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Watsons Revive MemoriesGravediggers Exhume Body Of Famous Creator of Sherlock Holmes StoriesBy GENE PATTERSON IIP Staff Correspondent“I obtained permission from the home office for the exhuma-PBnwnnumirH -r- „ , „ „ jition An undertaker from London1 i.??!** taken tt» two lead coffins(UP)—Millions of British Watsons learned Saturday that grave-to a chapel in the east end of «* »•*Arthur Conan Doyle, creator ofSherlock Holmes.arrangements yet but there is a possibility that the bodies will be cremated, and with the ashesThe lead-lined caskets of Boyle of my brother Denis put In a and his wife were taken beforedawn Tuesday from the weed-grown garden of Windlesham Mansion where so many Holmes adventures were conceived.But for an early-bird milkman who saw the exhumation the story still might not be known. And there still was a quiet lack of explanation about the affair that somehow carried the ghostly impact of a Holmes calmly relating some such dreadful finding as “they were the footprints of a gigantic hound.”The banner headline question in the London Press was “Why?”Family AffairThe only available answer was that it was a family affair.The bodies of Doyle and his wife were being moved to an unannounced new resting place, the family said. But much was left to deduction which might, in the long run, be elementary.There was talk here that it was necessary to move the graves in order to arrange for sale of the Windlesham property. But a spokesman for the local estate Agent Charles J. Parris, who is handling sale of Windlesham, said “The exhumation has no connection with the sale of the property.”Students of Doyle's writings might gain a theory from his 1908 observation in “Through the Magic Door.”“Several incidents in my life have convinced me of spiritual interposition—of the promptings of some beneficent force outside ourselevs, which tries to help us where it can.”Or believers in the presence of articulate spirits might hear ironic words right out of ‘The Boscomb Valley Mystery.”“I never hear of such a case as this that I do not think of Baster’s words, and say, ‘There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.' ”Lifts CurtainGroup Officer Jean Conan Doyle, daughter of Sir Arthur and currently serving with the WRAF, lifted the curtain of mystery a bi' this afternoon. She said the family had planned for years to move the bodies of her parents from Windlesham.“My brother' (Adrian) now in Portugal and my half-sister Mary have both kept in touch with me over the plans,” she said.more permanent family resting place.”Big game hunter Denis Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur’s elder son, died at the age of 45 in Mysore. India, last March.Although Sir Arthur died in 1930, letters still arrive every week in London addressed to Sherlock Holmes at 221-B Baker Street, a mythical address.J- Greaves, an official of the Abbey National Building Society which occupies the Baker Street site that might be numbered 221B in the ordinary sequence of things, accepts the Holmes fan mail and replies politely to many of the letters.Mail From AmericaMost of the mail comes from America, much of it from children.Recently Christopher Mauney, 7618 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, wrote Sherlock “1 would like to have your autograph and picture. Please put me in your fan club. I am eight years old.”Eight-year-old Betsy Rosasco of Indianapolis wrote My sister, who is 10, and I play your cases. But I have to be Watson. We have two long-haired Dachshunds and we pretend they are bloodhounds.”Back went Greaves’ kindly reply. On behalf of 221B Baker Street he says “I am sure Mr. Holmes would have been most interested to hear about your games.”TOUGH RABBITPRINCETON. Ind. — (UP)— James C. Stevens, Princeton, was treated at a hospital for a bite ou the head. He said he was feeding his tame” rabbits when one jumped atop him and bit.LOOKING FOR A JOYFUL FOURTH?Then Wildwood is the place to spend It. Plenty of eats and refreshments. Shady spots for lunches, and more interesting entertainments than any spot of its size this side of the Ocean. And don’t forget the thrilling little train rides for kids or grown ups.WILDWOOD Provo Canyon
Newspaper Details
Provo Daily Herald
Provo, Utah, US
Sun, Jul 03, 1955
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Hayner P.
IL, USA 28 Nov 2018
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