davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25
homSon Describes Some Cases Which
Scotland Yard Sohed Without Help of Sherlock Holmes

police would call them poison pen
letters. First the circumspect lady OF
the manor received most insulting
letter. 1t put her TO her bed in a
nervous collapse. Then her husband
received a few Of them. The old
gentleman was about done up, such
were the contents of these notes.
The young ladies received their
nasty letters and the sons OF the fam
lily We're recipients Of more. The
thing went on for six months. Local
constables and private detectives sur
rendered the case, confessing them.
selves baffled, The letters didn't come
by mail. Not stamp was used The
butler got them. The second man re
ceived few. Cook got hers and was
so hurt that she couldn't cook for
weeks. Nurse was made target for
the abusive epistles. Even the small
scullery maid as meek and inoffensive
as Sally Brasss starved Marchioness
got two Of them.
Every morning some member Of the
household. servants and masters and
llll6iIGooNbt lOulld lllNlll III lilo VI llCl
pockets or in the front hall or on a
window ledge or under his or her
bedroom door or under his or her
pillow. Whole squads Of private de-
tectives surrounded the house and
watched all night and all day. Take
heed of that, Mr.. Holmes. Other
squads Of detectives stood about the
halls and chambers Of the house all
night and all day. They saw nothing
heard nothing, discovered nothing
Now what do you think Of that, DR.,
Watson?
Just one clew was turned up. All
the letters were typed on an ancient
typewriter The alignment of the type
proclaimed the state of decrepitude oil
emachine, The lower case "e" was
rather fattened out. Elementary!
Elementary! Find the typewriter
Locate its owner. Elementary! Ele-
mentary!
But they didn't find the typewriter
They didn't find the typist. That is
they didn't until Inspector Blodgett
went out from Scotland Yard.
"See here, Blodgett," said Sir Basil.
"Go out there and see what you can
do. Don't hurry. Take your time. OF
course don't take too much time, but
do what you can"
Inspector Blodgett was gone just
forty-eight hours.
Whats the matter, Blodgett?" de-
manded Sir Basil
Nothing at all, SIR explained
Biodgett. ut was quite simple. We
have her locked up and a confession,
sir"
"who?"
"The cooks girl A half grown
young woman. The scullery maid, so
to speak,
You see, SIR" explained Blodgett.
II asked them the minute l got there
10 let me read the letters. Quite a
stack Of them there was. Forty or
fifty I should say. l spent two
hours reading them. noticed in some
of them words repeatedly misspelled
--'w-i-c-h, 'm-a-b-y,' 'c-e-l-l-e-r,'
k-u-r-b,' 1-o-v-e-i-n.g,' &c. Well, sir.
made up list OF those mIsspelled
words and / called together all MEM
bers of the family and all the servants.
had them all together and gave each
a pencil and block of paper. -
"'Now,' said I, you will be kind
enough to write down what 1 dictate
"Well, sir, l dictated something or
other to them slowly, using all the
misspelled words. Then collected the
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

is away from the large apartment and
private dwelling to the smaller units.
Along with this there is a tendency to
give up servants.
The question Of Germany's replen-
ishment offers interesting scope for
speculation, and here, too, the most
recent figures contain some striking
features. BY her own figures Ger
many lost 1,S24.051 dead and 4247, 900
wounded and missing. After the war
marriage rose to a high figure. The
year 1920 saw the highest recorded
marriage rate throughout Germany:
the year 1921 brought back the figure
nearer to the pre-war rate. Marriages
per thousand population in 1918 had
stood TT; in 1920 they had almost
doubled to lac; in 1921 marriages
stood at 11.9 per thousand Of the
population.
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25
By THOMAS H. DICKINSON.

