perhaps the most attractive stamps in this small catalog are the 1984 issues from Turks & Caicos. Four individual stamps were released featuring scenes from four short stories, along with a separate souvenir sheet with a stamp showing Conan Doyle. This series was released to mark the 125th Anniversary of Conan Doyle's birth.

And finally, here's an unexpected set of releases. The first is from Dominica in 1991 (top left), a souvenir sheet showing Holmes and Watson watching the Brunig Line train descend from Brunig Pass to Meiringen in Switzerland. This stamp was released to observe the "Reichenbach Centenary". Second (bottom left) is an issue from Redonda from 1984, a souvenir sheet showing Goody as Sherlock seeking out easter eggs. At right, while at the time of publishing the UK had not (remarkably) released Sherlock-themed stamps, they had produced these four beautiful stamp booklets (the stamps are inside). The art on the outside depicts scenes from two novels and two short stories.

OK so I clearly need to work on adding stamps from the 1995 edition, and seeking out other editions of Wood's wonderful booklets!


EDIT: Since posting this, I stumbled across another Benton Wood philately publication. I visited Denny Dobry today (Oct 14 2024) in Reading PA, and found an undated (but post-1984) Pleasant Places of Florida publication containing two items. The first is 'Dirty Pool', a reprint of a philatelic pastiche by Herman Herst BSI. The second is possibly the first philatelic summary by Wood titled 'Philatelic Philandering... or "Stamping Around" with Sherlock Holmes' showing 'all the Sherlockian stamps extant'.

Dr Watson Jr Rediscovers The Mystery of The Century

I found this wonderful Sherlockian article published in the Daily Telegraph in 1939, reflecting back on The Hound of the Baskervilles and the enduring quality of Doyle's work.... concluding that HOUN is "The Mystery of the Century" - not bad given that it was published across 1901-02 and that the article was written a few months before the start of WW2. Enjoy!

The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW)  

Sat 3 Jun 1939 

Mr Montaigne's Bookshelf

Dr. Watson Jr. Rediscovers The Mystery Of The Century

"THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES," by Sir Arthur Cohan Doyle. (Reprint by Newnes). Dymock's. 

"DR. MORTIMER'S voice sank to a whisper as he answered, 'Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound.'"

I still rank that as the most dramatic, passage in mystery literature.

It is happily appropriate that the passage should occur in "The Hound of the Baskervilles," because I have been confirmed in my original view that this is the best of the Sherlock Holmes long stories on reading Newnes' cheap reprint of the classic this week.

Family curses are always a gratifyingly supernatural background for mystery, and this grim West Country legend of the giant hound that plucked the throats from all the Baskervllles who ventured on "the moor in those dark hours when the powers of evil are exalted," has enough horror and suspense for 10 family curses.

I myself incline to the view that in this case Holmes was rapidly approaching the zenith of his powers, and that that year (1889) marks a definite cycle in his immortal career.

In 1889, in addition to the Baskerville murder mystery, he cleared up "the little affair of the Vatican cameos" at the Pope's personal request, exposed "the atrocious conduct of Colonel Upwood in connection with the famous card scandal of the Nonpareil Club," and "defended the unfortunate Mme. Montpensier from the charge of murder which hung over her in connection with the 'death' of her stepdaughter, Mlle. Carere, the young lady who, as it will be remembered, was found six months later alive and married in New York."

Master's Portrait

Holmes himself tells Sir Henry Baskervllle, "I am not sure that, of the five hundred cases of capital importance which I have handled, there is one which cuts so deep as this one."

He also declares to Inspector Lestrade that the case is "the biggest thing for years," although his honesty compels him to recall "the analogous incidents in Grodno, Little Russia, in the year '66, and, of course, the Anderson murders in North Carolina."

The reverent student will also find in "The Hound of the Baskervilles" one of the finest full-length portraits of Holmes which Watson has given us.

There are these memorable human vignettes of The Master:

His asperity when Dr. Mortimer impiously hints that Bertillon is his superior. ("Then, sir, had you not better consult him?") 

His emotion when he discovers that the second victim of the hound is Selden, the escaped convict, and not Sir Henry. ("Holmes had uttered a cry and bent over the body. Now he was dancing and laughing and wringing my hand. Could this be my stern, self-contained, friend? These were hidden fires, indeed!")

His grim jesting when he has spread his net for the foul Stapleton. ("He burst into one of his rare fits of laughter as he turned away from the picture. I have not heard Holmes laugh often, and it has always boded ill for someone.")

His good-natured scorn for Watson's deductive powers.. ("I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous.

When I said that you stimulated me, I meant, to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth.")

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" also contains some famous Sherlockiana:

"Eyes in the back of my head. Watson? I have at least a well-polished, silver-plated coffee-pot in front of me:"

"It would be a poor expert who could not give the date of a document within a decade or so. You may possibly have read my little monograph on the subject."

"I think we'll shut that window again, Watson. It is a singular thing, but I find that a concentrated atmosphere helps a concentration of thought."

"It is not what we know, but what we can prove."

"A study of family portraits is enough to convert a man to the doctrine of reincarnation."

"The detection of type in newspapers is one of the most elementary branches of knowledge for the expert in crime, although I confess that once, when I was very young, I confused the Leeds Mercury with the Western Morning News." . . .

Reproach To Moderns

The plot of "The Hound" still shows no signs of Anno Domini; the detection is honest and prodigal; and the action is swift and dramatic throughout, from the chase of the black-bearded shadower in his cab down Regent Street to the terrific apparition of the great hound in the fog on the moor.

The subsidiary figures are all skilfully and convincingly drawn— Barrymore, the mysterious butler, who signalled with a candle at the window; his wife, who sobbed in the night; Squire Frankland, the eternal, litigant; Mrs. Laura Lyons, who wrote the letter that lured Sir Charles to his tryst with the hound of death.

