Watson's Tin Box meeting summary - March 16, 2026

On the third Monday of each month, the Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City scion meets. Normally that meeting is in person, however at the last moment a virtual meeting was organized......

And so over thirty gathered in storm (on Zoom) and it was a pleasant chance to see some of those occasional distant visitors! We had guests from New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Canada, and California.

Al Hafner became a fully-fledged member with his second meeting, and we welcomed Bill Hussar from Silver Spring for his first meeting!

The story of the meeting was 'The Bruce-Partington Plans'.... but we always start with toasts. And we had quite a few toasts!!

Micah Cover provided a toast to 'The Woman' (with artwork!):

 “Irene,” from the Greek, means "peace," and is also a name used for numerous saints. 

“Adler" is a German name - the perfect irony for besting a King of Germanic background.  It means “eagle,” and it symbolizes strength, courage, and nobility. 

She was a singer in the Imperial Opera of Warsaw but came from New Jersey.  The State Flower is known for seeking sunshine - Violet – and is a perfect nod to the number of times that name appears in the Canon.  

Therefore, she brings us peace.  The comfort knowing that she did the impossible - the Patron Saint of defeating the undefeatable.  Strong, brave, noble, and not just a heroine of the Canon - but of the world.  She symbolizes a light when we usually depend on The Great Detective to shine it.  And while she appears only once, like Violet, she reappears – if only in our imaginations.

My friends, to Irene Adler.

Liane Luini read a toast, originally written by April Curnow, and published in Irene’s Cabinet Volume 5, 2007:

Of all the women we may toast,
There’s none like Mrs. Hudson.
Irene’s cleverer than most,
And yet – ah, Mrs. Hudson.
She’s one we often overlook.
Yet Holmes called her a decent cook,
And she once got him off the hook,
The unsung Mrs. Hudson.

When first she met that dauntless pair
We know as Holmes and Watson,
She certainly was unaware
Of what she’d set her eyes on.
A moody sleuth, an Army doc.
How much could those two run amok?
It must have come as quite a shock
To peaceful Martha Hudson.

Yet valiantly she strove to please
And proved accommodating
To lodgers’ eccentricities
And sundry clients waiting.
She cooked the meals, tidied rooms,
Put up with shag tobacco fumes
And strange explosions, one assumes,
Long-suffering Mrs. Hudson.

When Holmes played sick,
she risked his ire
To summon Dr. Watson.
She feared the poor man might expire
Without such intervention.
He could be masterful and grim,
But she’d grown rather fond of him
And tolerated his every whim,
Soft-hearted Mrs. Hudson.

Holmes needed help to foil Moran.
His ally? Mrs. Hudson.
To outwit Moriarty’s man,
With vigilant attention.
Crawling beneath the window’s light
She turned Holmes’s bust eight times that night.
No fear of bullets put to flight
Intrepid Mrs. Hudson.

By these proofs we may well conclude
This paragon of women
Deserves our heartfelt gratitude
And special commendation:
A tribute in a magazine,
The finest roses ever seen,
Perhaps a medal from the Queen
And, “Well done, Mrs. Hudson.”

Former Gasogene John Sherwood delivered aa toast to Mary Morstan:

Whenever the constabulary

Was baffled by an adversary

And Holmes required a functionary

To apply his methods visionary,

Ah, Mary, you would never tarry

To send your husband off to harry

Cads and villains sanguinary.

Let the wastrels all be wary!

Holmes and Watson, loosed by Mary,

Conquer, capture, thrust and parry,

And verbs throughout the dictionary.

To you, then, wife extraordinary!

You’ve challenged my vocabulary!

Too bad you had that coronary.

Tom Fahres then delivered his traditional Haiku for the story:

We then moved on to Announcements 

• At this meeting, Liane Luini the editor of Irene's Cabinet showed off the new 2026 issue. It was to be ON SALE at the meeting, but Zoom doesn't work well for that. Liane acknowledged the wonderful contributions of Jacquelynn Morris and  Carla Coupe to helping bring Irene's Cabinet back to life for WTB. If you can't come to meetings, copies are available for $10 and we mail ! Just email Liane for details.