TN considering the facts involved
in the return OF Germany to a
normal standard of health and
productiveness I prefer for the mo-
ment to ignore such technical matters
as reparations, the exchange value OF
marks and the amount paid in taxes
by the German industrials and labor.
Peculiarly enough, consider these to
be imponderable factors; they may
influence tho governing factors, but
they are too much dependent upon
chance events both inside and outside
Of Germany to support profitable
speculation.
Instead Of these things I wish 10
refer to certain matters which lie more
near 10 the life Of the people; to draw
from these conditions, which are OF
course but straws to show the way OF
the wind, some hint Of the manner in
which German stamina is reacting
against the present desperate condi-
tions. At the present time no con-
Of the exchange rate Of German marks
upon the life Of the German people
for the reason that exchange has
passed into the realms of the absurd.
Manifest'y one cannot say that cost
Of living has risen in any degree
commensurstely with the rise in the
exchange rates. Such an increase
would long ago have wiped out the
German people. Even bread. which is
state supported. costs to-day hum
eret tines as much as It did in peace
time bgt.er costs one hundred and
at.y s5,pes az much; potatoes two
Fgn9rec times as much, expressed in
segras q German money. How much
fogye Go they cost in terms Of the
peoyleg 8 1a19s, the peoples economy,
The p4oplea starvation These are
The only true indexes by which to
ssudy increased cost Money has be-
come an sbsgrd!ty
When the statistical bureau of the
League Of Nations reports that on a
scale OF 100. representing prewar
values. the cost of Dvlng stands in
Belgium 3s7, Paris 2sl. Rome Ais,
Great Britain iS1 and the United
states Is7. we can understand what is
meant. Common sense tells US the
figures are not far wrong. When ~
same bureau tells US that cost Of
living in Poland has multiplied five
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25
By STEPHEN SENNETT.

7 is nice 10 think what SherlocR
Holmes would have TO say about
Scotland Yard now. Here We
have Sir Basil Thomson, X. c, s.
trouping the United States prefacinG
his My Experiences at Scotland Yard
with a few well chosen remarks about
the utter impossibility Of Sherlock
Sir Basil. formerly head Of the Grim
inal Investigation Department at
Scotland Yard, confosses that he is
about fed UP with the sort Of fiction
that makes the Scotland Yard inspec-
tor the stupid foil Of the brilliant de-
tective."
Then Sir Basil goes on to, tell the
country that the Scotland Yard man
is sometimes quite a neat and speedy
worker, frequently getting somewhere
from nowhere In Just a moment a
few Of Sir Basils Illustrations will be
set forth. But as Sir Basil speaks we
seem to hear the guffaw of Mr..
Holmes--a guffaw TO be sure, tenn
pered with regret that he should have
to take advantage Of a most regret
table affair to win point over Sir
BASIL
AS Sir Basil lays the bull whip upon
the bony shoulders Of Mr., Holmes we
receive word that Sir William Hor-
wood, present head Of Scotland Yard,
,Hv-a,stit, Inactive lhyf
poisoned chocolates. The chocolates
old ones, it seems, in a disreputable
package--slip through all the doors
between the outer gates Of Scotland
Yard and the private office OF Sir
william. That should be enough.
Can't you hear Mr.. Holmes speaking
to the bewildered Inspector:
"Ah, yes. Inspector. YOU would
think So YOU would do 1t that way,
YOU are from Scotland Yard. YOU
would permit a package to pass un-
opened to your chief. As have said,
YOU are from Scotland Yard"
But it is much worse than just that.
An employee of Scotland Yard, having
tasted one Of the poisoned and un-
sponsored chocolates, discovers that
the sweet Is bitter and not so easy to
take as nice chocolates should be.
Therefore Dust listen to Mr.. Holiness
raucous laughter) this trusted en-
ployee throws the nasty chocolates
away! Think of 1t! Scotland Yard,
with It's own chief poisoned, throws
away the evidence!
Well, let that pass. After all we
know that what Scotland Yard has
done il has done. We know, too that
what Mr.. Holmes did he didn't do.
Sir Conan Doyle made him do it. And
also we know that Sir Basil IS right
in his opinion that almost any writer
Of detective fiction can take a cele-
brated case. select a solution therefor
and then work backward to the be-
ginnings of his mystery. handing tho
finished product right end to to the
public for freside consumption.
"I have never met Or. Watson nor
Sherlock Holmes" says Sir Basil. "If
! might choose I'd sooner meet Wat
son because at least Watson was not
a drug fiend and he showed real horse
sense between flashes Of brilliant stu
pidity. Poor fellow, like Sherlock
Holmes, he was what his creator made
him"
And then Sir Basil goes on to ex-
plain that we all have that advantage
of origin, detective and reader of
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

bounds. Following them wages have
gone up. The necessity Of continually
adjusting wages to costs Of living has
kept German industry always on the
anxious seat, has made it impossible
10 plan a month ahead on income and
outgo, has introduced an entirely new
system of contract into German
affairs. Even the German State in
passing a maternal benefit act makes
the compensation purposely extensi-
BILE, for fear that the payments pro-
vided In the bill for milk allowance
for month would not be sufficient to
buy postcard.
As the State issues more money
costs rise; as costs rise wages rise.
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