All in all, I insist, "The Hound of the Baskervllles"' remains the mystery of the century, a classic that is at once a reproach and an example to most modern mystery writers.

I am not ashamed to admit that my glass of cognac shook with honest emotion as I toasted the last sentence of The Master, as typically Holmesian as his faded dressing-gown and Persian slipper of tobacco:

"And now, my dear Watson, I have a box for 'Les Huguenots.' Have you heard the De Reszkes? Might I trouble you then to be ready in half an hour and we can stop at Marcini's for a little dinner on the way."

—DR. WATSON, JUN.

Dorothy Bowers, sighted!!

I've spent quite a bit of energy putting together the information I can on the novelist Dorothy Bowers (1902-1948). I have a listing of most of the information I've managed to track down in a biography with sourcing, as well as transcribed the only short story found so far - The Spy at Chateau Bas.

In my biographical post, I note that "I have found little biographical information on Dorothy’s life, and as far as I can ascertain, no photo of Dorothy is known to exist." 

I've continued to search for answers to both where Dorothy's remains were interred (or what their fate was), and to seek out a photograph. FINALLY I've tracked down a poor quality photograph of Dorothy. It's a start. The photograph was taken around 1938, when Dorothy was 36 at the time of the publication of her first book. It makes me realize that the Hodder & Stoughton archives might hold a photo of Dorothy in their files.

Liverpool Daily Post - Wednesday 24 August 1938

Six Napoleons of Baltimore dinner - 6th September 2024

The Six Napoleons of Baltimore switched to a new format for 2024, with two meetings each year, both held at the Maryland Club. I reported on the previous meeting here. This meeting had a wonderful group of out-of-town visitors - from ten states (!), and was larger than the March meeting. It is evolving into a marque meeting for the regional Sherlockians - there's nothing so grand in DC or surrounding areas, and provides a true sense of occasion. The room itself had animal heads mounted on all four walls, a massive fireplace, and an 8 foot (at least) tall brown bear standing imposingly in one corner. The toasts were wonderful and inventive - my favorite was Shana Carters' sung tribute to Cab Calloway, who spent his formative years in Baltimore. Sadly, I do not have a recording.

The agenda shows that toasts were also made by Evy Herzog (Baltimore), Mike McSwiggin, Ira Matetsky, and Dennis Keiser. Karen Wilson did a wonderful job as Gasogene, both running the show, and facilitating a wonderful discussion of the story for the evening: The Adventure of the Creeping Man. Karen always organizes a quiz, and Shana and PJ tied for the win with 14/15. I don't even try the quizzes - recall isn't one of my strong points.

The highlight of the evening is the presentation by a postulant - a necessary step on the path to becoming a full member of the Six Napoleons. Xander Sobecki brought with him from Chicago a full set of armor that he uses for re-enactments, and described the origin of each piece of armor, considerations for wearing and fighting in armor (including how to get through airports with a 65 pound of suit of armor), what we know and don't know about military garb and practice, and where ACD's "The White Company" took liberties with history. I thought Xander ended with a nice point: were it not for Doyle, enthusiasm for medieval history entering the 20th century would not have been as strong. Xander looked fantastic - he dined and presented in armor. More on the helmet shortly.....

Finally, I presented the traditional "Sonnet for a Six Napoleons Dinner", read out at each dinner. The text (below) was written by 'Napoleon' James T. Hyslop, and published in the original Volume 2 (issue 3) of the Baker Street Journal in 1947. I wanted to look at my copy of that issue, and found that the sonnet was included as part of a report of the most recent meeting of the Six Napoleons.

And so, in the interest of being thorough, I transcribe here the report of that first Six Napoleons meeting in 1947, when the Sonnet was read for the first time. Typos are carried over from the original text.

THE SIX NAPOLEONS OF BALTIMORE

    OFFICERS: Paul S. Clarkson (Harker), Gasogene; Allen Robertson (Beppo), Tantalus; James T Hyslop (Peterson), Commissionaire. All communications should be addressed to Mr. Robertson at 3963 Greenmount Avenue, Baltimore 18, Md.

    Our meeting was held at the University Club, and all Six of the Nepoleons met at the Criterion Bar and raised the traditional toast at 6 P.M. We were honored to have as our guest on of the newly designated captains of the Maryland police, Lt. Alex L. Emerson, who gave us an interesting sidelight on the use of the bloodhound in the solution of crime.

    Richard Q. Yardley presented to the Gasogene the original of the cartoon appearing in the Sun for January 4th: his discussion of Holmes was erudite, as was the new theory on the famous tooth episode presented by Dr. John C. Heck, a neophyte on the lore who will pass the required examination.

    The Tantalus read the correspondence he had had with the Hon. J. Edgar Hoover, who was delighted with the portfolio of Scotland Yard photographs presented by Commissionaire Hyslop. Prof. James H. Fitzgerald Brewster, of Johns Hopkins University, reported that Sherlock Holmes was correct in his opinion of Monsieur Bertillon, whose testimony in the Dreyfuss case helped to cause a miscarriage of justice. Napoleon Paxton asserted definitely that Devine did not make the bust of Napoleon. It was decided to review A Scandal in Bohemia for the next assembly. The Tantalus reported that a subscription had been entered for the JOURNAL in the name of the Enoch Pratt Library of Baltimore. 

    The Napoleons submit, for the delight of the JOURNAL's readers, this "Sonnet for a 'Six Napoleons' Dinner" written by James T. Hyslop:

We have two honored guests with us tonight:

Each in our hearts reserves for them a chair.

One, tall, beak-nosed, keen-eyed and spare,

The other broad, full-faced and of a medium height-

Two men to whom the world owes much delight.

