With the lapse of time the prospect of discovering the Whitechapel murderer diminishes, and the police are, it is said, becoming hopeless that any practical result will attend their inquiries. A corps of detectives left Leman-street yesterday morning, and the officer under whose direction they are pursuing their investigations had in his possession quite a bulky packet of papers, all relating to information supplied to the police, and all, as one detective remarked, "amounting to nothing." "The difficulty of our work," he said, "is much greater than the general public are aware of. In the first place, there are hundreds of men about the streets answering the vague description of the man who is 'wanted,' and we cannot arrest everybody. The reward offered for the apprehension of the murderer has had one effect-it has inundated us with descriptions of persons into whose movements we are expected to inquire, for the sole reason that they have of late been noticed to keep rather irregular hours, and to take their meals alone. Some of these cases we have sent men to investigate, and the persons who have proved to be unjustly suspected have been very indignant, and naturally so. The public would be exceedingly surprised if they were made aware of some of the extraordinary suggestions received by the police from outsiders. Why, in one case (the officer laughingly remarked), it was seriously put to us that we should carefully watch the policeman who happened to be on the particular beat within the radius of which either of the bodies was found. You might as well suspect the Press as suspect the police." He added, "The amount of work done by the detectives throughout this series of crime has been enormous. We do not expect that the batch of inquiries to be undertaken to-day will lead to any more satisfactory result than those of previous days." It is probable that the tragic fate of the woman who had been locked up for drunkenness, and was discharged from Bishopsgate police-station at one o'clock on the morning of the murder, will result in a new regulation for such cases. Members of the detective force consider that one o'clock a.m. is a very improper hour to turn a half sober woman from a police cell into the street, and that she ought to be kept in custody until six or seven o'clock in the morning, at which time there would be a better chance of her getting home unmolested. There is an opinion prevailing among the detectives engaged in the case that the writing on the wall, to which reference was made at the inquest on the woman Eddowes, should on no account have been erased, but ought to have been carefully guarded until a copy of it had been secured. One or two descriptions of suspicious persons were given at Commercial-street police station yesterday afternoon and entered for investigation.

Our Liverpool correspondent says:-An enthusiastic believer in the value of bloodhounds in the detection of crime is Mr. R. Hood Wright, of Newton-hall Farm, Newton-le-Willows, near Liverpool. One of his dogs, Hector II., at the Warwick Dog Show two years ago divided the stakes with the hound Burnaby, which Mr. Brough has lent to the police. Mr. Wright was amongst those who, when the world was shocked by the repeated outrages in the metropolis, wrote to Sir Charles Warren advocating the use of a bloodhound, and expressed his willingness to send his dog on the condition that a substantial sum should be paid to him should the dog be lost or destroyed. A few days ago Sir Charles Warren replied, thanking Mr. Wright for the public spirit he had displayed, but declined the offer for the reason that other arrangements had been made by which dogs used to hunting in towns would be employed. At Newtonbridge yesterday several trials took place with Mr. Wright's Hector II. The "quarry," a young Irish labourer, was given half an hour's start, but the hound ran him down without any hesitation. A second trial with a stranger and a third trial with the first "quarry" were attended with equally successful results. In a subsequent trial the hound lost the track, although he followed his man close to his hiding-place. The trials lasted three hours, and were considered highly satisfactory.

