London, June 26.
The foul crimes of jack the Ripper have again been called to mind by a
murder that was committed last night in Rotherhithe, a suburb a short
distance to the southeast of London. The body of a woman belonging to the
unfortunate class was found with the throat cut, the wound showing that
the knife had been used from left to right, as was the case in all the
murders committed by the Ripper in the Whitechapel district of London.
Persons in the street at the late hour at which the murder was done, state that they heard a woman scream two or three times. They ran in the direction from which the sounds came, and found the woman lying on the pavement with the blood streaming from an awful gash in her throat. She was unconscious when found, and died a few minutes afterward. The police were promptly on the scene, having been attracted by the screaming, but the murderer had effected his escape, leaving not the slightest clue to his identity.
The degraded women of Rotherhithe are panic stricken by the fate that has befallen one of their number. The body of the dead woman was not mutilated in the disgusting manner that characterized the crimes of Jack the Ripper, but it is thought that the assassin was frightened away by the sound of approaching footsteps before he had time to mutilate the body.
The police are searching among the friends of the dead woman for a possible clue to the murderer. They do not believe that jack the Ripper has commenced operations again, but think the crime was due to jealousy or to a drunken quarrel between the woman and some man whose acquaintance she had made on the streets.