"The game's afoot" we hear the taller one declare;

Let us adjourn with that immortal pair,

To where a London gaslamp sheds a feeble light:

Let's join Inspectors Gregson and Lestrade

In paying tribute to our famous host;

Let's sample tantalus and gasogene,

Discussing crimes that tantalized the Yard,

And these two men, in mem'ry ever green:

To Holmes and Watson, gentlemen, a toast!

That Jezail bullet and early Australian Sherlockian studies

Here's an interesting item from 1901 in the Daily News from Perth Western Australia.

The location of Watson's wound has long been a source of both Sherlockian study, and Sherlockian humor. The location of the wound, and pain that Watson accorded to the wound, moved around Watson's body. MANY articles and analyses of Watson's wounds have been published, and included proposals that the bullet entered at one site, then moved through the body to another site, or exited and entered at a second site.

It would be impossible to summarize the debates and Sherlockian analyses, but there are some wonderful podcasts and posts that provide overviews and discussions of their own. Here are a couple that cover the topic well:

• Sherlockiana: Dr. Watson‘s Injuries -  https://www.fext.eu/other/sh-watson-injuries.htm 
• Episode 172 of Trifles: https://www.sherlockholmespodcast.com/2020/04/episode-172-mystery-of-watsons-second.html 
• WATSON’S WAR WOUND - https://simanaitissays.com/2017/01/24/watsons-war-wound/ 

The topic has also attracted quite a number of academic medical discussions, publications, and editorials (that might be a good topic for a future blog post).

Back to the newspaper article in 1901, by "Needle". I'd be intrigued to know if this is the first "Sherlockian" discussion of Watson's wandering wound. In this short piece in a regular column titled Points, Needle claims to have discovered a slight inconsistency. I've checked the British Newspaper Archive and couldn't 'easily' identify any article this early discussing the topic.

The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1955) Mon 1 Apr 1901

POINTS

[By Needle]

I have discovered a slight inconsistency in two of the Sherlock Holmes stories — not at the first time of reading. In "A Study in Scarlet," the ex-army doctor writes : — "At the fatal battle of Maiwand I was struck on the shoulder by a Jezail bullet." When he is introduced to Sherlock Holmes, the latter notices that his left arm has been injured — he holds it in a stiff and unnatural manner. In "The Sign of Four," Watson writes: — "I sat nursing my wounded leg. I had had a Jezail bullet through it a short time before, and it still ached wearily at every change of the weather." Now, Watson could not have been wounded both in the shoulder and the leg before meeting Holmes, or else the latter would have noticed that he limped. He could not have been wounded by a Jezail bullet while practising as a doctor in Baker-street, London. The obvious inference is that Conan Doyle, in writing the second story, remembered the Jezail bullet but forget where it had found its entry. 

There is then a short follow-up about another story with a continuity issue:

"There is a far more striking discrepancy in a detective story by the late Hawley Smart. A man says to the Scotland Yard detective — "We have heard of your fame in these parts." Later on we find that the same man had no idea that his companion was one of the cracks of Scotland Yard."

This is definitely not the first Sherlockian article in Australian newspapers, but this one is on a contemporary recognizable topic. As for Needle, he went on to publish at least one long article on the Sherlock Holmes stories in 1906 that is an absolute delight. Needle reprises his observations on the bullet as part of his article, but also seems to catch on to several other now-classic Sherlockian discussions such as the path to the Empty House that looks across at 221B, visiting the famous street itself, and picking apart a trifle in a story (in this case "The Three Students"):

The Daily News (Perth, WA ) 

Sat 24 Nov 1906

CONCERNING SHERLOCK HOLMES.

If I were a superior person, a highly intellectual and highly-salaried critic, I should perhaps affect never to have heard of Sherlock Holmes, or, at least never to have read and approved any story to which he figures. Being a very ordinary person I confess without shame that I have in my possession everyone of the "Sherlock Holmes" stories from "A Study in Scarlet" to "The Return," and that I have read everyone at least twice. I began with either "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" or "The Five Pips," when the "Adventures" were being published serially in the flrst volume of the "Strand Magazine." Then came the second set of "Adventures," afterwards called (rather prematurely) "Memoirs." I remember distinctly buying the number in which the "Final Problem" appeared. The frontispiece showed "The Death of Sherlock Holmes" — who was falling over the cliff locked in the arms of Moriarty. I bought "A Study in 'Scarlet," "The Sign Of Four," and also the "Adventures" in book form (in order that I might read those which I had missed), and I mourned that Holmes was dead — wantonly killed, because his biographer was tired of him — and that we were never to hear any more of the famous detective. In "Tit Bits" for

December 15, 1900, there was an interesting article (by Conan Doyle) which I transferred to my scrap-book. "By the time I had finished the Memoirs," said the author, "I was absolutely determined that it would be bad policy to do any more Holmes stories. I have always noticed that the ruin of every novelist who has come up has been effected by driving him into a groove. The public gets what it likes, and insisting on getting it, makes him go on until he loses his freshness. Then the public turns round and says, "He has only one idea, and can write only one sort of story.... From that day to this I have never for an instant regretted the course I took in killing Sherlock."  And the writer seems to hedge a little: "This does not say, however, that because he is dead, I should not write about him again, if I wanted to, for there is no limit to the number of papers he has left behind, or to the reminiscences in the brain of his biographer." And it was not very many months before it was announced that, although Holmes was still dead, the

