Times (London)
Tuesday, 9 October 1888
THE EAST-END MURDERS.
No arrest in connexion with the atrocious murders at the East-end had been reported up to a late hour last night either at Scotland-yard or at any of the City police-stations, and although elaborate investigations have been made no further clue has yet been discovered.
The funeral of Catherine Eddowes, the victim of the Mitre-square murder, took place yesterday at Ilford Cemetery. The body was removed shortly after 1 o'clock from the mortuary in Golden-lane, where a vast concourse of people had assembled. A strong force of the City Police, under Mr. Superintendent Foster, was present, and conducted the cortége to the City boundary. At Old-street a large number of the Metropolitan Police were present under Inspector Barnham. The cortége passed Whitechapel parish church, and along Mile-end-road, through Bow and Stratford to the cemetery. The sisters of the ill-fated woman and the man Kelly, with whom she had lived for seven years, attended the funeral. Along the whole route great sympathy was expressed for the relatives.
It is stated by a news agency that definite instructions have been issued to the police that in the event of any person being found murdered under circumstances similar to those of the recent crimes, they are not to remove the body of the victim, but to send notice immediately to a veterinary surgeon in the South-west District, who holds several trained bloodhounds in readiness to be taken to the spot where the body may be found, and to be at once put on the scent.
THE CHILDREN OF THE COMMON LODGING-HOUSES.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir, - Stimulated by the recently revealed Whitechapel horrors many voices are daily heard suggesting as many different schemes to remedy degraded social conditions, all of which doubtless contain some practical elements. I trust you will allow one other voice to be raised on behalf of the children. For the saddest feature of the common lodging-houses in Whitechapel and other parts of London is that so many of their inmates are children. Indeed, it is impossible to describe the state in which myriads of young people live who were brought up in these abodes of poverty and of crime.
I and others are at work almost day and night rescuing boys and girls from the foul contamination of these human sewers; but while the law permits children to herd in these places, there is little that can be done except to snatch a few here and there from ruin and await patiently those slower changes which many have advocated. Meanwhile, a new generation is actually growing up in them. We want to make it illegal for the keepers of licensed lodging-houses to which adults resort to admit young children upon any pretext whatever. It is also desirable that the existing laws relating to the custody and companionship of the children should be more rigidly enforced. At the same time some provision is urgently required for the shelter of young children of the casual or tramp class, something between the casual wards of the workhouse and the lodging-house itself, places where only young people under 16 would be admitted, where they would be free to enter and as free to depart, and which could be made self-supporting, or nearly so. A few enterprising efforts to open lodging-houses of this class for the young only would do immense good.
Only four days before the recent murders I visited No. 32, Flower and Dean-street, the house in which the unhappy woman Stride occasionally lodged. I had been examining many of the common lodging-houses in Bethnal-green that night, endeavouring to elicit from the inmates their opinions upon a certain aspect of the subject. In the kitchen of No. 32 there were many persons, some of them being girls and women of the same unhappy class as that to which poor Elizabeth Stride belonged. The company soon recognized me, and the conversation turned upon the previous murders. The female inmates of the kitchen seemed thoroughly frightened at the dangers to which they were presumably exposed. In an explanatory fashion I put before them the scheme which had suggested itself to my mind, by which children at all events could be saved from the contamination of the common lodging-houses and the streets, and so to some extent the supply cut off which feeds the vast ocean of misery in this great city.
The pathetic part of my story is that my remarks were manifestly followed with deep interest by all the women. Not a single scoffing voice was raised in ridicule or opposition. One poor creature, who had evidently been drinking, exclaimed somewhat bitterly to the following effect:- "We're all up to no good, and no one cares what becomes of us. Perhaps some of us will be killed next!" And then she added, " If anybody had helped the likes of us long ago we would never have come to this!"
Impressed by the unusual manner of the people, I could not help noticing their appearance somewhat closely, and I saw how evidently some of them were moved. I have since visited the mortuary in which were lying the remains of the poor woman Stride, and I at once recognized her as one of those who stood around me in the kitchen of the common lodging-house on the occasion of my visit last Wednesday week.
