Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1910
Publishing: Mrs. Michael Storm (aka Mrs. Ernest Sempill) returns from Australia in the company of George Hamilton Teed. Her husband has, apparently, died while abroad. She sells his last few stories to the editor of UNION JACK. It later emerges that many—if not all—of these have, in fact, been "ghost written" by Teed. Teed goes on to become arguably the best of all the Sexton Blake authors.
Blake: This year, Will Spearing retires from the police force (though he carries on appearing in Blake stories). Sexton Blake resumes his battle with Marston Hume. Though only a year has passed since their last published encounter, Blake states that it is two years since he forced Hume "into the gutter". This timespan is highly unlikely, as Blake is still living away from Baker Street and being assisted by Bathurst during this story; a situation not supported by the many other tales published throughout this period.
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,127 · 1/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Life Story of Warder X; When King Edward is Busy; Famous Football Managers; About Myself; Railway Clerk to Farmer; Howlers, Indeed!; Please Leave Me Alone!; Countess Tom Thumb; Dogging the Dogs; Huntress and Dancer; An Empress Alone; Why Germany Will Attack England; A Trial of Truth; Stand and Deliver; How Railways Are Robbed; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; How We Get Storms; Nineteen-Tens; What, Gone!
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,128 · 8/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Railway Clerk to Farmer; Ringing in the New; How to Keep a Diary; It's Your Vote I Want; Our 1910 Resolves; To Vote or Not to Vote?; Answers - Proud Parent; The Man at the Lever; The Life Story of Warder X; Gossip; Why Germany Will Attack England; Harbottle, Burglar Baffler; The Princess and the Villager; Engaged v. Walking Out; Feminine Fibs; Happy, Though Civil; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; The Agent Artful; Election Eggs; Famous Football Managers.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,129 · 15/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Should the Lords Be Abolished; A Life for a Squirrel; Like to be a Rink Instructor?; Football Blue Riband; Railway Clerk to Farmer; Their Majesties' Servants; Jack Ashore; The Life Story of Warder X; Gossip; Poetry That Pays; Harbottle, Paper-Hanger; A Mess of Pottage; Hee-Haw!!; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; What the "Publics" Might Do; How I Return; Uncontested; Marriage & £.s.d.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,130 · 22/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Lords Abroad; The Laws of the Land; Inside a Wireless School; I Am Dead: Please Pay!; The Life Story of Warder X; Chat From Across the Sea; Railway Clerk to Farmer; Mr Answers - Ratter; Labour's Latest Boon; A Mixed Affair; No Followers Allowed; The Girls on the Rink; Feed the Brute; £300.000.000 for Dress; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; The Story of Lloyds; One Way Out; Old Time Elections; Pinches of Snuff; Famous Football Managers.
Notes: One time friends Randal Bridges and James Baird are now long-time enemies; their feud having begun when Baird outbid Bridges at an antiques auction and became the owner of the famous Saladin dagger. However, their enmity comes to an end when Baird's son marries Bridges' adopted daughter. Baird makes a wedding present of the dagger but at the reception Bridges discovers that the gift is a forgery. He summons his son-in-law, a furious row erupts, and the young man leaves to question his father, only to find that he has died of a brain haemorrhage. Returning to the party, he finds himself accused of Bridges' murder. The old man had been found with the Saracen dagger piercing his heart. Sexton Blake is summoned and he finds that though the blade of the dagger is fake, its detachable hilt is real. This leads him to discover the motive of the crime. Further clues guide him to the real killer, who is quickly apprehended.
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,131 · 29/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; My Life in a German Dockyard; Is Mars a Hoax; The Last Poll; How to Get a Small Holding; The Life Story of Warder X; Our Greatest Solicitor; Downing Street; Railway Clerk to Farmer; Great Uproar; Gossip; Germany in England; The House Opposite; Jannock; Servant or Slavey?; Mother and Mascot; Woman Farthest North; Editorial Chat; Fun on the 'Phone; Blackmail; The Lenses of Life; Our Mixture.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,132 · 5/2/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Do You See Red?; Peers in Their Shirtsleeves; The Terrible Apache; Why We Can't Box; 23-29, Bouverie Street; My Life in a German Dockyard; Clubs and Clubmen; After the Election; The Life Story of Warder X; Made Bankrupt; When We Sleep; Railway Clerk to Farmer; The Harbottlograph; Squaring the Circle; Begging — A Fine Art; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; Gossip; What to Call Baby; Cup-Tie Chatter; Should the Wife be Cashier?
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,133 · 12/2/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; My Life in a German Dockyard; "B.P.'s" Boys; Snips on Shrovetide; Matters of Life and Death; My Terrible Turn; The Children's Champion; Travel By Troopship; Catching the Speaker's Eye; The Life Story of Warder X; Memories of a Metropolitan Magistrate; Alfonso XIII., King of India; The Sweets of Fame; Richard — "Dahn at Covin Garding"; Her Lad; Past and Present Pictures; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; Elopements Extraordinary; Nightlights; The Suffragettes in Durance. Notes: None at present.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,134 · 19/2/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; My Life; Mr Freshman M. P.; Risen from the Ranks; Flood Fights; Mystery Cases; My Life in a German Dockyard; The Passing Tramp; Little P.O. Peeps; Homeless and Hopeless; The Life Story of Warder X; Farms Ready Made; Such a Nice Young Man; Distant Relations; Troubles About Tariffs; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; The Story of the Post Office; Gossip; On Hats; Brevities; Too Polite.
Notes: Sexton Blake is aboard the Calais-Dover mail boat, following José Calveras, who has defrauded a bank of £27,000. The detective is approached by a woman who begs leniency for the crook. She informs Blake that Calveras is in his cabin quaking with fear, ready to give up the money and wishing only to be forgiven for his foolishness. Blake reluctantly agrees to see him. Against his better judgement, after the money has been handed over, he agrees to let Calveras return to France to disappear into obscurity. When he informs the woman of this, she is so relieved that she falls into his arms in a faint. After seeing her off at Dover, Blake is dismayed to discover that she picked his pocket and took the bank notes. Tracing the origin of her unique perfume to Paris, he learns her London address and her name: Mademoiselle Justine de Chevrac. In the meantime, the lady in question, with her cohort and ardent admirer, Captain Bonclair, has invested the money and more than doubled it. When Blake visits, she is able to return the original notes to him and shrugs off his threat of legal action with a laugh; after all, if he moves against her, she will reveal his part in letting loose José Calveras, a known felon. Blake acknowledges that, on this occasion, she has beaten him ... but promises that they shall meet again.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,135 · 26/2/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Trying the Labour Exchange; Footlight Farmyards; My Life; Mr Speaker, Sir; Great Crowds; Why I Shall Be Champion; Stars in the Studio; My Life in a German Dockyard; The S.A. and the Stranded; Messrs. Haddock, Roe & Gill, M.P.s; The Life Story of Warder X; Eggs is Eggs; My French Garden; Dave's Double; Prison Pride; Sleeping on Fortunes; The F.J.; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; When St. Stephen Smiles; Puff Paragraphs; Best Fresh; A Front Garden Shoot.
Notes: Baron Fritz von Kettler is visiting Mademoiselle Justine de Chevrac at her London home. Advised by Captain Bonclair that she is the woman he is looking for, the Baron has brought to her a proposition, little realising the depths of hatred she holds for Germany. He wants her to secure for him the details concerning a new armour plating being used at the Grey & Kimber shipyards and proposes that she should disguise herself as Lord Dunstan-Mannering's typist in order to steal them from where they are kept in that worthy gentleman's library. But there is a problem: Sexton Blake has been installed in the house to guard the documents. Mlle. Justine accepts the commission but tells her visitor that it will cost him £15,000. Later that day, Lord Mannering informs Blake that his typist, Miss May, is due to make a copy of the plans. He wants the detective to remain with her until she has finished then to look after the originals and copies until Mannering and his wife return from an engagement. The late arrival of Miss May raises Blake's suspicions and he surmises that if someone were to impersonate her they might gain access to the documents. However, when she finally turns up, all seems normal and she works hard at her task until it is complete then packs the papers into a despatch-box and hands it to Blake. She leaves with a laugh and locks him into the room. He opens the box and finds the papers are blank apart from caricatures of himself and a note which informs him where the real typist is locked away. Furthermore, it reveals that the plans can be recovered by arresting Baron von Kettler. This is duly done and it is through the German that the detective learns that he has been beaten for a second time by Mademoiselle Justine de Chevrac.
Rating: ★★★★☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,136 · 5/3/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Training Young Thieves; East-End Esperanto; Tickets, Please!; 'Ware Partners!; Royalty Incog.; Should To Boo Be Taboo?; Chat From Across the Sea; Mr Answers — Hunted; When Summer Comes Again; My Life in a German Dockyard; Life as a Brittle Man; L.C.C. Memories; Our Island Home; Ronnie's Other Mother; Editorial Chat; Weep and be Merry; Why Do They?; Blackmail; 70 Years Ago in the Post Office; Gossip; The Deserter; March Winds; My! What a Change!
Notes: Petreira, the attaché to Count Sterdorf of Burgravia, has vanished with, in his possession, a number of letters that promise to cause great embarrassment to the Countess d'Orsay. In fact, they may even prevent her planned marriage to the Crown Prince of Burgravia. Sexton Blake is consulted and finds that Petreira's flat has been searched — which suggests that he didn't have the letters on him when he was abducted. The detective notices the lingering perfume of Mademoiselle Justine de Chevrac and learns that the letters are to be exchanged at a certain time and place. After impersonating the courier, Blake gains possession of the documents and confronts Mlle. de Chevrac, demanding that she leave the country at once or face arrest. However, his attractive enemy reveals that the Baker Street sleuth has been taken in by a rogue; Count Sterdorf intends to use the letters to prevent the royal marriage. Mlle. de Chevrac produces the Countess d'Orsay and Blake is happy to hand the letters to her. Petreira is also produced; freed from the room where Mlle. de Chevrac has kept him prisoner.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,137 · 12/3/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Corporal Schmidt, V.C.; The Course That Kills; Sole Survivors; Confessions of a Shop-Lifter Queen; Political Puzzles; Dashes for Freedom; Mr Answers Tries to Emigrate; Are Refugees Honest?; For'ard and Aft; How to Choose a House; The Coster's Parson; In the Night Watches; The Lady D; Chantecler; The Bookmaker's Satchel; Sovereigns I've Met; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; Getting the Cold Shoulder; How She Changes; All the Latest; The Civil Engineer.
