Watson's Tin Box meeting summary - August 17, 2026

On the third Monday of each month, the Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City scion meets at Union Jack's in Columbia MD and we gathered August 17 for another great gathering of members - THIRTY ONE in total (a record post COVID I believe). As always I took a census of where people were attending from FIVE states/districts: Frederick MD won the competition for most attendees with five people - we also had visitors from places includgin: Southern PA, Gambrils, Bowie, Columbia, Bellcamp, Fort Meade, Ellicott City, Silver Spring, Frederick, Washington DC, Gaithersburg, Woodstock, Fort Meade, Bear DE, Sandy Spring, Baltimore, and Fairfax VA. 

We welcomed another first-time visitor, Heather Dertsbaugh! We also welcomed back member Debbie Belchis after a long hiatus (pre-COVID, we think).

Our server was Michaela, who (as tradition dictates) was presented with a volume of Sherlock Holmes stories. The story of the meeting was 'The Devil's Foot'.... but we always start with toasts. I offered up a toast to 'The Woman', and Tom Fahres brought an 'extra' Haiku for 'The Woman':

Brenda Tregennis
Will always be “The Woman”
To Doctor Sterndale

Liane Luini offered her 'traditional second toast'. This time, she sourced it from The Sherlock Holmes Scrapbook edited by Peter Haining (1974) - and it was a very appropriate one:

I present to you one Dr. Sterndale,
Whose adventures were storied and many;
Called Leon, his friends would regale – 
Or would, shall we say, had he any. 

For he lived in a manner most solit’ry 
Hunting lions abroad all his life, 
Returning to Cornwall occasion’ly 
To the woman he wished was his wife. 

But sweet Brenda was slain by her brother. 
Roundhay’s wire reached Sterndale in time. 
Abiding his own law – no other – 
He enacted a vengeance sublime. 

The Devil’s Foot Root provided, they say, 
The revenge for which his soul cried. 
The Great Explorer cornered his prey, 
And Tregennis: “My God! How he died!” 

I’ll not recount this whole terrible tale, 
A tragedy steeped in Cornish gore. 
The details – the Horrors – would leave you all pale, 
And possibly you may have heard it before. 

So a toast now to Leon Sterndale 
Who dealt Justice, I’m sure you’ll agree; 
Whom Watson and Holmes would not denounce, 
And nor, I imagine, would we. 

Tom Fahres then delivered his traditional Haiku for the story - this month for Abbey Grange:

Devil’s Foot did in

Tregennises: Tregenni?

Holmes, Watson survived

Next came Announcements

• Liane Luini reminded everyone that we are now accepting submissions for the 2027 Irene's Cabinet. Copies of Irene's Cabinet are selling for $10 - and we mail.
• The DC Whiskey and Sodality meeting will again take place on Sunday, September 13th, 2 pm at Shelly's Back Room, 1331 F Street NW. Contact Terry McCammon for details.
• Andy Solberg announced that the 47th Annual "Saturday With Sherlock Holmes" at the Pratt Library will be held Saturday, November 14th from 10:30 to 1:00. 
• Olivia Millunzi shared that the play 'Clue' (based on the movie) will be performed at the Hipodrome, Baltimore on January 23 & 24.
• Michelle march presented to Tom Fahres on behalf of the Maryland Unit of the 221st Southumberland Waffleers a new guidon she created. I want to be fully transparent - I didn't know what a guidon is - it's a small swallow-tailed or rectangular flag carried by military units to show their specific branch and unit identity. So I guess the Waffleers are arming up!
  
• Tom Fahres shared a save-the-date for  Friday Oct 23 for the MoCo Maryland Mullusk Masticaters SPODE. Details to follow. 
• The next meeting of the Red Circle of Washington DC will be held on Saturday, October 3 at J. Hollinger's in Silver Spring. The speaker will be Julie McKuras coming from Minnesota, and details can be found at www.redcircledc.org
• Peter Blau has also announced that tickets are now on sale for Mark Shanahan's popular play "A Sherlock Carol" at the Arts Barn in Gaithersburg.  There will be a  do-it-yourself theater party and Red Circle meeting on Sunday, December 6.  Purchase your own tickets, and the group will then gather somewhere nearby for drinks afterwards. You can purchase your tickets at the Arts Barn web-site.
  