In all the wretched dens where such unhappy creatures live are to be found hundreds, if not thousands, of poor children who breathe from their very birth an atmosphere fatal to all goodness. They are so heavily handicapped at the start in the race of life that the future is to most of them absolutely hopeless. They are continually surrounded by influences so vile that decency is outraged and virtue becomes impossible.
Surely the awful revelations consequent upon the recent tragedies should stir the whole community up to action and to the resolve to deliver the children of to-day who will be the men and women of to-morrow from so evil an environment.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
THOS. J. BARNARDO.
18 to 26, Stepney-causeway, E., Oct. 6.
WHITECHAPEL.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir, - Will you kindly allow me in your columns to reply to many correspondents who have desired to be informed of the best way to befriend the poor women in Whitechapel, Spitalfields, and the neighbourhood, whose miserable condition has been brought before the public so prominently by the late murders?
I was for ten years rector of Spitalfields, and I know full well the circumstances of these poor creatures, and have been constantly among them by day and by night. A night refuge has been proposed, and it was but natural it should suggest itself as a means of benefiting the class. In my judgement it would serve no good end, and I earnestly hope nothing of the kind will be attempted. I am sure it would but aggravate the evil. It is not the fact that many of these women are to be found in the street at night because doors are closed against them. Another night refuge is not required. It would attract more of these miserable women into the neighbourhood and increase the difficulties of the situation. But what is needed is a home where washing and other work could be done, and where poor women who are really anxious to lead a better life could find employment. There are penitentiaries and there are mission houses into which younger women can be received. The public generally are little aware of how much good work has been done of late among these. But for the older women, many of whom have only taken to their miserable mode of earning a living in sheer despair and who would gladly renounce it, we have not the home, and it is of the utmost importance one should be provided. It would in its management differ from the ordinary penitentiary.
If intrusted with means to provide such a home I would gladly undertake the responsibility of conducting it, in conjunction with the clergy and others, who are only too anxious to see it established.
It has oftentimes saddened my heart to be unable to assist the older women and to save those who were hopelessly falling into a life of sin. Such a home would be a fitting addition to the "Court House", the home for younger penitents at Walthamstow. which bears the name of Mrs. Walsham How, and was founded by her in the time of my predecessor, the present Bishop of Wakefield. If anything is to be done it should be done at once. Two thousand pounds would enable the experiment to be tried, and I have no doubt at all of its being a success.
Pray allow me space to say to ladies who have been moved to devote themselves for work in these parts that I shall be delighted to hear from such and to advise them where their services are most required and how they can best give effect to their charitable intentions. It is my bounden duty to use my position and experience to turn to the best account the painful interest that has been excited by late events in the East-end.
I am, your obedient servant,
R. C. BEDFORD, Bishop Suffragan for East London,
Stainforth-house, Upper Clapton, E., Oct. 8.
THE DUTIES OF THE POLICE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir, - The following incident in some way illustrates the manifold duties of the police.
On Sunday afternoon, close to the Albert-gate, a little girl was run over by a hansom cab. The wheel passed over her body, and I think over her head. She got up and staggered a few paces, moaning pitifully. A policeman dashed at her and caught her up in his arms. He then jumped into the hansom, summarily ejecting the passenger, and was driven to St. George's Hospital.
I should think that the whole occurrence took only a quarter of a minute. The amazing promptitude of the constable and the tender way in which he laid the poor child's bleeding head on his breast seemed a strange commentary on the abuse which some people are pleased to levy at the police for their supposed "brutal conduct" on other occasions.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
T. WENTWORTH GRANT.
6, Westbourne-crescent, Hyde Park, W., Oct. 8.
THE MURDER AT WESTMINSTER.
Yesterday, at the Sessions-house, Westminster, the inquest was opened by the Westminster Coroner, Mr. Troutbeck, respecting the headless and limbless body of a woman found in the vaults of the new police offices which are now being built on the Victoria Embankment, on the spot formerly taken for the proposed National Opera House. At the mortuary, Millbank, the jury viewed the remains found on the 2d inst. in the vaults between Cannon-row and the Embankment, and to these had been added the arm found on the 11th of September at Pimlico. Detective-Inspector Marshall watched the case for the police.
