Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1894-02-02

ONE MORNING YOUNG GIRL CALLED
FAsH1oSAsLY DRESSED.
people are my clients" Again had
an opportunity Of asking him point
blank question. and again my delicacy
prevented me from forcing another
man to conf1de in me. ! imagined at
the time that he had some strong rea-
SON for not alluding to it. but he soon
dispelled the idea by coming round to
the subject of his own accord.
1t wa. upon the 9Th of March, as I
have good reason to remember. that l
rose somewhat earlier than usual, and
found that Sherlock Holmes had not yet
finished his breakfast The landlady
had become so accustomed to my late
habits that my place had not been laid
nor my coffee prepared With the un-
reasonable petulance of mankind /
rang the bell and gave a curt intima-
ton that was ready. Then picked
up a magazine from the table and at
tempted to while away the time with
it, while my companion munched ST.
lently at his toast. One of the articles
had a pencil mark at the heading,
and I naturally began to run my eye
through it.
Its somewhat ambitious title was
THE Book of Life" and it attempted
to show how much an observant man
might learn by an accurate and sys-
tematic examination of all that came
In his way 1t struck me as being re-
markable mixture of shrewdness and
absurdity. The reasoning was close
and intense, but the deductions ap-
peared to be far-fetched and exagger-
ated. The writer claimed by mo-
mentary expression, twitch OF
muscle or glance of an eye, to fathom
a mans inmost thoughts Deceit, ac-
cording to him. was an impossibility
in the case of one trained to observa-
ton and ANALYSIS. His conclusions
were as infallible as so many propo-
sitions of Euclid. So startling would
his results appear TO the uninitiated
that. until they learned the processes
by which he had arrived at them. they
might well consider him necromancer.
From a drop Of water" said the
writer, "a logician could infer the pos
| siSility of an Atlantic or a Niagara
without having seen or heard of one or
LQe Quiet. OO dAA AAAO Al - " ~e%S ~e---~--s
| the nature of which is known whenever
we are shown a single link OF it. Like
| all other arts, the science OF deduction
and ANALYSIS is one which can only be
| ACQUIRED by long and patient study.
/ nor is life long enough to allow any
| mortal to attain the highest possible
perfection in il. Before turning TO
| those moral and mental aspects OF the
| matter which present the greatest diff
fculties. let the inquirer begin by mas
tering more elementary problems. Let
him, on meeting fellow-mortal. learn
at a glance to distinguish the history
of the man, and the trade or profession
to which he belongs. Puerile as such
an exercise may seem, II sharpens the
faculties of observation and teaches
| one where to look and what to look
for. BY a mans fnger-nails, by his
coat-sleeve, by his boot. by his trouser-
knees, by the callosities OF his fore
finger and thumb, by his expression,
by his shirt-cuffs-by each of these
things a mans calling is plainly re-
vealed. That all united should fail to
enlighten the competent inquirer In
any case is almost inconceivable."
"What ineffable twaddle" cried.
! slapping the magazine down on the
1 table; II never read such rubbish In
my life"
| ''Whatis itp" asked Sherlock Holmes.
why, this article" said, pointing
at it with my egg spoon as sat down
to nv breakfast. 'I see that you hsvs
/ read It, since you have marked IL
I &L.A 10 rf1u writ
| ten. It irritates me though IL Is
evidently the theory Of some armchair
lounger who evolves all these neat iit-
tie paradoxes in the seclusion OF his
own study. Il is not practical
! should like to see him clapped down In
a third-class carriage on the Under
ground. and asked togive the trades OF
all his fellow travellers l would lay
thousand to one against him.
You would lose your money" Sher'
lock Holmes remarked, calmly AS
for the article. I wrote 1t myself
Your
"Yes, have O. 4urn both for observs'
/ ton and for deduc4ion. The theories
which | have expressed there' ano
WnlCn appear 70 Jou -
cal, are really extremely Practicai-s
practical that depend upoR them 10
my bread and cheese.
"And how?" 1 asked. involuntarlly
well. have q trade of my own
suppose ! am the only one in the worio
I'm consulting detective, if you ca
understand what that is Here in Lon
don we have lots Of government detec
tives and lots of private ones Whe
these fellows are 1T fault they come Z
me, and manage to put them on Tn
right scent. They lay all the evidenc
before me, and / am generally able, o
the help of my knowledge of the his
tory of crime, to set them straigh'
There is strong family resemblance
about misdeeds, and II you have all tn
details of Thousand at your finger
ends, it is odd if you can't unravel tn
thousand and first. Lestrade is wei
known detective. He got himself int
a fog recently over forgery case. an
that was what brought him here.
And these other people?"
''They are mostly sent out by prfVat
inquiry ageucies- They are all peopi
/. w5esTe y tzvykse a9qEe sR&sWd