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Herbert Bruderer
Milestones
in Analog and
Digital Computing
Volume 1
Third Edition
Milestones in Analog and Digital Computing
Herbert Bruderer
Milestones in Analog
and Digital Computing
Third edition
Two Volumes
In view of the scope of this work, the book comprises two volumes. Some
selected keywords relate to the following content:
Volume 1
Basic Principles, Mechanical Calculating Devices, and Automatons
• Basic principles (mechanical and electronic calculators, the digital
transformation)
• Global overview of early electronic digital computers
• Development of arithmetic
• Mechanical calculating machines
• Classification of calculating aids
• Museums and their collections
• Famous replicas (Babbage, Pascal, Leibniz, Hollerith)
• Slide rules (linear, circular, cylindrical, and pocket watch slide rules)
• Roman hand abacus
• Historical automatons and robots (automaton figures, musical automatons,
Leonardo da Vinci’s robots)
• Automaton clocks
• Scientific instruments (mathematics, astronomy, surveying, time
measurement)
• Chronology
• Technological, economic, social, and cultural history
• Step-by-step instructions
Volume 2
Electronic Computers, Glossaries, and Bibliographies
• Invention of the computer (Babbage, Turing, Zuse, von Neumann)
• Development in Germany (Zuse, Telefunken, Siemens)
v
vi Preface
What Is New?
Compared with the award-winning first edition, the second edition has been
thoroughly revised and considerably expanded. For the English version, the
entire work has been revised and supplemented and errors corrected. Below
are the most important changes of the second and third editions:
• New findings: Multiple Curta (world’s smallest mechanical parallel calcu-
lator), circular slide rule of Weber, and Summus circular adding machine
• Additional step-by-step operating instructions for especially instructive
mechanical calculating devices: Millionaire, Madas, Simex, Summus,
Brunsviga, and original Odhner
• Significantly expanded global overview of the existing holdings of valuable
historical objects in the most important museums
• About 280 new figures (compared to the second edition) of rare analog and
digital calculating devices and other scientific instruments (above all from
time measurement and astronomy), as well as historically important
automaton figures, musical automatons, Roman bead frames, Leonardo’s
robots, and famous replicas
• More detailed explanation of the finding of the century, the Antikythera
mechanism (world’s first known astronomical calculating machine), in
connection with a survey among internationally leading researchers
Preface vii
Selected Milestones
This work presents a number of particularly sensational and surprising
findings:
• The world’s first (mechanical) astronomical calculating machine
• The world’s largest and most accurate commercially available cylindrical
slide rules
• The world’s first (commercially) successful calculating machine
• The world’s oldest known keyboard adding machine
• The world’s first (mechanical) “process computer”
• The world’s smallest mechanical calculating machine
• The world’s smallest mechanical parallel calculating machine.
Global Surveys
This work includes numerous global surveys, such as concerning the first
(electromechanical) relay and (electronic) vacuum tube computers, the pio-
neers of computer science and their inventions, and museum holdings.
Furthermore, it conveys an overview of the mechanical calculating devices in
Switzerland. Together with the extensive index of persons, places, and sub-
jects, the book is therefore suitable as a reference work.
tep-by-Step Operating Instructions
S
Hard-to-find user instructions for historical analog and digital calculating
devices are included in order to enhance the user value of this book. These
make clear how cumbersome calculating once was.
reservation of the Cultural Heritage of Technology
P
It is my hope that this book will motivate readers to become interested in the
cultural heritage of technology and the preservation of such treasures. Perhaps
this publication will wrest some outstanding achievements in computer sci-
ence from oblivion. It would be gratifying if this book is able to encourage
young persons to take up a technical education and thus alleviate the short-
age specialists in the next generation. A further important objective is the pro-
motion of the history of technology.
Digital Transformation
Groundbreaking inventions, such as the wheel, the steam engine, letterpress,
the current generator, the number zero, the computer, the transistor, the
World Wide Web, and the robot, have led to a profound reshaping of the world.
Many companies have fallen victim to the transition from mechanical systems
to electronics. They failed to recognize the signs of the time and were left
behind with this development. A similar rapid upheaval is apparent with the
Preface ix
bstacles
O
The many years of – exclusively unsalaried – researches were unfortunately
complicated by the circumstance that the readiness for the support of these
was often meager, in some cases because of narrow-minded jealousy. At times,
the work was purposely hindered.
