The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-09
AGREAT CHARACTER READER
THE PROTOTYPE OF SHERLOCK
 HOLMES.
An Atlantic Monthly Sensation Re- caIled-His Relentless Following of Knaves and Death by Poison.

From time to time appear in life mer
 endowed with the detective faculty
 Sherlock Holmes was not real bu
 pr. Conan Doyle has told us that ht
 han an original who was in every way
 as astonishing. And in a 37-years' ole
 number of Atlantic Monthly, says the
 Boston Transcript appears an account
 of character whose performances were
 more marvellous, and whose history
 more thrilling, than that of pr. Doyle's
 hero.
 Yet at the age of 35 his peculiar facul-
 ties were entirely undeveloped. At that
 time he was a rich manufacturer, but
 the burning of warehouses in which his
 uninsured property was stored reduced
 him to poverty. MT. Sidney" (the
 name given him by this magazine bio grapher) suspected fraud, and began an Independent investigation. He discover ed that the storehouses had been in- Sured beyond their value, that insurance had been laid upon more merchandise than the buildings could contain, and further that much goods had been se- cretly removed before the fire. With evidence tending to fix the crime upon the rich and respected owners of the buildings, he demanded from them pay ment for his own loss. It was refused. He gave them 30 days, stating that his demand would never again be present. ed Again he was refused, and from that time he gave himself up to the pursuit of these criminals.
 In the course of his investigations he
  tion than this combination of men of his town. It was the most stupendous lag ue of robbers extending into every state and territory, and numbering '. over 700 men of influence and power, whose business as a copartnership was forgery, counterfeiting, burglary, arson and other crimes that might afford rich pecuniary consideration" Against this combination MT. Sidney set himself single-handed.
 What were his advantages? In per son he was commonplace, weighing about 200 pounds, with florid face and sandy hair, small and piercing eyes, His intellect was keen. His nerve and courage were unshakable. He had great patiense And his sense of wrong which for many years kept him exasperated, lent him the energy for his task. But he discovered within himself greater qualities yet. Pursuing his researches systematically, he developed abnormal qualities. He was presently able to read character almost at glance whether in face or figure, or in hand- writing.
 Every country says Lavater, "every nation, every city has it's pecul- jar handwriting" It is easy, we are told, for ordinary observers to distingu- ish nationality and sex in handwriting. A Jews writing need never be mistaken. Pride or affectation are very obvious, and in a simple manner the more mark characteristics may be distinguished. But MT. Sidney could do more. His biographer a temperate writer claims for him: "The power of discerning in a single specimen of handwriting, the character, the occupation, the habits, l the temperament the health, the age, the sex, the size, the nationality, the benevolence, the penuriousness, the boldness or the timfdity, the morality or the immortality, the affectation or the | hypocrisy, and often the intention of the writer
 
 seldom disclosed, either to increase his power over criminals or to save him. self annoyance. But occasionally he | exhibited 1t to his friends when he be- | 1ieved he thus could serve his own pur- poses. On such occasions he responded | to every test For instance he was once requested by hotel-keeper to read | from their signatu on the register, | 4l,a ,l,n a4o, 1f ,+ot,, oF ela1 guests. Coming to one which he de- clared an assumed name, a fuller de- csription of the person was required | MT Sidney gave it in these words:- "He, sir, was not christened by that name. He could not have written it before he was 30. He has assumed it within a year. The character is bad very bad. I judge him to be gambler by profession, and-somethng worse. He evidently is not confined to one de- partment or rascality. He was born and educated in New England is aged about 39, is about five feet, 10 in height, and is broad-shouldered and stout. His nerves are strong, and he is bold, hypocritcal and mean. He is just the kind of man to talk like a saint and act like a devil"
 The physical description was correct. But" was the response, "he is the who has been preaching very a the church these two MT. Sidney, as a test, wrote )n a card and sent it to the cleryman's 'oom, requesting him to come mmedi- ltely to the office. The "cleryman," ocking the door, made his escape by 7 means of a spout, and was never heard if again. ( At another time MT. Sidney was being ( ested by the directors of a bank : The superscripture of a letter was l hoWn to him. He began immediately: l "A clergyman, without doubt, who ' eads his sermons, and it is little { hort sighted He is aged 61, is six feet { ligh, weighs about ITO, is lean. bony, ( bstinate irritable, economical, frank ( nd without aparticle of hypocrisy or $ onceit. He is naturally miserly, and charity only from a sense of g uty. His mind is methodical and f trong, and he is not a genius or an in- { preacher. If he had decided q pon any doctrine or construction of | crinture, it would be as impossible to a hange him as to make him over again" e he company began to laugh. when one h f them said: Come come. MT. Sid- r,