"biographer'" had consented to relate one of his earlier adventures, "The Hound of the Baskervilles," in the "Strand Magazine." It struck me, when I read this story, that there was too

much Watson, and too little Holmes. Month after month went past, and still the detective did not appear, and when he made his dramatic entry into the lonely hut at the end of one number, he had been absent for 150 pages - nearly half of the book. Having once yielded to temptation Conan Doyle was persuaded to yield again, and to discover that Holmes had not perished with Moriarty, but had lived to undergo many surprising adventures. It is rather amusing to turn back to the "Final Problem" of 12 years ago, and to read that an examination by experts leaves little doubt that a personal contest between the two men ended, as it could hardly fail to end in such a situation, in their reeling over, locked in each other's arms." It is amusing also to find the "biographer" six years afterwards telling how he "determined to bring Holmes to an end, as well as the stories": — "I was in Switzerland for the purpose of giving a lecture at the time, when I was thinking about the details of the final, story. I was taking a walking tour through the country, and I came to a waterfall. I thought if a man wanted to meet a gaudy kind of death, that was a fine romantic place for the purpose. That started the train of ideas, by which Holmes just reached that spot, and met his death there."

Was it a mistake for the author to bring Mr. Holmes to life again, or rather to prove that he was not dead? I know the orthodox answer - that it was a great mistake - that it was bad art - that the "Return" stories show a lamentable falling off, and so forth. But I am not quite sure - if it was a mistake, I am rather glad the mistake was made. Of course Holmes had no difficulty in demonstrating that Watson had blundered, as usual, and had deduced Holmes's death from an imperfect reading of the signs and traces, but I confess that the explanation of the reasons which induced Holmes to keep his secret so long, was not very convincing. This long silence on the detective's part gave him an opportunity for another of his favorite "dramatic entries," but I think we feel that the real Sherlock could not, and would not have treated his old friend in this way. "I had only one, confidant - my brother Mycroft," explains Sherlock.... "Several times during the last

three years I have taken up my pen to write to you, but always I feared lest your affectionate regard for me should tempt you to some indiscretion which would betray my secret." No, it won't quite do, but readers of fiction must be content sometimes to "make believe very much." It is the fashion to discover signs of failing power in a man's latest works, and it was obviously impossible for the thirtieth "Adventure" to have the same freshness as the first. Holmes had been imitated and burlesqued again and again. Readers were familiar with his method, of deducing surprising things from a man's trousers, or his boots, or his hat. They were familiar with his stock phrases  - "The case presents some features of interest" (in the preliminary stages) - "You know my methods— apply them" (when poor Watson was in his chronic state of bewilderment), and "Commonplace!" in reply to Watson's admiring comments on Sherlock's marvellous subtlety. And yet I think if a critic who had not read all the earlier stories were shown three "Adventures" and were offered £5 for a correct answer to the question, "Are any of these from "The Return," and if so, which ?" he would have an excellent chance of not getting the money. I have a liking tor the last but one in the series, "The Abbey Grange." I think it was originally intended to be the last — if we may believe the statement on page 369, and if so, the author was evidently bent on making a good finish. So, like a conjurer, who arranges to "fail" in one marvel, in order that he may have the opportunity of surprising his audience with something more marvellous, the author represents Holmes as returning from the Abbey Grange without having been able to upset the surprising story which had been told by the mistress, corroborated by the maid, and accepted by the official detective. And then Holmes suddenly jumps out at a suburban station, pulls Watson after him, announces his intention of testing the case once more and thus the fun begins. What has he to go upon? Nothing definite, except that of the three glasses from which the burglars were supposed to have drunk port, only one contained beeswing. From this he infers that only two glasses were used, and that the dregs were poured into the third, in order to make it appear that three had drunk. Obviously if the story of the three burglars was false in one particular, it was extremely likely to be false in all.

I am not sure that a wholly consistent biography of Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes could be extracted from these thirty-nine stories, of which the first was written in 1887, and the last

fifteen or sixteen years later. But it is curious that an obvious inconsistency should occur between the first story and the second. In "A Study in Scarlet" Watson states that, at the battle of Maiwand he, was struck on the shoulder by a Jezail bullet, which shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery. In "A Sign of Four" Watson is discovered "nursing his wounded leg." "I had had a Jezail bullet through It some time before, and though it did not prevent me from walking, it ached wearily at every change in the weather." It is easy to suggest that Watson might have been wounded twice, but this explanation will not serve. Watson was present at only one battle, and was invalided home.

It is interesting to me to turn back to the first story in "The Return," and to read how Holmes and Watson "emerged into a small road, which led us into Manchester-street, and so to Blandford-street," and how they made their way into an empty house, from which they had a back view of the famous house in Baker-street, which had been "the starting-point of so many adventures." There are, I suppose, several Manchester-streets in London, but there is only one from which a Blandford-street runs at right angles into Baker-street, and it was from Manchester-street that my last letter to "The Daily News" was written last year. I don't know which is the house that the author regards as having been the residence of Sherlock Holmes, but I must have passed it many times. Just a little carping criticism in conclusion. In "The Three Students" the author tells how a member of St Luke's College in "one of our great University towns" obtained access to his tutor's rooms and copied the proofs of a paper which was to be set next day in a scholarship examination. The tutor explains to Holmes that "the first of the paper consists of a large passage of Greek translation, which the candidate has not seen. To-day the proofs of the paper arrived from the printers. The exercise consists of half a chapter of Thucydides. The proof was in three long slips." On making inquiries I find that this is wrong in several ways. If the University was Cambrldge - the next story but one is located there - I am informed that an "unseen translation paper" usually consists not of one long passage, but of about four shorter passages. However, we may let that pass. A more serious objection is that there is no half-chapter in Thucydides of the required length. I have looked at a translation of Thucydides, and I find that the chapters are more like paragraphs, and that Macaulay's Essay on Lord Bacon is longer than any "book" of Thucydides. However, let us suppose that this paper consisted of a long passage from Thucydides - not half a chapter, but two chapters at least. Why should a man who was in imminent danger of detection laboriously set to work to copy the whole paper? He would certainly have a copy of Thucydides in his possession - and he would be familiar with most of it- all that he would require would be the reference to the passage set, and this he could easily get by noting two or three of the less usual words, and looking them out in his dictionary, which would be certain to quote the passage from which, one or other of these words was taken, and to give him chapter and verse. However, it is not essential to the story that the examination paper should consist of a passage of Thucydides or that it should be of such a kind that the man

