"S. G. O." has written another of his powerful and pathetic letters to the Times. The Rev. Lord SIDNEY GODOLPHIN OSBORNE does not spare the society to which he belongs, and so faithful is his sermon that we will not ask whether the preacher has consistently minded his text. It is useful to point out that the Christianity which rejects the doctrine of human brotherhood in life only to confess it by its formularies in death is not precisely the kind of doctrine which its Founder taught:-
"Yes, ye of society, its upper class, ye, the dwellers in all attainable luxury, the fortunate of the earth, let your rank be what it may, your wealth a tale of millions, the Godward life of many of you ever in evidence, or the Godless life not less so; the Established Church of your nation proclaims in that solemn hour in which your own graves will be open, that these - the society labelled 'unfortunates' are before the God to whom you have been taken - your sisters. You may seek to ignore their existence. To speak of them at all is in bad taste; if forced to do so, it is as if they were a sort of human vermin, unclean parasites, a humanity affliction admitted in its existence, but so existent to be held as a matter of course; fortunately scattered where their presence does not intrude on that of those, the made of the same Creator, who dwell in all that the 'fortunate' of this life can obtain of this life's enjoyment."
This is excellent writing, but what does the Rev. Lord SIDNEY GODOLPHIN OSBORNE propose to do? A good many practical consequences flow from the admission that London swarms with men and women who live daily on the very edge of the margin of subsistence, men who are never out of the workhouse for more than a few months at a time, women who sell souls and bodies to get the price of bread and bed. We have been accused of unduly sensationalising these Whitechapel horrors. The charge comes with a good grace from the journal which has carried the policy of sensation to heights undreamed of by The Star, and which has lately been dabbling with rather puerile pleasure in the "blood-baths" of realistic romance. As a matter of fact our withers are unwrung. We have published no bloodstained facsimiles. We have given no unnecessary details. We have aimed throughout at definite social and political ends - the sounding of the chapel bell in the ears of the "classes," the doing the work which "S. G. O." is doing in the Times with a fervor of rhetorical energy to which we do not pretend. The fault of modern society is that it does not know the things that belong to its peace, that it is able to conceal, beneath the plausible shows, the conventional charities, and all the well-oiled machinery of selfish upper class and middle class life, the awful reality of the gulf that lies beneath. Society, as "S. G. O." says, cries "Aha! I am warm," when the warmth is that of the gathering volcano.
And now the whole thing is astir. The Press is alive with "the moral of the murders." Scores and hundreds of correspondents deluge us with letters "Is Christianity a Failure?" answering their own question as a rule with the pathetic non sequitur that Archbishops at £15,000 a year are. Mr. BARNETT sounds clearly, though a trifle mournfully, the note of the Gospel of Humanity which he and Toynbee Hall have so bravely and so unostentatiously preached year in and year out in the East End. In a few brief days we have got to know exactly what is the measure of our neglect of social duties; and what machinery is available for setting things right. These are great gains, and they have been bought at a not too costly price.
Of course, behind the immediate morals, the problems of practical politics which we all can help to solve, lie the larger facts on which the economist must keep his eye. Nothing can be more appropriate, for instance, than the appearance at such a time of Professor ROGERS'S "Economic Interpretation of History." The title itself strikes a key-note of modern thought, which no man has sounded more emphatically than the late member for Bermondsey. All sensible men have given up treating history as if it were the record of the crimes and follies of kings and queens; and now most of our historians are beginning to learn the lesson that wages, and prices, and poor laws are the great tap-root facts of society, by following which we can delve down down to its very foundations. Professor ROGERS, for instance, draws attention to the vital point, which he has himself proved to demonstration, that the means of life were more abundant in the Middle Ages than they are now. This is a sufficiently startling comment on the smooth optimism of disciples of "progress." If, as Canon SHUTTLEWORTH said admirably at the Church Congress, the aim of Christianity should be to secure a decent environment for every human being, how far are we from the goal! But there is always hope for a society which knows the worst of itself, and admits it; and after certain realistic performances in Mitre-square and Hanbury-street, no one can any longer pretend ignorance of the tendency of such economic systems as that of unrestricted competition, backed by the devil's gospel of laissez faire, and working its disastrous will on a people divorced from the land, and stripped bare of the old labor-rights which held in the Middle Ages. Our duty, then, as a Radical journal is plain. It is, first, not to blink the truth. We have got to take the cotton wool out of Society' ears, and clap an ear-trumpet in instead. But it is also our duty to point other morals than that which the majority of the Press seem inclined to preach, viz., that our only part in this business is to catch the murderer, hang, and possibly torture him. Cursed as we are with Warrenism, we may not even accomplish the two first, but we can at least see that if some of GOD'S poor are dying horrible, but painless, deaths in Whitechapel, we will not for ever condemn their brothers and sisters to the living death of poverty.
