Tag: On This Day

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On March 11th…

Royal Victoria Military Hospital, Netley, Hampshire: from the harbour. Line engraving by T.A. Prior, 1857, after E. Duncan.

The Royal Victoria Military Hospital Netley began accepting patients on March 11, 1863.

Construction began on the hospital in 1856, with the first stone ceremonially laid by Queen Victoria. The inscription on the stone read:

This stone was laid on the 19th day of May in the year of our Lord, 1856, by Her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the foundation stone of the Victoria Military Hospital intended for the reception of the sick and wounded soldiers of her Army.

 

In their book A Curious Collection of Dates, Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”) write:

Some thirty million bricks later, the hospital with its 1,000 beds was the longest building in the world. Unfortunately its design sacrificed practicality to grandeur, and by the time medical professionals such as Florence Nightingale were able to offer their suggestions, it was too late to make substantial changes. As a result the lovely grounds and the independent infrastructure (including a reservoir and generator) were counterbalanced by dark patient wards, more ventilation and unpleasant odors. Despite its problems the Royal Victoria served Britain through its wars and conflicts until a fire in 1963 destroyed a large section of the main building. With the exception of the chapel the hospital was demolished in 1966. Today, it serves as the Royal Victoria Visitors Center and Country Park.

 

We may be most immediately familiar with Netley from Dr Watson’s very first words to us, in A Study in Scarlet:

In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army. Having completed my studies there, I was duly attached to the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers as Assistant Surgeon. The regiment was stationed in India at the time, and before I could join it, the second Afghan war had broken out. On landing at Bombay, I learned that my corps had advanced through the passes, and was already deep in the enemy’s country. I followed, however, with many other officers who were in the same situation as myself, and succeeded in reaching Candahar in safety, where I found my regiment, and at once entered upon my new duties.

Sources:
Information from A Curious Collection of Dates by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”), with additional information of the stone inscription courtesy of QARANC’s Netley Hospital Information Page.

Posted by The Dynamic Duo Ron (JHWS “Chips”) aka Ron and Beth (JHWS “Selena”)

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On March 10th…

March 10, 1883: Elias Openshaw received five orange pips. [FIVE]

What harmless seeds!
Why were they sent to this man?
And what do these men have to do with it?

Could these be a mystery soon to be connected to Holmes?

Source A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI

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Ron (JHWS “Chips”) and Beth (JHWS “Selena Buttons”), co-conspirators for Tid Bits

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On March 9th… A Loss


On March 9, 1955, Denis Percy Stewart Conan Doyle (born 1909), son of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, died in India. He was the first child of Arthur Conan Doyle’s marriage to Jean Leckie, and the eldest surviving son after the death of his half-brother, Kingsley, in 1918.

From information provided by the volume A Curious Collection of Dates by by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”), we find this note in E W Smith’s “From the Editor’s Commonplace Book” in the July 1955 issue of the Baker Street Journal:

[Denis was n]ever too sympathetic with the doings of the Baker Street Irregulars — he found the profound pseudo-scholarship angle a little baffling — [but] Denis was nevertheless an interested and sometimes charming observer.

Denis Conan Doyle attended the 1949 BSI Dinner and was perhaps somewhat miffed that Holmes and Watson, rather than his father, were getting all the attention. Smith goes to recall:

And then, a few minutes later, he got to his feet, at Chris Morley’s invitation, and gave a simple and very moving little talk on ‘My Father’s Friend, Mr Sherlock Holmes’.

 

Posted by The Dynamic Duo (JHWS Chips) aka Ron and (JHWS Selena) aka Beth

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On March 8th… The End of Jack Douglas

March 8, 1888: Holmes learned that Jack Douglas had been lost at sea. [VALL]

“No, I don’t say that,” said Holmes, and his eyes seemed to be looking far into the future. “I don’t say that he can’t be beat. But you must give me time – you must give me time!” We all sat in silence for some minutes, while those fateful eyes still strained to pierce the veil.

