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Sagamore Bridge

The Sagamore Bridge in Sagamore, Massachusetts carries Route 6 and the Claire Saltonstall Bikeway across the Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod with the mainland of Massachusetts. It is the more northeastern of two automobile canal crossings, the other being the Bourne Bridge. Most traffic approaching from the north follows Massachusetts Route 3 which ends at Route 6 just north of the bridge, and the bridge provides direct expressway connections from Boston and Interstate 93.

History
The bridge and its sibling the Bourne Bridge were constructed beginning in 1933 by the Public Works Administration for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates both the bridges and the canal. Both bridges carry four lanes of traffic over a 616 ft main span, with a 135 ft ship clearance. They opened to traffic on June 22, 1935. The design of the Sagamore and Bourne bridges was later copied in miniature for the John Greenleaf Whittier Bridge that connects I-95 from Newburyport to Amesbury, Massachusetts.

The bridges replaced a drawbridge which was built before the canal was widened. The original bridge approaches are still visible to the north of the modern bridge, though both approaches are in low-traffic residential areas.

Suicide deterrent fences
Between 1967 and 1977, 36 persons were recorded as having died by suicide from the Bourne and Sagamore bridges, and another 24 had attempted but either survived or were apprehended. From 1979 to 1983, as part of "major rehabilitation work," both of the bridges' four-foot high railings were replaced with suicide deterrent fencing. The 12-foot high fencing consists of one-inch round pickets spaced a maximum of six inches apart; the tops of the picket are bent on a seven-inch radius toward the roadway. In the 28-year period after the new fencing was installed (1984-2012), seven persons are known to have died by suicide from the bridges, and between 2013-2021, two attempts were prevented. The fencing was cited in 2021 as a possible model for bridges in Rhode Island.

Rotary reconstruction
In 2004, construction began to replace the rotary that connects Route 6 and Route 3 to the bridge with a trumpet interchange known as the "Sagamore Flyover". This project had been delayed for many years because of a controversy about the disruption of homes and businesses in the area. The project finally commenced because of the severe gridlock at the rotary, which was built to accommodate a much smaller amount of traffic. The flyover was completed in late 2006.

The Army Corps of Engineers replaced the bridge deck, the sidewalk, and the lighting in May 2010. In October 2019, the Army Corps of Engineers recommended replacing the bridge with a wider bridge with four travel lanes, one auxiliary lane in each direction, bike and pedestrian paths, shoulders, and a median. The recommendation said that replacement was more cost-effective than upgrading the existing bridge in order to reduce long summertime backups.

Future
The Massachusetts DOT is following up on a study that concluded in 2019 about the future of the bridge along with the Bourne Bridge. The 2019 study concluded that improvements were needed to connectivity across the canal. The Cape Cod Bridges program is currently taking public input into the multi phased project and have unveiled different design types for feedback.

Bicycle/pedestrian access
There is a six-foot wide sidewalk for pedestrian and bicycle access on the east side of the bridge. The sidewalk is slightly raised, but there is no fence or barrier between it and car traffic, so cyclists are recommended to walk their bicycle. The bridge road is plowed in winter, although the sidewalk is sometimes unplowed and unpassable. The bridges to the Cape are sometimes closed for safety during high winds.

title: Sagamore Bridge


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Dr. Thorndyke

Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke is a fictional detective in a long series of 21 novels and 40 short stories by British author R. Austin Freeman (1862–1943). Thorndyke was described by his author as a 'medical jurispractitioner': originally a medical doctor, he turned to the bar and became one of the first — in modern parlance — forensic scientists. His solutions were based on his method of collecting all possible data (including dust and pond weed) and making inferences from them before looking at any of the protagonists and motives in the crimes. Freeman ensured that his methods were practical by conducting all experiments mentioned in the stories himself.

Attributes
John Evelyn Thorndyke was born on 4 July 1870. He received his medical education at St. Margaret's Hospital, London, where he got his primary degree. Instead of then leaving the hospital, however, he remained there, "taking up any small appointments that were going – assistant demonstrator – or curatorships and such like". He "hung around the chemical and physical laboratories, the museum and post mortem room" and meanwhile qualified as an MD and a DSc. Then he got called to the Bar with an eye to getting an appointment as coroner, but the lecturer on Medical Jurisprudence at St Margaret's retired unexpectedly, and Thorndyke applied for the vacant post. He was appointed to the post, and then set himself up in chambers. His first case was when he appeared for the defence in Regina v. Gummer. Thorndyke resided at 5A King's Bench Walk, Inner Temple. Thorndyke's office and reception room were on the first floor (i.e. the first floor above the ground floor), with the workshop and laboratory on the second floor, and the bedrooms on the attic floor.

He was often assisted by his friend and foil Christopher Jervis, who usually acts as narrator, and always by the resourceful Nathaniel Polton, his crinkly-faced lab technician. Thorndyke had rescued Polton from poverty, after he had been hospitalised for starvation. Polton helped Thorndyke set up the laboratory after he took the rooms at King's Bench Walk. Thorndyke tended to have a better relationship with the police (usually in the form of Superintendent Miller) than Sherlock Holmes did, despite proving them wrong on numerous occasions. Thorndyke, although tall, athletic, handsome, and clever, never married.

Freeman wrote that "Dr. Thorndyke was not based on any person, real or fictitious. He was deliberately invented. In a professional sense he may have been suggested to me by Dr. Alfred Swayne Taylor... but his personality was designed in accordance with certain principles and what I believed to be the probabilities as to what such a man would be like".

Freeman put a great deal of effort into ensuring the accuracy of the Thorndyke stories, including carrying out the described experiments himself, and visiting the locations described in the stories. Freeman had his own lab and workshop on the top floor of his house at Gravesend, where he tested the methods used by Thorndyke. One example of his approach is seen in The Red Thumb Mark. The story revolves in part around the Thumbograph (actually called the Thumb o'Graphs as in autographs), a booklet in which people could collect fingerprints. It was launched on the market in 1904 by the stationer and publisher Dow & Lester, and consisted of a book of blank pages, with a single page of instructions, and an ink pad attached to one of the covers. Freeman noted on the fly-leaf of his own copy of the Red Thumb Mark that the Thumbograph was available at all the railway book-stalls, and that he either bought one or got one as a gift. However, he considered it a dangerous invention, as his observations in the Finger-print Department led him to think it possible to make false fingerprints from a copy of a fingerprint. He experimented with his own fingerprints and made stamps that could reproduce them. Thus he tested the method that the villain uses in the book, and that Thorndyke uses to convince the court, before he wrote about it.

Such is the accuracy of Freeman's writing that P. R. Gordon wrote to The Queenslander in 1913 to suggest that they should publish the description of the life history of the liver fluke that Freeman gives in The Eye of Osiris, as it was "so well and tersely told that it would be read with great interest by sheep owners and others." Leadbeatter described Thorndyke as one of the two pre-eminent fictional forensic pathologists, but noted that Thorndyke sometimes over-interprets the forensic evidence for the sake of the plot. Thus Leadbeatter faulted Thorndyke for excluding the possibility that the odontoid process (a small bone in the neck) of a corpse had been broken by the collapse of the house during the fire in Mr Polton Explains.

Works
Between 1907 and 1942, Thorndyke appeared in 21 novels and 40 short stories.

Novels

 * 1) 31, New Inn (c. 1905) - novella, later expanded into a novel in 1912
 * 2) The Red Thumb Mark (1907)
 * 3) The Other Eye of Osiris (1909/1910) published in 1999 - The first version was rejected by the publishers but it was published posthumously
 * 4) The Eye of Osiris (1911), published in the United States as The Vanishing Man
 * 5) The Mystery of 31, New Inn (1912)
 * 6) A Silent Witness (1914)
 * 7) Helen Vardon's Confession (1922)
 * 8) The Cat's Eye (1923)
 * 9) The Mystery of Angelina Frood (1924)
 * 10) The Shadow of the Wolf (1925) -- inverted mystery
 * 11) The D'Arblay Mystery (1926)
 * 12) A Certain Dr. Thorndyke (1927)
 * 13) As a Thief in the Night (1928)
 * 14) Mr. Pottermack's Oversight (1930) -- inverted mystery
 * 15) Pontifex, Son and Thorndyke (1931)
 * 16) When Rogues Fall Out (1932), published in the United States as Dr. Thorndyke's Discovery
 * 17) Dr. Thorndyke Intervenes (1933)
 * 18) For the Defence: Dr. Thorndyke (1934)
 * 19) The Penrose Mystery (1936)
 * 20) Felo de se? (1937), published in the United States as Death at the Inn
 * 21) The Stoneware Monkey (1938)
 * 22) Mr. Polton Explains (1940)
 * 23) The Jacob Street Mystery (1942), published in the United States as The Unconscious Witness
 * Dr. Thorndyke's Crime File (1941) — omnibus including "Meet Dr. Thorndyke" (essay), The Eye of Osiris (novel), "The Art of the Detective Story" (essay), The Mystery of Angelina Frood (novel), and 5A King's Bench Walk" (essay)

Short stories
The short-story collections are:

 * 1) John Thorndyke's Cases (1909) (published in the United States as Dr. Thorndyke's Cases).
 * 2) The Singing Bone (1912) (published in the United States as The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke).
 * 3) Dr. Thorndyke's Casebook (1923) (published in the United States as The Blue Scarab)
 * 4) The Puzzle Lock (1925)
 * 5) The Magic Casket (1927)

Two different omnibus editions of the collected Dr. Thorndyke short stories exist. The British edition is R. Austin Freeman, The Famous Cases of Dr. Thorndyke: Thirty-seven of His Criminal Investigations as set down by R. Austin Freeman (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1929 and later reprintings). The American edition is R. Austin Freeman, The Dr. Thorndyke Omnibus: 38 of His Criminal Investigations as set down by R. Austin Freeman (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1932 and later reprintings). The American edition includes one story, The Mandarin's Pearl, printed in the first Thorndyke short-story collection, John Thorndyke's Cases, but omitted from the British omnibus. Two other stories, "The Man with the Nailed Shoes" and "A Message from the Deep Sea", though also appearing in the first Dr. Thorndyke short-story collection, John Thorndyke's Cases, were omitted from the British and American editions of the omnibus collection.

