Echo
London, U.K.
2 October 1888
TOUCH-AND-GO PAPERS
A CRY OF DESPAIR.
"Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?"
Good men and women! - philanthropists and legislators especially - I beseech you, listen to this cry! It comes from poor men, from industrious men, from patient men, from men who love their children and their homes; but from men whose hearts are broken with suffering, and for whom the law has no pity, no help, no redress.
Who are these woe-begone sufferers? They are the husbands of habitually drunken wives.
Daily they go to their labour without hope; daily they return to their homes with dread. The more they love their homes the more tenderly they regard their children; the more they cherish their good name the greater is their misery.
Why don't they help themselves?
I will answer that inquiry by another question - How are they to do it?
The rough and brutal man replies, "If my wife served me so I would break every bone in her body, and risk the consequences." Perhaps you would, but the men for whom I plead, although their own lives are wrecked want to do the best they can for their children.
Suppose one of these adopts the rough-and-ready remedy suggested. We need not stop to discuss the somewhat dubious effects upon the woman; it is enough that if the man thrashes her he will probably be sentenced to from one to six months' hard labour. If he had no children that would be a respite from suffering. I have known men who would have welcomed such a sentence as a positive release from torture. But where the children are to be first considered, it means loss of employment, and the resignation of the children to the sole care of a drunken mother, while the father is in prison.
It is no small thing for a man who loves his children to leave them entirely in the hands of a drunken woman for weeks together. Drunken women sometimes fight with a baby on one arm, drunken women sometimes pawn every rag a child has on its back, drunken women sometimes throw at a child the first thing that comes to hand; from a shoe-brush to a carving knife.
"If I were in such a position," says the arm-chair philanthropist, "I would cut off the supply of drink." That is no easy matter for a man who has to earn his living away from home. In well-regulated working-class households the wife, as a rule, is the chancellor of the exchequer. When she cannot be trusted the man may take matters into his own hands, and market on his own account. But he cannot always be at home. And he can neither prevent the woman from pledging his credit or pawning articles of furniture and clothing.
Once more I repeat that for a man of good character, in regular employment, and with children whom he loves, there is no remedy.
In olden times, when the subjection of women was not questioned, neither law nor custom touched a man who used coercive measures towards a worthless wife. In this respect law and custom have both changed, and I should be the last to contend that it is not a change for the better. But law and custom, having deprived the man of the right to use his more physical strength, ought not to leave him without any other means of defence, as they undoubtedly do now.
If a wife elopes with a man, by the very act she gives the husband an opportunity of freeing himself from the tie, and if she steals his money or other property at the time she can be rightfully punished as a criminal. But if she only refrains from marital infidelity she can rob him with impunity every week of her life, and in doing so can rob her own children of the food and clothing which the father has provided.
A man without children has the remedy of expatriation in his hands as soon as he can scrape a few pounds together; once across the Atlantic he has a fair chance of beginning life over again. But the man who has children, and who loves them, is absolutely unable to shield either himself or them.
Is there no Member of Parliament who will bestir himself to help the class on whose behalf I plead? Let so many convictions of the wife for drunkenness or assault entitle the husband to a separation order from a police Magistrate, who shall have the power to order the man to pay the woman an allowance of so much a week, according to his wages. The allowance should be only sufficient to keep the woman in the bare necessities of life, for the man must in some way or other pay for the discharge of the household duties which the wife should have performed, and for women who will condescend to do housework there is always work enough and to spare if they only look for it. A.
