The Point Pleasant register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, W. Va.) 1909-1939, 1909-09-01
DETECTIVE STORIES.
Little Things as Aids In Solving
Problems In Crime.
The VALUE OF SMALL cLEMs

80. $3.50, - Ss-sse.s SE6llS
IN All Ny Experience Says PoIieo
Sergeant Cuff. One of wilIds Coll
Inns Creations, q Have Never Yet
Net Such Thing as Trias."
II you ask some London publishers
they win tell you that no book sells so
ven as detective story and that PEG.
pie still fnd fascination In the
achievements Of Edgar Allan Poe.s
DupIn. Gaboriau,s Lecocq and Tabaret
and the redouhtable Sergeant Gun OF
wiIkie Collins.
These men were the forerunners Of
Sherlock Holmes. and their feats Of
criminal tracking were as remarkable
as those achieved by the famous char
acter created by Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle. Perhaps the least known IS
Gun. who figures IN The MoonStone.. :.
CUT looked for ciews In tribes. In
vestteating smear on newly paint
ed door. he was told by the superln-
tendent who had the case In hand that
# was made by the petticoats Of the
women servants. The superintendent
said petticoats were TRIES.
In all my experience along the
dIrtiest ways Of this dirty little world
replied Gun. II have never met such
a thing as triae yet We must see
the petticoat th1t made the smear. and
We must know for certain that the
paint was wet"
Lecocq. the beau ideal Of the French
detective. was wont to explain his de
auctions to assistants. Just as Sherlock
Holmes did to his friend Watson. In
the story Of .'File No. 113" safe has
been robbed. There is a scratch on
the door OF the safe which seems to
have been made by the key slipping
from the lock. But Lecocq explained
that the paint was hard and that the
scratch could not have been made By
the trembling hand Of the thief letting
the key slip.
He therefore had an Iron box made.
painted with green varnish, IKE the
safe As Lecocq inserted the key he
asked the assistant to endeavor to pre-.
vent him using the key Just as he was
about to insert II in the lock. The as
ststant did so. and the key held BY
Lecocq. pulled aside from the lock.
slipped along the door and traced upon
II a diagonal scratch from top to bot
tom. the exact reproduction Of the one
shown IN photograph Of the safe
Thus It was proved that two persons
were present at the robbery one
wished to take the money and the
other to prevent fits being taken.
In the play Sherlock Holmes. the
detective. with the aid Of an accom-
plice. raises an alarm OF fire at the
house Of the Larrabees. during the ex-
element OF which he Is able to inves.
dgate the mystery Of the purloined
documents.
A somewhat similar incident occurs
In Edgar Allan Poe's THE Purlotned
Letter" when DprIn. having obtained
entrance to the house of minister
Of the state. who had purlolned a let
ter OF great importance from a lady.
wished to take 1t from its hiding place
"a card rack over the mantelpiece-
and substitute a facsimile. While
Dupin was talking to the minister
there was sudden report OF a pistol
beneath the window. followed by fear.
full screams and loud shouting. The
minister rushed to the window. and
while his attention was thus distracted
Dupin took the real letter and substi-
tuted the false one which he had pre-
pared. Needless to say. the diversion
had been created by Dupin's assist
ants.
Although The Adventures Of Sher-
lock Holmes somewhat overshadow
the stories OF other detectives which
appeared in the Strand Magazine. one
should not forget to mention Martin
Hewitt. investigator. and Dick Don
oTan.
Both these detectives worked alone
and were past masters in the art Of
solving robbery mysteries. murders.
md the crimes Of secret societies.
And the value Of noting trihes. par
rcularly In detective work. is striking
" Illustrated in The Case Of Mr.. Fog
gait" The latter had been murdered
In his chamber. which was situated at
the top Of the building in which Hew-
1T bad an Office. Hewitt was the first
one on the scene. The door was lock
ed. and when he cor inside the room
he found FogGatt lying across the tn
bic. shot dead. There was a sheer
drop of fifty feet outside the windows
How had the murderer got in. and
how had be escaped?
On the sideboard were the freshly
bitten remains OF an apple. Hewitt
noticed that II had been bitten BY a
person who had lost two teeth. one
at the top and one below. He also
saw that the dead man had an excel
lent set Of false teeth. with none