Author: Chips & Selena

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On April 23rd…

April 23, 1898: Violet Smith contacted Sherlock Holmes. [SOLI]

My friend, who loved above all things precision and concentration of thought, resented anything which distracted his attention from the matter in hand. And yet without a harshness which was foreign to his nature it was impossible to refuse to listen to the story of the young and beautiful woman, tall, graceful, and queenly, who presented herself at Baker Street late in the evening and implored his assistance and advice. It was vain to urge that his time was already fully occupied, for the young lady had come with the determination to tell her story, and it was evident that nothing short of force could get her out of the room until she had done so. With a resigned air and a somewhat weary smile Holmes begged the beautiful intruder to take a seat and to inform us what it was that was troubling her.

Date information provided by the volume A Day-by-Day Chronology of Mr. Sherlock Holmes, according to Zeisler and Christ, compiled and edited by William S Dorn.

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On April 22nd…

April 22, 1890: Carlo the mastiff attacked Jethro Rucastle. [COPP]

Illustration by Sidney Paget

Holmes and I rushed out, and round the angle of the house, with Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its black muzzle buried in Rucastle’s throat, while he writhed and screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them, and carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid him upon the drawing-room sofa, and, having despatched the sobered Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to relieve his pain.

Date provided by A Day-by-Day Chronology of Mr. Sherlock Holmes, according to Zeisler and Christ, compiled and edited by William S Dorn.

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On April 21st…

April 21, 1890: Violet Hunter entered the forbidden room. [COPP]

Violet Hunter (Natasha Richardson) in “The Copper Beeches” (1985)

“Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty – a feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this place. They talk of woman’s instinct; perhaps it was woman’s instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there; and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the forbidden door.”

Date information based on the volume A Day-by-Day Chronology of Mr. Sherlock Holmes, according to Zeisler and Christ, compiled and edited by William S Dorn.

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On April 20th…

Mastiff picture by Philip Reinagle, engraved by John Scott (1894)

April 20, 1890: Carlo the mastiff was last fed. [COPP]

“Better close the front door,” cried Holmes, and we all rushed down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out at a side-door.

“My God!” he cried. “Someone has loosed the dog. It’s not been fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it’ll be too late!”

Date provided by A Day-by-Day Chronology of Mr. Sherlock Holmes, according to Zeisler and Christ, compiled and edited by William S Dorn.

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On April 19th…

Emrys James, Jeremy Brett, and Edward Hardwicke

April 19, 1888: Holmes, Watson, and Altheney Jones chased the launch Aurora down the river Thames. [SIGN]

“And there is the Aurora,” exclaimed Holmes, “and going like the devil! Full speed ahead, engineer. Make after that launch with the yellow light. By Heaven, I shall never forgive myself if she proves to have the heels of us!”

 

April 19, 1888: Tonga was shot and killed by Holmes or Watson (or both). [SIGN]

“Fire if he raises his hand,” said Holmes, quietly.

We were within a boat’s-length by this time, and almost within touch of our quarry. I can see the two men now as they stood: the white man with his legs far apart, shrieking out curses, and the unhallowed dwarf with his hideous face and his strong, yellow teeth gnashing at us in the light of our lantern.

Zena Keller as Tonga

It was well that we had so clear a view of him. Even as we looked he plucked out from under his covering a short, round piece of wood, like a school-ruler, and clapped it to his lips. Our pistols rang out together. He whirled round, threw his arms in the air, and, with a kind of choking cough, fell sideways into the stream. I caught one glimpse of his venomous, menacing eyes amid the white swirl of the waters.

Date provided by A Day-by-Day Chronology of Mr. Sherlock Holmes, according to Zeisler and Christ, compiled and edited by William S Dorn.

 

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On April 18th…

April 18, 1888: The Baker Street Irregulars started their search for the launch Aurora. [SIGN]

Which one of us have not wanted to be a Baker Street Irregular? I was lucky in the sense, I got into the world of 1895 when I was about 11, so I still thought of myself as willing get into whatever dirty messy situation to look for the Aurora if asked by that towering giant of a idol Holmes. One of my local friends also thought she would do the same. I had brought her into the world of the Thames and Tonga firing poison darts whilst chasing a missing Treasure.