Which historical calculating devices are found at which particular places?
The most important museums were asked to check their holding lists for cor-
rectness and completeness. Unfortunately, some (repeated) questions
remained unanswered. Considerable reluctance was also encountered regard-
ing the willingness to deliver difficultly accessible documents.
Further hurdles arose concerning the entry of the work in Wikipedia.
o Financial Support
N
The entire work was financed by the author alone, without any third-party
funding. Consequently, there are no obligations and dependencies. The work
originated single-handedly.
ulticolored Mixture
M
This work is a practice-oriented mixture of history book, informatics book,
textbook, museum guide, instructions for use, glossary, bibliography, and ref-
erence work. It presents various outstanding achievements, discusses contro-
versial issues, and defines core themes. Both digital and analog computers are
considered, including ornate automatons. Understandably, this structure may
be somewhat confusing. It is of course not easy to reconcile such diversity.
One can say to the detriment of the book that it is “neither fish nor flesh” and
that the common thread is not always immediately recognizable.
English Edition
The tedious international search for the financial backing of the comprehen-
sive English translation remained unsuccessful. The author himself therefore
assumed the costs of the transcription. The search for a qualified native
English translator also proved very time-consuming. The search was con-
ducted above all in North America, Great Britain, Germany, and Switzerland.
The database of the German Federal Association of Interpreters and Translators
was especially helpful here. Ultimately, a good solution was found.
It is not at all self-evident that a publishing house is prepared to publish
such a large, four-colored work.
Environmental Protection
Although worldwide researches were carried out, not a single flight was nec-
essary for the work. Public transport (train and bus) was used for all domestic
and international travel to European museums, libraries, archives, confer-
ences, etc.
Highlighting
Certain words and passages deserving particular emphasis are highlighted in
italics.
Rorschach, Switzerland
Acknowledgments
This book owes its origin to a great many persons. Without their very much
appreciated help, this work would never have been possible. I would like to
express my heartfelt thanks to all those who supported me during roughly
10 years of work. Because of the danger that I could forget to mention some of
those who have helped me, with a few exceptions, I will not name these
persons.
Libraries
First of all, I would like to mention the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology, Zurich) Library. I am very grateful to the staff of the different sec-
tions. Beatrice Ackermann, Ursula Albrecht, Manuela Christen, Aristidis
Harissiadis, and Patricia Robertson were able to provide me with numerous,
often difficult accessible, domestic and foreign documents.
xiii
xiv Acknowledgments
Other articles (talks given in London and New York) are documented in the
conference proceedings of the International Federation for Information
Processing (IFIP, Laxenburg, Austria), the global parent organization of the
national scientific informatics societies.
Worthy of mention are also the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
(New York), the leading journal for the history of computer science, along with
the Journal of the Oughtred Society (California), CBI Newsletter (Charles
Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis), and Resurrection,
the newsletter of the British Computer Conservation Society (London).
Photographs
To their credit, many institutions made high-resolution black and white and
color photographs of history-charged devices, machines, and documents
available to me and granted permission to reproduce these. Further informa-
tion can be found in connection with the respective photographs.
Award-Winning Book
The Oughtred Society conferred an award on the first edition of this work in
2016. This USA-based international association is concerned with the history
of the slide rule and other mathematical instruments. The Briton William
Oughtred was the inventor of the slide rule.
Book Reviews
I would like to express my gratitude to Thomas Sonar (Technische Universität
Braunschweig), Steven Deckelman (University of Wisconsin-Stout,
Menomonie, Wisconsin), Rainer Gebhardt (Adam-Ries-Bund, Annaberg-
Buchholz), and Maik Schmidt, as well as Peter Schmitz (Magazin für
Computertechnik c’t, Hanover) for their outstanding reviews of the first edi-
tion. These were published by the Mathematical Association of America and
in the Mathematische Semesterberichte (Springer Verlag) and reprinted in the
Newsletter of the European Mathematical Society and the Deutsche
Mathematiker-Vereinigung.
English Translation
The excellent English translation of this difficult and demanding undertaking
by the American physicist Dr. John McMinn (Bamberg, Germany), delivered on
schedule, deserves a commendation.
The Publisher
Finally, I would like to express my particular gratitude to the staff of Springer
Nature Switzerland AG, Cham, for their support and realization of this book.
