The Idol Hands of Death

Enfield Expedition to Dig Near Cairo for Tomb of Tutankhamen

March 1921:  In news surprising to most of his colleagues, Professor George Edward Enfield of Greystoke College has announced that he will lead an expedition to Egypt in search of the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen. Because Professor Enfield has never led an expedition of any magnitude, he is being assisted by the experienced Professor Alistair Chadwick, also of Greystoke College.

The expedition, leaving shortly for Cairo, also announced that they will not be digging in the Valley of Kings.

"We will be digging not far from Cairo, on the route to the lost city of Tanis," explained Professor Enfield. "While Tutankhamen was a king at the height of Karnak and Luxor, I have evidence that he went home to the Delta to be buried. If we're lucky, we'll find the clue that also leads us to Tanis."

"Professor Enfield has an interesting theory," commented noted Egyptologist Professor Cedric Whitehall of Oxford. "The Valley of Kings has been picked clean. Professor Maspero, the director of the Egyptian antiquities department of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo recently told Lord Carnavon that further exploration would be 'a waste of time'."

Despite this suggestion, Lord Carnavon continues to dig in the Valley of Kings.

The French archaeologist René Poulét had another opinion about the Enfield expedition.

"All Enfield will find is garbage from Cairo. Tutankhamen's tomb has not been found because it was looted centuries ago. Tanis is nothing but a myth."

King Tutankhamen ruled near the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, sometime around 1350 B.C. Little is known of his rule. This has not prevented several expeditions from seeking his tomb.

Sir Bernard Hammermill Killed in Industrial Accident

May 1921:  Renowned philanthropist and industrialist Sir Bernard Hammermill of Wales was killed Tuesday in an explosion at the Sprengstoff-Gipfel chemical manufacturing plant near Leipzig. Six other employees died in the explosion and twenty-three others were taken to hospital, according to Mr. Helmut Schnabel, a spokesman for Sprengstoff-Gipfel.

German authorities continue to investgate the blast. The explosion devastated the structures and equipment in the vicinity, making it difficult to determine the cause of the explosion, according to Mr. Schnabel.

Sir Bernard Hammermill was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hammermill Mining and Manufacturing, Ltd. Mr. Neville Balfour, a senior executive at HM&M and a personal friend of Sir Hammermill, was also injured in the explosion. Mr. Balfour was unavailable for comment but released a statement yesterday to shareholders and the press.

"I am, as all of you are, deeply saddened by the sudden loss of Mr. Hammermill. The tragic shock of witnessing his death in a flaming inferno has changed my life, and those whose lives he touched, forever. Nevertheless, Bernard would have wanted us to go on. I am sure that all of HM&M will do their level best to live up to Bernard's example."

Lady Winona Williams Hammermill, who accompanied her husband while in Germany, has returned to the Hammermill Estate in Wales and was also unavailable for comment. A spokesman for Buckingham Palace announced that His Highness sent his deepest personal sympathies to Lady Hammermill. Sympathies have also been sent from Downing Street, Whitehall, several fellow industrialists throughout Britain, and from the hundreds of people who have benefited from Sir Hammermill's philanthropy.

A memorial service will be held next Tuesday at the Waddinghamshire Chapel. The public is invited. Mr. Balfour indicated that received donations will be used to establish the Bernard Hammermill Memorial Fund for Widows and Orphans. This charity will support the families of working men killed in British and German industrial accidents.