May 22 is
Sherlock Holmes Day, a celebration of the birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
the creator of the genius detective. That got me thinking: are there any local
Sherlock connections? Happily, yes, yes there are!
On
November 22, 1894, Arthur Conan Doyle delivered a speech in the chapel at
Elmira College. Although a reporter from the Elmira Daily Gazette and Free Press stated that "knowledge of
his books in this city is not as deep and broad as it might be," people
filled the chapel to hear Doyle speak. Doyle shared some of his work, recounted
his path to literary fame, and justified his decision to kill Sherlock so that
the character didn't overstay his welcome.
If
Doyle's work wasn't too popular in Elmira in 1894 as the reporter claimed, it
didn't take too long for it to catch on. In fact, soon after, the local
newspapers were filled with Sherlock references, jokes, and updates about the
detective stories and plays.
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| Advertisement from Star-Gazette, 3/2/1901 |
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| Advertisement from Star-Gazette, 10/19/1905 |
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| Elmira Star-Gazette, June 26, 1914. |
In
perhaps the oddest story, in 1913, Elmira Humane Officer John Dilmore was
hailed as a local Sherlock Holmes for his deductive skills. Investigating a
residence on John Street, Dilmore confronted the owner about not feeding his
duck. The owner asked how Dilmore knew he hadn't fed it and Dilmore replied
that it hadn't snowed since five days past and there weren't any duck prints in
the snow to the feeding area. Dilmore said the man needed to feed the duck or
kill it, so the man killed it.
Very interesting an neat article I never knew that Mr Doyle actually came to Elmira to do a presentation and that similar stories were made around here in reference to him, I still to this day enjoy mysteries and Sherlock Holmes was one of them so Thanks for sharing this inspiring article.
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