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI

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On March 7th…

March 7, 1881: Jefferson Hope’s body was found in his cell. [STUD]

He had gone to the final judgment and reunion with Lucy. One can hope that mercy ruled determination of their case. Their suffering and pain on earth was enough. -Chips

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI

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On March 6th… Terrier or Bull Pup?

March 6, 1881: Holmes tested some pills on the landlady’s dying dog. [STUD]

…Or was it Watson’s bull pup mentioned in the conversation that they had about each other and their habits before they moved in at 221B, as some Sherlockian scholars have noted?

As he spoke he turned the contents of the wine-glass into a saucer and placed it in front of the terrier, who speedily licked it dry. Sherlock Holmes’s earnest demeanour had so far convinced us that we all sat in silence, watching the animal intently, and expecting some startling effect. None such appeared, however. The dog continued to lie stretched upon the cushion, breathing in a laboured way, but apparently neither the better nor the worse for its draught.

March 6, 1881: Jefferson Hope was captured. [STUD]

Illustration by George Hutchinson for A Study in Scarlet (1891)

The whole thing occurred in a moment – so quickly that I had no time to realize it. I have a vivid recollection of that instant, of Holmes’s triumphant expression and the ring of his voice, of the cabman’s dazed, savage face, as he glared at the glittering handcuffs, which had appeared as if by magic upon his wrists. For a second or two we might have been a group of statues. Then with an inarticulate roar of fury, the prisoner wrenched himself free from Holmes’s grasp, and hurled himself through the window. Woodwork and glass gave way before him; but before he got quite through, Gregson, Lestrade, and Holmes sprang upon him like so many staghounds. He was dragged back into the room, and then commenced a terrific conflict. So powerful and so fierce was he that the four of us were shaken off again and again. He appeared to have the convulsive strength of a man in an epileptic fit. His face and hands were terribly mangled by his passage through the glass, but the loss of blood had no effect in diminishing his resistance. It was not until Lestrade succeeded in getting his hand inside his neckcloth and half-strangling him that we made him realize that his struggles were of no avail; and even then we felt no security until we had pinioned his feet as well as his hands. That done, we rose to our feet breathless and panting.

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On March 5th…

Illustration by Richard Gutschmidt (1902)

March 5, 1881: Stangerson found stabbed to death at Halliday’s Private Hotel. [STUD]

He stood in the centre of the room, fumbling nervously with his hat and uncertain what to do.

“This is a most extraordinary case,” he said at last – “a most incomprehensible affair.”

“Ah, you find it so, Mr. Lestrade!” cried Gregson, triumphantly. “I thought you would come to that conclusion. Have you managed to find the secretary, Mr. Joseph Stangerson?”

“The secretary, Mr. Joseph Stangerson,” said Lestrade gravely, “was murdered at Halliday’s Private Hotel about six o’clock this morning.”

Illustration by Richard Gutschmidt (1906)

March 5, 1881: An old “crone” retrieved the woman’s wedding ring advertised as “found” in the ad placed by Holmes. [STUD]

At my summons, instead of the man of violence whom we expected, a very old and wrinkled woman hobbled into the apartment. She appeared to be dazzled by the sudden blaze of light, and after dropping a curtsy, she stood blinking at us with her bleared eyes and fumbling in her pocket with nervous shaky fingers. I glanced at my companion, and his face had assumed such a disconsolate expression that it was all I could do to keep my countenance.

By Hope’s own admission, this person was not Jefferson Hope, so who was she or he? Hope took the secret with him to the hereafter. Any ideas out there?

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI

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On March 4th… Meet the Irregulars

Sherlock Holmes approached the body, and, kneeling down, examined it intently.

As he spoke, his nimble fingers were flying here, there, and everywhere, feeling, pressing, unbuttoning, examining, while his eyes wore the same far-away expression which I have already remarked upon. So swiftly was the examination made, that one would hardly have guessed the minuteness with which it was conducted. Finally, he sniffed the dead man’s lips, and then glanced at the soles of his patent leather boots. [STUD]

[Illustration by George Wylie Hutchinson for the Ward, Lock, Bowden, & Co 1891 edition of A Study in Scarlet]

March 4, 1881: Drebber was poisoned and died. The body was found in an abandoned flat. A woman’s wedding ring was found there. A German word written in BLOOD was found on a wall. What happened?