April 18, 1887: Action’s house in Reigate was broken into [REIG]

Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine

My old friend Colonel Hayter, who had come under my professional care in Afghanistan, had now taken a house near Reigate, in Surrey, and had frequently asked me to come down to him upon a visit. On the last occasion he had remarked that if my friend would only come with me, he would be glad to extend his hospitality to him also. A little diplomacy was needed, but when Holmes understood that the establishment was a bachelor one, and that he would be allowed the fullest freedom, he fell in with my plans, and a week after our return from Lyons we were under the Colonel’s roof. Hayter was a fine old soldier, who had seen much of the world, and he soon found, as I had expected, that Holmes and he had plenty in common.

On the evening of our arrival we were sitting in the Colonel’s gunroom after dinner, Holmes stretched upon the sofa, while Hayter and I looked over his little armoury of firearms.

“By the way,” said he, suddenly, “I think I’ll take one of these pistols upstairs with me in case we have an alarm.”

“An alarm!” said I’

“Yes, we’ve had a scare in this part lately. Old Acton, who is one of our county magnates, had his house broken into last Monday. No great damage done, but the fellows are still at large.”

The interesting point about this Colonel comes from the distinguished Sherlockian scholar D Martin Dakin. In his indispensable research volume A Sherlock Holmes Commentary, he mentions the fact that Colonel Hayter is the only Colonel Holmes had good luck with. Try to think of any other Colonel in the cases who is an honest and upright British citizen. From Colonel Moran on, if you are able to think of such an upright Colonel, let us know. I bet on Dakin.

Source: A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.

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On April 17th… The Aurora

April 17, 1888: The launch Aurora disappeared. [SIGN]

Illustration by Richard Gutschmidt

He was approaching the door of the house, when it opened, and a little curly-headed lad of six came running out, followed by a stoutish, red-faced woman with a large sponge in her hand.
“You come back and be washed, Jack,” she shouted. “Come back, you young imp; for if your father comes home and finds you like that he’ll let us hear of it.”
“Dear little chap!” cried Holmes, strategically. “What a rosy-cheeked young rascal! Now, Jack, is there anything you would like?”
The youth pondered for a moment.
“I’d like a shillin’,” said he.
“Nothing you would like better?”
“I’d like two shillin’ better,” the prodigy answered, after some thought.
“Here you are, then! Catch! – A fine child, Mrs. Smith!”
“Lor’ bless you, sir, he is that, and forward. He gets a’most too much for me to manage, ‘specially when my man is away days at a time.”
“Away, is he?” said Holmes, in a disappointed voice. “I am sorry for that, for I wanted to speak with Mr. Smith.”
“He’s been away since yesterday mornin’, sir, and, truth to tell, I am beginning to feel frightened about him. But if it was about a boat, sir, maybe I could serve as well.”
“I wanted to hire his steam-launch.”
“Why, bless you, sir, it is in the steam-launch that he has gone. That’s what puzzles me; for I know there ain’t no more coals in her than would take her to about Woolwich and back. If he’d been away in the barge I’d ha’ thought nothin’; for many a time a job has taken him as far as Gravesend, and then if there was much doin’ there he might ha’ stayed over. But what good is a steam-launch without coals?”

So, what will Holmes and Watson do? How will they find the Aurora (besides looking east next to the Denver? Bad inside Colorado joke!!)

To find out the answer to Holmes’s dilemma, check out the Tid Bits column tomorrow, the 18th. Also coming later, another puzzling contradiction that makes this story a mishmash of scholarly debate!

Source: A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.

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On April 17th… Toby and the Wiper


April 17, 1888: Toby led Holmes and Watson on a creosote trail. [SIGN]
(Source: A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.)

One of the errors mentioned in this story in the Canon involves Watson going to pick up Toby the bloodhound from Old Sherman to try to trail the creosote. The quotes from the story that apply to the problem are:

Chapter 5: The Tragedy of Pondicherry Lodge

[The room] appeared to have been fitted up as a chemical laboratory. A double line of glass-stoppered bottles was drawn up upon the wall opposite the door, and the table was littered over with Bunsen burners, test-tubes, and retorts. In the corners stood carboys of acid in wicker baskets. One of these appeared to leak or to have been broken, for a stream of dark-coloured liquid had trickled out from it, and the air was heavy with a peculiarly pungent, tar-like odour.

