With the advent of the fog, Sir Charles Warren's experiments with policemen's boots become additionally interesting. In Leeds the authorities have found it possible so to "protect" the heels of their constables' shoes with india rubber as to render their walk almost inaudible. And it would certainly appear well to carry out some such experiment in Whitechapel now that the fogs draw upon us.
The Annual Report of the Chief Commissioner of Police comes at an opportune moment both for himself and the public. So great is the popular wrath at the failure of the police to discover the Whitechapel murderer that we are in danger of doing cruel injustice to a large number of public servants, who are honestly doing their duty on a very scanty pay. The life of a London policeman is by no means enviable. His duties are performed under a constant fire of newspaper, magisterial, and public criticism, and rightly so in the Metropolis, for while in provincial towns the policeman is under the control of the Watch Committee of the Town Council, in London he is directly responsible, not to the representatives of the ratepayers, who in one way or another pay three fourths of his wages, but to a Commissioner appointed by the Home Office. He has appointed hours of duty, but, like a woman, he never knows when his day's work is done, for either he lives in a police barrack, or, if married, he must live near to a police station, and must always be within call if wanted. Too often he is wanted when he is off duty. A dozen delegates from Socialist clubs may pass a resolution on Friday night, the effect of which is to compel hundreds of men who have been pacing their dreary rounds all through the hours of darkness between Saturday's sundown and Sunday's sunrise to be on the march again by noon of Sunday towards Trafalgar square; and this may be repeated week after week till those who have to endure it reach to a white flame of anger. We need not wonder that the police vote is almost exclusively conservative under such circumstances. Gentlemen who wish to air their political vanity in Trafalgar square, and not to be deterred by the prosaic consternation that while they are sleeping soundly in their beds sixty per cent of the available police force in London are engaged upon night duty, and that if they plan a demonstration most of these men must perforce go upon day duty as well; but, while human nature remains as it is, discontent is likely to find vent in blows of hard cocus wood, of which policemen's truncheons are made.
Sir Charles Warren, like Captain Shaw, repeats his demand for an augmentation of the force at his command. The Police force, like the force for grappling with fire, has not kept pace with the growth of London. This simply a matter of figures, which no one can dispute. In 1849 the authorised strength of the Metropolitan Police Force was 5,493; now it is 12,460; but the population has grown from two and a half millions to five and a half millions, and there are half a million more houses to guard and nearly 1,900 more miles of street to patrol. The very increase in the number of public vehicles necessarily throws more labour upon the police in regulating our congested street traffic. At the present time there are close upon 14,000 public vehicles plying in the streets of the Metropolis. Of these, over 11,000 are cabs, beside which there are nearly 1,800 omnibuses, and over 900 tramcars. There are 980 common lodging houses under police supervision, capable of accommodating a population of 31,000. No less than thirty nine policemen were invalided from the service last year on account of the direct result of injuries received while on duty. One salutary improvement has been made during the past year by instructing the police in ambulance matters, and Sir Charles Warren already reports, as a result, that lives have been saved from bleeding to death, that the apparently drowned have been restored by a constable knowing how to perform artificial respiration, and that many simple fractures have been prevented from becoming compound, and that the House surgeons of the London Hospitals often speak in the highest praise of the knowledge and efficiency of the Metropolitan Police constable in rendering first aid.
Among other important subjects, the Chief Commissioner deals with the Clubs, many of which he declares are little better than unlicensed public houses. He might have gone further, and stated without fear of contradiction, that many of them are unlicensed public houses pure and simple, and that they are freely used as betting houses, gambling dens, and places of assignation. These places are so many plague spots where a multitude of young men are lured to their ruin. There they can put their money on a horse, or gamble away their wages at cards, or dance with loose women; and these facts are widely known not only among young men, but among the householders of the neighbourhood. The householders, however, are so painfully timid that the Special Commissioner of a weekly paper recently complained that, though they were loud in their denunciations, it was difficult to obtain from them any detailed information. Possibly there is good reason for the terrorism to which they are all subject. Sir Charles Warren thinks that all clubs should be placed under supervision, thus pointing in the direction of the Bill which Mr. Gent-Davis introduced last Session. We rather incline to the opinion of the Secretary of the Working Men's Club Union, who declares that the existing law is strong enough. A Bill to secure police supervision of all clubs would probably meet with strenuous opposition by the political clubs, whether Radical or Conservative. The mischief really is, we fear, that the Chief Commissioner of Police cannot altogether rely upon his own men. To grapple with the evil effectively he requires special, trustworthy officers, unconnected with any particular locality, whose eyes cannot be blinded by the application of golden ointment.