WHATEVER MR. MATTHEWS may think, one opinion is steadily growing at the East-end - namely, that his attitude of refusal to offer a reward is the result of indifference to any tragedy that may occur in an impoverished neighbourhood. "If these murders had been committed in Regent-street instead of the Commercial-road," the poor of Whitechapel say, "there would be a reward offered in very little time"; and, although it is possible that Mr. Matthews' theory as to rewards would hold just as good were the scene of the murders transferred from the East to the West, the opposite opinion is pretty generally entertained. Mr. Leigh Pemberton, in writing on behalf of the Home Secretary, says: - "If Mr. Matthews had been of opinion that a reward in these cases would have been attended by any useful result, he would at once have made such an offer, but he is not of that opinion." So, after all, Mr. Matthews is only acting on his own "opinion." But other men, who are as much entitled to be listened to as Mr. Matthews, entertain a different opinion. They think that there should have been no hesitancy. The offer of a reward could not, that we can see, by any possibility have done harm; and it might have done good. Besides, such an offer would have assisted to calm the public mind. Now there is an impression that the Home Office has not done all that it might have done, and should have done, in the appalling circumstances. What Mr. Matthews appears to lose sight of, and what his apologists - though there are very few of them now - overlook is, that it is not merely a money reward of a paltry one hundred pounds or so that is required, but an official intimation that any accessory either before or after the fact, who shall hand up the real murderer to justice shall be pardoned. Our Commissioner visiting the scene of the murders last night heard on every hand, both from police and people, the settled opinion that the assassin is hiding hard by the scene of his butcheries, and that somewhere in the network of thoroughfares known as Fashion-street, Thrawle-street, Flower and Dean-street, Brick-lane, Osborn-street, and White-street this fiend is still lurking. He cannot have a house of his own, for his appearance is now pretty generally known, being that of a man of thirty-two years or thereabouts, some five feet six inches in height, having dark hair and a sandy moustache, and wearing a peaked cap and shabby overcoat. Nor is he, it is thought, in any public lodging-house, for the inmates would recognise him quickly. It is supposed that he is sheltered in some semi-empty house, and that some one or other knows of his whereabouts and identity. A Government reward might not induce such a person to surrender this villain, but a free pardon might, and such a proclamation it is considered should be at once issued.
Practically speaking, the police are at present powerless. The pavement where the dead woman was found in Mitre-square has been carefully cleansed, so that no bloodhound can possibly now be of any avail. The police cannot draw a cordon round the district; the crowds which penetrated the place yesterday night from all parts of London would afford a means of escape to any man desiring to get away. And they are not at liberty to enter any and every house without a warrant. Nothing can help them except such a proclamation as has been mentioned. But there is something more than the credit of the police at stake in this business. The credit and the character of the British people are involved. The news of these crimes has gone over the world, and the world will be saying that the British people, who boast of carrying the light of civilisation into the haunts of barbarism, cannot effectually cope with organised murder within their own shores. Unless, therefore, it can be proved that the police and the Government have done everything within the range of possibility - everything that money could buy, or ingenuity suggest, or vigilance could accomplish - we may expect some searching questions when Parliament meets. Cabinets have met to consider less important questions than these murders. We do not say, however, that a Cabinet meeting should be summoned in this instance, but we do say that the frequency and appalling character of these murders are entitled to more consideration than they have, to all appearances, received from the Home Office.
EAST-END ATROCITIES.
WILD RUMOURS in CIRCULATION.
A MALICIOUS GANG AT WORK.
THEIR OBJECT - TO AGGRAVATE TERROR.
ARRESTS IN THE NIGHT.
Though the excitement caused by the terrible crimes is not so keen as throughout Sunday and yesterday, the one absorbing topic of conversation in the East-end this morning was the long series of horrors which culminated in the double atrocity. So wrote an Echo reporter this morning. Every aspect of the cases has been discussed - in the thoroughfares, in the public-house, in the workshop, and in the clubs. And perhaps, as a partial result of all this, stories of a somewhat startling nature abound.
FEARSOME WOMEN'S STORIES.
For instance, a woman has seen a man of suspicious appearance standing in a bye-street. He starts back into the darkness of a doorway as she approaches. She runs screaming in terror down the street. Her imagination - and perhaps her story is correct, and this is a tangible reality - has detected a flashing blade in his hand, and her friends are forthwith convinced that this murderer still prowls around the gloomy alleys, and awaits but a favourable opportunity to strike another fiendish blow. Again, a female, one of the pitiable class of persons who throng the noisome courts of the locality, has met a man in the bar of the corner public-house. He is not a communicative individual. He is morose and taciturn, but he talks of his money, and places a sovereign on the counter as he calls for her "glass." She leaves the house with him only to be seized by the hair of the head in a neighbouring unfrequented thoroughfare, and then, affrighted by her terrified screams, he hurries away and is lost in the gloom.
THEY ARE DECLARED TRUE.