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Volume I
1 Introduction��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1
1.1 Objective ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1
1.2 Target Groups������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3
1.3 Period of Time������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3
1.4 What Is Computing Technology? ����������������������������������������������� 4
1.5 Spectacular Device and Document Findings ��������������������������� 4
1.6 Most Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Unknown
Calculating Devices ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 9
1.7 Instructions for Operating Historic Calculating Aids��������������� 10
1.8 In Regard to the Origin of This Book ������������������������������������������ 13
1.9 In Regard to Language����������������������������������������������������������������� 16
1.10 In Regard to the Content ������������������������������������������������������������� 18
1.11 Priorities ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 19
1.12 Oral History Interviews ��������������������������������������������������������������� 20
1.13 Firsthand Accounts ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 21
1.14 Approach��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 22
1.15 Highlights of the Researches������������������������������������������������������� 29
1.16 Low Points of the Researches����������������������������������������������������� 31
1.17 Plagiarism of Intellectual Property��������������������������������������������� 32
1.18 Publications ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 32
1.19 Sources ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33
1.20 Bibliography��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33
1.21 Regarding the Title of the Book ������������������������������������������������� 34
1.22 Instructions for Assembly����������������������������������������������������������� 35
2 Basic Principles��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 37
2.1 Analog and Digital Devices��������������������������������������������������������� 38
2.1.1 Numerals or Physical Variables ������������������������������������������������� 39
2.1.2 Numeration or Measurement ����������������������������������������������������� 39
2.2 Parallel and Serial Machines������������������������������������������������������� 69
2.3 Decimal and Binary Machines ��������������������������������������������������� 73
2.4 Fixed Point and Floating Point Computers������������������������������� 78
2.5 Special-Purpose and Universal Computers������������������������������ 80
2.6 Interconnected Computers ��������������������������������������������������������� 82
2.7 Conditional Commands��������������������������������������������������������������� 84
2.8 Components of Relay and Vacuum Tube Computers��������������� 86
2.9 Electronic Tubes��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 90
2.10 Delay Line Memories and Electrostatic Memories ������������������� 93
xv
xvi Contents
"You think it was Ida Griggs?" I put in quickly, as the Old Man in the
Corner momentarily ceased talking.
"Ah!" he retorted, with his funny, dry cackle, "you favour that theory, do
you?"
"It is a foolish theory," he went on, "not only because there was
absolutely no reason why Ida Griggs should kill her mistress—she did not
rob her, nor had she anything to gain by Mrs. Levison's death—but as she
was neither a cat, nor a night moth, she could not possibly have ascended
from a first floor window to another window on the half-landing above, and
entered her own room that way, for we must not lose sight of the fact that
her bedroom door was the next morning found locked on the outside, and
the key left in the lock."
"But some one killed old Mrs. Levison," I went on with some
exasperation—"she did not strangle herself with her own fingers."
"And if the murderer escaped through the window, he could not vanish
into thin air."
"Well then, the murder must have been committed by one of the inmates
of the house," he said; and now I knew that I was on the point of hearing the
solution of the mystery of the five diamond stars, because his thin, claw-
like fingers were working with feverish rapidity upon his beloved bit of
string.
"For a while he is busy in the shop, probably brooding over his mother's
anger and the unpleasant consequences it might have for the lovely
Rebecca. But presently he goes upstairs determined to speak with his
mother, to plead with her. Dreading that Ida Griggs, with the habit of her
kind, might sneak out of her room, and perhaps glue her ear to the keyhole,
he turns the key in the lock of the girl's bedroom door. He knows that the
interview with his mother will be unpleasant, that hard words will be
spoken against Rebecca, and these he does not wish Ida Griggs to hear.
"Then he knocks at his mother's door, and asks admittance on the pretext
that he has something of value to remit to her for keeping in her safe. She
would have no reason to refuse. He goes in, talks to his mother; she does
not mince her words. By now she knows the diamond stars have been
extracted from the safe, stolen by her beloved Reuben for the adornment of
the hated daughter-in-law.
"Can't you see those two arguing over the woman whom the man loves
and whom the older woman hates? Can't you see the latter using words
which outrage the husband's pride and rouses his wrath till it gets beyond
his control? Can't you see him in an access of unreasoning passion gripping
his mother by the throat, to smother the insults hurled at his wife?—and can
you see the old woman losing her balance, and hitting her head against the
corner of the marble wash-stand and falling—falling—whilst the son gazes
down, frantic and horror-struck at what he has done?