Illustration by Richard Gutschmidt (1902)

March 4, 1881: Watson met the Baker Street Irregulars

“What on earth is this?” I cried, for at this moment there came the pattering of many steps in the hall and on the stairs, accompanied by audible expressions of disgust upon the part of our landlady.

“It’s the Baker Street division of the detective police force,” said my companion gravely; and as he spoke there rushed into the room half a dozen of the dirtiest and most ragged street arabs that ever I clapped eyes on.

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI

 

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On March 3rd… The Americans Take Their Leave

“Poor Alice was so frightened that she shrunk away from him, but he caught her by the wrist and endeavoured to draw her towards the door.”

March 3, 1881: Businessmen Drebber and Stangerson bid adieu to Madame Charpentier. [STUD]
This according to one version.

The illustration at right is by George Wylie Hutchinson from the Ward, Lock, Bowden, & Co 1891 edition of A Study in Scarlet.

Intriguing way to say good-bye. If the reader does not remember the details, It could be a good time to reread the story.

Source
A Day by Day Chronology of Mr. Sherlock Holmes by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI

Posted by Chips aka Ron for whom the Game is always Afoot and Selena Buttons, Co-Columnists

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On March 2nd… Beeton’s Birthday

by Julian Portch, photograph of crayon drawing, (circa 1853)

On March 2, 1831, Samuel Orchart Beeton was born in London.

To the rest of the world, if the name Beeton means anything, it brings to mind Isabella Beeton’s classic Book of Household Management, a staple reference for British households for well over a century and, as of this writing, still in print.

In the world of Sherlock Holmes, however, the name means only one thing: Beeton’s Christmas Annual. More specifically, it means the 1887 edition with its image of a boy lighting a lamp and the title, A Study in Scarlet, featured so prominently that it dwarfs all the others, and may as well be the only one in the magazine. Which is, of course, how it should be.

The eponymous publisher of the Christmas Annual did not live to see this particular issue, having died of tuberculous ten years before. He had a rapid rise to the top and just as fast a fall. Before he died, Beeton found himself forced to sell off to Ward, Lock, and Taylor.

Original copies of the magazine are valuable collector’s items, considered “”the most expensive magazine in the world” by the Antique Trader Vintage Magazines Price Guide. A copy sold at Sotheby’s in 2007 for $156,000.

Source
From the great volume A Curious Collection of Dates by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”). Additional information from Randall Stock’s “Best of Sherlock Holmes“.

Posted by Chips and Selena Buttons, co-columnists.

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On March 1st… Watson Was A Woman!

At the annual dinner gathering of the Baker Street Irregulars in 1941, Rex Stout delivered a paper with a shocking premise to the members of what was at that time a men-only organization.

On March 1, 1941, the paper was published for general consumption in The Saturday Review of Literature:

WATSON WAS A WOMAN

It created a huge stir amongst the members of the BSI. (Legend says the assembled membership carried Stout out of the building and dumped him in the snow!) Stout concluded both his speech and paper with a promise to produce results of future research study in a two volume study. It never materialized.

Source
Information came from the volume A Curious Collection of Dates, by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”)

Posted by The Dynamic Duo Co-columnists Ron (JHWS “Chips”) and Beth (JHWS “Selena”).

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On February 28th… Arthur Conan Doyle Goes to Sea (Twice)

“On the quarterdeck” [from Life on a Greenland Whaler]
On February 28, 1880, Arthur Conan Doyle, still a medical student, set sail from Peterhead on the Hope, a whaling ship bound for seven months in the Arctic. He was to be the ship’s surgeon  taking the place of a friend who could not make at the last moment.

He published an account of his journey in The Strand magazine in January, 1897, under the title “Life on a Greenland Whaler”.