• I showed a copy of Steve Clarkson's book published in 1996, it includes a pile of WTB meeting quizzes including 60 (one for each story), and a number of the “Mycroft” quizzes too! Illustrations by Paul Churchill reside throughout. 

• Lauren Cercone announced she is creating a new Delaware-based scion: The Tide-waiters of Delaware. For more details or to get on the mailing list, contact Lauren! 
• Evy Herzog announced the the next meeting of the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes in New York will be on 23rd May.
• Michah Clark announced that if members would like to watch a recording of the closing night of 'Last Case of Doctor Watson' they can get in touch and he can make a link available. "With the aid of the audience and the occult, Doctor Watson investigates the greatest Mystery of all time: Sherlock Holmes. This staged reading radio play invites guests to join Doctor John Watson during what is said to be his final lecture, where he publicly confronts the legacy — and enigma — of Sherlock Holmes. Through séance, deduction, and direct audience participation, Watson ventures into realms both intellectual and otherworldly." The production was written by Michae Clark, who also played the role of Dr. Watson!

  

Johanna Draper Carlson was our guest presenter for the evening originally planning  to be 'in the room', we were lucky that Johanna could Zoom in from Virginia where she was taking shelter. Johanna Draper Carlson is the President of the Notorious Canary-Trainers of Madison, Wisconsin; regularly contributes to Sherlock Holmes magazine; writes a yearly column in The Baker Street Almanac; and is one of the two new executive directors of 221B Con. Johanna established SherlockComics.com on February 21, 2022. She also runs ComicsWorthReading.com, the longest-running independent comic book review site on the internet, and has a Masters Degree in Popular Culture with a focus on fandom studies. Mycroft Holmes is her favorite fictional character. 

Johanna is a massive fan of MYCROFT, and gave a wonderful overview of how Mycroft has been portrayed in movies and comics, and how he has evolved over time, from a very large man to a younger and very lean person. 

 

We examined the evidence box for Bruce-Partington Plans before discussing the story. Given that we met virtually, I created a slide-deck of items - which I'm showing here. As a reminder you can look at all the items here in detail at the Watsons Tin Box website. Everyone loved the emerald tie-pin, and the jemmy, chisel, pistol, and lamp ensure this evidence box is particularly heavy.

  

And so to the discussion of the story. Johanna and I had a wonderful chance to prepare or this month's  story discussion. Last month, we both appeared with Ed Pettit to discuss this very story as part of the Rosenbach series. You can watch it here - and I share the evidence box : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq7fS2CcjAY&t=3944s

The story is one of my favorites in the canon - top 5 easily. Why? It has six of my favorite things in a story: Mycroft, it's a spy story, trains, upper class crime, it's set in London.... and in 1895 with all its swirling fog. The story opens with a slightly bored Holmes, bemoaning the poor state of crime. Before we know it, Sherlock receives a telegram from his brother Mycroft, who is on his way to brief Holmes on the Cadogan West. The man was found by the tracks, with some of the highly sensitive plans for building a submarine in his pocket. Holmes and Watson move through ELEVEN locations in the course of this short story, investigating, interviewing, housebreaking, solving the crime, and catching the crooks. This success results in a reward for Sherlock from a certain gracious lady - the original is shown above from the evidence box.

One of the fun things about this story is how specific the locations are, and true to the geography of London and surrounds. The house where Cadogan-West's body is deposited on top of a train is near the Gloucester street Station. Looking at Google maps, there's really only one small area of exposed rail, shown below, with a row of very large town houses on Cromwell Road backing on to the tracks:

Even better, Google Earth allows us to see the windows right over the tracks at the back of the building!

And finally, the quiz! Well, I don't have the quiz from Olivia yet - but it was a good one!

The First, Second, and Third Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories - from John Murray

I really love the John Murray editions of Arthur Conan Doyle stories, especially the Sherlock Holmes editions. Of course, I don't own any super-special or rare editions (first editions etc) but the great news is that because of their popularity, there are plenty left. I particularly like to buy books with their dustjackets - usually the editions I can buy aren't elite, so the dustjackets are rarely in brilliant condition, but the important point is that they are together and pretty.