Notes: Mademoiselle Justine de Chevrac has been lured into contributing money to an illegal lottery syndicate organised by Otto Brentmeyer. When the police intervened, Brentmeyer fled with the cash. Sexton Blake approaches her and asks her to help him track down the swindler. She gives a noncommittal answer then leaves him and goes to visit Brentmeyer's solicitor, Simon Slick. She overhears this man threatening a young woman named Miriam Straight and, later, approaches the girl and hears her story. Slick knows where Brentmeyer is hiding and intends to go there and force him to share the loot. However, he is aware that Blake might be watching the house and is afraid that he might be searched upon leaving it. So Miriam, Slick's clerk, is instructed to approach the house from the back and look out for three candles in a window. When they are blown out, she is to stand underneath and catch a packet of cash Slick will throw to her. She will then leave, unseen by the detective who is expected to be at the front of the house watching for her employer. Mlle Justine takes Miriam's place and, having gained the money, uses it to set Miriam up in a safe place. The next morning she reads that Slick has been arrested for the murder of Brentmeyer. Sexton Blake arrives and demands the cash. He has spotted the clues and knows that she received the packet. Mlle Justine explains how she used the money and Blake accepts this and congratulates her for her charitable act.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,138 · 19/3/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; John L.; What is an Editor?; (Great Commotion.); Equerry to His Majesty; In Strange Tibet; How I Found Canada; Dashes for Freedom; Tim; Fair Frauds; What I Did With My £250; Tuppence Return; Extra Turn; Really Shocking; Mr Shield's Luck; Editorial Chat; Among the Mannequins; Some Moving Stories; Hints for Lovers; Blackmail; Old Dick; When the Herd Hustles; Guarenteed; Answers in the Bush.
Notes: Mr Smith is a rather callow sort of chap. He's also a bank thief and a forger. He lives in a hotel room that, unknown to him, has a spy-hole bored through the wall. From the room next door, he is watched by Captain Bonclair, who is affianced to Mademoiselle Justine de Chevrac. Bonclair decided that Smith was worth observing after spotting that the young man was being shadowed by Sexton Blake. Now, he intends to rob the thief of money the criminal stores in a bag hidden in the chimney. So he calls Mlle. Justine and they hatch a plan. Unfortunately, they fail to take Blake's presence into account. Smith, realising that Bonclair is watching him, tricks the Captain into his room and drugs him. Blake, who has gained entrance into Bonclair's room, watches this through the peep-hole. Bonclair is bound and gagged and thrust under the bed. At that point, a maid knocks and informs Smith that he has a call downstairs. The maid — in reality a disguised Justine — enters the room and retrieves the bag. She leaves, knocks on the door of Bonclair's room, and without looking at the man who answers, thrusts the loot into his hands. Of course, she has inadvertently given the money to Blake!
Rating: ★★★☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,140 · 2/4/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Holiday Storyettes; Mill-Land; The Poor Photographer; When Money Talks; The Boys; Saved by a Semi-Final; Mr Solicitor; Mr Answers in the Gallery; Spoof on 'Change; A Big Game Hunt; The House of Torture; Holiday Chat; When Anglers are Caught; H.M.'s Wines; I Swear!; Blackmail; Secret Banquets in Prison; In Love with the Heroine; Why Be Unselfish?
Notes: After her repeated defeats at the hands of Sexton Blake, Mademoiselle Justine de Chevrac begins to commit a number of out and out robberies. Her latest and most ambitious target is the Goggenheim Bank. However, when she arrives there one night disguised as a man, she is shocked to find Blake in the process of arresting the manager, Mr Goggenheim. The man had been planning to make away with the bank's money and had packed it into two hold-alls when Blake caught him. As she spies upon them, Goggenheim attempts to shoot Blake. Mlle. Justine prevents this by shooting the criminal in the arm. She then races into the room, grabs the two bags and leaves, locking the men in behind her. The next morning, she boards a ferry to leave the country and is amused to find herself given the very same cabin where she had first met Sexton Blake (see issue 1,134). Unfortunately for her, he is there awaiting her, having worked out that it had been her beneath the disguise. Mlle. Justine is arrested by Blake and doomed to seven years in gaol.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,141 · 9/4/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Mr Answers Flutters at Monte Carlo; Poison Plots; Hoax Jokes; A Missing Journalist; Mill-Land; The Malignant Millionaire; From Football to Footlights; Straight Tips; Bart. Harbottle Esq.; Old 'Stick in the Mud'; Off to canada; The Life Story of Warder X; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; Lost in Transit; The Suffering of a Suffragette; Shall We Take Women Seriously?; April Showers; Dam Disasters.
Notes: Sexton Blake is summoned to Croom Court by Mr Owen Ormston, an owl-like ornithologist. The pride of Ormston's rare egg collection — a giant auk's egg — has vanished. A fake, which he displays, remains untouched but the original appears to have been stolen from the metal-lined drawer in which he keeps it. Ormston suspects his nephew, Trevor, of the theft, citing a gambling debt as the probable motive. He also believes that the youth sold the egg to an unscrupulous American collector named Nelson Q. Gedney. Blake agrees that the circumstantial evidence points to Trevor but he also asks questions about the butler, Moreland, who collects rare shells, and Lycett, the footman. When the latter leaves to see his brother who is departing for India — and when, at the same time, Trevor travels to town — Sexton Blake also leaves Croom Court, taking with him the fake auk's egg. He returns the same evening but says nothing about his mission. In the morning, Ormston finds that the egg has been returned. The detective explains how he recovered it, reveals the thief's identity and recounts how the crook has paid the price for his crime.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,142 · 16/4/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The General Election; Storyettes; Train Tragedies; Lucky Dogs!; Mill-Land; Varnishing Day; The Pageant of London; The Legion of the Lost; H's Rubber Flutter; Savings!; Birds That Babble; Chummy Ships; All Living at 86; What Convicts Cost Us; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; 42 Years on the Turf; Black Slaves and White; The Briton's Ideal; Best Fresh!; Why Back Garden?
Notes: This was Edgar Joyce Murray's first Sexton Blake tale.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,143 · 23/4/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: What's the Matter With Us?; Storyettes; Points on Pensions; Oil for Ever!; The Abode of Cheerfulness; We Find Work for 5,000 Men; Those Neighbours!; Mill-Land; Spivving; Me at Monte; Mrs Battle's Widow Bones; Prison-Planned Plots; Why Barnsley Will Smash 'Em; What 'Change Booms Mean; Why Newcastle Will Walk Over; Editorial Chat; Unfortunate Fiancees; Blackmail; An Exhibition Stall; The Lucky Kick Out; Looking One's Best; Answers' Finals; Britain's Biggest School.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,144 · 30/4/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: With the Kinematograph Man; Storyettes; Won by a Whisker; 'Wait and See; The Laziest Man on Earth; My Voyage to Canada; Mill-Land; The Jap-anglicans; I try Motor-cycling; Hidden Treasures; Stories of a Story-teller; The Great Unpaid; The Officials and the Stores; Comets in Flocks; Editorial Chat; Blackmail; Tommy Atkins — Actor; —And Every Soul Was Saved; Busy at the Bank; My Word!;The Girl Who's Popular.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,145 · 7/5/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Tales of Our Tour; Storyettes; Getting Ready for the Census; Why Not 1000,000 Years?; Sensational Suspensions; I Arrive in Canada; Mill-Land; And Nobody Even Guessed!; We May!; His Good Fairy; Risks Warders Run; Searching Inquiries; £iving in £uxury; Editorial Chat; The Dickens!; Blackmail; Mill-Land at Home; Matheson and the Millionaires; Danger Ahead!; Behind the Bacca' Shop Counter.
Notes: Archeologist Professor Midvale has lost a ring known as the King's Diamond, a national treasure. He had taken it to show a colleague, Professor Linderburg, and it vanished overnight. He appeals to Sexton Blake and the detective responds by visiting the Midvale home in disguise. A crippled old blind man, Mr Cripps, who keeps house for Midvale, sits knitting as Blake begins his investigation. Marks beneath a window reveal the burglar's entry point and a trail leading away from the house ends at a hut in the woods. Incarcerated in it, Blake finds Cripps! Back at the house he quietly picks up the blind knitter's ball of wool and notices that the old man drops four stitches. He exposes the supposed cripple as Cripps's nephew, who has deserted from the navy. This is the man responsible for the crime and the ring is hidden in the wool, thus his nervous response when Blake picked it up. When he had climbed from the house, he'd fallen from a ladder and was unable to make his getaway. In an attempt to keep his identity concealed, he masqueraded as his own uncle. This deception included taking up his uncle's hobby of knitting ... which ultimately led to his exposure.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,146 · 14/5/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Teddy; Storyettes; All Told By Twain; Tax Tales; Holding the Baby; Early Days in Canada; The Punishments of the Pigskin; Incog.; The Passion Play; When M.P.'s Squabble; Chat From Across the Seas; Their Brave Adieux; Harbottle & Co.; The Spring Poet; Editorial Chat; Mill-Land; Exit Warder X; Flying Fortunes; Are Women Snobbish? May Flowers; On the Road.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,147 · 21/5/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; The Money of Mourning; Insuring the King; How Kings Have Died; The Ticket-of-Leave Woman; Artisan Artists; Can You 'Tice?; All Abroad; Our Special in Canada; King George V; A Tramp's Chances; My Garage; Bluff!; The Kindness of the King; Editorial Chat; Mill-Land; The Old Lady & the Artist; The Club Doctor; Facts About Kings; Do They Talk Too Much?
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,148 · 28/5/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Mary Queen & Mother; Storyettes; The Last King George; The House of Dread; On His Majesty's Service; The Ticket-of-Leave Woman; By the Bath-Chairman; Base Coin Clubs; My Doubles; The Q.V.; Ice-Bound!; Something Like Swindles; Cricket Slaves; Zoo Scares; "Better Come Quietly!"; Comley's Madness; A Dulham Libel; In a Canadian Home; Editorial Chat; Mill-Land; Paulhan and the Birds; Empire Facts; Unlucky Good Looks.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,149 · 4/6/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: King George's Birthday; Storyettes; Flower-Show Frauds; The Future Edward VIII; Final Edition!; The Ticket-of-Leave Woman; The Air Reporters; With Pick and Shovel; The Ring and the Law; The Animals and the Derby; Queens who Aren't Queens; 50 Years After; Odds on Richard; A Novel Advertisement; Editorial Chat; Famous Royal Messages; Mill-Land; A Wonderful Pair of Scales; Pitmen and Heroes; Woman's Chance in Australia; Favourites; Cricket Camp Followers.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,150 · 11/6/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: My Triumphs and Trials; Will Jeffries Win?; Storyettes; The Cousin of Europe; The Palace Windows; Next Door to Neptune; Moving On; All About Oil; What the Cricketer Earns; Nothing Succeeds Like Succession; The Ticket-of-Leave Woman; How and Where They Sleep; Their Mistake!; In His Majesty's Service; Back to Boyhood; His Chance; Very Uneasy Heads; H.M.'s Poultice Wallopers; Editorial Chat; Mill-Land; When the Troopship Sails; June Jottings; Goodbye Honeymoon?