THE Daily News has a timely article this morning on the lighting of Whitechapel. The real point of this matter is, not that the highways and byways of the East are worse lighted than those of many other parts of London, but that in the East there are facilities for crime in many ways. For these reasons the district ruled by the Whitechapel Board of Works ought to be better lighted than any other part of the metropolis. But this is a hard saying so long as the rateable value remains abnormally low, and every street lamp represents a capital outlay of £100.
HERE, again, then, it is the old story - something wrong in the government of London. If darkness be, as no one can doubt it is, the best friend of the criminal, this is a matter in which all London is concerned every bit as much as Whitechapel. Is it for the interest of the wealthy West-end that the pickpocket, the burglar, and the murderer should find secure and impenetrable hiding places in the East? The welfare of every part of the metropolis is bound up with that of every other part, and the cost of promoting that welfare ought to be evenly distributed over the whole, as it is in every other city in Christendom. Our want of appreciation of this "corporate unity" is at the bottom of half the evils of London municipal life, and to remedy it is one of the first works that awaits our coming London Council.
NOTHING better illustrates the need for a strong central government of London than the condition of the block of ruined tenements on the south side of King's College Hospital. Here, within a stone's throw of the magnificent pile of the Law Courts, and actually adjoining a large hospital, is a festering mass of rubbish and ruins, so foul in its unsanitary condition that the pathway through it has to be daily watered with carbolic acid to protect the unfortunate wayfarer. The idea will naturally arise in the minds of those who are new to these facts that this property must be part of some estate in Chancery, or belong to some cross-grained old miser who refuses to deal with it. Nothing of the sort; this patch of decaying squalor in the very centre of the largest city in the world, is the freehold property of the richest Government in the world.
THE Government of England bought this plot of ground years ago as a site for a new Bankruptcy Court. For years they did nothing to it, but a few months ago one of these houses fell down with a crash, and Mr. Plunket was frightened. In consequence of this fright half a dozen laborers appeared on the scene, and took the roof off one of the remaining houses and expelled the inhabitants of those which were still habitable. Having done thus much, the laborers disappeared again, and have not been heard of more. But the London gamin saw his chance of a fling, and there is not a whole window left in the houses which still stand, so that the place is infinitely more gruesome and disreputable than before Mr. Plunket touched it. There is absolutely no excuse for this gross neglect. It would have been perfectly easy to clear the site years ago of its ruins, level the ground, and allow the children of the district to use it as a playground until the time came for building the Bankruptcy Court. But the Chief Commissioner of Works, be he Liberal or Conservative, is much too exalted a personage to care about the children of Clare Market, or the sightliness of Carey-street.
The Annual Report of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to the Home Secretary is issued to-day. The report is for the year 1887, and its contents are of special interest at the present moment. The number of police available for service in the metropolis is given as 12,460, made up of 26 superintendents, 766 inspectors, 1,174 sergeants, and 10,494 constables. An average of 1-14th of the force is daily on leave. After deducting the casualties, there remained 8,773 police available for duty in the streets. Sixty per cent. of this number is required for night duty - from six p.m. to six a.m. The Metropolitan Police are extended over a radius of fifteen miles from Charing-cross, embracing an area of 688 square miles. "It will be seen," the report goes on, "that there is great need for
and this has been so reported by the superintendents.' The pay of the force was £1,096,277. Since 1849, when the authorised strength of the force was only 5,493, there have been built 500,852 new houses and 3,463 are in course of erection; 1,833 miles of new streets have been added to the charge of the police, and the population has increased from 2,473,758 to 5,476,447. The Commissioner again points out that the rapid increase both of buildings and population of late years has outrun the increase which it has been possible to make to the police force. The Commissioner is of opinion that many of the clubs are little better than unlicensed public houses, and thinks all should be placed under supervision. The Commissioner refers to the "attempts" made by "unruly mobs" to riot in
but the proceedings were "successfully coped with by the police." For these and other arduous services the special medals worn by the police were awarded. During the year 959 registered common lodging-houses were under the control of the police, and these accommodated 31,351 lodgers. Of this large number only three keepers of registered houses were summoned and convicted for infringements of the Acts.