But these, it is protested, are no imaginative escapades of hysterical women. They are actual incidents - incidents of the past night, gleaned by an Echo reporter in conversation with many persons in the neighbourhood of Aldgate at an early hour this morning. It may be - and, indeed, it is asserted by many that it is so - that a gang of men have gathered together determined to keep up the excitement the events of Sunday morning have given rise to. These men, it is alleged, are bent on no evil intent, and are merely actuated by the despicable motive of creating a universal terror amongst the unfortunate females who at night-time are such sad features of Whitechapel life. Neither of these men has been captured, and it is an undoubted fact that were one to fall into the clutches of some of the more determined of the class he would fare rather badly.
A WOMAN'S DETERMINATION.
"Look here, sir," said one of these, drawing a knife from her pocket. She was standing at the bar of a public-house in Leman-street. One of the City constables, a man who was just going off duty, was in the room, and glanced at the weapon in surprise. It was a large clasp knife with a spring back - one of those which, when open, will not close unless the spring in the back of the handle is pressed. "I'll use that on 'im, as sure as my name's what it is," the woman went on decisively. "If [] a man tries to clap his hand over my mouth like he did over poor [old] Liz's I'll let 'im feel this." She returned the formidable-looking weapon to her pocket, drank off the contents of her glass, and walked with an air of self-importance out of the bar.
"I shouldn't be a bit surprised if she did it," whispered the constable, as the door closed upon the woman. "I've known ['Moll,'] as they call her about here for quite [] years, and she's one of the most determined women we have to deal with."
THE PRISONERS AT LEMAN-STREET.
During the night the police have been very actively engaged. Particularly at the Leman-street Police-station have the officers been kept busy. A large number of persons have called with various stories, and descriptions of men who appeared to be associated in some way or other with the crimes. The consequence is that since one o'clock this morning the police have arrested two or three men. The arrests were [effected] by the Metropolitan police. These men were conveyed to the Leman-street Police-station, where the officials on duty absolutely refuse to give any information whatsoever to journalists. One man there this morning told a reporter that there had been "two or three" arrests, but when questioned further, he replied that he "had no time" to ascertain whether actually two or three men were in custody.
TWO MEN IN CUSTODY.
It subsequently transpired that two men had been arrested. They were still this afternoon detained at the Leman-street Police-station. The evidence, however, against the men is extremely slight, and the police themselves believe that they will have to be released before the day is over.
ARRESTED AT THE COFFEE-STALL.
One of the men was arrested at a coffee-stall near the Commercial-road. The stall is usually open at a very early hour for the convenience of the large number of men employed at the slaughter-houses and meat markets in the locality. A little after four o'clock a man of rather slender build, of medium height, and apparently about 24 years of age, was standing at the stall with some slaughtermen. They were partaking of coffee, over which they discussed the tragedies. The evasive manner of the man directly the subject was broached aroused the suspicions of the others. One of them called a police constable, and the man was marched off to Leman-street. How many of the "suspects" have been detained is, of course, unknown, inasmuch as the police are not only reticent, but really discourteous, in their demeanour towards Press inquiries.
ONE OF THE PRISONERS.
A STALWART YOUNG SEAMAN.
An incident which occurred at the Police-station, at an early hour in the morning will very well illustrate the sense of insecurity that now prevails. A respectably dressed young fellow, whose mannerisms proclaimed him a seaman, was brought in by a constable. According to the statement made by the officer, the prisoner had passed and repassed a young couple, and his movements exciting suspicion he was challenged by the policeman as to what he had about him. The seaman - a smart, good-looking lad of some 21 summers - laconically replied "Nothing," whereupon the constable, still incredulous, passed his hands down his back until he came to the hind pocket of the trousers. This led to the discovery of the fact that the lad had upon him a five-chambered revolver, loaded.
"DIDN'T WANT TO BE WHITECHAPELED."
At the station he was confronted by the couple who had been the immediate cause of this denouement, and it must be considered that they had but little to say against him. The Inspector, however, inquired why he carried such a dangerous weapon [] [] him. The reply came prompt. "He did not want to be Whitechapeled." However he had the no doubt novel experience of spending the night in a Whitechapel cell.
AN ARREST THIS AFTERNOON.
A man, who gave the name of [] Davis, and says he is an artist, and 35 years of age, is detained on suspicion by the police in consequence of some conversation he had with people in reference to the murders. When taken to the station he was wearing a black diagonal coat and a cricket cap.
ATTACKS UPON WOMEN.
SCENES IN THE EAST-END.
