When NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars, it brought along Watson and Sherlock. Or WATSON and SHERLOC, anyway.
The Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals has a nickname: SHERLOC. Mounted on the rover’s robotic arm, SHERLOC uses cameras, spectrometers, and a laser to search for organics and minerals that have been altered by watery environments and may be signs of past microbial life. In addition to its black-and-white context camera, SHERLOC is assisted by WATSON, a color camera for taking close-up images of rock grains and surface textures.[…]
Dr. John H. Watson was Holmes’ partner in solving mysteries. WATSON the camera assists SHERLOC as it helps solve mysteries about life on Mars.
With its camera sidekick WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering), SHERLOC even has a modern version of the hand-lens magnifying glass used by the classic British detective!
In my readings, I have found two editors working together who came up with 3 possible connections between Dickens and Sherlock Holmes and/or Arthur Conan Doyle.
One connection involves a quote.
Of the other two, one requires some comparisons and the other requires a visit from the Afterlife.
Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand, 1904
The answers are:
The quote, from The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton (CHAS): “Charles Augustus Milverton was a man of fifty, with a large, intellectual head, a round, plump, hairless face, a perpetual frozen smile, and two keen gray eyes, which gleamed brightly from behind broad, gold-rimmed glasses. There was something of Mr. Pickwick’s benevolence in his appearance, marred only by the insincerity of the fixed smile and by the hard glitter of those restless and penetrating eyes.”
The comparisons, from the entry for February 7 in A Curious Collection of Dates: Through the Year with Sherlock Holmes, by Leah Guinn and Jaime N. Mahoney: “Sherlockians can also thank Dickens for Bleak House‘s Inspector Bucket, the first police detective in English literature who, in his various investigations, provides the template for Inspector Lestrade and every policeman who consults the detective at 221B.”
The visit from the Afterlife, also mentioned in the same entry: During at least two seances Arthur Conan Doyle attended, Dickens’s spirit allegedly made contact and said that Drood (of his unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood) was not dead, but he still didn’t provide the answer to the mystery.
From a photograph by Gurney, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
February 7th 1812: Charles Dickens was born.
In my readings, I have found two editors working together who came up with 3 possible connections between Dickens and Sherlock Holmes and/or Arthur Conan Doyle.
One connection involves a quote.
Of the other two, one requires some comparisons and the other requires a visit from the Afterlife.
“Chips” writes to share a tidbit from an article written by Russ Bengtson for Complex (in 2013, but it was shared on the Hounds of the Internet recently).
You know why Sherlock Holmes could get away with wearing a deerstalker cap? Because it was the 1800s, he did cocaine, and he was A FICTIONAL CHARACTER.
“Chips” says: I disagree with this selection. Strongly. I have worn a Sherlock Holmes cap while riding my bike and now while riding in my wheelchair and my mobility scooter every day. And I have no ill effects. Folks tell me how dashing I look.
“Selena” adds: I would quite like a deerstalker bike helmet. I might have to get one if I ever ride a bike again. To you cyclists out there, please do wear a helmet, no matter what style! Though if you happen to wear a deerstalker helmet, we’d love to see photos.
Royal Horse Artillery and the 66th Foot before the Battle of Maiwand – Richard Caton Woodville, Jr (1856-1927)
“Chips” sends in this poetic toast by Jody Baker (AKA Insp. Baynes, and who in turn gives thanks to Paul Hartnett (JHWS “Scout”)) to he without whom our dear Dr Watson would have perished before ever meeting Holmes.
On the Afghan side of a mountain pass
In the land that’s ruled from Kabul,
Our assistant regimental surgeon
Was a kid just fresh out of school.
He had spent some time at Netley, though;
And they’d taught him mighty well
How to patch up battered infantry troops
Who had fought their way through hell.
Now the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers
Were safe back in Candahar,
And he could’ve stayed back there with them,
If he’d wanted to sit out the war.
But he cast his lot with the Berkshires,
And he joined us in the fight
As we neared the village of Maiwand,
Troops deployed both left and right.
Then those murd’rous stinkin’ Ghazis
Soon filled the air with lead.
And when a slug hit the doctor’s leg,
My Gawd, — how that man bled.
