IT looks very much as if the police had entirely lost the scent of the Whitechapel murderer, if, indeed, they ever found it. They made a mistake from the beginning; they took no plan of the house, and they took no steps for following the trail of the murderer. The blood stains story proved to be a mare's-nest, but with bloodhounds put on while the scent was hot, and in the early morning when conflicting trails would not puzzle the dogs, the criminal might have been tracked. Compare the proceedings of the police in this case with those of Lecoq, Gaboriau's detective hero - the manner in which the young detective tracked the steps in the snow, got the size of the boots of the person who had just left the hovel where the murder had taken place, and sniffed round every square inch of ground both in the house itself and in the yard at the back. There is nothing improbable in this; it is the ordinary proceeding of a French detective, but it does not seem to have been dreamed of by our police. The whole story in Gaboriau's novel might be printed as a leaflet and distributed among Sir Charles Warren's detectives.
MEANWHILE the Daily Telegraph is for throwing Mr. Matthews to the lions, and probably every other editor in his heart thinks Sir Charles Warren ought to go too. Of course he, and not Mr. Matthews, is really to blame. A feeble, forcible red-tapeist, with the mind of a dancing master and the statesmanship of an attorney's clerk, like Mr. Matthews, is, of course, unsuitable for his position; but with a just and really strong man at Scotland-yard, Mr. Matthews could have done little harm. It is Sir Charles Warren who has militarised the force when he ought to have spiritualised - in the French sense - and trained it. Less drill and more brains, less of the "Prepare to meet cavalry" and more of the "Prepare to catch criminals" is what is wanted in our police.
UNHAPPILY the Whitechapel case is being mismanaged from top to bottom. The man Piser has been released; but why was not he confronted with the women who spoke to him and could have identified him, or the contrary? Was he the Leather Apron - the terror of Whitechapel unfortunates - or was he not? If the man is innocent, as he appears to be, the neglect of the police is grossly unfair to him; and in any case the interests of the public are being shamefully neglected.
This is more by
55,000
Than the highest ever reached by any other Evening
Paper in London.
The circulation of THE STAR on Saturday
last was
232,500.
The Pimlico Mystery.
The Thames police were engaged for several hours yesterday in dragging the river between Pimlico steamboat pier and the London Brighton, and South Coast Railway bridge, between which points the arm of a woman was found on the previous day. A careful examination was also made of the timber raft floating in the river, but no discovery of human remains was made.
An old man of 63, named Thomas Uberfield, a tailor, who lives at 268, Kennington-road, was charged to-day at Lambeth with attempting to murder his daughter, Jane. At nine o'clock this morning Police-constable Hutchins was called to the house and saw the prisoner on the first floor landing with only his trousers and shirt on. He was greatly excited, and said, "I've cut my daughter's throat. I don't know what possessed me to do so." Dr. Farr soon arrived and attended to the injured girl. When charged at the police station, the old man said, "I bought the razor to cut my bowels open, as I felt something creeping about inside." Dr. Farr said he knew the prisoner as a patient for nearly 18 months. He had been of unsound mind for some time. His delusion was that he had animals crawling about inside him. Instructions had been given that he should be watched, though witness had seen nothing to lead him to suppose that the old man would do injury to anybody. Witness found the daughter seated in a chair and bleeding very much from a wound in the throat about two and three-quarter inches in length and about half an inch deep. It was a dangerous wound, but more particularly from the loss of blood and after symptoms. Witness thought she was likely to recover. She was now lying at home. There was one small cut on the right hand which was likely to have been inflicted in a struggle. The father had said to witness, "I bought the razor for myself and not for my daughter. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I suppose it was through the evil spirits in my feet." - In answer to Mr. Chance the prisoner said he did not wish to put any questions, but added he was in an unfortunate condition of health. - Mr. Chance ordered a remand, and said it was a sad affair, and no doubt the result of a sudden fit of insanity.
A Woman Stabbed by a Jap.
A Japanese named Supiwajan was charged at the Thames Court with cutting and wounding Ellen Norton, 9, Jamaica-passage, Limehouse. The woman's head was bandaged, and she said last night she was in the Coach and Horses beershop, West India Dock-road, and heard screams by the Asiatic Home. She went out and saw the accused about to stab her friend, and rushed forward and got the knife into her own head. She had been drinking, but not in the Jap's company. Her friend's name was Emily Shepherd, and this young woman was called, and said the Jap came up and said to her, "If you go away from me to-night I will rip you up, the same as the woman was served in the Whitechapel-road." She screamed out, when the prosecutrix ran up. The accused then said, "If I can't have her I'll have you," and stabbed Norton in the head with the long bladed knife. He then kicked witness, and afterwards broke a plate-glass window at the Strangers' Home. - Mr. Lushington committed the prisoner for trial.