A German, giving his name as Charles Ludwig, was charged at the Thames Police-court, to-day, with threatening to stab Elizabeth Burns, of 55, Flower and Dean-street, Spitalfields, and also with threatening to stab Alexander Finlay, of 51, Leman-street, Whitechapel. - Burns stated that, at about half-past three on the morning of Monday week, she accompanied the prisoner up Butcher's-row. They went through a gate into the yard, whereupon the prisoner put his arm round her neck. She saw an open knife in his hand, and at once screamed. Two policemen appeared upon the scene. Prisoner did not say anything at that time, but a few moments before that he had been talking to her in English. After the police came witness walked out. - The evidence of Finlay showed that at three o'clock on the morning in question he was standing at a coffee-stall in Whitechapel-road, when Ludwig came up in a state of intoxication. The person in charge of the stall refused to serve Ludwig, who seemed much annoyed, and said to witness, "What are you looking at?" He then pulled out a knife, and threatened to stab witness with it. As he followed witness, he gave him into custody.
WHAT WAS FOUND ON HIM.
Constable 221 H, said that when he was called to take prisoner into custody he found him in a very excited condition. Witness had previously received information that Ludwig was wanted in the City jurisdiction for attempting to cut a woman's throat with a razor. On the way to the station prisoner dropped a knife that had a a [sic] long blade, which was open, and when he was searched a razor and a pair of scissors with long blades were found on him. It was explained by the constable who went to the woman's assistance at Butcher's-row that she did not tell him the prisoner had a knife when he went to her rescue, and so he allowed the prisoners to go. - Inspector Pimley, H Division, initiated that the prisoner had fully accounted for his whereabouts on the nights of the recent murders. - Mr. Saunders, taking into consideration that the prisoner had been in custody a fortnight, now allowed him to be discharged.
IN HOLBORN CIRCUS.
August Nochild, 52, a tailor, living in Christian-street, Whitechapel, was charged at the Guildhall, to-day, with assaulting Sarah McFarley by attempting to strangle her in Holborn-circus. - McFarley stated that she met the prisoner about half-past twelve this morning in New Oxford-street. When she refused to go to his house in Whitechapel, he seized her by the throat, and exclaimed, "I will murder you if you don't. I have murdered the women in Whitechapel, and I would like to do another." She screamed and a police-sergeant came up. - Sergeant Perry, 77, was "the sergeant." He said he saw the prisoner speaking to the prosecutrix, then saw him suddenly seize her by the throat. Both of them were, however, under the influence of drink. - Mr. Alderman Stone, however, dismissed the case. He said he did not think there was any foundation for the charge.
SPECIAL EDITION
Notice. - An EXTRA SPECIAL EDITION of the ECHO is Published Every Evening at 6.30, containing the Latest News.
EAST-END ATROCITIES.
LATEST DETAILS.
ARREST AT CHINGFORD.
On inquiry at the Bishopsgate-Without Police-station, an Echo reporter was informed that a man had been arrested at Chingford on suspicion of being concerned in the Whitechapel murders. He was conveyed to Waltham Abbey Police-station, and there detained.
MITRE-SQUARE VICTIM.
The mutilated remains of the Mitre-square victim still lie at the Golden-lane mortuary awaiting identification. The body was viewed in the course of yesterday by a large number of persons, and considering the fact that there are marks which should render identification quite easy to those who were personally acquainted with her, it is singular that so far she should continue unrecognised. Hopes, however, are entertained by the police that before to-day has elapsed the identity will be established. This is a most important matter, as a belief is entertained by the authorities that when once the name has become known it may afford an important clue in securing a description of the miscreant - who still defies all efforts to track him to his lair.
A correspondent, writing later, said: - This morning numerous calls were again made to the mortuary in Golden-lane. It was all to no purpose.
THE TERROR IN THE DISTRICT.
STREETS DESERTED AT NIGHT.
Towards midnight the streets in the district within the limits of which the six murders have now been successively perpetrated without detection begin to assume a most deserted appearance. The one exception, perhaps, was the main thoroughfares, which were thronged with people as usual until the hour dictated by law for the closing of the public-houses. The night air, it is true, was [mean] and biting; but this alone did not account for the remarkable absence of anything in the shape of pedestrian traffic which heretofore has invariably continued until an advanced hour of the morning. The appearance of the whole district conveyed the only too palpable fact that at the present moment the East-end - and Whitechapel in particular - is panic-stricken. By one o'clock the streets were absolutely denuded of the unfortunate women who are accustomed to roam about throughout the night, while revellers of the sterner sex were almost equally as scarce.
