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THE SUXDAT. OREGONIAN. PORTTiAND.
JANUARY 12, 1913.
X 17) l,
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"The Theater m America Wi Grow
as a Great Educational Factor."
"M
ARVELOUS, sir simply mar
velous!" exclaimed Sir Her
bert Beerbohm Tree. ."Tou
Americans remind me of the chap who
could ride the Derby all the year round
and never tire."
The English actor-producer had Just
seated himself for breakfast at the
Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
"A very busy life you live here, but
an Intensely interesting one," said he,
"and, I dare say, that Is what counts
in the long run. Tou are great because
you are thorough thorough In every
thing, your commercial institutions,
your skyscrapers, your hotels, restau
rants, theaters
"The theater means so much In
America," he went on after a moment's
pause. "It is the great schoolhouse
of the people, and It will grow in im
portance from year to year."
"As an institution of amusement and
pleasure?"
"No, rather as a great educational
factor," was the answer. "I believe
that the hope of the drama lies in
America. First, because of the enor
mous wealth you have, and, secondly,
because of the enthusiasm of the chil
dren and . ever-Increasing desire for
knowledge."
"Is that not the condition in othef
countries?"
"Partially so in England, but not
elsewhere. The drama in France, for
Instance, is patronized almost entirely
by the adult, or, I may say, the middle-aged.
Here, and in England, the
audiences are composed of boys and
girls, as well as men and women.
And it is a wonderful sign, this grow
ing enthusiasm on the part of the
younger generation for the drama. It
means so very much for education and
enlightenment.
"Why," lie added, "only recently I
was asked to pose in several Shake
spearean roles for the moving pictures.
The Idea was to use the pictures In
some of the English schools. The mov
ing pictures will aid wonderfully In
giving the school children a true In
sight to the drama. In time, I believe,
every schoolhouse will use moving pic
tures in teaching history, geography,
literature. And what could possibly be
more Instructive! A picture will make
a lasting impression upon the mind of
a child, whereas the dry pages of a
book will not."
"In doing this, would you advocate
the realistic or the symbolic?"
"The play, so the picture," was his
reply. "To explain, let me hark back
to the modern manner of producing
Shakespeare, and to say a few words
in extenuation of those methods which
have been assailed in a recent article
with almost equal brilliancy and vehe
mence. two different kinds of plays
the realistic and the symbolic. Shakes
peare's plays, we are assured, belong to
VETERAN OF SCOTLAND YARD TELLS OF HIS EXPERIENCES
Famous Sleuth, Who Shortly Will Ketire From Active Service After 34 Years, Relates Some of His Adventures in Hunting Down Celebrated Crooks.
SCOTLAND YARD, world-famed for
its detectives, is shortly to lose
one of the most famous investiga
tors of crime that it has ever pro
duced Frank Froest.
Perhaps the best testimonial to, his
prowess as a detective lies In the fact
that his retirement from the criminal
Investigation department of the Metro
politan police force is nine years over
due; Even as It is, he would not be
retiring now were it not for the fact
that his eyesight has given him some
trouble lately.
Almost the whole of his official ca
reer 34 years in all has been spent
In the "C. I. D.," for very eaily In his
career as a member of the Metropoli
tan police force he showed the natural
aptitude for criminal investigation
which has brought him not only fame
and reward in his own country, but
also honor and official recognition in
the United States.
There is nothing of the traditional
detective about Froest In manner, ap
pearance, dress and speech he Is whol
ly unlike his prototype in fiction and,
most of all. dissimilar to that master
piece of analytical deduction, Sher
lock Holmes. As his surname and
the shape of his head indicate, he is
of Scandinavian extraction.
To appreciate Frank Froest fully one
must know him. Perhaps the charac
teristic which strikes acquaintance and
friend most Is his natural geniality,
which no worry, no stress of work can
smother. He is an optimist through
and through, and with a great sense
of humor. For his mottoes he might
have taken two: "Be thorough" and
"Keep smiling."