To prevent crime light and vigilance are required; light does not exist to any great extent in Whitechapel at night even in clear weather; but in foggy times it is absent. Vigilance may make up for its want, but then to be vigilant a policeman must to be able to move about silently, for a tramp that can be heard a quarter of a mile away scarcely places him within watching distance of an intending criminal.
So the Spiritualists are on the track at last! Elizabeth Stride is said to have appeared at a séance in Cardiff on Saturday night, and to denoted the whereabouts of her murderer. It would be very interesting to see how many people would turn Spiritualists if the murderer were found out by such means.
EXTRAORDINARY POLICE PRECAUTIONS.
DOZEN MEN ARRESTED - AND DISCHARGED.
A SPIRITUALIST'S INFORMATION.
Still no definite information of the murderer. The police are working with ubiquitous eagerness; but they are absolutely without any tangible result. There was some kind of idea floating about on Saturday that something - what, no one could say - might result in the night. "Jack the Ripper's" insensate postcards - coming from all parts of the country - had contained dim threats of some terrible possibilities. The police had received other single communications which helped to induce a mysterious foreboding. This, and other matters, no doubt, explains the extraordinary precautions which were taken during the night for public safety. These precautions were repeated last night. Volunteers turned out in considerable numbers to assist the police, and patrolled the streets until an early hour in the morning; but they were destined to return to their homes without reward for their valour. In all, a dozen arrests were made, but the "suspects" were in each case liberated. Although a large number of police and detectives have been drawn to the East end from other districts, it must not be supposed that the safety of other parts of the metropolis is disregarded. So far as the number of the force will permit, special attention is being given to all spots where the murderer is at all likely to attempt a renewal of the crime. The parks, for instance, are being closely watched. The police and the men employed by the Vigilance Committee work very well together. As a proof of the thorough way in which they have respectively been carrying out their duties, it may be mentioned that in several instances some of the plain clothes men who were strange to the neighbourhood were on Saturday watched by members of the Vigilance committee, while they in their turn came under the scrutiny of the detectives.
Another letter has been received from the Home Secretary - or, rather, from Mr. E. Leigh Pemberton. It is as follows:-
"Sir,
The Secretary of State for the Home Department has had the honour to lay before the Queen the petition signed by you, praying that a reward may be offered by the Government for the discovery of the perpetrator of the recent murders in Whitechapel, and he desires me to inform you that, though he has given directions that no effort or expense should be spared in endeavouring to discover the person guilty of the murders, he has not been able to advise Her Majesty that in his belief the ends of justice would be promoted by any departure from the direction already announced with regard to the proposal that a reward should be offered by Government."
The gentleman to whom the above reply was addressed - Mr. George Lusk, of Alderney street, Globe road, Mile end - the chief of the "vigilants" - has given information of a suspicious incident which befell him in Thursday afternoon last. A stranger, who called at his private residence shortly after four o'clock - and who was informed that Mr. Lusk was not at home, appears to have traced the President of the Vigilance Committee to an adjacent tavern. Having manifested great interest in the movements of the volunteer police, he sought an interview in a private room, but owing to the forbidding appearance of the visitor Mr. Lusk seems to have preferred the comparative publicity of the bar parlour. The conversation had scarcely begun when Mr. Lusk, who was about to pick up a pencil which had dropped from the table, says he noticed the stranger "make a swift, though silent, movement with his right hand towards his side pocket." Fearing that his conduct was observed, it is added, the man asked to be directed to the nearest coffee house, and forthwith proceeded to an address in the Mile end road, with which he was supplied. Although Mr. Lusk followed without loss of time, he was not quick enough for his visitor, who abstained from visiting the coffee house, and has not been heard of since. The man is described as between 30 and 40 years of age, about 5ft 9in in height, of a florid complexion, with bushy brown heard, whiskers, and moustache. In the absence of further evidence, it is impossible to say whether any personal injury was actually in store for the head of the "Vigilants" but the ease with which the man escaped has awakened the members of the Committee and their colleagues to an increased sense of the difficulty of the task they have in hand.