At Worship-street yesterday, in the course of an assault case, in which the offence was committed at a common lodging-house, Mr. Montagu Williams remarked that his previous observations with reference to these lodging-houses had conveyed a wrong impression. A person had thought fit to assume that he (Mr. Williams) suggested their abolition. His sympathies were so entirely with the poor that he recognised the value of such houses to them, and had no thought of suggesting what was imputed to him. But from what had been revealed he believed a better supervision of them was necessary, and he hoped it would take place quickly.
A about half-past eight this morning the Thames police found in the river, near Pimlico Pier, the body of a woman, apparently between 40 and 50 years of age. She was respectably dressed in black, and looked as if she might have been the wife of an artisan. She had evidently only been in the water for a period of about three or four hours, so that the time of her death would be in the small hours of this morning. In one of her pockets were found pawn-tickets, indicating that she had pledged articles as late as seven o'clock last evening. The cause of her death was
a fact indicated by the quantity of water in her stomach, but as there were no external marks of injury on her body, it is impossible to say whether she came by her death suicidally, accidentally, or by being pushed into the water. She was a strong, healthy woman, and apparently well nourished. Dr. Neville, the police surgeon, has made a post-mortem examination of the body, which establishes the fact that death was due to drowning. The police believe that the woman committed suicide. She has been identified as Elizabeth Jutsem, aged 52, of 21, Westmoreland-road, Pimlico. She left home last night.
The Greenwich and Deptford Observer of yesterday tells a gruesome tale. "The fact seems to be indubitable," it says, "that the dead bodies of women from the river near Greenwich have been made a spectacle to the multitude for hire. The thing seems almost too shocking to relate, yet there seems no doubt about the fact. The caretaker does not seem to have any recognised right to take any action in the matter. Dead bodies have repeatedly lain in the mortuary till the remains became quite offensive. The state of affairs has been so well understood by the street arabs in the Bridge-street vicinity, that they have been in the habit of trading upon the spectacle afforded by the mortuary chamber of horrors. "This way, ma'am, only a penny, ma'am; just brought into the deadhouse last night!" This is only a specimen of the cries by which many respectable visitors to Greenwich have recently been saluted. The same journal remarks: "In no quarter of the Ottoman Empire would it be expected of men, whether in the police force or employed in any other capacity, that they should disrobe, wash, and 'lay out' the dead bodies of women. Now this is what the men of the Greenwich police force have been tacitly required to do, even if they have not really done it."
Just Such a Man as Archibald Forbes Described - The Practical Joker Threatens Another Murder - A Night of Comparative Quiet.
A medical gentleman called at The Star office yesterday to give us some important information regarding a suspicion which he entertains as to the murderer. But his first words were of protest against the manner he was received at Scotland-yard. He went there in company with another medical gentleman and announced that he had some important information to communicate. He was shown into an underground room where two or three police clerks were standing about. He was not attended to, and after waiting some minutes he said to his friend, "Well, if this is the way we are to be treated I am going." Thereupon one of the subalterns said, "Beg pardon, sir, but we are very busy." This came from one of the men who was busy talking to his colleagues. At last the doctor received some, but not too polite, attention. He was conducted upstairs to see
but that "someone" refused to see him. His statement was then taken down in a perfunctory manner. "The man," he says, "didn't put down half that I told him, and I was disgusted at the manner we were received and at the careless way Scotland-yard does its duty." The only explanation they gave to his protests was that "There's so many people call here, you know." Having extricated himself from Scotland-yard red tape and Warrenism, the gentleman came with his story to the Star office, not because he sympathises with the paper politically, for he is a "rank Conservative," but because of the importance he attaches to the news.
It has been more than once suggested that the murderer is a
The doctor had an assistant who has gone mad recently, and who is exactly the sort of man Mr. Archibald Forbes had in his mind in his diagnosis of the murders. "Clearly," said Mr. Forbes, "the murderer is a man familiar with the geography of the Whitechapel purlieus. Clearly he is a man not unaccustomed in the manner of accosting these poor women as they are wont to be accosted. Clearly he is a man to whom the methods of the policeman are not unknown - the measured pace, the regular methodic round, the tendency to woodenness and unalertness of perception which are the characteristics of that well-meaning individual.