"There has not been much noise, even his mother's fall was practically
soundless, and—poor thing!—she had not the time to scream; the only
sound was the opening of the window; it certainly would not bring Ida
Griggs out of her bed—girls of her class are more likely to smother their
heads under their bedclothes if any alarming noise is heard. And so the
unfortunate man is able to sneak up to his room unseen and unheard.
"He was never mixed up in any quarrel with his mother, and he had
nothing much to gain by her death. At the inquest every one was sorry for
him; but I could not repress a feeling of admiration for the coolness and
cleverness with which he obliterated every trace of his crime. I imagine him
carefully wiping his boots before he went upstairs, and brushing and folding
up his clothes before he went to bed. Cannot you?
The Old Man in the Corner was more than usually loquacious that day:
he had a great deal to say on the subject of the strictures which a learned
judge levelled against the police in a recent murder case.
"But it is a daylight walk, for the path is narrow and in places the cliffs
fall away, sheer and precipitous, to the water's edge, whilst loose bits of
rock have an unpleasant trick of giving way under one's feet. If you were to
consult one of the Broxmouth gaffers on the advisability of taking a
midnight walk to Kurtmoor, he would most certainly shake his head and tell
you to wait till the next day and take your walk in the morning. Accidents
have happened there more than once, though Broxmouth holds its tongue
about that. Rash pedestrians have lost their footing and tumbled down the
side of the cliff before now, almost always with fatal results.
"And so, when a couple of small boys hunting for mussels at low tide in
the early morning of May fifth last, saw the body of a woman lying
inanimate upon the rocks at the foot of the cliffs, and reported their
discovery to the police, every one began by concluding that nothing but an
accident had occurred, and went on to abuse the town Council for not
putting up along the more dangerous portions of the Lovers' Walk some sort
of barrier as a protection to unwary pedestrians.
"Later on, when the body was identified as that of Miss Janet Smith, a
well-known resident of Broxmouth, public indignation waxed high: the
barrier along the edge of the Lovers' Walk became the burning question of
the hour. But during the whole of that day the 'accident' theory was never
disputed; it was only towards evening that whispers of 'suicide' began to
circulate, to be soon followed by the more ominous ones of 'murder.'
"And the next morning Broxmouth had the thrill of its life when it
became known throughout the town that Captain Franklin Marston had
been detained in connection with the finding of the body of Janet Smith,
and that he would appear that day before the magistrate on a charge of
murder.
"In the midst of this official supineness, the murder of the young matron,
followed immediately by the arrest of the secretary, had come as a
bombshell, and now wise heads began to wag and ominous murmurs
became current that for some time past there had been something very
wrong in the management of the Woodforde Institute. Whilst, at the call of
various august personages, money was pouring in from the benevolent
public, the commissariat was being conducted on parsimonious lines that
were a positive scandal. The boys were shockingly underfed, and the staff
of servants was constantly being changed because girls would not remain
on what they called a starvation régime.
"Then again, no proper accounts had been kept since the inception of the
Institute five years ago; entries were spasmodic, irregular and unreliable;
books were never audited; no one, apparently, had the slightest idea of
profit and loss or of balances; no one knew from week to week where the
salaries and wages were coming from, or from quarter to quarter if there
would be funds enough to meet rates and taxes; no one, in fact, appeared to
know anything about the affairs of the Institute, least of all the secretary
himself, who had often remarked quite jocularly that he had never in all his
life known anything about book-keeping, and that his appointment by the
governors rested upon his agreeable personality rather than upon his
financial and administrative ability.
"As you see, the Captain's position was, in consequence of this, a very
serious one; it became still more so when presently two or three ominous
facts came to light. To begin with, it seemed that he could give absolutely
no account of himself during the greater part of the night of May fifth. He
had left the Institute at about seven o'clock; he told the headmaster then that
he was going for a walk which seemed strange as it was pouring with rain.
On the other hand the landlady at the room where he lodged told the police
that when she herself went to bed at eleven o'clock, the Captain had not
come in: she hadn't seen him since morning, when he went to his work, and
at what time he eventually came home she couldn't say.
"But there was worse to come: firstly, a stick was found on the beach
some thirty yards or less from the spot where the body itself was
discovered; and secondly, the police produced a few strands of wool which
were, it seems, clinging to the poor girl's hatpin, and which presumably
were torn out of a muffler during the brief struggle which must have
occurred when she was first attacked and before she lost her footing and fell
down the side of the cliff.