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,151 · 18/6/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Ma!; Fancy Meeting You!; Storyettes; The Role-Call; Why Backers Lose; The Boom; How the Workman Lives in Canada; When to Holiday; Coaling Ship!; Their Majesties' Books; The Ticket-of-Leave Woman; Picture Theatre £.s.d.; Wanted!; Alas, Poor Pioneers!; The Ark-Lark; Hopes deferred; Champion No.1; The Fit Up; £4,000,000 Worth of Railway, Please!; Editorial Chat; Mill-Land; Who is the Sillier? Buds; The Registrar Ruminates.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,152 · 25/6/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Egypt!; Storyettes; And We're Still Here; How Boots Lace Themselves; Beware of the Downer; Out of Work in Canada; Stall, Steak or Shave, Sir?; Up For His Majesty; Chat From Across the Sea; Why "Frog and Flatiron"?; Real Gold Rings 1d Each; Rise Sir John; Val. the Terror; In a Gray Garden; Curly; The Ticket-of-Leave Woman; Editorial Chat; Mill-Land; The Tight Skirt; Camping Out.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,153 · 2/7/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: How the Bookies Beat the Bobbies; T' Factory Trip; Storyettes; Poor Man to Peer; Suttee; Airy Laws; Midst Canada's Commerce; With the Pierrots Near the Pier; Tabac a la Mode; Why They Don't Eat Meat; When Umpires Get the 'Ump; Dinner With Their Majesties; Taxi-Tricks; Blow That Boom!; In Training; Harbottle Bottled; What the Eagle Saw; The Ticket-of-Leave Woman; Editorial Chat; Mill-Land; Mrs Ambassador; Holiday Anticipations.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,154 · 9/7/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Bisley Bombshells; At the Regatta; Bravo, Bournemouth!; Storyettes; Fireworks and the Fourth; £5,000!; Working a Passage; Sambos Who Slog; Sent Down!; Week-Ends for Millionaires; The Pierrot Pioneer; Hee-Haw Law; Much Obliged But — ; The Ticket-of-Leave Woman; A Flight of fancy; The Dear Old Farm; An Also Ran; The Terrible Trunk; Straw Store Stories; Editorial Chat; Mill-Land; In the Wheat Pit; Gossip; Getting Away; Photographing Fido.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,155 · 16/7/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Most Secret; Phew!; The Literary Honours List; Storyettes; 3,000 Miles for 10'/-; The Man in the Pay; The Three Brass Balls; Monarchs in Mufti; The Man Who Wasn't; The Master of Mystery; £200 a Fly; The Ticket-of-Leave Woman; Old Whistle Tip; Dashes for Gold; Harbottle's Little Bean Feast; The Luck of Billy Merridew; In Canada's Show City; Editorial Chat; Mill-Land; Gossip; Salubrious and Sunny; To hat or Not to Hat?
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,156 · 23/7/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: When Kings Want Cash; Poor Joan of Arc; Special to Seasiders; Storyettes; The Lure of Gold; Camp Casualties; The Three Brass Balls; Very Mixed Drinks; Who Watch and Wait; The Jockey's Gentleman; Mr Robinson Crusoe Answers; Great Scoops; Through the Great Lakes; Mistress Mary Ann; The Holiday Makers; Ye Dulham Fate; The House That Charlie Built; The Holiday M.D.; The Goodly Gamp; The Up-To-Date Hooligan; Editorial Chat; Mill-Land; Gossip; Now Then, Scorer!; "Eh?"
Notes: A girl, who specialises in the cutting and polishing of gemstones, is robbed of some emeralds. An onyx button belonging to her sister is found at the scene of the crime. Due to her marrying against her father's wishes, the sister has been cast out of the family. Now it seems her fall from grace is complete. However, Sexton Blake discovers that the father has fallen under the spell of a wicked adventuress and was lured into committing the crime himself. The detective follows the pair onto a tube train where he witnesses the adventuress plunging a dagger into the father as he shows her the stolen gems. Arresting her, Blake then searches her house and finds the sister entombed alive in the cellar. Her husband and son are also found, both murdered.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,157 · 30/7/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Testing Jack Tar; Good Goods on Goodwood; "Cull'U'D" Celebrities; Storyettes; By Wireless; The Kingly Perk; The Three Brass Balls; Animal Criminals; Out!; To Parliament via Prison; The Master of Miniature; Snip Tips; Race Riots; A Way They Have in the Army; The Eager Leaguers; The Water Wags; The Reward; Canada in the Rough; On Shank's Pony; Editorial Chat; Mill-Land; Gossip; A Soldier of Fortune; O For Heat!; All AI; Bobbers and Funks.
Notes: Sexton Blake is enjoying a seaside holiday when he discovers the body of a girl skater on a pier that has a skating rink. Two bloodstained footprints are nearby but they appear to go nowhere. The only suspect, the rink's box-office man, appears to have a good alibi which is supported by a member of the local coastguard. However, the detective isn't convinced, so he sits in front of the box-office and tries to wear the man down by staring at him remorselessly. When the coastguard comes to collect a sack of bait, Blake discovers that it actually contains bloodstained boots. He arrests the man for murder. The box-office man, who is the killer's accomplice, tries to escape by leaping off the pier into the sea where he is drowned.
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,158 · 6/8/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Holiday Storyettes; Murder Will Out; Wanted! When a Man's Down; The Channel Chinners; To Fly or Not to Fly; By His Superior Officer; Sharing the Expenses; His Chance; Boolong; The Three Brass Balls; The Elusive Mr Smith; The Old Showman; I Become a Farmer's Boy; The Account; The Frank Person; Chat From Across the Sea; The Rescue; Tram Tales; The Tramp's Bank Holiday; Why the Sea is Blue; A Forgotten Summer; Editorial Chat; Holiday Gossip; Money v. Money; Mill-Land; Newsroom Nuisances; In Short; Going! Going!! Gone!!!; How the Bobbies Beat the Bookies; Mexico, B.C.; The Seaside Girl; Aug. 1st — Burgling Commences.
Notes: Double summer number.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,159 · 13/8/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Crime Epidemics; Blighted By Bloater Paste; With Flying Colours; Storyettes; After Crippen; When a Man's Down; Golden Scores; When Railwaymen Strike; Diamond Pie; The Peerless Pier; The Minstrel Boys; Rank and Swank; Me — Author!; About the Treacle Man; Can Jeffries Come Back?; Editorial Chat; Mill-Land; Gossip; Ole Clo'; Poor Little Chaps; Mainly About Makes; The Foolish Farthing.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,160 · 20/8/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: M.D. Criminals; My Beauty Shows; Wireless Wonders; Storyettes; The Big Boat-Race; Training Boy Beresfords; The Pawnbroker Replies; In An Army Airship; Shop Shocks; Farm Life in Canada; Terrier Tales; Onions For Appetite; Dancing Before Kings; Exchange No Robbery; Mr Fripps' Conquest; Pennyhounds and Salters; When 17 Loves 70; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; Taxi Trials; The Cupid by the Sea.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,161 · 27/8/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The Life Story of Ethel le Neve; Storyettes; How Uncle is Done; Four Days of Greatness; The Autocrat of the Seas; With T' Firm at Blackpool; Something Like Harvests; Success and Failure in Canada; Preparing the Pros; I Want You; Masterly Messengers; Feats of the Fourth Estate; The Weirdest Photography; With the Citizen Soldiers; Of the People; Elthorne Not Hanwell; We — Want — Lemonade!; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; The First Year of Marriage; Bill on the Bill; Red Poppies; The Wet Day.
Notes: Among the wedding presents on show — and carefully guarded — at a country house is the valuable Andez frame. When it is mysteriously stolen, Blake quickly discovers that it has been taken by a tramp. The detective and the bride's brother catch the man but find that he only possesses the photograph that had been in the frame. This is a picture of the brother who, it is revealed, had been the tramp's comrade during the South American war. The tramp only wanted the photograph as a memento and had discarded the frame, not realising its value.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,162 · 3/9/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The Life Story of Ethel le Neve; Storyettes; Dread Holidays; Hail Soccer!; Very Dear Deer; The King of the Cocoa-Nuts Islands; The Lady Inspector; Our Alien Burden; Is Scotland Yard Played Out?; Want to Buy a 'Oss?; Jonah Ships; Paris in the Strand; The Officer's Old Bailey; Homesteading in canada; Under a Spreading Chestnut Tree; — & Son; Handicapped Humanity; First Aid to Nations; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; The Secret of Health, Strength & Beauty; How Promoters Promote; About a Felling Fellow; Following Father's Footsteps; After the Hobble Skirt?
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,163 · 10/9/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Why I Wedded Two Women; Terriers v. Seaside; The Leger Eve; Abbey — Barred!; The Life Story of Ethel le Neve; Fierce Fires; Stirring up the Supers; An Asylum Scandal; Tramp and Poet; The Poster-Poacher; Railway Rascals; The Harbottle Pastoral; After the Holidays; Making a Turn; Watch Thumbs; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; As in Japan; The Married Emigrant; Your Breakfast Bloater; The Beauty Doctor.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,164 · 17/9/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Why I Wrote Ethel's Life Story; How It Feels to be the Bad Girl; Broke!; Light on Asylum Life; A Long Way After F.C.C.; Your Move; Furnished Apartments; The Indian Policeman; Confetti Night; Fresh Faces in Football; Handicapped Humanity; T.A. — Sempstress; The Food D.; My rest Cure; The Cute Marx; The Pigeons and the 'Gees'; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; Out of the Clutches; Spies!; The Towel Takers; Do Men Dress Well?
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,165 · 24/9/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Women and Chains; Carnarvon Beats Cardiff; The Footballer's Enemy; The Scourge of Europe; Moor Mysteries; At the Picture Palace; Chat From Across the Sea; More About Asylum Life; Shoo Fly, Don't Bodder Me!; The Captain's Captain; True Dog Stories; That Land valuation; Concerning Korea; Any Coals?; The Skipper's Little Daughter; No More Flies!; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; Current Comments; Locked Out!; Taking the Veil; Will Women Wear Fringes?
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,166 · 1/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Badgered by the Press; Storyettes; Wrestling — or Acting?; "Kid" — Napping; We — Won't — Leave!; Footer Moves; My Greatest Surprise; Asylum Heroines; Carpet Knights; Getting Richer; 'Opping; The Last of the Visitors; Fishery Fights; Cousin Arthur; Doubles' Troubles; How Do They Get 'Em?; Musical Evenings; In Honour Bound; A Reply to Revd. C. Hudson; Not Divided; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; Who's Your Great Grandfather?; Bride - Or Landlady?
