Winnipeg, Canada
20 October 1888
A Horrible Present Received by Mail From the Supposed Whitechapel Fiend
London, Oct 10.
The most absurd theories, false clues and unlimited arrests of the wrong men, which have almost turned the pursuit of the Whitechapel murderer into a burlesque, were revived to-night by a genuine sensation. George Lusk, a builder, is the head of the Whitechapel vigilance committee. Late Tuesday night the parcel house delivery left a box at his house. Upon opening it he discovered a meaty substamce that smelt strongly. and which he judged to be a half kidney belonging to some animal. Enclosed in the box was the following letter:
"I send you half a kidney I took from one woman. I preserved it for you. The other piece I fried and ate. It was very nice. I may send you the bloody knife that took it out, if you only wait a while longer." Lusk first regarded the matter as a joke, but remembering that the left kidney was taken from the Mitre square victim, he took the box to the London hospital. Dr. Openshaw said it was certainly half of the left kidney of a full-grown woman divided longitudinally. To-day the box and letter were taken to Scotland Yard. Detectives are trying to find out from what postal district the parcel was delivered. The handwriting of the letter in the box bore no resemblance to the handwriting of the letters by "Jack the Ripper" some weeks ago.