Here are some examples of John Murray editions in dust jackets (or dust wrappers if you prefer) that I think are pretty (which is how I choose what I want to buy):

For some reason, I hadn't been aware of these three books shown below, aimed at younger readers:

It's possible I didn't notice them because I always look for books with dust-jackets. These books appear to be aimed at school-age readers, and were first published by John Murray in 1950 in a series of three:

• The First Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
• The Second Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
• The Third Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories

I have not seen one of these editions with a dustjacket - though books for the 'young adult' (as we would say now) experience a greater degree of physical abuse as they are carried in school bags, lent to friends, etc. The cover design is classical, with Holmes clearly wearing a dearstalker, smoking a calabash pipe, and examining a newspaper or magazine while Watson looks on. 

The stories included in each volume are as follows:

The First Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories

• Silver Blaze
• The Stockbroker's Clerk
• The Final Problem

The Second Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories

• The Empty House
• The Red-Headed League
• The Dying Detective
  

The Third Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories

• The Man with the Twisted Lip
• The Dancing Men
• His Last Bow
  

The stories are nicely arranged to capture the major milestones of Sherlock, with the first ending with the Final Problem, the second starting with Empty House, and the third closing with His Last Bow. None of the stories contain inferences to social (i.e., sexual) scandal are present, such as Scandal in Bohemia, Charles Augustus Milverton, or the Illustrious Client.

There are some other elements that the book contains that make the book useful as an educational tool.

All three books contain an identical introduction by H. M. King, B.A., Ph.D., Headmaster, Regent's Park Secondary School for Boys, Southampton. The school itself as a boys school appears to have ceased operating in that capacity around 1967, and the campus is now a Community College.

Remarkably, the author of the introduction who edited these stories was Horace Maybray King, later Baron Maybray-King. King (1901-1986). King was an English school teacher from the early 1920s onwards in Southampton, who completed a PhD part-time on the Shakespeare folios, and in the late 1940s became Headmaster of the Regent's Park Seconday School.  King became involved first in local politics, then was elected to Parliament in 1950 just as the John Murray books were being published. In 1965 he became Speaker of the House of Commons, and was made a Baron upon retirement in 1971. Pretty impressive accomplishments for Sherlockian! 

Along with the introductory material, the end of each story contains an explanation or definition of complex topics, and a small number of questions (perfect for stimulating discussion about a story at a scion meeting!).

Finally, there are about a dozen new illustrations across the three volumes (one is shown above), by an illustrator who signs as 'BEARDS'. Thanks to a comment from a reader, the illustrator is William Harold Beards (1895-1974), a popular mid-century British artist who did a lot of comic postcards.

J Edgar Hoover and the Six Napoleons

I recently acquired up an interesting pair of Sherlockian letters. The point of note was that one of the letters was signed by the former Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972), and I believe that his signature is collectable (though the man must have signed hundreds of thousands of documents). 

What grabbed my attention was the connection to the Six Napoleons of Baltimore. The first letter was received by Allen Robertson was in January 1947 from Hoover.  

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Washinton, D.C.

January 29, 1947

Mr. Allen Robertson

3963 Greenmount Avenue

Baltimore 18, Maryland 

Dear Mr. Robertson:

I have received the photographs issued by the Central office of Information, London, England, and pertaining to Scotland Yard's Criminal Investigation Department. It was indeed kind of you to send them to me and I want to personally thank you.

With best wishes and kind regards,

Sincerely yours, J. Edgar Hoover

Allen Robertson was an attorney working for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad who founded the Six Napoleons after a meeting with Edgar W. Smith. The group first met in September 1946 - with a membership of six. Proceedings of their meetings were reported regularly to the Baker Street Journal section 'The Scion Societies'. As originally conceived, the Six Napoleons was to have only six members.

In the third issue of the BSJ for 1947 we learn that a correspondence had been engaged between Allen Robertson and the Director of the FBI. We don't have any information on the original portfolio of Scotland Yard photographs presented by James T. Hyslop, but the correspondence with Hoover ended there.

