The City Press (London)
Wednesday, 10 October 1888.
NOTHING of a definite character has yet transpired that is likely to lead to the arrest of the murderer. The police, however, believe that he will be traced. Meetings have been held at the Three Nuns, and vigilance committees have been formed. The next meeting is to be held on Monday evening next. A man is now under detention under suspicious circumstances. He called on Monday at the Clothing Repairing Company in Gray's-inn-road. He left a coat to be repaired which was marked with blood. Inquiries are being made of his antecedents. The remains of Catherine Eddowes, the woman murdered in Mitre-square, were interred on Monday in the City of London Cemetery, Ilford. The Corporation remitted the fees. There was an immense concourse of people to watch the removal of the body from the mortuary in Golden-lane; indeed, a large number of persons assembled along the entire route. It is somewhat worthy of remark that Mitre-square has been the scene of several tragic acts. The men charged with blowing up a portion of the Tower with dynamite were arrested here; and some twenty years ago two men - who were making what was known as fiery serpents - blew up the house in which they lived, and, of course, killed themselves.
The committee of the Christian Instruction Society held a special prayer meeting in the hall of the City of London Young Men's Christian Association, Aldersgate-street on Monday morning, the topic being "The Recent Fiendish Atrocities in Our Midst". Mr. R. PATON occupied the chair. The Rev. Dr. Tyler (of Mile End New Town), in the course of an address on the above subject, remarked that he had been familiar with the locality in which the murders were committed for more than half a century. His church was situated in the very centre of the scenes of the recent crimes, the public mortuary being on one side of it, and Hanbury-street on the other. One of his people had charge of the mortuary, and the description he had given of the mutilated remains was such that he could not possibly repeat at that meeting. The fact that the death of the victims was almost immediate was about the only consolatory aspect to be drawn from the atrocious crimes. There was an agitation in the country at the present time which was not justified. There had recently been a statement in the Times newspaper to the effect that there had been a decrease of murders throughout the country during the past few years. That was a sign rather hopeful than otherwise. As an instance of the precocity of the children of Whitechapel, he said that some years ago he dropped a ring whilst passing through one of the streets. He stooped to pick it up, when immediately a little creature about the height of the table went up to him and said, "That's mine, sir; I lost it last night". (Laughter). He had no hesitation in saying, however, that twenty of thirty years ago the people were very much worse than they are now. Lord Shaftesbury's Act had done very much towards improving the habitations of the people and their social condition. What London had now to fear and to dread was the importation of the scum and depraved characters from all parts of this and other countries. Russians and Poles came into London in very considerable numbers, very largely to escape conscription. Dregs of society coming down, as they did, into London and occupying the low lodging-houses, made the centre a very difficult one for the police to deal with. He did not think, however, that there was a lodging-house in the whole district where people would not listen to the sound of the Gospel, and he hoped that one of the results of that gathering would be to stir up the hearts of many to visit the people and to teach them the Word of God. Mr. Owen Evans followed in a similar strain, and prayers were also offered. The proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the chairman.