Our Dover correspondent had an interview last evening with Superintendent Maxted, of the Kent County Constabulary, at Seabrook, Hythe, with reference to the arrest of a man at Elham Workhouse, who was suspected of being connected with the Whitechapel murders. Mr. Maxted stated that the first information which reached him concerning the man was in a telegram from Scotland-yard, in which he was requested to fully investigate the case, the particulars concerning the man having, it appears, been first sent from the workhouse to Scotland-yard, notwithstanding that it is only a short distance from the Hythe police-office. The information, therefore, did not reach Mr. Maxted until two days after the suspicion of the workhouse authorities had been aroused. In answer to the officer's questions yesterday, the man stated that he was discharged from the 16th Lancers last August. The document stated that he was discharged "as unfit for further service." He was then in Dublin in the regiment. He went by the name of Jack Jeffrey, but he entered the union under name of George Watson. He confessed that his correct name was George William M'Carthy, and said he was the son of Mr. James M'Carthy, of Ivanhoe-road, Denmark Park, Camberwell. Upon arriving in London after his discharge he tried to get work at the wharves or warehouses on the Surrey side of the water. He further stated that he had lodged in one of the lodging-houses in Red-cross-court for several days previous to the Mitre-square and Berner-street murders. The officer did not ask direct questions in respect to the murders, and the man is quite innocent of the suspicions aroused, but in casual conversation he said the general opinion in the Red-cross-court lodging-house was that the murderer was either a medical man or a mad butcher. On the 1st of October he left the lodging-house and went to Hounslow, where he made a false attestation to Sergeant-Major Cutbush, for enlistment in the Royal Fusiliers Militia, giving the name of Wilson. Expressing his wish to go into a cavalry regiment he was sent to Canterbury. The next day he appears to have come on to Dover, where he slept at a lodging one night. From inquiries made by the police respecting him it is stated that his manner was very strange. At Mr. Maxted's request he wrote his name as Geo. William M'Carthy, 23 years. He is 5ft 7½ in. in height, has a fresh complexion, dark brown hair and brown eyes. Mr. Maxted gives it as his opinion that the man is not quite sane. Yesterday he was examined by the medical officer, who stated that he was not suffering from heart disease, as the man himself alleged. He is of the "shabby genteel" class, his coat being of black cloth, and his trousers of the same material, with a check vest, and a brown hard felt hat.

The police force on duty in the Whitechapel district was still further augmented last night, and foreign detectives, it was stated, were on the spot. A house-to-house visitation has been commenced in the district. The streets of Whitechapel last night once more resumed their normal appearance.

The following correspondence has taken place between the Home Secretary and Mr. George Lusk, chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, with reference to the offer of a Government reward for the detection of the Whitechapel murderer or murderers:-

To the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Home Department.

Right Honourable Sir,-I have to acknowledge the receipt of a communication from the Home Office of the 6th inst., in which it is stated that although no effort or expense should be spared in endeavouring to discover the person guilty of the murders, you are unable to advise her Majesty that in your belief the ends of justice would be promoted by any departure from the decision already announced. In reply to that communication I beg to thank you on behalf of my committee for your kindness in laying my petition before her Majesty the Queen, and to say that the inhabitants of Whitechapel and the East-end districts of London generally believe that the police authorities are sparing neither trouble nor expense in attempting to secure the murderer. At the same time, however, it is my duty humbly to point out that the present series of murders is absolutely unique in the annals of crime, that the astuteness and determination of the murderer has hitherto been, and may possibly continue to be, more than a match for Scotland Yard and the Old Jewry combined, and that all the ordinary means of detection have failed. This being so, I venture most respectfully to call your attention to the fact that the only means left untried for the detection of the murderer has been the offer of a Government reward. Rewards are offered from other quarters, including the Corporation of the city of London, but neither the vigilance committee, the Corporation, nor private individuals can offer a pardon to an accomplice, and therefore the value of such offers is considerably less than the proclamation of a reward by her Majesty's Government, with a pardon for such accomplice.-I have the honour to be your most obedient humble servant,

GEORGE LUSK.
1, 2, and 3, Alderney-road, Mile-end, E., Oct. 7, 1888.

Whitehall, 9th Oct. 1888.

Sir,-I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Home Department to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th October, and to say that it shall receive due attention.-I am, sir, your obedient servant,

GODFREY LUSHINGTON.
G. Lusk, Esq., 1, 2, and 3, Alderney-road, Mile-end, E.

