The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1930-04-26
The Fascination of Sherlock Holmes

The Fascination of Sherlock Holmes
In actual life crimes are solved in a very awkward
way, II not actually by beating confessions out Of thu
Perpetrators by savage third degree methods, often Of
actual assault.
Key clues, which are the end of the figurative bali Of
yarn to be unraveled in the solution of crime. may come
from sources lacking altogether the veneer Of cleverness
A stool pigeon, an ignorant laborer, q pig woman riding
aer mule home in the dark, . moron even may furnisn
he key to unlock q mystery to which a whole continent
thrills.
It is only In fiction that crime solution becomes actual
y and thrillngly dramatic instead of q boresome. tedious
process often as prosaic Is hand labor. in the real police
processes. Crime is not solved usually by ~intuitions and
~ occult reasoning. In the Courtenay murder It was
he chance observation Of one farmer that led to sus-
3cion falling on another, who finally confessed the COM
mission Of the deed. The processes by which he was led
20 confess were without strategy. except as he was led to
contradict one story with another and was kept under
questioning until he broke down.
In fiction this all Is different. Things can be done on
paper by Sherlock Holmes that can not be done in real
lie. Novels often. in fact. present life as we would
nave 1t!
All Of which, perhaps, Is part Of the explanation for
he enormous popularity Of the detective story in recent
7ears.
The detective that we find In books is q far more omnis-
:ient person than any detective that ever really existed.
No case ever quite battles him. He may be at loose ends
temporarily. but by the last chapter he is always sure to
zone bobbing to the surface with the guilty man in his
laws. His cases never peter out into failure. His GRIM
mails always thoughtfully leave just the right clews. and
1e always knows just what to make of them.
And we. luckless inhabitants Of a world where police
nsn are never quite that clever, spend thousands Of dol
ars a week to buy these books.
For it Is becoming more obvious all Of the time that
nr real-life detectives fall terribly short Of the detec-
~ive-story pattern.
What happens in this workaday world when a murder
s committed in q big city?
Well, first Of all, a ~squad-car dashes to the scene and
bevy Of plainclothesmen tumble out. Ten minutes later
he reporters arrive. accompanied by the photographers.
The detectives find what clews they can and tell the re-
oeters about them. Then the newspapers appear, print
ne all that the detectives know, in great detail. The de-
ective chief announces that an arrest will be made in
4 hours. It fails to come off. but similar announce
nents are made from time to time, as the days pass. and
everybody Is kept In q state Of pleasant anticipation.
Eventually. however. some other sensation comes over
he horizon, the murder Is forgotten and the murderer
ieefully goes on to new endeavors.
But 1t Is never like that In fiction. The ordinary police
Ulcers may tumble their work, Of course: but The Detec-
ive-Philo Vance. or Charlie Chan, or Dr.. Thorndyke,
X Hercule ~Porot-always knows what he Is about. He
5 s~ecretive and thoughtful. Patiently he puts his clews
ogether-and finally. just as everybody else has de-
paired Of success, he lands the criminal in tail-al-
Ways. be It noted, with so much evidence against him
hat 1t Is quite impossible for the scoundrel to fight the
asc successfully in court.
So We dote on detective novels, and make best-sellers
ut Of them: and, meanwhile. wonder why It is that our
oor policemen cannot duplicate. in actual experience,
he miraculous deeds Of the novelists' invention.