The order in the list appearing below is that of the American edition, which reprinted the five collections of stories in the following order (with two omissions already noted and also indicated below): The Singing Bone, Dr. Thorndyke's Cases, The Magic Casket, The Puzzle Lock, and The Blue Scarab. The British edition gives the stories in a different order from that of the American edition, indicated below by a bracketed note appearing after each story title giving its place in the British edition, denoted by the abbreviation UK and a two-digit number.

The first six stories of the list are "inverted" detective stories, divided into two parts. In the first part of each story, Freeman presented an account of the commission of a crime; in the second part, he presented an account, by Thorndyke's colleague Dr. Christopher Jervis, of Dr. Thorndyke's solution of the crime. The remaining stories are called "direct" stories.

A modern publisher, Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, issued a 9-volume edition of the complete works of R. Austin Freeman, including all the Thorndyke novels and short stories, with additional volumes of commentary and criticism. Volume 10 of the collection was a revised edition (1998) of In search of Dr. Thorndyke: The story of R. Austin Freeman's great scientific investigator and his creator (originally published 1971) by Norman Donaldson. Amazon released two volumes of electronic versions of "Dr. Thorndyke Mysteries Collection", each containing four of the original books. Delphi Classics have issued a Complete Works of R. Austin Freeman, but this is not for sale in the United States due to copyright reasons. Instead there is a Collected Works edition for the US market. Many of the Thorndyke stories are available on Project Gutenberg Australia.

 * 1) The Case of Oscar Brodski (UK 01)
 * 2) A Case of Premeditation (UK 02)
 * 3) The Echo of a Mutiny (UK 03)
 * 4) A Wastrel's Romance (UK 04)
 * 5) The Missing Mortgagee (UK 05)
 * 6) Percival Bland's Proxy (UK 06)
 * 7) The Old Lag (UK 07)
 * 8) The Stranger's Latchkey (UK 08)
 * 9) The Anthropologist at Large (UK 09)
 * 10) The Blue Sequin (UK 10)
 * 11) The Moabite Cipher (UK 11)
 * 12) The Mandarin's Pearl (omitted from British edition)
 * 13) The Aluminium Dagger (UK 12)
 * 14) The Magic Casket (UK 13)
 * 15) The Case of the White Footprints (UK 31)
 * 16) The Blue Scarab (UK 32)
 * 17) The New Jersey Sphinx (UK 33)
 * 18) The Touchstone (UK 34)
 * 19) A Fisher of Men (UK 35)
 * 20) The Stolen Ingots (UK 36)
 * 21) The Funeral Pyre (UK 37)
 * 22) The Puzzle Lock (UK 22)
 * 23) The Green Check Jacket (UK 23)
 * 24) The Seal of Nebuchadnezzar (UK 24)
 * 25) Phyllis Annesley's Peril (UK 25)
 * 26) A Sower of Pestilence (UK 26)
 * 27) Rex v. Burnaby (UK 27)
 * 28) A Mystery of the Sand-hills (UK 28)
 * 29) The Apparition of Burling Court (UK 29)
 * 30) The Mysterious Visitor (UK 30)
 * 31) The Contents of a Mare's Nest (UK 14)
 * 32) The Stalking Horse (UK 15)
 * 33) The Naturalist at Law (UK 16)
 * 34) Mr. Ponting's Alibi (UK 17)
 * 35) Pandora's Box (UK 18)
 * 36) The Trail of Behemoth (UK 19)
 * 37) The Pathologist to the Rescue (UK 20)
 * 38) Gleanings from the Wreckage (UK 21)
 * 39) The Man with the Nailed Shoes (omitted from both omnibus editions)
 * 40) A Message from the Deep Sea (omitted from both omnibus editions)

Example of the illustration of a Dr Thorndyke book
John Thorndyke's cases, supposedly related by Christopher Jervis and edited by Richard Austin Freeman first appeared as serial stories in Pearson's Magazine in 1908. The first story was The Blue Sequin which appeared in the Christmas double number of the magazine in December 1908. The stories were illustrated by H. M. Brock with both pen and ink drawings and colour wash drawings (in black and white), as well as photographs showing the evidence in the cases. The stories were published as a book by Chatto and Windus in late 1909. It is not clear whether or not this edition of the book was illustrated, but the later 1916 edition certainly was. However, the book had far fewer illustrations than the magazines, with only the six drawings by H. M. Brock shown here and only nine photographs.

Television adaptations
A short series featuring Dr. Thorndyke was produced by the BBC in 1964, entitled Thorndyke. The title character was played by Peter Copley.

Based on the stories written by R. Austin Freeman, the episodes, all of which except the pilot are missing from the BBC archive, were as follows:
 * "The Case of Oscar Brodski" (Pilot — as part of BBC series Detective)
 * "The Old Lag"
 * "A Case of Premeditation"
 * "The Mysterious Visitor"
 * "The Case of Phyllis Annesley" (adapted from 'Phyllis Annesley's Peril')
 * "Percival Bland's Brother" (adapted from 'Percival Bland's Proxy')
 * "The Puzzle Lock"

Two stories were also adapted as part of the Thames TV series The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, in 1971–3. These were:
 * "A Message from the Deep Sea" (from the first series and starring John Neville as Thorndyke)
 * "The Moabite Cipher" (from the second series and starring Barrie Ingham as Thorndyke)

Both series are available on DVD: in the UK from Network Video and in the US from Acornmedia.

Radio adaptations
On June 9, 1962, Mollie Hardwick adapted Dr. Thorndyke Intervenes as The Corpse in the Case on Saturday Night Theatre for the BBC Home Service. It starred Cyril Luckham as Dr. Thorndyke, Arthur Gomez as Mr. Brodribb and Leslie Perrins as Supt. Miller. The archive status of this programme is unknown.

On September 14, 1963, Mollie Hardwick adapted Mr. Pottermack's Oversight on Saturday Night Theatre for the BBC Home Service in the series Murder for Pleasure. Anthony Nicholls played Thorndyke. The programme still exists in the BBC archives.

Starting in 2011, the BBC aired radio adaptations of some of the Thorndyke short stories, Thorndyke: Forensic Investigator on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Series 1
November 2011 read by Jim Norton
 * A Mysterious Visitor
 * The Puzzle Lock
 * A Mystery of the Sand Hills
 * Pathologist to the Rescue
 * The Secret of the Urn
 * Pandora's Box

Series 2
March 2013 read by William Gaminara
 * The Stolen Ingots
 * Rex v Burnaby
 * The Stalking Horse

In January 2015, Tim McInnerny played Dr. Thorndyke opposite James Fleet's Inspector Lestrade in Chris Harrald's adaptation of "The Moabite Cipher" in the third series of the BBC Radio 4 series The Rivals.

Compilations
Starting in 2018 and completed in 2021, editor David Marcum brought together the entire Thorndyke collection - much of which has been very difficult to obtain for fans. 21 novels and over 40 short stories are contained in nine matching massive volumes.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Dr. Thorndyke


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Zerzura

Zerzura (زرزورة) is a legendary city or oasis located in the Sahara Desert.

The rumor
Zerzura was long rumored to have existed deep in the desert west of the Nile River in Egypt or Libya. In writings dating back to the 13th century, the authors spoke of a city which was "white as a dove" and called it "The Oasis of Little Birds". In the Kitab al Kanuz, Zerzura is said to be a city in the Sahara full of treasure with a sleeping king and queen. The city is guarded by black giants who keep anyone from going in and coming out. However, this may be a reference to the black Tebu people, nomads in Chad and Libya whose ancestors used to raid oases out in the Sahara.

"The first European reference to Zerzura is in an 1835 account by the English Egyptologist John Gardner Wilkinson, based on a report by an Arab who said he had found the oasis while searching for a lost camel. Placed five days west of the track connecting the oases of Farafra and Bahariya, the "Oasis called Wadee Zerzoora" abounded "in palms, with springs, and some ruins of uncertain date." Although tales of secret desert locales found by searchers for stray camels were common enough, Wilkinson's account was bolstered when later explorers found a number of previously unknown oases that had been named in his account along with Zerzura. But they did not find Zerzura itself."

More recently, European explorers made forays into the desert in search of Zerzura but never succeeded in finding it. Notable twentieth-century explorers Ralph Bagnold of Britain, and the Hungarian László (Ladislaus) Almásy led an expedition to search for Zerzura from 1929–1930 using Ford Model A trucks. In 1932 the Almásy–Patrick Clayton expedition reconnaissance flights discovered two valleys in the Gilf Kebir. In the following year, Almásy found the third of the "Zerzura" wadis, actually rain oases in the remote desert. On the other hand, Bagnold considered Zerzura as a legend that could never be solved by discovery.

The participants of the Zerzura hunt created the Zerzura Club in a bar in Wadi Halfa upon their return in 1930. Many of the club's members remained friends and several went on to serve as officers in the British Army during World War II. Many served in the Long Range Desert Patrol during the North African Campaign. Only Almásy served Rommel's Afrika Korps and assisted the Italians.

Zerzura the white city
According to the historical writings from the scribes of an emir in Benghazi, Libya in 1481, a camel driver named Hamid Keila came to Benghazi in bad shape and recounted to the emir that he had been to the city of Zerzura. Apparently Hamid Keila and a caravan had been heading out from the Nile River to the oases of Dakhla (Darkhla/Dakhilah) and Kharga (Kharijah) and were caught in a vicious sandstorm that killed everyone except Keila who apparently survived under the shelter of his dead camel.

After the storm passed, the man had emerged from the camel to find himself confused by the lie of the land because the storm changed all the familiar landmarks. It was when Keila was becoming delirious from having no water that a group of strange men found him. The men were said to be tall with fair hair and blue eyes, carrying straight swords instead of Arab scimitars, who then took the camel driver back to a city called Zerzura to tend to him.

Zerzura was indeed described as a white city that was approachable through a wadi (valley) that ran between two mountains, and from the wadi was a road that lead to the gates of the city which had a carving of a strange bird above them.

Within the city were white houses of inner luxury, palms, springs, and pools that were used by fair-skinned women and children for washing and bathing. Hamid Keila recounted that the Zerzurans, or "El Suri", treated him with kindness and spoke a strange form of Arabic that was difficult for him to understand but was carefully explained to him by the Suri, who apparently weren't Muslim because the women wore no veils and no mosques could be found in the city, nor did Hamid Keila hear any calls to prayer by a muezzin.