"Now the stick was identified as the property of Captain Marston, and he
had been seen on the road with it in his hand in the early part of the
evening. He was then walking alone on the Lovers' Walk; two Broxmouth
visitors met him on their way back from Kurtmoor. Knowing him by sight,
they passed the time of day. These witnesses, however, were quite sure that
Captain Marston was not then wearing a muffler, on the other hand they
were equally sure that he carried the stick; they had noticed it as a very
unusual one, of what is known as Javanese snake-wood with a round heavy
knob and leather strap which the Captain carried slung upon his arm.
"In the meanwhile the accused had been brought up before the
magistrate, and formal evidence of the finding of the body and of the arrest
was given, as well as of the subsequent discovery of the stick, which was
identified by the two witnesses, and of the strands of wool. The accused
was remanded until the following Monday, bail being refused. The inquest
was held a day or two later, and I went down to Broxmouth for it. I
remember how hot it was in that crowded court-room; excited and
perspiring humanity filled the stuffy atmosphere with heat. While the crowd
jabbered and fidgeted I had a good look at the chief personages who were
about to enact a thrilling drama for my entertainment; you have seen
portraits of them all in the illustrated papers, the British army being well
represented by a trio of as fine specimens of manhood as any one would
wish to see.
"'What's more, sir,' she went on, 'I can tell you that the very day before
she died, the pore lamb 'ad a reg'lar tiff with the Captain about that there
commissariat.'
"Mrs. Rumble had stumbled a little over the word, but strangely enough
no one tittered; the importance of the old woman's testimony was impressed
upon every mind and silenced every tongue. All eyes were turned in the
direction of the accused. He had flushed to the roots of his hair, but
otherwise stood quite still, with arms folded, and a dull expression of
hopelessness upon his good-looking face.
"The coroner had asked the witness how she knew that Miss Smith had
had words with Captain Marston: 'Because I 'eard them two 'aving words,
sir,' Mrs. Rumble replied. 'I'd been in the office to get my money and my
orders from Miss Smith, and we 'ad the usual talk about American bacon
and boiled beans, with which I don't 'old, not for growing boys; then back I
went to the kitchen, when I remembered I 'ad forgot to speak to Miss Smith
about the scullery-maid, who'd been saucy and given notice. So up I went
again, and I was just a-goin' to open the office door when I 'eard Miss Smith
say quite loud and distinck: "It is shameful," she says, "and I can't bear it,"
she says, "and if you won't speak to the General then I will. He is staying at
the Queen's at Kurtmoor, I understand," she says, "and I am goin' this very
night to speak with him," she says, "as I can't spend another night," she
says, "with this on my mind." Then I give a genteel cough and...'
"The worthy lady had got thus far in her story when her volubility was
suddenly checked by a violent expletive from the accused.
"'But this is damnable!' he cried, and no doubt would have said a lot
more, but a touch on his shoulder from the warders behind him quickly
recalled him to himself. He once more took up his outwardly calm attitude,
and Mrs. Rumble concluded her evidence amidst silence more ominous
than any riotous scene would have been.
"'I give a genteel cough,' she resumed with unruffled dignity, 'and
opened the door. Miss Smith, she was all flushed and I could see that she'd
been crying; but the Captain; 'e just walked out of the room, and didn't say
not another word.'
"By this time," the Old Man in the Corner went on dryly, "we must
suppose that the amateur detectives and the large body of unintelligent
public felt that they were being cheated. Never had there been so simple a
case. Here, with the testimony of Mrs. Rumble, was the whole thing clear as
daylight—motive, quarrel, means, everything was there already. No chance
of exercising those powers of deduction so laboriously acquired by a
systematic study of detective fiction. Had it not been for the position of the
accused and his popularity in Broxmouth society, all interest in the case
would have departed in the wake of Mrs. Rumble, and at first, when Miss
Amelia Smith, sister of the deceased, was called, her appearance only
roused languid curiosity. Miss Amelia looked what, in fact, she was: a
retired school marm, and wore the regular hallmark of impecunious and
somewhat soured spinsterhood.
