The Winnipeg Tribune from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada • Page 39

SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 1938 Sherlock Holmes and Dr. WCitSOll Phonal Recollections. By Cuthbert D. Smith gave you eyes use them. God gavt you ears use them." In these two terse sentences, Sherlork Holmes, the greatest detective character of Action, gave me the key to his methods of deduction which sent stories of his work into every printed language.

the real man about whom Sir Arthur Cotan Doyle fashioned hit character Sherlock Sir Joseph Bell, F.R.C.S., the original of Sherlock Holmes Holmes was Sir Joseph Bell, president of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, and iurgeon ln ordinary to the re'gning house of Great Britain. The detective companion, "Dr. Watson," was my father. Doyle, just graduated from a private school In Germany, and my father, William Smith, son of David Smith, British eng neer, who built the first railroad in Jamaica, entered the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in the mid eighties. The two young men became class comrades almost from the day of enrollment, their sense of humor being the binding tie.

Many were the stories which the younger llassmen heard of the "goings on" in surgical 'lasses where Sir Joseph Bell was the white jowned instructor. His remarkable methods at deduction in the vast clinic brought nearly every day fresh stories of his genius, for which (here was no explanation. Sir Joseph, who never asked a question rid never allowed anyone to present to him my sort of an answer, would simply state in matter of fact fashion that the patient before him was a printer, barrister, banker, soldier, clergyman or tinsmith as the case might ht ind would jot down the daja on the registra ion card without listening to what the patient iad to say on the subject. One day a patient was ushered into the where young Doyle and Smith were tudying. Sir Joseph stated instantly, "You ire a soldier." The man started to reply, hut Sir Joseph nterrupted, "You are in the Indian service tnd your leave will expire in about three veeks." And to make the record more complete he even cited the man's regiment.

In blank astonishment the patient affirmed every statement. This proved a bit too much for the class. They ganged up on Sir Joseph and asked how he found out so much about the man. "Well, army shoes urually mean army. The pigment of the skin was of that peculiar type found only In India, and certain changes In that coloring prove that he has been home for all but about three weeks of the leave in that service." Someone asked about picking tje regiment, but Sir Joseph was silent.

He made it a rule to never let anyone know how he reached his final conclusions, but all knew that it was not guessing. DAY by day and case by case it was always the same thing a long parade of astonishing deductions. Young Doyle was fascinated. One day he confided in my father that he was playing around with the idea of writings based upon the fascinating faculties of Sir Joseph. Together they figured out that It would he wise to discuss the matter with Sir Joseph, and young Doyle was delighted when the professor not merely fancied the idea but gave many very helpful suggestions.

And so was created Sherlock Holmes it was not Doyle who gave the world Holmes but rather the reverse, for it was the genius back ot Holmes which made a great writer out of Doyle. It Is generally believed that Doyle was knighted for his writings, but this is an error. It was not until 1902, after his great work in Sparks of Wisdom Best Part of Life The best part of one's life is the performance of his daily duties. All higher motives, ideals, conceptions, sentiments in a man are of no account if they do not come forward to strengthen him for the better discharge of the duties which devolve upon him in the ordinary affairs of life. Henry Ward Brerher.

Truth General abstract truth Is the most precious of all blessings; without, man is blind: it is the eye of reason Rousseau. Examinations Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer. The Works of God God never made His work for man to mend. Dryden. Africa in overcoming fever conditions, that he was knighted by King Edward the Seventh.

The character of Dr. Watson was written around my father, but it was merely a friendly gesture on Sir Arthur's part and not based upon any personal merits connected with the remarkable character of the stories of Sir Joseph. Just before Doyle and my father graduated Sir Joseph received from his second cousin, Alexander Graham Bell, the first telephone set ever to cross the Atlantic. He rigged it up In two rooms of the college. William Smith happened to be handy at the time, and Sir Joseph suggested they try the "fool thing." Quite naturally at the time neither man appreciated they were making history by carrying on the first telephone conversation In the British Isles.

Years later my father became interested In the famous Patrick murder case. This was the case of William Marsh Rice, the Texas oil millionaire, of whose murder Albert T. Patrick," a young attorney, wa convicted. It was claimed that Patrick caused chloroform to be administered to Rice with fatal results. The prosecution presented a long list of medical experts to show that the congestion In the lungs was not embalming fluid.