The camel driver told this story to the emir months after being in Zerzura, and the emir asked him how it was that he came to be in Benghazi at present. Hamid grew uncomfortable with the questioning and told him that he had escaped from Zerzura one night. The emir then asked why it was necessary to escape if the Suri treated him with kindness, and the camel driver had trouble explaining.

The emir suspected something strange and had Keila searched by his guards, who found a precious ruby set in a gold ring hidden on the man. The emir then asked how he got the ring, but Keila couldn't say. Figuring he'd stolen it from the Suri, the emir had Keila taken out into the desert to have his hands cut off. The emir believed the man's story because he and his men later went out into the wasteland to find Zerzura, but never did, though it is possible that the emir did not look in the right area of the desert.

According to unknown sources, the ring supposedly came into possession of Libya's King Idris, who was overthrown in 1969 by Muammar al-Gaddafi and his Revolutionary Command Council. It is said that the ring has been studied by many experts who claim it is of great value, and it is speculated that it was crafted by Europeans in the 12th century, suggesting that the Zerzurans who had it before Hamid Keila stole it may have been the remnants of early European crusaders who got lost in the Sahara on their way to or back from Jerusalem and set up their own habitat in the desert.

However, there oddly seems to be no information about the supposed ring made available by any sources, nor is there any evidence of its existence. Furthermore, because Hamid Keila was the narrator of the Zerzura tale, it is possible that he may have been the anonymous author of the Kitab al Kanuz (Book of Hidden Treasures) since his plight occurred in the 15th century, as the manuscript was also published at that time.

Books and articles about Zerzura (non-fiction)

 * Unknown Sahara (Ismeretlen Szahara) by László Almásy (Budapest, 1934) describing his expeditions in search of Zerzura. German translation Unbekannte Sahara (Leipzig, 1939).
 * Récentes Explorations dans le Désert Libyque by László Almásy (Cairo, 1936) – a publication summarizing the results of the successful search for Zerzura
 * German translation by Klaus Kurre in Mythos Zarzura. Belleville, Munich 2020, ISBN 978-3-936298-18-5
 * In Search of Zerzura by Orde Wingate, in The Geographical Journal, Vol. 83, No. 4 (1934), pp. 281-308. Published by The Royal Geographical Society. DOI: 10.2307/1786487
 * The Hunt for Zerzura: the lost oasis and the desert war (2002) about members of the Zerzura Club in World War II by Saul Kelly

Novels

 * The English Patient (1992) by Michael Ondaatje was loosely based on Almásy's life
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom has a main storyline setting on Zerzura, as the story bases on slavery, from the viewpoint of Captain Jack Sparrow.
 * Ice Cold In Alex by Christopher Landon mentions Zerzura several times.
 * The Eye of Ra, a gothic mystery novel by desert explorer Michael Asher, connects Zerzura to the Pharaoh Akhnaten, alien visitations, and UFO
 * The Oasis of the Last Story: Tales from the Desert is a fictionalized autobiography by explorer and former SAS man Michael Asher about his 40 year quest for the lost oasis on foot and with camels, told as a single journey, and about his spiritual awakening in the desert.
 * Lost Oasis fiction about Zerzura Oasis and the lost army of king Cambyses by T.M. Bown, published by Story Merchant Books
 * Biggles Flies South by Captain W. E. Johns (1938) is a fictional account of three British airmen who discover Zerzura.
 * The Lost Oasis, a Doc Savage novel by Kenneth Robeson (Lester Dent), September 1933, takes place largely in Zerzura.
 * The Last Camel Died at Noon (1991) and Guardian of the Horizon (2004), part of the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters, both take place in a fictional Lost Oasis city partly inspired by the Zerzura legend. In Guardian of the Horizon, two of the characters agree that "the lost city of Zerzura is... little more than a legend."
 * The Hidden Oasis (Bantam Books, 2009) by Paul Sussman. An intelligent modern-day archaeology thriller.

Films about Zerzura

 * Zerzura (Sahel Sounds, 2017) directed by Christopher Kirkley. Feature-length ethnofiction shot in the Sahara desert.

Games featuring Zerzura

 * The VR game "Walkabout Mini Golf" by Mighty Coconut features the "Temple of Zerzura" (2023) as a course in its lost cities series.

title: Zerzura


text:
User talk:Soneill9

Welcome!

Welcome to Wikipedia, Soneill9! My name is Ryan, aka Acetic Acid. I noticed that you were new and haven't received any messages yet. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Wikipedia can be a little intimidating at first, since it uses different formatting than other sites that use HTML and CSS. In the long run, though, you'll find that the WikiSyntax is a lot easier and faster than those other ways. Here are a few links to get you started:

 * How to edit a page
 * Editing, policy, conduct, and structure tutorial
 * Picture tutorial
 * How to write a great article

There are a lot of policies and guides to read, but I highly recommend reading over those first. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message on my talk page. Please be sure to sign your name on Talk Pages using four tildes (~~~~) to produce your name and the current date, along with a link to your user page. This way, others know when you left a message and how to find you. It's easier than having to type out your name, right? :)

I hope you enjoy contributing to Wikipedia. We can use all the help we can get! Have a nice day. Sincerely, Acetic Acid 02:10, August 19, 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:Soneill9


text:
Gruff

Gruff may refer to:

 * Gruff, harsh and surly in nature and/or tone of voice
 * Gruffs, servants of the Summer Faerie Court in Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series
 * The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Norwegian folk-tale The Three Billy Goats Gruff
 * Gruff, a character in Legend of the NeverBeast from Disney
 * Gruff, a diminutive of Welsh name Gruffudd

title: Gruff


text:
User talk:Umrain

Welcome!

Welcome to Wikipedia, Umrain! My name is Ryan, aka Acetic Acid. I noticed that you were new and haven't received any messages yet. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Wikipedia can be a little intimidating at first, since it uses different formatting than other sites that use HTML and CSS. In the long run, though, you'll find that the WikiSyntax is a lot easier and faster than those other ways. Here are a few links to get you started:

 * How to edit a page
 * Editing, policy, conduct, and structure tutorial
 * Picture tutorial
 * How to write a great article

There are a lot of policies and guides to read, but I highly recommend reading over those first. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message on my talk page. Please be sure to sign your name on Talk Pages using four tildes (~~~~) to produce your name and the current date, along with a link to your user page. This way, others know when you left a message and how to find you. It's easier than having to type out your name, right? :)

I hope you enjoy contributing to Wikipedia. We can use all the help we can get! Have a nice day. Sincerely, Acetic Acid 02:11, August 19, 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:Umrain


text:
User talk:Jeneralist

Welcome!

Welcome to Wikipedia, Jeneralist! My name is Ryan, aka Acetic Acid. I noticed that you were new and haven't received any messages yet. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Wikipedia can be a little intimidating at first, since it uses different formatting than other sites that use HTML and CSS. In the long run, though, you'll find that the WikiSyntax is a lot easier and faster than those other ways. Here are a few links to get you started:

 * How to edit a page
 * Editing, policy, conduct, and structure tutorial
 * Picture tutorial
 * How to write a great article

There are a lot of policies and guides to read, but I highly recommend reading over those first. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message on my talk page. Please be sure to sign your name on Talk Pages using four tildes (~~~~) to produce your name and the current date, along with a link to your user page. This way, others know when you left a message and how to find you. It's easier than having to type out your name, right? :)

I hope you enjoy contributing to Wikipedia. We can use all the help we can get! Have a nice day. Sincerely, Acetic Acid 02:11, August 19, 2005 (UTC)

BTW and Blue Star
On that I was mainly going by what I've heard from some American BTW that aren't Blue Star, some Blue Star witches that both see themselves as BTW and who were recognised as such by other BTW and some Blue Star witches who see themselves as not being Wiccan. From that it seems to be pretty uncontroversial amongst both the Wicca and Blue Star witches that some are of the Wicca and some are not.

However, this seeming uncontroversial could just be false consensus effect. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Talliesin (talk • contribs) 01:43, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

 * I've seen it in completely non-citable online discussions, wherein some Gardnerians have said "Yes, B* is", some have said "some are, some aren't, depends on the practice", and some have said "how did anyone ever get the idea that they were?" Similar responses from Alexandrians, and at least one CVW saying "Absolutely."  Back channel might be a good route to discuss this, my email user link works.--Vidkun (talk) 13:56, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Jeneralist


text:
User talk:QueenVickie

Welcome!

Welcome to Wikipedia, QueenVickie! My name is Ryan, aka Acetic Acid. I noticed that you were new and haven't received any messages yet. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Wikipedia can be a little intimidating at first, since it uses different formatting than other sites that use HTML and CSS. In the long run, though, you'll find that the WikiSyntax is a lot easier and faster than those other ways. Here are a few links to get you started:

 * How to edit a page
 * Editing, policy, conduct, and structure tutorial
 * Picture tutorial
 * How to write a great article

There are a lot of policies and guides to read, but I highly recommend reading over those first. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message on my talk page. Please be sure to sign your name on Talk Pages using four tildes (~~~~) to produce your name and the current date, along with a link to your user page. This way, others know when you left a message and how to find you. It's easier than having to type out your name, right? :)

I hope you enjoy contributing to Wikipedia. We can use all the help we can get! Have a nice day. Sincerely, Acetic Acid 02:12, August 19, 2005 (UTC)

Image Tagging Image:QueenSabrina.jpg
Thanks for uploading Image:QueenSabrina.jpg. I notice the 'image' page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you have not created this media yourself then there needs to be an argument why we have the right to use the media on Wikipedia (see copyright tagging below). If you have not created the media yourself then it needs to be specified where it was found, i.e., in most cases link to the website where it was taken from, and the terms of use for content from that page.

If the media also doesn't have a copyright tag then one should be added. If you created/took the picture, audio, or video then the GFDL-self tag can be used to release it under the GFDL. If you believe the media qualifies as fair use, consider reading fair use, and then use a tag such as or one of the other tags listed at Image copyright tags. See Image copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use.

If you have uploaded other media, consider checking that you have specified their source and copyright tagged them, too. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any unsourced and untagged images will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Image legality questions page. Thank you. - SCEhard T 01:14, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:QueenVickie


text:
User talk:Manchurian Tiger

Welcome!