It is said that no man Is indispen
sable. Probably that Is true. But the
retirement of this superintendent of
the "C. I. D." will leave a gap which
only a big man can fill. Froest ) a
big man physically as well as mentariy.
for what he lacks in height (he stands
about five feet eight) he makes up in
breadth. His close-cropped, white
haired head, his short, thick neck, his
deep chest, massive shoulders, burly
frame and slightly bowed legs all sug
gest strength of the bulldog kind,
which when once it fastens on its
quarry will not let go. He is a born
fighter, but he is also a diplomat.
He was responsible for one of the
greatest reforms ever accomplished at
"The Yard'- by breaking down the rule
of maintaining an obdurate silence to
ward the press. At one time news
paper men were received with scant
courtesy at "The Yard." It was Frank
Froest who showed that this policy
was all wrong, and his reform was
more than vindicated at the time of
the Crippen case. The first day of the
story of the crime was published be
wrove for the press an official sum
mary of the details of the crime so
far as they had been discovered, a
proceeding which would have caused
the authorities ten years ago to gasp,
tils action was Justified by the accu
the latter category. 'The scenery,' it Is
insisted, 'not only may, but should be
Imperfect.' This seems an extraordi
nary doctrine, for if it be right that
a play should be imperfectly mounted,
it follows that it should be imper
fectly written. The modern methods,
we are assured, employed in the pro
duction of Shakespeare do not properly
illustrate the play, but are merely made
for display, with the result of crush
ing the author and obscuring his mean
ing. In fhls assertion, I venture to
think that our critic Is mistaken. I
claim that not the least important mis
sion of the modern theater is to give
the public representations of history
which shall be at once an education
and a delight. To do this, the man
ager should avail himself of the best
archeological and artistic help his gen
eration can afford him, while endeavor
ing to preserve what he believes to be
the spirit and the intention of the
author.
"It is, of course, possible for the tech
nically Informed reader to imagine the
wonderful and stirring scenes which
form part of the play without visualiz
ing them. It is, I contend, better to
reserve Shakespeare for the study than
to see him presented half-heartedly.
"I hold that whatever may tend to
destroy the illusion and the people's
understanding is to be condemned.
Whatever may tend to heighten the
illusion and to help the audience to a
better understanding of the play and
the author's meaning Is to be com
mended." Few actors are as competent to dis
cuss the drama as Sir Herbert. As
manager of his majesty's theater in
London he manifests his equipment,
"I have been successful." he said, "be
cause I have been square with the pub
lic" "Is the success of the actor-producer
in England due to the fact that the
English actor is a better business man
than the American actor?" was asked.
"No, I should not say that. Perhaps
the failure of so many of your actor
managers In this country Is due to the
fact that the layman here Is a better
business manager than the actor-manager.
Another consideration enters into
the case, and that is the temperament of
the public. In England, once an actor
is successful his place in the world of
art la firmly established; here, I take it,
things are somewhat different. The old
actors pass out, the new ones come In,
and there are, perhaps, two never-ending
processions, one going forward, an
other going backward."
"Do you mean that the American
public is not sufficiently appreciative?"
was asked.
"Indeed, no," he replied. "If that
were so It would not be the ambition
of the world's players to win America.
I hope to play here soon. The only
reason I have not done so for the past
18 years is because of the responsibil
ity attached to my theater In London
racy which characterized all the news
paper stories, and his originality of
method was further displayed in the
same case when he utilized wireless
tefegraphy for the arrest of the crim
inal. Frank Froest, however, recalls with
a chuckle one occasion on which he
successfully avoided newspaper men
primed with questions for him to an
swer. That was in Chicago, when the
headlines announced: "England's great
sleuth from Scotland Yard arrives."
But they never tracked him down,
tliough he was in the "Windy City" for
a week. He had made up his mind not
to be caught and interviewed.
