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Malta Joe
Detective Sergeant
Username: Malta
Post Number: 118
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 15, 2005 - 7:43 pm: | 
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Thank you for your comments, Natalie. I know that the material we found was rather complex, but that's just how the cards were dealt this time around. One particular item that I personally thought was interesting was the John Savage item.
I had known about the Fenian meeting which took place across the street from Tumblety's office for quite some time now. I thought this was a good time to share that info. People assumed that Tumblety was involved with the Fenians chiefly because Littlechild was on his case, and this visit from the former Fenian leader, John Savage, appeared to re-inforce that assumption.
If you ever come across the microfilm of the San Francisco Chronicle, check out the May 31, 1870 issue. This edition gave thorough coverage to the attempted Fenian invasion of Canada, and in the midst of the coverage Tumblety had bought out an adjacent column for his self-promotion. It's quite a thing to see.
The book has now been closed on me for attaining additional info on the United Service Club records. I recently took one last crack at this. The London entity which keeps this material has pulled the plug on any future communication. They were very helpful when the talk centered on Hughes-Hallett, but they became quite tight-lipped after they eventually figured out that this involved Whitechapel. I suppose that's to be expected when dealing with military matters. It was good to hear from you!
Joe |
Natalie Severn
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Severn
Post Number: 2308
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 16, 2005 - 4:36 pm: |
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Hi Joe,
I very rarely go to the Newspaper Library and tend to think they dont keep many American papers there-just a few.But when I do go I will certainly look into it and see if they have that 1870 paper-it sounds fascinating.
No I thought the article was really good and very much enjoyed your style.
Natalie |
Thomas C. Wescott
Inspector
Username: Tom_wescott
Post Number: 427
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 23, 2005 - 9:46 pm: |
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REVIEW: RIPPEROLOGIST #60, July 2005
Well, another issue reviewed late. I’ll tell you what, it’s been a helluva few weeks for me. I’ve got more issues than National Geographic, but it’s all starting to quiet down now, so I’ve had a little time to catch up on my reading. It hasn’t been ALL bad, mind you, just busy. After all, a new Ripperana hasn’t come out, right? Find your blessings where you can, I always say. Now onto the new Rip…it seems this new issue has a ‘Dracula theme’. Maybe it’s just coincidence, or…are the guys at Rip gonna start doing a regular theme each issue, ala Ripper Notes? Hmmm…I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
COVER: I liked it when Adam first posted it on this thread, though I thought the rambling text he wrote around it was about the gayest thing I’d ever read. Anyway, the cover looks even BETTER in person…it’s all read with a gothic building in the back and verbiage from ‘Dracula’ running over it. Pretty hip. The only thing is the name of the mag is red as well. If this were on a magazine rack, nobody would notice the name. But I guess since Rip isn’t yet on the stands it’s no biggie. If you flip the page you’ll see that the cover is described as ‘Vampires in Spitalfields’, which doesn’t make a damn bit of sense unless steeples and church clocks are going around biting people in the neck. But whatever. Two fangs up for Adam Wood for this cover.
EDITORIAL: According to the photo here, George Costanza from the TV show ‘Seinfeld’ is the guest editorialist this issue. Or maybe that’s David Berkowitz, hard to tell. Berkowitz would be a little more in line with the Dracula theme, but Costanza’s good peeps too. It’s actually a very well-written intro and here I expected an editorial about ‘nothing’. A comparison is made between Jack the Ripper and various characters from Victorian horror literature, the conclusion being that he’s more like Dr. Acula than Dr. Jekyll, or Dorian Gray, or Dr. Moreau, or Wilf Gregg…oh, wait, he’s not a fictional character, just a guy who was, in fact, born in the Victorian era. Anyway, I’m surprised no one in the issue used the pun ‘Jackula’. Ha ha. I coined that, so if Kim Newman wants to use it in his next book, he’ll need to send me some modiggity, y’all.