"Probably, a dissolute man, he fell a victim to a specific contagion, and so seriously that in the sequel he lost his career. What shape the deterioration may have taken, yet left him with a strong, steady hand, a brain of devilish coolness, and an active step, is not to be defined."
"The man's physical health ruined," continues Mr. Forbes, "and his career broken, he has possibly suffered specific brain damage as well. At this moment - I cannot use exact professional terms - there may be mischief to one of the lobes of the brain. Or he may have become insane simply from anguish of body and distress of mind. Anyhow, he is mad, and his mania, rising from the particular to the general, takes
against the class, a member of which has wrought him his blighting hurt, against, too, the persons of that class plying in Whitechapel, since it was from a Whitechapel loose woman that he took his scathe."
Now this exactly describes the man whom the doctor suspects. He is a man of about 35. He was not a fully qualified surgeon, but had a certain amount of anatomical knowledge, and had assisted at operations, including ovariotomy. He was the assistant to a doctor in Whitechapel, and
in the neighborhood of the places where the murders were committed. He has been the victim of "a specific contagion," and since then has been animated by feelings of hate, not to say revenge, against the lower class of women who haunt the streets. When seen about eight months ago he was mad. "What man," said the doctor, in concluding his story, "is more likely to have committed the crime than this maniac?" The matter is certainly one which should be sifted by the police, but Scotland-yard is perhaps too busy to attend to it, because forsooth "There's so many call here, you know."
Extreme vigilance is now being exercised by the police in Whitechapel. The whole place swarms with detectives and men in uniform. Last night there was a great force abroad. It was feared that the murderer would again select Saturday morning for the perpetration of another crime, and they knew that unless he was caught red-handed they would have no evidence against him.
A correspondent who was in Whitechapel last night says that detectives were walking in Commercial-road in couples, being followed by men in uniform. Some of the detectives were dressed up as dock laborers, and the disguise according to this observer was clumsy. These detectives follow every suspicious-looking person. Two of them noticed a man and woman drinking coffee at a stall. They followed the couple, arrested the man, took him to Angel-alley, and searched him, and then let him off. This correspondent while going through the streets was importuned by several women. One begged twopence of him to make up her night's lodging. Another seems to have been one of the decoy women which a private firm of detectives have out in order to try and catch the murderer.
The Press Association says : - The following postal telegram was received by the Metropolitan Police at 11.55 p.m. last night. It was handed in at an office in the Eastern District at 8 p.m. : - "Charles Warren, Head of the Police New Central Office. - Dear Boss, - If are willing enough to catch me I am now in City-road lodging, but number you will have to find out, and I mean to do another murder to night in Whitechapel. - Yours, JACK THE RIPPER."
The telegram has been proved to have been handed in at the chief office of the Eastern District in Commercial-road, but no information is forthcoming as to how it came to be accepted by the telegraphic authorities, or by whom it was handed in.
A letter was also received at the Commercial-street Police-station by the first post this morning. It was written in black lead pencil and signed "Jack Ripper." It is couched in ridiculous language, and the police believe it to be the work of a lunatic.
Last summer, while travelling in France (writes Michael Mack) I picked up and glanced over a French work resembling "Hone's Everyday Book," which gave an account of a remarkable criminal who must have strongly resembled the fiend who has created such consternation in the East-end of London. For months women of the lowest class of "unfortunates" were found murdered and mutilated in a shocking manner. The police seemed powerless. At last a girl one night was accosted in the street by a workman, who asked her to take a walk with him. When, by the light of a lamp,
it inspired her with a strange feeling of fear and aversion; and it instantly flashed upon her that he must be the murderer. She therefore gave him in charge of the police, who, on inquiry, found that her woman's instinct had accomplished what had baffled the skill and the exertions of all their detectives. The long-sought criminal had been at last found. It subsequently came to light that he had been impelled to commit these crimes by a brutal form of homicidal monomania. He had sense enough to know that from this class of women being out late at night, and being friendless and unprotected, he could
on them with comparative safety and impunity, and he therefore avoided selecting his victims from a more respectable class. He was convicted and executed. This notorious case must be well known to the Parisian police, and to thousands of persons in France, and if inquiry is made its history can be easily procured. No doubt a ruffian like him has turned up in East London, and will be also detected.
