The Washington herald., 1911-10-22
WAS THE PROTOTYPE
OF" "SHERLOCK HOLINESS
Peculiar Traits of Conan Doyle's Original of the
Great Detective.
From the London Chronicle.

| From the London Chronicle.
DIR. Joseph Bell, the distinguished Scot.
tish surgeon and the original Of Sir A
| yesterday at his residence, Mauricewood
Milton Bridge, Midlothian.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has sent q
message OF sympathy to an Edinburgh
evening paper, explaining that he did not
know DR.. Bell personally, but only as his
professor.
! DR.. Bell, who was born in 1887, came Of
a family which for three generations hac
been distinguished in surgery. For a
quarter OF a century he was surgeon al
the Royal Inirmary, Edinburgh, and Sil
Arthur Conan Doyle, then a young man
was one Of his students. He was, as ht
has repeatedly explained. greatly i'm
pressed by his professors display Of in
ductivs reasoning. and he has told many
stories in illustration Of them.
DR.. Bell had been in falling health for
some time
Although widely known IN the medical
profession as a surgeon Of outstanding
ability. DR.. joseph Bell will undoubtedly
be best remembered. as he was most
widely known, as the prototype of "Sher-
lock Holmes" the fctional detective
made famous by the genius of Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle.
DR.. Joseph Bell was an interesting per-
sonality, and, as he traversed the streets
OF Edinburgh with llmpIng gait. alert
manner, and kindly. clean-shaven face,
the passing citizens would nudge each
other and whisper: That is DR.. Joseph
Bell" ., In the profession he was famil-
iarly and affectionately known by the
simple title OF Joe Bell
1t was while studying medicine at
Edinburgh that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
came under the doctors influence, and
it was doubtless largely due to the i'm
preston which the famous surgeons
wonderful powers Of intuition and de-
duction made on the young student that
he eventually abandoned the scalpel for
the pen.
Sir Arthur Yesterday paid a simple
tribute to his mentor in the following
message. which he sent from Windle-
sham. Crowborough, Sussex, to the
Edinburgh Evening Dispatch:
Sir A. Conan DOyIe's Message.
Personally I can say very little of DR..
Joseph Bell, for have never met him in
his own house. and really only knew him
as my professor AS such l shall always
see him very clearly. His stiff, bris-
tling. iron-gray hair: his clear. half
humorous, half-critical gray eyes; his
eager face and swarthy skin. He had a
very spare figure. as 1 remember him,
and walked with jerky. energetic gait,
his head carried high and his arms
swinging. He had a dry humOr and
remarkable command of the vernacular
into which he easily fell when address,
ing patients. His skill as a surgeon and
his charm as a lecturer are, of course,
proverbial"
wonderful powers of observation and
could tell from the mud on a patients
boots the part of the city or surround
ing country he had come from. When
giving gratuitous advice to outdoor pa
tients at the Edinburg Royal Infrmary.
he was fond of mystifying them by CIV
ing them little ultimate tidbits regarding
their occupation or past lives.
Il see" he would observe slyly to
patient you are suffering from drink;
you even carry a flask in the inside
breast pocket of your coat. Throw it
away"
To another he would nonchalantly re-
mark: "Cobbler. l see,'' having quickly
observed the mark where the iapstone
had worn the mans trousers. To an
anxious mother he would quietly OBJ
serve: Your !irst child, my good wom-
an" The mystified simple soul wonder
ingly replying, as he had foreseen, in the
affirmative. She would go away still
marveling at the intuition of the great
surgeon. having no idea that there could
be any significance in the brilliant tartan
cape she had bought with such par
donable extravaganza for her first-born.
The Surgeon and the BrIckIayer.
Then a brickIayer would appear in the
consulting room, suffering from spinal
and the kindly doctors sym
pathy was instant and comprehensive.
1T aches does it? l have no doubt il
does. and carrying a heavy hod of bricks
won't improve it, will it? he would OBJ
serve in his brisk fashion. The afflicted
bricklayer. being a reticent Scot kept his
surprise to himself till the end of the
interview, when he asked somewhat can
nily. Il am no saying you're wrang, but
wha' telt ye 1 was a bricklayer to
trade?"
1t had never occurred to the workman
that the man, presumably, occupied with
his spine, could have noticed the rough,
horny hands that to the practiced eye,
at once revealed his trade
DIR. Bell was we'll aware of the part he
had played in creating the great detective
Of fiction, and was modestly proud of the