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Hello all,
H L Adam, author and journalist, friend of many within the CID, MacNaughten and Froest included, and good aquaintance of Anderson, wrote of a good many of the personalities in Scotland Yard, up to the publishing of his book CID, Behind the scenes at Scotland Yard, in 1930. It is a fairly rare book which I have the fortune to posess.
Here are his 2 pages on MacNaughten, ( which I quote verbatim) that may be important, insight wise.
Chapter 2, part of page15, page 16, and part of page 17.
"Another stalwart figure, albeit with somewhat bowed shoulders, now appears within my mental vision. It is in a lofty, spacious room at the "Yard". He invites me to be seated, making the quaint observation,
"Would you like a warm chair or a cold chair?"
It was a cold day, there was a big fire burning, and one of the chairs was nearer the fire than the other. I chose the warm one.
'Well now, what do you think of the Clapham case?'
Thus spake the late Sir Melville MacNaughten, whose period of office as Assistant Commissionewr extended from 1903 to 1913. His reference to the "Clapham case" was to the murder of a man named Leon Beron, on Clapham Common, by the notorious crook Steinie Morrison. It was before the arrest was made and while the police were still making their investigations.
Sir Melville was a charming man and had an extemsive knowledge of crime and criminals. quite as extensive as that of his predecessor, Sir Robert Anderspn. Tis does not, it should be norme in mond, apply to all those who have served as Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners at Scotland Yard. Only the other day I was referring to a certain Commissioner at the "Yard" when I was taken up shortly by a departmental "head" with the sweeping observation,
"Oh, he doesn't know anything about crime."
Sir Melville, however, took an active and intimate interest in both crime and criminals. He was a familiar figure at the scene of any of any big murder case, which had special features of interest to the mind of the police official. Neither in appearance nor manner was he in the least suggestive of the fictional idea of a "sleuth". He had a curious flippant way of talking of crime. He wrote in the same way, as his very interesting book on reminiscences proves. A book, by the way, which he wrote at my suggestion. He handled during his period of office many interesting cases. Not the least of these was the one already referred to. I recall the scorn and contempt he directed towards those who sought to conjure up an atmosphere of romance around the case by suggesting that it was the work of a secret society. There was a curving scratch on the cheek of the dead man, which was, by means of imagination, twisted into the letter "S", and was supposed to have been placed there by the murderer.
I remember Sir Melville asking me,
"Did you see anything of a letter 'S'?"
To which I replied in the negative. I explained that I had looked very carefully, and had failed to discover any mark which could possibly be considered to represent a letter of any kind.
"Of course not!" agreed Sir Melville. "It was just an ordinary murder for robbery."
Which of course it was.
I shall more to say about this much discussed case later on.
In 1893-4 Sir Melville MacNaughten represented the police on Mr. Asquith's Committee appointed toinquire into the subject of the Identification of Criminals, in which he rendered invaluable service, and altogether during the period of his activities at Scotland Yard contributed much towards the making of the police force."
best wishes
Phil
H L Adam, author and journalist, friend of many within the CID, MacNaughten and Froest included, and good aquaintance of Anderson, wrote of a good many of the personalities in Scotland Yard, up to the publishing of his book CID, Behind the scenes at Scotland Yard, in 1930. It is a fairly rare book which I have the fortune to posess.
Here are his 2 pages on MacNaughten, ( which I quote verbatim) that may be important, insight wise.
Chapter 2, part of page15, page 16, and part of page 17.
"Another stalwart figure, albeit with somewhat bowed shoulders, now appears within my mental vision. It is in a lofty, spacious room at the "Yard". He invites me to be seated, making the quaint observation,
"Would you like a warm chair or a cold chair?"
It was a cold day, there was a big fire burning, and one of the chairs was nearer the fire than the other. I chose the warm one.
'Well now, what do you think of the Clapham case?'
Thus spake the late Sir Melville MacNaughten, whose period of office as Assistant Commissionewr extended from 1903 to 1913. His reference to the "Clapham case" was to the murder of a man named Leon Beron, on Clapham Common, by the notorious crook Steinie Morrison. It was before the arrest was made and while the police were still making their investigations.
Sir Melville was a charming man and had an extemsive knowledge of crime and criminals. quite as extensive as that of his predecessor, Sir Robert Anderspn. Tis does not, it should be norme in mond, apply to all those who have served as Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners at Scotland Yard. Only the other day I was referring to a certain Commissioner at the "Yard" when I was taken up shortly by a departmental "head" with the sweeping observation,
"Oh, he doesn't know anything about crime."
Sir Melville, however, took an active and intimate interest in both crime and criminals. He was a familiar figure at the scene of any of any big murder case, which had special features of interest to the mind of the police official. Neither in appearance nor manner was he in the least suggestive of the fictional idea of a "sleuth". He had a curious flippant way of talking of crime. He wrote in the same way, as his very interesting book on reminiscences proves. A book, by the way, which he wrote at my suggestion. He handled during his period of office many interesting cases. Not the least of these was the one already referred to. I recall the scorn and contempt he directed towards those who sought to conjure up an atmosphere of romance around the case by suggesting that it was the work of a secret society. There was a curving scratch on the cheek of the dead man, which was, by means of imagination, twisted into the letter "S", and was supposed to have been placed there by the murderer.
I remember Sir Melville asking me,
"Did you see anything of a letter 'S'?"
To which I replied in the negative. I explained that I had looked very carefully, and had failed to discover any mark which could possibly be considered to represent a letter of any kind.
"Of course not!" agreed Sir Melville. "It was just an ordinary murder for robbery."
Which of course it was.
I shall more to say about this much discussed case later on.
In 1893-4 Sir Melville MacNaughten represented the police on Mr. Asquith's Committee appointed toinquire into the subject of the Identification of Criminals, in which he rendered invaluable service, and altogether during the period of his activities at Scotland Yard contributed much towards the making of the police force."
best wishes
Phil
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