They slated that the fluid could not enter the lungs. But my father considered this inconsistent with his findings in the dissecting rooms, and with William M. Butler, publisher of the leading embalmer's magazine of the day, and Clark Bell (no relation to Sir Joseph Bell, the noted New York jurist,) took an active hand In bringing the case before the public. Father wrote to Scotland and interested both Sir Arthur and Sir Joseph in the case. HERE I feel the absolute need of becoming personal for I wish to present a very definite close up of Sherlock Holmes.

It was while I was in prep school that I met my father in Edinburgh for the Easter holidays. He had a luncheon appointment with Sir Arthur and Sir Joseph and there seemed to be nothing to do hut take me along. I was cautioned to behave as a prep school boy shoi'ld and be nice and quiet. I was school boy enough to hope that I would meet a great detective who would solve at least three major crimes while we were placing our orders for luncheon. Instead I found tall, sparse and very William Smith, L.R.C.P.

father of the present writer, and the original Dr. Watson. correctly groomed college professor with not even a magnifying glass, much less the proverbial pipe so dear to every youngster steeped In the stories of Sherlock Holmes. The tablt conversation was quite dulll to a "Teener." Suddenly brooking all sorts of paternal wrath, I blurted out 'Sir Joseph, I have read every one of Sir Arthur's stories ba.ed upon you and I am definitely keen about meeting you. I wish that you would tell me something whirh I may always remember as coming from you to me." I shall not try to describe the look of wrath which I got from my father nor for that matter the manifest amusement of Sir Arthur, who loved above everything else in this world a nice scene.

But to my delight the great surgeon was agreeably surprised at my impudence. "You are at Dollar," he said, "and I understand that you are going up soon to take your entrance exams for Oxford (all this was changed by the death of my father), and then you are to enter the law office of Sir James McDonald to read." "Ye. Sir Joseph," I gulped in proud amazement that he had such a fund of Information about me. With great deliberation the man who was Sherlork Holmes took a plate, placed it before him and took from his pocket a shilling. He dropped the shilling on the plate several times while he looked intently at me.

"This coin is good. I know that because It sounds good. Often persons will tell you things and you will say 'I believe that because it sounds "Whenever there is told an untruth, there Is knowledge on the part of the speaker of the deception. Allied with that there is alwas fear, and the emotion of fear invariably ex rites the lingual nerve, and that, cannot make the clear sound of honest speech any mors than a false shilling would ring true striking this little plate. "The secret of my deductions is very simple.

It is based upon just two little sentences "God gave you eyes use them. God gavt you ears use them." THE WI.VNlfAu EVENING TRIBUNE PAGE 3 Where Did Columbus Land? Halliburton Surveys the Bahamas From the Air and Finds the Exact Spot On Watlings Island Second in series of travel stories by the author of "Royal Road To Romance" By Richard Halliburton WESTERLY gale was blowing across the Atlantic, driving before it the three immortal little caravels. For over two month, Columbus and his crew had been sailing blindly westward. Hope was ex hausted, and from all sides the admiral was beseeched to turn back. Perhaps he might have, had not a sailor on hoard the Pinta, at two o'clock in the morning, seen in the moonlight a line of white surf breaking on a tongue of land.

Land! But where? What land, on our modern charts? Some Bahaman island, without a doubt. The Indians called it Guanahani. Columbus renamed it San Salvador, But which island is San Salvador? Unfortunately, Columbus' original log book disappeared soon after his death, but not before Fray Las Casus, contemporary, had mad faithful copies of parts of it, one part being dated October 12, 1492. The cleric, no man of science, failed to preserve the mathematical reckonings which would have located the Island exactly. He did however extract literally Columbus' picturesque description of his landfall.

And that is how we know a stiff wind was blowing toward the west on the night of the discovery; and that Rodrigo, a seaman, was the first to see the tongue of land gleaming in the moonlight. The same Spanish copy of the orginal record describes "San "This island is quite large and very level. It has a large lake in the centre. The shape of the island is that of a bean, and the vegetation so luxuriant that it is a pleasure to behold it." On October 14, after two days ashore, Columbus also wrote: "At daybreak I had the boats of the caravels made ready and went along the Island in a north easterly direction in order to see the villages. The inhabitants, coming to the shore, beseeched us to land there, but I was afraid of a reef of rocks which entirely surrounds the island.

