Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-02-06


down with all the gusto he nigh
tales Of suspense and terror.
Everybody knows Conan Doyle in
vented Sherlock Holmes. Those
who followed the authors career
more closely recall that he took up
Spiritualism in the last years of his
life and devoted himself to speaking
and writing about psychic phenom-
ena. 1t is doubtful, however, whether
o great many people, especially out
side Of England, know much Of the
colorful course Of his life.
Sir Arthur, born in Edinburgh, al
ways spoke with a slight Scottish
accent, though his family was Irish
on both sides. He studied medicine,
but before his graduation, his love
Of adventure impelled him to ship
one summer on a whaler to the
Arctic.
Wrote for Fun.
Later we find him slowly building
up q practice in a small English
town, making a bare living, quite
happy.
He started writing as q diversion,
never dreaming it would be his
career. He sold an occasional story
to O magazine. He was married,
and settling, as he thought, into
the life Of q doctor. He had written
more than one story with tinge
of mystery, and he thought Of a
short detective novel. It turned out
to be "A Study in Scarlet" and 1t
introduced the world-though not
much of the world at first-to Sher-
lock Holmes. He had q hard time
placing the manuscript, and then
had to sell the copyright outright
for the equivalent Of $125. Neither
this nor the next Holmes story,
THE Sign Of the Four" attracted
much attention. This seems strange
today, for these longer tales be-
came among the most popular.
Meanwhile, DR.. Doyle's interest
turned TO the historical novel. He
saw 1t as something more than a
chronicle Of costumed adventure; he
felt that 1t gave him q chance to
devise memorable characters and
help Ak significant periods Of the
past In the public mind. He pub
lshed Micah Clarke" q story Of
the Cromwell rebellion. It's crit
ical reception, says the biographer,
was 50 enthusiastic as to have
turned the head of any one less
simply convinced that he could do
good work" He followed with THE
White Company" his favorite
among all his many books.
Wearied Of Holmes.
He meant it TO glorify the Eng
hsh longbowmen Of the 18th CEN
tury-the men who did most, he felt,
to preserve the nation through the
Middle Ages. This novel and Its
successor, "Sir Nigel" reached an
enormous public, but never touched
the phenomenal popularity Of De-
tective Holmes. It Is tronical that,
as the author began to meet o
growing demand for Holmes short
stories, he soon wearied OF the mas
ter sleuth-came for q time to hate
him. In fact, as early as 1898, when
he was still a young man, DR.. Doyle
killed Holmes deliberately. Re-
member Prof. Moriarty waiting be-
side Reichenbach Falls? Years
later the author was practically
forced to revive the detective.
Holmes Was Doyle.
DR.. Doyle went to the Boer War
as a surgeon. Later, when anti
imperialists accused Tommy Atkins
of pillage and depredations, the
author physician, who knew the
charges were untrue, went to his
defense in O book from which he
refused to accept farthing Of roy
alties. He was not o military man,
but he foresaw Germany's SUBJ
marine warfare before the First
World War and summed 1t up in q
prophetic piece Of fiction called
"Danger!" He also knew Britains
army tactics were wrong for the
age, and in vain he called for con-
cealed artillery and for infantry
advancing under cover-unheard Of
then.
He was always ready to right a
wrong Ut any personal sacrifice.
Several times he gave months Of