Islington was startled last night by a report that "a man with a knife" had been arrested at the corner of Linton and Packington streets, and that he was without doubt the Whitechapel assassin. Upon inquiry at the Upper-street Police-station the inspector informed a Star reporter that a man had been arrested on suspicion of stealing from shop-doors. He carried a carving knife he had recently purchased wrapped in paper, and after accounting satisfactorily for some other things found upon him, he was liberated. The police, of course, verified the address he gave, and he was found to be a highly respectable engineer.
Hon. and Rev. Sydney Godolphin Osborne writes another powerful letter to the Times this morning. It has (he remarks), been no writing on the wall which has thus warned the "unfortunates;" the order to depart is writ in crimson on that pavement, in those secluded spots to which the wearied feet of the midnight seeker of the harlot's hire, by force of necessity are but too willingly led. When all the coroner's work is done, the sickening detail published for our whole Christian nation's perusal, then come the texts from which so many sermons will be preached, and now in ordinary pauper form these mangled remains will be committed to the earth, the fully ripened, but decayed fruit of "unfortunate" humanity; packed in the parish shells, scant covering of the shells which but lately clothed immortal souls. Then will be heard the voice of the cemetery chaplain - "It is sown in corruption; it is sown in dishonor." Had such graves echo power, how fitting would here be its effect! "God has taken to Himself the souls of our dear sisters here departed."
its upper class; ye, the dwellers in all attainable luxury, the fortunate of the earth, let your rank be what it may, your wealth a tale of millions, the Godward life of many of you ever in evidence, or the Godless life not less so; the Established Church of your nation proclaims in that solemn hour in which your own graves will be open, that these - the society labelled "unfortunates" - are before the God to whom you have been taken - your sisters. You may seek to ignore their existence. To speak of them at all is in bad taste; if forced to do so, it is as if they were a sort of
a humanity affliction admitted in its existence, but so existent to be held as a matter of course. We seem to be on the verge of a creed that, as this state of things has so long existed, it is to be viewed as preordained, and, therefore, beyond human power to alleviate. It lies in our road of life, but we systematically pass by on the other side, and yet as Christians we affect to be taught of Christ. The question, to me, seems now to be forced upon us, Is the arm of the Lord shortened, or are the hands which aseume to be those by whom He would have his deeds of mercy done paralysed? Is the axe to strike at the root of evil double-bladed, one edge fitted and sharp to deal with it in heathen lands, the other blunt and ill-adapted for home use? Are we to believe that tens of thousands of those our National Church proclaims to be our brothers and sisters, when dead, are living disgospelised, so born and reared as to be of a race the Gospel tidings and teachings cannot touch?
The Whitechapel murderer, if such there be (says the extremely cautious Law Journal), has by invading the City boundary given rise to a curious illustration of the anomalies of local government which are now in process of being reformed. By slightly widening the circle of his crimes he has had brought to bear upon him a resource of barbarism of late years relegated to the past. The Home Secretary, in spite of clamor, has been steadfast in maintaining the practice inherited from his predecessors of refusing to try to catch criminals by offering large rewards. This is a policy which has now been adopted for the whole country, and it is obvious that if once broken in upon the whole mischief of information being held back by those who are waiting for the offer of a reward is revived. Unfortunately, the understanding which has prevailed has only the sanction of the comity of the police authorities throughout the country, and has no legal force. The City authorities, having the control of their own police, can revert to exploded expedients by dealing with crime from the commercial point of view with some show of right, but in point of law every private person may offer a reward for information leading to the detection of crime, and would be held to his promise in a court of law. An Act of Parliament is necessary to save the administration of the law from the periodical reversion to quack remedies to which it is exposed.
The body of the deceased woman Kate Eddowes has been placed in a handsome polished coffin with oak mouldings. It has a block plate with gold letters with the following inscription:-
All the expenses in connection with the funeral will be borne by Mr. Hawks, Banner-street, St. Luke's. The City authorities, to whom the cemetery at Ilford belongs, have arranged to remit the usual fees.
At the Birmingham Police-court to-day a man giving the name of Alfred Napier Blanchard, a canvasser from London, was charged on his own confession with being the Whitechapel murderer. He was arrested on the strength of a statement he had been making in a public-house. He now denied any knowledge of the affair, and explains his confession by pleading that he became excited by reading about the murders. The police do not attach any importance to the arrest, but the prisoner was remanded until Monday that inquiries may be made.