With reference to the identity of Elizabeth Stride, the Woolwich newspapers of the time of the Princess Alice disaster have been referred to and it has been found that a woman of that name was a witness at the inquest, and identified the body of a man as her husband, and of two children then lying in Woolwich Dockyard. She said she was on board at the time, and saw them drowned her husband picking up one of the children and being drowned with it in his arms. She was saved by climbing the funnel, where she was accidentally kicked in the mouth by a retired Arsenal police inspector, who was also clinging to the top of the funnel. The husband and two children are buried in Woolwich Cemetery.
There is a now a little variation of the statement attributed to the seaman Dodge, who, it has been reported, declared at New York that a Malay had shown him a knife in Poplar, and that at the same time he uttered a threat against the low women in Whitechapel. The New York Herald avers that he knew the street where the Malay stayed, but that he would not divulge the name until he learned what chance there was of a reward. He stated, however, that the street was not far from the East India Dock road, but he was not certain about the house where the man lived. Another seaman has said that he thinks the Malay is now on a vessel plying in the North Sea.
An extraordinary statement bearing upon the Whitechapel tragedies was made to the Cardiff police yesterday by a respectable looking elderly woman, who stated that she was a "Spiritualist," and in company with five other persons, held a séance on Saturday night. They summoned the spirit of Elizabeth Stride, and after some delay it came, and, in answer to questions, stated that her murderer was a middle aged man, whose name she mentioned, and who resided at a given number in Commercial road or street, Whitechapel, and who belonged to a gang of twelve.
With reference to the proposal of using bloodhounds in London, the idea is generally touted as of little or no practical value by those who know anything about these animals. The first difficulty in using them will, it is said, be to get them to hold on the right scent, and once that is done, there is the thousand and one cross scents that will run over the track, so that there can be no assurance of their following the same person up. Again, the streets offer the facilities to criminals of getting away in vehicles, buses and trams, and there are the railways to be reckoned with.
An instance of the extraordinary susceptibility of the London populace comes from Chapel street, Islington. last night a man and a woman were arrested there for drunken and disorderly conduct. Somehow the idea got abroad that the male prisoner was "Jack the Ripper," and that the woman was his accomplice, and then it was remembered that in one of his latest communications that mysterious individual had promised Goswell road a visit. Soon an extraordinary and excited crowd had assembled. A mounted patrol saw the mob approaching in the distance, and he at once galloped off to render further assistance. This fact appeared to give the arrest an element of importance, and by the time that the prisoners were inside the lock up, there were quite two thousand people in Upper street. A number of constables were sent out to clear the thoroughfare, and this was quickly effected, on the people being assured that no important arrest being made.
The police throughout the Metropolis have received instructions from Sir Charles Warren, the Chief Commissioner, that in the event of any further persons being found murdered under circumstances similar to those surrounding the recent crimes in Whitechapel, the body of the victim is not to be removed - at least, not for a while. Notice, however, is at once to be sent to a veterinary surgeon living in the south west district. He has some bloodhounds, which, it is asserted, have been properly trained. These bloodhounds will, without delay, be taken to the spot and placed on the scent.