Welcome to Wikipedia, Manchurian Tiger! My name is Ryan, aka Acetic Acid. I noticed that you were new and haven't received any messages yet. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Wikipedia can be a little intimidating at first, since it uses different formatting than other sites that use HTML and CSS. In the long run, though, you'll find that the WikiSyntax is a lot easier and faster than those other ways. Here are a few links to get you started:

 * How to edit a page
 * Editing, policy, conduct, and structure tutorial
 * Picture tutorial
 * How to write a great article

There are a lot of policies and guides to read, but I highly recommend reading over those first. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message on my talk page. Please be sure to sign your name on Talk Pages using four tildes (~~~~) to produce your name and the current date, along with a link to your user page. This way, others know when you left a message and how to find you. It's easier than having to type out your name, right? :)

I hope you enjoy contributing to Wikipedia. We can use all the help we can get! Have a nice day. Sincerely, Acetic Acid 02:12, August 19, 2005 (UTC)

About pictures of Dalian
All your pics about Dalian have no licences. Please add tags on them.--Fanghong 02:55, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

About tags
Bonjour Lis ici et additionne tags dans –  s'il vous plaît. Cordialement --Fanghong 00:33, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

 * Sorry, I thourgt you understand French. Please read here and add the suitable tags within –  in the picture description page.--Fanghong 01:40, 3 October 2005 (UTC)

Re: Manchukuo is a former country
 Do you have any evidence showing it was not a puppet state, but a truly independent state and recognised by other sovereign states? — Instantnood 07:46, 12 October 2005 (UTC)
 *  Glad to receiving your reply. For the time being what you can do is to restore to the version before your edits, and proceed to the talk page of that article to express your views, seek community consensus, then edit the article accordingly. Good luck, and happy editing. — Instantnood 18:41, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

Manchukuo
Before you revert my edits (which has been approved by some other[] [] contributors on Wikipedia as well), please read these articles, throughly, on NPOV: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NPOV_dispute#How_can_one_disagree_about_NPOV.3F http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NPOV#The_neutral_point_of_view By completely deleting the part stating that '[Manchukuo] is regarded by most as a puppet state', which is a view that many other contributors and people in the world hold, you have obviously broken the Wikipedia policy of NPOV. If you disagree about whether my edits are NPOV (with yours obviously POV), please proceed to the Talk page and discuss, rather than reverting my edit again and again without stating any reason in your edit summaries [] [], nor paying any attention to my discussion. I have also added { { NPOV } } on top of the article at the moment, before we can solve our dispute, so that innocent readers of Wikipedia will not be erred by your blind nationalism. Please DO NOT REMOVE it (Which you have done before as seen by the edit history of the page []).Herunar 00:37, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I see you have made another illogical/POV edit, without any discussion, which I reverted as it is very misleading. See my comment on Talk page. Please, before you make another edit, which often is contradicting to the original idea in the article, discuss in talk page. Herunar 01:24, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Yet again, you have made an edit without any discussion in talk page nor edit summary. I would advise you to make a respond or explanation in the article Manchukuo's talk page in 24 hours, from now on; If you do not, I will have to revert that edit, since it does not correspond to the sources given, nor does it cite any source. Herunar 04:54, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I'll keep this simple. Please go to talk page and discuss before you make ANY edit in article Manchukuo (other articles as well if your edit is disputed), and please read clearly what others are saying. It is impossible to improve Wikipedia without cooperating with other users. Thank you. Aranherunar 03:45, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Talk page
Please DO NOT remove unsolved/unanswered contents in your talk page, which you did countless times as seen by your page's history. If you do it again, you may be banned. Herunar 01:26, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Are you out of your mind? I never deleted anything from this page.--Manchurian Tiger 04:55, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
 * He, Herunar,just likes to pick fights like that. Clearly he is supporting the chinese nationalist idea. He is giving me hard time on the Tibet article as well. I see the pattern now. Also he has beef with Japan. Me 17:33, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
 * You have got it all wrong. This is not a fight. I have made my edits with the intention of improving Wikipedia; If not, I would not have spend so much time editing and trying to improve things that will give me no profit, except the pleasure of seeing something done, something that I have contributed.
 * Unlike you, I do not live my life trying to destroy what others created. To me, joy can come in many ways, and least of it destruction.
 * Please, no personal attacks. Your harassing will not help Wikipedia, nor user Manchurian Tiger, who I believe is another user trying to contribute to Wikipedia. Aranherunar 10:58, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

3RR
Please refrain from undoing other people's edits repeatedly. If you continue, you may be blocked from editing Wikipedia under the three-revert rule, which states that nobody may revert a single page more than three times in 24 hours. (Note: this also means editing the page to reinsert an old edit. If the effect of your actions is to revert back, it qualifies as a revert.) Thank you. --Ideogram 03:26, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

State not necessarily a body in a country
Hi, there. Concerning your recent edits to Manchukuo, we may have a slight misinterpretation of the word state. By definition a state can be a "a : a politically organized body of people usually occupying a definite territory; especially : one that is sovereign b : the political organization of such a body of people c : a government or politically organized society having a particular character ", and is not necessarily a body in a country. I have added a place to discuss whether Manchukuo should be called a state or a country in Talk:Manchukuo. Thanks. Cowman109 Talk 16:10, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
 * aloha, My understanding is that a state is more about its political identity; while country is more about culrure and history. Machukuo's establishment was based on the region's common history and culture, therefore, country is a better term. But I agree that "state" makes some sense as well. So I won't oppose an edit to "state". --Manchurian Tiger 16:27, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes, it's your understanding, and I do not totally disagree with you - However, I believe many others prefer to call it a state, especially those that believe it is a puppet state. Since a country is also a state itself, it will be safer to call it a state instead, because I'm sure some people would not agree with 'country'. Aranherunar 09:42, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

Your revert...
Your revert here appears to have removed a part of a perfectly valid edit changing the word 'devided' to 'divided'. It might be a good idea to fix that; also, I don't think accusing others of 'bogus' editing will improve the editing environment much. My recommendation is that before reverting the edits of more than one editor, you see the talk page to see if others agree with your reasoningg. Otherwise we're back where we started at an edit war. I agree that some of the edits made before yours were not necessarily appropriate, but it's best to talk about it instead of revert it, as otherwise we'll have yet another revert war. Thanks. :) Cowman109 Talk 18:06, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

 * On second thought, I have rewritten the opening and moved the puppet state explanation to the body of the article. Please reply on the talk page and tell me what you think :) Cowman109 Talk 18:36, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Your revert on Tsinghua University
I was not clear about the reason for my edit. My apologise. While I note from your talk page that you are experienced with the usage of the English language in the US, such usage can often be confusing for those from other environments - see Manual of Style, especially the point about common expressions.

The Oxford English Dictionary, regarded as an authority on the (non-American) English language, states as the meaning of "Alma mater":
 * A title given by the Romans to several goddesses, especially to Ceres and Cybele, and transferred in Eng. to Universities and schools regarded as ‘fostering mothers’ to their alumni.

Also, please do not assume that others whose experience of the English language differs from yours are automatically ignorant of the English language. I am aware of the alternative meaning of Alma mater as a univerisity's song or anthem - and I am also aware that this meaning is not used in Commonwealth countries. As you have probably gathered by now, I do speak English, and while I am a graduate of a a much less prestigious university than Tsinghua University, I am fairly confident of my at least passable linguistic skills. --Sumple (Talk) 06:48, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

 * #You may like to read Commonwealth of Nations and the English language.
 * #You may also like to read up on university. A university is not a "school".
 * #Do not edit my user page: if you have comments, add them to my user talk.
 * #I'm sorry if you don't understand the meaning of Alma Mater. As I have already indictaed, I know what Alma mater means. It is you who fail to appreciate that there are other English-speaking countries in the world than the United States of America.
 * #I am still waiting for an apology for your rather rude comment about my command of English.
 * I bow out of this WP:LAME debate. --Sumple (Talk) 23:07, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free image (Image:Lushunzhan.jpg)
Thanks for uploading Image:Lushunzhan.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. Aksibot 09:48, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free image (Image:Emblum wiki.jpg)
Thanks for uploading Image:Emblum wiki.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. BetacommandBot 06:32, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Protection of Tsinghua University
I have protected this page for 2 days. Please see Talk:Tsinghua University for further information. Thanks. ——  Eagle 101 Need help? 21:59, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

Appellation of Manchuria
Hello, I've been trying to do some research regarding the name of Manchuria, because there is debate over the name of the article as Manchuria---at least I think there is---and I noticed that you had previously posted some information regarding the term used in the region itself, which was later removed from the article. As far as I am aware, the region is still commonly referred to as Manchuria in English, but I'm not sure how to go about supporting that in any way, and so I was curious to know where you had gotten your information about elder people there referring to it as "北満" and "南満", as well as increased use among younger generations. Is this personal experience, or do you have some "legitimate" source to which you are referring? I would be very curious to know. Thanx!! Shautora (talk) 08:23, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

ArbCom elections are now open!
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:04, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Manchurian Tiger


text:
Talk:Atomic Soul

Fair use rationale for Image:Atomic Soul (album).jpg
Image:Atomic Soul (album).jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 13:17, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:Atomic Soul


text:
User talk:Flehmen

Proposed deletion of Squint (antenna)

The article Squint (antenna) has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern: "Non-notable dicdef, no sources"

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, pages may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the page to address the issues raised. Removing will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 06:13, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

Nomination of Squint (antenna) for deletion
A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Squint (antenna) is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Articles for deletion/Squint (antenna) until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article. Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 18:24, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

title: User talk:Flehmen


text:
1923 NFL season

The 1923 NFL season was the fourth regular season of the National Football League. For the first time, all of the clubs that were considered to be part of the NFL fielded teams. The new teams that entered the league were the Duluth Kelleys, the St. Louis All Stars (which only lasted one season), and a new Cleveland Indians team, while the Evansville Crimson Giants dropped out of the league and folded. The Canton Bulldogs repeated as NFL Champions after ending the season with an 11–0–1 record.

Postseason play
Six days after the December 9 end of the NFL season, league champion Canton accepted a challenge to play against the Frankford Yellow Jackets of Philadelphia, who were not an NFL team but who had billed themselves as "champions of the East" with a 9-1-2 record against teams in the "Anthracite League" and against four other NFL teams. Canton won the game in Philadelphia in the final two minutes of play on a field goal from future Hall of Famer Pete Henry.