Chapter 6: Sherlock Holmes Gives a Demonstration

He whipped out his lens and a tape measure, and hurried about the room on his knees, measuring, comparing, examining, with his long, thin nose only a few inches from the planks, and his beady eyes gleaming and deep-set like those of a bird. So swift, silent, and furtive were his movements, like those of a trained bloodhound picking out a scent, that I could not but think what a terrible criminal he would have made had he turned his energy and sagacity against the law instead of exerting them in its defence. As he hunted about he kept muttering to himself, and finally he broke out into a loud crow of delight.

“We are certainly in luck,” he said. “We ought to have very little trouble now. Number One has had the misfortune to tread in the creosote. You can see the outline of the edge of his small foot here at the side of this evil-smelling mess. The carboy has been cracked, you see, and the stuff has leaked out.”

“What then?” I asked.

“Why, we have got him, that’s all,” said he. “I know a dog that would follow that scent to the world’s end. If a pack can track a trailed herring across a shire, how far can a specially-trained hound follow so pungent a smell as this? […]”

Chapter 6: Sherlock Holmes Gives a Demonstration

I wish you to go to No. 3, Pinchin Lane, down near the water’s edge at Lambeth. The third house on the right-hand side is a bird-stuffer’s; Sherman is the name. You will see a weasel holding a young rabbit in the window. Knock old Sherman up, and tell him, with my compliments, that I want Toby at once. You will bring Toby back in the cab with you.”

“A dog, I suppose?”

“Yes, a queer mongrel, with a most amazing power of scent. I would rather have Toby’s help than that of the whole detective force of London.”

Chapter 7: The Episode of the Barrel

Pinchin Lane was a row of shabby, two-storied brick houses in the lower quarter of Lambeth. I had to knock for some time at No. 3 before I could make any impression. At last, however, there was the glint of a candle behind the blind, and a face looked out at the upper window.

“Go on, you drunken vagabond,” said the face. “If you kick up any more row, I’ll open the kennels and let out forty-three dogs upon you.”

“If you’ll let one out, it’s just what I have come for,” said I.

“Go on!” yelled the voice. “So help me gracious, I have a wiper in this bag, an’ I’ll drop it on your ‘ead if you don’t hook it!”

Can any one tell us what a wiper is that it might need to be carried in a bag and threaten anyone Prevailing Sherlockian scholarly research indicates the word was supposed to be Viper and was a typo, misprint, or a certain Doctor’s handwriting was very hard to read, or the same certain Doctor/Author could not spell well.

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On April 16th…

April 16, 1888: Holmes, Watson and Mary Morstan went to Pondicherry Lodge. [SIGN]

We had hardly reached the third pillar, which was our rendezvous, before a small, dark, brisk man in the dress of a coachman accosted us.

“Are you the parties who come with Miss Morstan?” he asked.

“I am Miss Morstan, and these two gentlemen are my friends,” said she.

He bent a pair of wonderfully penetrating and questioning eyes upon us.

“You will excuse me, miss,” he said, with a certain dogged manner, “but I was to ask you to give me your word that neither of your companions is a police-officer.”

“I give you my word on that,” she answered.

He gave a shrill whistle, on which a street arab led across a four-wheeler and opened the door. The man who had addressed us mounted to the box, while we took our places inside. We had hardly done so before the driver whipped up his horse, and we plunged away at a furious pace through the foggy streets.

The situation was a curious one. We were driving to an unknown place on an unknown errand.

April 16, 1897: Brenda Tregennis was murdered, and her two brothers lost their sanity. [DEVI]

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.

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On April 14th…

April 14, 1887: Holmes lay ill in the Hotel Dulong at Lyons. [REIG]

Three days later we were back in Baker Street together, but it was evident that my friend would be much the better for a change, and the thought of a week of springtime in the country was full of attractions to me also. My old friend Colonel Hayter, who had come under my professional care in Afghanistan, had now taken a house near Reigate, in Surrey, and had frequently asked me to come down to him upon a visit. On the last occasion he had remarked that if my friend would only come with me, he would be glad to extend his hospitality to him also.