The police have issued a series of descriptions of persons to whom they in some way attach importance. The first is issued from the Marylebone district. It requires information of a man who entered a shop in Oxford street, and when spoken to by the owner became very restless in his manner, and left hurriedly without purchasing. His age is about 34, height 5ft 9in, complexion deep, moustache and eyes every dark, dress, dark cutaway coat, with a grey one beneath, dark trousers, red tie, white collar, square toe boots, and hard felt hat, with broad brim. He had a scratch on the back of his hand, and spoke with a foreign accent. Another is issued from Commercial street. It requires information of a man who upon two or three occasions has been seen between Whitechapel road and Brushfield street, and heard inquiring where loose women walked. His age is 35, height 5ft 8in, dark moustache and whiskers, long brown overcoat, dark trousers, paper collar, and black tie and hat. A third is issued from Leytonstone. This states that at 10.30 p.m. on Saturday a suspicious looking man was seen at Leytonstone, walking very fast, and continually looking behind him. His age is about 35, height 5ft 7in, complexion dark, heavy dark moustache, clean shaved, long black overcoat and trousers, high black hat. From the City is issued the description of a man seen in Mitre square at 9 p.m. on September 30th. He resembled the second portrait which has appeared in a daily paper. His age is 27, height 5ft 5in, slight moustache, and eyes dark; dress, long dark overcoat, felt hat, turn down collar; speaks with a strong foreign accent.
From Tottenham there is a description published of a man who was last seen in the Hanover road, Tottenham, at 7 p.m. on Saturday. His age is a30, height 5ft 8in, clean shaved; dress, dark coat and trousers, cloth cap with peak, and carrying a black shining hand bag. From Wimbledon there comes a story of a man resembling the portrait published in the papers of the 6th instant, having called upon a local medical practitioner, and represented himself as being a medical man in reduced circumstances requiring assistance. His age is 36; height, 5ft 7in or 8in; square built, complexion fresh; hair, dark brown (turning grey); eyes, blue; dress, dark cloth cutaway coat, light grey trousers, strong boots, soft felt hat; general appearance, shabby genteel. From Battersea is published a description of a man who was seen in Battersea Park road answering the description of the supposed Whitechapel murderer. This man is said to be known as "Colorado Charley," and was formerly attached to Mexican Joe's Company at the Albert Palace. His age is 28; height, 5ft 7in; complexion fresh; clean shaved; black suit, and black soft felt hat. Information is also wanted of a man named Dare, who had belonged to the same Company, and who was supposed to be in Paris, he not having been seen for the last two months. His age is 28, height 5ft 6in, clean shaved, dark clothes, and black felt hat. From Hammersmith comes a story that on Saturday night, at 8.30., a man was seen near some unoccupied buildings in the Blythe road, and was overheard to say, "I shall not do much harm tonight." His age is about 30; he is of medium height, and wore a brown coat and black deerstalker hat.
A Correspondent telegraphs this morning:
At another spiritualistic séance, held at Bolton, yesterday, a medium claimed to have had revealed to her the Whitechapel murderer. She describes him as having the appearance of a farmer, though dressed like a navvy, with a strap round his waist, and peculiar pockets. He wears a dark moustache, and bears scars behind the ear and in other places. he will (says the medium) be caught in the act of committing another murder.
There was a larger audience today than usual at the noon prayer meeting held at the Aldersgate street Young Men's Christian Association, where the east end murderer and his crimes formed the principal theme of the fervent appeals. One speaker hoped that the perpetrator of the murders would atone for his misdeeds by surrendering himself to justice. The miscreant might then, it was urged, "exemplify the power of prayer, and work out his salvation by repentance." The Rev. Dr. Tyler, of Mile end New Town, who gave a brief address on the subject of crime in the East end, remarked that his church was in the centre of the localities where those "public disasters" had taken place. He had been familiar with that district for half a century. Buck's row and Hanbury street did not, he protested, deserve the evil character which had been given to those thoroughfares. the published tales of immorality were, said the Rev. gentleman, unfounded. Buck's row had been declared "the worst spot in the metropolis." That was an aspersion. He was assured that not a single immoral character lived there. Not withstanding the increase of population, he (Dr. Tyler) believed there was not more crime now in Whitechapel than there was ten years ago. "What London has to fear," continued the speaker, "is the importation of the scum of other countries - Russians and Poles come here in considerable numbers. It was from the dregs of society that society had most to fear." Amongst the audience - apparently as devout as any - was a City detective, "on the lookout for the murderer should he turn up." as he remarked to an Echo representative.
