The Battle of Maiwand in the Second Afghan War was where it all began. A young army doctor, John H. Watson, was seriously injured and barely rescued. As a semi-invalid, he made it back to England, where he met Sherlock Holmes. A detailed and educational article by M. Vernet has been added to our Trifling Monographs which tells about it all. The short account in Watson’s own words, is the introduction to the novel, A Study in Scarlet in the sidebar on the right, listed under Doyle’s Works.
It is the fourth of February in the year 2014. It has been a severe winter, and the snow lies deep upon the hillsides, in the valleys, and upon the frozen lakes and streams. The county snow-ploughs have, however, kept the roads open, and life goes on pretty much as usual, but with fewer down-state tourists.
Here, among the lumber-camps of Michigan, we like to pause on this day and drink a toast to one of our own, a man who traveled down to Chicago looking for better opportunities, and from there went on to achieve fame as someone who almost fooled Sherlock Holmes, but not quite. Sadly, he didn’t fool Moriarty either.
To Bertram Edwards !