But within this belt is a harbor of such size, tha there would be ample room for all the vessels of Christendom." THIS is not a great deal of Information. But it is all that exists, and with It my pilot and I laid our course for the Bahamas. Four days I had spent exploring from the sea and the air, and so far not one of the Islands had remotely fitted the description given in the log book. Perhaps Columbus, who did not hesitate to englamor his discoveries, was romancing again. Perhaps there was no lake, no harbor, except In his imagination.

There still remained, however, one more island to be explored Watlings island, the seaward most of all. Watling's Island was In the news in 1892, when the directors of the Columbian exposition accepted It as San Salvador and raised a small monument on the east shore to mark the place where Columbus presumably landed. An excellent book by Rudolf Cronau, more carefully reasoned and more persuasive than the others I had read, also lent considerable weight to the possibility that Watling might be the right island. But when I flew over the exposition's monument and down the east coast, I saw, not one coral reef paralleling the coast as Columbus described, hut three. The caravels would not have dared come withihn a league of this shore, day or night, and certainly not while a high wind was blowing, as the log book recorded.

But the flight disclosed something else "a large lake in the centre of the island very Money Refunded Sometimes By H. R. HARDY JF you are one of these absent minded souls who leive ten dollar bills in their trousers pockets and then allow them to be run through the washing machine, or if you should light your pipe with a dollar bill in mistake for a pier? of paper, what would you do to recover the value of these mutilated or destroyed notes? Sooner or later this problem presents Itself to practically everyone who handles money, and, according to an official of the treasury department at Ottawa, the general puhlic is very poorly informed on it. Here is what you can do. If a note is completely destroyed no redemption ran be made.

No tickee, no shirtee! If, three fifths of a note is presented it can be redeemed at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle if Cf (J V' ATLANTIC EE As a special favor to the author, the Dominican government permitted the chest containing the bones of Columbus to be opened so that he might view them, as pictured at upper left. The map makes it easier to follow the proof of the actual discovery of America, as described by Mr. Halliburton. Below it is shown the beach on Watling's island in the Bahamas, where Columbus first set foot on American soil. large, and precisely In the centre.

Suddenly alert, we climbed higher in the seaplane, to 8,000 feet Watling's island was visible below In its entirety, and it was unmistkably shaped like a bean. I looked for the encircling belt of coral reef. It was there, surrounding the island with scarcely a break. But what about the harbor? The coast was without any Indentation whatsoever. And then I saw the harbor too.

It was made by the reef swinging far out from shore at the northern end and back again, leaving a perfectly calm basin a mile wide Inside the barrier, which acted as a natural breakwater. The hasin was indeed big enough to hold all the ships of fifteenth century Christendom. Snn Salvador! I had my Island! But since It was apparent, even from the air. that the landing monument was wrongly placed, I decided to search further, and discover, if possible, the actual spot where Columbus stepped ashore In the New World. The east coast, facing Spain, was obviously out of the question, for its unbroken phalanx of reefs makes It unapproachable from the sea.

Columbus would not have ventured such a hazard in a row boat, much less a sailing ship. However, on the west coast, right beside the hamlet of Cockburn, there is a beautiful beach, which boats can reach through a wide break In the coral wall. Columbus, as he reports in his log book, having seen the moonlit tongue of land, lay to until daylight; and with the prevailing east wind, must have drifted past the northern tip of the reef. And then, during the morning, he sailed south, and finding the breach In the barrier, steered through and dropped anchor before the unobstructed beach. And it was here, on the leeward, the safe side, of the island, that he went ashore.

My seaplane, descending to within 30 feet full face value. If more than two fifths but less than three fifths, It ran be redeemed at 50 percent of its face value. Further, If part of the note has hen destroyed but even a small portion remains, redemption can he made at full face value provided a statutory declaration is furnished, setting out particulars of the mutilation and definitely stating that the missing portions have been destroyed. Scarcely a day passes without at least one rae of this kind reaching the treasury department. Officials of the department say It Is surprising how many foolish things people will do with money.