The first witness called was Frederick Wildbore, living at Clapham Junction. He deposed, examined by the Coroner, - I am a carpenter, and am employed at the new police offices at Whitehall. On Tuesday afternoon last I was at work at the buildings. My work took me during the day to all parts of them. On Monday morning, at 6 o'clock, I had occasion to go to the vaults to fetch my tools, which had been taken there on Saturday by a labourer. I was not there on Saturday. When I went to the recess on Monday morning my mate was with me and I felt something there. It is a dark place, and I struck a light and looked at it. I could not form any idea of what the parcel was, and we both came away. Neither of us touched it in the least. I saw it again next morning (the 2d), and came away again. I did not notice any smell. At 1 o'clock that day (Tuesday), Mr. Brown, the assistant foreman, came down to where I was at work, and I told him of the parcel in the vault, and he ordered it to be opened. The parcel was brought out by the labourer and opened. The parcel was in the same condition when Mr. Brown saw it as when we first saw it. It was not touched in the interval - not by any one, and when it had been sent for by Mr. Brown it was just as we had first seen it. This vault had been used for some three weeks, and for that time I have placed my tools there each Saturday to Monday - not on other days. I have never seen any one carrying such a parcel on the works.
The witness was here asked to look at a plan prepared, and he pointed out the spot under which the vault was placed, thus being on the westward side of the works; and he pointed out also the entrance of the workmen in Cannon-row. He pointed out, too, the way he went to the vault, and the plan was handed to the jury.
The witness resumed. - The way I went to the vault was not difficult to me, but it would be rather puzzling to any one to find the place if they were not acquainted with the way and the spot.
By the Jury. - I went down to the vault by a way I knew from where I worked. I could get there without going down planks. I could not see in the recess or vault without striking a match, it was so dark even in daytime, and people who did not know the place could not have found there way there.
George Buddon, living in Walworth, a bricklayer's labourer on the works, deposed. - I was in the vault where the body was found at about 2.55 on Tuesday last. I had been told to go and see what a parcel down there contained. I struck a light and saw the top bare, and the rest wrapped up in some old cloth. I thought it was old bacon, or something like that, and I could not make anything of it, so I took hold of the string around it - it being tied up - and dragged it across a trench into a part of the vault where there was light. I cut the strings there and opened the wrapper. The strings - a lot of old strings of different sorts -were tied up all round it several times across each way. There was only the wrapping I saw, no paper, and when the parcel was opened I saw the body of a woman. I was not alone when the parcel was opened; there were present the foreman bricklayer, Mr. Brown, and Wildbore. I cannot say how long it was before that I was there - a long time. It is a very dark place; always as dark as the darkest night in the day. The police were sent to at once when the body was found, and they took charge of the body and wrapper. I was only told before I went to the vault to go and see what a parcel contained that was there.
Detective Hawkins, A Division, stated, - At 3.30 of the 2d inst., Mr. Brown, of the new police buildings, Cannon-row, came to King-street Police-station, and from what he stated I went to Cannon-row. I saw lying in the vaults of the new police buildings an open parcel in dress material, which had been tied round, and a body of a woman in it. I looked further along the recess where it had been and saw a piece more dress material. I saw the place where it had stood. The wall was very black, and the place full of maggots. I left the body in charge of a constable, and sent to the medical officer, Mr. Bond.
By the CORONER. - The vault where it was said the body had lain was very dark, and the recess was across a trench, which was also in the dark. A person to go to the recess would have to cross the trench on a plank; the trench could not be seen without a light.
Frederick Moore, a labourer, who had found the arm, stated, - On the 11th of September I was outside the gates of the deal wharf where I work, near Grosvenor-road. On my attention being drawn to the bank, I looked over the Embankment on to the Thames shore, near the sluice. Some men had said that there was something on the shore, and I went over and picked it up. I found it was a woman's arm, with a strong attached to the part nearest the shoulder. I looked about the shore to see if there was anything else, but as there was not I gave this to the police.