• Greg Ruby shared details of the upcoming Six Napoleons of Baltimore 80th Anniversary dinner, and other events taking place on the same weekend. The dinner is ​​Friday, September 25, 2026 at the Baltimore Club. The next day there will be Breakfast at Dooby's, Sherlockians of Baltimore luncheon, and The Black Pearls of the Borgias SPODE dinner. A big weekend in Baltimore! All the details here or contact Greg Ruby.
• I announced that Watson's Tin Box will be displaying the Six Napoleons Evidence Box at the dinner, to add to the occasion.
• I also announced that we are working hard to compile a list of all presentations at Watsons Tin Box meetings. Members (including many living past Gasogenes) have been helpful in diving into their archives. Dana Richards brought along a huge folder of records for me to work through. The list of talks to date can be found here.
• Finally, Evy Herzog brought along gifts - some Edgar Allen Poe items she and her husband John Baesch collected over the years. These Edgars (and ravens) have new homes.

Debbie Clark presented the evidence box for Devil's Foot to an attentive audience:

The evidence display on the evening, and some examples of the evidence:

Left: Pictured is a newspaper account concerning the Tregennis family disaster. The article states there is absolutely no explanation of what the horror can be which has frightened a woman to death and two strong men out of their senses. Right: Pictured is the telegram from Holmes to Watson, suggesting he write up and publish the story of the Cornish horror.

Of course, pictured is the envelope marked POISON containing Radis Pedis Diaboli powder.

Left: Pictured is Cornish for Beginners and Etymology of Cornish Surnames, used by Holmes as part of his study of the Cornish Language. Right: Pictured is the lamp which sat on the table where the Tregennis were playing cards. The talc shield is not shown here - but is in the photo on the table below.

Members checking out the evidence during a break in the meeting.

Our discussion of the story was highly enjoyable. Lorraine Clarke described how she leveraged her doctoral expertise in botany to investigate the likely plant that was the source of Devil's Foot. We wondered how lion-hunting could be a career. It was pointed out that this is the second story in a row where Holmes took the law into his own hands. In this case, Holmes had given the police access to all the clues he had to solve it themself. 

Our very special esteemed presenter for this meeting was Kem White, with a talk titled "The Early Years of Watson's Tin Box." Kem received his first copy of "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" as a 16th birthday present during the first Nixon administration and has been an avid Sherlockian ever since. Kem was Gasogene I of Watson's Tin Box and is one of the scion's founding members, is Napoleon 187 in the Six Napoleons of Baltimore, and presented at the very first "Saturdays with Sherlock Holmes" at Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library in 1980.

Kem kept the audience entranced as they had an opportunity to hear about the origins of how WTB was founded, how Kem came to be the first Gasogene (they drew straws!), found the right venue, why we meet on Mondays (it was the quietest night at restaurants), and so much more. I'm going to record Kem presenting the slides for posterity and post on Youtube.

And so, we moved to the final traditions of the evening - collecting payment for our meals, and trivia. Michelle March created two wonderful t-shirt stencil designs for quiz prizes based on the story of the evening. This design was very popular - ''Tregennis Heating and Ventilation".

Olivia Millunzi again created a wonderful trivia quiz.... and here 'tis. Our quiz winners (dead tie) were Tom Hill and ??.

What a great meeting!!

Visiting The Strand.... Arcade and other Sydney miscellania

I've been to Sydney twice during this American summer of 2026, and picked up some tit-bits to share. They aren't necessarily all Sherlockian, but are close....

When one hears the phrase "The Strand 1891", the mind immediately leaps to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In Sydney, walk along the first road in Sydney - George Street - and look up and you'll read exactly that:

This delightful Victorian facade sits above the entrance to the beautiful Strand Arcade - walk through the arcade to Pitt Street at the other end and a similar view awaits: 

 

To walk through the Strand Arcade today is to step into 1895. It even has some of the stores one might expect in 1895 - a hat store, jeweler, watch and clock store, a cobbler, and more. The Strand Arcade was named after the famous London street - "London's smartest theatre, hotel and shopping street".

So next time you are in Sydney, step into The Strand of 1891. 

 

Here's an interesting advert placed in The Daily Telegraph in Sydney on Mon 30 May1898. The advertisement can be found at least five times in papers:

 

And here is another from The Sydney Morning Herald  on Sat 25 Jun 1898:

It would be wonderful to know who this private detective was. A mystery, but one that means Sherlock Holmes had a mailing address here at Sydney's General Post Office in Martin Place:

The University of Sydney's Chau Chak Wing Museum brings together treasures from a number of collections, including its archaeological collection.

