The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-04-06

-
less Conan DoyIe's THE Hound
Of the Baskervilles,' of which nearly
10000 copies have already been sold.
now mat Sherlock Holmes has be-
come such a famous character, vari-
Gus critics are trying to write his gen
/ ealogy Mr. c. K. Shorter says that
Doyle is indebted q Gaboriau for the
I character but most Americans viii
CAIN an American origin for the great
detective. Undoubtedly. these affirm
roe was the originator Of the intellec-
tual tracer OF crime. whose astounding
deductions hold one breathless in the
stories"
It has recently come to light that the
Whoie plot of The Hound of the
Baskervilles, was conceived and
worked out in the authors mind in one
day.
1t happened at Cromer. a pretty Eng
lish seaside resort. where the doctor
had gone for golf. on Saturday
there was sharply contested game be
tween himself and Mr.. b Fletcher
Robinson, prominent young London
editor and journalist. Both were
anxious to resume play on the follow
ing morning, but they had figured
without the law. IN Cromer Sunday
golf Is a social crime.
ADASea NliDaAAAEa ana angry the TWO
men looked about for someone to an
initiate; and they said things Then.
Ike true Britishers. they filled their
pipes, Gained their souls. and pro-
eeeded to philosophical discussion on
the unhtness OF things in general, and
the folly of their own customs in par
ucular. BY easy stages the talk led
through national bigotry and prOvin-
cal peculiarities to family prejudice, (
and eventually to family ghosts
The funniest thing about our ma
uonal superstiuons, said Mr.. Robin
son, lis that although an Englishman
almost invariably despises his neigh !
boris ghosts. he still believes in his !
own with ehiidhke simplicity, and is |
deeply hurt by the doubts and slurs !
of others"
WhereupOn DR.. Doyle diIated on the |
deep human interest of ghosts in gen /
eral, and upon the charm of his own 4
pet ghost in particular, at the same 1
time laughing somewhat at the credul- /
ity of such as found it quite within /
their philosophy to buy other mems 4
castles, live in them for a generation,
and gradually absorb all the ancient |
owners ancestral dogmas, legends and /
uneasy spirits.
Which reminds me, said his COM /
panion, that I have intimate acquain-
lance with a ghost-the strangest one /
on record; none of your white Il
shrouded, hollow-eyed, arm-waving
spectres-but a dog-a great. fierce,
phOspnorescent dog, that r0ams over
the moors o'nights. soaring decent folk
out of half their senses and striking
terror to the hearts Of self-respectng
dogs in the flesh"
THAT sounds interesting. Who
y.Aa. j. - ar#p
The Baskervilles. Ny fathers groom |
down in Devon is supposed to be de-
scended from the original owner. The
name of Baskerville was famous in the
days of Drake. There were wild spir-
It's those days. you know. and they /
seem to have bred Wild ghosts"
Awhile the elder man listened as his
drew at length from a
wealth of folk lore, accumulated during
a boyhood and early manhood whose
holiday delight had been TO tramp the
lonely moor and gossip with conhding
rustics, who thought they saw and
heard things.
It's a real good mystery" said Rob
nson, refectivelya as ne finished his
tale. It's pity your Sherlock Holmes
IS dead"
rs he?" said the doctor
You don't mean to say
Well, no ecroner'sg jury has said
30"
Gould you revive him ana let him
.ackle this Mystery"
Il rather fancy the thing happened |
before he disappeared from the public
-iew"
Then he did examine the case?p
Il imagine there are some records OF
{ IN the tin box that Watson cherishes.
NTH ha1ro Z Gould 4
,et at the Details And then and :
here was born the scheme of DR..
)Oyle's last fascinating account of the
Exploits of his wonderful detective. BY
ca time he had the plot worked out
nd ere many days the author. occa-
ionally accompanied by Mr.. Robinson.
vas securing DartmOOr in DevOnshire :
With all the enthusiasm Of a boy, fol-
owing strange clues over tract Of >
and some fifty by thirty miles /
Amid all the virgin solitude of the ,
uge moor, unchanged and untitled by :
and of man, there is one central point ,
-hich most attracts the student OF :
rhine. II is the huge prison of Prince
own, an enormous barrack Of Grim !
nails, placed in this lonely situation TO a
make escape more difficult. The two !,
Ovelists wandered round the gaunt Sc
looking wistfully at the high / 4
rick walls. and knowing we'll that =
Fhatever type OF villain might he :
ssential%o their narrative. his double .
0uld certainly be found within that :
rim enclosure. The yellow CARRIED 90
angs who work at retaining the o..
lOor, the hard-faced warders with So
heir loaded rifles, the dark. melan- y
holy house. and the sad waste a
tretching around them. all left an i'm
ression upon their minds. some re-
ection of which is to be found in the
ages Of The Hound of the Basker- z
lilies"
One day the two were wandering to-
ether over the moor when they came
pom a spot where il seemed that only I I
thin film covered some frightful abyss
TO which the careless wayfarer /
light easily be precipitated. Only by =,
epping from clumD to clump of =
lshes could they keep up. and at each ,
love the whole surrounding ground | '.
1ivered and shook like some vast IN o,
jelly. -
It was not a place 70 venture or / i
lone. Doyle paused. and, pointing to
particularly dangerous hole, out of a
hich the green scummed water was q
cling, said: Is
There is where We viii put him. ?.
The villain" o,
And so the denouement Of the book
as reached. For several days the two =,
lends tramped the moor, listening TO o,
eird local stories-tales Of escaping In
'nvictS who had horribly vanished
les Of belated huntsmen who had OF
zen heard Of no more. 1t is not a =
leerful place. but il presents vast p
'ssibilities to men whose imaginatiOns n
cline 10 grimness At the end Of n
brief holiday they returned full Of of
range memories. and Doyle proceeded I'll
cast into shape the impressions and 6