May Meeting: The Empty House

This month found us meeting via Zoom once again, and this time we were joined by friends from out of town!  California, Michigan, and Texas were represented along with our usual Missouri and Illinois participants.  With 23 people in attendance, there was plenty of discussion!

Rob started off by noting that "The Adventure of the Empty House" was published in 1903, presumably in conjunction with Holmes's retirement.

Ronald Adair has been murdered after a big winning with Colonel Moran at his club, playing against Godfrey Milner and Lord Balmoral (who is also mentioned in NOBL and SILV).  Adair had been shot in the head, but he was locked in his second-story room and the door was locked.  Stacey and Randy gave us a good historical context for the card scandal that was cited in this story.

There was a good deal of debate about Adair's name between Randy, Tom, Joe, and Bill because it went back and forth between "Ronald" and "Robert" in the manuscript.

Watson was puzzling over the case and goes to look around outside Adair's house with lots of other gawkers.  A man with colored glasses is sharing his thoughts on the case.  Some commentators thought it was Holmes's rival, Barker from RETI.  Others have posited that it was Moran returning to the scene of the crime.

Watson bumps into an old man and knocks books out of his hands.  Randy talked about these books, saying that no such book is called The Origin of Tree Worship.  The bibliophile follows Watson to his office under the guise of apologizing and offering to sell books to Watson to fill the gap on his shelf.  After Watson turns to look at the shelf, the bookseller turns out to Sherlock Holmes.

Surprise!

Stacey found this whole scene hard to believe, thinking both Holmes and Watson acted oddly.  Beth said that even if Watson had been furious, he wouldn't publish it in The Strand.  Tom figured that there was some strong language used, but Watson wouldn't write that up.  Brad pointed out that so many people point to the BBC Sherlock reaction, but that Watson still had his wife in that show and in the Canon, one of the two most important people in the world was still alive.  Chris argued that her initial reaction would be joy and the annoyance would come in later.  Kristen pointed out that Holmes purposely tricked Watson and thinks Watson punching Holmes was the correct response.

Watson quickly came to and asked "How did you come out of the chasm?" to which Holmes responded, "I never was in it."  Moriarty allowed Holmes to write the note, they walked to the cliff, Moriarty rushed him, and using Baritsu (or Bartitsu), Holmes threw him down the falls, making Moriarty "the first Reichenbach cliff diver" as noted by Bill.

Rob wondered why Watson was able to observe Holmes and Moriarty's footprints, but not the outline that must have been left by Holmes's body as he laid and looked over the cliff.

Holmes decides to fake his death because three other men want him dead.  He climbed the rock wall to hide and watched Watson's "sympathetic and inefficient" search of the scene.  After Watson left, someone started hurling boulders at him.  Rob shared a theory that Moran used his one shot to kill Moriarty, making him the head of the organization, and was left to use boulders to kill Holmes.

Randy asked why didn't he use the rifle to kill Holmes, and Srini, Toby, and Michael all noted that they were single shot rifles.  Toby said she had seen a can rifle like Moran's at an antique shop before, but couldn't justify paying such a high price.  Elaine also said that Moran wouldn't have had a good angle to fire from on top of the cliff.  Andy said it was just because bullets cost money but rocks were free.

Holmes escapes and "did ten miles over the mountains in the darkness" and was in Florence a week later.  He spends two years in Tibet, visited Lhassa, spending some days with the head Lama, passed through Persia, looked in at Mecca, and paid a short but interesting visit to Khalifa at Kharoum.  Ed had a great paper on Holmes's visit to Khalifa that was posted on our blog.

Srini kicked off a discussion about the possibility of Holmes visiting Mecca.  Mecca was closed to outsiders at this time.  Elaine said it was because he was in disguise.  Randy joked that he could've used Basil Rathbone's disguise from The Spider Woman.  Ed said that the disguise would have had to have been unbelievably good to pass as a Muslim.  Toby cited a precedent that Sir Richard Burton made it in to Mecca around this time.

Brad pointed out that Holmes's old college friend was living in India and could have influenced Holmes's original set of travels before Mycroft got involved.  Randy cited a paper written by Gordon Speck where it was theorized that Holmes's travels had been planned out months in advance.  Olivia wondered if Holmes was actually in London the whole time and the stories of Holmes's travels were just stories.

Holmes moved on to France, researching coal tar derivatives, came back to London, threw Mrs. Hudson into violent hysterics, and found that Mycroft has preserved his rooms and papers.  Adam wondered why Mrs. Hudson was complicit in keeping those rooms untouched for so long.  Olivia said that money can quiet a lot of questions.  Stacey talked about the mourning process of Victorian times.  Rob cited a paper that Joe had written on Mycroft's role in keeping the rooms and Holmes sneaking back into London to see Watson, but Joe admitted that the paper was so long ago that he didn't remember it!