The visit to. the United States which
he remembers with the greatest satis
faction lasted five months and brought
him the thanks of the American Gov
ernment for his services. This was In
1892, when he helped convict William
Lord Moore for using the United States
mails for fraudulent purposes. Moore's
method was to write to credulous peo
ple in England and France, telling them
he could help them to get their shares
of unclaimed millions lying in banks.
Moore was tried at Jackson, Tenn. The
jury disagreed twice, but the third time
it found him guilty and sentenced him
to nine years' penal servitude.
There was a strange sequel to this
case. It is best told in Froest's own
words.
"Moore escaped from prison," he says,
"after serving a short period of his
sentence, and was completely lost to
the police in America. One daf a little
old lawyer, who had an office in Fleet
street, London, came to my room at
Scotland Yard and said: 'I have been
advised to come to you. A lady who
Is a client of mine saw an advertise
ment in one of the English newspapers
stating that someone of her name was
heir to a large estate in America. She
answered the advertisement and re
ceived this reply.' He produced a letter
writtten from Jackson, in Michigan,
mark you. not Tennessee. It stated
that the lady was entitled to a big
share in gold mines worth more than
$100,000. The address made me think
and, on examining the letter, I identi
fied the writing as that of Moore. It
was nearly two years after his escape.
We at once notified the American po
lice authorities of our discovery and
Moore was promptly arrested and sent
back to jail. I have always thought
it was a. curious coincidence that the
old lawyer should have happened to
bring me Moore's letter, which, of
course, was signed in another name."
Froest's writing is very Individual.
His former chief and rjedecessor In the
post which he himself is soon to va
cate, John Shaw, once said laughingly:
"If we took a specimen of your hand
writing to a chemist he would make
It up as a prescription for a cure for a
bad cold or as a remedy for corns."
Another noted criminal who was re
sponsible for Froest paying a visit to the
Suites was Bunco-Steerer Tom O'Brien,
who was arrested and brought to trial in
1891 In Albany. He received a sentence
of 10 years, but succeeded in escaping
from jail and made his way to France.
A reward of $5000 was offered for him,
and this sum tempted one of his pals
illliiB n
and the absolute necessity for my con- i
stant attendance there. I
with whom he had fallen out over a
blackmailing deal. O'Brien shot his
friend and was arrested by the French
police, tried and sentenced for a life
term to one of the penal settlements,
where he ultimately died. O'Brien es
caped a capital sentence because his
victim was himself a criminal.
The Townsend Burden jewel robbery,
in 1896, was another case in unraveling
which Froest played a prominent part
The jewels, worth $100,000, were stolen
from the wealthy American and his
wife by two EngliBh servants, an en
deavor being made by the culprits to
cloak their dishonesty by the pretense
that there had been a burglary. The
deception was discovered in time for
nearly the whole of the jewelry to be
recovered.
Another sensational case In which
ADVENTURES
watching the battle as though it were
a show got up for their benefit.
General In the Ranks
Several of these onlookers were
killed and wounded, but it made no
difference, the police being Unable to
keep the populace from invading even
the most dangerous places.
I had been going In and out of
Juarez since the start of the battle,
keeping on the rebel side and getting
some Interesting snapshots. To my
surprise, of all Madero's newly appoint
ed Generals. Garibaldi and Villa were
the only ones to be seen at or near the
firing line, and even they were not In
command, but were fighting like pri
vates, each with his Winchester 30-30.
Orozco and the rest were not in evi
dence. The Foreign Legion had taken upon
Itself the storming of the federal for
tifications on the main street, and
throughout the battle were closer to
the enemy than any other revolution
ary force. They had selected as the
best point of vantage a fine two-story
residence standing alone on a lawn,
whose south and west exposures com
manded two near-by buildings manned
by Navarro's men.
Wandering around town in search of
subject matter for my camera, my
ears were struck by an Indescribable
medley of sounds that seemed to come
from the headquarters of the Foreign
Legion. Between the crash of volley
tiring, the boom of cannon and the
staccato bark of the machine guns, I
seemed to distinguish melodious strains
of music
Climbing cautiously over the back
fence, I edged through a basement en
trance and, striding up to the library,
came upon as stirring a scene as it has
been my lot to behold.
