[Comprehensive Classics] Detective Mary

Mary really wanted to do something for the workers.

She had been thinking about it ever since she returned from the humble Higgins house.

After dinner, Mary was lost in thought while arranging the manuscript.

For the second serial about the circus, she had finished the first draft, but it was just a skeleton, and there were still many details to be revised.

It also takes a lot of effort to refine the article and re-transcribe it.Fortunately, Mary's serials are all short stories now. If there are novels with hundreds of thousands of words, her creative mode may waste a lot of paper and ink.

This made her nostalgic for the 21st century—at least typing without waste of paper or effort!Sending the manuscript to the editor for review is just a matter of an email, and it can arrive at the speed of light across the Pacific Ocean.

And now, she finished writing and sent it to the magazine office of "Seaside Magazine", and then the magazine office printed and published it, at least a few months later.

Mary still has to track down the case, and she estimates herself that she will try to send the finished draft to the editor-in-chief of Hall before the third serialization of "Serial Killer Chess Game" comes out.

As for now...

She put away the manuscript, but did not put down the pen and paper.

After meeting Higgins, Mary felt she had enough events to support a reply letter to Mr. Holmes.

After thinking for a moment, Mary took out the letter paper.

First of all, she thanked Sherlock Holmes for her praise and suggestions for her serialization, and briefly explained the general content and direction of the second story, and then Mary didn't go too long and went straight to the point.

"I don't think I can gain Mr. Hamp's trust in a short period of time," she wrote after thinking for a while, "to make him face the savior - even you, sir - and refuse to say it." The clues told me. So I decided to ask for help. I found local workers, as you did in London."

When she wrote here, she briefly introduced the characters of Margaret and Higgins.

In fact, an unexpected Dr. John H. Watson was also involved in the incident.Mary hesitated for a while whether to include Dr. Watson in the letter, and finally she decided wickedly——No!

Let Mr. Holmes know of Watson's existence in advance, wouldn't the fateful first meeting be meaningless?Her task is to "trick" Watson back to London. As for how he and the detective met and became friends, let the two gentlemen solve it themselves.

Thinking of this, Mary secretly smiled.

Skipping Watson, she continued to report the good news: "The local trade union representative, Mr. Higgins, is a reasonable person. I explained the abnormal reason for the price increase of cotton raw materials. I hope they can suspend the strike and monitor Mr. Hamp instead of me. They agreed and were willing to speak to Mr Thornton."

After writing here, Mary's pen stopped.

In fact, there are only so many things she needs to feedback to Mr. Holmes—as a "private detective" in Margaret's eyes, Mary helps Holmes solve the case, and what the detective wants to know most is the case. development of.

but……

Mary closed her eyes.

After a short period of contemplation, she opened her eyes again and continued writing.

"I'm thinking, as a middleman here, I may be able to win some benefits for the workers from the factory owner."

The latter words have nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes.

If it succeeded, it was Mary Bennet who worked for the welfare of the workers; if it failed, it was Mary Bennet who made fun of the capitalists.Either way, it's irrelevant to the case.

"At present, my idea is to start with the working environment and working conditions of the workers. One is that the factory must upgrade the machines and replace the fans; the other is to increase the humidity in the factory. The purpose of both of these two points is to reduce the dust content in the air. Thirdly, Equip each worker with overalls, and if you think the investment is too high, at least have gloves and a mask to allow workers to reduce the area of ​​skin that is in contact with dust."

These are the three options currently envisioned by Mary.

In fact, she simply copied the factory requirements of the 21st century.It's just that such common conditions in contemporary society were almost impossible in the nineteenth century.

It costs almost five or six hundred pounds just to configure the fan for the factory-Mary's serial writing fee is only twelve pounds.

Mary's biggest concern is actually the mask.

The pneumoconiosis that frequently occurs in cotton spinning mills belongs to organic pneumoconiosis, also known as cotton dust disease.The cause of the disease is that cotton dust in the air enters the lungs through the respiratory tract, causing diffuse fibrosis of lung tissue—that is, reducing dust emissions is one thing, and more importantly, preventing dust from entering the lungs.

Bessie's appearance of weakness during the attack of pneumoconiosis is vivid, and she has been back for half a day, and her emaciated and painful expression is still deeply engraved in Mary's mind.

There is only one best way to prevent pneumoconiosis, and that is to prevent dust from entering the lungs.This sounds extremely simple, but it is so difficult to do.

For no other reason, Mary could not find the material.

Cotton is inconvenient to breathe and has no dustproof effect; gauze is a little better, but it basically has no blocking effect on dust, and more importantly, it is unaffordable for workers.

Cotton slag dust floats in the air, which can neither be seen nor touched, and requires a treated filter layer to absorb and intercept it.The anti-particulate masks equipped by workers in modern factories are all made of non-woven fabrics and special filter layers.

But in the Victorian period, not to mention the special filter layer, non-woven fabrics had not yet been invented.

Taking a step back, Mary is a small engineering expert. She can produce non-woven fabrics, but if they are not put into industrial production, it is impossible for workers to consume them.

The cruel reality made Mary feel powerless.

——Clearly knows how to save more people, but she can't do it. What's the difference between this and watching more workers lose their lives?