who wished to make an unfair use of it would be obliged to copy it all. It has been suggested to me that a man who had just returned from practising the high jump (as Gilchrist, the offender, had done) wouldn't be likely to have gloves with him. This point did not occur to me when I read the story, and it was not till yesterday that it struck me that, if the athlete were in flannels, he wouldn't be likely to have a lead pencil with him. But we must allow a story writer a few

improbabilities, or there will be few stories.

Who was this Sherlockian journalist named Needle? Some digging was required. Needles was the pen-name of "Points" Pain, mentioned in an article or two as a brother of the British author Barry Pain (1864-1928). There was certainly some connection between Barry Pain and Conan Doyle, for example they met at the Authors Club. 

Working to identify the final mention uncovered this article that names the elusive Sherlockian.

The Pilbarra Goldfield News (Marble Bar, WA : 1897 - 1923)  

Fri 23 Sep 1910 

Mr. A.G.O. Pain, better known as the writer of "Points" by "Needle", in the "Daily News", died on Saturday from heart failure during an operation on one of his knee-caps. [A few weeks ago, just after coming out of the Church of England Cathedral, he slipped on a flag stone and fractured a knee cap].

He appears to have studied at Cambridge prior to emigrating to Australia. His death notice states that he left behind a wife Martha Kate Pain. Indexes reveal he was Allison George Odell Pain, who was aged 52 at his death in 1910, and buried at Karrakatta Cemetery. Pain has a monument plaque in his memory, where he was a member of the Cathedral Chapter and the honorary Organist of the Church. 

The Passing Acquaintances of Arthur Conan Doyle - Part 3: Arthur O Thomas

The newest issue of the Passengers' Log has arrived in the mail - and it contains my third article on the people ACD met and mentioned in his Australian memoirs.

This biography is different as there are two blog posts that preceded the writing of the article.

1. A post about the mention of "Mr Thomas" in the book, and how it would be difficult to identify him. 

2. A post on actually finding out who Mr. Thomas is.

I'm posting here the submitted text (think of it like a pre-print) with some added pictures that didn't make the article. The published article also has footnotes with references. 

The Passing Acquaintances of Arthur Conan Doyle - Part 2: Arthur O Thomas

Matthew D. Hall

During his tour of Australia and New Zealand, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle interacted with many people, and spoke to tens of thousands in his audiences. Yet ACD’s book describing the tour, 'The Wanderings of a Spiritualist’, mentions relatively few people by name  . This article is the second in a series that shines a light on those people ACD mentions by name on his visit. Why did ACD choose to mention those that he did? Who were these Australians? The biosketches presented aim to address these questions, and point to more detailed resources. 

In undertaking this series, I want to be thorough, but not ALL people mentioned are going to be easy to identify.  Take, for example, the slightly anonymous "Mr. Thomas".  This article will provide an outline of Mr. Thomas' appearance in ACD's book, and an outline of how he was identified.

When ACD's visit to Australia was announced, the first city visited was Adelaide, and advertisements for his lectures appeared in the local newspapers, placed there by Carlyle Smyth (in the 'Amusements' section!). Note that there were two different lectures offered  

 

Figure 1. Advertisement in the Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA), Tuesday 21 September 1920.

The venue for the lectures in Adelaide was the Town Hall, which still stands today on King William St, Adelaide. As related in other articles, I visited Adelaide in July 2023 and captured some photographs of the Town Hall (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Adelaide Town Hall. Photograph by the author.

The Adelaide lectures were sold out, and another lecture topic was added to the schedule that included a presentation of pictures of psychic phenomena  . 

"EXTRA CONAN DOYLE LECTURE. Owing to the very large demand for tickets for the lectures to be given in the Town Hall tomorrow and Monday, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle will deliver a third and extra address entitled "Pictures of Psychic Phenomena." This forms a sequel to the address, "Death and the Hereafter," and will be illustrated by some fifty psychic pictures, many of which have never been exhibited before, and have been, specially collected for the Australian tour. They are guaranteed to be genuine by Sir Arthur himself, and are intended to illustrate his two previous lectures, but

some commentary will be provided for each picture, so that those present may appreciate its bearing upon the subject."

This new, remarkable lecture on 'Pictures of Psychic Phenomena' is where our Mr. Thomas comes in. The lecture involved the presentation of pictures, projected from lantern slides. ACD relates the event in Wanderings:

"Never before have I experienced such direct visible intervention as occurred during my first photographic lecture at Adelaide. I had shown a slide the effect of which depended upon a single spirit face appearing amid a crowd of others. The slide was damp, and as photos under these circumstances always clear from the edges when placed in the lantern, the whole centre was so thickly fogged that I was compelled to admit that I could not myself see the spirit face. Suddenly, as I turned away, rather abashed by my failure, I heard cries of "There it is," and looking up again I saw this single face shining out from the general darkness with so bright and vivid an effect that I never doubted for a moment that the operator was throwing a spot light upon it, my wife sharing my impression. I thought how extraordinarily clever it was that he should pick it out so accurately at the distance. So the matter passed, but next morning Mr. Thomas, the operator, who is not a Spiritualist, came in great excitement to say that a palpable miracle had been wrought, and that in his great experience of thirty years he had never known a photo dry from the centre, nor, as I understood him, become illuminated in such a fashion. Both my wife and I were surprised to learn that he had thrown no ray upon it. Mr. Thomas told us that several experts among the audience had commented upon the strangeness of the incident. I, therefore, asked Mr. Thomas if he would give me a note as to his own impression, so as to furnish an independent account. This is what he wrote:—

"Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide.