Paget illustration of Holmes, Hayter, and Watson
Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine

A little diplomacy was needed, but when Holmes understood that the establishment was a bachelor one, and that he would be allowed the fullest freedom, he fell in with my plans, and a week after our return from Lyons we were under the Colonel’s roof. Hayter was a fine old soldier, who had seen much of the world, and he soon found, as I had expected, that Holmes and he had plenty in common.

On the evening of our arrival we were sitting in the Colonel’s gunroom after dinner, Holmes stretched upon the sofa, while Hayter and I looked over his little armoury of firearms.

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.

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On April 13th…

Illustration by Josef Friedrich

April 13, 1890: Violet Hunter sat in the window seat for the second time [COPP]

“Two days later this same performance was gone through under exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny stories of which my employer had an immense repertoire, and which he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and, moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and change my dress.”

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.

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On April 12th…

Portrait of Constantin Meunier by Max Liebermann

Sherlock Holmes had, in a very remarkable degree, the power of detaching his mind at will. For two hours the strange business in which we had been involved appeared to be forgotten, and he was entirely absorbed in the pictures of the modern Belgian masters. He would talk of nothing but art, of which he had the crudest ideas, from our leaving the gallery until we found ourselves at the Northumberland Hotel. [HOUN]

Constantin Meunier, Belgian painter and sculptor, was born April 12, 1831 in Brussels. Could he be the Oscar Meunier mentioned in the Canon?

Meunier trained at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, beginning in 1845. On the advice of Charles de Groux, he focused on painting before returning to sculpture later in his career. More information about his life can found in A Curious Collection of Dates by JWHS members Leah Guinn (“Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (“Tressa”).

More information about the wax bust credited to Oscar Meunier may be found at John A Lanzalotti’s site: Williamsburg Sculpture:

Wax bust of Holmes

In the sixty reminiscences of Dr. Watson better known as the Sherlock Holmes stories, there are two references to a wax bust made in the likeness of Sherlock Holmes by a French sculptor. The first reference is in the Return of Sherlock Holmes. The credit of the execution is due to Monsieur Oscar Meunier, of Grenoble, who spent some days in doing the molding. It is a bust in wax. ” The second reference is in the Mazarin Stone. Sherlock Holmes tells his assassin that the wax effigy was made by Tavernier, the French modelier. These names however, are either pseudonyms or the individuals were so obscure that history passed them by with no other reference. It seems odd that Sherlock Holmes would have two life-sized busts made in his image by two different sculptors. Both busts were said to be the identical image of Holmes.

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On April 11th…

April 11, 1890: Violet Hunter in window seat for the first time. [COPP]

Illustration by Josef Friedrich

“A chair had been placed close to the central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humor, never so much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the day, and that I might change my dress, and go to little Edward in the nursery.”

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.

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On April 10th… Louisa “Touie” Hawkins

Louisa Hawkins Doyle

Louisa “Touie” Hawkins was born April 10, 1857. She married Arthur Conan Doyle in 1885; they had two children – Mary and Kingsley.

Conan Doyle was brought in by a fellow physician, William Pike, to consult on on a case of suspected meningitis. The patient was 25-year-old Jack Hawkins. Jack stayed at Doyle’s Home/practice so that Doyle could treat him, though the illness was incurable, and Jack only survived a short time.

While treating Jack and speaking with his family, Dr Doyle met Jack’s sister, Louisa (nicknamed “Touie”). They were engaged in April and married in August of 1885.

In October of 1893, Louise was diagnosed with what appeared to be a fast moving case of tuberculosis. Arthur devoted himself to caring for her, taking trips to Switzerland and Egypt, and he built his estate home in Surrey, at a higher altitude to allow Touie and their family to stay in England. Touie lived nearly 13 years past her diagnosis, until July 4 , 1906.

(I urge anyone interested to research and read and the literature about the relationship. There is so much more to the story then can be listed here. . You will find it quite interesting and worth the time. -Chips)

For more information, check out A Curious Collection of Dates by JWHS members Leah Guinn (“Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (“Tressa”).

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On April 9th… The Trial of Drouet

The trial of Bartholomew Peter Drouet for manslaughter began on April 9, 1849.