They will hide notes almost anywhere, from under the parlor rug to up the chimney of the living room fireplace. It Is surprising how many persons use ovens as safety dpposit boxes and then start a fire without a thought of the contents of the oven. Possibly the most outstanding case of notes bein? destroyed by fire which ever rame to the treasury department was that of an American who had been in Montreal and who had received four $1,000 notes in completion of a business transaction. This gentleman returned home, and owing to the difference in exchange, decided to keep the hills for some time, and plared them in safety deposit box in a bank. Later, he withdrew the hills from the deposits box one afternoon and took them home to have them available for the next morning.

During the evening fire broke out In the house and only some badly charred fragments of the notes were salvaged. The remains were brought to Ottawa, and by r.ireful handling of the fragments experts of the department were able to pirce together the remains and make certain that four one thousand dollar notes had actually figured in the accident. Much to the joy of the owner, the treasury department was able to pa him the full value of the notes. of the sea, easily spotted the low coral cay that Rodrigo had first seen at the northern tip. We followed Columbus' course down the west coast, Into the opening in the reef, landed on the lagoon inside, and came to a stop on the very same spot, I suspect, where tha Santa Maria dropped her sails.

II' HAT schoolboy has not seen the painting of Columbus disembarking on the beach with his sword aloft, his flag unfurled, and the Indians staring at him in wonder? I should have liked as a dramatic an arrival. But Instead of a Spanish admiral and his captains all dressed in purple velvet, two grimy aviators came ashore dressed in cotton overalls, and unfurling nothing more royal than a couple of pongee mufflers, with which we were removing the spattered oil from our eyes. The negro "Indians," however (the Inhabitants are entirely negro, and number no more than 75) were sufficiently astonished, for ours was the first flying ship ever to visit the Island, and the first most of them had ever seen. But another question now rose to plague me. Where Is the great discoverer buried? Columbus died In 1506, in the Spanish city of Valladolid.

His repeated request, when he felt death approaching, was that his body be burled In Hi.spaniola, the rich and beautiful Island he had discovered on his first voyage. To this New World cross roads, therefore, Columbus' remains were transferred In 1540. The leaden casket, when It arrived from Spain, was reinterred with proper ceremony In the newly built cathedral on the goapel side of the altar. At the same time the body of Diego Columbus, the son, was transferred to Santo Domingo and placed beside that of his father. Both graves were marked with marble slabs, which remained there to identify them for a hundred and fifteen years.

Then in 1655, the English attacked Santa Domingo, and the church authorities, to protect the grave from desecration, destroyed the marble slabs and obliterated everything which might reveal the location of the bodies. Nor were new slabs ever put in place. pERHAPS that might be the situation even today had not Spain, in 1795, been forced to cede Hispaniola to France. Unwilling to surrender the body of their great national hero, the Spaniards decided to remove the Columbus casket to Cuba. They dug irMo the cathedral floor, below the altar, just where tradition said the grave lay.

Coming to a lead casket they reveretially removed it to the cathedral In Havana, and sealed it In a vault In the presbytery wall. After that the Santo Domingo cathedral, bereft of Its glory, was allowed to fall Into such decay that by 1877 It had to be completely rebuilt. Delving below the stone floor before the altar, the workmen came upon an ancient lead casket just like the one removed to Havana in 1795. On the lid were Inscribed the abbreviations, D. de la A per which Rudolf Cronau.

the great authority on Columbus, has translated as "Descuhridor de la America. Primer Ahnirante" that is. Discoverer of America, First Admiral. On three sides of the box were engraved, one to each side, the letters CCA. which could stand for Cristoval Colon, Al mirante.

Realizing that this find was probably of extraordinary importance, the Bishop of the diocese invited all the dignitaries of Dominican state and church, as well as the foreign consuls, to witness the opening of the casket. When the lid was raised it revealed on Fts under side a third inscription, Illtre Esdo Varon Dn. Criztoval Colon, which could only be interpreted as "Illustre Esclarecido Varon Don Cristobal Colon" Illustrious and famous Baron Christopher ColumbuH. There could be no doubt whose bones these were crumbling in the bottom of the box. It was not October 12 when I reached Santo Domino to visit the old cathedral.

Nevertheless, a friendly church official granted me an extraordinary favor by opening the bronze chest and permitting me to examine ths casket privately and at length. 1938).