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,167 · 8/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Are Trade Unions Tyrannical? The Crime-Doctor; Bill Sykes, B.SC.; The Sound of the "Shofar"; Pensioner or Pauper?; The Football Bookie; Our £200 Story Competition; Guard, Turn Out!; Concerning Private Asylums; Enticing the Emigrant; Wealth While You wait; Iced England; Handicapped Humanity; The Man From the Sea; Saving His Bacon; The Heritage of Phillip Mainwaring; Thanks to Rogers; H.M's Mails; Grim Grimsby; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; Some Striking Strikes; Muffs.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,168 · 15/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The Witch; M'Lud!; That Osborne Judgment; Storyettes; The Picture Palace Menace; Footer Fads; Through Cotton Country; Tales of New Guinea; The Pill 'Tec; No-Strike-Land; A Hunting We Will Go!; All-British; The Picture Pressman; Meg o' the Moor; Doss House Thieves; A Dulham Lock-Out; The End of the Strike; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; The Boat Train; My Lady's Pocket.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,169 · 22/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: "Blackmail!" on the Boards; Niagara Lunatics; Red Revolts; Storyettes; The Teetotal Lord Mayor; Drilling the Doggies; Through Cotton County; England Expects Every Man; The Man Behind the Sheet; Why I Fought; Dancing for Dear Life; Gentlemen of the Jury; The Glaze of Death; The Great Switch Swindle; My Dancing Days; Jane's Mate; Mr Dooley Says — ; Famous Football Captains; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; Light on Woman; Enthusiasts All.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,170 · 29/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; A Dental Mechanic's Revelations; From the Valley of Death; Pressmen Heroes; Our George; Handicapped Humanity; Manoel; Famous Footballers; La Gr-rande sarah!; The Ju-Ja Club; See How They Shine; His Majesty's Guests; Through Cotton Country; Oddities on Oddfellows; Two Million Secrets; Dickens Recollections; The Hockey Girl; Trying a Parson; Fore!; The Miner's Legacy; When a Man's Down; Her Convict Husband; Editorial Chat.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,171 · 5/11/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Great Guys; Good-Bye Terriers; Famous Football Captains; Storyettes; I Griddle; Devil's Isle; Royal Flights; Other Osbornes; In Search of a White Champion; Tommy Atkins, Smuggler; Through Cotton Country; That Horrible Hobble!; Bankrupt Stocks; My Day; Their Little Ways; Editorial Chat; The Sanitary Man; Glorious Nov.5th; The Mayor Elect; When a Man's Down; Gossip; Nutcrack Night.
Notes: A man is found gassed to death in a locked room ... with the key in his pocket. He had been mistaken by the killer for his employer, a financier who has been fighting crooked trusts. Blake disguises himself as a gasman and discovers that poisonous gas had been introduced into the pipes between the meter and the jet. When the victim had turned the tap on the gas light, he had been asphyxiated before being able to put a match to the light.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,172 · 12/11/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; My Autobiography; Amazing Stevenson; How Did You and Bithness, Princess?; Cameras Out of Court; The Palace of Dreams; Man the Lifeboat!; One Sugarstick — Value £10,000; Jokes from the Job-Shops; Through Cotton Country; Famous Football Captains; How I Deserted; Why Banks Fail; 'Arbottle's Artful Ads; The Wooing of Mrs Werrett; Chat From Across the Sea; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; The Pudding Lady; The Stout Wife Handicap.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,173 · 19/11/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; Falsely Accused!; The Terrible Crater; Light on Big Ben; Sorry They Spoke!; Contempt; Kill the Fatted Beetle; P.C. to Commisioner; The London Particular; Early Days and Hard Times; Famous Football Captains; Me Bag!; Be On Guard; Plague; In the Soup; Wentworth's Romance; Tales of Dizzy; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; Home Sweet Home; The Melodrama Girl.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,174 · 26/11/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content:Storyettes; The Great Gray; The Royal Flitting; The Real Fire Fiend; Handicapped Humanity; Taking Silk; Falsely Accused!; In Strikeland; The Story of the Charing Cross Bank; Famous Football Captains; Early Days and Hard Times; In the Clink!; I Keep Big Dawgs; Half a Sovereign; How to Win at Whist Drives; Be Your Own Banker; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; From the GPO; Original Dresses.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,176 · 10/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes for Christmas; An Amazing Christmas; A Detective Yule; For "the Code id the Dose"; The Empty House; Scaring Tommy A; My Life Story; Gourlay's Surprises; Some Christmas Letters; The Happy Ending; A Tramp's Xmas; Lottie's Card; Xmas Numbers for All; Cinders' Slipper was Fur; Xmas When I Was Young; Our Yuletide Home From Home; Jim's Alternative; The Power of Gold; Christmas Chat; His 200th Voyage; Can 'oo Mend My Dolly?; Touring!; The Political Cash-Box; Christmas Gossip; When a Man's Down; Something Like Presents; Mistletoe Misses.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,177 · 17/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; General Elections in Fiction; The Coward's Weapon; Winter in the Woods; Gutter Perchers; The Jeweller's Tally Man Scandal; The Tanner Hop; A Spell Binder Speaks; Shop Assistants Taught Here; 9 Courses for 1/6; Famous Football Captains; Steel Studs; Landladies I Have and Haven't Loved; Ghosts I Have Met; We Quarrel; Mrs Hyde's Landlord; The Power of Gold; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; The Dear Old Times; Fog Facts and Fictions.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,178 · 25/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Christmas Storyettes; The East End — After Dark; Now Boys — the Chorus!; In re. Tonypandy; Oh Cruel Fate; The Christmas Card King; Answerites Expect — ; Dock Demeanour; A Lang Story; Tales of the Road; Amazons of the Mill; County Court Comedy; Loud Laughter; To Amuse the Kiddies; Ye Mummers of Yule; Two Rare Plucked 'Uns; The Power of Gold; Editorial Chat; When a Man's Down; Wall-Flowers; The Nark.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
ANSWERS WEEKLY · Issue 1,179 · 31/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Storyettes; From the Sewing Machine Co.; Friendly Enemies; That Artful 'Oss; The East End — After Dark; The Real Student; The Why of the Whistle; That Walk on New Year's Eve; Pining for the Panto; An Amateur Pauper; Samples; All Alone; That Inquisitive Census Chap; Cross Country; Gaggers!; Getting On; Rockey Hockey; Lady Dolly's Candy Shop; Editorial Chat; The Power of Gold; Boxing Made Easy; When a Man's Down; The Weary Eyes of Women; By Your Way-leaves.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 485 · 24/9/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: G. M. Dodshon
Other content: The Blot by Maxwell Scott; Your Editor's Den; Ever-Ready Jack by Anon.; Jack Laleham's Cross Roads by Anon.; The Trials and Troubles of a Boy Scout.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 486 · 1/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: G. M. Dodshon
Other content: The Blot by Maxwell Scott; Your Editor's Den; Ever-Ready Jack by Anon.; "Tom Willing" by Vesey Deane; "Dreadnought Dick" by Allan Blair; Colonel Peppercorn's Cabinet by Morton Pike; The Trials and Troubles of a Boy Scout.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 487 · 8/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: G. M. Dodshon
Other content: Your Editor's Den; Ever-Ready Jack by Anon.; The Trials and Troubles of a Boy Scout; The Blot by Maxwell Scott; The Railway Waif by Patrick Morris; The Marathon at Mansbury by Anon.; "Dreadnought Dick" by Allan Blair.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 488 · 15/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: G. M. Dodshon
Other content: Yorkshire Grit by Stacey Blake; Your Editor's Den; Ever-Ready Jack by Anon.; The Blot by Maxwell Scott; The Mystery of the White Mice by Anon.; The Trials and Troubles of a Boy Scout; The Railway Waif by Patrick Morris.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 489 · 22/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: G. M. Dodshon
Other content: The Blot by Maxwell Scott; Your Editor's Den; Ever-Ready Jack by Anon.; The Railway Waif by Patrick Morris; Yorkshire Grit by Stacey Blake; The Boy Who Never Had a Chance by Gilbert Gray.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 490 · 29/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: G. M. Dodshon
Other content: Yorkshire Grit by Stacey Blake; Your Editor's Den; Ever-Ready Jack by Anon.; The Railway Waif by Patrick Morris; A Soldier of Fortune; The Blot by Maxwell Scott; A Secret of Scotland Yard by Clive R. Fenn.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 491 · 5/11/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: G. M. Dodshon
Other content: The Blot by Maxwell Scott; Your Editor's Den; The Lads of London by Anon.; A Soldier of Fortune; Yorkshire Grit by Stacey Blake; Dick Littlewood's Quest by Morton Pike; The Railway Waif by Patrick Morris.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 493 · 19/11/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: G. M. Dodshon
Other content: Soldiers of Fortune by Stanley Portal Hyatt; Your Editor's Den; The Lads of London by Anon.; Yorkshire Grit by Stacey Blake; The Blot by Maxwell Scott; The Idol of the Station by Anon.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 494 · 26/11/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: G. M. Dodshon
Other content: Soldiers of Fortune by Stanley Portal Hyatt; Your Editor's Den; The Lads of London by Anon.; The Blot by Maxwell Scott; The Rival Apprentices by Anon.; Yorkshire Grit by Stacey Blake.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 495 · 3/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: G. M. Dodshon
Other content: Soldiers of Fortune by Stanley Portal Hyatt; Your Editor's Den; The Lads of London by Anon.; The Blot by Maxwell Scott; A Race Across the World by Clive R. Fenn; Yorkshire Grit by Stacey Blake.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 496 · 10/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: G. M. Dodshon
Other content: Soldiers of Fortune by Stanley Portal Hyatt; Your Editor's Den; The Lads of London by Anon.; The Blot by Maxwell Scott; The Tramp and the Tin Whistle by Morton Pike; Yorkshire Grit by Stacey Blake.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 497 · 17/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Val Reading
Other content: Your Editor's Christmas Chat; Gan-Waga's Christmas Revels by Sidney Drew; The Fireman's Wedding by W. A. Eaton; The New Broom by Maxwell Scott; Soldiers of Fortune by Stanley Portal Hyatt; Philip in Search of a Father by Allan Blair; The Lads of London by Anon.; Yorkshire Grit by Stacey Blake; A Hustle for Home by Malcolm Dayle.
Notes: Christmas double number. This serial was reprinted in an abridged form in THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY issue 199 (1912).
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 498 · 24/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The New Broom by Maxwell Scott; Your Editor's Den; The Lads of London by Anon.; Christmas Day in the Workhouse; Soldiers of Fortune by Stanley Portal Hyatt; A Christmas Homecoming by S. S. Gordon; Yorkshire Grit by Stacey Blake.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND · Issue 499 · 31/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The New Broom by Maxwell Scott; Your Editor's Den; The Gold of the "Last Hope" Mine by Captain Stanley Dacre; Soldiers of Fortune by Stanley Portal Hyatt; Dick Dorne's Night Flight by Anon.; Yorkshire Grit by Stacey Blake.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY · Issue 107 · Jan. 1910 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: A Slip of the Pen (Nelson Lee) by Maxwell Scott
Notes: This was reprinted as BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY 2nd series issue 396 (1933).
Unrated
THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY · Issue 123 · Jun. 1910 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: None
Notes: This is a heavily edited version of the SEXTON BLAKE IN THE CONGO serial which ran in THE BOYS' FRIEND from issue 294 (Jan 1907) to issue 313 (June 1907). Further notes and episode reviews can be found here.