"In Adelaide, on September 28th, I projected a lantern slide containing a group of ladies and gentlemen, and in the centre of the picture, when the slide was reversed, appeared a human face. On the appearance of the picture showing the group the fog incidental to a damp or new slide gradually appeared covering the whole slide, and only after some minutes cleared, and then quite contrary to usual practice did so from a central point just over the face that appeared in the centre, and refused even after that to clear right off to the edge. The general experience is for a slide to clear from the outside edges to a common centre. Your slide cleared only sufficiently in the centre to show the face, and did not, while the slide was on view, clear any more than sufficient to show that face. Thinking that perhaps there might be a scientific explanation to this phenomenon, I hesitated before writing you, and in the meantime I have made several experiments but have not in any one particular experiment obtained the same result. I am very much interested—as are hundreds of others who personally witnessed the phenomenon."

Mr. Thomas, in his account, has missed the self-illuminated appearance of the face, but otherwise he brings out the points. I never gave occasion for the repetition of the phenomenon, for in every case I was careful that the slides were carefully dried beforehand." 

Who then was Mr. Thomas, operator of the lantern projector at the Adelaide Town Hall in 1920? Hindmarsh Square is not the location of the Adelaide Town Hall, though it is close by. As a man with a not-uncommon surname, I was not optimistic. Thankfully though, directories are digitized at the State Library of South Australia, including the 1920 Adelaide Sands & McDougall South Australian Directory that revealed Arthur O. Thomas, 'biograph and lantern supplies depot'  . A 'biograph' was an early device to show moving pictures on a screen. In 1921 (possibly published just a few months follow his interaction with ACD, directories also list the business as Thomas' Lantern and Cinema Stores, "Practical Lanternist (By special appointment to their Excellencies Admiral Sir D.H. Bosanquet... and Lieut-Col Sir Henry Lionel Galway...") (Figure 4)  . Were it not for these directory entries, it is not likely Mr. Thomas could be identified.

Figure 3. 1920 Sands & McDougall South Australian Directory. Hindmarsh buildings - Thomas, Arthur O. (biograph and lantern supplies depot).

Figure 4. 1921 Sands & McDougall South Australian Directory, Thomas' Lantern and Cinema Stores. 

Arthur Orlando Thomas was born in South Australia in 1870, the son of Edwin Courtenay and Martha THOMAS, and in 1910 (aged about 40) Arthur married Winifred Lucy TUCKER. The newspaper article reporting the wedding includes a delightful photograph of the wedding party  . Arthur developed his career as a lanternist (projectionist) and was regularly mentioned in newspapers both for professional work, the occasional legal dispute, and for publishing a pamphlet on commuting entitled 'The Soulful Joys of Traming'.

What did Mr. Thomas look like? Well, thankfully there is a photograph of him next to a film projector, as part of a long article he wrote in the Daily Herald titled 'The History of the Cinematograph' (Figure 5)  . 

Figure 5. A 1911 photograph of Arthur published in the Daily Herald. "Writer of the article, Mr. Arthur O. Thomas, Lanternist to His Excellency the Governor".

There is also a photo of Arthur at the time of his wedding:

 Critic (Adelaide, SA : 1897-1924)  Wed 27 Apr 1910

Arthur died in August 1927 after an accident at the relatively young age of 57. The obituary published at the time provides a great deal of biographical information about Arthur  .

Register,  Saturday 13 August 1927

FATAL FALL IN STREET. Death of Mr. A. O. Thomas.

"Falling on some steps when leaving a business house in Grenfell street at about 4.30 pm on Friday, Mr. Arthur O. Thomas (58), of 54 Seventh avenue, St. Peters, struck his head, and later died in the Adelaide Hospital, presumably from concussion. Mr. Thomas was born at Hindmarsh in 1870, educated at Hindmarsh School, and later privately. He was a prominent man in the lantern and film business; Before the war he toured the Commonwealth on behalf of the Western Australian Government; lecturing on land settlement. During the war he was appointed by the Director of Recruiting as lecturer on recruiting for South Australia. He was lecturer, for the Institutes' Association, and one of the adjudicators for the South Australian Literary Societies' Union contests. Prominently connected with Young Men's Christian Association work, he was a member of the board of  directors of that institution, and was long Chairman of the A and B grade Y.M.C.A. Football Association. For many years he was Chairman of the Chicago Mission Board. He was formerly Councillor for East Adelaide Ward in the St. Peters Corporation. He was a member of the Hindmarsh Congregational Band of Hope, and was a popular local preacher in the Congregational Church. He was associated with many charitable organizations. Mr. Thomas is a brother or Mr. Ernest O. Thomas, the Adelaide representative of Mac Robertson's Limited, and has left a widow."

Arthur was buried in the Hindmarsh Cemetery, Adelaide, with family memorialized on each side of this square pillar headstone, including his father Edwin Courtney Thomas who died only the year before, and his mother Martha who died when Arthur was quite young in 1882  . 

Hindmarsh Cemetery, Adelaide, SA, Australia

Arthur O Thomas

Died Aug 12 1927

Aged 57 years

Arthur and Winifred THOMAS do not appear to have left any issue, but there were certainly descendants of his THOMAS siblings. It is pleasing to identify Arthur Orlando Thomas and put him in the spotlight (pun intended) over one hundred years after the publication of 'Wanderings of a Spiritualist'.

