It is by no means clear that this tenth Whitechapel murder is by the same hand as the
others, but there is enough similarity to make ascription to Jack the Ripper natural. If
anything, there is more excitement in East London over this newest addition to the list
than there was when the last occurred, in September 1889. Of course, there are a multitude
of theories advanced, and it seems that several people really saw the man who it is
assumed is the murderer talking with his victim. But such a mass of ignorant liars always
turns up on such occasions that it is difficult to choose between the varying descriptions
given of the suspected man, and nobody dreams of expecting that the police will track down
the miscreant. The policeman who discovered the body did hear retreating footsteps after
he realized it was a murder, but it did not occur to him to pursue. The explanation given
that he is a young man from the country only six weeks on the force is accepted as
satisfactory by everybody.
There is also much doubt whether the man arrested to-day is guilty of yesterday's crime,
let alone the others. The police here, so far from giving information, think it sagacious
to deny everything, and hence there are no means of corroborating or checking the rumors
of which the town is full. Even if the prisoner proves to be Jack the Ripper, his arrest
will give no credit to the police, for he had actually been stopped this morning by a
Sergeant, questioned, and allowed to go away before a civilian's suspicions caused his
apprehension.