Atchison Daily Globe
Kansas, USA
1 October 1888

HALF A DOZEN HORRORS

Two More Victims Credited to the Whitechapel Maniac - Intense Excitement

London, Oct. 1.
The two women found murdered near the scene of the former butcher is in Whitechapel Saturday night have been recognized as dissolute characters, who have long frequented that vicinity. One of them was found in Berner Street with her throat cut from ear to ear. The other was discovered lying in Mitre square. She, like the first mentioned victim, had her throat cut, but in addition she had been disemboweled and her nose had been cut off. The murderer had evidently been disturbed in his work in Berner street and had no time to mutilate the body of his victim. The discovery of the bodies completely paralyzed the police and General Sir Charles Warren, chief commissioner, was at once called out of bed. He repaired immediately to the scene of the murder and gave orders to have the police force in that district reinforced. The first murder occurred shortly after midnight, in a narrow court leading from the street and directly beneath the windows of a socialist club composed of foreigners. A concert was in progress in the club rooms at the time and a large number of persons were present, but not a sound was heard from the victim. The second murder occurred three-quarters of an hour later in Mitre square, five minutes walk from the scene of the first tragedy. The police patrol the square every ten minutes but the murderer to elude them. The vigilance committee will resume their patrol of the district, extending their lines of watchfulness. The woman murdered in Berner street has been identified as Elizabeth Stride, a native of Stockholm and an inmate of a low lodging. The identity of the other woman has not yet been established. London is a fever of excitement and the denizens of Whitechapel are in a state of terror, owing to the resumption of the horrible butcheries, the fourth of which it was hoped and quite generally believed, would be the last of the ghastly series.

The number of theories advanced accounting for the murders and seeking to establish the identity of the murderer is positively bewildering, but not one of them is accepted by the police as the correct one, although the Scotland Yard detectives have nothing to offer themselves. The absolutely impotent condition of the police in the matter has led them, however, to catch at straws in the way of evidence, and the most significant of these is a letter which was received at the office of the Central News Company Thursday afternoon. The letter is familiarly addressed "Dear Boss," and signed "Jack the Ripper." After boasting that he had committed all of the Whitechapel murders, the writer continues, "I love my work and want to start at it again. The next job I do I shall cut off the lady's ear and send it to the police. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work and then give it out to the police straight."

A remarkable feature of the Mitre square murder is that one of the dead woman's ears is severed, and this circumstance is held to indicate that the real murderer wrote the letter. Most of the newspapers issued special editions giving copious details of the tragedies. Great crowds visited the scene of the murders yesterday, and gazed at the blood-stained pavement with a degree of fascination difficult for the police to overcome in their efforts to keep the highways clear. The lodging houses, alleys, etc, of the Whitechapel district are being scoured by detectives.