Among items in display is a stele discovered at an Egyptian site. A stele is an upright stone, taller than it is wide, used in the ancient world as a monument, grave marker, or legal notice.

The item description notes that the object was discovered by Sir Max Mallowan. What the description does not state - but I think it should - is that Max is better known as the husband of the far more accomplished golden age mystery author Agatha Christie. Was Agatha with Max when this stele was discovered?

"This stele was discovered in the throne room of King Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud. Its cuneiform inscription glorifies the king's conquests and public works. It is one of four tablets, carved with the same inscription and hidden within the palace walls. Why hide such fine stele? He probably hoped they would be discovered  when future rulers came to renovate the palace, and so glorify his name forever. Sir Max Mallowan discovered this stele in 1950. It was sent to the Australian Institute of Archaeology in Melbourne, who part-sponsored the dig...."

Speaking of 1895, the R.M. Williams store has been making footwear and clothing (usually associated with horse-riding and farming) since 1932. Among the women's boot range is the Moriarty. 

This one is just a great story - with a tiny connection Doylean connection (there's always one).... Doyle commented on the spiritualist connection to the death of Lord Carnarvon following the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb, and Bertram Fletcher Robinson's earlier death that was also associated with Egyptology. It also connects through Lord Carnarvon to the very popular Downton Abbey.

But really it's just a great story and could be used in a mystery novel plot....

Shabti and model-coffin, for Senseneb, mother of Tetiky

The reason the University of Sydney has these items makes for a great tale. This is the transcript from the item description (and you can read a longer article about it here):

From Highclere to Sydney

In the decades before the sensational discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, Lord Carnarvon had funded many other excavations in Egypt's Theban Valley. The shabti, a figurine magically charged with assisting the deceased in the afterlife, had been discovered in 1908 when Carnarvon excavated a tomb dated to the reign of Ahmose (c1550-1525 BC), the first Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. The lavishly decorated chambers revealed the name of the owner, Tetiky, an important administrator. At the entrance to the central burial shaft, four nices contained eight mummiform shabti with golden faces, each with their own model coffin....

Lord Carnarvon died days after the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1923, of a septic mosquito bite rather than of the 'Mummy's Curse' as claimed by the press of the day. His successor, the 6th Earl did not share his father's passion for Egypt nor the many objects taken back to the grand family estate, Highclere Castle (the setting of Downton Abbey). The ambivalence might explain how some of the precious artefacts, including this shabti, were accidentally left in a cupboard sold at auction in London around 1926. The purchaser, Maximillian Preston, alerted the auction house to the forgotten trove, and was rewarded for his honesty with a gift of this shabti. Preston's descendants migrated to Australia, and the tale of this remarkable shabti has been passed down through the family, who took care of the item for nearly 100 years, before donating it to the Nicholson Collection in 2021.

 

Spotted at a bookstore in Newtown - going to need this set at some stage:

LATE MR CHARLES A. DOYLE

I enjoyed this obituary of Charles Doyle for the sketch of Charles, apparently made from a photograph owned by Mr Hippolyte J. Blanc "who was a colleague of Mr. Doyle's in the Board of Works Office".

Edinburgh Evening Dispatch
Monday, 23 October 1893

LATE MR CHARLES A. DOYLE

We give a portrait to-day of the late Mr Charles A. Doyle, the father of Dr. A. Conan novelist. One of a well-known family, whose head was Joba Doyle, known as the author of the “H.B. Sketches,” which recorded interesting Parliamentary and State incidents in the early part of the reign of the present Queen. Mr Doyle, at a comparatively young age, was sent from London take up an appointment in H.M. Office of Works, Edinburgh. Inheriting the faculty of caricature sketching characteristic of the whole family, he gave up his leisure to illustrating many popular works published by leading firms in the city. To the Illustrated London News he was a frequent contributor, not a few most amusing full page figure subjects finding a place in their issues. Frequently works of his in oil found a place on the walls of the Royal Scottish Academy. Personally he was a most likable man, genial, entertaining, and amusing in conversation. His abilities and gentlemanly manner secured to him a cordial welcome wherever he went and few literary or artistic homes were without his occasional visit. Those who knew him will ever remember him with a warm and kindly thought. Of his brothers, Richard, the well-known caricaturist for Punch, whose design for the frontispiece of that paper is still retained, died a few years ago. His other brother, Sir Henry, is chief of the Science and Art Department, Dublin. Of his family, the eldest son is the able novelist - Dr A. Conan Doyle. To Mr Hippolyte J. Blanc, A.R.S.A. who was a colleague of Mr. Doyle's in the Board of Works Office, we are indebted for the photograph from which the above sketch was taken.