It is brutal work, though not more brutal than that which goes onto supply every dinner-table in the country. And yet those glaring crimson pools upon the dazzling white of the ice-fields, under the peaceful silence of a blue Arctic sky, did seem a horrible intrusion. But an inexorable demand creates an inexorable supply, and the seals, by their death, help to give a living to the long line of seamen, dockers, tanners, curers, triers, chandlers, leather merchants, and oil-sellers, who stand between this annual butchery on the one hand, and the exquisite, with his soft leather boots, or the savant using a delicate oil for his philosophical instruments, upon the other.


He kept a journal of his experiences. That handwritten journal, complete with illustration sketches, can be seen in Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure (2012), edited by Jon Lellenberg (JHWS “Towser”) and Daniel Stashower. It’s a fascinating glimpse into Arthur Conan Doyle’s personality as well as his adventures. In an interview for NPR, Lellenberg says:

I remember there’s one entry where he says, ‘We had nothing to do, and we did it.’ And another entry, he talks about spending the night with the crew, which is basically an evening of music, song, drinking — he says, ‘gin and tobacco in the crew’s berths.’ And the next entry starts, ‘Suffered for the gin and tobacco.’ … He’s a young man reporting what he’s seeing and hearing and experiencing in quite a remarkable way.

Two years later, on February 28, 1900, Arthur Conan Doyle boarded the troop transport Oriental for the 3 week voyage to South Africa. He had been waiting for his orders to come he asked by a friend to go to the South African town of Bloemfontein. He was to help set up a hospital. He was help pick personnel, work as a physician and be unofficial supervisor.

Source
Information for this post comes from the excellent A Curious Collection of Dates by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”)

Posted by Chips and Selena

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On February 27th… This Watson was a Woman

The actress Joanne Woodward was born Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward on February 27th, 1930, in Thomasville, Georgia. This famous actress – one of Chips’ favorites – played the role of Dr Mildred Watson in the underrated Sherlockian movie “THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS“.  As a Watson-like character, if not a traditional version of the good doctor, Woodward manages to capture the essential elements of Watson. Her role is neither canonical nor pastiche, but instead occupies some delightful middle-ground.

Sources
Information came from the volume A Curious Collection of Dates, by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”). [Additional biographical information from IMDB –Selena Buttons]

Posted by The Dynamic Duo Co-columnists (JHWS “Chips”) aka Ron and (JHWS “Selena Buttons”) aka Beth. [You are far too kind, Chips! –Selena Buttons]

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On February 25th… An Execution

Portrait of Charles Peace (1832-1879)

Charles Peace, English burglar and murderer, was executed on February 25, 1879.

Why is this important to us? Because of the following quote from the Canon:

“A complex mind,” said Holmes. “All great criminals have that. My old friend Charlie Peace was a violin virtuoso.”

The case the quote is from  ______________________. Please fill in the blank or ask us and we will tell you.

Charles Peace embarked on a life of crime after being maimed in an industrial accident as a boy. After killing a policeman in Manchester, he fled to his home-town of Sheffield, where he became obsessed with his neighbour’s wife and shot the husband dead. Settling in London, he carried out multiple burglaries before being caught in the prosperous suburb of Blackheath, wounding the policeman who arrested him. He was linked to the Sheffield murder and tried at Leeds Assizes. Found guilty, he was hanged at Armley Prison.

Sources
This information is from Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia.
The idea to use this story came from the volume A Curious Collection of Dates by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”). Their story is more detailed and interesting. Look it up. You will enjoy. Leah and Jaime speculate that Holmes as a young man may have been one of the visitors that Peace entertained before Peace was hanged. Since they both had crime interests and violins in common.

Posted by The Dynamic Duo Co-columnists Ron (JHWS “Chips”) Beth (JHWS “Selena”).

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On February 24th… Another Detective, Another Doctor

There was a detective who had books put out about his adventures. Some of those volumes had titles like The Adventures, The Return, The Memoirs, and The Casebook. It came to 70 stories by the original author.

The Detective had a companion, a medical Doctor who was a widower. The Doctor moved out of the flat they shared together when he remarried. In the United States, there grew up a society to honor the detective and authorized other groups around the country to do the same.

Artwork by Charles Hall (Hat tip to Bob Byrne for identifying the artist!)

