New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-05-09
Books u.,p,. BY p,,..

After long absence our old fctional
friend the star reporter who helps to
solve the murder has turned up again
in Isabel Ostrander's novel The Grim
son Blotter (McBride). Like all the
star reporters of whom we have ever
read, he resorts upon occasion to dis
guises but his method is much simpler
than usual. Indeed, we have grave
fears as to its effectiveness. The reve-
lation that Peter Sayre has taken up
the trail of the mystery came on page
20, when his roommate discovered that
he had left his regular reporting
clothes on the bed and put ON his
"disreputable old brown suit which he
still donned occasionally when out for
information from the rougher element
Of society and in which he took I'M
feigned comfort and satisfaction
Sitting here in the city room Of The
Tribune, it appears to US as if an cpl
demic of murders must have broken
loose. Everybody within sight seems
to be dressed to investigate q mys-
terry. We could go, too, only, our old
and disreputable suit is gray instead
of brown, and that would never do to
fool the rougher element.
Sayre wore no whiskers or used any
thing else to conceal the fact that he
was reporter. In the old brown suit
nobody ever took him for reporter.
By announcing that he wanted a job
as stable boy he obtained easy access
to the house where the murder was to
be committed, and when 1t happened he
was one Of the first to break into the
room. Seward Moberley sat at his
desk as if he were asleep. He wasn't.
He was dead. It must have been evil
dent to Sayre and to the detectives,
who arrived little later, that here
was crime committed by no ordinary
criminal. Mr.. Moberley had been
stabbed. The weapon was in his chest,
but it was not paper knife.
There really ought to be some such
paper in New York as Tha Dispatch
always referred to in the conversa-
ton of the characters as "the old Dis
patch"). There was never any pressure
of haste in working for the old Dis
patch. After the murder, for instance,
which occurred little after midnight,
Sayre hung about the mansion and in
terviewed the servants and snapped
theories with the detectives. Several
l, IAN SaA= i j ! ~, 7. I.
better telephone to the office, which
he did. Nobody else in the city had
heard about the crime. Sayre had
clean Cheat" and the city editor, in
stead of telling him to follow up the
story, Immediately gave him leave of
absence. Naturally Sayre used it for
no trivial pleasure. but had an i'm
portant part to play in tracking down
the criminals.
The Dispatch was an ideal newspaper
in every way. for after referring to
the "morgue" of the old Dispatch the
author explains:
"The 'morgue' at the newspaper Office
was the department where the life his
tory and deeds of people prominent in
all phases Of the city's existence were
kept tabulated and strictly up to date
in readiness for their demise and
promptly subsequent obituaries
That's the theory of it, we under
stand, but the envelopes you want are
the ones which have been lost, and we
have never known 81 norpue which,
wasn't just little weak on all events
occurring later than the autumn Of 1856.
The Crimson Blotter is readable
and now and again spirited in its ex-
cltement, but it follows formula NOT
unfamiliar to readers of detective fic-
siaa. Il In tails In wAieh the mar