cling movement going on. Facts on
this come from the tables of demands
for lodgings and dwellings which come
into the Housing Bureau, as well as
from the tables of new buildings Out
of 100000 applications which came
into this bureau in Prussia for lodg-
Ing and dwelling accommodation for
the year covering the last half of 1920
and the first half of 1921 S5 per cent
were for three rooms or fewer; half
were for two rooms. In the larger
cities there is a remarkable decline
in the demands for larger lodgings
and an increase in the demand for
smaller, ones. For one offering of one
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

stealing clothes In Liverpool and
Leeds Here were Williams Bertillon
measurements and finger prints. Get
William. They got him. He was
identified. He went TO prison. Mr.
Holmes would have made better
story of it, but Scotland Yard d.: -
quite as effectively--and more quicKly.
And there was the respectable
household in Kent that was all but
divided against itself by anonymous
letters addressed to various members
Of the family. Here in America the
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

and you can pay me Nuen rye IN
jected 1t, But IL you care to live
don't move until I'm back
Right, doctor, and thank you,
kindly" groans the victim of the
dread Scolotarum Probensis, who has
his face buried in a pillow
The doctor departs. With him he
takes his patients clothes, Maybe the
clothes will fetch five bob or so.
Maybe a pound; who knows? And
there is the watch and chain and a
pound or so in money. Do it a couple
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

That same disorganization of the
mental environment which has done
much to still the energy of German
incentives. to introduce a factor Of
fakery and shoddy into German
manufacturing, is having its influence
on the lives and minds of children.
From these homes which as a result
of the war have suffered deterioration
Of standards there has been an exodus
of boys and girls, leaving in the midst
OF school days, to seep economic inde-
pendence. In one south German
metropolis the instruction in the pub
lie schools as late as 1921 was only
three-fifths of that Of pre-war peace
times. After the war there was a
dangerous period of unemployment.
During these times the juvenile de-
partment of the municipal EMPLOY
ment bureau in Berlin was able to
place only about half of those who ap-
piled. The rest were compelled to
walk the streets.
AS a result of these conditions there
was an increase OF juvenile criminal
lty. Weakened resistance to tempta-
ton, excitement, abnormal nervous
strain, unhealthful living conditions
all resulted in a multiplication of
criminal acts by the young. As be-
tween 1918 and 1921 complaints with
regard to Juvenile cases in a German
metropolis increased fourfold; indIct-
ments increased from 1888 to 796. The
number of thieves sentenced in the
juvenile court in 1914 totaled 2O4; in
1920, 539. These figures are typical of
all the large cities Of Germany,
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

doctor chap happened along. Curious,
too, that he never noticed how rotten
he felt until the doctor saw him. Moth
ing short of proyidential. this doctor
happening along.
"Well, old boy" says the doctor
after a cursory view of the naked
spine, you've got it bad, but never
say die. Stay where you are. I'm
off to the chemists at the corner.
Don't move Back in a jiffy with the
Nux Methyl Codicil. one injection
and III have you right as rain. Two
and six for the NuX Methyl Codicil
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

and two room apartments there were
demands from twenty applicants. The
tendency from the larger TO the smaller
apartments is marked in the applica-
tions Of the succeeding quarters Of
1920 and 1921.
This demand for smaller lodgings is
reflected in building statistics. The
number of apartment buildings and
tenements built in thirty-hve large
cities increased four times in 1921
over 1920; three times in the early
months of 1922 The number of dwell
ings erected increased only one-haif.
Not only in the large cities but in
the smaller ones as well the tendency
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

years largely as a matter of thrift
and conservatism. Money which has
lost all contact with reality is quickly
exchanged for commercial paper
which is based upon certain belief
in German industry, genius and thrift.
Prices have gone up by leaps and
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25
The Broken Button Mystery:
Or, Who Killed Costermoneer