This group was called the PSI. The Detective is Solor Pons.

The author of the Solar Pons series, August Derleth, was born on February 24, 1909 in Sauk City, Wisconsin.

For more details, check the stories and you will find the love of the author for our Holmes and Watson in his Pons and Parker.

Source:
Information provided from the volume A Curious Collection of Dates by by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”).

Posted by The Dynamic Duo: ‘Chips’ aka Ron and ‘Selena’ aka Beth

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On February 23rd… The Singular Affair of the Aluminum

Name the two cases these quotes are from if you would like:

We all filed into the front room and sat round the central table while the Inspector unlocked a square tin box and laid a small heap of things before us. There was a box of vestas, two inches of tallow candle, an A D P brier-root pipe, a pouch of seal-skin with half an ounce of long-cut Cavendish, a silver watch with a gold chain, five sovereigns in gold, an aluminum pencil-case, a few papers, and an ivory-handled knife with a very delicate, inflexible bade marked Weiss & Co., London.

And:

Here’s the record of the Tarleton murders, and the case of Vamberry, the wine merchant, and the adventure of the old Russian woman, and the singular affair of the aluminium crutch, as well as a full account of Ricoletti of the club foot and his abominable wife.

Portrait of Charles Martin Hall
Portrait of Charles Martin Hall (1863-1914)

 

What do these two quotations have in common? Aluminum!

Charles Martin Hall was able to isolate “aluminum metal by passing an electric current through a solution of aluminum oxide in molten cryolite” February 23, 1886.

The “Hall Process” made aluminum available for use in relatively inexpensive commercial products like the pencil-case and crutch above.

Source
Information provided from the volume A Curious Collection of Dates, by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”), with additional information on the Hall Process from the American Chemical Society.

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On February 22nd…

February 22, 1886: The beryl coronet was reclaimed by its owner. [BERY]

Illustration for the Beryl Coronet by J C Drake
J C Drake illustration for the Chicago Inter-Ocean

“That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your cheque-book? Here is a pen. Better make it out for four thousand pounds.”

With a dazed face the banker made out the required cheque. Holmes walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table.

With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up.

“You have it!” he gasped. “I am saved! I am saved!”

The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom.

“There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder,” said Sherlock Holmes, rather sternly.

“Owe!” He caught up a pen. “Name the sum, and I will pay it.”

“No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to have one.”

Source
Information provided by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI, from his book, A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes.

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On February 21st… It’s a Special Day!

If you live in a country in which this numerical date is typically entered with month first, Then you have a chance by adding a B to have a very special day:

Happy 221B Day!!!!

If you live in a country that lists the day first, well, you had your 221B Day last month!

http://sherlockfood.tumblr.com/post/38942481930/dontmakepeopleintopandasjawn-my-birthday

[Thanks to the Sherlock Food Tumblr for featuring that nifty cake! –Selena Buttons]

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On February 20th… Return of the Beryl Coronet

February 20, 1886: Holmes returned the missing part of the beryl coronet to Alexander Holder. [BERY]

Illustration of a Coronet of a Prince or Princess
Coronet of a British Prince or Princess. Probably not the Coronet entrusted to Holder.

With a dazed face the banker made out the required cheque. Holmes walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. “You have it!” he gasped. “I am saved! I am saved!” The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. [BERY]

Source
Information supplied by the volume A Day by Day Chronology by William S Dorn, BSI.

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On February 19th…

Paget illustratrion of Watson, Holmes, and Holder
“WITH A LOOK OF GRIEF AND DESPAIR” – illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand, May 1892
February 19, 1886: Alexander Holder asked Holmes to find the missing part of the Beryl Coronet. [BERY]

 

 

 

 

Paget illustration for the Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
“there was a struggle between them” [BERY]

 

 

 

February 19, 1886: Holmes followed the footprints that Arthur Holder and Sir George Burnwell made in the snow. [BERY]

 

 

 

 

 

February 19, 1886: Mary Holder eloped with Sir George Burnwell. [BERY]

 

 

 

Source
Information provided from the volume A Day by Day Sherlockian Chronology by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.