DRACULA: AUTHOR’S PREFACE By Bram Stoker: This is Stoker’s first contribution to Ripperologist, and as a writer, he shows promise. To be honest, I was looking forward to reading this stuff, cuz I’ve always been a horror buff. I love them monster magazines! I was not aware of this Icelandic intro to Dracula written by the Bramster. Like others, I’ve often wondered in Dracula was in part influenced by Jack the Ripper and all the mad theorizing about him that Stoker would have no doubt been exposed to. This preface pretty much closes the matter and proves that he had been. If you’re not a horror or vampire buff this might not mean much to you, but for those of us who are (well, I’m not so much a vampire buff, but some of it is cool – gotta love that Buffy!) this was a neat article. Now onto a rambling piece by a guy with a name that no doubt got him his ass handed back to him countless times.
DRACULA, JACK THE RIPPER AND A THIRST FOR BLOOD By Robert Eighteen-Bisang: Alice Cooper wrote a song about this guy once (I’m eighteen and I LIKE it!). He also wrote ‘The Ballad of Dwight Frye’, so there’s a neat connection here, since Dwight Frye played ‘Renfield’ to Lugosi’s ‘Dracula’. Another song that came to mind when I saw this guy’s name was ‘2000 Man’ by the Rolling Stones (later covered by KISS). The first line of the song starts ‘My name is a number…’. His name is old enough to be drafted. Ha ha. Anyway, this article starts off promising, exploring possible connections Stoker had to the Ripper case or individuals involved in it. But about midway it gets pretty rambling and ridiculous. Sometimes writers start grasping at straws and any decent points they made get lost in the mess. This is one of those times. I’m surprised Mr. 18 didn’t draw attention to the fact that Stoker knew Macnaughten, thus may very well have been privy to the unholy trinity of suspects from the memoranda. Insane, bug-eating Renfield could be be an Anglo Saxon clone of Kosminski! Also, some have thought they see the pen of Roslyn D’Onston in Pall Mall Gazette reviews of Richard Mansfield’s Jekyll and Hyde. If that’s the case, then D’Onston frequented the very theater (Lyceum) managed by Stoker. Could he have been a regular critic? Is D’Onston the source for the occult lore permeating Dracula? Hmmm…the plot thickens! Anyway, I don’t know where Paul Begg digs up some of these non-Ripperologist writers, but he needs to keep ‘em on a damn leash.
DRAC THE RIPPER By Kim Newman: Kim (he’s a guy, he’s just got a chick’s name) happens to be the author of my all-time favorite vampire novel, ‘Anno Dracula’. I like it even more than Stoker’s original and Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot’. If you haven’t read it, do so. This is a short fluff piece about Drac and Jack books. I wasn’t aware until reading this that there hasn’t yet been a book in which Dracula and Jack the Ripper were one and the same. Kinda surprising. By the way, Kim Newman looks like Howard Brown.
WAS THE WRITING OF DRACULA INFLUENCED BY THE JACK THE RIPPER MURDERS By Christopher Lowe: It’s a good thing Chris Lowe wasn’t born 150 years ago, cuz he’d be branded a criminal just by his cranium. Check out that pic! In fact, I think it IS a mugshot. Anyway, if you get a rush of déjà vu, read this article right after you read that piece by Robert Sweetsixteen-Cha-ching, cuz it’s basically a Reader’s Digest condensed version of it. As a matter of fact, I’d have to say Chris Lowe did the best job of it, since he stays pretty grounded and just offers the info matter of factly. But I’d be very curious to know why the editors chose to solicit and/or publish the exact same article from two writers?