Since I was the doctor’s orderly
I was fightin’ by his side;
And when he fell, I picked him up.
Lor’ — I thought the man had died.
So I slung him over my shoulder
And was headed toward the rear,
When another slug from a Ghazi gun
Brought an end to his career.
It split the spine of his scapula,
And it pierced his body too.
I knew he was hit, and I knew it was bad,
And I thought that he might be through.
So, I held him even closer
And kept on running to the back,
Where I grabbed the Company work-horse
And strapped the doctor to its pack.
We dressed the wounds. We stopped the blood.
And we did what we could do;
But the man was hurt – he was hurt real bad;
And he needed surgery, too.
So we sent him east to Candahar,
Where he joined with several more
To form a train, and then move
North to our base in Pesh’war.
In the base hospital in Pesh’war
Where they nursed him back to health,
They said that our treatment in the field
Saved the man from certain death.
Watson has praised me for my courage,
And for my devotion to the deed,
And for risks I took in saving the life
Of the man whose tales we read.
So pull your chairs up close to the hearth fire,
When it’s cold and the snows are a-flurry.
As you talk about Watson and marvel at Holmes,
Drink a toast to the soldier named Murray.
It is quite interesting even to a Coca-Cola man like me.
I recommend you obtain a copy for fascinating reading.
The author, Steve Robinson, sells copies through his eBay storefront, Wolf Mountain Books. His very appropriate username there is “Vamberry”. You can also find him through FaceBook at Wolf Mountain Books. Some of you may know first-hand what a fascinating man he is to talk to, especially about wine in Sherlock Holmes stories. This book continues that. You will enjoy it.
Selena says: That book does sound interesting. Looking through the storefront, I have fallen a little bit in love with this 1895 Lupton edition of A Study in Scarlet. That cover! Hmm, the holidays are coming up….
‘It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one.’
Hello Watsonians!
We invite you to participate in this edition of The Diogenes Club Quick Quote Quiz. As always, this little game requires no submission of answers to anyone—you are playing against yourself and the clock; it is not necessary for anyone else to take the least notice of what you do.
To play along:
–Read the quote from the Canon provided below.
–As quickly as you can, identify the speaker and the adventure featuring the quote.
–Scroll down a few inches to see if you have the correct answer.
–Leave a note in the comments, if you wish, about your answer and your time.
Ron Lies/ JHWS ‘Chips’
Margie Deck/ JHWS ‘Mopsy’
Quick quote quiz 7/30/2018: ‘Say, rather, into the region where we balance probabilities and choose the most likely.’
‘It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one.’
Hello Watsonians!
We invite you to participate in this edition of The Diogenes Club Quick Quote Quiz. As always, this little game requires no submission of answers to anyone—you are playing against yourself and the clock; it is not necessary for anyone else to take the least notice of what you do.
To play along:
–Read the quote from the Canon provided below.
–As quickly as you can, identify the speaker and the adventure featuring the quote.
–Scroll down a few inches to see if you have the correct answer.
–Leave a note in the comments, if you wish, about your answer and your time.
Ron Lies/ JHWS ‘Chips’
Margie Deck/JHWS ‘Mopsy’
Quick Quote Quiz 7/23/2018:
‘”At least,” said I, “it gives us another mystery, and one which is even more interesting than the first.'”
‘It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one.’
Hello Watsonians!
We invite you to participate in this edition of The Diogenes Club Quick Quote Quiz. As always, this little game requires no submission of answers to anyone—you are playing against yourself and the clock; it is not necessary for anyone else to take the least notice of what you do.
To play along:
–Read the quote from the Canon provided below.
–As quickly as you can, identify the speaker and the adventure featuring the quote.
–Scroll down a few inches to see if you have the correct answer.
–Leave a note in the comments, if you wish, about your answer and your time.
Ron Lies/ JHWS ‘Chips’
Margie Deck/JHWS ‘Mopsy’
Quick Quote Quiz 7/16/2018:
“I soon found out which was the window of his bed-room, and early next morning I took advantage of some ladders which were lying in the lane behind the hotel, and so made my way into his room in the grey of the dawn.”
‘It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one.’
Hello Watsonians!