Baker Street Journal, 1947, Vol 2 No 3

THE SIX NAPOLEONS OF BALTIMORE

OFFICERS: Paul S. Clarkson (Haker), Gasogene; Allen Robertson (Beppo), Tantalus; James T. Hyslop (Peterson), Commissionaire.
Our meeting was held at the University Club, and all Six of the Napoleons met at the Criterion Bar and raised the traditional toast at 6 pm.

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.

A second letter to Allen Robertson was received from the Baltimore office of the FBI about six months later in June 1947. In this instance the letter is from someone whose name I cannot determine, declining to attend, but also providing ten copies of "The Story of the Federal Bureau of Investigation" for members, which had been published in 1945 and again in 1947.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Baltimore - 3, Maryland

June 12, 1947

Mr. Allen Robertson

3963 Greenmount Avenue

Baltimore - 18, Maryland

Dear Allen:

With reference to your letter of May 29, 1947, I am pleased to transmit herewith ten additional copies of "The Story of the Federal Bureau of Investigation." These are being transmitted to you in order that you might furnish them to other "Napoleons."

I have kept in mind your invitation for me to be present at the June 26th meeting, but I regret very much that a matter has arisen which will preclude the possibility of my attendance at this meeting.

I have carefully weighed the standing invitation for me to become a member of the group, but I have always taken the position that to be a member of an organization of this kind, the members should be in a position to attend with some degree of regularity, and because of the nature of my work and the fact that I cannot foresee being in a position to attend regularly your meetings, I think you will agree with me that it would not be advisable for me to join the organization at this time. I shall continue to bear in mind, however, my pleasant visit with you previously, and I hope that sometime in the future, I shall be able to be with you again.

With kindest personal regards, I am,

Sincerely,

?? Ha???

These letters are from the earliest days of the Six Napoleons of Baltimore. I'm intrigued at the interest of the scion in connecting with modern day law enforcement. Was Hoover the Lestrade of his time and place? 

For the second letter, the offer of membership shows that the Six Napoleons were very quickly realizing that six members was going to be a restriction. 

I do wonder if the portfolio of Scotland Yard photos is in the FBI archives somewhere.... some brief searching of online archives did not reveal and Sherlock connections sadly.

Watson's Tin Box meeting summary - February 16, 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 on February 16 for another great gathering of members - 28 in total - and it was a rowdy bunch! 

As always I took a census of where people were attending from, and Columbia MD was the winner, and we had two first-time visitors! Al Hafner lives locally, and decided it was time to convert his lifelong love of Sherlock into sitting around with a group of Sherlockians and talking about it! and our guest speaker Emily Miranker was also a first-time visitor to WTB. Wonderful.

The story of the meeting was Norwood Builder.

After introductions, we moved to the toasts. Evy Herzog have the toast to 'The Woman' (Irene Adler), and Liane Luini presented a toast written by April Curnow and published in Irene’s Cabinet Vol 9, 2011.

Another Medical Minute, Circa 1895 To Brandy
by April Curnow

Not the gin of the slum
Nor the docksider’s rum,
It’s highly respectable: brandy.
A drink most restorative,
Nothing pejorative
In a delectable brandy.
So let’s drink to brandy! It’s really quite handy
For treating the faint and the weak and the ill.
It revives the dulled senses at modest expense
And it’s far more relaxing than taking a pill.
A medicinal tot will just hit the spot.
Administer one shot, or possibly two.
Any doctor of worth keeps a flask of the stuff
In his little black bag. No mere tonic will do.
So let’s drink again! Fortifier of men
And ladies with vapours and delicate souls
Most in need of support. If you haven’t got port
Or claret on the sideboard, try brandy.

Tom Fahres then delivered his traditional Haiku for the story:

A bloody thumb print

Is the key to solve the case

For Lastrade, or Holmes?