The funeral of Catherine Eddowes, the victim of the Mitre square murder, took place this afternoon at Ilford, Essex, where the City of London Cemetery is situated. The expenses of the funeral were borne entirely by a private citizen. The corpse, recently laid in a plain coffin with the name and age of deceased engraved thereon, was removed at half past one from Golden lane mortuary. Thousands of people lined the streets in the vicinity of the mortuary evincing much sympathy.
The cortege passed the junction of Osborn street and Commercial street at 2.20 and the crowds were so dense that a force of police had to direct the traffic. The remains were borne on an open hearse, the coffin bearing wreaths and two carriages followed. At the rear of the procession the extraordinary spectacle was witnessed of a waggon load of women whose attire was far from appropriate to the occasion; and their appearance was freely commented upon by the onlookers. The waggon was so crowded that even the driver's seat was occupied.
The Press Association says a man was arrested in Baker's row, Whitechapel, this afternoon, after a desperate resistance. He was at once conveyed to Bethnal green Police station, and was charged with being concerned in the recent murders.
At Govan, Glasgow, today, Michael Devine, who described himself as "Jack the Ripper the Second," was ordered to pay three guineas or go to prison for thirty days, for knocking down a Mrs. Westwood and brandishing a knife over her.
A MISSING CHELSEA GIRL.
HER MOTHER' STORY.
THE GUILDFORD "DISCOVERY."
Very little further progress has been made since Saturday in ascertaining the identity of the young woman whose dismembered body was found in the basement archways of the new police buildings at Whitehall. The period within which the crime was committed has been narrowed down, and the district within which it was perpetrated has also been more clearly marked. It will be recollected that Detective Inspector Marshall proceeded on Friday to bring the remains of a supposed human leg from Guildford, which was found there by the police on August 24 last. The limb in question was, it is said, pronounced by a local doctor to have been unskilfully amputated, and there was a belief in the neighbourhood that it was part of some person who had been made away with. Ultimately the leg was buried in the churchyard with the customary formalities. The discovery of the woman's trunk at Westminster, at once led the Guildford authorities to communicate with Scotland yard, and, as stated, Inspector Marshall was sent to have the limb disinterred. It was brought to London and taken to Millbank street Mortuary, to be compared with the other portions of the victim's body. On Saturday Drs. Bond and Hibbert made an examination, and at once pronounced it to be not that of a human being, but of some four footed animal. Finally, they were able to declare that it was that of a common bear. It now appears that some time ago a gentleman near Guildford had sent to him from Russia a portion of a fine bear, which he cooked, but was unable to eat, and, therefore, threw the limb away.
The police are without any positive clues. They are over whelmed with evidence concerning missing females. They had received up to yesterday over five hundred applications and inquiries concerning missing friends. Their attention, however, has been specially directed to the remarkable disappearance of a young woman named Lilly Vass, who left her home, 45 Tettcott road, Chelsea, on July 19th last, and has never been seen or heard of since. On September 27th Mrs. Vass, the mother of the young woman, applied to Mr. Biron, sitting Magistrate at the Westminster Police court, and some publicity was given to the extraordinary disappearance of her daughter, who was stated to be of rather prepossessing appearance. The detective police have several times called on Mrs. Vass to obtain additional particulars about the girl, and, at their request the mother accompanied an officer to the Millbank mortuary to view the remains there. She was, however, quite unequal to the ordeal of making an inspection, and only saw the black flowered skirt in which the trunk was found. She could not recognise this, and was the more disposed to discredit the supposition that the remains were those of her daughter from the fact that one of the police officers told her that they belonged to a woman at least six or seven years older.