We invite you to participate in this edition of The Diogenes Club Quick Quote Quiz. As always, this little game requires no submission of answers to anyone—you are playing against yourself and the clock; it is not necessary for anyone else to take the least notice of what you do.
To play along:
–Read the quote from the Canon provided below.
–As quickly as you can, identify the speaker and the adventure featuring the quote.
–Scroll down a few inches to see if you have the correct answer.
–Leave a note in the comments, if you wish, about your answer and your time.
Ron Lies/ JHWS ‘Chips’
Margie Deck/JHWS ‘Mopsy’
Quick Quote Quiz 7/9/2018:
‘As to his relations with women, they appeared to have been promiscuous but superficial.’
(Source:A Day by Day Chronology of Mr. Sherlock Holmes according to Zeisler and Christ, compiled by William S Dorn.)
Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine (1904)
July 3, 1895: At 2 a.m., Patrick Cairns killed Peter Carey with a harpoon. [BLAC]
And there in the middle of it was the man himself, his face twisted like a lost soul in torment, and his great brindled beard stuck upwards in his agony. Right through his broad breast a steel harpoon had been driven, and it had sunk deep into the wood of the wall behind him. He was pinned like a beetle on a card. Of course, he was quite dead, and had been so from the instant that he uttered that last yell of agony.
‘It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one.’
Hello Watsonians!
We invite you to participate in this edition of The Diogenes Club Quick Quote Quiz. As always, this little game requires no submission of answers to anyone—you are playing against yourself and the clock; it is not necessary for anyone else to take the least notice of what you do.
To play along:
–Read the quote from the Canon provided below.
–As quickly as you can, identify the speaker and the adventure featuring the quote.
–Scroll down a few inches to see if you have the correct answer.
–Leave a note in the comments, if you wish, about your answer and your time.
Ron Lies/ JHWS ‘Chips’
Margie Deck/JHWS ‘Mopsy’
Quick Quote Quiz 7/3/2018:
‘What do you make of that?’ he asked. The paper was covered with tracings of the footmarks of some small animal. It had five well-marked footpads, an indication of long nails, and the whole print might be nearly as large as a dessert spoon.
Who is speaking? What is he speaking about? Which story?
‘It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one.’
Hello!
We invite you to participate in this edition of The Diogenes Club Quick Quote Quiz. As always, this little game requires no submission of answers to anyone—you are playing against yourself and the clock; it is not necessary for anyone else to take the least notice of what you do.
To play along:
–Read the quote from the Canon provided below.
–As quickly as you can, identify the speaker and the adventure featuring the quote.
–Scroll down a few inches to see if you have the correct answer.
–Leave a note in the comments, if you wish, about your answer and your time.
Ron Lies/ JHWS ‘Chips’
Margie Deck/JHWS ‘Mopsy’
Quick Quote Quiz 6/19/2018: Today, we have a quote from Holmes. What is it that he and Watson are going to pull off after all? Which case?
‘I’m afraid…that all the Queen’s horses and all the Queen’s men cannot avail in this matter.’ He had spread out his big map of London, and leaned eagerly over it.’Well, well,’ said he presently, with an exclamation of satisfaction, ‘things are turning a little in our direction at last. Why, Watson, I do honestly believe that we are going to pull it off after all.’
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Answer: Sherlock Holmes, the recovery of the Bruce Partington Plans, BRUC
‘It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one.’
Hello Watsonians—
We invite you to participate in this edition of The Diogenes Club Quick Quote Quiz. As always, this little game requires no submission of answers to anyone—you are playing against yourself and the clock; it is not necessary for anyone else to take the least notice of what you do.
To play along:
–Read the quote from the Canon provided below.
–As quickly as you can, identify the speaker and the adventure featuring the quote.
–Note how long it took you to arrive at the answer.
–Scroll down a few inches to see if you have the correct answer.
–Leave a note in the comments, if you wish, about your answer and your time.
Ron Lies/ JHWS ‘Chips’
Margie Deck/JHWS ‘Mopsy’
Quick Quote Quiz 6/5/2018: “Be at the third pillar from the left outside the Lyceum Theatre to-night at seven o’clock.”
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Answer: Thaddeus Sholto (writing to Mary Morstan), SIGN
‘It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one.’