Seated at a pianola a begrimed fil
ibuster was pouring forth Mendelssohn's
Wedding March." On a couch in the
opposite corner a twitching figure dyed
with his life blood its luxurious bro
caded coverings. Seated on the floor
"American actors," he continued, .
"are becoming better understood!
Froest showed his natural skill as a
detective to a marked degree was that
of Nancy Guildford, an American wo
man doctor, who, after a warrant had
been Issued for her arrest, successively
eluded the American, Canadian and
Liverpool police. Froest took up the
clew from Paddlngton Station, the
Great Western Railway terminus,
where It was believed she had arrived
from Bristol, the police of that place
being positive that a woman answer
ing her description had bought a ticket
for London.
Froest had a cabled description of
the woman, who was between 30 and
40 years old, and also knew that she
had with her a trunk with a broken
strap. He went to Paddington, and,
after 86 hours of close Questioning of
OF WAR CORRESPONDENT
(CONTINUED FROM PAGK FOUR.)
another man was patiently trying to
tie a handkerchief about his wounded
wrist, while ranged along loopholes
pierced through the walls a dozen sol
diers of fortune kept up the battle
with an unseen enemy. Each time the
pianola would accentuate the dominant
motive of the music all the men would
hum an accompaniment, keeping time
unconsciously with the reports of their
rifles.
Considering the number of shots
fired, the casualties were not numer
ous. However, there were about 200
wounded lying In the streets and on
the roofs.
I tried to take some of the wounded
to El Paso, where the local physicians
and hospitals had volunteered to at-J
tend them, but the American soldiers
on the northern end of the interna
tional bridge refused to allow them to
be brought into American territory un
less they conformed to prescriptions of
the immigration laws.
A tortuous tangle of red tape, ne
cessitating an Interchange of tele
grams between the Ambassadors and
Presidents of the United States and
Mexico, caused the death, from lack of
surgical attention, of at least 100
wounded soldiers at the very gates of
the United States.
At last everything was arranged and
the immigration, customs and quaran
tine Officials were instructed to allow
the wounded to enter El Paso. We
carried In about 20 that were near; but
for the Injured from more distant
parts of the town it was necessary to
use ambulances.
The firing did not let up for a mo
ment The rebels tried to let the Fed
erals know TOf the opportunity for car
ing for their wounded, but no attention
was paid to them, as white flags had
been treacherously used several times
by both sides, and at that stage of the
battle both rebels and Federals would
preferably fire on the bearer of a
truce flag than on a declared and uni
formed enemy.
The representatives of both parties
held a conference in El Paso. Human!
tarianisra instincts overcame political
abroad. For a time your stars who
went to England did not meet with the
railway officials, cabmen and others
at the station, he found a cabman who
had taken her and her trunk from the
station. From this point Froest worked
night and day for a week before run
ning his quarry to earth. His diffi
culties were- increased by the fact that
he soon discovered that the woman's
method was to take a cab and direct
the driver to put her down at a certain
house. She would linger on the side
walk until the cabman had driven off
and then get a boy to fetch another
cab, when the process would be re
peated. As a variation she would
have her luggage taken into the house
or hotel, pay for a room, and after a
few hours drive off. Froest persevered,
cabman by cabman, and finally traced
her to lodgings In Camden Town.
He described the finish of his hunt
partisanship for the moment, and it was
decided to declare an hour's truce that
the wounded of both sides be carried to
7ZI Paso.
No one volunteered to take the mes
sage to the contending foemen. We
Americans who were present expressed
our opinions as to the necessity of
haste.
"Why do you not convey the message
yourselves instead of volunteering use
less advice?" was thrown back at us.
As I was the only American present
whose knowledge of Spanish was suf
ficient to fill the order I was elected
to take the letters to Navarro and his
opponents.