Teams
Twenty teams competed in the NFL during the 1923 season.

title: 1923 NFL season


text:
User talk:Petegrk

Welcome!

Welcome to Wikipedia, Petegrk! My name is Ryan, aka Acetic Acid. I noticed that you were new and haven't received any messages yet. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Wikipedia can be a little intimidating at first, since it uses different formatting than other sites that use HTML and CSS. In the long run, though, you'll find that the WikiSyntax is a lot easier and faster than those other ways. Here are a few links to get you started:

 * How to edit a page
 * Editing, policy, conduct, and structure tutorial
 * Picture tutorial
 * How to write a great article

There are a lot of policies and guides to read, but I highly recommend reading over those first. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message on my talk page. Please be sure to sign your name on Talk Pages using four tildes (~~~~) to produce your name and the current date, along with a link to your user page. This way, others know when you left a message and how to find you. It's easier than having to type out your name, right? :)

I hope you enjoy contributing to Wikipedia. We can use all the help we can get! Have a nice day. Sincerely, Acetic Acid 02:13, August 19, 2005 (UTC)

Image Tagging Image:Autotransformer 1.jpg
Thanks for uploading Image:Autotransformer 1.jpg. I notice the 'image' page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is therefore unclear. If you have not created this media yourself then you need to argue that we have the right to use the media on Wikipedia (see copyright tagging below). If you have not created the media yourself then you should also specify where you found it, i.e., in most cases link to the website where you got it, and the terms of use for content from that page.

If the media also doesn't have a copyright tag then you must also add one. If you created/took the picture, audio, or video then you can use GFDL-self to release it under the GFDL. If you believe the media qualifies as fair use, please read fair use, and then use a tag such as or one of the other tags listed at Image copyright tags. See Image copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use.

If you have uploaded other media, please check that you have specified their source and copyright tagged them, too. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any unsourced and untagged images will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. Zsinj Talk 02:33, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

Image Tagging Image:Autotransformer.jpg
Thanks for uploading Image:Autotransformer.jpg. I notice the 'image' page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is therefore unclear. If you have not created this media yourself then you need to argue that we have the right to use the media on Wikipedia (see copyright tagging below). If you have not created the media yourself then you should also specify where you found it, i.e., in most cases link to the website where you got it, and the terms of use for content from that page.

If the media also doesn't have a copyright tag then you must also add one. If you created/took the picture, audio, or video then you can use GFDL-self to release it under the GFDL. If you believe the media qualifies as fair use, please read fair use, and then use a tag such as or one of the other tags listed at Image copyright tags. See Image copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use.

If you have uploaded other media, please check that you have specified their source and copyright tagged them, too. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any unsourced and untagged images will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. Zsinj Talk 02:34, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:Petegrk


text:
User talk:Redhoyt44

Welcome!

Welcome to Wikipedia, Redhoyt44! My name is Ryan, aka Acetic Acid. I noticed that you were new and haven't received any messages yet. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Wikipedia can be a little intimidating at first, since it uses different formatting than other sites that use HTML and CSS. In the long run, though, you'll find that the WikiSyntax is a lot easier and faster than those other ways. Here are a few links to get you started:

 * How to edit a page
 * Editing, policy, conduct, and structure tutorial
 * Picture tutorial
 * How to write a great article

There are a lot of policies and guides to read, but I highly recommend reading over those first. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message on my talk page. Please be sure to sign your name on Talk Pages using four tildes (~~~~) to produce your name and the current date, along with a link to your user page. This way, others know when you left a message and how to find you. It's easier than having to type out your name, right? :)

I hope you enjoy contributing to Wikipedia. We can use all the help we can get! Have a nice day. Sincerely, Acetic Acid 02:14, August 19, 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:Redhoyt44


text:
R. Austin Freeman

Dr. Richard Austin Freeman (11 April 1862 – 28 September 1943) was a British writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr. Thorndyke. He invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in which the commission of the crime is described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator, with the story then describing the detective's attempt to solve the mystery). This invention has been described as Freeman's most notable contribution to detective fiction. Freeman used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in his novels. Many of the Dr. Thorndyke stories involve genuine, but sometimes arcane, points of scientific knowledge, from areas such as tropical medicine, metallurgy and toxicology.

Early life
Austin Freeman was the youngest of the five children of tailor Richard Freeman and Ann Maria Dunn. At the age of 18 he entered the medical school of the Middlesex Hospital and qualified in 1886.

After qualifying, Freeman spent a year as a house physician at the hospital. He married his childhood sweetheart Annie Elizabeth Edwards in London on 15 April 1887, and the couple later had two sons. He then entered the Colonial Service in 1887 as an assistant surgeon. He served for a time in Keta, Ghana, in 1887 during which time he dealt with an epidemic of black water fever which killed forty per cent of the European population at that port. He had six months of leave from mid 1888 and returned to Accra on the Gold Coast just in time to volunteer for the post of medical officer on the planned expedition to Ashanti and Jaman.

Freeman was the doctor, naturalist and surveyor for the expedition to Ashanti and Jaman, two independent states in the Gold Coast. The expedition set out from Accra on 8 December 1888, with a band consisting of a band-master and six boys playing two side drums and five fifes, three European officers (the Commissioner, Freeman and the Officer in Charge of the Constables), one Native officer, 100 Hausa constables, a gunners' party with a rocket trough, an apothecary, apothecary's assistant, a hospital orderly, and 200 bearers. The expedition went first to Kumasi (or Coolmassie as it appears in older accounts), the capital of the then independent kingdom of Ashanti. Their second port of call was Bondoukou, Ivory Coast, where they arrived only to find that the king had just signed a protectorate treaty with the French.

However, the expedition was a political failure as the British spokesman blurted out in front of the chiefs that the British were willing to supply a loan of £400 which the king had requested. However the King had requested this loan with the proviso that it be kept secret from his chiefs. He therefore denied any knowledge of it and the expedition moved on to Bontúku, the capital of Jaman. Here they were left cooling their heels while the King there finalised a treaty with the French, who had been quicker off the mark. The expedition was recalled after five months. Bleiler asserts, without any supporting evidence, that "It was mostly through Freeman's intelligence and tact that the expedition was not massacred". Although the mission overall was a failure, the collection of data by Freeman was a success, and his future in the colonial service seemed assured. Unfortunately, he became ill with blackwater fever and was invalided home in 1891, being discharged from the service two months before the minimum qualification period for a pension.

Career
Thus, he returned to London in 1891, and around 1892 served as temporary Acting Surgeon in Charge of the Throat and Ear Department at Middlesex Hospital. He was in general practice in London for about five years. He was appointed acting Deputy Medical Officer of Holloway Prison in about 1901, and Acting Assistant Medical Officer of the Port of London in 1904. A year later he suffered a complete breakdown in his health and gave up medicine for writing. His first successful stories were the Romney Pringle rogue stories written in collaboration with John James Pitcairn (1860–1936), medical officer at Holloway Prison. Some were published first in Australia, under the joint pen name of Ralph J. Jay, and all of them were serialised under another pseudonym, "Clifford Ashdown" in Cassell's Magazine in 1902 and 1903.

In 1905 Freeman published his first solo novel, The Golden Pool, with the background drawn from his own time in West Africa. The protagonist is a young Englishman who steals a fetish treasure. Barzun and Taylor make the point that while this is a crime, the book was not regarded as crime fiction as "according to old notions" stealing things from Africans "is no crime". Bleiler wrote that "it is a colorful, thrilling story, all the more unusual in being ethnographically accurate" and that "it used to be required reading for members of the British colonial services in Africa."

Freeman's first Thorndyke story, The Red Thumb Mark, was published in 1907, and shortly afterwards he pioneered the inverted detective story, in which the identity of the criminal is shown from the beginning. Some short stories with this feature were collected in The Singing Bone in 1912. During the First World War, he served as an induction physician and a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps and afterwards produced a Thorndyke novel almost every year until his death in 1943.

Later life
Freeman briefly stopped writing at the outbreak of the Second World War, but then resumed writing in an air-raid shelter he had built in his garden. Freeman was plagued by Parkinson's disease in his later years. This makes his achievement all the more remarkable, as in his declining years he wrote both Mr. Polton Explains, which Bleiler says "... is in some ways his best novel", and The Jacob Street Mystery (1942) in which Roberts considers that Thorndyke "is at his analytical best." He was living at 94, Windmill Street, Gravesend, Kent when he died on 28 September 1943. His estate was valued at £6,471 5s 11d. Freeman was buried in the old Gravesend and Milton Cemetery at Gravesend. The Thorndyke File started a funding drive to erect a granite marker for Freeman's grave, and this was erected in September 1979, with the text: Richard Austin Freeman, 1862 – 1943, Physician and Author, Erected by the friends of "Dr. Thorndyke", 1979.

Political views

Freeman held conservative political views. In his 1921 book Social Decay and Regeneration Freeman put forth the view that mechanization had flooded Britain with poor-quality goods and created a "homogenized, restless, unionized working class". Freeman supported the eugenics movement and argued that people with "undesirable" biological traits should be prevented from breeding through "segregation, marriage restriction, and sterilization". The book also attacked the British Labour movement and criticised the British government for permitting immigrants (whom Freeman referred to as "Sub-Man") to settle in Britain. Social Decay and Regeneration referred to the Russian Revolution as "the Russian catastrophe" and argued that society needed to protected from "degenerates of the destructive or "Bolshevik type." Sections of Social Decay and Regeneration were reprinted in Eugenics Review, the journal of the British Eugenics Society.

Anti-Semitism
Freeman's views on Jewish people were complex stereotypes. They are clearly set out in his eugenicist book Social Decay and Regeneration (1921). Here Freeman states that of vulgarity "the only ancient peoples who exhibited it on an appreciable scale were the Jews and especially the Phoenician." Freeman notes that a large proportion of the "Alien Unfit" crowding the East End of London, "largely natives of Eastern Europe" are Jews. However, the criticism is of the poor rather than of Jews overall as these unfit aliens were "far from being the elect of their respective races". Freeman regards that, through restricting marriage with non-Jews, Jews as having practised racial segregation "for thousands of years with the greatest success and with very evident benefit to the race". Not surprisingly, some of these views spill over into his fiction.