Trust me I'm a doctor

I've been looking at advertisements that leverage Sherlock Holmes, mainly articles on Beecham's pills (being published in the near future) and Flint Laboratories , so I keep my eye out for advertising points of interest.

It is 'known' that Doyle himself wrote a poem titled 'The Lay of the Grasshopper' (this link is to the valuable ACD Encyclopedia transcript) for 'Gressham Life Assurance Society' advertisement in Southsea. 

One thing I've found interesting in deeply scanning 1880s newspaper articles are two examples (so far) of advertisements where Conan Doyle provides attestations for products - both in 1885. I assume Doyle was paid some fee in exchange for his attestation.

The first of these is for Royal Bengal Tea. The advertisement appeared many times in newspapers across England. Curiously, he is credited as "A. Connor Doyle" of Southsea - I'd like to understand how that error was created.

There is an evident problematic appropriation of a 'Bengal' in this ad. It is curious that Doyle is leveraging his medical qualifications to advocate for the benefits of this tea. In many ways, it offers to solve maladies the way patent medicines of the time did. The advertisement appeared dozens of times in newspapers in late 1885.

Blandford and Wimborne Telegram
Friday 30 October 1885

THE ROYAL BENGAL TEA is in every respect the best tea grown. It contains the beneficial properties of tea in concentrated strength - the result of scientific cultivation.

A CONNOR DOYLE Esq. M.D. C.M., Southsea: "The Royal Bengal Tea appears to me to possess less tannin and to be more suited to the use of dyspeptic patients than any of which I have experience".

The Royal. Bengal Tea Company, Lombard Court, London, E.C.

This would be an obvious tea label for use by the Tea Brokers of Mincing Lane scion. Here's an adaptation of the brand and Doyle's quote as an example of what might be possible on a tea tin. It's on my list of plans!

The second advertisement is for a local business in Swansea. The advertisement is for 'anti-brace trousers' - an alternative to the standard use of braces. 

Again, we find we have an issue with cultural appropriation/presentation. On each side of the gentleman proudly pointing to the elastic on his trousers, we find the phrase 'See Testimonials'. 

Swansea Journal 
08 August 1885

The anti-brace trousers

Are conducive to health, preserve an elegant and upright figure ; prevents irritation at shoulders, and rashes on the skin ; give the lungs full play, for Braces cramp the respiratory organs, Mr. A.C. Doyle, M.D., says: 'They are the most pleasant and healthy, and by clasping the waist tightly gives the chest full play, no other support being required."

The City Tailors, 38, Castle Street, Swansea.

A short article (possibly also paid content) appears around the same time that explains how the trousers work and again cites Doyle:

Swansea Journal

22 August 1885

ANTI-BRACE TROUSERS, — The City Tailors (Messrs, Alabaster and Co., of Castle.street, Swansea,) are advertising a new novelty which has long been wanting to supply the place of the present brace. This is in the shape of Anti-Brace Trousers, which are drawn tightly together by the insertion of gussets at the back of the hips. Mr. Kenneth Welsh, M.R.C.S,, L.R.C.P., writes :— “I have much pleasure in certifying to the ease and comfort from the Auti-Brace Trousers. I found them very comfortable, giving an equal and easy support to the abdominal walls ; they also do away with the brace, which are the frequent cause of tumours on the shoulders arising from friction.” Mr, A. C. Doyle, M.D., writes :— "They are most pleasant and healthy, and by clasping the waist tightly gives the chest full sway, no other support being required."

It is reasonable to wonder whether Doyle's name was appropriated by these advertisers, as Sherlock's brand was appropriated by other advertisers. I believe it is unlikely.  I initially thought these advertisements did not seem to have appeared in Southsea newspapers, where Dr. Doyle practiced and may have experienced some embarrassment at the idea of leveraging his medical credentials to advocate for products the universal prmise of patent medicines. It turns out that the 'Royal Bengal Tea' advertisement was in Hampshire papers and therefore would have been spotted by locals.