Five minutes later I crossed the in
ternational bridge into Juarez, a red
Z-ZZ flag in my hand, another pinned
across my back, and stili ir.cicr
my chest. I felt I was a fool, but it
was too late to turn back.
As I neared the rebel lines the Fed
erals fired at me. As I would approach
the Federal positions the rebels would
shoot at me. I grew hoarse shouting
my message to the men on every roof,
having to repeat myself nearly every
time, as the bursting shells and crash
ing rifle fire would drown my voice.
In the thickest of the fight I met
Jimmy Hare, staff photographer of
Collier's Weekly. I told him my er
rand, and he volunteered to accompany
me.
"But you will have to ' leave your
camera behind." I admonished. He
agreed, after first taking a picture of
me bending over a wounded man in
the middle of the street to brush away
the myriad flies that were tormenting
bim.
At last we found Navarro and gave
him the letter. He agreed to cease fir
ing for an hour; and did so.
By nightfall all the wounded had
been taken over to El Paso, and the
American surgeons had plenty of op
portunity to study the relative effects
of steel-jacketed and of soft-nosed bul
lets on the human system.
I was later given a diploma by Ma
dero, in which he thanked me in the
name of the Mexican people.
success to which they were entitled.
That was due to the fact that English- j
men were not as familiar with Ameri
can manners and customs as were
Americans of English manners and
customs. However, your really great
artists have never failed of just appre
ciation. The name of Jefferson is a
household word In England.
"I repeat, the hope of the drama lies
In England and America, especially
America. There will always be a cer
tain form of musical show which will
afford diversion rather than instruc
tion, but the drama will have a lasting
place here; the realistic rather than the
symbolic will endure."
In a recent book written by Sir Her
bert on Henry VIII. the actor-producer
draws a striking comparison between
the realistic and the symbolic. The
symbolic he refers to as footnotes with
which those who do not know how to
appreciate the joys of life and their
true presentation on the stage are
filled. Here, for instance, is a "foot
note" by Sir Herbert:
"Personally, I have been a sentimen
tal adherent of symbolism- since my
first Noah's Ark. Ever since I first
beheld the generous curves of Mrs.
Noah and first tasted the Insidious car
mine of her lips, have I regarded the
wife of Noah as symbolical of the su
preme type of womanhood. I have
learned that the most exclusive symbol
ists, when painting a meadow, regard
purple as symbolical of bright green,
but we live In a realistic age and have
not yet overtaken the art nouveau of
the pale future. It is difficult to deal
seriously with so much earnestness. I
am forced Into symbolic parable. Arte
mus Ward, when delivering a lecture
on his great moral panorama, pointed
with his hand to a blur on the horizon
and said: 'Ladies and gentlemen, that
is a horse the artist who painted thai
picture called on me "yesterday with
tears In his eyes and said he would dis
guise that fact from me no longer!' He,
too, was a symbolist.
"Now there are plays In which sym
bolism is appropriate those of Maeter
linck, for instance. But if, as has been
said. Maeterlinck resembles Shakes
Deare. Shakespeare does not resemble
Maeterlinck. Let us remember that
Shakespeare was a humorist, not a
symbolist."
The actor's stay in this country was
brief, lasting only eight days.
Will Mr. Wilson's
Door Stay Open?
(CONTINCED FROM PAGE FOUR.)
soon as he settled in Princeton building
lots there took a sudden upward spurt
Dealers In every article, under the
sun will send Dr. Wilson generous
samples of their wares with the hope
of receiving some word of praise which
can be advertised as a testimonial. A
mere acknowledgment from the White
House secretary will suffice as a basis
for a poster. "President Wilson uses
Snooks' Soap." Mr. JIcKlnlcy, while in
Congress once sent down from his hotel
room a note to the cigar stand asking
for some perfectos of a certain brand
The shrewd dealer kept the note until
McKlnley was elected, and then had
facsimiles electrotyped and pasted on
each box of these cigars. A piano manu
facturer once wrote to Mr. Cleveland
that 2000 of his admiring workmen
In a quiet, matter-of-fact way when
telling the story.
