Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1907-02-14
THE DETECTIVE STORY
I
Oriuin and Growth of the Clever
Amateur Sleuth.
voLTAIRE WAS HIS CREATOR.

] ne 1TVaI ~ y
Him to the World of Fietion-The
Genius of Poe and Gaboriau and
Conan DoyIe's Sherlock Holmes.
Most persons who e detective
stories, and most literary critics, too,
believe hat this very popular form OF
fiction was invented by Edgar Allan
Poe. They point to his story of "The
Purloined Letter. as being the first of
its kind-the first in which Is intro
duced the man of keen mind, of close
reasoning and of constructive 1mag1-
nation, who is able to piece together
certain facts that are known n then
by brilliant deduction to pass from
them to other facts which are not
KNOWN, but the truth of which he is
able to establish beyond a doubt.
Poe himself had a mind precisely Of
this characteristic mind of a mathe-
matician, subtle, logical and capable
Of searching analysis. He once gave a
remarkable illustration of what he
could do as an investigator of mystic
rious crime. A young shopgirl named
Mary Rogers was found rdere
under circumstances which excited
great DuUl1C 11LCIcSI LII INC" 1OAhsA
The police. were completely baff1ed,
though they advanced a theory which
was plausible in part. Poe, taking the
facts that were admitted, wOve them
into a story, the scene of which he laid
in Paris and which he called The
Mystery of Marie Roget" Then from
what was known he passed by deduc-
tive reasoning to what vas quite un-
known and worked out a solution to
the puzzle which no professional de-
tective had 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 Voltaire.
In this book a young man is questioned
as to whether he had seen a stray dog
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 b ordi-
npru norS0n would nffhor NOT havn No.
ticed or would have been too dull to
understand. Here is really the germ
of the conception which Poe so bril-
liantly elaborated in the story Of THE
Purloined Letter." where we find ex
hibited the striking contrast between
he working of a usual mind and the
achievements of a mind of exceptiona
power and training.
Poe's central figure, the amateur de
tective, was afterward caught up an(
elaborated with great effect by severa
French writer's, of whom the chief wa
Emile Gaboriau. Gaboriau gave tn
world the character of M. Lecoq in tn,
remarkable novel of that name. LEGO,
Is a professional detective, but ap
pears in that book as a novice, inexpe
1ClCO OuI u VI 1ALClllSCACc dUu I'll
thusiasm and obliged to work out hi
clews against the secret opposition 0
his official chief, Gevrot, who Is jeal
u of the young detective. In tn
background is the interesting fgur
Of the real amateur detective, old Fs
Their Tire-au-Clair ("Bring-toIight'O,
retired tradesman who studies Grim
from sheer love of the intellectual pu,
Zle which it affords him and which b
solves by purely scientific deduction.
Sir Conan Doyle in creating Sherloc
Holmes openly acknowledged his gres
Indebtedness to Poe. Like Poe's her,
Holmes works apart from the omci:
police and Is consulted by them whe
they are wholly at a loss. Many {
the incidents in the Holmes cycle {
stories were suggested by the inve1
lions Of Poe. Yet it is only fair to sa
that Doyle has gone n step turtle
than his master. Poe's characters al
distractions. They are like chessme
on the board and excite interest on
because Of the complexity of the pro-
lem which they are made to solv
Doyle's characters, OF the other han
are drawn with sympathy and
shrewd insight into human natur
They entertain us by their whims ar
individual traits no less than by tt
adventures through which they pas
Thus Holmes addiction to the cocail
habit. his trick Of smoking great qua
titles of shag tobacco when thinki1
out a problem, his dislike of wome
his skill as a boxer-in fact, a score
traits all give him individuality al
make us think of him as a fascinati1
character quite apart from his powe
as a deductive reasoner. And it is
with the minor p~ersonages as well
Watson, the somewhat obtuse chro
icler Of the adventures; Lestrade al
Gregson of the official police al
Moriarty, the arch criminal.
But, however brilliant Poe may ha'