The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1907-06-20

Him to the World OF Fiction-The
Genius of Poe and Gaboriau and
Conan DoyIe's Sherlock Holmes.
Most persons VINO read detective
stories. and most literary critics, too.
believe that this very popular form Of
fiction was invented by Edgar Allan
Poe. They point 10 his story of The
PurIoined Letter as being the first q:
its kind-the first in which Is :utTo-
duced the man Of keen mind OF close
reasoning and of constructive lmGg 81
nation. who Is able 10 piece together
certain facts that are known and then
by brilliant deduction tc pass rom
them 10 other facts which are rot
known. but the truth of which hs is
able TO establish beyond u dou5t
Poe himself had a mind precisely or
this Characteristic mind CO mGthe-
maticiaE, subtle, Iogica! ana capable
of searching analysis. he once gave n
remarkable illustration OF what 10
could do As an Investigator % InysIe-
riouS crime. -oIng shOpGirl named
Mary Rogers was found murdered
under circumstances which excited
great public interest in New York
The police We're completely bHffied,
though they advanced Il theory which
was plausible in part. Poe. taking tho
facts that were admitted. wove them
into Il story, the scene OF which he laid
IN Paris and which he called '"I hs
Mystery of Marie Roget" Thee fTcm
what was known he passed by deduc-
tive reasoning to what was quite I'M
.Fr-k
the puzzle Which, 10 professional de-
tective mad been able TO explain
/ Years afterward the confession of a
/ dying man afforded proof that Poe
/ was right and that he had reconstruct
/ ed accurately the whole series OF
/ events which led to the death of Mary
/ Rogers.
{ This remarkable achievement fixed in
/ the public mind the notion that this use
/ of logic blended with Imagination was
/ original with Poe. AS a matter of fact,
( it Is almost certain that Poe, who was
deeply verSed in French literature. got
the suggestion of the method from
reading certain passages IN the orr
entail tale called "Zadig," by NOltaire.
/ In this book n young man is questioned
J
and horse that might have passed him
on his journey In reply he describes
very accurately the peculiarities OF
/ both. though he had not seen them.
] He had deduced his knowledge from
observing certain Indications along
the way-the nature of the footprints
and many other signs which the Ordi-
nary person would either not have 10
ticed or would have been too dull 10
understand. Here is really the germ
of the conception which Poe so bril-
! liantly elaborated in the story Of The
I Purloined Letter" where we find eX-
/ hibited the striking contrast between
! the working Of a usual mind and the
! achievements of mind of exceptional
! power and training.
! Poe's central figure, the amateur de-
( tective. was afterward caught up and
/ elaborated with great effect by several
I French writer's. of whom the chief was
! Emile Gaboriau. GabOriau gave the
world the character of NJ. Lecoq in the
/ remark able novel Of that name. LecOq
/ is 4 professional detective. but APP
/ pears in that book as a novice, inexpe-
/ rienced, but full of intelligence and en-
thusiasm and obliged to work out his
/ clews against the secret opposition OF
his Official chief, Gevrot who is jeal-
GUS of the young detective In the
. background is the interesting figure
of the real amateur detective, old Fa-
Their Tire-au-CIair c'Bring-to-lightO
retired tradesman who studies crime
from sheer love Of the intellectual puz-
solves by purely scientific deduction.
Sir Conan Doyle in creating Sherlock
Holmes openly acknowledged his great
| Indebtedness to Poe. Like POe's hero,
Holmes works apart from the official
police and is consulted by them when
they are wholly at loss. Many Of
! the incidents in the Holmes cycle Of
! stories were suggested by the inven-
! tons OF Poe. Yet it is Only fair u say
. that Doyle has gone one step further
! than lis master. Poe's characters are
distractions. Tncy are IKE chessInen
on the board and excite interest only
because of the completely OF the prob
| lem which they are made To sOl"e.
( DOyIe's characters, On the other hand.
/ are drawn with syure tn ara
shrewd insight into huTrE5 nature.
! They entertain Us by their whi:ns ana
! individual traits no less than by the
! adventures through which they pass.
I Thus Holmes addiction to the cocaine
. habit his trick Of smoking great quan-
/ titles Of shay tobacco when thinking
out problem, his dislike OF women.
I his skill as a bOxer-in fact, = score Of
, traits all give him individuality and
/ make US think Of him as { fascinating
! character quite apart from his powers
. rs 4 deductiVe reaSOEer- And IL * so
with the minor personaGes as we'll
Watson. the somewhat Obtuse chrOn-
icIer of the adventures; Lestrade and
! Gregson Of the official police and
Moriarty, the arch criminal.
But, however brilliant Poe may have
been, or however inseniously Gabo-iau
| NAV have sDun tangled plots, or how