"'Janet often told me,' she said, in the course of her evidence, 'that she
was quite sure there was roguery going on in the affairs of the Institute,
because she knew for a fact that subscriptions were constantly pouring in
from the public, far in excess of what was being spent for the welfare of the
boys. I often used to urge her to go straight to the governors or even to the
President himself about the whole matter, but she would always give the
same disheartened reply. General Arkwright Jones, it seems, had made it a
condition when he accepted the presidency that he was never to be worried
about the administration of the place, and he refused to have anything to do
with the handling of the subscriptions; as for the governors, my poor sister
declared that they cared more for tennis parties than for the welfare of a lot
of poor officers' children.'
"But a moment or two later we realised that Miss Amelia Smith was
keeping her titbit of evidence until the end. It seems that she had not even
spoken about it to the police, determined as she was, no doubt, to create a
sensation for once in her monotonous and dreary life. So now she pursed up
her lips tighter than before, and after a moment's dramatic silence, she said:
"'The day before her death, my poor sister was very depressed. In the
late afternoon, when she came in for tea, I could see that she had been
crying. I guessed, of course, what was troubling her, but I didn't say much.
Captain Franklin Marston was in the habit of calling for Janet in the
evening, and they would go for a walk together; at eight o'clock on that sad
evening I asked her whether Captain Marston was coming as usual;
whereupon she became quite excited, and said: "No, no, I don't wish to see
him!" and after a while she added in a voice choked with tears: "Never
again!"
"'About a quarter of an hour later,' Miss Amelia went on, 'Janet suddenly
took up her hat and coat. I asked her where she was going, and she said to
me: "I don't know, but I must put an end to all this. I must know one way or
the other." I tried to question her further, but she was in an obstinate mood;
when I remarked that it was raining hard she said: "That's all right, the rain
will do me good." And when I asked her whether she wasn't going to meet
Captain Marston after all, she just gave me a look, but she made no reply.
And so my poor sister went out into the darkness and the rain, and I never
again saw her alive.'
"Miss Amelia paused just long enough to give true dramatic value to her
statement, and indeed there was nothing lukewarm now about the interest
which she aroused; then she continued:
"'As the clock was striking nine I was surprised to receive a visit from
the headmaster, Major Gubbins. He came with a message from Captain
Marston to my sister; I told him that Janet had gone out. He appeared
vexed, and told me that the Captain would be terribly disappointed.'
"'What was this message?' the coroner asked, amidst breathless silence.
"'That Janet would please meet Captain Marston at the Dog's Tooth Cliff.
He would wait for her there until nine o'clock.'"
The Old Man in the Corner gave a short, sharp laugh, and with loving
eyes contemplated his bit of string, in which he had just woven an elegant
and complicated knot. Then he said:
"Now it was at the foot of the Dog's Tooth Cliff that the dead body of
Janet Smith was found and some thirty yards further on the stick which had
last been seen in the hand of Captain Franklin Marston. Nervous women
gave a gasp, and scarcely dared to look at the accused, for fear, no doubt,
that they would see the hangman's rope around his neck, but I took a good
look at him then. He had uttered a loud groan and buried his face in his
hands, and I, with that unerring intuition on which I pride myself, knew that
he was acting. Yes, deliberately acting a part—the part of shame and
despair. You, no doubt, would ask me why he should have done this. Well,
you shall understand presently. For the moment, and to all unthinking
spectators, the attitude of despair on the part of the accused appeared fully
justified.
"'He appeared flushed and agitated,' the witness went on, very reluctantly
it seemed, but in answer to pressing questions put to him by the coroner,
'and told me he was going for a walk. When I remarked that it was raining
hard, he retorted that the rain would do him good. He didn't say where he
was going, but presently he put his hand on my shoulder and said in a tone
of pleading and affection which I shall never forget: "Old man," he said, "I
want you to do something for me. Tell Janet that I must see her again to-
night; beg her not to deny me. I will meet her at our usual place on the
Dog's Tooth Cliff. Tell her I will wait for her there until nine o'clock,
whatever the weather. But she must come. Tell her she must."
"'Unfortunately,' the Major continued, 'I was unable to deliver the
message immediately, as I had work to do in my office which kept me till
close on nine o'clock. Then I hurried down to the Smiths' house, and just
missed Miss Janet who, it seems, had already gone out.'
"Asked why he had not spoken about this before, the Major replied that
he did not intend to give evidence at all unless he was absolutely forced to
do so, as a matter of duty. Captain Marston was his friend, and he did not
think that any man was called upon to give what might prove damnatory
evidence against his friend.