At the Belfast Police Court yesterday, John Foster, who had been arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the Whitechapel murder, was brought up.-Constable Carland deposed: From information I received I proceeded to No. 11, Memel-street. The prisoner was not there when I went first. I went back about half an hour afterwards, when I found the prisoner in, and I went upstairs to the room occupied by the prisoner, and rapped at the door. The prisoner said, "Come in." I went in and found the prisoner in bed. I asked him his name, where he had come from, and how long he had been in Belfast. He gave the name of William John Foster, and said he had no fixed address. He arrived in town on Sunday from Greenock, where he had spent two days, but he could not say where he stopped. Previous to that he was in Glasgow for four days, and before that in Edinburgh, but he did not know how long he was there, nor did he know anyone living there. I found a clasp knife (produced) in his coat pocket, a purse containing 19l. 4 s. 5½ d., and the chisel and handle (produced), which were lying on the table in the bedroom. These, when separated, fit into the bag (produced). In the bag I found three razors, a table knife, a small knife, and a number of watchmaking appliances. He said that he was a watchmaker, but that he did nothing at the trade, as he had an income of his own, which he got from his father, who lived in London. He said his father was a brewer, but could not give the address. I found the silver watch and chain and locket (produced) in his pockets. He said the watch was his own. It bears the monogram "A.M.R."-The watch and chain were then handed to the Bench for examination.-Witness (continuing): There was a piece of broken necklet in his coat pocket. I got the keys (produced). The watch is a lever without the maker's name. I examined the clothes of the prisoner, and found he was wearing boots similar to those worn by military men.-The prisoner was remanded for a week.

SIR,-A shelter for outcast females will be opened in a few days at Harlow House, 34, Mile-end-road. Such poor creatures who are without home, food, friends, or money will be given a warm shelter, with a supper of a pint of coffee and bread, but the same applicants will not be admitted more than three nights in any week. Conveniences will be provided for washing, &c. Applicants will be received from ten p.m. until two a.m. every night, and those admitted can leave from five to eight o'clock in the morning, to enable them to obtain the casual employment that requires early application. The shelter will be cleansed each day, and, every means taken to make the poor creatures feel that it is not a casual ward, but a temporary shelter provided by those who sympathise with them in their sufferings. The only conditions will be-abject poverty and decorous conduct while in the shelter. Applicants will be able to obtain an order form the police-stations or any constable in the district.

We have secured on easy terms a site in Whitechapel, and if a little assistance is given us we will soon erect a large iron or other building on the site, which is close to the scene of one of the late brutal murders. We are negotiating for other sites, and will extend our operations if the necessary help is forthcoming. Members of the Vigilance Committee have offered their help, as they have found in the courts, alleys, passages, carts, vans, &c., countless poor creatures crouching away and in abject fear. Any donation, however small, will be thankfully received and duly accounted for. We shall also be glad of the assistance of ladies and gentlemen. With the exception of the attendant at the shelter there will be no paid officer, all services being rendered gratuitously. We ask for assistance, believing that if the movement is fully carried out it will not only be a great service to the destitute poor, but will also remove a stigma at present cast over a district peopled by honest, industrious artisans and labourers.

R.H. WINTER, J.L. DALE} Hon. Secs.
Office, 94, Mile-end-road, E.

There is a contradiction of the statement that it had been decided to revive the Trafalgar-square demonstrations. It was announced during the week that the organizers of those foolish and turbulent displays had arranged for a meeting this afternoon. We were told, moreover, that the attempt would be made on a large scale, and with all the paraphernalia of street processions and those other accessories which were to so great an extent responsible for the disorder and disturbance of last year. It is satisfactory to learn that nothing of the kind has been really on foot. We suspect that if any move has been made in the matter it has been in the nature of a tentative, the object of which was to ascertain how far it is possible to revive the agitation. Or the report may very well have originated in some mischievous minds which fancied they perceived in the state of things brought about by the East-end tragedies an opportunity for renewing demonstrations which the police authorities, embarrassed by other preoccupations, would find it difficult to prevent. In either case it is gratifying to observe that the endeavour to whip life into the defunct movement has been a failure, for the call to the masses appears to have fallen utterly flat. The Radical Socialist wirepullers would have shown extreme indiscretion in attempting to take advantage of the additional difficulties imposed upon the authorities by the atrocities which have so shocked and alarmed the inhabitants of the metropolis. They discovered very clearly in their previous essays that they had strained the public patience, which assuredly would not endure any effort to turn to account for the purposes of popular agitation the sense of insecurity excited by recent events.