Rating: ★★★★☆
THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY · Issue 124 · 1/7/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: None
Notes: This is an edited version of the serial that appeared in THE BOYS' FRIEND issues 321 to 334 (1907). It is a direct sequel to SEXTON BLAKE IN THE CONGO (notes and reviews here). The story begins with Sexton Blake, Tinker, Pedro, Saadani and Shumpogaas trekking north across a desert (presumably the Kalahari) after being ejected from the Congo. They see a mirage showing Sheila Ferguson, daughter of the missionary they had previously saved, being held captive by Zappo tribesmen. These warriors are fighting for freedom from the Belgians and are holding the girl hostage until her father ejects the foreign power from the Congo. Heading off to search for her, the group is captured by Tib Muhammad, a vicious Arab slaver. Added to his train of captives, they are marched to his fort on the outskirts of the desert. A few days later, Muhammad holds a slave auction and Blake, Tinker, Shumpogaas and Saadani are sold. But that night, they escape long enough to cause chaos and free all the other slaves before they themselves are recaptured. Muhammad re-sells them, this time to the fearsome King Gumbo of the Fanta tribe. Forced to leave Pedro with the slaver, they are taken on a long march into the unexplored Land of the Smoking Mountain. Four days into their journey, the bedraggled bloodhound catches up with them, having escaped and tracked Blake by scent. The trek continues and is beset by perils. At one point, the detective saves one of his captors from an attacking gorilla. Stopping at a small settlement along the way, the Fantas learn that a tribe of Zappos are camped nearby and prepare to attack them. Believing these may be Shiela Ferguson's captor's, Blake and Shumpogaas escape during the night and go to warn the Zappos but when they reach the village they find that it has been burned by another tribe — the Lake Dwellers — who have taken the young girl. They return to Tinker, Pedro and Saadani but lose the opportunity to free them. The march continues until the Fanta village, which lies at the foot of a volcano, is reached. There, the group is prepared for sacrifice; they are to be killed and eaten. But just as a Fanta knife is descending upon Sexton Blake, the volcano erupts and throws the village into panic. Blake and his friends flee with molten lava at their heels and jump aboard a canoe. They paddle down river and out of danger, eventually ending up on a large lake. Here, a massive storm drives them into the village of the Lake Dwellers where they rescue Sheila Ferguson before being blown onwards to dry land. But their rescue mission is not without cost: Saadani is killed. With furious natives in pursuit, the group is just about done in when they are saved by the timely arrival of a German explorer. They join his caravan to the coast where they are reunited with Sheila's parents. Mission accomplished, there comes the final parting of the ways, and the detective's farewell to the brave and faithful Shumpogaas is one of the most heart-rending scenes found anywhere in the annals of Sexton Blake.
Trivia: This adventure, like SEXTON BLAKE IN THE CONGO, probably occurred in 1905.
Rating: ★★★★☆ A worthy sequel, this is a massive adventure on the Dark Continent and, despite the plot being helped along by a couple of far too convenient coincidences, it scores high marks thanks to the relentless nature of the story.
THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY · Issue 131 · Sep. 1910 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: Inspector William Spearing retires from Scotland Yard and sets up his own detective agency and training school. Sexton Blake refers a client, Colonel Steward, to him. Stewart suspects that his wife, Dora, is involved in some sort of criminal activity and wants her investigated. Blake arranges to stay with Stewart as his house guest so he can watch Spearing in action. While there, he sees Dora being driven away by her new chauffeur. Later, she staggers into her home and faints. Spearing's assistants follow behind, carrying a corpse. Rather arrogantly, Blake immediately starts investigating, running rings around Spearing. It turns out that the chauffeur committed the murder then drove away. He is part of a criminal gang which has been blackmailing Mrs Stewart. Aubrey Manners, the gang's leader, instructs another member, Williams, to join Spearing's agency as a student, thereby keeping a watch on the detective's progress in the case; for there's not just murder afoot — the gang are also forgers. Blake's suspicions of Williams lead him to Manners who promptly kidnaps the detective and ties him up in a cellar. Spearing, Tinker and Pedro are hot on the trail but when they arrive at the house where Blake is being kept, they find it ablaze. Spearing stages a daring rescue (aided by Pedro). Our heroes then set out in pursuit of the villains. Meanwhile, the gang is self-destructing as Aubrey Manners ruthlessly cuts down the people who'll share the proceeds of his crime. Finally, after changing forged bank notes for real, he drugs Williams — the last remaining member of the gang — and catches a ferry to France. After being chased back and forth across the Channel, Manners is finally caught by Blake and Spearing.
Trivia: Tinker seems younger than usual in this adventure. At one point he is scornful when offered sweets. Later, he has to explain that Blake taught him to drive, which suggests that it might seem unusual for a boy of his age to be seen in control of a vehicle.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ This tale feels a little over-long and inconsequential, and Aubrey Manners gets away with his crime for far too long. As usual, Will Spearing is made to look quite foolish, while Norman Goddard's Blake is rather cold and arrogant. By contrast, Tinker and Pedro are well-served, both getting lots to do and doing it very well.
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 7 Issue 337 · 1/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); The Troublesome Twins by Jack North; The Rival Explorers by Cecil Hayter; Laid by the Heels by Andrew Gray; Val, the Boy Acrobat by Claud Heathcote.
Notes: Sexton Blake teams up with Nelson Lee in this story.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 7 Issue 338 · 8/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Val Reading
Other content: Val, the Boy Acrobat by Claud Heathcote; Your Editor's Advice (ed.); The Rival Explorers by Cecil Hayter; The Hashish Smugglers by Vesey Deane; The Troublesome Twins by Jack North.
Notes: Sexton Blake teams up with Nelson Lee in this story.
Unrated
THE BOYS' HERALD · Vol. 7 Issue 339 · 15/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Val Reading
Other content: Your Editor's Advice (ed.); The Troublesome Twins by Jack North; The Rival Explorers by Cecil Hayter; The New Pro by P. A. Henly; Val, the Boy Acrobat by Claud Heathcote.
Notes: Sexton Blake teams up with Nelson Lee in this story.
Unrated
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 556 · 22/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Sexton Blake receives a message from Major Wynans, who lives in a flat beneath an extremely eccentric man named Radcliffe. This man moved into the building seven years ago and hasn't spoken a word to anyone since he's been there. At one time, Wynans managed to get a glimpse of Radcliffe's sitting-room. It had no furniture other than one old armchair and was littered with packing cases. Over every surface, there were curios and antiques, many of outstanding value. This morning, though, Radcliffe had been found dead — in his armchair with his throat cut. Blake and Bathurst go to the flat where they are met by the Major and Watson, Radcliffe's butler. In Radcliffe's flat, Blake finds evidence which suggests that Radcliffe's murderer was able to see in the dark but may be visually handicapped in daylight. He also surmises that the killing was a case of revenge rather than robbery. Theorising that the victim had been hiding from someone for the past seven years, Blake traces his history which leads him to a feud that began when Radcliffe betrayed his partner when they were in the business of trading in illicit diamonds. The ex-partner, Blake discovers, is in town — and is soon arrested for the crime.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 557 · 29/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: An acquaintance of Bathurst and Blake's — Mr Mostyyn, a writer — is found dead at his desk, apparently murdered. Death proves to be by poisoning ... but how was the substance introduced into Mostyn's body? The detective eliminates method after method until only one possibility remains, which, of course, turns out to be the method used. When Blake discovers that Mostyn was writing an exposé of an Italian secret society, he is able to follow a trail that leads to the killer. The man is located and arrested by Inspector Jarvis of Scotland Yard.
Trivia: Blake mentions THE CASE OF THE LUIS QUINZE SNUFF-BOX (THE PENNY PICTORIAL issue 550, 11/12/1909).
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 558 · 5/2/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Blake receives a wire from Colonel Maxwell, father of Lady Molly Maxwell, in which he is asked to investigate the death of the colonel's friend, General Forsyth. Forsyth had served in India with the colonel and had stolen two idols from a temple. He had become obsessed with these two artefacts, even though they seemed to bring him nothing but bad luck. Now, he has been found dead at his desk, a look of terror on his face, and the idols have vanished. Sexton Blake identifies the cause of death — a poisoned dart is embedded in the back of the general's neck, blown there through an Indian blow-pipe. Blake next follows a trail into a nearby copse where, beneath a pile of leaves, he finds the idols hidden. Realising that the man who killed Forsyth was a tribesman, too small in stature to carry the idols, he surmises that the murderer will return to fetch the artefacts. He lays in wait and, sure enough, the tribesman arrives. Blake pounces but the killer applies one of the poisoned darts to himself and dies. He drops one of the idols which breaks open, revealing a great many jewels hidden within.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 565 · 26/3/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Sexton Blake is lunching in the Savoy when he is approached by Basil Kralin, of the Moranian Litigation. The detective is informed that his Highness, Prince Adolph of Morania, disappeared three days ago while driving to Maidenhead. His car has been found in the countryside near the town; empty and with a buckled lamp. The prince cannot have left the car on foot, for he has a morbid fear of walking outside by himself. By examining the car, Blake is able to assert that it ran into a green and red-painted van, which had been travelling in the same direction. Further clues prompt the detective to ask Kralin whether the prince has recently had any problems with gipsies. The answer is affirmative — in Morania, there had been a dispute over a tract of land that the prince has claimed as crown property but which the gipsies claim as their own. Kralin also reveals that his own valet is a gipsy. The next morning, Blake leads Bathurst, Kralin and his chauffeur to a gipsy encampment where a fight between them and the travellers breaks out. The gipsies are overpowered and the prince is found among them. He had been betrayed by his valet.
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 572 · 14/5/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Bathurst whisks Sexton Blake away on a train to Bingham Dene and on the way tells him about the case they are now pursuing. It concerns an old fellow named Sompting, who lives at Bingham but who always conducted his business at the nearby town of Netley. The previous day, he had travelled back from Netley as usual with the takings from his business. However, upon arrival at Bingham station, Sompting was discovered dead, with four gunshot wounds to the head, and his money was gone. Blake examines the body first and next the railway carriage. He learns that there is no evidence of anyone boarding or departing from the train who might be considered a suspect. Nor did anyone hear the four shots fired. Taking a train along the same route, the detective is able to prove how the shots were fired without being heard. He then identifies a place alongside the track where a stream runs — and he has this dragged. A black case is recovered from the water — the one Sompting always used to carry his money in. Now, though, it just contains a brick. Blake visits a nearby town on the rail route and there goes to a lodging house, enquiring after two of its residents. They are out, and a search of their rooms reveals evidence that they committed the crime. Blake explains how, and when the men return, he helps to arrest them.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 575 · 4/6/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Bathurst alerts Sexton Blake to a new case: a man named Harrington has been found dead on the moors, and a young fisherman named Maple has been accused of his murder. The two of them were rival suitors for a young woman, and their feud had been verging on violence for some time. On the night of the murder, they were known to have quarrelled, and Maple has no alibi. Blake travels to the scene of the crime and views first the body and then the place where it was found. After assessing all the evidence, he comes to a startling conclusion which he is subsequently able to prove at Maple's trial — Harrington wasn't murdered at all ... he had been killed by a falling meteorite!
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 582 · 23/7/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Blake and Bathurst take a break on the southern coast. One morning, Blake encounters a panicked farmer who's discovered a corpse in one of his fields off the Lurthing Road. The dead man appears to have been struck over the head and flung with impossible strength over a high hedge. Blake examines the evidence and comes to a conclusion that involves the local bus route. He identifies the killer, the method, and the motive.