"All this sounded very nice and very loyal until we learned that William
Peryer, batman at the Institute, testified to having overheard violent words
between the headmaster and the secretary at the very same hour when the
latter was supposed to have made so pathetic an appeal to his friend to
deliver a message on his behalf. Peryer swore that the two men were
quarrelling and quarrelling bitterly. The words he overheard were: 'You
villain! You shall pay for this!' But he was so upset and so frightened that
he could not state positively which of the two gentlemen had spoken them,
but he was inclined to think that it was Major Gubbins.
"And so the tangle grew, a tangled web that was dexterously being
woven around the secretary of the Institute. The two Broxmouth visitors
were recalled, and they once more swore positively to having met Captain
Marston on the Lovers' Walk at about eight o'clock of that fateful evening.
They spoke to him and they noticed the stick which he was carrying. They
were on their way home from Kurtmoor, and they met the Captain some
two hundred yards or so before they came to the Dog's Tooth Cliff. Of this
they were both quite positive. The lady remembered coming to the cliff a
few minutes later: she was nervous in the dark and therefore the details of
the incident impressed themselves upon her memory. Subsequently when
they were nearing home they met a lady who might or might not have been
the deceased; they did not know her by sight and the person they met had
her hat pulled down over her eyes and the collar of her coat up to her ears.
It was raining hard then, and they themselves were hurrying along and paid
no attention to passers-by.
"We also heard that at about nine o'clock James Hoggs and his wife, who
live in a cottage not very far from the Dog's Tooth Cliff, heard a terrifying
scream. They were just going to bed and closing up for the night. Hoggs
had the front door open at the moment and was looking at the weather. It
was raining, but nevertheless he picked up his hat and ran out toward the
cliff. A moment or two later he came up against a man whom he hailed; it
was very dark, but he noticed that the man was engaged in wrapping a
muffler round his neck. He asked him whether he had heard a scream, but
the man said: 'No, I've not!' then hurried quickly out of sight. As Hoggs
heard nothing more, or saw anything, he thought that perhaps, after all, he
and his missis had been mistaken, so he turned back home and went to bed.
"I think," the Old Man in the Corner continued thoughtfully, "that I have
now put before you all the most salient points in the chain of evidence
collected by the police against the accused. There were not many faulty
links in the chain, you will admit. The motive for the hideous crime was
clear enough: for there was the fraudulent secretary and the unfortunate girl
who had suspected the defalcations and was threatening to go and denounce
her lover either to the President of the Institute or to the governors. And the
method was equally clear: the meeting in the dark and the rain on the lonely
cliff, the muffler quickly thrown around the victim's mouth to smother her
screams, the blow with the stick, the push over the edge of the cliff. The
stick stood up as an incontestable piece of evidence. The absence from
home of the accused during the greater part of that night had been testified
by his landlady, whilst his presence on the scene of the crime some time
during the evening was not disputed.
"As a matter of fact, the only points in the man's favour were the strands
of wool found sticking to the girl's hatpin, and Hoggs's story of the man
whom he had seen in the dark, engaged in readjusting a muffler around his
neck. Unfortunately Hoggs, when more closely questioned on that subject,
became incoherent and confused, as men of his class are apt to do when
pinned down to a definite statement.
"Anyway, the accused was committed for trial on the coroner's warrant,
and, of course, reserved his defence. You probably, like the rest of the
public, kept up a certain amount of interest in the Cliff murder, as it was
popularly called, for a time, and then allowed your mind to dwell on other
matters and forgot poor Captain Franklin Marston who was languishing in
gaol under such a horrible accusation. Subsequently your interest in him
revived when he was brought up for trial the other day at the Barchester
Assizes. In the meanwhile he had secured the services of Messrs. Charnton
and Inglewood, the noted solicitors, who had engaged Mr. Provost Boon,
K.C., to defend their client.
"You know as well as I do what happened at the trial, and how Mr. Boon
turned the witnesses for the Crown inside out and round about until they
contradicted themselves and one another all along the line. The defence was
conducted in a masterly fashion. To begin with, the worthy housekeeper,
Mrs. Rumble, after a stiff cross-examination, which lasted nearly an hour,
was forced to admit that she could not swear positively to the exact words
which she overheard between the deceased and Captain Marston. All that
she could swear to was that the Captain and his sweetheart had apparently
had a tiff. Then, as to Miss Amelia Smith's evidence; it also merely went to
prove that the lovers had had a quarrel; there was nothing whatever to say
that it was on the subject of finance, nor that deceased had any intention
either of speaking to the President about it or of handing in her resignation
to the governors.
