Watson's Tin Box meeting summary - November 17, 2025

Each third Monday of the month, the Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City scion meets at Union Jack's in Columbia MD and we gathered on Monday November 17 for another great gathering of members - 30 in total (highest post-COVID!!!!) with one first-time attendee.

I again took a census of where people attended the meeting from (MD locations unless otherwise stated): Baltimore; Bowie; Carol County; Columbia; DC; Darnestown; Ellicott City; Fairfax VA; Frederick; Gaithersburg; Gambrils; Harford County; Laurel; Sandy Spring; Silver Spring; Westminster, Woodbine. Quite a mix!

Along with a first-timer, we have three NEW MEMBERS, who were attending their second meeting: Sheridan Ameo, Cindy Saver, and Grant Heller. 

The story of the meeting was The Solitary Cyclist. Being at Union Jack's we were technically at 'the nearest public-house. That is the centre of country gossip.' Very appropriate, and a very full house!

After introductions, we moved to the toasts.

Brent Morris delivered the toast to 'The Woman' (Irene Adler), using a toast he'd written previously - it's got some great puns!

One of the great charms of studying the canonical writings is speculating as to what might have been. With my interests in prestidigitation, I’ve often wondered why Irene Adler’s love for the magic of performing on the stage did not lead her into becoming an illusionist. Now this possibility is not as far-fetched as it might seem. While male magicians are better known than females, there have indeed been a number of grand female performers.

A contemporary of Irene Adler was Adelaide Hermann the first great female Magician. In 1896, her husband, Alexander Hermann—Hermann the Great—died suddenly, leaving Adelaide deeply in dept. Just six weeks later, Adelaide reopened the Hermann show as “The Queen of Magic” and played around the world successfully for 32 years. Thus there is evidence that the world could have accepted another woman of dazzling mystery and intrigue, had Irene been so inclined.

Certainly there is some tantalizing evidence of Irene’s magical skills from “The Scandal in Bohemia.” We know that “a slim youth in an ulster” said “Good night, Mister Sherlock Holmes” as he walked down Baker Street. We know this was Irene Adler, but Sherlock Holmes was puzzled as to the source of the words. I suspect the puzzlement came because she disappeared. The indication is that she performed the famous English magic trick of walking down a street and turning into a pub.

She could have been involved in the illusion first introduced by the English magician, P. T. Selbit—“Sawing through a Woman” or “Sawing a Woman in Half” as we know it today. The classic method requires the woman in the box to have a half sister. Regrettably Irene seems to have been an only child, and so could not have performed that illusion.

There are few stage mysteries more spectacular than the elegant floating lady. Irene could have performed this admirably, but English law at the time was relatively unenlightened and no doubt dissuaded her from following this path to magical fame. At each evening’s performance she would have risked being arrested for no visible means of support.

The initial clues of a magical career were promising, but further study leads us to conclude that Irene Adler did not pursue the mystical arts. Alas, magic and prestidigitation lost a practitioner, but opera was forever enriched by her presence.

Please join me in a toast to “The Woman.”

Liane Luini then presented a toast written by Tin Box member Yale Stenzler, originally delivered at a Watson’s Tin Box meeting in 2008, and written at the passing of our founder Paul Churchill:

I lift my glass in a toast to THE MAN ...
Who co-founded Watson’s Tin Box in Ellicott City.
Who was a member in good, no great standing, in Watson’s Tin Box.
Who has been a member of the Baker Street Irregulars in New York City for many years. 
Who was a member of the Six Napoleons.
Who personally knew Dr. John H. Watson.
Who was a collector and creator of all things Sherlockian.
Who recreated and lived within 221-B Baker Street, London (Eldersburg, MD.)
Who extended himself to every new member of Watson’s Tin Box.
Who had a case box for every Sherlock Holmes adventure in the Canon.
Who loved to talk about his Sherlockian collection and memorabilia.
Who was beyond doubt a gentleman of fine character and gentle disposition.
Who will be greatly missed by family, friends, and those that knew him by name only.
To you THE MAN – Paul G. Churchill, we lift our drinks to recognize you, not once, but always.