In an interview a person had with Mrs. Vass at her house she gave many additional particulars as to the disappearance of her daughter. She said that her daughter was in service with a lady in Sealcott road, Wandsworth common, and on July 19th she left home ostensibly to go back to her situation. "Although I had always found her a truthful girl, I am bound to say she deceived me in one respect," said Mrs. Vass. "She had left her situation, although she told me she had not. I think it was on the Monday she came home, and she left on the Thursday. She was then wearing a black straw hat trimmed with crape, and a very dark ulster, with a velvet trimming front. She was a dark complexioned girl, fairly stout, quite of medium height, 5ft 5in certainly, and her dress was of black and white material - nothing like that I saw at the mortuary; but, of course, that goes for nothing. She had dark hair, fringed on the forehead, and her face was round and fresh coloured. We think she must have been enticed away. She was not a girl who kept a lot of company, and I believe the only person who ever wrote to her was a girl in service in Notting hill. Lilly has kept her places two or three years at a time, but she had only been with the lady at Wandsworth about six months. If she is alive, she must have been taken away right out of London, for we have looked and inquired everywhere for her, and can get no tidings."
Questioned as to how the girl left home, the mother went on to say:- "She told me as I have already said, that she was going back to her place at Wandsworth, and that she thought she was going to travel with her mistress to the Isle of Wight. She left behind her mackintosh and bag, and went away with nothing but the clothes she stood upright in. I was not surprised at this, because she explained that she had left her box with a charwoman of Chatham road, Wandsworth common. Everything pointed to the idea that she was going back to service, because she promised to send her brother a shilling to spend as a treat, and to repay me a very small sum I advanced her. She was a girl not devoid of sense, but rather abrupt in manner. I think that of she were alive she would write, even of she did not wish me to know where she was." Interrogated to the possible identity of her daughter with the victim of the mysterious crime now being investigated by the A division detectives, Mrs. Vass, somewhat distressed, said she hardly knew what to think - so many dreadful things were happening. Of course, recognition of the remains without the head was well nigh impossible, and so much depended on what the doctor said. Her daughter had fine arms, and her hand was rough from hard work. The only marks about the girl's body were on the neck, and they were the scars of old abscesses which had been lanced.
At the Westminster Sessions House, this afternoon, Mr. John Troutbeck opened the inquiry with reference to the death of a woman, a portion of whose body was discovered on the site of the new police offices near Cannon row, Westminster. Detective Inspector Marshall appeared for the police, and produced a plan of the spot where the remains were found.
Frederick Wildbore, living at Clapham Junction, deposed: I am a carpenter, employed by Messrs. Grover and Co., at the new Police Offices, Westminster.
Where were you on the 2nd inst.? - I was at work on the buildings. I had occasion to go to this place on Monday morning to get my tools. My mate had taken them there in the Saturday previous.
Were you there yourself on Saturday? - No, Sir. When I went there I saw what I thought was an old coat, lying in a corner of a recess.
Was it behind anything? - No, Sir. It was very dark - always is dark there even in broad daylight.
Did you find your tools there? - No, my mate did that morning. I don't know his surname. I know him as Richard. I did not cut the "parcel£ as I took it only to be an old coat. here was no smell. I went there again at 5.30 in the evening, and noticed the same thing again. I drew my mate's attention to it. This was the first time I noticed it particularly.
What did you notice then? - the same thing, but we did not do anything. At one o'clock the next day I called the attention of Mr. Brown, our foreman, to it. The parcel was not opened in my presence.
You say you were not there on Saturday? - No; I had not been there for eight days. When I was last there I did not notice anything at all. My mate had not said anything to me about it. I heard of the portion of the body being found about three quarters of an hour after I left Mr. Brown with the parcel. From the Monday until I drew Mr. Brown's attention to it, the parcel remained in the same condition.
You noticed no smell? - Not in the least.
Has this vault been used to put your tools in? - Yes, until the last three weeks. My tools were only placed there from the Saturday until the Monday. I never noticed a similar parcel in any other part of the building, and had not seen anybody carrying one.