COMPLAINT OF THE COFFEE-STALL KEEPERS.
Wherever one went he had to listen to the same perpetual growl of the coffee-stall keepers that their trade had gone; and when asked how they accounted for the fact the invariable reply was as brief as it was significant.
A WEARY, MONOTONOUS TOUR.
In the small hours of this morning a Press Association reporter plodded through street after street; and still street after street, without coming across a living soul of any kind beyond the solitary policeman on his monotonous round. The heavy regular tramp of the custodian of the peace alone disturbed the stillness of the night: It was in all truth a weary round this perambulation of Whitechapel. Its main thoroughfares, its back slums, and its environs, and the heavy showers which fell at intermittent periods did not tend to enhance the pleasures of the tour.
THE MYSTERIOUS PAWN-TICKETS
The two pawn-tickets found in the mustard box a few feet away from the Mitre-square victim, have so far been of very little value to the police in prosecuting their inquiries. By an official at the headquarters of the City Force in Old Jewry, this morning, a reporter was informed that it was generally considered the tickets would not be of material assistance. It was pointed out that the articles to which they related might have been pawned either by a woman for the man whose named [sic] appeared upon one, or by the man for the woman whose name appeared on the other. Should such be the case, it is very improbable that the pawnbroker's assistant by whom they were issued would be able to identify any person in connection with them.
POLICE FORCE INSUFFICIENT.
There is no mistaking the fact that if the East-end is to be protected in the future against such outrages - for Whitechapel is but a duplicate of that vast area - the police force stationed there for that purpose ought to be doubled in strength. In the course of a night's wandering in these slums and backways, our representative conversed with not a few of the men whom he found on duty. Almost to a man, when questioned on the subject, they pointed out the impossibility of adequately performing all that was asked of them in the way of protecting the public from outrages such as those that are now disgracing the East-end. Again and again attention was called to open staircases in huge piles of modern dwellings erected for the artisan, to dark secluded corners in every direction, and to a number of other places where criminals might retreat, until one's eyes became [] from perpetually peering into veritable [] darkness.
KNIFE FOUND IN ENDELL-STREET.
A knife, twelve inches long, which was found in Endell-street, Long-[], was taken to Bow-street station this morning, and [] by the police authorities.
THE MURDERER'S NARROW ESCAPE.
The police are becoming more and more convinced that the murderer must have had a very narrow escape when he got away from the yard in Berner-street after cutting the throat of the woman believed to be "Long Liz." The theory now advanced is that he was [] [] [] the yard, engaged in the horrible work when the steward of the International Club, M. Diemschitz drove in in his trap and disturbed him, and that during the confusion that followed he succeeded in mingling with the members of the Club as they rushed out in a body into the [], and finally escaped unobserved before the police arrived on the scene. How [] this is true it is, of course, impossible to say, but the theory is at least a feasible one.
A representative of the Press Association this morning interviewed several members of the International Club in Berner-street, including the steward. All are agreed that it was quite possible for the murderer to escape in the [] scene that followed the discovery of the body of "Long Liz" in the yard. None, however, seem to recollect having seen any stranger amongst those who were then present.
THE MAN "WANTED."
[
FROM NEWINGTON.]
As we stated, the police are hourly receiving [information] from persons who declare that they have seen or been accosted by a man [
] a published description of the person "wanted." Here are three of them. The first is that a man - answering, of course, the description - walked up to a cab-stand in Arlington-street, Islington and asked to be allowed to wash his hands. This request was refused, after which he walked hastily away. The second story is also told by a cabman. He states that on Sunday night he took up a fare at Camden-town and drove him to Paddington. On getting out he paid the fare, and [] that he had been in the company of the Whitechapel murderer and was going to see him again, he walked away. The most extraordinary of the three statements was, however, that received by the officers of the N division. A woman informed them that on Sunday night, at about half-past seven, she was walking through Graham-road, Stoke Newington, when she was accosted by a respectably-dressed man. He exclaimed that she was too good-looking to murder, and at once demanded money from her. She gave him a shilling, after which he remarked that she had just saved herself from being served the same as was done at Whitechapel. He then decamped.
A CLUE TO THE IDENTITY.