A visit to Undershaw in 1900-ish

I've been slowly transcribing every article referring to Sherlock Holmes in Australian newspapers and magazines, from the time of the first appearance up to the time of Hound of the Baskervilles. It's been incredibly instructive to see how popular the stories were, and how quickly the concept of a good detective being a "Sherlock Holmes" settled entered common use.

This article is long, and too good not to post to the blog. It was published in several Australian papers in 1900, and was undoubtedly originally published in the US or UK. The article describes Doyle's home of "Undershaw" located at Hindhead. 

The article was written by Mr. Day Allen Willey (1860-1917), an American freelance journalist born in Rochester, based in Baltimore, but he clearly spent a great deal of time in the UK. Willey published multiple articles across different magazines each month on a wide range of topics.

This article provides a great deal of insight into Doyle's home, some anecdotes from his earlier life, and reveals that "Perhaps the most notable feature of Dr. Doyle's library is a bust of Sherlock Holmes, the detective whose marvellous performances as depicted by the author have been the wonder of the English-reading world."

Enjoy:

Cobram Courier (Vic. : 1888 - 1954)  Thu 19 Apr 1900

DR. CONAN DOYLE.

A POPULAR AUTHOR AT HOME.

The presentation of "Sherlock Holmes" as a play has revived the interest in Dr. Conan Doyle to a remarkable degree. Sherlock Holmes is unquestionably the greatest detective in modern fiction, and his impersonation by Mr. Gillett has set critics to thinking again about Dr. Doyle's newer works and his work ways.

I had the pleasure (writes Mr. D. A. Willey) of visiting Dr. Doyle recently in his English home. He is as far removed from civilization as is Kipling in his home at Rottingdean. He lives fully four miles from the nearest railroad — at Hindhead. It is one of those charming English residence towns, free from most of the unpleasant features of city life, yet with urban advantages. A person of means and tastes, who desires both country and city existence, should feel satisfied in this part of the Queen's domain unless over-fastidious. Along the range of hills can be found the homes of some of our most noted writers and scientists, past and present. Tennyson lived here. Professor Tyndall was also one of the Hazlemere colony, living next door to Dr. Doyle. The natural beauties of the surroundings impress themselves on the mind at once. From his rear or perhaps front verandah — for the house seems to have a front where the rear should he - the owner can look directly down the volley to its foot five miles away. Both sides contain thickly wooded groves divided by wide patches of heather, with here and there a cultivated field or a strip of natural pasture land, six hundred feet above the sea, it is high enough to get the invigorating air of such altitude, while from the English Channel, but twenty miles away, comes the pleasant seabreeze.

A FINE SPECIMEN OF MANHOOD.

A glance at Conan Doyle indicates how well the country is suited to his tastes and habits. He might be 45 — he might be 40. It is hard to say, as he stands over 6ft., a fine specimen of the vigorous, hardy manhood native to Great Britain . His strong, resolute features are tanned by exposure in the cricket field, on the tennis court, and by season after season of bird and rabbit shooting. It can be seen at once that he needs no tonics for nervousness or dyspepsia. Apparently, he has no nerves, for whether handling a cricket bat in a play or sighting Ihis gun in a supreme moment, one cannot trace a tremor of the muscle or a quiver of the eyelids. Indoor and outdoor exercises have given him muscles of steel and the suppleness and agility of a youth in his teens.

As one turns the pages of such books as "The White Company," " Micah Clarke," and "Brigadier Gerard," he is struck with the rugged masculinity of the principal characters, while throughout each work a tone of vigour and virility prevails, which is native to the writer. Talk with him even for half an hour, and you realise that they are the product of a mind not enfeebled by over exertion, but nourished and strengthened from a superb physical system. in a word, he has not developed his mental faculties at the expense of the others, but has kept both well balanced, with the result that today he seems as capable of accomplishing as much in the literary field as he has already accomplished — and perhaps more.

He has built up his constitution so that today he is capable of enduring any amount of fatigue without being the worse for it. The four miles from Hindhead to Haslemere is a short walk for him. and many times a year does he over it. Probably everyone for ten miles around knows him by sight, for his figure is familiar to the country folk.

AN ENCOUNTER AT SOUTHSEA.

Naturally of a peaceable disposition, the author is not to be trifled with any more than some of the characters in his writings. He is a great believer in fair play, and on more than one occasion has stood up for the weaker man in trouble to the cost of his assailant. They tell a story about Hazlemere of a little adventure in which he took part at Southsea, his former home. One morning, as the doctor was getting a little exercise to whet his appetite for breakfast, a cart came along. The driver,  a heavily-built man, had been drinking until he was in an ugly mood. For some reason he became angry with the boy, who was in the cart with him to help to deliver the goods. Stopping his horse, he began beating the lad with the handle of his whip. He was so busily engaged that he did not know anyone else was interested until a hand grasped him by the shoulder and pulled him headlong into the street. "I think you've done enough of this, my man."

"It's no business of such gentry as you to interfere when the young rascal needs healing." ami the enraged driver, who had struggled to his feet, drew back his whip to strike the new-comer. The doctor's right fist landed on his face, and he went down like a log. When ho arose it, was to apologise. The fight had been, to use a slang phrase, "knocked out of him."

They call him "Kenn'n Doyle" in the neighbourhood., The word "Conan" seems to be difficult to use, and is so commonly mispronounced and mis-spelled, as the writer has indicated, that at the time of his visit he saw a boy from London directed to "Mr. Canon Doyle. Hindhead." Probably no one relished the joke conveyed in that religious title more than the author himself.

A KEEN SPORTSMAN.