A few days ago, the Paris, which passes for one of the most respectable of the evening newspapers, published in its second edition a complete and circumstantial narrative of "arrests and horrible details," purporting to have been telegraphed from London. The account filled a couple of columns, displayed in the most conspicuous portion of the journal. Under the headline of "Les Crimes de Londres," ran the following rapid summary of the news received ostensibly through the telegraph wire:-"Arrest of the Murderers-A difficult capture-Horrible details-The vengeance of the filles-Courage of a Newspaper Reporter-A strange fraternity-The prisoners questioned-A full avowal!" Whether the entire story was a "mystification" concocted deliberately in the offices of the Paris itself, or whether, in good faith, the Paris had fallen a victim to the ingenuity of some painstaking but sinister wag, the explanation of the East-end mystery was presented in a matter-of-fact and plausible manner not ill-calculated to deceive. It may happen that before these lines can appear in print some fresh incident in connexion with the mysterious Whitechapel tragedies may have anew engrossed the public attention. However this should turn out, it may not be uninteresting to your readers to hear something of the mode by which the secret of the "Crimes de Londres" was discovered, according to the recent two-column "special" of the Paris.

Telegrams reaching us from London, began the article in question, cast a complete and unexpected light upon the strange crimes committed in that metropolis within the last few days. "Not only has the guilty man been discovered; he has volunteered the most detailed confession of his crime, and he has done this with a cynicism which will astonish our readers. When we say the 'guilty man,' however, we are not quite exact. It would be more accurate to say that an arrest has been made of the whole of the persons who are guilty. In point of fact, we find ourselves in presence of an extraordinary band of miscreants-an organisation such as may be encountered only in the country where mysticism and cruelty abide still so curiously together." England is this odd abode of mysticism and cruelty. For other information as to the distracted condition of Londoners in general, here are two or three graphic notes for the instruction of your readers:-"The London police have been literally worn out, since the earlier of these events, last month. The coroners have given up all pretence of pronouncing any rational judgment. The population has been kept in a state of terror; and no more lamentable spectacle can be imagined than that of the Whitechapel street-walkers herding at the corners of wretched lanes and alleys, and whispering to one another their horrified impressions of these crimes. Not one of these women dared to venture out alone; but, as will be seen from our account of the arrest, the precautions which they thus observed were altogether superfluous."

First of all, the Paris rendered homage to "an intrepid confrere of the English Press, Mr. H.P. Tucker, a reporter on the staff of a daily newspaper." Mr. Tucker was the sole person to suspect the system upon which the murders had been carried out, and, employing a sagacity, a courage, and a presence of mind which are "probably not at this moment the apanage of the British police," had single-handed brought about the apprehension of the criminals. Rejecting tres-dèdaigneusment the old-fashioned device of a personal disguise-a device which would only serve to arouse suspicion-Mr. Tucker, when setting forth upon his daring mission, had been attired in an ordinary out-door costume, and had provided himself with no weapons but a revolver and a whistle au son strident.

Mr. Tucker was tranquilly pacing along a small deserted thoroughfare, Samuel-street, which adjoins Berner-street, where one of the dead bodies was discovered, when-and all this was announced by the journal in question as having occurred "last night"-his attention was suddenly attracted towards a vehicle which turned into Samuel-street from the main thoroughfare at the extremity. The vehicle advanced with a deliberate and, "èn quelque sorte, scrutinizing movement." It seemed to the solitary pedestrian in Samuel-street that the driver restrained every step made by his horse until he had assured himself that neither at his right hand nor at his left was there a single person visible. "Warned by a presentiment," Mr. Tucker at once hid himself in the dark shadow of an archway. What he then witnessed proved to be more singular than the suspicious circumstances that had gone before. The figure of a police-constable turned into the street from the opposite extremity, and this apparent police-constable, advancing cautiously towards the vehicle, examined the street on both sides exactly as the driver had done, and presently, having gone by the narrow court in which Mr. Tucker had sought concealment, launched a mysterious signal to the driver of the mysterious cab. Mr. Tucker had retreated on tiptoe to the far-end of the court, in order to escape observation by the mysterious man of the police. It was on returning to his post that he saw, with a stupefaction which may be imagined, but also with a joy bien professionelle, the "police-constable make to the coachman a mysterious sign." The vehicle stopped. Two persons alighted. They were carrying an object which, in its outline, resembled a man's figure, and which appeared to weigh somewhat heavily. Mr. Tucker felt convinced that the individuals before him were, if not the actual assassins, the principal accomplices. He had detected them en flagrant dèlit, and, grasping the revolver with which he had armed himself, he advanced resolutely towards the group.