The police have reason to believe that the Whitechapel murderer is a man of several disguises. They do not care to make public all the information they have on this point, but they will be very pleased to have any information as to what may be known about anyone changing their clothing under peculiar circumstances near or about the time of any of the murders. The first information on this point came to hand immediately after the Buck's-row murder, and there is a strong probability that facts then ascertained have a direct bearing on subsequent events. It will be remembered that Ann Nichols was murdered on the night of 30 August. On the following night it was reported that a woman was set upon by a gang of roughs in Cambridge-heath-road, one of whom had attempted to force her into an alley way. This report proved to be false as far as the gang were concerned. The police ascertained, however, that
by a man, and that her cries had attracted a number of others, whose efforts to capture her assailant led to the gang story. The miscreant escaped in the direction of Commercial-road. That was about eleven o'clock. Not later than a quarter-past eleven a man stepped hurriedly into a yard entrance at No. 2, Little Turner-street, Commercial-road. On one side of the yard is a milk stand. The man asked for a glass of milk, and, when served, drank it hurriedly, then, looking about in a frightened manner, asked if he might step back into the yard. The proprietor, Henry Birch, did not object, but presently, his suspicions being aroused, he stepped towards the man and found him drawing on a suit of new overalls over his ordinary clothes. The pants were already on, and he was stooping to take a jacket from
that lay at his feet when Birch stepped up to him. He seemed to be very much upset by the interruption, and for a moment could not speak. Presently he said, "That was a terrible murder last night, was'nt it?" and before Birch could answer he had added, "I think I've got a clue," and, snatching up his bag, he disappeared down the street. Mr. Birch then thought he might be a detective, adopting a disguise for some purpose, but the police believe he was the man who assaulted the woman in Cambridge Heath-road, and that he donned the overalls to mislead anyone who might be tracing him. They have the name of the woman referred to, and her description tallies with that given by Birch of his mysterious caller. The clothing was described as a blue serge suit, and a stiff but low hat. He wore a stand-up collar and a watch-chain. He wore no beard, but
and his face was evidently sunburnt. Birch says he thought he was a seafaring man, or one who had recently made a long voyage. When he got the overalls on he had the appearance of an engineer. Many points of this description correspond so well to that given of the man who made such pointed inquiries about women at the Nuns Head Tavern, Aldgate, last Saturday night, and also to another description the police have received, that they are inclined to connect the man with the latest murders.
appears to be in regard to the hat, and it is just there that the theory of his frequent disguises comes in. It is deemed possible also that what a neighbor in Mitre-square thought was a light paper parcel may have been a black shiny bag, which with the light of the street lamp upon its glazed surface might easily have misled one. It is from a combination of the descriptions above referred to that the police have formed a pretty good idea of one man they would like to find.
The most important evidence given at the inquest yesterday on the Berner-street victim of the Whitechapel murderer was that bearing on the personal appearance of a man, supposed to be the culprit, who was seen standing in Berner-street with the woman by three people.
of 64, Berner-street, a warehouse laborer about 50 years of age, said he saw the deceased on Saturday evening at about a quarter to twelve in Berner-street, about three or four doors from where he was living. She was standing talking to a man, and was not then wearing a flower in her bosom, so far as witness noticed. The two were talking together quietly.
The Coroner: Can you describe the man at all? - He was of middling height, but I did not see his face clearly.
How was he dressed? - He had a black coat on (not an overcoat), and wore light trousers.
Was he young, old, or middle-aged? - He seemed to me to be middle-aged.
Was he wearing a hat? - No; a round cap, with a small peak to it.
Such as a sailor would wear? - Something of that sort.
Was he thin or stout? - Rather stout.
Did he look well dressed? - Yes, very decent.
What class of man did he appear to be? - I thought he might work at some respectable business, not hard work.
Like a clerk? - He had that appearance.
Did he have any whiskers? - I don't think he did from what little I saw of his face.
Did he have any stick? - No; nothing in his hands.
Did deceased have anything in her hands? - I did not notice. I took more notice seeing him "a-kissing her and cuddling her." I was standing in my doorway.
Did you hear anything said? - I heard him say to her, "You would say anything but your prayers."
Different people talk in a different way. Did his voice give you the idea of a clerk? - Yes; he was mild speaking.