Trivia: I’m pretty certain that this is one of the tales attributed to "Michael Storm" but actually written by G. H. Teed.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 583 · 30/7/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: A boxing promoter of Sexton Blake's acquaintance visits the detective to report that his star fighter — Jacky Fletcher — has mysteriously vanished and a great many bets are suddenly being placed against him with regard to an upcoming fight. Blake travels to the coastal town of Shorebridge, where the boxer had been training, to investigate. He finds evidence that Fletcher has been kidnapped and taken to France. The detective discovers who is responsible and manages to rescue Fletcher in time for him to meet his adversary.
Trivia: Sexton Blake was taught the art of boxing by Jimmy Bushby.
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 585 · 13/8/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Sexton Blake has rented a bungalow as a week-end bolt-hole in Shorebridge (where the events of THE STRANGE CASE OF THE MISSING LIGHT-WEIGHT took place). Bathurst is stationed nearby with men from his Territorial Army unit. One of these men, Private Goodman, goes missing and is presumed drowned. Sexton Blake investigates and finds that Goodman owned a cap in which the initials 'J. H.' had once been sewn. He also finds that the man had been seen with a suit packed into a parcel. As further items of evidence come to light, the detective begins to suspect that Goodman is still alive and, furthermore, that he joined the Territorials under an alias. His real name is John Henderson — and the motive for his strange behaviour is ... murder! Following the trail of clues, Blake and Bathurst lie in wait in the house where Henderson used to live with his wife — and they capture the man when he returns to claim jewels that he left buried with his wife's corpse!
Trivia: Bathurst seems to have a high rank in the Territorial Army.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 587 · 27/8/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: While travelling on a train after a day playing golf, Sexton Blake becomes suspicious of a nun who is in the same train carriage. However, she gives him the slip. The next morning, he receives a wire from Lady Constance Harwish — a friend of Lady Molly Maxwell's — whose jewels have been stolen. Lady Constance lives near where Blake had seen the nun, so the detective soon finds himself travelling back along yesterday's route. He is met by Lady Molly who tells him that the jewels were stolen from her friend's sophisticated safe — suggesting that the thief must have had a key. The burglary happened during a party thrown by Lady Constance and Blake learns that there was an unexpected guest at the event — a nun! Following a trail of clues, the investigator finds evidence that the nun was actually a man in disguise. When he hunts down his prime suspect, the man tries to escape by car but loses control of it and has a fatal accident. Blake recovers the jewels from the crook's body ... and reveals to Lady Constance that a member of her staff has been less than loyal.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 592 · 1/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Harry Lane
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Lady Molly Maxwell enters Sexton Blake's study and, after being treated to a staggering display of his deductive abilities, hands him a parcel. It contains jewels belonging to a young American widow named Mrs Belton. Lady Molly has stolen them as a prank. Mrs Belton had been attending a house party at Lord Waydon's manor and had revealed to Molly that, rather than entrusting her various trinkets to a jewel box, she preferred to hide them about her room each night, feeling sure that a burglar would fail to find them. Molly, feeling mischievous, had decided to prove her wrong, and now wants Blake to complete the prank by returning the valuables with a dramatic flourish. Unfortunately, when she unwraps the package to show the detective her loot, she finds that it's all been replaced by pebbles! Blake and Molly drive to Lord Waydon's to join the ongoing party. After following a trail of clues, Blake confronts Mrs Belton and accuses her of stealing her own jewels — actually fakes — for the insurance money. The next morning, the woman is found dead, a vial of poison beside her along with a pile of unpaid bills.
Trivia: According to this story, Blake went to school at St. Ann's where he was Lord Waydon's fag (this suggests that Lord Waydon may actually be Sir Richard Losely).
Rating: ★★★☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 594 · 15/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Blake receives a plea for help from the mother of a young clerk who's been accused of murdering his employer — a moneylender — and stealing a sum of money. She reveals that he could not have committed the crime because he wasn't even in town when it took place — he was in Liverpool, paying for his father, who has just been released from prison, to take a ship to Canada. This is something that the woman wants to keep out of the papers, to save embarrassment to the family. The detective examines the scene of the crime and interviews the caretaker of the building; noting a number of holes in the man's story. Linking together the clues to form a chain of evidence, Blake is able to prove that the woman's son is innocent. The real culprit is arrested while trying to escape.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 595 · 22/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Blake and Bathurst are taking a short holiday. While walking near the town of Downdale, they see men carrying a body away from the chalk cliffs. The chalk is quarried by means of men dangling from ropes — and the man, Black, had been killed when his rope snapped. However, when Blake learns that the rope was new and had been used by two other men before the accident, he becomes suspicious. The detective starts to collect evidence — first from the cliff face; then from a man named Davis, who had been on the shift prior to Black's; and finally from a barber who shares some gossip with Blake — it seems that various men in the town, including Davis, had been competing for the hand of a young woman. Recently, though, a quarry worker named Joe Simmons had won her heart, thanks to the fact that he came into some money. While poking around a shed behind Davis's cottage, Blake discovers the final clue he needs. He approaches the foreman of the quarry and reveals that the rope had been cut ... but that young Black had not been the murderer's target! The real murderer is captured and arrested.
Trivia: Sexton Blake makes the startling claim that he doesn't read the newspapers! This is flatly contradicted in numerous other stories. However, since the claim is made in a fit of pique, it can safely be dismissed!
Rating: ★★★☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 596 · 29/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: While driving from Brighton to London, Sexton Blake and Bathurst encounter a broken down vehicle. The man and woman aboard the car seem to be trying to hide their identities and, his curiosity aroused, Blake offers to drive them back to Brighton. The woman borrows his coat to protect her from the bad weather and the party sets off. A mile from Brighton they see a taxi and, though Blake offers to drive them all the way into town, the woman insists on hailing the taxi. The couple depart, promising to return Blake's coat by post. On their return journey to London, Blake and Bathurst discuss the duo and, swapping their observations, discover that the broken down car had different licence numbers on the front and back. The next morning, a burglary is reported in the papers. Miniatures have been stolen from Dorna House. A £2,000 pound reward has been offered, and Blake decides to take up the challenge. At the scene of the crime, the detective asserts that entry was made by way of the skylight; he also realises that he helped the burglars to get away — for the couple in the car were the crooks. He and Bathurst race to Brighton and, on the way, Blake reveals that the female half of the pair was actually a man. He explains how the crime was committed and the real identities of the couple who he is now tracking down. He finds them at Newhaven harbour, preparing to flee the country, and makes the arrest.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 601 · 3/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: W. Taylor
Other content: Unknown
Notes: At a dinner party hosted by General Whalley, Evans — who recently returned from a two-year stint in the Congo — learns of a tragic mystery surrounding two of his acquaintances; the Finch-Hutton brothers. A young woman, Lady Helen, had been trying to decide which of the brothers to marry; the elder, Richard, for his money or the younger, Dot, for his good looks. The need for a decision was removed when the elder was murdered and the younger disappeared, presumed guilty. Another of the dinner guests, Jimmy, describes how, months ago, the men had argued and Richard had been found stabbed to death the next morning, with Dot's knife beside him. Dot has never been seen since. Sexton Blake, also at the dinner, corrects the story: Richard had been found shot, and the weapon at his side was Dot's pistol. Whalley mentions that the dead man's house, which is nearby and shut-up, is said to be haunted — no new tenants will remain there, complaining of mysterious noises in the night. After the party has broken up, Blake and Bathurst take a walk to the haunted house. They break in and the detective quickly spots evidence that the place is not as empty as it seems. Finding a secret door, they open it to reveal the desperate-looking figure of Dot. The young man admits that he's been hiding in the house all this time, helped by Jimmy, and convinced that he killed his brother while in a drunken rage. Blake contradicts this and tells him he didn't kill Richard at all. Shocked, Dot follows the detective back to the general's house to confront the real murderer — only to learn that he has been killed in a hunting accident (which is more likely suicide).
Rating: ★★★★☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 602 · 10/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Sexton Blake receives an invitation from Count Von Waltheim, secretary to the exiled King of Wehlemsburg, to spend Christmas with the monarch. He then receives a visit from Count Von Erhmann, who warns him that there is a plot to kidnap the king, take him back to his country, and murder him in order to establish a republic. Erhmann is concerned that the Christmas party — a masked ball — will offer the perfect opportunity for the king's enemies to strike. Four days later, Blake and Bathurst go motoring in the countryside between the king's residence and the coast. Blake says he wants to show his friend an isolated country house. He explains that that Bathurst will attend the ball masquerading as him — Sexton Blake — and will be drugged, abducted, and taken to the country house where he will be tied to a chair. Blake has already visited the house, found the ropes intended for binding the prisoner, and has half cut through them with a knife, to make it easy for Bathurst to escape. At the ball, exactly this happens, and the villains, convinced that Blake is out of the way, then kidnap the king — only to find Sexton Blake beneath the fancy dress costume and Scotland Yard men surrounding them! Their leader is shot down, his identity exposed, and Blake returns to Messenger Square to find Bathurst waiting there safe and sound.
Trivia: Sexton Blake's manservant is named Morris.
Rating: ★★★★☆
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 603 · 17/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Sexton Blake, chatting with Bathurst, ponders the whereabouts of Marston Hume, who he had sent "into the gutter" two years ago. Their conversation is interrupted by a visit from Mrs. Sherringham, the mother of a young man named Emile who had gone missing some few days earlier. She informs the detective that on the day of his disappearance, Emile apparently withdrew £3,000 from their joint bank account. Blake feels certain that the man who did this was actually Hume and promises to investigate. Visiting Scotland Yard, he learns that the dead body of Emile has been dredged up from the Thames. The lad, a fencing enthusiast, had been murdered by a foil thrust into his neck. Knowing Hume always works alone, the detective deduces that he must have a house near the river bank, else he could not manage to get the corpse to the water. Blake identifies the most likely house and finds his old fencing tutor living there. The man discloses the fact that Hume had occupied the house for a while and had fought many fencing bouts with a young student, Emile Sherringham. Hume had promised to teach Emile a particular trick; one which the fencing tutor now shows Blake. It ends with the foil's point hard against the detective's neck. This, then, is how Hume killed the boy before forging his signature to withdraw the £3,000. What's more, as there is no proof against him, Marston Hume has got away with the crime ...
Trivia: Blake has a household servant named Morrison (probably the "Morris" referred to in the previous issue).
This story was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ A low-key tale which is told mainly through spoken conversations.