Would there be any difficulty to get to the place where the body was found? - It would be rather puzzling to any person who did not know the building.
By the Jury - There is a hoarding all round.
The Coroner - Any question as to that will be better answered by the foreman of the works, who will be called. On each occasion that I saw the parcel I had to strike a match, as it was so dark.
(The report will be continued.)
At Jarrow, today, a young man named Robert Hansom was charged with drunkenness. Evidence showed that the defendant was shouting out to a crowd that he was the Whitechapel murderer, and was throwing about the street a pocket knife, with which he said he committed the outrages. He now, however, denied all knowledge of his conduct, and was fined 5s. and costs.
Mr. S. Hayward, C.E., Forest hill, writes:
"We open tonight at 59 Mile End road, Whitechapel, a shelter for 300 waifs. An eminent banker has consented to be treasurer, and an influential committee is in course of formation, and will be announced in a few days."
The Thames Police discovered the body of a woman near Waterloo Bridge on the Surrey side of Thames this morning. The body was floating face upwards past some barges when discovered. It is that of a woman apparently about 29 years of age. It was conveyed to the Lambeth Mortuary, High street, where it awaits identification.
There was a scare at Croydon last night. Rumour had it that the Whitechapel murderer had been caught. This is how the rumour originated. A travelling tailor, named Thomas Johnson, went into the Royal Oak public house, and entered into conversation with Ellen White, the wife of a knife grinder, and her sister. He tried to induce White to leave with him, but she refused. At once he threatened her, and said she would be a lucky woman if she slept at her lodgings that night. On being apprehended by Detective Ward, she said he would mark him (ward) as a "dead'un" when he got the chance. He appeared today at the local police court, and received for his threats a month's imprisonment.
While Constables Toper and King were on duty this morning at about twenty minutes to one at the rear of the premises of Mr. John M'Ewan, a provision dealer, living at 36 New road, Whitechapel, they heard a rattle as of a door being opened, and then immediately after had their attention attracted by a light in the yard. At once King got on the wall. "What are you doing there?" he shouted to a man he espied against the wall. "Oh, you know," came the immediate reply. "I'm here for a lodging," he then explained. Just afterwards he was seen to drop a knife, and a key and a box of matches were then found in his possession. The Thames Magistrate, today, remembered that the man - whose name is John Leary - is an old offender, and sentenced him to three months' with hard labour.
STRANGE AFFAIR AT NEWCASTLE.
A single woman, named Margaret Cooper, about 31 years old, was attacked at Newcastle on Saturday by a man with whom she had been cohabiting, and now lies in a most critical condition. Screams were heard from a room in which the woman lived, and a neighbour saw a man jump out of the window. The man made off along the lane at a rapid pace. Mrs. Fordham, the neighbour, looked in at the open window and saw Margaret Cooper lying on the floor trying to raise herself by her hands, and moving slowly towards the door. Mrs. Fordham endeavoured to open the door, but failed, and a man who was near burst it open. Mrs. Fordham went in and found Cooper lying on the floor, with blood running from a great wound in her throat. She gave the alarm, and Dr. Dixon, of Derwent place, which is close by the spot, and Superintendent Campbell and several other constables from the Westgate Police station soon arrived at the place. the police found a knife lying on the floor besmeared with blood. On being asked a question or two by the police and the doctor, Cooper said the man had come into house to renew their acquaintance. She refused. His look alarmed her, and she ran towards the window to shout for assistance, when he attacked her. The injured woman was soon afterwards removed to the Royal Infirmary. There were five wounds on her face and neck. The man was taken into custody about eight o'clock last night. His name is Benjamin Dunnell. He was taken to the Royal Infirmary and in his presence the sworn deposition of his victim was taken before Dr. Philipson, J.P.
The man Dunnell was formally remanded at the Newcastle Police court today, on the charge of attempting to murder Margaret Cooper, with whom he had lived. The woman still lies in a critical condition in the Newcastle Infirmary.