Whistler etching of Drouet (1850s)

He was a son of that Rodger Baskerville, the younger brother of Sir Charles, who fled with a sinister reputation to South America, where he was said to have died unmarried. He did, as a matter of fact, marry, and had one child, this fellow, whose real name is the same as his father. He married Beryl Garcia, one of the beauties of Costa Rica, and, having purloined a considerable sum of public money, he changed his name to Vandeleur and fled to England, where he established a school in the east of Yorkshire. His reason for attempting this special line of business was that he had struck up an acquaintance with a consumptive tutor upon the voyage home, and that he had used this man’s ability to make the undertaking a success. Fraser, the tutor, died, however, and the school which had begun well, sank from disrepute into infamy. The Vandeleurs found it convenient to change their name to Stapleton, and he brought the remains of his fortune, his schemes for the future, and his taste for entomology to the south of England. I learn at the British Museum that he was a recognized authority upon the subject, and that the name of Vandeleur has been permanently attached to a certain moth which he had, in his Yorkshire days, been the first to describe.

The trial of Drouet was about the kind of schoolmaster that Rodger Baskerville probably was. It was not uncommon in the 19th century for private boarding schools of varying quality  to be set up and attract pupils.

In the 1840s, one such school was set up by Drouet. It first prospered by taking pupils from overcrowded workhouses and training them for a fee. Although unannounced inspections brought up issues of poor conditions and unsanitary food, nothing was done until a cholera outbreak at the school killed 100 children and one adult. The nature of cholera made it hard to prove that the children died because of the school’s conditions, and Drouet was acquitted.

See the excellent A Curious Collection of Dates by JWHS members Leah Guinn (“Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (“Tressa”) for more information.

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On April 8th…

still of Miss Stoper, Violet Hunter, and Jethro Rucastle from The Copper Beeches (BBC, 1965)
Miss Stoper (Sheila Keith), Violent Hunter (Suzanne Neve), and Jephro Rucastle (Patrick Wymark) in “The Copper Beeches” (1965)

April 8, 1890: Violet Hunter went to work as governess at Copper Beeches. [COPP]

“That is enough.” She rose briskly from her chair with the anxiety all swept from her face. “I shall go down to Hampshire quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, sacrifice my poor hair tonight, and start for Winchester tomorrow.” With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both good-night and bustled off upon her way.

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.

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On April 7th…

Illustration by Sidney Paget for the Strand Magazine[
April 7, 1883: Grant Munro and Sherlock Holmes discovered who was behind the Yellow Face. [YELL]

It was a long two minutes before Grant Munro broke the silence, and when his answer came it was one of which I love to think. He lifted the little child, kissed her, and then, still carrying her, he held his other hand out to his wife and turned towards the door. “We can talk it over more comfortably at home,” said he. “I am not a very good man, Effie, but I think that I am a better one than you have given me credit for being.”

 

April 7, 1890: Violet Hunter consulted Sherlock Homes. [COPP]

Illustration by Josef Friedrich[

As he spoke the door opened, and a young lady entered the room. She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, freckled like a plover’s egg, and with the brisk manner of a woman who has had her own way to make in the world.

“You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure,” said she, as my companion rose to greet her; “but I have had a very strange experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be kind enough to tell me what I should do.”

“Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything that I can to serve you.”

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.

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On April 6th…

Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine (1893)

April 6, 1883: Grant Munro came home early and found the cottage vacant [YELL]

I stayed long enough to make certain that the house was absolutely empty. Then I left it, feeling a weight at my heart such as I had never had before. My wife came out into the hall as I entered my house, but I was too hurt and angry to speak with her, and pushing past her I made my way into my study. She followed me, however, before I could close the door.

`I am sorry that I broke my promise, Jack,’ said she, `but if you knew all the circumstances I am sure you would forgive me.’

`Tell me everything, then,’ said I.

`I cannot, Jack, I cannot!’ she cried.

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.

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On April 4th…

Illustration by W H Hyde for Harper’s Weekly (1893)

April 4, 1883: Grant Munro stayed home from his office. [YELL]

`Oh,’ said she, in her playful way, `you said that you were only my banker, and bankers never ask questions, you know.’

`If you really mean it, of course you shall have the money.’ said I.

`Oh, yes, I really mean it.’

`And you won’t tell me what you want it for?’

`Some day, perhaps, but not just at present, Jack.’

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.