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 604 · 24/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: After spotting Marston Hume in a taxi cab, Blake follows him to a dilapidated house on the river front. Hume invites him in and they talk as the villain calmly eats his supper. Blake lays out a long list of crimes before the man and warns him that he will call Scotland Yard and have Hume arrested. His host denies any complicity in the various thefts and murders enumerated — particularly protesting against any involvement in the more recent crimes. Blake is dubious until his opponent reveals that for the past year he has been completely blind. He shows the detective letters from eye specialists, each one proving that an obscure disease has robbed him of his vision. Suspecting forgeries, Blake telephones one of the doctors — who he knows well — and learns that the blindness is genuine and incurable. The detective leaves, still suspecting a trick, and as he descends the stairs they suddenly spin sending him plummeting into the river. At the same time, Hume shoots at him from the top landing, the bullet grazing Blake's skull, rendering him unconscious. He is picked up by river police and quickly nursed back to health. With the men in tow, the detective returns to the house only to find that his quarry has eluded him by fleeing through a skylight. Evidence left in the room suggests that Hume's blindness had been faked by means of narcotic eye drops. There is also a note: 'Dear Mr. Blake. It gave me great pleasure to watch you from my window here taking your midnight dip. What a curious hour to select for a swim on a cold night like this! I would have saved you the trouble, if I could, but my recent eye treatment seems to have affected my sight. I fear my aim was none too good. Pray accept my apologies. — Marston Hume.'
Trivia: This was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).
Rating: ★★★★☆ The short series returns to good form with this excellent tale.
THE PENNY PICTORIAL · Issue 605 · 31/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: R. J. MacDonald
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Blake is told by Bathurst that a mysterious woman — a Sister of Mercy — has been found knifed to death. Her name was Nurse Wilder and she seems to be a woman without a past. Bathurst reveals that one of his fellow reporters attended the scene and found a half-burnt letter from a lawyer's office which, from what he could read, seemed to have been sent to the woman with £300 enclosed. He had gone to the lawyer and had discovered that Nurse Wilder was actually the widow of an Australian millionaire. After her husband's death, she had travelled to Britain and had buried herself in helping the needy. She had instructed her lawyer to provide her with £300 of her fortune every six months. The latest amount posted seems to have vanished — and may be the motive for murder. The suspect is a man who had, the day previously, rented the room over the victim's. He was a foreign-looking person with a missing thumb. He has now vanished, leaving a blood-stained knife in his room. His description matches that of the Australian millionaire's son from a former marriage — who is set to inherit a fortune now that Nurse Wilder is dead. Scotland Yard finds the man, who is in possession of nearly £300, and builds up evidence against him. Blake though, disagrees with it on almost every count. He and Bathurst travel to visit the captured man and hear his plea of innocence. He tells his story and it fits the evidence that Blake has collected. It also serves to point the detective in the direction of the real killer. Blake sees to it that the right man is charged with the crime.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 325 · 1/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Harry Lane
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 168 as THE FATE OF THE "MERMAID" (1915) and PENNY POPULAR issue 169 as THE HOUSE OF INTRIGUE (1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 326 · 8/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 170 as ROGUES OF THE TURF and PENNY POPULAR issue 171 as CALLED TO ACCOUNT (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 328 · 22/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Fred Bennett
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 172 as A FIGHT FOR JUSTICE and PENNY POPULAR issue 173 as THE TYRANT OF THE POOR (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 329 · 29/1/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 174 as THE MAN ON THE 4.15 and PENNY POPULAR issue 175 as THE SQUIRE'S SECRET (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 330 · 5/2/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. This story marks the first appearance of Laban Creed. He is a tall, bronzed man with strange yellowish eyes; a rich international businessman; owner of countless antiques and treasures; and a widower with one daughter, Torfrida, from his marriage to an Indian princess. One evening, his valet — Michael Pulsk — ushers in Creed's business partner Harvey Maitland. The latter accuses Creed of systematically swindling him out of £500,000 over the years they have known one another. Creed admits this to be true. Maitland demands that in reparation, Creed should pay him back the money within 48 hours, hand over control of all their businesses, and leave England forever. Laban Creed agrees to this and Maitland takes his leave ... after unknowingly drinking poison! He dies in a hansom cab just as it gallops past Sexton Blake, who is out for a stroll. He immediately suspects foul play and learns from Maitland's servant that the dead man had been dining at Creed's home. The detective arranges for the man's stomach contents to be analysed by Professor Kerwin. Unfortunately, news of this reaches the newspapers. That evening, Kerwin's assistant, John Coverdale, witnesses his colleague being murdered. When he tackles the killer, containers of chemicals are overturned and a fire breaks out. Coverdale is overcome by fumes and the murderer — Laban Creed — flees after watching the evidence against him burn. Blake arrives on the scene and saves Coverdale but the young man has been blinded and so will not be able to identify his assailant. Blake takes Coverdale to Berlin to see an eye specialist who tells the youth that an operation might cure him. But Pulsk has followed and attempts to poison Coverdale. All parties return to England. Creed and his henchman make another attempt on Coverdale's life but this time Torfrida steps in and dissuades her father from a further murder. The eye specialist arrives and cures Coverdale. Inspector Widgeon and Blake then kidnap Creed and present him to the youth who positively identifies his attacker. Laban Creed is sent to prison. This story was reprinted in two parts in PENNY POPULAR issue 176 THE CARDS OF FATE and PENNY POPULAR issue 177 HUNTED AND HARRIED (both 1916).
Rating: ★★★★★ An excellent introduction to one of Sexton Blake's recurring opponents.
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 332 · 19/2/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Harry Lane
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 178 as A WEB OF INTRIGUE and PENNY POPULAR issue 179 as THE COILS OF EVIDENCE (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 333 · 26/2/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 180 as THE MISSING MANAGER and PENNY POPULAR issue 181 as THWARTING A TASKMASTER (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 334 · 5/3/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Having escaped by boat — The Jilt — from Sexton Blake at the end of THE SWELL MOBSMAN, George Marsden Plummer is swept out to sea by a storm. Eventually, in a thick fog, he manages to surreptitiously board a liner bound for Southampton. One of the passengers is an elderly Chinese Mandarin — a bitter enemy of all things British — together with his secretary Sin Fung. When the Mandarin dies, Sin Fung inherits his wealth. Plummer, who spies upon the deathbed scene, immediately kills the secretary and, using the art of disguise, takes his place. He mutilates the face of the corpse and sets it adrift on The Jilt. A few days after, the boat is found and Plummer is reported dead by the British press. Six months pass, and a series of mysterious disappearances has Sexton Blake baffled. A politician's secretary and a millionaire businessman have vanished without a trace. Then Japanese detective Hashira reports to Blake that ambassador General Tai has also disappeared, along with valuable papers he had in his possession. The detective learns that the General was last seen in conversation with Sin Fung and that a yellow button was left on the spot. This has upon it the insignia of an unknown secret organisation. Two government officials visit the detective and inform him that a number of sensitive documents have been stolen and apparently sold to Germany. However, the copies handed over to the foreign power are copies containing fake information. If this continues, it could lead to war. Blake realises that the villain responsible is prone to vanity and so publishes a statement in the press in which he brags about his ability. This is calculated to draw his opponent into the open. The ruse works; that evening two large boxes are delivered to Baker Street — they contain the tied and gagged forms of the missing secretary and businessman! Blake visits General Tai's daughter, Chrysantheme, and arranges for her to seduce Sin Fung into revealing himself. As he leaves, he encounters Sin Fung arriving and recognises his glance of terror and fury as belonging to Plummer. The master villain, meanwhile, after visiting Chrysantheme, faces a visit from three elders of the secret Society of the Yellow Button. They pierce his disguise but before they can harm him, Plummer sends them falling through a trap door into a cell. Tinker, who has gained entry to Plummer's hideout, witnesses this but is then captured himself. Sexton Blake infiltrates his enemy's base and discovers General Tai locked in a cage and Tinker bound to a post. He frees them both. Next, he recovers the stolen documents. Plummer lures Chrysantheme back to his hideout intending to abduct her. Blake, Tinker and the General, who are waiting in ambush, capture him, and place him in the custody of the police. A few days later, Plummer escapes.
Trivia: Plummer was raised in Melbourne by a Chinese nurse. Sexton Blake owns a property in Bedford Street, off the Strand, which he often uses when he needs to perform a quick change.
This story was serialised as THE MYSTERY OF THE YELLOW BUTTON in THE DREADNOUGHT issues 115 to 121 and continuing in THE DREADNOUGHT AND WAR PICTORIAL issues 1 to 3 (1914). It was also reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 364 (1940).
Rating: ★★★★★
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 335 · 12/3/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Young Sir Geoffrey Redmayne, a member of the notorious Ambrosia Club, goes there to gamble. His lucky streak is ended by Julian Fawcett who wins over £5,000 from the young aristocrat. Redmayne accuses him of cheating and is challenged to a duel. To avoid a scandal for the club, though, they decide to draw lots with the loser promising to commit suicide within a month. Redmayne loses. The only way to escape his fate will be to prove that Fawcett cheated; to this end, he commissions Sexton Blake. Redmayne then finds himself arrested for murder after his cousin, Sir Talbot, is found dead from poisoning. Blake develops a mistrust of James Fordyce, Talbot's servant, and sets Tinker to shadow him. The detective then disguises himself as an upper class and rather idiotic character named S B Lake and plunges into 'Society'. First he goes to see one of Miss Sinclair's performances and realises that she is somehow in Fawcett's power. Next he goes to the Ambrosia club and allows himself to be set up for a fleecing at the poker table. Meanwhile, Tinker discovers that Fordyce and Fawcett are working together. They have a hold over Miss Sinclair's mother and are blackmailing the young girl; forcing her to dance and taking the proceeds. When the night of Blake's final fleecing arrives, he skilfully turns the tables, winning a fortune from Fawcett. He is then approached by Fordyce who, having argued with Fawcett, attempts to betray his erstwhile colleague. Later, though, Fordyce is found poisoned and Fawcett starts packing to leave the country. Before he flees, he intends to divest S B Lake of a fortune and so invites the disguised detective to his country cottage. This occurs two days before Redmayne's vow to kill himself. At the cottage Blake is held at gunpoint and forced to write a cheque for Fawcett. His disguise is pierced and he's taken prisoner. Tinker traces him to the cottage and frees him. The various parties gather at the Ambrosia Club where, minutes before Redmayne's time is up, Blake exposes Fawcett as a swindler and murderer, thus freeing Redmayne of his obligation to kill himself.
Trivia: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 182 as THE DANCER'S SECRET and PENNY POPULAR issue 183 as A VOW FULFILLED (both 1916).