But along about overcoat time of the
Following winter one of the inspectors
asked Sir Basil to let him have lust
one more go at it. They had saved the
foolish little silver of bone button, The
inspector took 1t and Jared forth to
Lmehouse. From pub to pub he went,
Stimulating drunkenness. He'd paw
men and fall against men. He would
become embroiled In arguments and
fights. He was having a pretty rough
time OF 1t. Presently he came to a
particularly mean pub where the mur-
dered man had been wont to do his
drinking.
The inspector lurched among the as
sembled costermongers and suddenly
ne came to a man with an overcoat
that sported a button that was not
quite whole. He picked a fight with
the wearer of that overcoat and
promptly knocked him stiff, as wo
Americans are wont to say. The
roughnecks present applauded the VIC
tory of a drunken man over a sober
heavyweight but paused, somewhat
startled, when the former shed his pre-
tense of intoXication and coolly fitted a
silver of bone button to the incomplete
button on the dazed coster's overcoat.
That is all, The wearer of the over
coat was hanged for the murder. He
confessed before Jack Ketch ended
him. A bit of brain work, that. And
he brain came from Scotland Yard.
Sir Basil sets forth the most valuable
assets of the detective department and
the individual detective as organiza-
ton, hard work, luck and knowledge of
human nature. Naturally he includes
the necessity Of brains. but takes 1t for
granted that the possessor of knowl-
edge of human nature must have a
certain amount Of serviceable brains
Consider the Scotland Yard man who
was sent out to apprehend a thief who
had stolen gentleman's watch. Now,
the stealing of watch is common
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25
Bad Spelling Leads
To Cufprit'S Arrest

Well, Scotland Yard landed that
genius. BY the grave deduction
process Of Sherlock Holmes? Not at
all. Simply by getting the description
of the man and referring back to the
prosaic files. In the files they dis
covered a clothing thief who corre-
sponded in appearance to the doctor.
Name, w. Herring. Had a record for
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25
Juvenile Criminals Grow
FourfoId in Nunbey

The following story is also typical Of
the temptations that come to youth. A
boy of 13 stole 120 marks and spent
the money in one day for two pounds
OF sausage, two packages Of crackers,
eight pounds of cherries, two glasses
OF beer, four pieces of cake and a din
ner of coffee with herring. All this
the boy ate in one day. 1t need not be
stated that this did not occur at the
exchange rates Of the current year.
Further light on living conditions
of young and old is thrown by an in
vestigation made by social bureau
into home conditions of young chill
dren. BY great economy Germany can
contrive to supply herself foodstuffs,
principally potatoes. from her own
fields. Textiles must come from i'm
port. The result has been far greater
increase in the costs of all textiles,
bed clothing and wearing apparel over
the cost of foodstuffs. The increase
over normal pre-war prices is double
in the case Of woven materials over
foodstuffs. AS purchasing power wa.
limited at best the natural consequence
has been that the people have put of
buying cloth until the last. L
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25
Sir Basil Thomson

crime fiction. So consider, therefore,
the numerous triumphs Of Scotland
Yard. Take, for example, the genius
who made off with the clothes and all
they contained Of some hundreds Of
Londoners.
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

of hundred times and you have some
thing. of course 1t takes nerve.
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

papers looked them all over and went
to the scullery maid and said:
"'see here, young woman, where's
that typewriter?
"Blest IL she didn't brazen It out
until l showed her her misspeIled
words in the dictation and the same
misspelling in the letters. And then
she took me off to where she had the
typewriter hidden. They'd never heard
her using 1t, because she never used
it near the house."
So how about that. Mr.. Holmes?
Sir Basil tells Of one Of the many
missing and broken button mysteries.
What city hasn't had its murder
where the only clew. was a button or
piece OF button found near the scene
of the crime? But here was a London
costermonger murdered Of Saturday
night in Limehouse. His skull was
Dashed in. Whoever did 1t took the
mans overcoat, too. Twenty feet
away from the body the police found
piece of fairly large and altogether
common bone button.
The button might have had nothing
at all to do with the murder. To re-
peat, It was, after ALL only silver Of
button. This murder happened in
the winter Scotland Yard men
searched the public houses in the dis
trict and suspected this man and that.
But there was no arrest that winter.
They did not find the missing overcoat
either, although all the hundreds Of
pawnbrokers were interviewed and old
clothes men examined
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