"The last cabman," he said, "when I
questioned him, was sure he had taken
the woman I was searching for, but
added: 'I don't know the number of
the house nor the street it's in, but I
think I can drive you there.' So I
popped into his cab and told him to
take me to the house. When I got
there I rang the bell and asked the
landlady if she had any one answering
the description which I gave. 'Well,
sir,' she replied, 'there is one lady here,
an American lady, but she never sees
anybody and keeps her door locked all
the time.' So I Bald, 'I am a police
officer and I must see her. Can't you
go upstairs, knock on the door, and
when she answers tell her that you
have a letter for her?" The landlady
did as I asked her and I followed her
up. As , soon as Nancy Guilford
opened the door of the apartment I
pushed my way into the room. She
was furious, and indignantly swore
by all that was holy that she was neith
er Nancy Guildford nor had ever heard
of her; that she would complain to the
Ambassador about my conduct and gen
erally make things unpleasant for me.
"The moment I set eyes on her I knew
there was no doubt she was the woman.
I showed her the cabled description,
told her how I traced her, and pointed
out to her .that one of the straps to her
trunk was broken. While Bhe was get
ting ready to accompany me I noticed
when she thought I was not looking in
her direction that she bent down and
slipped something under the hearth rug.
When I turned it up I found under
neath a linen collar marked with her
name.
" 'In the face of this, madam, you can
no longer deny that you are Nancy
Guildford,' I said.
"'That's the mistake of the laundry;
they sent me somebody else's collar,'
she replied, but she knew well enough
that it was an oversight on her part,
because she had carefully cut out the
name from all her other garments.
"She was ultimately sentenced to, I
think, ten years."
Altogether Froest has either directly
or indirectly been concerned in the ar
rest of well over 100 American crim
inals. He was asked which he remem
bered with the greatest satisfaction.
"My arrest of Cowboy Kuhn at
Queenstown is the one I think which
gives me the greatest satisfaction," was
his reply. "Kuhn came from Primrose
City, Wis. He had murdered five or
six of his comrades and had dropped
their bodies into a creek. The crime
was brought to light by a boy who,
while fishing, brought up on the book
at the end of his line some of the brains
from one of Kuhn's victims' heads.
"I went on board at Queenstown and
arrested him before he knew he was
found. I always thought he was mad.
He was a big man, powerfully built
and very sullen. He never said a word
from the time I arrested him to the time
he was sent off. As we were in the
train on our way to London I was read
ing a newspaper, while he was sitting
opposite with his hands manacled to
gether. Suddenly I noticed him quietly
reaching down for the foot-warmer. I
wished to present a piano to the first
lady of the land. The President ac
cepted the 'of far, but when he learned
that the 2000 workmen with , a band
marched with the piano to the station. ,
and that at every point en route the
piano was featured as "destined to ba
played on by the fair fingers of the
first lady of the land," the Cleveland
became disgusted and sent the piano
back. Scores of such experiences led
to the rule, now strictly enforced, that
the White House steward shall buy
nothing from a dealer who will not
guarantee that the presidential patron
age shall not be used for advertising
purposes. Mr. Roosevelt rebuked all
concerns which used his portrait In ad
vertisement.''. He went so far as to re
quest the withdrawal of a booklet by
the Spokane Chamber of Commerce
using his portrait on the title page. An
order for 50.000 of the pamphlets had
to be canceled, and steps taken to call
those which had already gone
out. -
This magic of the Presidential name
is seen wherever It is written or print
ed. One of Mr. McKinley's autographs
on a piece of paper otherwise blank
sold at auction for $6.25 a few weeks
after his death. In another genera
tion it will doubtless be worth ten
times as much. Twenty-two volumes of
the works of Theodore Roosevelt, each
volume bearing the Presidential auto
graph, sold for $3200 in Philadelphia
in 1U0I. And as soon' as Theodore, Jr.,
entered the plant of the manufacturers
who employed him tiiolr business is
said to have realized a boom on the
strength of the magic of even his
name.
