Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1895-02-21

are shown a single link of il. Like all
other arts, the science of deduction and
analysis is one which can only be ac-
quired by long and patient study, nor is
life long enough to allow any mortal to
attain the highest possible perfection in
it. Before turning to those moral and
mental aspects of the matter which pre-
sent the greatest difficulties let the in
quirer begin by mastering more elemen-
tary problems Let him, ON meeting q
fellow mortal, learn at a glance to dis
tinguish the history of the man and the
trade or profession to which he belongs.
Puerile as such an exercise may seem, it
sharpens the faculties of observation and
teaches one where to look and what to
look for. By mans finger nails, by
his boot, by his trouser knees, by the
callosities of his forefinger and thumb,
by his expression, by his shirt cuffs-by
each of these things mans calling is
plainly revealed. That all united should
fail to enlighten the competent inquirer
in any case is almost inconceivable.
"What ineffable twaddlel' cried,
slapping the magazine down on the
table. "Inever read such rubbish in my
life."
"What is it?" asked Sherlock Holmes.
"Why, this article" said, pointing
at it with my egg spoon as / sat down
to my breakfast. II SEQ that you have
read it, since you havo marked it.
don't deny that it is smartly written. 1t
irritates me, though. 1t is evidently the
theory of some armchair lounger who
evolves all these neat little paradoxes in
the seclusion of his own study. 1t is not
practical. should like to SEQ him clap
ped down in third class carriage on
the Underground and asked to give the
trades of all his fellow travellers.
would lay q thousand to one against
him. "
"You would lose your money" Sher
lock Holmes remarked calmly. GAS for
the article, wrote it myself"
"You!"
"Yes, l have a turn both for observa-
ton and for deduction. Tho theories
which have expressed there, and which
appear to you to be so chimerical, are
really extremely practical, so practical
that depend upon them for my bread
and cheese"
'And how?" I asked involuntarily.
"Well, have trado Of my own.
suppose am the only one in the world.
am a consulting detective, if you can
understand what that is Here in Lon
don we have lots If government detect
ives and lots Of private ones. When
these fellows are at fault, they como to
me, and [ manage to put them on the
right scent. They lay all the evidence
before me, and am generally able, by
the help of my knowledge of tho history
of crime, to set them straight. There is
a strong family resemblance about mis-
deeds, and if you have all tho details of
a thousand at your finger ends it is odd
if you can't unravel the thousand and
first. Lestrade is well known detect
i've He got himself into fog recently
over forgery case, and that was what
brought him here"
"And these other people?"
"They are mostly sent out by private
inquiry agencies They are all people
who are in trouble about something and
want little enlightening. listen to
their story, they listen to my comments,
and then pocket my fee"
"But do you mean to say" said,
''that without leaving your room you
CAL unravel some knot which other men
can make nothing of. although they
have seen every detail for themselves"
"Quite so. I have a kind of intuition
that way. Now and again case turns
up which is little more complex. Then
] have to hustle about and see things
with my own eyes. You see, I have
Let of special knowledge which I apply
to the problem and which facilitates
matters wonderfully. Those rules Of de.
duction laid down in that article which
aroused your scorn are invaluable to me
in practical work. Observation with me
is second nature You appeared to be
surprised when I told you, ON our first
meeting, that you had como from Af
ghanistan.
''You were told, no doubt"
Nothing of the sort. I knew you
came from Afghanistan. From long
habit the train of thought ran so swift
ly through my mind that I arrived at
the conclusion without being conscious
of intermediate steps. There were such
steps, however. The train of reasoning
ran: Here is gentleman of medical
type, but with tho air of a military man,
clearly an army doctor, then. He has
just come from the tropics, for his face
is dark, and that is not the natural tint
of his skin, for his wrists are fair. He
has undergone hardship and sickness, as
his haggard face says clearly. His left
arm has been injured. He holds it in
stiff and unnatural manner. Where in
the tropics could an English army doc
tor have seen much hardship and got his
arm wounded? Clearly in Afghanistan.
The whole train Of thought did not oc-
oupy second. I then remarked that
you came from Afghanistan, and you
were astonished."
sit is simple enough as you explain
it," said, smiling. "You remind me
of Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin. had no
idea that such individuals did exist out
side of stories.
Sherlock Holmes rose and lit his pipe.
"No doubt you think that you are COM
plimenting me in comparing me to Du-
pin," he observed. 'Now, in my opin-
ion, Dupin was very inferior fellow.
That trick of his of breaking in on his
friends thoughts with an apropos re.
mark after quarter of an hours silence
is really very snowy and superficial. He
had some analytical genius, no doubt,
but he was by no means such phenome-
non as Poe appeared to imagine.
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