TUMBLETY IN LONDON: TRAILING AN INFILTRATOR PART 2: By Joe Chetcuti: Smilin’ Joe Chetcuti is back with the second part of an article that has Excedrin written all over it. To boil it all day, he’s following a trail on Tumblety that doesn’t appear to have ever existed, based upon a quote from Colonel Sir Francis Charles Hughes-Hallet that Smilin’ Joe has taken totally out of context. Add to this the fact that Joe wishes William T. Stead’s Dad had never met his mom, and you’ve got yourself one hard-to-follow read. No doubt there’s some solid pieces of research and thought in here, but it’s like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles. To make matters even stranger, he even ends the piece by reproducing a totally different contemporary newspaper report on Hallet that contradicts everything he’s written, and supports what I’ve been saying all along – that Hallet suspected a TYPE of man, but not a particular individual. Hopefully, Smilin’ Joe will put the caps back on the markers, take his nose out of the bag of glue, and will return to writing solid research pieces like he did 4 or 5 issues ago. One Rob Hill is enough. Oh, and speak of the devil…
THE BUTTERFLY COLLECTOR By Rob Hills: I’m having trouble keeping up with who Rob thinks the Ripper was. Was it George Morris? Someone living at 29 Hanbury Street? A policeman? All of the above? Thankfully, Howard Brown had taken Hill out of context when, in a post on this thread, he suggested that Hill was trying to say Eddowes had syphilis and it was this – and not the Ripper’s knife – that caused the marks on her face. Hills hasn’t drifted that far from the boat just yet. He did suggest, however, that the Ripper was trying to mimic the effects of syphilis by carving those designs. I think that’s kinda silly. In fact, there’s absolutely no reason in the world to think poor old George Morris of Mitre Square fame had anything to do with these murders. Reading this article was kinda fun, cuz Hill’s enthusiasm shines through and is quite refreshing, but I think he’s way off the mark with his line of inquiry. One thing I’ll agree with him on, though, is that the answer to the mystery is likely to be found on the night of the double event, and quite possibly in Mitre Square.
LEWIS CARROLL’S HIDDEN CONFESSION By David A. Green: David Green lives in Hampshire, England. Are there no single women in Hampshire? This guy has got WAY too much time on his hands. He’s descrambling Lewis Carroll to prove Richard Wallace wrong. I guess the news never reached Hampshire that no one outside of Richard Wallace’s living room thinks that Lewis Carroll was the Ripper (except a teacher here in Tulsa, OK who stopped teaching Carroll because of the Wallace book). This would have made a nice paragraph in ‘I Beg to Report’, but a whole one page article?
PRESS TRAWL By Chris Scott: As if enough trees haven’t already died on this Sir John Williams crap. Four pages are wasted here with news clippings. Williams wasn’t the Ripper and has no connection to the case, so why do I need to know that he attended a fundraising dinner in 1897? Nigga pleez. Let’s move on and get back to what Chris Scott and this column are famous for – clippings of ripper relevance!
I BEG TO REPORT: The usual news and notes. Nothing of much interest.
OBITUARIES: Paul Begg had the decency of asking Keith Skinner to write the obituary for Paul Feldman. Also here are actors John Fiedler and James Doohan.
LETTERS AND COMMENTS; Howard Brown actually outnumbers me here in sheer words. Kind of like he does on the Casebook. Wait…this IS the Casebook. I’m just reading it in a magazine. Yet another treat for déjà vu junkies.
ON THE CRIMEBEAT By Wilf Gregg: Whoa! Check out who’s gone Southpaw on us! They’re trying to throw us off by putting ol’ Wilf on the left hand side, instead of his usual place on the right page. Poor old sinister little guy. I don’t think Wilf likes books written or published outside of England very much. He rarely reviews them. Might be because he can still remember the much simpler world before the US gained its independence. And check out those bifocal lenses he’s wearing. You could see the future with those things.
REVIEWS: This seems like the 20th review I’ve read of Fishman’s East End 1888. It probably isn’t the 20th, but it feels like it. Chris Scott’s book gets a fair review, and I’m glad I’m not the only person who thinks his title for it sucks. A faux pas is made in the review of Malcolm’s ‘The Whitechapel Murders of 1888’; they list the publishing date as 2055 – that’s actually the release date of Whittington-Egan’s ‘The Quest for JTR’. Malcolm’s book will be out this year. And by the way, that’s ME review Stan Russo’s new non-Ripper book. Why they took my name off the review, I’ll never know.