Wall Street Trade, on Ilia Health.
Wall street will trade on President
Wilson's pulse and temperature. When
they go up the stock market will go
down. The daily procession of figures
on the tapes of the tickers will be
altered also by what he says and writes
on industrial topics. Men will be em
ployed to guard the manuscripts and
proofs , of his messages and speeches
against possible leaks which might al- '
low some especially Informed stock
jobber to enrich himself at the expense
of those who have not had an equal "
chance of informing themselves. When
Mr. Roosevelt made his Western tour
in the Fall of 1907 he took special
precautions against, the furnishing of
advance press copies of his speeches to
Wall-street publications and the ticker
service. His Provincetown speech of '
the previous month had leaked in some
way and advance copies had gotten
into the hands of brokers, who prof
ited by It.
President Roosevelt was peculiarly
sensitive to exploitation and criticism.
Once lie went so far as to order the'
Weather Bureau to suspend its iore
casts supplied - to a paper which ac
cused one of his children of abusing ,
a turkey sent to the White House.
President Taft has never appeared to '
be ruffled by such incidents. When
he entered the White House he knew
just what was coming to him and has
since lost no sleep over impositions
which would harass any one of less
tolerance.
His successor will save himself a
vast deal of unhappiness If he emu
lates this example and closes his eyes
and ears to that element which per
petually plagues public men with its
petty schemes and scoldings.
(Copyright, 1912, by John Elfreth Wat
kins.) knew what he was about, but there was
no time for me to throw myself upon
him, so I brought my foot up under his
chin and that made him sit up straight
again. He was extradited to the States,
where he got a life sentence."
"What is the narrowest shave you
have ever had for your life?" was the
question which brought this prompt
reply, uttered with a good-natured
laugh:
"Oh! It would take a Yankee to an
swer that question. Probably one that
I never knew anything about"
- On a former occasion, however, he
had expressed the Interesting opinion
that he would always prefer a man
who was attacking him to be armed with
a pistol rather than a knife. His reason
for this was, "because the man with
the pistol may miss you, but the man
with the knife never does."
"What do you think of Sherlock
Holmes' methods?" was another ques
tion which the World correspondent put "
to him. The reply was brief, but to the
point: "I think they make intensely in
teresting novels."
There are some officers at "the
yard" who would reply far less gen
erously to this question if It were put
to them. In fact, it annoys some of
the leading lights of tho "C. I. D."
very much when the name of Sherlock
Holmes is mentioned. But Frankie, as
he is usually known at "the yard,"
merely laughs.
It will be remembered that Sherlock
Holmes found great inspiration in his
pipe; that he resorted to drugs, and -that
he could not sleep when perplexed
by a great problem. So much for tbe
mcthods of the ideal detective, as Sher
lock Holmes has come to be considered.
Now listen to what the real detective,
Frank Froest says on this subject:
"No, I never lost any sleep over a
case. I didn't let it get on my nerves
to that extent But I used to make it
a rule never to take any intoxicating
liquor or to smoke at all while I had
a big Job on."
Perhaps the most Interesting of a.l
his pronouncements on detective work
is ills answer to the question: "What
do you consider are the qualifications
most needed to make a successful de
tective?" This was the reply:
"Honesty (that comes first, of course,
even to tne criminal).
"Tact
"Common sense."
No one who has met Froest would
deny that he has developed these three
qualifications himself admirably. It has
been a clever combination of the three
which has made him so popular among
all the newspaper men whose duties
have taken them to Scotland Yard for
Inquiries. At the time of the Crippen case
he interviewed 30 newspaper men twice
a day regularly without "turning a "
hair," and one might add mischievously,
"without winking an eyelid." Froest
never made the mistake of telling
everything he knew. What he did do
was to tell the newspaper men every
thing he thought it was right for them
to know and no more. And he did it
so cleverly every man went away con
gratulating himself that toe at least
knew everything.