Grost states that Helen Vardon's Confession (1922) "is another bad Freeman novel suffering from offensive racial stereotypes". Helen Vardon is blackmailed into marrying the fat, old, money-lender Otway, who was "distinctly Semitic in appearance", and is surrounded by Jews, to save her father from prison. Otway acts in bad faith, and is grasping, keeping only one servant despite his great wealth. The whole plot is a gratuitously offensive anti-Semitic stereotype. Grost also states that the use of racial stereotypes in The D'Arblay Mystery (1926) "marks it as a low point in Freeman's fiction". However, the villain is not Jewish at all, and the only question of stereotypes comes up in the questions about whether the villain's (false) hooked nose is "a curved Jewish type, or a squarer Roman nose?" There are no anti-Semitic tropes in the book, no grasping money-lender etc. Grost describes Pontifex, Son and Thorndyke (1931), as degenerating into "another of Freeman's anti-Semitic diatribes". In this novel the villains are largely Jewish, and come from the community of "unfit aliens" that Freeman lambastes in Social Decay and Regeneration.

Such offensive representations of Jews in fiction were typical of the time. Rubinstein and Jolles note that while the work of many of the leading detective story writers, such as Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Freeman, featured many gratuitously negative depictions of stereotyped Jewish characters, this ended with the rise of Hitler, and they then portrayed Jews and Jewish refugees in a sympathetic light. Thus with Freeman, the later novels no longer present such gratuitously offensive racial stereotypes, but present Jews much more positively.

In When Rogues Fall Out (1932) Mr. Toke describes the Jewish cabinetmaker Levy as "A most excellent workman and a thoroughly honest man", high praise from Freeman's pen. The counsel for Dolby the burglar, "a good-looking Jew named Lyon" executes a particularly brilliant defence of his client which Thorndyke admires. In Felo de Se; or Death at the Inn (1937) the croupier is described as "a pleasant-faced Jew, calm, impassive and courteous, though obviously very much 'on the spot'". In The Stoneware Monkey (1938), Thorndyke is using a young Jewish man as his messenger. In Mr Polton Explains (1938), Polton is assisted first by the Jewish watchmaker Abraham and then by the Jewish solicitor Cohen, who comes to Polton's aid not once but twice, not only representing him without cost, but feeding him and lending him money without interest or term.

Critical assessment
Freeman was a significant author of detective fiction in his day. He was most famous for his creation of Dr. Thorndyke, and many of the obituaries recording his death referred to this in the headlines. Thus the Birmingham Daily Gazette announced "'Dr. Thorndyke' Creator Dead", the Belfast News-Letter announced "Obituary Dr. R. A. Freeman, Creator of 'Dr. Thorndyke'", and the Evening Star (Dunedin) announced "Obituary: Creator of Dr. Thorndyke".

Critical comment has tended to concentrate on four aspects of Thorndyke: Freeman's quality as a writer; the close attention to logic, scientific accuracy and methods in his stories; the invention of the inverted detective story, and comparisons with Sherlock Holmes. The Times considered that the second and third of these were what singled Freeman "out from the ruck".

Writing
In Bloody Murder, Julian Symons wrote that Freeman's "... talents as a writer were negligible. Reading a Freeman story is very much like chewing dry straw." Symons then went on to criticise the way in which Thorndyke spoke. De Blacam also noted Thorndyke's "ponderous legal phraseology". However, that pedantic ponderousness is the nature of Thorndyke's character. He is a barrister and used to weighing his words carefully. He never discusses his analysis until he has built the whole picture. Others do not agree with his assessment of Freeman's writing skills. Raymond Chandler, in a 13 December 1949 letter to Hamish Hamilton said: "This man Austin Freeman is a wonderful performer. He has no equal in his genre and he is also a much better writer than you might think, if you were superficially inclined, because in spite of the immense leisure of his writing he accomplishes an even suspense which is quite unexpected."

Binyon also rates Freeman's writing as inferior to Doyle saying "Thorndyke might be the superior detective, Conan Doyle is undeniably the better writer." The Birmingham Daily Post considered that "Mr. Austin Freeman was not, perhaps, among the finer artists of the short story, and his longer stories could limp, sometimes" but that his approach was very effective.

However, de Blacam makes the point that, quite apart from the description of the investigation, each of the descriptions of the crimes in the inverted stories "was a fine piece of descriptive writing". Grost agrees that "Freeman's descriptive writing is excellent" Adey finds that: "Freeman's writing, though lacking Doyle's atmospheric touch, was clear and concise, with dry humor and a keen eye for deductive detail." Adams agreed that Freeman had considerable powers of narrative description when he stated that "Nothing but the author's remarkable skill in character delineation and graphic narrative" could save his stories from being regarded as technical studies for a course on forensic medicine.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and Bleiler noted in 1973 that Freeman "... is one of the very few Edwardian detective story writers who are still read".

The inverted story
Nowadays, the inverted detective story, where we first witness the crime and then watch the attempt to solve it, is commonplace. For example, this is the format of almost every episode of the television detective series Columbo starring Peter Falk. However, this approach was an innovation in November 1910 when Freeman's "Oscar Brodski" appeared in Pearson's Magazine. and immediately attracted attention. The Northern Whig said that "Oscar Brodski" was "one of the most powerful detective stories we have ever read". Bleiler said that this story "has always been considered one of the landmarks in the history of the detective story".

In his essay The Art of the Detective Story Freeman wrote that in the inverted story: "The reader had seen the crime committed, knew all about the criminal, and was in possession of all the facts. It would have seemed that there was nothing left to tell, but I calculated that the reader would be so occupied with the crime that he would overlook the evidence. And so it turned out. The second part, which described the investigation of the crime, had to most readers the effect of new matter." However, Binyon notes that Freeman is being too modest here, and that it was Freeman's art that kept the reader's attention in the second part. Reviewers approved of Freeman's inverted tales. The Scotsman said that Freeman had "... proved that a tale which tells the story of the crime first, leaving us to follow the sleuth as he tracks the criminal down, may be at least as absorbing as the old yarns which left us in the dark until the end". Rodgers noted that "Great narrative skill is needed in order to keep the reader's interest" in a story where the crime if revealed at that start and that there have been imitators "Freeman alone stands as not only the originator, but as the most successful proponent of this form of detective fiction".

Precision of logic, facts, and method
Freeman paid a great deal of attention to details, and carried out the experiments described in his books to ensure that they worked and would give the expected results. He also went to the trouble of visiting the places he wrote about so that the details in his descriptions were correct. De Balcam says that "Freeman displays a mastery of craftsmanship" in every story, and that he always used the language of the trade concerned. Freeman is "a man who writes of things that he has seen, handled and understood, and not of things that he has met only in print, or in a hazy, inattentive observation". This is a critical aspect of Freeman - he tested the methods he used. The top floor of his house was a workshop and laboratory, and his books sometimes included drawings or micrographs illustrating the evidence.

One instance that shows that the methods and approaches described by Freeman were practicable lies in the prosecution of an apprentice from Barrow for coining. The apprentice had followed a method described in one of the Danby Croker stories by Freeman, and had produced a number of sovereigns that he had successfully passed.

The Birmingham Post noted that his attention to forensic science was fuller and "certainly more systematically than any other writer of detective stories" and that the accuracy of his stories gained him "an exceptionally large proportion of readers of the more exacting and less easily satisfied type".

On logic Adams stated that to read Freeman's cases intelligently "... implies a definite exercise in the use of 'Mill's Canons of Inductive Logic'" and the books offered a very practical means of testing students' understanding of the canons. Herbert notes that Thorndyke's reasoning "... is distinguished by its rigorous logic". Thorndyke, like his creator, was a medical man and also a barrister, and "combined his legal and medical training into a personage of willful dominance, impeccable logic, and scholarly and comprehensive inductive reasoning".

Comparisons with Sherlock Holmes
Inevitably, commentators compared Thorndyke with Holmes. Binyon says that Thorndyke stands out from the other late Victorian and early Edwardian detectives in being a rival to Sherlock Holmes, rather than just owing their existence to his success. "Thorndyke is the most impressive and the most intellectually powerful of fictional detectives." Poupard notes that "In critical comparisons with Holmes, Dr. Thorndyke is deemed the more accurate thinker and ranked superior as a scientific authority, whereas Holmes is considered the superior literary creation". One immediate clue to the difference between Thorndyke and Holmes, is that Holmes calls his inductive reasoning deduction, a mistake that Thorndyke would never make. Binyon notes that Holmes often makes factual errors, referring to the blue carbuncle as crystallised charcoal, when it contains no carbon, and referring to non-existent species or martial arts.

Ward compares how Holmes deals with a hat as a clue in Doyle's short story The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle (1892) with how Thorndyke treats a similar clue in Freeman's short story The Anthropologist at Large (1909). After examining the hat, Holmes declares that:
 * 1) The man is intellectual – as he has a large head size.
 * 2) That he was once well to do, but is no longer – as the hat was an expensive style from three years ago that is now shabby.
 * 3) That he was a man of foresight, but has suffered moral retrogression, probably due to drink – as the hat has had a safety guard fitted to it, but the owner has failed to renew the elastic.
 * 4) That he is middle-aged, has grizzled hair which had recently been cut and that he used lime cream – from an examination of the lining
 * 5) That his wife has ceased to love him – as the hat has not been brushed for weeks (there is other evidence that he is married).
 * 6) That he probably does not have town-gas in his house – as there are several tallow stains, presumably from guttering candles, on the hat.

For his part, the first observation that Thorndyke makes is that hats often change owners over their lives, so one needs to interpret the evidence with caution. This immediately explodes at least the second and third of Holmes's conclusions. Thorndyke then induces that: Ward notes that Thorndyke's conclusions are sound, less capricious, and more practical, and allow Thorndyke to track his man down, whereas Holmes has to advertise to find his.
 * 1) The man is Japanese – from the shape of the head, as the hat has clearly been steamed to fit a particular head, and from a hair sample, which matches Japanese rather than European or African hair.
 * 2) That he works at a mother of pearl factory – due to the large amount of pearl shell dust inside the hat. At the time, this business was largely carried out by Japanese and Chinese immigrants.
 * 3) That he is a decent orderly man – as there is no accumulation of dust on the outside of his hat.

Herbert notes that in comparison to Holmes, "Thorndyke has no eccentricities, and his reasoning, unlike that of his contemporary, is distinguished by its rigorous logic – considered purely as a detective, he is perhaps the most impressive of all fictional sleuths".