"Next came the question of Major Gubbins's story of the message which
he had been asked by his friend to deliver to the deceased. Now accused
flatly denied that story, and denied it on oath. The whole thing, he declared,
was a fabrication on the part of the Major who, far from being his friend,
was his bitter enemy and unsuccessful rival. In support of this theory
William Peryer's evidence was cited as conclusive. He had heard the two
men quarrelling at the very moment when accused was alleged to have
made a pathetic appeal to his friend. Peryer had heard one of them say to
the other: 'You villain! You shall pay for this!' And in very truth, the
unfortunate Captain was paying for it, in humiliation and racking anxiety.
"Then there came the great, the vital question of the stick and of the
strands of wool so obviously torn out of a muffler. With regard to the stick,
the accused had stated that in the course of his walk he had caught his foot
against a stone and stumbled, and that the stick had fallen out of his hand
and over the edge of the cliff. Now this statement was certainly borne out
by the fact that, as eminent counsel reminded the jury, the stick was found
more than thirty yards away from the body. As for the muffler, it was a
graver point still; strands of wool were found sticking to the girl's hatpin,
and James Hoggs, after hearing a scream at nine o'clock that evening, ran
out towards the cliff and came across a man who was engaged in
readjusting a muffler round his throat. That was incontestable.
"Of course, Mr. Boon argued, it was easy enough to upset a witness of
the type of James Hoggs, but an English jury's duty was not to fasten guilt
on the first man who happens to be handy, but to see justice meted out to
innocent and guilty alike. The evidence of the muffler, argued the eminent
counsel, was proof positive of the innocence of the accused. The witnesses
who saw him in the Lovers' Walk on that fateful night had declared most
emphatically that he was not wearing a muffler. Then where was the man
with the muffler? Where was the man who was within a few yards of the
scene of the crime five minutes after James Hoggs had heard the scream—
the man who had denied hearing the scream although both Hoggs and his
wife heard it over a quarter of a mile away?
"He said a lot more than that, of course," the Old Man in the Corner
went on, chuckling dryly to himself, "and said it a lot better than ever I can
repeat it, but I have given you the gist of what he said. You know the result
of the trial. The accused was acquitted, the jury having deliberated less than
a quarter of an hour. There was no getting away from that muffler, even
though every other circumstance pointed to Marston as the murderer of
Janet Smith.
"On the whole, his acquittal was a popular one, although many who were
present at the trial shook their heads, and thought that if they had been on
the jury Marston would not have got off so easily, but for the most part
these sceptics were not Broxmouth people. In Broxmouth the Captain was
personally liked, and the proclamation of his innocence was hailed with
enthusiasm; and, what's more, those same champions of the good-looking
secretary—they were the women mostly—looked askance on the
headmaster, who, they averred, had woven a Machiavellian net for trapping
and removing from his path for ever a hated and successful rival.
"And thus, to all intents and purposes, the Cliff murder has remained a
mystery, but it won't be one for long. Have I not told you that you may
expect important developments within the next few days? And I am seldom
wrong. Already in this evening's paper you will have read that the entire
executive of the Woodforde Institute has placed its resignation in the hands
of the governors, that several august personages have withdrawn their
names from the list of patrons, and that though the President has been
implored not to withdraw his name, he has proved adamant on the subject,
and even refused to recommend successors to the headmaster, the secretary,
or the matron; in fact, he has seemingly washed his hands of the whole
concern."
"But surely," I now broke in, seeing that the Old Man in the Corner
threatened to put away his piece of string and to leave me without the usual
epilogue to his interesting narrative, "surely General Sir Arkwright Jones
cannot be blamed for the scandal which undoubtedly has dimmed the
fortunes of the Woodforde Institute?"
"I believe that the fate of the poor girl was decided on then and there by
two of the scoundrels; it only remained to consult with their other
accomplice as to the best means for carrying their hideous project through.
Janet had announced her determination to go to Kurtmoor that self-same
evening, the only question was which of those three miscreants would meet
her in the darkness and solitude of the Lovers' Walk. But in order at the
outset to throw dust in the eyes of the public and the police and not appear
to be in any way associated with one another, Marston and Gubbins made
pretence of a violent quarrel which Peryer overheard; then Gubbins, in
order to make sure that the poor girl would carry out her intention of going
over to Kurtmoor that evening, went to her house with the supposed
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