A reporter, writing at two o'clock, said: - Some information has just come to light in connection with the woman murdered in Mitre-square, to which the authorities attach considerable value. It appears that two City police-constables, who have seen the body, believe that it is that of a woman whom they had in custody some time ago on a charge of drunkenness. This woman, when charged, lived at a lodging-house in the neighbourhood of Fashion-street, Whitechapel, and the police are now making inquiries in that district as to whether such a person has been there recently. The constables, however, while being of opinion that the woman found in Mitre-square is the same as the one they had in custody, are not quite positive. The police are, therefore, endeavouring to discover whether the woman who was in custody is now alive, and if such is the case the particular incident so far will of course end.
AN EXTRAORDINARY INCIDENT
From all parts of the Metropolis the police are in receipt of inquiries from people who have lost relatives and friends. One of the chief of these, received yesterday, was an intimation from a woman that she had lost sight of her sister-in-law, a widow named Cunningham, upon whose arm the missing sister's husband had tattooed his initials "T. C." It will be remembered that the woman who was murdered in Aldgate had this mark upon her forearm, so that the information appeared to have value. The woman giving the information, accompanied a police officer to a lodging-house in Dorset-street, Spitalfields, where one of the first persons who was seen was the missing - and presumed to be dead - sister.
ONE OF MANY CANARDS.
Among the many discredited rumours current in the neighbourhood is the assertion that Sir Charles Warren on visiting the yard on Sunday morning last discovered some writing on the wall in chalk, which gave expression to very objectionable sentiments of a religious character, and which was supposed to have been the handiwork of the murderer. This was alleged to have given such great offence that Sir Charles, fearing a disturbance in the neighbourhood, directed the writing to be washed out. Investigation, however, has proved, so far as can be judged, the absolute fallacy of the story. A careful examination of the brickwork in the yard this morning has revealed beyond dispute the fact that there has been no effacement of chalk marks on the walls, certainly within recent date.
TWO MEN DISCHARGED.
The two men detained at Leman-street this morning were discharged this evening. A strong reinforcement of detectives from Scotland-yard and Lambeth arrived in Whitechapel this morning. They are being appointed to various suspected districts to watch suspected houses and individuals.
THE BERNER-STREET VICTIM.
RESUMED INQUEST.
Coroner Wynne E. Baxter resumed the inquest, at the St. George's Vestry-hall, Cable-street, E., to-day, on the body of Elizabeth Stride, the Berner-street victim.
Inspector Reid attended on behalf of the police authorities.
THE CONSTABLE FIRST ON THE SPOT.
Police-constable Henry Lamb was the first witness examined. He said: Early on the morning of Sunday last, while I was on duty in the Commercial-road, two men came to me. They said, "Come on, there's been another murder." I asked them where it was, and they pointed to the gateway in Berner-street. I saw people moving about some distance down the street. - I ran to the spot followed by another constable. I went into the gateway adjoining the Club premises. I there saw something dark lying inside the gateway, close to the gate. I turned my light on, and found that it was a woman. I saw that her throat was cut, and she appeared to be dead. I then sent a constable for a doctor, and sent a young man to the station to inform the inspector of what had occurred.
The Coroner - Were there any people in the yard when you arrived? - There were several persons present, and several other persons followed me in. There were about thirty altogether.
Was anyone touching the body when you arrived? - No. The people crowded round the body, and I had great difficulty in keeping them back. I told them that if they got so close they might get some of the blood on their clothes, and they might then get into trouble. I felt the woman's face and wrist, and found that they were still slightly warm. I then blew my whistle.
The Coroner - How was the woman lying? - She was lying on her left side, her left arm was bent under her, and her right hand was lying across her breast. Her face was only a few inches from the wall. Her clothes were not disarranged. Even the boots were scarcely to be seen. She looked as if she had been gently laid down. There was a large quantity of blood on the ground, part of which was in a liquid state, and a part congealed. I cannot say whether there was any blood coming from the wound in the throat at that time. If there was, it was a very small quantity. Dr. Blackwell, continued witness, arrived about ten minutes after I had got to the yard, and he was followed by Dr. Phillips. The Inspector also arrived about the same time. While Dr. Blackwell was examining the body I had the gates closed.
(The report will be continued.)
"MAN WITH A BLACK SHINY BAG."