Longer works by Freeman including collaborations
The following list is based on:
 * The entries for Freeman, and the pseudonym, Clifford Ashdown, for his collaboration with John James Pitcairn in the Jisc Library Hub Discover catalogue.
 * The list of Freeman titles in Make Mine a Mystery by G. W. Neibuhr
 * The list of Freeman and Ashdown titles in A Catalogue of Crime by Barzun and Taylor.
 * The list provided in the Dictionary of Literary Biography by John McAleer.
 * The list in the Crime Fiction 1749-1980: A Bibliography, by Hubin.

Detailed content of short-story collections

 * John Thorndyke's Cases (1909) (published in the United States as Dr. Thorndyke's Cases)
 * 1) The Man with the Nailed Shoes
 * 2) The Stranger's Latchkey
 * 3) The Anthropologist at Large
 * 4) The Blue Sequin
 * 5) The Moabite Cipher
 * 6) The Mandarin's Pearl
 * 7) The Aluminum Dagger
 * 8) A Message from the Deep Sea

 * The Singing Bone (1912) (published in the United States as The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke)
 * 1) The Case of Oscar Brodski (an inverted short story)
 * 2) Part I. The Mechanism of Crime
 * 3) Part II. The Mechanism of Detection
 * 4) A Case of Premeditation (an inverted short story)
 * 5) Part I. The Elimination of Mr. Pratt
 * 6) Part II. Rival Sleuth-Hounds
 * 7) The Echo of a Mutiny (an inverted short story)
 * 8) Part I. Death on the Girdler
 * 9) Part II. "The Singing Bone"
 * 10) A Wastrel's Romance (an inverted short story)
 * 11) Part I. The Spinster's Guest
 * 12) Part II. Munera Pulveris
 * 13) The Old Lag
 * 14) Part I. The Changed Immutable
 * 15) Part II. The Ship of the Desert

 * The Great Portrait Mystery and other Stories (1918)
 * 1) The Great Portrait Mystery (not a Thorndyke story)
 * 2) The Bronze Parrot (not a Thorndyke story)
 * 3) The Missing Mortgagee (an inverted Thorndyke short story)
 * 4) Powder Blue and Hawthorne (not a Thorndyke story)
 * 5) Percival Bland's Proxy (an inverted Thorndyke short story)
 * 6) The Attorney's Conscience (not a Thorndyke story)
 * 7) The Luck of Barnabas Mudge (not a Thorndyke story)

 * Dr. Thorndyke's Casebook (1923) (published in the United States as The Blue Scarab)
 * 1) The Case of the White Footprints
 * 2) The Blue Scarab
 * 3) The New Jersey Sphinx
 * 4) The Touchstone
 * 5) A Fisher of Men
 * 6) The Stolen Ingots
 * 7) The Funeral Pyre
 * The Puzzle Lock (1925)
 * 1) The Puzzle Lock
 * 2) The Green Check Jacket
 * 3) The Seal of Nebuchadnezzar
 * 4) Phyllis Annesley's Peril
 * 5) A Sower of Pestilence
 * 6) Rex v. Burnaby
 * 7) A Mystery of the Sand-hills
 * 8) The Apparition of Burling Court
 * 9) The Mysterious Visitor

 * The Magic Casket (1927)
 * 1) The Magic Casket
 * 2) The Contents of a Mare's Nest
 * 3) The Stalking Horse
 * 4) The Naturalist at Law
 * 5) Mr. Ponting's Alibi
 * 6) Pandora's Box
 * 7) The Trail of Behemoth
 * 8) The Pathologist to the Rescue
 * 9) Gleanings from the Wreckage

The American edition of this is R. Austin Freeman, The Dr. Thorndyke Omnibus: 38 of His Criminal Investigations as set down by R. Austin Freeman (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1932 and later reprintings). The American edition includes one story, "The Mandarin's Pearl," printed in the first Thorndyke short-story collection, John Thorndyke's Cases, but omitted from the British omnibus. Two other stories, though also appearing in the first Dr. Thorndyke short-story collection, John Thorndyke's Cases, were omitted from the British and American editions of the omnibus collection: "The Man with the Nailed Shoes" and "A Message from the Deep Sea."
 * The Famous Cases of Dr. Thorndyke (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1929 and later reprintings) -- an omnibus of previously published stories
 * 1) The Case of Oscar Brodski (an inverted short story)
 * 2) Part I. The Mechanism of Crime
 * 3) Part II. The Mechanism of Detection
 * 4) A Case of Premeditation (an inverted short story)
 * 5) Part I. The Elimination of Mr. Pratt
 * 6) Part II. Rival Sleuth-Hounds
 * 7) The Echo of a Mutiny (an inverted short story)
 * 8) Part I. Death on the Girdler
 * 9) Part II. "The Singing Bone"
 * 10) A Wastrel's Romance (an inverted short story)
 * 11) Part I. The Spinster's Guest
 * 12) Part II. Munera Pulveris
 * 13) The Missing Mortgagee (an inverted Thorndyke short story)
 * 14) Percival Bland's Proxy (an inverted Thorndyke short story)
 * 15) The Old Lag
 * 16) Part I. The Changed Immutable
 * 17) Part II. The Ship of the Desert
 * 18) Stranger's Latchkey
 * 19) The Anthropologist at Large
 * 20) The Blue Sequin
 * 21) The Moabite Cipher
 * 22) The Aluminum Dagger
 * 23) The Magic Casket
 * 24) The Contents of a Mare's Nest
 * 25) The Stalking Horse
 * 26) The Naturalist at Law
 * 27) Mr. Ponting's Alibi
 * 28) Pandora's Box
 * 29) The Trail of Behemoth
 * 30) The Pathologist to the Rescue
 * 31) Gleanings from the Wreckage
 * 32) The Puzzle Lock
 * 33) The Green Check Jacket
 * 34) The Seal of Nebuchadnezzar
 * 35) Phyllis Annesley's Peril
 * 36) A Sower of Pestilence
 * 37) Rex v. Burnaby
 * 38) A Mystery of the Sand-hills
 * 39) The Apparition of Burling Court
 * 40) The Mysterious Visitor
 * 41) The Case of the White Footprints
 * 42) The Blue Scarab
 * 43) The New Jersey Sphinx
 * 44) The Touchstone
 * 45) A Fisher of Men
 * 46) The Stolen Ingots
 * 47) The Funeral Pyre

 * The Best Dr. Thorndyke Detective Stories (1973), edited by E.F. Bleiler.
 * 1) The Case of Oscar Broski (an inverted short story)
 * 2) Part I. The Mechanism of Crime
 * 3) Part II. The Mechanism of Detection
 * 4) A Case of Premeditation (an inverted short story)
 * 5) Part I. The Elimination of Mr. Pratt
 * 6) Part II. Rival Sleuth-Hounds
 * 7) The Echo of a Mutiny (an inverted short story)
 * 8) Part I. Death on the Girdler
 * 9) Part II. "The Singing Bone"
 * 10) The Mandarin's Pearl
 * 11) The Blue Sequin
 * 12) The Moabite Cipher
 * 13) The Aluminum Dagger
 * 14) 31 New Inn (believed to have been written about 1905 and later expanded to novel length), which was also published in volume I of the Freeman omnibus, published by Battered Silicon Dispatch Box

 * The Dead Hand and Other Uncollected Stories, edited by Douglas G. Greene and Tony Medawar (Shelburne, Ontario: The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 1999).
 * 1) The Dead Hand. (This story was believed to have been written in 1912 and later expanded to novel length as The Shadow of the Wolf; the short story was also published in Detection by Gaslight, 14 Victorian detective stories, an anthology by Douglas G. Greene (Dover. 1997).
 * 2) The Sign of the Ram
 * 3) The Mystery of Hoo Marsh
 * 4) The Mystery of the Seven Banana Skins
 * 5) Caveat Emptor: The Story of a Pram
 * 6) Victims of Circumstance
 * 7) The Great Tobacco "Plant"
 * 8) Beyond the Dreams of Avarice
 * 9) A Bird of Passage: A Story of the Thames
 * 10) The Sleuth-Hounds
 * 11) The Free Trip
 * 12) The Comedy of the Artemis
 * 13) The Resurrection of Matthew Jephson
 * 14) A Signal Success
 * 15) The Ebb Tide
 * 16) By the Black Deep
 * 17) A Question of Salvage
 * 18) Under the Clock
 * 19) The Costume Model
 * 20) Ye Olde Spotted Dogge
 * 21) A Suburban Autolycus
 * 22) A Woman's Vengeance
 * 23) Ruth
 * 24) The Great Slump
 * 25) The Art of the Detective Story
 * 26) The Cleverest Murder - In Fact or Fiction
 * 27) The Peasenhall Mystery
 * 28) Meet Dr Thorndyke

Short stories written with John James Pitcairn

 * "The Assyrian Rejuvenator". Australian Town & Country Journal, 13 and 20 July 1901, as by "Ralph J Jay". Reprinted Cassell's Magazine, June 1902, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in The Adventures of Romney Pringle.
 * "The Foreign Office Despatch". Australian Town & Country Journal, 20 and 27 July 1901, as by "Ralph J Jay". Reprinted Cassell's Magazine, July 1902, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in The Adventures of Romney Pringle
 * "The Chicago Heiress". Australian Town & Country Journal, 27 July and 3 August 1901, as by "Ralph J Jay". Reprinted Cassell's Magazine, August 1902, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in The Adventures of Romney Pringle
 * "The Lizard's Scale". Australian Town & Country Journal, 10 August 1901, as by "Ralph J Jay". Reprinted Cassell's Magazine, September 1902, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in The Adventures of Romney Pringle
 * "The Paste Diamonds". Australian Town & Country Journal, 17 August 1901, as by "Ralph J Jay". Reprinted Cassell's Magazine, October 1902, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in The Adventures of Romney Pringle
 * "The Kailyard Novel". Australian Town & Country Journal, 24 August 1901, as by "Ralph J Jay". Reprinted Cassell's Magazine, November 1902, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in The Adventures of Romney Pringle
 * "The Submarine Boat". Cassell's Magazine, June 1903, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in The Further Adventures of Romney Pringle
 * "The Kimberley Fugitive". Cassell's Magazine, July 1903, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in The Further Adventures of Romney Pringle
 * "The Silk Worms of Florence". Cassell's Magazine, August 1903, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in The Further Adventures of Romney Pringle
 * "The Box of Specie". Cassell's Magazine, September 1903, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in The Further Adventures of Romney Pringle
 * "The Silver Ingots". Cassell's Magazine, October 1903, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in The Further Adventures of Romney Pringle
 * "The House of Detention". Cassell's Magazine, November 1903, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in The Further Adventures of Romney Pringle
 * "The Adventure at Heath Crest". Cassell's Magazine, December 1904, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in From a Surgeon's Diary
 * "How I Acted for an Invalid Doctor". Cassell's Magazine, January 1905, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in From a Surgeon's Diary
 * "How I Attended a Nervous Patient". Cassell's Magazine, February 1905, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in From a Surgeon's Diary
 * "How I Met a Very Ignorant Practitioner". Cassell's Magazine, March 1905, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in From a Surgeon's Diary
 * "How I Cured a Hopeless Paralytic". Cassell's Magazine, April 1905, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in From a Surgeon's Diary
 * "How I Helped to Lay a Ghost". Cassell's Magazine, May 1905, as by "Clifford Ashdown". Collected in From a Surgeon's Diary