ernment TO increase taxes. A con-
venient system has been introduced
into the ReIchstag of retaining The
phraseology of the old taxation act
and amending only the figure of the
tax Thus the sugar tax is increased
seven times; the brandy monopoly bill
calls for an augmentation of five
times; tho tax on lighting materials
Is increased four times; the beer tax
four times; the mineral water tax two
times.
Taxes Are Multiplied
To Save Computation
But one is not to suppose that by
these successive readjustments the
entire structure is raised together.
Each reorganization becomes the ex-
pedient of drawing the belt of national
standards a little tighter. Unfortu-
nately the making of money does not
mean the making of commodities Of
use; unfortunately, too, every million
of marks that is printed raises by so
much higher the barrier against
foreign articles coming in. Germany
must depend upon what she has and
what she can produce. Therefore the
people must use less. In spite of ap-
parent pronigacy of expenditure the
German people are learning to do
this. Signs not so high as church
nor so wide as a barn door, but still
large enough, show Germany to be
pinched. Tomorrow she may be in
extremity.
Notice l am not speaking of the
power of Germany to pay reparations.
/ am speaking of the effect of present
events upon the lives OF the people.
their power to come back, their
faculties of recuperation, the mental,
moral and physical factors which de-
termine whether Germany is to be
again well and strong. Vital statistics
since the revolution are necessarily
slight and incomplete, but such as ex-
tst make very interesting reading.
Particularly significant are those
which throw light on the equalization
of the standards of living, the toning
down of living standards in response
10 reduced resources and a more eco
nomical system of social organization.
Outside Of the spectators and profit
takers only two classes exist in Ger.
many to-day On the one side are the
minor and higher officials of private
and industrial firms whose earnings
are practically the same. On the other
side are The skilled and unskiled
workers, whose wages likewise have
been equalized, No one can question
the necessity that has brought this
condition about, but the effect upon
energy and incentive and cooperative
effort must be bad
When we come to consider the
standards of living in dwelling houses
and apartments we find the same lev
Copyright. 1922. by The New York Herald
Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-25

One evening. said Sir Basil, a re-
sponsible looking man with a medi-
cine case under his arm rang the bell
Of a resident Of one of London's lower
middle class neBhborhoods.
Good evening" said the stranger
to the man Of the house. Does David
Tubbs live here?"
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1922-02-19
EARLY ASsyrianS Had
Strict Marriage Law

MARRIAGE relations among
" the early Assyrians were
subject to a strict code of laws.
It is now learned from valuable
cultural document made accessible
to the scientific world in a German
translation of the cuneiform text
preserved in the Asiatic division
Of the Berlin EthnographicalsMu-
scum.
The early Assyrian lawmakers
had this code inscribed on a set OF
clay tablest, unearthed during the
excavations Of the German Ash
attic Society in Mesopotamia. BY
comparing this find with other
prehistoric documents. tho date Of
these tablets has been established
around 100 b. c., which would
coincide with tho reign of Tiglat
Pilesar /.
The rights and duties OF married
women and the punishments i'm
posed for the infringement of
these laws, form the chief con-
tents OF this book Of lava
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1922-02-19

HONOLULU. Feb. 1s.-Married
for thirty-eight years, mother
of fourteen children and now su-
ing for divorce-such is the
plight of Mrs. L. All Leong, wife
of a leading Chinese merchant Of
this city, whose fortune is esti-
mated at close to the million mark.
In her divorce complaint. which,
among other things, alleges biga-
my. the wife Of the merchant
prince tells n romantic story Of
how the sum of $3.50. with which
the couple started upon their first
business venture, has grown to a
fortune Of nearly 100000.
Starting with little grocery
store, in which the wife served
as delivery boy and general roust-
about, the couple worked their
way through various enterprises.
at one time failing and being COM
PEELED to start anew, with All
Leong working In q clerical capao-
ity.
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1922-02-19
Welded For Thirty-Eight Years
Chinese Wife Asks Divorce

It was during this time that
little money was saved, which, In
vested in a small business, grew
little by little until other stores
about the city were purchased, in
vestments were made. and the All
Leong family found itself "out Of
the woods" financially.
At about this time, alleges Mrs.
All Leong, the rising merchant be-
gan to give thought to other wom-
en-women who had not become
old and worn as she had through
the hard work Of trying to help
build up the family fortune.
And now, after hirty-eight years
Of It, Mrs. All Leong says she is
tired Of the bargain and that she
will accept a settlement OF half the
family fortune and custody of the
minors among her fourteen chill
dren. and go her way a wiser
woman.
All Leong has filed counter-suit,
alleging that he and his present
wife were never legally married