Krriea of Review, 1/liiOS. 



Leading Articles* 



589 



WHY WOMEN WRITE GOOD DETECTIVE 

 STORIES. 



Writing on Art and tiie Detective in the October 

 Temple Bar. Mr. Cecil Chesterton says that if we 

 want to find the best contemporarv mystery stories 

 we shall not go to "Sherlock Holmes," or to Mr. 

 Arthur Morrison, or to Mr. Fergus Hume. We 

 shall rather turn to the work of two women, Mrs. 

 A. K. Green and Mrs. Florence Warden. 



\V'h\ wcmii-n should succeed in this branch of 

 fiction is explained by Mrs. Green herself. Mr. 

 Chesterton writes : — 



In one of ber best stories. " Tbat .\ffair ?Jext Door." Mrs. 

 Green introduces us to a very commonplace old maid, like 

 most old maids, curious, secretive, keenly observant of her 

 neighbours' affairs, and fond of speculating about other 

 people's business. Circumstances throw ber into the very 

 centre of a mysterious crime, and suddenly reveal in ber 

 all the qualities of a great detective. All the characteristics 

 which make her a nuisance to ber neighbours make her an 

 invaluable ally to the police. The conception is a daring, 

 and, I think, a true one. 



I fancy that the two faculties which the great Sherlock 

 declared to be the prime necessities of a detective, observa- 

 tion and dedut tion, are feminine rather than masculine facul- 

 ties. It will hardly be di.=puted that it is so in regard to the 

 former: while, as to the latter, what man ever discovered 

 as much about the inhabitants of the house opposite as any 

 woman will deduce from the shape of their window blinds? 



Mr, Chesterton considers Miss Florence Warden 

 even more worthy of note, but her merits are not 

 duly acknowledged because criticism does not do 

 justice to the mystery ston*. You may have romance 

 without incident, or vou may have incident without 

 romance. But unlike E Xisbet or Mr. Stanley 

 Wevman. Miss Warden has got the real thing: — 



The first chapter of "The Mystery of Dudley Home," the 

 first two or three chapters of " No. 5 The Square " strike the 

 note that gives the thrill. They are genuinely romantic. 



CANINE INTELLIGENCE. 



Dogs a.s Policemen. 



Mr. William G. FitzGerald. writing in the 

 October Century, is enthusiastic as to the value of 

 dogs in the police service. 



He says a policeman on night dut\ . in a great 

 city, if accompanied by a povv.-rful and sagacious 

 dog, is more likely tn be respected by criminals than 

 the policeman who goes out alone, and he is sur- 

 prised that it should have been left to so small a 

 State as Belgium to make the initial experiment at 

 Ghent and elsewhere in iSgg. In course of time 

 the number of dogs was increased, and it soon be- 

 came ap]3arent that night crimes almost disappeared, 

 \ cunning ruffian might outwit a policeman, but a 

 big tr.iined dog rarely failed to inspire terror in the 

 most desperate evil-doer. 



In Ghent the night service is nuw maile b\ sonu- 

 120 guards and 50 or 60 trained dogs. M. E. van 

 Weseniael was the first to suggest dogs as auxi!iar\ 

 \ police. The big Belgian sheep-dogs are considered 

 the most suitable, and thev undergo a careful traininc; 



Listing from three to six months. When coaching 

 the dogs, the brigadiereontrolciir, in civil dress, 

 often simulates the appearance of a suspicious 

 character, assaulting the night-guards, slouching 

 along with suspicious bundles, or scaling high walls, 

 and the dogs are taught to obey the commands of 

 the police and to attack such persons. 



M. van Wesemael is proud of the achievements of 

 his dogs, especially one named Beer. Mr. Fitz- 

 Gerald writes : — 



One night Beer came upon five drunken fellows wrecking a 

 saloon on the outskirts of the city. The men were making a 

 great uproar, and a resolute resistance to the law was 

 feared. Beer's muzzle was removed, and the fine animal 

 sprang forward without a sound. 'W^hen the patrol reached 

 the spot, four of the men had fled, and Beer was clutching 

 the fifth by the leg. 



The moment the officer appeared. Beer gave up his pri- 

 soner, and was off like the wind on the trail of the fugitives. 

 Tho patrol followed with bis prisone", guided by a series of 

 short, sharp barks. Presently he came upon the ether four, 

 who had turned at bay and were trying to keep the daunt- 

 less Beer from tearing them to pieces. Thoroughly fright- 

 ened—sobered even — the men offered to give themselves up 

 ii' Beer were controlled and muzzled. This was promptly 

 done, though not without a little protest from Beer himself, 

 and the procession started for the central police bureau, 

 with the victorious Beer, now at liberty to give vent to his 

 joy, barking nnd lacing round his prisoners, exactly as if 

 tliey had been a flock of sheep. 



A New Kind of Rubber. 



In the H'orld's Work and L'lav Mr. B. Wyand 

 describes the iww cereal rubber invented by Mr. 

 William Threlfal! Carr. Like other boys, when 

 wandering through the cornfields, he plucked ears 

 of corn and chewed them. Chewed wheat becomes, 

 in the process of chewing, a glutinous substance 

 having a decided resemblance to rubber. This ele- 

 mentary fact he has adapted to the revolutionising 

 of a huge industry, masticating the wheat bv ma- 

 chinerv . and using saliva in the form of ptvalin. In 

 solution ptvalin acts as a ferment, and changes the 

 starchy matter in the corn to dextrose : — 



So far, six grades of the rubher have been manufactured. 

 No. 1 in the form of a thin solution for waterproofing. No. 

 2 in thicker solution for tubing and other fiexible materials. 

 No. 3 for tyres. No. 4 as a loaded substitute for linoleum. 

 No. 5 still fuitl.er loaded and hardened for paving purposes, 

 and No. 6 again still further harc!ened f c r golf balls. Other 

 grades will, of cour.^e, be introduced as required, but here 

 one has a wide range, from th.e waterproofing solution to a 

 golf-ball materia!, the latter combining "the lightness of 

 cork with the toughness of chilled steel." 



This rubber will vulcanise. It can be produci-d 

 at a cost considerablv less than ordinary rubber. A 

 small syndicate has already been formed to develop 

 the uses of this cereal rubber, and two Continental 

 Governments have made offers for the patent. 



In the S<'ptora)xT issiio of (^iisxrlt's Matia-'nie Mr. 

 W. ,\. Soniorsot Shmii t<'Ils the story of tho wrock of 

 the Aii^ffiilid and how it provod a gold niiiio. The 

 Hon. .J. G. Aikman piirchaisod thp wrecked ship for 

 L290 ;ind cleared many tlioiisand.s out of the profit.s 

 of hi.s bargain. 