"What are you doing there?" demanded Mr. Tucker, d'un ton impérieuz. "Damn you" (sic) was the reply, in a hoarse and menacing voice. "This does not concern you; and if you want to be let alone, you had better not interfere! You had better mind your own business." The two men deposited their burden on the ground, and precipitately re-entered the vehicle; the constable jumping at the same moment on the box, and the coachman preparing to drive off. But the reporter seized the horse's head, and promptly blew the strident whistle. Then might have been witnessed one of the most extraordinary scenes that have taken place for a long time past in the streets of London. From all directions rushed a frantic troop of street-walkers, young, old, wrinkled, weather-beaten, disheveled, in rags-a dread multiplication of the witches in "Macbeth." They screamed with fright, they yelled for vengeance, they hung on to the shafts and wheels of the mysterious carriage, they took the horse by storm, and, but for Mr. Tucker, they would have lynched every man-jack of the four unknowns, who, pale as death, submitted with chattering teeth. Mr. Tucker interposed. "Mesdames," said he, addressing the clamorous nymphs with la plus parfaite politesse-"I beg you to simply render me the service of guarding these gentlemen until the arrival of the police. If you kill these gentlemen, you will be destroying the means by which we arrive at a solution of these recent unexplained crimes. For adequate punishment to be meted out to the offenders, you may safely rely upon the justice of her Majesty." Hereupon a strong force of the police marched to the spot. The captives were at once led before Mr. Baxter, who, as coroner, had been sitting en permanence for several days.

The first of the prisoners to be interrogated by Mr. Baxter was the police-constable. The latter turned out to be no counterfeit member of the force. He was P.C. Rackett, with a number and a division. How did he account for his nocturnal adventure, as related by Mr. Tucker? "It is impossible for me to respond to your honour," said P.C. Rackett. From the driver of the vehicle the coroner could elicit no answer but a shrug of the shoulders. The third of the four personages was une sorte de brute, with the demeanour and the costume of an East-end dock labourer. This man underwent a most gruesome mental conflict before he could be induced to proffer any sort of answer to the questions addressed to him. He doubled up his fists, and his face empurpled. All further difficulty, however, was removed by the sudden action of the fourth amongst the prisoners. "Bunce, Murphy, and Rackett," said he, naming his confederates. "I propose to relate everything to the hon. magistrate before us." He who spoke thus was a young man-certainly not more than twenty-five years of age-blond and pale, with thin, compressed lips, and clear blue eyes of a remarkable fixity of expressions. His manner was characterized by the greatest distinction. "My name is Robinson," declared this finished type of the English elegant-"Jack Robinson. I am a surgéon and a doctor of medicine. I admit that I am one of the principal authors of the occurrences which you call crime; and I admit, also, that it was I who wrote the famous letter signed 'Jack the Ripper!' I regret the jest; but am I to be blamed for it? The joke is but a souvenir of the amphitheatre facéties in which the gravest of our savants will sometimes indulge."

Having perused up to this point the laborious version furnished by the Paris "telegrams," the reader would scarcely expect, perhaps, to be informed that it was no less a personage than Mr. Tucker, who dispatched the entire set of the telegrams.' Such, nevertheless, is the announcement of the Paris; and we are left to regret that, for its own sake, the journal was not the victim of a hoax-we are left to conclude that the foregoing amounts to nothing but a ponderous pleasantry in the most admirable taste. To sum up the theory: Robinson was supposed to be a Malthusian monomaniac, forgetful of the fact that this simple soustraction d'un element involved the loss of life. The subjects were enticed into a private house, and there gagged and murdered. They were then transported by means of the vehicle to any quarter which might be considered suitable. The policeman was supposed to be an amateur physiologist, gained over by money. As for the other two, they were heavily bribed to "recruit the young persons who were to serve as subjects." Dr. Robinson wound up his declaration before the coroner by asking for a Government appointment in the colonies. Two of his sentences, however, may be quoted textually for what they are worth:-"Let me point out the very slight sagacity which has been exhibited by your police. To undertake our operations in the open street we should have been simpletons indeed!"

SINGULAR FATALITY AT SPITALFIELDS.-Some excitement was created in Spitalfields yesterday morning by a report, which rapidly spread, that a man had been found with his body greatly mutilated. The excitement increased when it was suggested that the man was a victim of the unknown Whitechapel murderer. Upon inquiry, however, it was found that the man, who was by trade a butcher, was cutting a quarter of beef into joints, when his knife slipped, inflicting a very serious wound in the abdomen. He was conveyed in great pain to the London Hospital, where he died shortly afterwards.

