Evening star., 1922-02-19

tive witch doctors and !. w.
w. agitators, German spies
and Sherlock Holmes, prison
administration and bolsheviks, crooks,
crime and communism.
These were some few of the sub
jects touched on by Sir Basil Thorn
son. England's greatest expert on
criminal Investigation. in the course
Of an interview given me this week.
1t was the first and only one to which
Sir Basil has consented since his re-
cent much discussed resignation
from the post Of commissioner of the
special service branch Of Scotland
Yard.
Probably no other man living could
have discussed, as an acknowledged
expert on each, as astonishing q med
ley Of topics as those that have been
mentioned. But then few men now
with us have had such a varied ca
ree- packed with adventure, from
the beginning, as Sir Basil Thomson,
arch investigator and master sleuth
land son, curious to relate, of an
English archbishop) who at twenty
nine was prime minister of a group
of South Sea Islands where human
flesh had only recently been the
staple diet. And who, since those
early days, has been governor of four
famous English prisons and put in
nine strenuous years at Scotland
Yard, first as assistant commissioner
of police and later as head OF the
special branch" which during the
war proved the Nemesis of the spies
and secret agents of Germany and
since the armistice has devoted it's
energies to watching and checkmat-
ing the activities of revolutionists
and agitators generally. throughout
Great Britain.
CIR BASIL isn't sorry. on the whole.
to be out of the official harness
At last. With him, as with every man
Of action who is. at heart literary
artist. half the fun OF having blood
stirring adventures is the subsequent
joy Of telling about them. and this
great police chief. he confessed TO
me. has all along been itching to add
to the imposing list Of books that al
ready stands to his credit.
Tall and spare. with a thin, intel
lectual face. and hair and mustache
that are now iron-gray. for he has
turned sixty, no man could be less
like ones conception OF q great po-
lice chief or criminal investigator
than this quiet, infinitely courteous.
dryly witty book lover. and keen stu
dent of life. Americans. however.
may have a chance OF sizing Sir Basil
up for themselves. for there is some
| talk, he told me. Of his making a lee
turing tour in the United States. II
| this comes OF it will be the fourth
visit he has paid to the other side of
the Atlantic.
"I spent a year In Iowa." he said.
| "just after I left Oxford. I bought
some land near LIE Mars and intended
| to try my hand at farming. but family
affairs compelled me to return to Eng
| land. 1t was soon after this that
entered the colonial service and was
| sent to the southern Pacific as
member of the STAN of a governor of
the Fiji Islands. I have been in the
United States twice since.
Sir Basil is now finishing q book
! which will deal with the war from
the angle Of Scotland Yard and thinks
Of calling it Tempered Indiscre-
| tons" when It is off my hands," he
said, IT am going to write a play"
"A detective drama, suppose"
said the interviewer. with memories
Of William ]. Burns and ''The Argyle
Case"
Sir Basil smiled, and shook his
head decisively.
uDEAL detective work I find." he
N said, puts one right off that
kind of thing. The actual methods
! used in the detection of crime are not
particularly dramatic: they are as un-
like the methods Of the detective of
fiction, or the stage. as cheese is like
chalk. I always enjoy reading the
Sherlock Holmes stories because I am
all the while conscious that every one
Of the proceedings would have
brought the case to grief. Who Is the
Scotland Yarder over whom Sherlock
Holmes triumphs with such refresh
ing ease? Lestrade. isn't it? I've fre-
quently thought Of writing series of
stories in which the boot would be on
the other leg, as it would be inevita-
bly, in actual experience. In those
stories I should give some of Les
trades comments on Sherlock Holmes.
I can imagine him saying Here's that
very snowy, very cncksure young fel-
low again. He's baen filing himself
up with cocaine az usual and smok-
ing too many pipes. But let him be!
By accident he may discover some
f! thing
! There Is only one recipe for sue
| cess in, criminal investigation" added
Sir Basil. "and that is hard work.
| Sherlock Holmes creator takes
| malicious satisfaction in gliding at
| the plodding professional detective,
| but it is by plodding that one sue
ceeds in our trade. Frankly, can
think Of few men who would make
| worse detectives than Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle. Once, and once only.
has he ventured on the experiment Of
applying the Sherlock Holmes meth
DDS to the actual detection Of crime.
and beautiful mess he made Of it.
He interviewed. You may remember,
| in the famous Edalti case in which a
young Indian student was found gull
ty of manning horses. Sir Arthur,
who was convinced Of Edaljfs inno-
cence, conducted an investigation,
with deductions and all the rest of
1t, and succeeded in getting another
man arrested. His complete inno-
| cence was afterward clearly demon
| strated and he was released.
T 1Hrpf y,