The young man Albert Baskert, of [13], Newnham-street, Whitechapel, has made a further statement. It will be noticed that the man who spoke to him in the Three Nuns Hotel on Saturday night carried a black shiny bag, and it is remarkable that the only man Mrs. Mortimer observed in Berner-street, nearly two hours afterwards, also carried a black shiny bag. Baskert says: - "On Saturday night, about seven minutes to twelve, I entered the Three Nuns Hotel, Aldgate. While in there an elderly woman, very shabbily dressed, came in and asked me to buy some matches. I refused, and she went out. A man who had been standing by me remarked that these persons were a nuisance, to which I responded 'Yes.' He then asked me to have a glass with him, but I refused, as I had just called for one myself. He then asked me if I knew how old some of the women who were in the habit of soliciting outside. I replied that I thought some who looked about 25 were over 35, the reason they looked younger being on account of the powder and paint. He asked if I could tell him where they usually went with men, and I replied that I had heard that some went to places in Oxford-street, Whitechapel, others to some houses in Whitechapel-road, and others to Bishopsgate-street. He then asked whether I thought they would go with him down Northumberland-alley, a dark, lonely court in Fenchurch-street. I said I did not know, but supposed they would. He then went outside and spoke to the woman who was selling the matches, and gave her something, I believe. He returned to me, and I bade him "Good night" at about ten minutes past twelve. I believe the woman was waiting for him. I do not think I could identify the woman, as I did not take particular notice of her, but I should know the man again. He was a dark man, about 38 years of age, height about 5ft. 6in. or 7in. He wore a black felt hat, dark clothes (morning coat), and black tie, and carried a black, shiny bag.
THE QUESTION OF REWARDS.
From inquiries, this morning, among prominent persons in the City, it would seem, according to the Press Association, that the satisfaction at the offer of a reward by the City Police is experienced on all hands. The refusal of the Home Secretary to allow any Government reward to be offered has given rise to very heated discussions, and it is the general and popular opinion that the right hon. gentleman has adopted a very unwise policy. His conduct is spoken of in no measured terms, not only on the Stock Exchange, but in other influential quarters, as it is suggested by some that it may have the effect of damping public ardour. On the other hand, it is asserted that popular indignation will be roused and that the refusal of Mr. Matthews will lead to most of the private bodies in the City and elsewhere to adopt means of their own in the endeavour to unearth the murderer or murderers. So great is the interest and excitement becoming that, on Thursday, the Lord Mayor, who will preside at a meeting of the Common Council, will move that the Corporation do offer £500 in addition to the police reward. It has been suggested that the Lord Mayor and the Stock Exchange were about to open subscription lists for the purpose of offering a substantial public reward, but, owing to the action of the Home Secretary, the Press Association is informed that the Lord Mayor's scheme will in all probability not be carried out, and for the same reason nothing has yet been done in that direction on the Stock Exchange, one of their number significantly remarking, "What is the use if the Home Secretary is opposed to it."
THIS DAY'S NEWS.
"ENLIGHTENING THE CRIMINALS."
At the Paddington Vestry, this morning, the motion of Mr. Mark Judge, asking Sir Charles Warren to publish the police return, was lost, the Vestry expressing the opinion that the publication of such return would lead to an increase in crime by enlightening the criminal classes as to the disposition of the police force.
THE WHITECHAPEL MANIA.
Arthur Williams went to the Police-station at Chiswick last night, and asserted that he knew who had committed the Whitechapel murders. "If he isn't found soon I shall go mad," he declared. He further said that he knew where the man was, and he would find him. The police having made inquiries, the prisoner was to-day charged at the Hammersmith Police-court with being found wandering, apparently insane. The statement he made to the police was said to be most incoherent; and, his friends agreeing to take care of him, was allowed to leave the Court with them.
WHITECHAPEL TERRORS.
BERNER-STREET CHEMIST ATTACKED.
HIS LIFE IN DANGER.
Berner-street - which possesses such a tragic prominence just now - was on the 8th ult. the scene of what is described by the police of "a determined attempt at murder." John Simkin, a chemist, residing at no. 82, was the victim. William Seaman, 40, a builder, of 11, Princes-street, Whitechapel, is said to be his assailant; and he appeared at the Thames Court, to-day, charged with the offence.
SEAMAN'S FURIOUS ASSAULT.