Uncollected short stories
The short stories from Cassell's Family Magazine are from the index of fiction prepared for the Victorian Fiction Research Unit, Department of English, University of Queensland by Sue Thomas."
 * The Mutiny on the Speedwell. Novel Magazine, May 1914 (Jack Osmond). See also A Certain Dr Thorndyke
 * The Gun Runner. Novel Magazine, June 1914 (Jack Osmond). See also A Certain Dr Thorndyke

Non-fiction

 * The Interior of the Gold Coast. Macmillan's Magazine, June 1899
 * In the London Docks. Living London, January 1902
 * Hospital London. Living London, June 1902. Reprinted Living London, December 1902
 * Afflicted London. Living London, September 1902. Reprinted Living London, October 1905
 * The Coastwise Lights of England. Cassell's Magazine, November 1902
 * London below Bridge. Living London, December 1902. Reprinted Living London, January 1906
 * The Royal Yacht. Cassell's Magazine, April 1903
 * A Thames Sailing Barge Match. Cassell's Magazine, September 1903
 * Small Yacht Racing. Cassell's Magazine, May 1904
 * The Sentinels of the Port of London. Cassell's Magazine, October 1905
 * Down the River. Cassell's Magazine, January 1906
 * The Tightening Grip. Straits Times, 5 November 1917
 * The Art of the Detective Story. The Nineteenth Century and After, May 1924
 * The Pendulum. Todmorden Advertiser and Hebden Bridge Newsletter, 23 March 1928
 * Hot Boiled Beans. Newark Advertiser, 7 November 1928
 * An Englishman's Rights. Nottingham Evening Post, 28 February 1929
 * The Two Aspects of Liberty. Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 10 April 1933
 * Democracy to Dictatorship. Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 3 March 1934 (Freeman's original title was "From Democracy to Dictatorship")
 * Liberty and Property. Nottingham Evening Post, 29 November 1934
 * The Return of the Autocrat - Orders in Council. Linlithgow Gazette, 3 April 1936
 * What Has become of Democracy?. Mid-Sussex Times, 28 April 1936
 * Liberty and Intelligence. Portsmouth Evening News, 16 October 1936
 * Does Dullness Create Dictatorship?. Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 17 October 1936
 * Preservation of Liberty. Portsmouth Evening News, 18 June 1937
 * Liberty and Reciprocity. Linlithgowshire Gazette, 18 June 1937
 * On Being a Good Neighbour. Kirkintilloch Herald, 23 June 1937
 * Liberty and Physique. Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 29 January 1938
 * Enemies of Liberty. West London Observer, 2 December 1938
 * War is Destructive of Liberty. Sunderland Daily Echo & Shipping Gazette, 14 July 1939
 * Liberty and Peace. West London Observer, 21 July 1939
 * Individualism and War. Falkirk Herald, 18 October 1939
 * War Sacrifices for a Purpose. Grimsby Daily Telegraph, 23 November 1939
 * Hard Cases and Bad Law. Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 4 April 1940
 * Liberties Surrendered for Future Freedom. Portsmouth Evening News, 12 September 1940 [Also published as Hitlerism 'On Appro.', Freeman's original title, Motherwell Times, 13 September 1940]
 * Freedom of the Citizen. Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 13 September 1940
 * Good Breeding - The Importance of Eugenics. Thanet Advertiser, 25 April 1941
 * Eugenics and Liberty. Falkirk Herald, 23 April 1941; also published as ‘'Good Breeding; The Importance of Eugenics'’. Thanet Adviser, 25 April 1941
 * What of the Future?. Falkirk Herald, 29 October 1941
 * The Passing of Personal Liberty. Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 24 April 1942; also published as The Passing of Personal Liberty towards the Human Ant-Hill. West London Observer, 1 May 1942. (Freeman's original title was The Passing of Freedom)
 * Liberty and Equality. Falkirk Herald, 9 September 1942
 * Medical Profession: Dangers of State Service. 25 November 1942. Also published as Medical Profession and Socialization of the Medical Profession (Freeman's original title)
 * The Doppelganger. Publication unknown
 * The Economics of Liberty. Publication unknown
 * The Militant's Strategy. Publication unknown
 * Is Fingerprint Evidence Fallible?. Publication unknown
 * His Majesty's Savings. Publication unknown
 * The Renegades. Publication unknown
 * The Three Wishes. Publication unknown
 * The Unauthorised Raiders. Publication unknown

Unconfirmed stories
[From the records of Freeman's agent, A P Watt, Tony Medawar identified that Freeman had been paid for the following items.]

 * The Adventures of Jack Osmond Publication unknown. See also A Certain Dr Thorndyke
 * The Auchtermuchtie Burglary Publication unknown
 * The Automatic Boat Publication unknown
 * La Belle Anglaise Publication unknown
 * The Cavern Publication unknown
 * A Corpse in the Case Publication unknown. This may be a reference to "Corpse in the Case", an adaptation of Dr Thorndyke Intervenes by Mollie Hardwick, broadcast on the BBC Home Service on 9 June 1962 and starring Cyril Luckham as Thorndyke.
 * A Crusader's Misadventures Publication unknown
 * The Haarschneide Machine Publication unknown
 * Mr Pordle's Homecoming Publication unknown

Television adaptations
A short series featuring Dr Thorndyke was produced by the BBC in 1964, entitled Thorndyke. The title character was played by veteran British actor Peter Copley.

Based on the stories written by R Austin Freeman, the episodes, all of which except the pilot are missing from the BBC archive, were as follows:
 * The Case of Oscar Brodski (Pilot – as part of BBC series "Detective')
 * The Old Lag
 * A Case of Premeditation
 * The Mysterious Visitor
 * The Case of Phyllis Annesley
 * Percival Bland's Brother
 * The Puzzle Lock

Three stories were also adapted as part of the Thames TV series The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes in 1971–3. These were:
 * A Message From The Deep Sea (from the 1st series and starring John Neville as Thorndyke)
 * The Assyrian Rejuvenator (1st series, starring Donald Sinden as Romney Pringle)
 * The Moabite Cipher (2nd series, starring Barrie Ingham as Thorndyke)

Both series are available on DVD – in the UK from Network Video and in the United States from Acornmedia.

Radio adaptation
Starting in 2011 the BBC aired radio adaptations of some of the Thorndyke short stories, Thorndyke: Forensic Investigator on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Series 1
November 2011 read by Jim Norton
 * 1) A Mysterious Visitor
 * 2) The Puzzle Lock
 * 3) A Mystery of the Sand Hills
 * 4) Pathologist to the Rescue
 * 5) The Secret of the Urn
 * 6) Pandora's Box

Series 2
March 2013 read by William Gaminara
 * 1) The Stolen Ingots
 * 2) Rex v Burnaby
 * 3) The Stalking Horse

Literature

 * In Donna Andrews's Owl's Well That Ends Well, a near-mint first-edition copy of The Uttermost Farthing provides the motive for the murder.

Biographies and studies

 * R. Austin Freeman: The Anthropologist at Large, Oliver Mayo, Hawthornedene, South Australia: Investigator Press, (1980). This biography, in addition to reviewing Freeman's fiction gives special attention to the African and sociological works. It was reprinted in Volume 11 of the Freeman Edition by Battered Silicon Dispatch Box in 1998.
 * In Search of Doctor Thorndyke, Norman Donaldson (Bowling Green, Ohio, 1971). A second expanded edition was published in 1998 as Volume 10 of the Battered Silicon Dispatch Box edition of Freeman.
 * The Thorndyke File was started by Philip T. Asdell of Maryland in Spring 1976, and published articles of scholarship on Freeman twice a year. John McAleer took over in 1980 and the journal ran on until 1988. Half of the subscribers were medical doctors.
 * John Thorndyke's Journal was published in England from 1991 to 1998 by David Ian Chapman of Aldershot, Hampshire.
 * Collecting R. Austin Freeman, David Ian Chapman (Highfield Press, Aldershot, 2022) Revised Second Edition.
 * R. Austin Freeman and The Adventures of Romney Pringle: An Investigation, David Ian Chapman (Highfield Press, Aldershot, 2023).

title: R. Austin Freeman


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User talk:Arroc

Welcome!

Welcome to Wikipedia, Arroc! My name is Ryan, aka Acetic Acid. I noticed that you were new and haven't received any messages yet. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Wikipedia can be a little intimidating at first, since it uses different formatting than other sites that use HTML and CSS. In the long run, though, you'll find that the WikiSyntax is a lot easier and faster than those other ways. Here are a few links to get you started:

 * How to edit a page
 * Editing, policy, conduct, and structure tutorial
 * Picture tutorial
 * How to write a great article

There are a lot of policies and guides to read, but I highly recommend reading over those first. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message on my talk page. Please be sure to sign your name on Talk Pages using four tildes (~~~~) to produce your name and the current date, along with a link to your user page. This way, others know when you left a message and how to find you. It's easier than having to type out your name, right? :)

I hope you enjoy contributing to Wikipedia. We can use all the help we can get! Have a nice day. Sincerely, Acetic Acid 02:14, August 19, 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:Arroc