1885 was a busy year for Doyle - he wrote Study in Scarlet, and he met and married his first wife. Given that both ads appeared in late 1885, one wonders whether Doyle had set upon the path of seeking paid endorsements. It was certainly a time of life when he was enterprising and seeking to make a penny or pound in any way he could.

1901 and the fractured Doyle family

This is a 'perhaps' post. Doyle insisted that he had a platonic relationship with Jean Leckie from the time they met in 1897 till their marriage in 1907 after Doyle's first wife Louise finally died in 1906.

We do know that the platonic relationship was something all were comfortable with at all times. For example, Doyle's sister Connie and her husband E.W. Hornung were unimpressed with finding Jean Leckie at a cricket match with Doyle at one stage.

Doyle could maintain that their love had not been manifested physically - and that may be true - but I was struck to examine the 1901 census and see how the family were arranged. The 1901 census was collected on Sunday, March 31, 1901.

First we look at Arthur and Louise's family home at Undershaw. They are not home, but their children are. Louise's spinster sister Emily Hawkins is at Undershaw, along with Arthur and Louise's two living children, Mary (12) and Kingsley (8).

1901 Census - Undershaw, Shottermill, Surrey

Emily Hawkins, Sister-in-law, single, 42

Mary C. Doyle, Daughter, single, 12

Kingsley C. Doyle, Son, single, 8

Arthur was a busy man, a man of action. It is unsurprising that Arthur and Louise were not in the family home at the time of the census. Arthur was not traveling overseas, but perhaps the couple were in London, or at a seaside resort?

1901 Census - 'The Bolton', Cary Crescent, Tormoham, Torquay, Devon

Louisa Conan Doyle, Boarder, married, 49, Living on own means

Emily Hawkins, Boarder, widow, 75, living on own means

Listed right under them is:

Angele Champin, single, 27, Lady'smaid (domestic), born France (French subject)

So... first things first, Louisa is staying at a hotel called 'The Bolton' in the Torquay seaside area - the census calls it a 'Lodge House' and the head's occupation is a 'Boarding house keeper'. The precise location of 'The Bolton' is difficult to identify, but farther down the same page is 'Templestowe' - there is a large hotel that now sits up on the hill and looking across Torquay and the water. But 'The Bolton' and 'Templestowe' address appear to be on 'Cary Crescent' - then and now an 'elegant row of Victorian Torquay's Belgravia Italianate styled townhouses' (see below).

The census says that Louisa and her mother are 'living on own means' - that may have been true for Emily Hawkins, and she had stated that in previous census entries (such as 1891). 

As a side-note, I have a feeling Angele Champin was surplus to needs after her Louise died on 4 July 1906. Three months later, Angele married Carl Basil Andrews, a painter, at Shottermill close to Undershaw. Louise's mother Emily did not die till 1913.

So if Arthur's wife, who was of course very unwell with chronic tuberculosis, was taking in the sea air of Torquay with her mother, and if Arthur's children were at home under the care of his wife's sister, then Arthur must have been in London working, right?

1901 Census - Ashdown Forest Hotel, Forest Row, Sussex

Arthur C Doyle, Boarder, married, 41, Physician surg

Jean E. Leckie, Boarder, single, 27

And at the top of the following page:

Mary J Doyle, Boarder, widow, 63

This is not some great discovery - it is a well known fact from the 1901 census.

The Ashdown Forest Hotel sat next to the Royal Ashdown West Golf Course, and one can imagine that perhaps Doyle indicated his was off to play golf for a weekend or longer. One wonders whether Doyle paused to wonder whether, a hundred years hence, the presence of Jean Leckie would be noted. It was still six years till Doyle married Jean Leckie (and five till his wife Louise would die). The presence of Mary gave credibility of their presence together, as she undoubtedly served as chaperone.

It must have been exhausting having a chronically ill and ultimately terminal wife. Though given the domestic support that Doyle had at his disposal, and the large amount of time working and traveling, it's hard to know whether it taxed him greatly. 

Of course, in maintaining the platonic innocence of their relationship with Jean Leckie, Doyle may not have realized that receipts being created by the 1901 census. Together with the census for Louise with her mother  - one wonders whether there had been an effective and well-covered-up domestic separation of the two. Or simply a grand deception by Arthur Conan Doyle.