Did he speak like an educated man? - Yes. I think he was.
of 35, Fairclough-street, said that at about a quarter to one on Sunday morning he went out to get some supper at the corner of Berner-street, where there is a chandler's shop. He was gone three or four minutes, and as he returned he saw a man and woman standing by the Board School (which is just opposite the scene of the murder). They were up against the wall. As witness went past them he heard the woman say, "No, not to-night, some other night." That made him turn round and look at them. He was almost certain deceased was the woman, but did not notice any flowers in her bosom. The man had his hand on the wall, and the woman with her back against the wall was facing him.
The Coroner: Did you notice the man at all? - I saw he had a long coat on, and that is all I noticed. It came very nearly down to his heels. It was an overcoat.
What sort of hat did he have on? - I did not notice.
What height was the man? - About the same as myself, 5ft. 7in.
Thin or stout? - Not so very stout.
Did either seem the worse for drink? - No.
Police-constable Smith, the constable on whose beat the murder occurred, said he noticed a man and woman in Berner-street talking together.
Was the woman anything like the deceased? - Yes. I saw her face, and I think the body at the mortuary is that of the same woman.
Did you look at the man at all? - Yes.
What did you notice about him? - He had a parcel wrapped in a newspaper in his hand. The parcel was about 18in long and 6in. to 8in. broad.
Did you notice his height? - He was about 5ft. 7in.
His hat? - He wore a dark felt deerstalker's hat.
Clothes? - His clothes were dark. The coat was a cutaway coat.
Did you overhear any conversation? - No.
Did they seem to be sober? - Yes, both.
Did you see the man's face? - He had no whiskers, but I did not notice him much. I should say he was 28 years of age. He was of respectable appearance, but I could not state what he was. The woman had a flower in her breast. It rained very little after eleven o'clock. There were but few people in the bye streets. When I saw the body in the mortuary, I recognised it at once.
The inquiry was adjourned to Tuesday fortnight, at two o'clock.
The remains found at Guildford were lying on the railway near the station. They consisted of a right foot and a portion of a left leg from the knee down to the ankle, where it had been severed. The police doctor examined the limbs at the time, and certified them to be human; whilst he also considered them to be those of a woman, but the flesh had either been roasted or boiled. Detective Marshall brought the remains to London this morning, and a comparison will be made. It is said that the maker of the skirt in which the body was found has been traced - the maker being in the West-end. The date on which the body was placed in the underground recess is a matter of great importance. If placed there before or on Saturday, the fact would seem to indicate that the removal was a necessity before quarter-day. The removal of Harriet Lane's body by Wainwright was due to the fact that he was about to give up the tenancy of the house wherein the body had up till then remained.
Two gentlemen well known on the Stock Exchange (writes a correspondent), one a member and the other a clerk, have been fishing at Dorking. The intelligent police shadowed them on suspicion of being the Whitehall murderers. Finding that they were followed and dogged everywhere, they went to the superintendent and told him who they were, and offering him proofs of identity. This the police sternly declined, and subsequently they put detectives in the railway carriage and attempted to search them personally, but the two gentlemen resisted so strenuously that they had to give it up.
A Woman Weary of Life.
Johanna Bethke, 32, a tall and well-looking North German, was charged at Worship-street with having attempted suicide by hanging herself. - The husband of the prisoner, Herman Bethke, said they lived in Great Chart-street, Hoxton. He did not know, he said, for what reason, but his wife was always troubled. She would cry, go into a passion, tear his clothes, and taking up a knife say she would kill herself. On Friday she took a rope and ran upstairs from him, and said she would hang. He laughed at her, but he asked a lodger to oblige him by going to see. The lodger would not go, and he (the husband) went upstairs. There he found his wife hanging from a rope round her neck over the stairs. He held her up by her legs and cut her down. She tried to hang herself twice afterwards. The woman, who cried bitterly, said that her husband was cruel to her. They had a lodging house, and she had to keep it clean - seven or eight rooms - and her husband did no work, but went to a gambling club at night and stopped in bed all day. - The lodger said, in reply to the magistrate (Mr. Williams, Q.C.), that he did not know if the husband stopped in bed all day. - The Prisoner: Yes you do; you go to the gambling club every night yourself; you are as bad. My husband beats me if I cannot give him money to gamble with. I am black and blue. I cannot bear it. I am sick of my life. - The magistrate directed Constable Manning to make inquiries, and remanded the prisoner till Monday.