We spent some time talking about Holmes's sad bereavement.  Rob thought that Holmes's comment about work being the best antidote to sorrow was callous.  Beth wondered if Holmes had read William Blake's comments on sorrow.  And what exactly was the bereavement?  Did Mary die?  Did she have a mental breakdown?  Was it the death of a family member?  Randy argued for Mary's death because there was no more mention about her after that.  Bill suggested that Mary had died in child birth.

Three hours later, Holmes and Watson are in a Hansom cab.  The get out at Cavendish Square and make sure not to be followed.  They eventually arrive at a deserted building.  Bill told everyone about Gray Chandler Briggs's work in locating 221B Baker Street based off his finding the empty house.  It was told in the great book, Dear Starrett, Dear Briggs, which Randy showed off to everyone.  Michael said that Briggs once told Conan Doyle about this, and Doyle claimed to have never been to Baker Street.

Holmes has Watson peek out of the window across to their rooms.  Watson sees an outline of Holmes in the window, a wax bust he had made.

Soon, Moran sneaks into the house while Holmes and Watson wait in the dark.  Rob cited the great prose here.  Such great description of their wait, Moran's look, and his settling in for his shot all in the same paragraph! 

Bill cited an article by Tom Stix saying that Moran was not very bright.  He walked right into an unlocked trap.  He said that maybe the "a" in his last name should have been an "o" instead.  Chris found it hard to believe that such an experienced hunter would be deceived by the outline in the window.  Elaine argued that Watson was fooled by the dummy, so it must not have been that bad.  Srini pointed out that Moran would not have had much time.  He came in, set up, and took the shot.  If the blame should fall on anyone, it should have been his lookout.  Beth cited plenty of times that Holmes would sit immobile. 

Rich said he always worried about Mrs. Hudson's safety when she was moving the wax bust.  Ed and Tom acknowledged that many points in the Canon can be implausible, but they take the assumption that everything in the stories are true and as Sherlockians, they see it as their roles to make those facts fit.  Randy said that he enjoyed looking at different annotated versions of the Canon to see what holes they poke in the stories.

Moran's walking stick is his air gun, he fires and Holmes leaps!  Moran seizes Holmes by the throat and Watson buffaloes him with his pistol.  Lestrade and company are soon there.  Stacey pointed out that in FINA, Holmes was in a game theory match with Moriarty, but she didn't see him follow that train of thought in this adventure.

Holmes introduces "Colonel Sebastian Moran, once of Her Majesty's Indian Army, and the best heavy game shot that our Eastern empire has ever produced."

Moran is arrested for the attempted murder of Sherlock Holmes, but S. Tupper Bigelow pointed out years ago that an attempted murder charge would not hold, as Moran had fired at an inanimate object. 

And anyway, Holmes says that Moran should be arrested for the murder of Ronald Adair and that he should not be mentioned in the case.  Why the hesitancy?  Surely there would be legal complications if Holmes did not appear.  Toby and Kristen thought that it was because Holmes enjoyed the chase, but not all of the red tape associated with the legal process.

Back in Baker Street, Watson admires the wax dummy.  Ed wondered why Holmes didn't have the waxen image made from Madame Tussaud.  Rob pointed out that in Doyle's play The Mazarin Stone, the villain was Colonel Moran and he was fooled by a wax dummy in that story as well. 

Holmes and Watson settle into their old chairs, Holmes in his mouse dressing gown.  This led to a discussion of how to pronounce mouse (like the rodent) and what color it is (grayish-brown).

Watson says he has never heard of Colonel Moran in EMPT, but he was told about him in VALL, just like the confusion around whether or not Watson knew about Moriarty.

Holmes gives Moran's biography to Watson, and Rob wondered if Moriarty met Moran through being his Army coach.  Bill said hat FINA and EMPT are two parts of the same story and he felt that they should be read together as a novella.

Holmes conjectures that Moran killed Adair because he discovered the cheating and was going to call him out.  Holmes also predicts that Moran will hang for murder, but he is still alive when Holmes mentions him again in ILLU.  Adam pointed out that the crime is more of an afterthought because this story is how Sherlock Holmes comes back to London, and not how he is solving this crime, his explanation of the crime is loosely structured.

We finally wrapped up our meeting, and announced that our next one will be for "The Norwood Builder."  Hopefully this one can be in person!

A Short but Interesting Visit by Ed Moorman

As we ramp up to this weekend's meeting on "The Adventure of the Empty House," Ed Moorman thought his article on the region of Holmes's travels would be interesting.  It was originally published in The Baker Street Journal in March of 1993, but is just as timely today.