The police continue their investigations into the Whitechapel crimes, but they seem very unlikely to discover the culprit. The only chance of his detection is the possibility that he may commit another crime and be caught in the act. The man Pigott is still an inmate of the workhouse infirmary, and it is stated that his mental condition has not materially improved. The idea that he was connected in some way with the recent crimes has not been entirely abandoned, and he is still kept under surveillance, while inquiries are being made into his antecedents.
Another arrest on suspicion was made at Holloway yesterday, but it was speedily ascertained that the man was a harmless lunatic, and he was sent to the workhouse infirmary.
A woman named Mrs. Durrell made a statement yesterday to the effect that at about half-past five o'clock on the morning of the murder of Mrs. Chapman she saw a man and a woman conversing outside No. 29, Hanbury-street, the scene of the murder, and that they disappeared very suddenly. Mrs. Durrell was taken to the mortuary yesterday, and identified the body of Chapman as that of the woman whom she saw in Hanbury-street. If this identification can be relied upon, it is obviously an important piece of evidence, as it fixes with precision
and corroborates the statement of John Richardson, who went into the yard at a quarter to five, and has consistently and persistently declared that the body was not then on the premises. Davis, the man who first saw the corpse, went into the yard shortly after six o'clock. Assuming, therefore, that the various witnesses have spoken the truth, the murder must have been committed between half-past five and six o'clock, and the murderer must have walked through the streets in almost broad daylight without attracting attention, although he must have been at the time more or less stained with blood. This seems incredible, and it has certainly strengthened the belief of many of those engaged in the case that the murderer had not far to go to reach his lodgings in a private house.
Among the many suggestions made to the police is one urging that the pupils of the murdered woman's eyes should be photographed, on the chance of the retina retaining an image of the murderer capable of reproduction.
The detectives from Scotland-yard and those belonging to the Bethnal-green division who are engaged in the Buck's-row murder met at the Commercial-street Station to-day to make arrangements for certain low quarters to be particularly watched during the night. The police say they believe they are on the track of the murderer. This individual is being carefully looked after, but they cannot arrest him until they have more definite information to act upon.
Considerable doubt is being thrown on the evidence of John Richardson, who stated that he was almost on the exact spot where the body was found at a quarter to five on Saturday morning, and no signs of the murder were then apparent. It is now beginning to be believed that the woman was brought to the backyard in Hanbury-street some time earlier. Another link in the chain of evidence which the police are trying to establish is as to the whereabouts of the murdered woman between the time when she was last seen and when she was found murdered. There are at least
The search of the police is being thorough and systematic. They have accounted for a vast number of the frequenters of the common lodging-houses in the neighborhood, but some few men are still unaccounted for. There are a large number of the pedlar class who leave the neighborhood on periodical journeys, and these on their return will be asked whether they saw Annie, the murdered woman, in the vicinity of the Spitalfields Market on Saturday morning last, and who were her companions. It is considered difficult to believe that a woman who was so well known in the district cannot be traced for four hours, and if her whereabouts during the time in question can be ascertained a very tangible piece of evidence will have been attained. Evidence is being withheld from the police by some women who were associates of the two last murdered women because of their terror of sharing a like fate, and several of them have left the neighborhood.
Mrs. Mary Burridge, a dealer in floor-cloth, at 132, Blackfriars-road, was standing at her door on Saturday, reading the Star account of the Whitechapel murder, and was so much affected that she retired to the kitchen, where she fell down in a fit. She regained consciousness for a short time on Monday, but afterwards relapsed and died yesterday.
A Bitter Winter in London.
The master of the Paddington Workhouse called attention yesterday to the great increase in the numbers of vagrants seeking admission into the casual wards. They had to turn numbers away every night. On the previous night 54 persons made an application, but only 32 could be admitted. There was every indication that the number of persons seeking shelter in the casual wards would very much increase during the next few months, and he desired to know what was to be done. He added that all the metropolitan casual wards were full every evening, which was most unusual at this time of the year. At Marylebone they had had to turn casuals away. It was referred to the workhouse master to ascertain what other parishes did with the casuals.
The Whitechapel Murders.
SIR, - It may interest your readers to learn in connection with the Whitechapel murders that a number of parallel cases occurred some seven years ago near Bochum in Westphalia. The murderer was in the habit of lassooing women, and treating them in exactly the same manner as his confrère of Spitalfields. After many fruitless efforts on the part of the police to catch the perpetrator of the outrages, they at last arrested a gipsy, who was duly sentenced to death and beheaded. Unfortunately, a few days after his execution the murders recommenced! The assassin had the impudence to write to the magistrate of the district that he meant to kill a certain number of victims and would then give himself up. The papers applied to such a murder the expressive term of lustmord (pleasure murder).
My German friend, who reminds me of this case would not feel astonished to hear that the Bochum lustmörder has put in an appearance at Whitechapel. - Yours, &c.,
London, 10 Sept.