Carla Coupe then read a toast to Mrs Hudson, first presented at the recent Copper Beeches (of Philadelphia) meeting by Dana Cameron.

Finally, as always, came the traditional Haiku for the story delivered by Tom Fahres. Tom pointed out that this haiku was appropriate as a utility haiku for multiple Sherlock stories:

Which story is this?

A young woman named Violet

Gets help from Sherlock.

We then moved on to Announcements - 

• If you're looking for things to do - you can keep track of all Sherlockian events at.... www.sherlockiancalendar.com 
• We were reminded that the Irene's Cabinet publication from WTB will return in 2026. The deadline for submissions to Jacquelynn Bost-Morris is December 15. Time for some last-minute inspiration!
• I previously posted on the 46th Annual 'Sherlock Holmes at the Pratt Free Library' event on my blog here.
• The Red Circle of Washtington DC held its 75th Anniversary celebrations on November 15. Many WTB members were in attendance. There were 180 people at the screening (!!!) and of the three Eille Norwood restored films, two had never been released in the US before! The screening was followed by dinner and those who attended received a commemorative Red Circle 75th Anniversary pin! If you are looking for a blog review, our guest speaker Art Taylor wrote a post about the evening.

• Megan Homme reported on the recent meeting of The Naval Treaty of Annapolis, at St. Paul Church in Crownsville, MD. They have a neat strategy for story discussion - the winner of each month's quiz gets to choose the story for the next month!
• The DC Whiskey and Sodality meeting will again take place on Sunday, November 23, 2 pm at Shelly's Back Room, 1331 F Street NW. 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.

 

Next, we are lucky enough to have our speaker Art Taylor present on his experience as a literature professor teaching Sherlock Holmes, and student reactions to the canon. Art also spoke to the story for the evening - the Solitary Cyclist. The story centers around a case of unwanted attention, stalking, and violence against Violet Smith. Art spoke about modern statistics on stalking, the reality of the 'problem' Violet Smith faces, but also the agency Smith has in seeking help from Holmes, and withdrawing from employment. Art was then barraged with questions, and the entire group is about to begin auditing his amazing classes.

Thank you Art for making the long drive from Virginia to share your perspectives with us.

To the story of the evening - 'The Solitary Cyclist'. Art's presentation was the perfect segue into a conversation about the story. One comment raised during Art's talk is that Violet never gets to complete her story - we don't directly from hear from her after the assault - but the Bert Coules BBC radio dramatization does give Violet a voice at the end, which was a nice variation. The story reminds me of Doyle's non-Sherlock story The Winning Shot, in which the Swedish Dr. Octavius Gaster infiltrates a family and violently insists that a woman marry him. In this story, 'trouble' again comes from across the seas - in this case South Africans. Sherlock's acceptance, or passive understanding of the scenario, is revealed in his (to modern ears, very unsettling) comment "it is part of the settled order of nature that such a girl should have followers". I also noted that the village of Farnham is where - coincidentally of course - Eille Norwood lived and was buried! Small world.

Some themes discussed by the group included: who was the solitary cyclist? Violet or her follower? We discussed the recent Trifles episode on Andy Peck's analysis of Doyle's manuscript that proved it was her follower. Language did not help us solve it - it was pointed out that 'cyclist' is a gender-neutral term unlike many others at the time, for example aviator/aviatrix. Violet was an incredible person - she had the wisdom and agency to immediately act herself on her concerns, and to quit and ride away (or attempt to) when she became uncomfortable. The age-old rule applies - and it's a warning sign in the story - if a job looks too good to be true, it probably is!

Debbie Clark gave an overview of the items in the evidence box. A reminder that you can browse the Evidence Box items at our website, but here are some photos of the laid-out evidence. What do you recognize from the story?

Debbie shared that the tooth was sourced by Paul from his local dentist! 

The pistol is of course imitation.

There was no bicycle in the box (but there used to be when Paul Churchill created them!), so Michelle March created a collapsable bicycle for the box!

We ended with with traditional quiz, set by Olivia Millunzi. For the second month in a row we needed a tie-breaker, and for the second month in a row we also had an amazing prize from Michelle (I'll try and get a photo to add to the blog later).

And so, the end to another fun evening - our largest yet!