A SHORT BUT INTERESTING VISIT
[BSJ. March 1993, V43:1, pp16-18. W.R. Cochran, ed.]
by ED MOORMAN

After two years in Tibet, Sherlock Holmes “passed through” Persia, looked in at Mecca, so he reports, and then “paid a short visit to the Khalifa at Khartoum.” It was the results of this “short visit” that Holmes communicated to the Foreign Office.  Persia and Mecca may have been mere way stations on his journey, but there can be no question that Holmes’s “short visit” to the Khalifa was a mission, a specific government mission that eventually figured greatly in the involvement of England in African affairs and, ultimately, world affairs.

England had occupied Egypt since 1882, at the request of the Egyptian government. This occupation helped shore up the ruling faction, and, not so incidentally, discouraged the involvement of other European powers in Egyptian affairs. This occupation kept important trade routes open.

At the time, Khartoum was the capital city of the Sudan and was located just south of Egypt. The city of Khartoum, located on the upper Nile, had been an important export center for slaves. The Sudan was in turmoil, due mainly to a rebel force led by a Muslim mystic known as Ahmad al-Mahdi. Mahdi was, in effect, the Ayatollah Khomeini of his day. He was a fundamentalist Muslim who wanted to conquer the Sudan and reform the Muslim faith. He claimed to be a direct descendant of
the Prophet Mohammed.

By 1884, Mahdi had amassed a large army of fanatical followers. These included the holy men, or fakis, who wanted as did Mahdi to reform Islam, but also included former slave merchants who hoped to reinstitute the slave trade. The fiercest fighters among the followers of Mahdi were so-called Baqqarat Arabs, cattle nomads who merely wanted to depose the Sudanese government. The leader of this fierce group of Baqqarat Arabs was the man called the Khalifa, or “deputy.” The Khalifa was the rebels’ military leader. If Mahdi was an Ayatollah, the Khalifa was a Saddam Hussein.

In 1884, the Mahdiists in large numbers were on the outskirts of Khartoum. To evacuate the Egyptian forces at Khartoum, the Egyptians called on the man who knew the Sudan better than any other Englishman, but who at the same time was the most hated by Mahdi and the Khalifa and their supporters. That man was General Charles George Gordon.

General Gordon eventually became one of England’s greatest heroes because of what was to happen at Khartoum. After Khartoum, all of England admired Gordon. Dr. Watson himself tells us in The Cardboard Box that he had a newly framed portrait of Gordon hanging on the wall at Baker Street.

Who was Gordon? Born in 1833, Gordon became known for “reckless” bravery at Sebastopol in the Crimean War (1853-56). He participated in the occupation of Peking in the “Arrow” war of 1860 and
in the rebellion in Shanghai in 1862. Back in England in 1865, and now known as “Chinese” Gordon, he developed what has been called an unorthodox, mystical brand of Christianity and generated something of a cult following.

In 1873, Gordon was appointed, or actually was hired by the reigning Sudanese government, to be governor of the province of Equatoria. He mapped the entire upper Nile and set up a line of stations.

One of Gordon’s accomplishments as governor from 1873 to 1876 was his crushing of the slave trade. He suppressed a number of rebellions as well. Back in England in the late 1870’s, Gordon had one last campaign ahead of him, and it came at Khartoum in 1884. Gordon got the job of going into Khartoum and rescuing the Egyptian forces threatened by Mahdi and his rebels. Gordon arrived in Khartoum in February 1884. One month later, in March, Mahdi and the Khalifa mounted a siege, and Gordon could not get out of Khartoum.

The English government dragged its feet and sent no reinforcements. Huge protests broke out in London as people demanded action. Finally, months later, a force headed by General Wolseley set sail for Africa. In January of 1885, with the siege already nine months old, Lord Beresford headed an expedition up the Nile to help out. But the waters of the Nile subsided, and the rebel forces led by the Khalifa stormed the city of Khartoum. On 26 January 1885, they massacred General Gordon and all of his forces. Lord Beresford arrived two days late, heard gunfire, and retreated.

The English people reacted with shock and outrage. General Gordon was no longer “Chinese” Gordon. He was “Gordon of Khartoum,” a martyr. And Gordon became Dr. Watson’s greatest hero.

Having taken over the city of Khartoum, Mahdi lived only five more months, died, and the Khalifa ruled the Sudan. This was in 1885. In an account reprinted in The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Edgar Smith claims that the Khalifa “held forth embattled until 1888.” That is not true. In fact, the Khalifa lasted far longer. He moved the capital from Khartoum to its twin sister, Omdurman, just across the Nile. From Omdurman he set out, literally, to conquer the world.