"It may take me a long time to persuade Mr. Thornton to accept the conditions, and to make the workers understand the need for such self-protection," Mary wrote heavily, "though it may not be of obvious use, but I Feel I must do it, sir, and tell you this . . . because I think you can understand."

There was really no need to tell Sherlock Holmes this.

But why say it?

Mary stared at the words on the letter paper, her clear eyes flickered slightly, and a sweet smile appeared.

Perhaps it was because of the handshake at the time of parting that Mary felt that he understood herself.

Not just understanding her motivations for what she did, and not just understanding the purpose of her schemes.What Mary wants is not approval—if she cares about other people's opinions, why doesn't she work hard to please others, and honestly be a country gentleman who conforms to her class attributes?

What Mary wants to "know" is actually "don't care".

When Margaret knew what she did, she would sigh that Miss Mary Bennet had an angelic heart; when the factory owner knew what she did, she would curse behind her back that this single lady from the south was meddling in her own business.Regardless of the positive or negative point of view, however, Mary did what she should not have done, as if her behavior was off the rails, abnormal.

But Holmes didn't care at all.

He doesn't care about what Mary "should" do, and doesn't judge whether Mary's behavior is off track from the perspective of social morality and class position.For Sherlock Holmes, right is right and wrong is wrong.

It's like extending your right hand to choose a handshake ceremony. It has nothing to do with class, has nothing to do with politeness, and has nothing to do with the so-called decentness and pleasing or not.He decided it was right, and Mr. Holmes did it.

"I was deeply shocked by your behavior before parting in London, sir, perhaps without realizing it," Mary truthfully wrote, "but with a handshake, you affirmed my dignity as a human being."

She wrote carefully.

"I cannot thank you enough for your respect, sir, it means a lot to me. Now it is my turn to try to affirm the dignity of myself and others."

When writing the last word, Mary faintly felt that the burden on her body was suddenly lightened.

For so long she has been a misfit bystander in this day and age, and Mary loves her family and friends dearly, but she also knows how she's seen by others—bookish, brash, disrespectful, and just plain unassuming. girl.

She doesn't want to give up the dignity of the 21st century, and she doesn't want to be a Nietzsche-style tragic figure that others can't understand.But it was too awkward to be caught in it, and Mary couldn't find her place.

But now she faintly felt that she was not alone.

After putting down the pen and paper, Mary slowly exhaled.

She touched her slightly flushed face, and then returned to a more practical issue - the issue of masks.

A ball of rags placed by the desk was like a basin of cold water poured over her head, waking Mary from the sweet dream.She picked up a piece of tattered cotton cloth and just wanted to bury her head in it.

For all Mary's talents, there was one thing she really couldn't do, and that was needlework.

Mary's original intention was to make a prototype of a mask that is easy to carry and strong enough to show to the union.

Aside from many practical problems, her temporary idea is to make a "cover" similar to a pocket, and then fill the inside with a simple filter layer.

But the concept is beautiful, but it is difficult to start.In her attempt, either it would become bloated after adding a filter layer, or it would not fit the face.

If you can't hold your mouth and nose, where's the dustproof effect?

She fiddled with it left and right, but she couldn't figure out how to make the mask made of cotton cloth fit the human face.

This is what Catherine saw when she walked into the room: Mary was trying to be a female actress at the desk.

She hadn't seen Mary seriously contemplating her needlework!

Catherine couldn't help asking curiously: "Mary, what are you doing?"

Mary: "I'm wondering what to do with the masks."

Catherine: "A mask?"

Mary: "It's for workers to wear when they go to work in the factory. It must be dust-proof and fit the face."

She put down the cotton cloth in her hand, and briefly described her idea.

"It's so troublesome," she said bitterly, "I don't know what to do."

"...what's the trouble?"

Lydia, who was on the side, finally couldn't stand it anymore.

After dinner, Mary studied the pile of rags at the desk, writing and drawing seriously from time to time.Lydia vaguely guessed what she wanted to do after she moved the scissors, but after listening to her thoughts, she just felt incredible.

——Such a simple matter, she actually studied it all night?

Lydia walked forward, with a sullen and pretty face, and grabbed the pile of rags: "Isn't it just a mask, I'll get it for you."

Mary:?

Is the sun coming out west?

Did Lydia help herself with work? ? ?

Not only Mary, but even Catherine stared at Lydia dumbfounded.In the past few days, she has been gloomy and indifferent to anyone, let alone Mary, the "culprit" in Lydia's heart.

Perhaps it was because the expressions of the two sisters were too obvious, Lydia snorted coldly: "I can't even do this well, seeing you clumsily wasting cotton cloth, I am so annoyed by you!"

"I clearly—"

"Shut up."

Lydia interrupted Mary angrily: "Go and do your miscellaneous things, and leave this to me."

Mary: "..."

By the time Lydia left the room with the cotton cloth, Mary hadn't figured out what was going on.

Did she suddenly change her gender, or did she really hate herself?Could it be that something went wrong these days?

Forget it.

Anyway, in Milton, Lydia has nothing to do. It's better to find something to do than to be sullen and desperate.Mary left Lydia to figure it out on her own.

Anyway, she is really not good at needlework. If she has this skill, she might as well think about how to persuade Mr. Thornton to have a calm talk with Higgins.