THE LAST WORD By Christopher-Michael Digrazia: In this edition CM talks about the Fatty Arbuckle scandal of the 20’s that cost him his career. He was able to get it back -unlike myself and my copy of Jean Overton-Fuller’s book that I lent CM all those years ago – only to die before his final films saw release. Of course, that probably had more to do with the fact that he was really really really fat than because of the scandal. Speaking of fat, I’ve been given a glimpse of features to appear in Ripperologist, namely the ongoing series by Joe Chetcuti. The editors have given me permission to preview them here:
OSAMA BIN STEAD: THE AL QUEIDA CONNECTION By Joe Chetcuti
PISSING ON STEAD’S GRAVE: AN ILLUSTRATED ADVENTURE By Joe Chetcuti
WILLIAM T. STEAD’S MAMA: THE LIGHTER SIDE OF SMILIN’ JOE By Joe Chetcuti (EXCERPTS FOLLOWING)
Stead’s mama’s teeth are so yellow when she smiles traffic slows down
Stead’s mama is so fat when she weighs herself it says ‘to be continued on next scale’.
Stead’s mama’s so poor she eats cereal with a fork to save milk.
Stead’s mama’s so nasty she has to creep up on bathwater.
Stead’s mama’s so ugly Bigfoot stopped to take her picture.
Stead’s mama’s armpits are so hairy it looks like she’s got Don King in a headlock.
Stead’s mama’s so fat it takes her two trips to haul ass.
That certainly gives us something to look forward to in upcoming issues. As for this issue, if you haven’t already posted YOUR thoughts, don’t be such a wuss and do so. This edition was pretty good, overall, though the most useful piece of info that I, personally, took from it related more to Stoker lore than Ripper. But hey, that’s me. It’s clear from other posts on here that others are eatin’ up what Chetcuti is feedin’ ‘em. So, if you don’t subscribe, do so now, or remain stupid. www.ripperologist.info. And while you’ve got your plastic out, swing by www.rippernotes.com and help Dan Norder pay the rent. Until next time….
Yours truly,
Tom Wescott
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AWood
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 24, 2005 - 7:08 am: |
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Hi Tom
The 'gothic building' on the cover is Christ Church, which last time I was there was still in Spitalfields.
Adam |
Howard Brown
Chief Inspector
Username: Howard
Post Number: 862
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, August 25, 2005 - 6:02 pm: |
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Adam...
In case you haven't seen my post on another thread about the upcoming Brighton Convention....
What are the chances that you or someone connected with that event will get the discussions transcribed for publication ? Thank you sir...
By the way,if I have misinterpreted Mr. Hills' statement in the magazine,I apologize for this. I enjoyed the piece and would not want anyone to be under the impression that he said what I think he said when he didn't.
I differ with Tom that Chris's Press Trawl on the latest suspect to enter El Mundo Estripador,Sir John Williams, was a waste.
People that recently purchased the book on Williams may be interested in this man,regardless of his culpability,and research him further.
Tom.......quick question for you:
You mentioned.."Also, some have thought they see the pen of Roslyn D’Onston in Pall Mall Gazette reviews of Richard Mansfield’s Jekyll and Hyde. If that’s the case, then D’Onston frequented the very theater (Lyceum) managed by Stoker."
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Mansfield's play occur at the exact same time Stephenson was in the Hospital ? If I'm wrong,let me know...if not,what didn't Stephenson do when he was supposed to be in the Hospital??? This guy's like horsebleep...all over the place.
I checked the A-Z and it said that the play began when the murders began [ it doesn't specify if Smith or Tabram's murders are the starting point,so I'm guessing the editors meant Mrs. Nichols...]. |
Christopher Lowe
Sergeant
Username: Clowe
Post Number: 17
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Friday, August 26, 2005 - 4:56 am: |
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Joe Chetcuti's article on Tumblety has convinced me that Tumblety was a fenian but not the Ripper. All terrorists who have acted even remotely like serial killers have been those who actively kill, not backroom planners or the man holding on to the money.
I think the issue suffers from the fact that there is no opposite viewpoint to the Dracula was based on Jack idea. |
AWood
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Thursday, August 25, 2005 - 6:47 pm: |
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Hi Howard
The majority of talks at Brighton will be complemented by illustrative powerpoint presentations. So there's a chance that some, if not all, will be prepared in electronic format.