We then moved on to Announcements - (I hate to say I've lost a page of notes so these are limited)

• The BIG NEWS from Liane Luine is that the 2026 Irene's Cabinet will be available for purchase at the March WTB meeting, then available more widely (while issues last). We are all SO EXCITED that our annual journal is back.
• The DC Whiskey and Sodality meeting will again take place on March 1st at 2pm at Shelly's Back Room, 1331 F Street NW. As always, contact Terry McCammon for details. "Excellent ventilation, excellent pub type food. Good whisky and draft beer list. I have cigars to share." Smoking optional ; ventilation excellent.
• The next Red Circle next meets on Saturday March 14 - details here - I will be speaking.... about the Dancing Miners.

OK the next part of our meeting is becoming a wonderful tradition. The exceptionally creative Michelle March shared a range of new Sherlockian creations. Some were inspired by Watson's Tin Box, some by the canon - and all are amazing.

 

 

This is a lamp, the shade is a deerstalker. Hanging from the lamp are 20 prisms each with three sides, and these 60 spaces contain an artwork from each of the sixty canonical stories! Attached is a magnifying glass so that you can examine those illustrations closely, and underneath is a pipe, with a glowing light installed. It is AMAZING.

Next was a fantastic t-shirt design for 'Norwood Builder' which was a prize for the quiz:

Jonas Oldacre

Lower Norwood

1 star out of 5

Would not recommend. Drafting department only does suspicious wills. Design department only does malicious schemes. Attic seems smaller. Sounds like a rat's nest in wall. Door handle installed without door. Billed twice, second time by a "Mr. Cornelius, who never even showed up."

Michelle also shared a new Rubix cube, with Sherlockian designs on each square:

Finally, for every person present, Michelle had made a personal Watson's Tin Box (!!!). Inside was a hammer, the first of many charms that will be added as we discuss the stories. We also received a BRAIN if we attended the recent Mycroft quiz.

We thrill and we marvel at Michelle's creativity. There is a book in Michelle's future that captures all of her Sherlockian creations.

Speaking of the Mycroft Quiz, we were able to present Victoria Wood with her 'Strangers' Room' prize, which she will care for till 2027. Victoria was THRILLED :

We next moved on to our story for the month: Norwood Builder. As always, Debbie Clark presented the contents of the evidence box. This box had a LOT of documents, some very original. I've placed here a layout of all the items from the evidence box - you can look at all the items here in detail at the Watsons Tin Box website.

There are some wonderful items here: a mutilated photograph of a young woman, telegrams, a very small horse-drawn fire engine, an original (not faux-original) will, cheques (or checks), and of course a thumbprint in wax.

The story discussion was a good one!! We all decided we wanted to know a lot more about Jonas Oldacre's colluding housekeeper... she was arrested at the end of the stories, but how involved was she? Did she kill the rabbits? Start the fire? What else?!?!?? There was a lot of discussion about the hidden room.... how do you not see a door, and well.... did he go to the bathroom in there?

The new fingerprint, and the method of creating it, was disputed. Luckily for us Al brought his career to the meeting as a crime-scene expert and confirmed that yes, it is absolutely possible to create a copy of a fingerprint from a mould (or mold). 

Emily Miranker was our guest presenter for the evening. Emily is a second generation Sherlockian, tagging along to scion societies until after college when she started attending ASH and Priory School meetings and the Birthday Weekend, getting her shilling in 2015. She is in the first cohort of women members of the Speckled Band of Boston; an erstwhile attendee of Sons and Daughters of Copper Beeches of Philadelphia, Norwegian Explorers of Minneapolis, Scowerers and Molly Maguires of San Francisco, and her local Scion is the Red Circle in DC. 

It was a wonderful presentation. I do not describe the details of our presenters - they are usually evolving into articles. Emily spoke about American women in the canon, and drew on examples from other Victorian and mystery literature. Emily's slides were amazing, and she spoke about the Victorian view of America - it's space and the social freedoms it provided compared to class-restricted British life.

I can't wait to read Emily's article, and I'm exceptionally thankful for her taking the time to spend an evening with us.

We ended with with traditional quiz, set by our torquemadae Olivia Millunzi. Olivia's wonderful quiz is shown below.