The San Francisco call., 1905-04-23


Gelder & Co. Of Stepney. the source
and origin of the buets. l shall be
surprised IL we don't get some help
Nown there"
Nm rapid succession we passed
Though the fringe of fashionable Lon
dorA hotel Lrndon, theatrical London,
iitei4ry London. commercial London,
and fnally, maritime London. till we
came a riverside city of 100000 souls.
where hefenement- houses sweIter and
reek With the outcasts of Europe
Here IN broad thoroughfare. once
the aHPde of wealthy city merchants,
We fofnd the sculpture works for
which i've searched. Outside was con-
sidera Ale yard full of monumental ma
sonry NInside was a large room in
which Afty workers were carving or
moldiHy The manager, big blonde
Germ4h. received Us civilly and gave
q cle&r answer to all Holmes ques-
tions. reference to his books showed
that huhdreds of casts had been taken
from a lnerble copy of Devine's head
OF Napo1eoN but that the three which
had been seA to Morse Hudson a year
or so before Mad been lhalf of batch
of six. the other three being sent to
Harding Brothers of Kensington
There was no r&ason why those six
should be Different to any of the other
casts. He could Arggest no possible
cause why any on@ should wish to de-.
stroy theIa1---iSk-Sset, he laughed at the
idea. heir wholesale price was Six
shiiling$ but the retailer would get
twelve u more. The cast was taken in
two mofd2 from each side of the face
and hey 2these two profiles of plaster
OF pans were Joined together to make
the complete bust. The work was
usually dohe by Italians in the room
We wire in. When finished the busts
We're rpt on table in the passage to
dry ann afterward stored. That was
all he COULD tell us.
But thf production of the photo
graph MD remarkable effect upon
the man&ger His face flushed with
anger nd his brows knotted over his
olue<Teutonic eyes.
---Ah. the rascal" he cried. "Yes.
indeed. | know him very we'll. This
mas always been a respectable estab-
lishment, and the only time that we
have ever had the police in it was over
this very fellow. 1t was more than a
year ago now. He knitted another ItaI-
ian in the street and then he came to
kee works with the police on his heels
and ite.-axaS taken here. Beppo was his
name--his secdpd name I never knew.
Serve me righSfcrrngaNng a man
with such face. But he WAS a good
workman-one of the best.A
What did he get?''
The man lived and he gt off with
year. / have no doubt Ae Is out
now, but he has not dared td show his
nose here We have cuuAn of his
here and dare say he could tell you
where he is
Ne, no, cried Holmes, ..ndt a word
10 the cousin-not a word, | bdg of YOU.
The matter is very important and the
farther l go with it the mora impor-
tant it seems to grow When kou re-
ferred in your ledger to the she of
those casts I observed that the Mate
was June 3 of last year. Could Au
give me the date when Beppo was arN>
rested2''
Il could tell you roughly by the
payiist. the manager answered "Yes.
he continued, after some turning over
of pages, he was paid last on May
2e.''
Thank you, said Holmes II don't
think that I need intrude upon your
time and patience any more With a
last word OF caution that he should
say nothing as to our researt hes we
turned our faces westward once more.
The afternoon was far advanced be-
fore we were able to snatch a hasty
luncheon at restaurant. A newshili
at the entrance announced .'Kensing-
ton Outrage. Murder by a Madman, .
and the contents OF the paper showed
that Horace Harker had got his ac-
count into. print after ALL Two col
umns were occupied with highly SEN
sationaI and flowery rendering Of the
whole incident. Holmes propped ii
against the cruetstand and read 1t
While he ate. Once or twice he
chuckIed.
That is all right watson. said he.
Ii Ken to this:ssIt is satisfactory to
knoE that there can be no difference
OF dpiNtou upon this case, since Mr.
LestfadS one Of the most experienced
nlemPers\ of the. official force, and
SherPck Holmes, the well-known con-
sultiIg exrfyt, have each come to the
conclusion tNat TIA grotesque series OF
inciddhts whidh h{N ended in SO tragic
fashion arisevrdm Nnacy rather than
from deliberate ime No expIanation
save mental aberration\can cover the
fectsf The press, Wats&n.s is q most
lufble institution. If You only know
HoVto use it. And now II you have
Quite finished we will hark\back to
kensington and see what the MANAGER
n Harding Brothers has to say IA the
matter
The founder of that great emporiNra
proved to be q brisk. crisp little perN
Ison. very dapper and quick, with a
fclear head and ready tongue.
/ Yes. sir. / have already read the
account in the evening papers. Hor-
face Harker is d customer of ours. We
Supplied him with the bust some
months ago. We ordered three busts
of that sort from Gelder & Co. Of
Stepney. They are all sold now. To
whom? Oh. / dare say by consulting
our salesbook we could very easily tell
you. Yes. We have the entries here.
One to Mr.. Harker. you see, and one
to Josiah Brown of Laburnum Lodge.
Laburnum Vale, Chiswick, and one to
Mr.. Sandeford Of Lower Grove road,