Hello Watsonians—
We invite you to participate in this edition of The Diogenes Club Quick Quote Quiz. As always, this little game requires no submission of answers to anyone—you are playing against yourself and the clock; it is not necessary for anyone else to take the least notice of what you do.
To play along:
–Read the quote from the Canon provided below.
–As quickly as you can, identify the speaker and the adventure featuring the quote.
–Note how long it took you to arrive at the answer.
–Scroll down a few inches to see if you have the correct answer.
–Leave a note in the comments, if you wish, about your answer and your time.
Ron Lies/ JHWS ‘Chips’
Margie Deck/JHWS ‘Mopsy’
Quick Quote Quiz 5/29/2018: “That’s Prescott’s machine, and those bundles on the table are two thousand of Prescott’s notes worth a hundred each and fit to pass anywhere. Help yourselves, gentlemen. Call it a deal and let me beat it.”
May 7, 1902: Holmes confronted Sir Robert Norberton at the crypt. [SHOS]
Illustration by Frank Wiles for The Strand Magazine
Someone was walking in the chapel above. It was the firm, rapid step of one who came with a definite purpose, and knew well the ground upon which he walked. A light streamed down the stairs, and an instant later the man who bore it was framed in the Gothic archway. He was a terrible figure, huge in stature and fierce in manner. A large stable lantern which he held in front of him shone upwards upon a strong, heavily-moustached face and angry eyes, which glared round him into every recess of the vault, finally fixing themselves with a deadly stare upon my companion and myself.
“Who the devil are you?” he thundered. “And what are you doing upon my property?” Then, as Holmes returned no answer, he took a couple of steps forward and raised a heavy stick which he carried. “Do you hear me?” he cried. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” His cudgel quivered in the air.
But, instead of shrinking, Holmes advanced to meet him.
“I also have a question to ask you, Sir Robert,” he said in his sternest tone. “Who is this? And what is it doing here?”
He turned and tore open the coffin lid behind him. In the glare of the lantern I saw a body swathed in a sheet from head to foot, with dreadful, witch-like features, all nose and chin, projecting at one end, the dim glazed eyes staring from a discoloured and crumbling face.
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.
Today is a day of great significance in the Canon. We give you these three events:
First…
May 4, 1847: John Ferrier and Lucy were rescued by the Mormons. [STUD]
Illustration by D H Friston
The rescuing party were speedily able to convince the two castaways that their appearance was no delusion. One of them seized the little girl and hoisted her upon his shoulder, while two others supported her gaunt companion, and assisted him towards the wagons.
“My name is John Ferrier,” the wanderer explained; “me and that little un are all that’s left o’ twenty-one people. The rest is all dead o’ thirst and hunger away down in the south.”
“Is she your child?” asked someone.
“I guess she is now,” the other cried, defiantly; “she’s mine ’cause I saved her. No man will take her from me. She’s Lucy Ferrier from this day on. Who are you, though?”
Second…
May 4, 1882: An advertisement seeking Mary Morstan’s address appeared in The Times. [SIGN]
Ann Bell as Mary Morstan (1968)
“I have not yet described to you the most singular part. About six years ago – to be exact, upon the 4th of May, 1882 – an advertisement appeared in The Times asking for the address of Miss Mary Morstan, and stating that it would be to her advantage to come forward. There was no name and address appended. I had at the time just entered the family of Mrs. Cecil Forrester in the capacity of governess. By her advice I published my address in the advertisement column. The same day there arrived through the post a small cardboard box addressed to me, which I found to contain a very large and lustrous pearl. No word of writing was enclosed. Since then every year upon the same date there has always appeared a similar box, containing a similar pearl, without any clue as to the sender. They have been pronounced by an expert to be of a rare variety and of considerable value. You can see for yourselves that they are very handsome.”
And FINAlly…
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist. -Selena Buttons)
May 4, 1891: Moriarty died in a plunge over the Reichenbach Falls. [FINA]
An examination by experts leaves little doubt that a personal contest between the two men ended, as it could hardly fail to end in such a situation, in their reeling over, locked in each other’s arms. Any attempt at recovering the bodies was absolutely hopeless, and there, deep down in that dreadful cauldron of swirling water and seething foam, will lie for all time the most dangerous criminal and the foremost champion of the law of their generation.
Date 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.