WORSHIP-STREET.

Mary Hawkes, 18, and James Fordham, 21, the latter with several aliases, were charged, on remand, before Mr. Montagu Williams, with having been concerned with others not in custody, in assaulting Carl Edwin Newman and robbing him of a pair of trousers and a sum of 4l.-Mr. Phillips appeared to defend Fordham.-The facts of the case were reported last Tuesday.-The prosecutor, a Scandinavian, who described himself as a student, met a woman with whom he went to Flower and Dean-street, Spitalfields, and was taken by her into a common lodging-house, where he paid 8d. for a "double" bed, and was shown to a room. He found fault with the accommodation, and the woman left him. Almost immediately afterwards he was attacked by four or five men, who burst into the room throwing him on the bed, rifled his pockets, and stole his trousers. It happened, however, that two police-constables had been informed of the fact that the man had been taken to the house by women, and the officers remaining near the spot heard the prosecutor's cries, and entered the place just as he was thrown down the stairs. The room he had been in was searched, and in an adjoining room the prisoners were found in bed. The trousers and purse were also found there. Fordham denied having taken part in the assault on the prosecutor, but the latter identified him. The prosecutor also said that he paid the 8d. for the bed to a woman (the deputy), and the police said that when they entered the house the deputy was not to be seen. The magistrate had ordered the police to produce her, and desired to have some information as to the supervision of the common lodging-houses of the district.-Margaret Brown, a young woman, now deposed that she acted as "deputy" of the house in question, No. 34, Flower and Dean-street, erroneously stated last time by the witnesses to be 35. The house was owned by a Mr. Coates, who kept a chandler's shop in Dorset-street, and lived in Whitecross-street.-Replying to the magistrate the witness said there were 19 "double" beds and seven "singles" in the place. She remembered letting in the female prisoner and a man-a foreigner-the latter paying 8d. for a double bed. The witness also knew the prisoner Fordham, whom she let in at a quarter to one o'clock, or about ten minutes after the woman and the foreigner. She could not account for Fordham being afterwards found with the female prisoner in a "double" when he paid for a single bed. She had known him before, as he slept there about once a week for some time past. She did not know the other four men who attacked the prosecutor-there were no other men that she knew of up there. She had heard the prosecutor calling out, and went up, and the prosecutor said the woman had robbed him. That was after the police were in the house. The witness went up with the police. She had sole charge of the place, and was paid 6s.-a-week.-Police-constable Dennis, 57 H, recalled, said that when he entered the place the deputy was not to be seen. After going in a second time she came from the kitchen. The witness explained that the "single" beds were undivided and stood in rows in a large room, the "double" beds being in small rooms or compartments, the partitions dividing which did not touch the floor or the ceiling, a space of about 18in. being left top and bottom. A person might pass from one of the so-called rooms to the other by a good squeeze.-Previous convictions were then proved against both prisoners. The man had been several times sentenced for felony, and the woman twice for cutting and wounding, her latest sentence being 12 months.-Police-sergeant 32 H said he had been with an inspector to inspect the registered lodging-houses in the district. There were 127 common lodging-houses accommodating about 6,000 persons. They were all visited once a week on an average. The house 34, Flower and Dean-street, had hitherto been a well-conducted house. Of course it was frequented by thieves and unfortunates. He doubted if a single registered lodging-house would be found without thieves and unfortunates among its lodgers.-The magistrate having stated that he should send the case for trial, Mr. Phillips said Fordham would reserve his defence.-The prosecutor was not in attendance, and it was said that he was about to sail for America.-Mr. Williams said that he should chance the prosecutor being in attendance at the trial. If he was not the judge would probably deal with the matter. He directed that the proceedings at the lodging-house in question be reported at Scotland-yard.-The prisoners were then committed to the sessions.

TRAFALGAR-SQUARE.-The proposal to hold a meeting in Trafalgar-square to-day is not, it is understood, meeting with general support among the Radical and working men's clubs. The alternative proposition that a demonstration shall be held on November the 13th, in commemoration of the "martyrs" of last year, seems to meet with more favour.