However, I would add that any recording or saving of data is at the speaker's discretion and we would be bound by their wishes as to the availability of the proceedings after the event. At Liverpool written permission had to be obtained before video filming could take palce and I'd imagine the same regulations would be in place this time round.
You can rest assured, however, that the event in all its glory will reported on in November's Ripperologist - if I may change hats quickly for a non-too subtle plug!
All the best
Adam
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Malta Joe
Detective Sergeant
Username: Malta
Post Number: 123
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, August 27, 2005 - 12:52 pm: |
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Christopher, thanks for reading the article. I was hoping the piece would shed a bit more light on the Fenian scene in San Francisco during 1870. The Irish fund raising activities for the 1870 Fenian invasion of Canada were quite strong in San Francisco, and the Fenian State Central Council reported to the SF Chronicle in late May that they had a tremendous surplus of funds that were raised. This was the prevailing atmosphere during Tumblety's six month stay in SF that year. The Hibernia Bank account that was titled in his name grew pretty fat.
It's been rough trying to obtain a biography on that Scotland Yard Detective H. L. Reeves. This man candidly spoke on Irish political matters when he was asked about the Ripper. Natalie has been very kind to make a couple of trips to the National Archives at Kew to search for Reeves, but until we're able to obtain his full first name, we're going to be stuck in the mud on this.
By the way, if Adam had shown the entire photograph, everyone would know why I was so happy + smiling for my Ripperologist picture!! We were having a pretty good time that night.
Christopher, you had previously posted the 1894 obituary of John S. Walsh. The obituary stated "Only two men are known to have been concerned in the Phoenix Park tragedy who escaped the vengeance of British law. One of them, John Walsh, died of paralysis in Bellevue hospital." On the very first page of Tumblety's 3rd autobiography, he prominently displays a testimonial letter from John E. Walsh. I wouldn't dismiss this just because Tumblety wrote a different middle initial for his Mr. Walsh. In the March 22, 1862 Washington DC Intelligencer, Tumblety wrote the name "J. Blackburn" as one of his cured patients who endorsed a Tumblety-testimonial. The quack would use the alias J. H. Blackburn three years later in 1865 when he was arrested in St. Louis. Again, just a slight altering of the middle initial. It's curious why Tumblety chose the name John Walsh to commence his book's refuting of the Jack the Ripper accusations. Walsh + Tumblety would both die in a pauper's ward with no family or friends at their bedside. When they say the Fenians were a very clandestine group, they meant it!
(The J. Blackburn testimonial also appeared in the Apr 21, 1862 Washington Star. Chris Scott posted it up on the Tumblety "General" thread in May 2003. It still can be reviewed on the Casebook.)
It was great talking to you, Christopher. Good news everybody! I've unearthed a photograph of a building that was practically synonymous with Tumblety. I knew the building burned down around 1873 so I figured the chances of finding any type of photo of it would have went up in that smoke. Well luckily, a historical society on the East Coast has told me that they've retained an 1865 photo of this building! I want to see the photo for myself before I spill the beans on it. If all goes well, I should post it this fall. |
Howard Brown
Chief Inspector
Username: Howard
Post Number: 867
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, August 27, 2005 - 2:26 pm: |
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Adam...
Thanks for that information. I'm pretty sure that everyone who won't be able to go to Brighton would love to read the latest offerings from that Convention. I hope that you can swing it that we get to read them...I'm counting on you,buddy !
How |
Malta Joe
Detective Sergeant
Username: Malta
Post Number: 126
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 29, 2005 - 9:12 pm: |
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Just a quick follow-up! This morning, I was able to view the photograph that I briefly spoke of last time. I've never seen a picture of this building before, and it looks really good. It's amazing how a simple photo can bring an old story to life. I don't have the equipment to digitally showcase it, but I'll figure out a way somehow for everyone to see it! |
Natalie Severn
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Severn
Post Number: 2376
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - 3:19 am: |
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This looks interesting Joe.Look forward to you being able to get it posted it here in some way!
Natalie |
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