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......
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.
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!
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