London, Oct. 8.
Saturday's "Telegraph" published two sketch portraits from descriptions of the man last
seen in company with the woman named Stride, one of the victims of the Whitechapel murder
fiend. The result has been the unceremonious arrest of every man bearing any resemblance
to the pictures, and a great deal of discomfort has been caused by this new phase of
police activity. Many of the arrests are made by self-constituted detectives, or ambitious
vigilance committeemen. The victims are generally discharged from custody as soon as
brought byfore (sic) a magistrate, but some are unlucky enough not to be able to satisfy
the officials of their rectitude, and are subjected to more or less annoying detention.
One of the men arrested carried a bag, in which was found a razor. This suspect is still
held, and will have to give a very good account of himself and his razor. Another
perplexity attending the Whitechapel muddle is due to the fact that the regular police do
not know by sight the various amateur detectives, and the latter are occasionally "held
up" and put to the embarrassment of explaining their presence and mysterious movements in
the much watched district.