Simkin had not been able to appear before. He now stated that on the 8th ult., at about ten minutes to twelve he was about closing his shop-door, when the prisoner came in and asked him for a pennyworth of zinc ointment. He got the ointment, and gave it to him. Seaman then asked for a pennyworth of powdered alum. Whilst he was serving him with this, the prisoner suddenly struck him with a heavy blow with a hammer on the head. Witness had his hat on at the time, but could not say how it got off, as it was afterwards found in the road. The blow caught him on the forehead. Directly the prisoner hit him he rushed round the counter, and again struck him with the hammer. He (the accused) then dropped the hammer, and he (witness) picked it up and gave it to a man who came in. He (witness) was cut at the back of the ear, was covered in blood, and was bruised all over the body. He had never before seen the prisoner, and he appeared to be sober. - Seaman: Did you weigh the alum? - Witness: No. - Prisoner: What is it a pound? That is what caused the dispute.
THE EXTENT OF THE INJURIES.
Dr. Francis John Allen, M.D., of No. 1, Dock-street, stated that when he was called to the prosecutor he found him suffering from a wound in the forehead and one behind the left ear. The latter was also very much swollen. Both hands were very much swollen and bruised. Prosecutor had considerable difficulty in swallowing, and witness should say he had been seized by the throat. Prosecutor was also bruised all over his body, and at one time his life was in considerable danger.
FURTHER VIOLENCE PREVENTED.
Henry John Smith, a warehouseman, of 6, Chamber-street, Whitechapel, said that on the night in question he was opposite Mr. Simkin's shop, when he heard a scream. He then saw prosecutor's daughter, who called out to witness, "They are murdering my father." Witness went into the shop, and saw prisoner having hold of prosecutor's throat, and punching him about the face and chest: The prosecutor was then covered with blood. Witness helped to hold the prisoner until a constable came.
Charles McCarthy, labourer, of 11, Ellen-place, Ellen-street, Whitechapel, was another witness. He stated that about twelve o'clock on this night he was walking along Ellen-street, when he heard a scream proceed from the direction of Berner-street: He ran to the chemist's shop. There he saw Mr. Simkin, with "his white beard all over blood." He was behind his counter, and the prisoner was standing in the shop. Mr. Simkin said to witness, "Here is the hammer he hit me with," and gave it to witness. The prisoner made no attempt to escape, and made no remark. The police came and took the prisoner into custody. "I shan't tell you what I did it for, but I will tell the Magistrate," the man said when arrested. The man had been drinking.
The prisoner now, after hearing the evidence, merely said, "I will say nothing." He was committed for trial on the charge of attempted murder.
HEAR ALL SIDES.
EAST-END WOMEN.
SIR, - Why do not the women of the East-end form themselves into a deputation at once and wait upon Mr. Matthews, just in the way that the matchmakers some day visited Mr. Lowe. The result might be equally happy. - Yours respectfully, A CONSTANT READER.
Savage Club, Lancaster House, Savoy, W.C.,
Oct.2.
BLOODHOUNDS.
SIR, - I quite agree with your clever contributor "About Town." Bloodhounds are more likely to discover the terribly-cunning fiend of Whitechapel than are any number of detectives and vigilance committees. I say this from having myself been an eye-witness to the wonderful powers of these keen-scented animals. Many years ago, when I was sojourning at Dieppe, a little boy was found doubled up in a horse-bin, with his throat cut. Immediately a couple of bloodhounds were put on to the scent, and in less than an hour they had tracked the murderess to a low lodging-house at the other end of the town, where she was found hiding under a bed. As the noble beasts dashed on their way, now to the right, anon to the left, eager-eyed, and nose down, hundreds of people, including the keeper, followed pell-mell in their wake; amongst whom was - Yours faithfully,
WILLIAMS BUCHANAN, B.A.
11 Burton-street, W.C., Oct. 1.
SIR, - In reading your very sensible article to-day in the "Touch-and-Go Papers," it struck me that, instead of finding fault with the heads of departments, would not the better plan be put to the bloodhounds idea into practice without waiting for Sir Charles Warren to act? I take it that there is no one to stop either "About Town," or anyone else, doing this, if, as he says, it is not too late. Besides, there is also a splendid reward for the owner of the dog. Let anyone with a practical idea step out and act, and not wait. They can only fail, as the police, so far, seem to have done. Hoping you will find room for this if worth while, yours, respectfully,
J. FLYNN.
42, Moorfields, E.C., Oct. 1.
