London, Nov. 22.
People of London have again been startled over a report of another case of woman murder and mutilation in Whitechapel. The
rumor was too readily believed, as every body had been expecting another outrage and nobody was surprised at inquiries made
at Scotland Yard and at Whitechapel police stations show that the report of murder was false.
It originated from the hysterical story of a woman who was found drunk in the Commercial street station of the Underground
railroad to kill her by cutting her throat (sic). The woman is in the hands of the police and will be further examined when
she gets sober, but the authorities attach no importance to her statement.
The story, as first reported, was that the attempted murder occurred in George street at 9 in the morning. The man and woman had passed the night together, and he suddenly attacked her with a long, sharp knife making a frightful gash in her throat.
The woman struggled desperately and raised such an outcry that the man fled.
Three men living in an adjacent house pursued him, but he made his way adroitly through the crowd in a way which showed a thorough familiarity with the locality, and eluded the pursuers. It is said he was short, stout, well dressed, and wore a light moustache.
His victim recovered sufficiently afterwards to describe her assailant as tall, fair, well dressed, speaking pure English.
The woman's name is Farmer.
The Scotland Yard authorities are convinced the assault on the woman was not the work of the Whitechapel fiend. The excited populace, however, believe still the assailant was Jack the Ripper, and assert that the police are trying to throw dust in their eyes. No arrests have yet been made. The streets in Whitechapel district are thronged with excited mobs.
The principal reason given by the police for their belief that the Whitechapel murder in the East End was not the work of the real Whitechapel fiend, is the fact that both the would be murderer and his intended victim drank themselves into a state of gross inebriety, a condition that the perpetrator of the previous crimes was obviously free from, and then went to an ordinary lodging house at the door which a government inspector is always in attendance. This circumstance, together with the fact that the time of attempting to kill the woman was as ill judged with reference to the escape of the murderer as the place induces the belief that the man is a maudlin imitator of Jack the Ripper, who will be exceedingly unlikely to repeat his performance. Nevertheless, if he is caught in the vicinity of Spitalfields, he will certainly be lynched.
It is significant, however, that in spite of the asseverations of their conviction that the assault upon the woman cannot be connected with the chain of Whitechapel butcheries, the police are if possible putting forth greater exertion than ever to accomplish the arrest of her assailant.
Investigation shows that the woman upon whom the alleged assault was made is of the very lowest class of abandoned creatures. She has sustained only a slight abrasion of the throat, which it is now suspected was inflicted by herself while drunk.