But little sign of literary work is to be found about the house. Even Dr. Conan Doyle's library is made the receptacle for cricket and tennis kits, guns and trout tackle are spread all over the place ; for while the family at Hindhead is small, excluding the six servants, friends from London or near by are being entertained. The doctor is a member of one of the best amateur cricket teams in the country, and during his week every year as host it is an open house to all lovers of the sport. Nothing is reserved from them. The players generally have a contest daily, and are driven to it in the brake; a vehicle very essential to country life, which will carry the entire eleven, with room to spare. On the return to evening tea, the table is illuminated bv a banquet lamp, shaded by a design in salmon silk. This is called the Victory shade, as it is considered a sign of good luck, and is always brought out by Mrs. Doyle during "Cricket Week." Through its influence several trophies are supposed to have been won. The hostess is as enthusiastic as her husband over the sport, and if necessary to afford room will "bundle" the children off to some relatives to remain until the guests have departed.

As Dr. Conan Doyle's cricket season occupies nearly two mouths, it may be surmised that very little literary work is done about "Undershaw" until its close, or between spring and autumn. In addition to cricket, a spring trap and the fragments of numerous clay pigeons scattered about the grounds attest his fondness for shooting. The six horses in the stable include two fine saddle mares, one of which has a record as a jumper. At the side of the house is a grass tennis-court bearing the indications of frequent usage,  while one of the largest rooms — in fact that apartment opposite the drawing-room is given up to billiard and pool tables for indoor sport in inclement weather, although the rain must fall fast or the snow lie deep to keep the author sportsman from enjoying some outdoor pastime if he feels thus inclined.

A ROUND OF THE HOUSE.

"Undershaw" is very much of to-day — like its host. It cannot boast of anything historical. as it was built but two years ago. The exterior is that of a modern villa so popular in Surrey. All of the decorations are of light tints. The drawing-room and chambers are also furnished in light design, and with the numbers windows properly be called a sunny home. The front door opens into a square hall large enough to accommodate a sofa and numerous chairs. A generous fireplace as to size suggests the attractiveness of this part of the home during the long, cold winter and, is a gathering place for the family and friends. Opening into it are the billiard-room, drawing-room, and dining room. Probably the good wife selected for the author the location of the library, which is one of the pleasantest in the house. From it he can look away down the valley with its ever-varying hours upon a picture which nothing enters to tarnish its peaceful beauty. Near at hand he can see his property, partly level and partly hillside, the latter covered with gorse and heather and alive with rabbits. The long writing-table of oak, upholstered in leather, contains the necessary room for writing material, also for a box of tobacco and an assortment of pipes, as well as a dictionary and one or two other reference books. Each of the two cases against the wall holds perhaps a hundred books of poetry, history, travel, biography, and fiction, including several of his own works, also an elaborate edition of Scott. But the selection is very miscellaneous, and is principally for family reading.

THE ORIGINAL OF SHERLOCK. HOLMES.

Perhaps the most notable feature of Dr. Doyle's library is a bust of Sherlock Holmes, the detective whose marvellous performances as depicted by the author have been the wonder of the English-reading world. It has been questioned whether Holmes was a true personage or whether he was a myth conjured up to play his part in the novelist's several dramas, such as "The Sign of Four." etc. It was well-known that Holmes's friend, "Dr. Watson," was none other than the author, but the identity of Holmes himself was questioned. The writer can positively state that he did exist, although the name of Holmes was naturally fictitious. The man whose right name was Dr. Bell, was a Scotchman residing in Edinburgh. His study of human nature led him to play the part of detective and he met with success in hunting down several noted criminals who had eluded the professional detective force of the country. Dr. Doyle chanced in make his acquaintance, and an intimacy sprang up between the two men that resulted in the production of "detective stories," which have been so interesting because the reader was forced by the narration to believe that they were true. The famous character was a man of medium height, and though delicate in appearance, very wiry and muscular. He was what Americans would call a "dead" shot with a revolver, and the knowledge of his skill among the criminal classes undoubtedly saved his life on several occasions when tracing out the perpetrators of crime.

THE MISTRESS OF " UNDERSHAW."

Throughout the home the evidences of woman's presence are numerous— in the dainty rosettes and other ornaments on the furniture, in the tasteful arrangemnt of the draperies in the apartments, in the touches here and there to convert the commonplace into t.he ornamental — all indications of a woman's pride in her house. And the mistress of "Undershaw" is truly what one imagines after seeing her handiwork. She is decidedly petite in contrast to her big athletic husband, and her delicate appearance is an indication of her health. For years she has suffered from weak lungs. The Doctor has taken his wife to various places on the Continent recommended by specialists. The South of France has been as beneficial as elsewhere, but has not entirely relieved her. Through friends the author heard of the Hazlemere Valley, with its combination of sea and mountain air, with the result that his wife has found at last a place which affords her permanent relief, while it is especially suited to his taste and mode of life. Her illness has not in any way affected the spirits of the lady in question, who has the rare faculty of making those who cross the threshold feel that at least for the time they are a part of the household.

There are no traits which prominently distinguish Mrs. Doyle from other women in her rank of life. She is naturally proud of her husband, and as interested in his work as though she herself was performing it. She has been his companion both at home and on his travels, except when he visited the United States in 1895.

A FAITHFUL COMPANION.

One of the author's most faithful friends and an important personage at his home is Row. He only exhibits his appreciation of what is done for him by showing his teeth or wagging his tail, but visitors prefer the latter, as Row is a bull-dog of high degree. He is as ugly as any similar member of the canine race who ever wore a blue ribbon, and one of the largest species of Great Britain. He is of a very affectionate disposition, and is a great pet with the children.

Mr. Doyle's workshop is always ready with an abundance of paper, pens, and pencils, while the box of smoking mixtures always contains a good supply for the favourite stumpy black pipe. How many thrilling descriptions have been written with that pipe clenched between the author's teeth will probably never he known, but its appearance indicates that it has done yeoman service.