Frenchy No. 1 Believed to be Jack the Ripper
A little light had been thrown upon the secret workings of Inspector Byrnes on the Jack the Ripper case when it leaked out from the office of the New York health department that expert chemists who had been employed by the inspector had found blood stains on the clothing of Frenchy No. 1, the man who was made a prisoner a few hours after the discovery of Carrie Brown in the East River hotel last week. It is now known that the police believe this man, whose name is Frank Sherlie, committed the deed. The old woman was found dead and shockingly butchered in a bed in room 31 on the top floor of the hotel. Sherlie occupied room 33 on the same floor that night. The chemists found a trail of blood from room 31 to room 33 on the floor of the hall, and they also found evidences of blood having been wiped off someone's hands with the dirty bedding of this room. On a chair in room 33 they found that blood had been deposited and then wiped off. Finally they removed the accumulated matter from under the fingernails of Sherlich (sic) and found that it was chiefly composed of blood. Dr. Edson of the New York health department admitted that the above statement is correct.
Inspector Byrnes, when asked if it was true that he had this evidence against Frenchy No. 1, refused to say whether it was or not. He said there was nothing to say at present. He denied a statement that had been telegraphed all over the country which made him responsible for the above information.
Frenchy No. 1 was one of the first prisoners brought in when the police drag net was put out in the Fourth ward a week ago. He is well known to the low women of Water street, who thoroughly fear him because of his vicious habits. He has bitten and beaten many of them, and he had threatened to kill the murdered woman. He is not the man who accompanied her to the hotel the night of the murder. The latest theory is that her companion left her soon after he went into the room with her, and that Frenchy then slipped into her room. She is known to have been very much under the influence of liquor when she went upstairs, and if she was killed by Frenchy he probably found her in a drunken sleep, which made her an easy victim. After the arrest of Frenchy No.1 Inspector Byrnes told reporters that he suspected a cousin of the prisoner, whom he designated as Frenchy No. 2, to be the murderer. Two days later he denied that he had made this statement, but he did not withdraw his general alarm to the police of neighboring cities to arrest Frenchy No. 2 and there have been dozens of light complexioned men with long poses (sic) and blonde mustaches under arrest in this and other cities. each time an arrest was made detectives traveled to New York to where the prisoner was to say, "That is not the man." Yesterday Frenchy No. 2 was arrested in Jersey City, and then Inspector Byrnes said he did not want him. He has probably looking for more convincing evidence against the Frenchy he has and feared that his work would be interfered with if he should admit that he suspected his prisoner. He has maintained throughout that this Frenchy was held as a witness and not as the murderer. Dr. Edson is to appear as a witness at the inquest this afternoon, when it is supposed all efforts to hide the real facts of the case will be abandoned and that the Inspector will show the public result of his work.
Despite these statements Captain O'Connor of the Oak street station said this morning that the murderer was still at large, but was located and would soon be in custody. Detectives from the central office were still busy searching the Fourth ward this morning. The body of Carrie Brown was forwarded on the 9 o'clock train this morning. It is to be taken to Salem, Mass., to be buried by relatives in the family plot of a cemetery in that city.