Like Saddam Hussein, the Khalifa was fanatically religious, lusted after power, and was totally ignorant of the world outside of his own country. He amassed his forces and marched them off in four different directions: eastward, where they conquered the Ethiopians; westward, where they occupied the desert; southward, where they were driven back by a Belgian force from the Congo; and northward, where they were soundly defeated by an Anglo-Egyptian force under General Grenfell.

The Khalifa abandoned his dreams of world conquest.

From 1889 to 1892, the Khalifa, beaten in war and beset by famine, epidemic, and death, tried to hold on. The crops improved, however, after 1892, and by the time Holmes came for his “short visit” in 1893, things were improving in the Sudan. Edgar Smith claims that the Khalifa was not in Khartoum in 1893, but if he was not, he was a few paces across the bridge in Omdurman. If Holmes says it was Khartoum, it probably was Khartoum.

But why would Holmes, or any Englishman, bother to pay a short visit to the Khalifa? This was definitely not the occasion for a friendly chat. General Gordon was Watson’s hero and had been not merely defeated but actually murdered, massacred by the Khalifa. It has been said that England does not have permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests. Still in all, one does not idly sip tea with butchers. One is certain that Holmes told Watson a lot more about this visit than a line which reads almost like “And by the way, Watson, I stopped and had a nice little visit with the chap who murdered your hero, General Gordon.”

So why make the visit? Well, we learn that the French in 1893 came up with an ingenious plan. The French were never much in favor of anything England did, and England’s partnership with Egypt was
particularly troublesome to the French. In 1893, the French started a project under which they would march across Africa to the city of Fashoda, 400 miles south of Khartoum on the Nile. There they would build a dam and obstruct the Nile. England vitally needed a detailed investigation of this matter. It would have been absolutely necessary that someone visit Khartoum to determine whether the Khalifa was willing or able to defend the Nile from this French threat, or whether England and
Egypt would have to provide all of the defense.

When Holmes returned to London in 1894, no one in England outside of the government could have known how important an investigation of the Khalifa in 1893 would have been. But by the time The Adventure of the Empty House was published, in 1903, all of England knew what eventually had happened in the Sudan during the 1890’s.

General Kitchener, later Lord Kitchener, had become commander of the Egyptian forces in 1892. In 1893, he needed intelligence information about the Khalifa which could be provided only by a brave
and perceptive Englishman, totally reliable, an experienced investigator, and a master of disguise. There would have been only one choice.

Kitchener’s request for investigation assistance would have gone to the Foreign Office and from there been relayed by Mycroft to Holmes in Tibet. That is why Persia was only a “pass-through” and Mecca only a “look-in” for Holmes as he proceeded to Khartoum. The British had to find out as soon as possible what lay in store if the French went ahead with their plan to dam the Nile at Fashoda. One pictures Holmes perhaps disguised as an Arab merchant, looking over Khartoum, sipping tea with the Khalifa. This was Holmes single-handedly putting the “Impossible Mission” force to shame.

It would have become apparent to Holmes that the Anglo-Egyptian force would have to stop the French themselves. The Khalifa was too obtuse to realize that his own interests were at stake. One suspects that he may have even been bribed by the French to provide Sudanese labor for the project. Before Kitchener could face down the French, he would have to defeat the Khalifa. This must have been the message Holmes communicated to the Foreign Office.

The French force did not leave for Africa until 1896, under Captain Jean-Baptiste Marchand. Two years later, after landing on the West coast of Africa and crossing the continent, they were at Fashoda, ready to build the dam.

But Kitchener, thanks to the intelligence provided by Holmes’s visit with the Khalifa, had known for years what would be necessary, and he could not have been better warned and better prepared. On 2
September 1898, Kitchener and his force of 25,000 men met and soundly defeated the Khalifa and his 60,000 men outside of Omdurman.

Gordon was avenged. Watson must have cheered. The Khalifa fled and was killed a year later.

Kitchener then moved on south, up the Nile, and confronted the French at Fashoda. Both sides prepared for war. If you do not recall ever having read about the heroic battle of Fashoda, it is because the battle never happened. Facing the well-prepared forces of Kitchener, France backed down. The dam project was abandoned. Th French left the Sudan.

Kitchener became a hero, later leading forces in the Boer War in South Africa. By the time of World War I, Kitchener was able to mobilize all of the British forces With his leadership, his ability, and his
face on a million posters proclaiming, “Your Country Needs You.”

So what Holmes called a “short but interesting visit to the Khalifa” helped shape English history well into the twentieth century. If the term “hiatus” implies mere absence, idleness, or inactivity, we must find a better word.