Rating: ★★★★☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 336 · 19/3/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 184 as A DESPERATE RESOLVE and PENNY POPULAR issue 185 as THE RIVER MYSTERY (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 337 · 26/3/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 186 as AFTER THREE YEARS and PENNY POPULAR issue 187 as A SAILOR'S ORDEAL (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 338 · 2/4/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Harry Lane
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 188 as THE VILLAGE TYRANT and PENNY POPULAR issue 189 as FOILED AT THE FINISH (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 341 · 23/4/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 190 as THE SILENT AVENGER and PENNY POPULAR issue 191 as THE WRATH OF KAMA (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 342 · 30/4/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: This story commences directly after THE PROBLEM OF THE YELLOW BUTTON. George Marsden Plummer, having just escaped from police custody, disguises himself as Jules Armand, an eccentric French police officer sent to England to help hunt the notorious Parisian safe-cracker, Antoine Ferre. Plummer has caused the real Armand to be locked in an insane asylum, so he has free reign to impersonate the man. Sexton Blake also wants to get his hands on the French criminal but is investigation makes little headway until an Australian dealer in silver, Mr. Danvers, is attacked and left for dead in an empty office. He had recently met with a financier named John Marsh to conclude a very profitable deal (for Marsh). Clues lead Blake to connect the crime with a room in the building opposite, overlooking the office across an alley. It is also an empty office — room number 11. By mid-afternoon it emerges that all Danvers' securities have been withdrawn from his various bank accounts — by him — after he was found injured and hospitalised! That evening, Jules Armand invades the home of John Marsh and holds its owner at gunpoint. Armand had been watching as Marsh attacked Danvers in room 11 and transferred his body via a portable bridge to the building opposite. He had tackled the criminal but Marsh had wriggled out of his grasp, leaving Armand with nothing but his coat. The bogus policeman reveals that he knows that Marsh is really Antoine Ferre. The latter, in turn, recognises that he is not being addressed by the real Armand. Furthermore, the coat had contained all Danvers' papers which were used to withdraw the man's fortune. Obviously the man currently pointing a gun at him is a master criminal: Plummer! The two men agree to a villainous alliance. When Blake, Tinker and Pedro arrive at Marsh's house, they are attacked by their opponents (who remain unseen) and are left tightly gagged and bound in the cellar. In his disguise, Plummer has free-reign at Scotland Yard and uses this opportunity to confuse the investigation. But Blake, after freeing himself from captivity, remains suspicious of Marsh — and Tinker, while investigating room 11, overhears absolute proof of the two villains' real identities. Unfortunately, he is once again captured and imprisoned. His Guv'nor, meanwhile, learns that Plummer and Marsh are robbing their next millionaire. He tracks them to Paris and and arrests John Marsh. He also brings back from France a companion: the real Jules Armand. Plummer flees but falls into Blake's trap and is caught. He and Marsh receive twenty-year sentences.
Trivia: My copy is missing the cover. Mrs. Michael Storm handed this story to the editor of UNION JACK as, ostensibly, one of the last tales penned by her late husband. It later proved to have been ghost written by G. H. Teed. This was reprinted in two parts in PENNY POPULAR issue 192 as Birds of Prey and PENNY POPULAR issue 193 as The City Conspiracy (both 1916). It also appeared in an abridged form as The Riddle of Room 11 in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 368 (1940).
This is John Marsh's introduction to the saga and he rather overshadows Plummer, being cooler, stronger and more cunning while also matching him in the skills of disguise and impersonation. Their first meeting, as recounted here, is totally contradicted in the 1915 PLUCK story entitled The Meeting With Marsh (issue 551).
Rating: ★★★☆☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 347 · 4/6/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Harry Lane
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: At Groombridge Hall, Sir Peter Groombridge's jewel collection is stolen while his guests are distracted by a strange light beaming from the night sky. Jack Sellars, an aeroplane engineer, is accused and arrested by Detective-Inspector Spearing. With the light having shone from a motionless source, and with all the country's dirigibles accounted for, the Minister for War commissions Sexton Blake to investigate. Spearing contends that Sellars has an accomplice who flew the machine while the young engineer performed the theft. However, when the light again appears, Sellars' monoplane is found to be still on the ground, which spoils Spearing's theory. Blake and his companions race to a point beneath the light but the illumination blinks out and a fast car, going the other way, passes them. The next night, Sellars takes Blake up in his machine and, upon seeing the light over the nearby home of General Mackenzie, they fly toward it but hit a taut wire and crash to the ground. A big kite lands close by and a man steps from its frame. His name is Carns, and he is joined by two colleagues, Stainton and Bateman. The latter reports that, while burglarising Mackenzie's place, he was discovered and shot the general dead. Now, panicked, the crooks make a rapid getaway. Blake, Sellars, Spearing, Tinker and Pedro set off in pursuit of the trio, catch up with them at an inn but, because there's no evidence, make no move to confront them. Bateman, terrified that he's earned a sentence of hanging, steals Blake's car and drives off. Carns and Stainton brashly commission Blake to hunt their missing friend, informing him that Bateman has had a mental breakdown. In truth, the crook has made off with the stolen jewels. The next morning, news comes that Bateman crashed the car outside Groombridge Hall and was killed. No jewels were recovered from the scene. Carns and Stainton surreptitiously depart intending to carry out a third operation to make up their losses. As night falls, the light reappears, this time near Deal. With crowds gathering to gawp at it, houses are standing empty, ripe for plundering. Blake organises roadblocks but a car crashes through one. The detective and Sellars take to the air in the repaired monoplane, chase the car, and shoot its engine. After landing, the aeronauts catch Carns and Stainton and discover, in the car, a collection of articles stolen in Deal. Groombridge's jewels are found stitched into the lining of the kite.
Trivia: My copy is missing the cover.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 349 · 18/6/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 194 as TO REDEEM THE PAST and PENNY POPULAR issue 195 as THE SWINDLER'S DOWNFALL (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 350 · 25/6/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 196 as THE GREAT SOCIETY SCANDAL and PENNY POPULAR issue 197 as AN AFFAIR OF COURT (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 354 · 23/7/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 198 as FOR HIS DAD'S SAKE and PENNY POPULAR issue 199 as THE TRAITOR'S FATE (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 355 · 30/7/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 200 as THE SEASIDE MYSTERY and PENNY POPULAR issue 201 as THE SILENT ACCUSER (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 357 · 13/8/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. It is fourteen months since George Marsden Plummer was imprisoned at the end of THE MYSTERY OF ROOM 11 (UNION JACK issue 342, 1910, see above). John Marsh is in the cell opposite his. But no prison can hold these two men for long and, with the help of Marsh's wife, they escape. In London, they impersonate a blind rubber-plantation owner named the Rajah of Gwalatan and his business partner, Rufus Reade. In this guise, they plan a major financial scam. To gain the capital for the venture, they raid two society events. These robberies shock London and Sexton Blake is quickly on the case. But unknown to the detective, Marsh's servant has moved into the house next door and, with listening devices, overhears every conversation Blake has. When the sleuth declares that he suspects Plummer and Marsh to be behind the crimes, the two villains are immediately informed and they take the fight straight to Blake. Arriving at his Baker Street home, they attack him and bind him hand and foot. Plummer disguises himself as the detective and arranges to act as escort to a financier named Jephson — one of the villainous duo's targets. Next, they capture Tinker. But they make the mistake of forgetting Pedro and, before too long, the clever dog has freed his masters. Blake and Tinker cut off the villains' escape route, then there commences a tit-for-tat battle to outwit their quarry. After many tricks and disguises, Plummer and Marsh are eventually cornered. The stolen property is reclaimed but Marsh's wife comes to the rescue of the partners in crime and they escape in a submarine.
Trivia: Another mention is made of the metal plate in Plummer's skull. We also find out that the house next door to Blake's is overseen by a landlady named Mrs. Turner and that the detective owns a flat above a tailor's shop on Bedford Street. This one of his dens filled with costumes and make-up for disguises.
Rating: ★★★★☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 362 · 17/9/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 202 as A FORTUNE AT STAKE and PENNY POPULAR issue 203 as THE REDSKIN'S LOYALTY (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 365 · 8/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Monsieur Lepine, chief of the Paris police, arrests Sexton Blake after the detective attempts to blackmail one of his former clients. But Blake is innocent — the guilty party is none other than George Marsden Plummer, who committed the crime while disguised as the Baker Street sleuth. With Blake out of the way in prison, Plummer and John Marsh embark on their latest criminal scheme, little suspecting that their enemy has already escaped. The detective follows Marsh to New York where the criminal takes on the identity of Jabez White, a financier who has cornered the market in cotton. Marsh sails back to England with his assistant, Gustav, holding the real White prisoner aboard the ship, and with a disguised Blake in pursuit. In Liverpool, Plummer sets up office under the assumed name of John Harlow. Through the selling of shares in cotton, from 'Jabez White' to 'John Harlow', the two criminals estimate that they can make £3,000,000. However, when Marsh realises that Blake is onto them, he changes the plan. After evading Detective-Inspector Martin, Plummer and Marsh allow the real Jabez White to be rescued. They then travel to the town of Carfax where they incite the idle cotton mill workers to violent protest, hoping this will motivate the mill owners to buy cotton at White's inflated prices. Blake intervenes, persuading the millionaire to lower his prices. White agrees and the sale goes through. He boards a liner bound for New York, unaware that Plummer and Marsh are also aboard. They, in turn, don't know that Blake, Tinker and Martin are disguised as passengers. As the ship docks, White is detained by customs officers who are acting on false information from Plummer and Marsh. Blake discovers that White's profits are being delivered to the millionaire's mansion in the city where it will be intercepted by the two criminals. With hardly a second to spare, he and Martin block the villains' escape and snap on the handcuffs. Plummer and Marsh receive life sentences in Starkmoor Prison.
Trivia: Two weeks have passed since the events of PLUMMER VERSUS BLAKE (UNION JACK issue 357).
Rating: ★★★★★ Another really excellent story in the Plummer saga.
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 366 · 15/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Story features Professor Platinum. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 210 as THE POACHER'S PLIGHT and PENNY POPULAR issue 211 as HIS COUSIN'S CRIME (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 367 · 22/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Story features Will Spearing. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 204 as THE DUPED DETECTIVE and PENNY POPULAR issue 205 as THE UNWRITTEN LAW (both 1916). It also appeared in abridged form as THE UNWRITTEN LAW in THE SEXTON BLAKE ANNUAL 1938.
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 368 · 29/10/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: T. W. Holmes
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 206 as THE MYSTERY OF THE MASTERPIECE and PENNY POPULAR issue 207 as THE SCHEMING SECRETARY (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 369 · 5/11/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 208 as WANTED FOR WEALTH and PENNY POPULAR issue 209 as THE AVARICIOUS ARISTOCRAT (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 371 · 19/11/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Harry Lane
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 212 as TRACED BY TREACHERY and PENNY POPULAR issue 213 as FLEECED OF A FORTUNE (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 373 · 3/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: Harry Lane
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 374 · 10/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 214 as SHIELDED FROM FAME and PENNY POPULAR issue 215 as THE DETECTIVE'S DECEIT (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 375 · 17/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 216 as THE FINANCIER'S FAILURE and PENNY POPULAR issue 217 as RESCUED FROM RUIN (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 376 · 24/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: T. W. Holmes
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 220 as THE PARTNER'S PLOT and PENNY POPULAR issue 221 as SEXTON BLAKE, CASHIER (both 1916).
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 377 · 31/12/1910 · Amalgamated Press · 1d
Illustrator: E. E. Briscoe
Other content: The School Against Him by Henry St. John
Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Story features Will Spearing. Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 218 as SEXTON BLAKE, EDITOR and PENNY POPULAR issue 219 as CONVICTED FOR CONSPIRACY (both 1916).
Unrated