By the CORONER. - I did not see the arm until my attention was directed to it by others. The tide was low at the time, and the arm was on the mud.
Police-constable W. James, 127 B, deposed to receiving the arm from the last witness and taking it to the station, and to its transference to Dr. Nevill.
Mr. C. W. Brown, living at Hornsey, the assistant foreman to the Messrs. Grover, builders, the contractors for the new police offices, Whitehall, deposed, - The works on the embankment are shut off by a boarding 8 ft. or 9 ft. high, and there are three entrances with gates, two in Cannon-row and one on the Embankment. It is three months since the vaults have been completed. No one, except the workmen and carmen are or have been admitted to the works, except those who had business with the clerk of the works. There are notices to that effect on boards. The gates, however, have not been attended and persons could get in. All the gates, with one exception, are locked at night, and the exception is one which has a latch with a string above to admit those who know how to pull it. There was no watchman at night. The approach to the vault from Cannon-row was first by planks and steps, and planks again. There was work being done in the vaults a week before the discovery. There was no one there on Sunday or Saturday night. The locks of the gates were not found forced at any time, nor was any gate open on Monday last or at any time.
The CORONER. - Should you think that it would require any special knowledge of the place on the part of a person to place that in the vault? - Witness. - Yes; I should consider so, as the place is out of all roads.
The witness continued, - I was down in the vaults on some days before and noticed no smell. I was about there without a light as I knew the place. I had my attention called to this recess on Tuesday last by Wildbore, who said there was a curious parcel there, and I gave instructions that it should be brought out and we saw it contained human remains. When my attention was thus called to it on Tuesday, it was the first time I had any knowledge of the matter. I at once ordered the police to be informed. I looked at the parcel and saw what seemed to be like an old coat thrown down, and some ham close by. I subsequently spoke to one or two of the labourers, and one of them by my instructions dragged it out. We then found that the parcel contained human remains.
By the Jury. - We have had tools lost from the works. I do not think it possible that anyone could have lowered the parcel from Richmond-mews (at the side of Whitehall-gardens) and then have carried it across the grounds to the vaults.
George Cheney, living at Wandsworth, the foreman bricklayer of Messrs. Grover, deposed to having been called to see the parcel in the works. He had not been in the vault before the occasion when he was called to see the "curious parcel."
Ernest Hedge, a labourer on the works, stated that he was in the vault on Saturday (the 29th of September) at half-past 5 in the afternoon, to fetch a hammer, and there was no parcel there then. He struck a light to go across the trench and looked round. The vault led to nowhere and he should not have been there but to get the hammer. He was there on the Tuesday and was there when the body was brought out. People went into the vault for various purposes. Witness said he was the last on the works on that Saturday and locked up the works. He left the place all secure. He did not open the works on Monday. He locked up all the doors except one, which was on the latch, pulled up by a string by those who knew of it - those engaged on the works - and he thought they all knew of that.
By the Jury. - No one unconnected with the works would be likely to notice from the outside the means of entering this door.
The Coroner's officer, T. Ralph, Constable 634 A, stated that he took possession of the body and placed it in the mortuary. He also deposed to moving the arm found at Pimlico in the mud of the Thames to the mortuary. These were the remains the jury had seen.
Mr. Thomas Bond, F.R.C.S., 7, Sanctuary, Westminster, deposed, - On Tuesday last, shortly before 4 o'clock, I was called to the new buildings for the Police offices, Cannon-row, and was shown the decomposed trunk of a woman. It was then lying in the basement, having been removed from the dark vault where it was found. The strings which had tied it had been cut, and it was partially unwrapped. I visited the place where it was found, and I saw the walk against which it had been lying. The wall was stained black at the place where the parcel had rested against it. I thought the body must have been there several days from the state of the wall; but I could form no definite opinion as to how long it had been there. I directed the detectives to take charge of the trunk and of the wrapper, and to remove them to the mortuary. I went to the mortuary myself first and made arrangements for the reception of the body. It arrived there in the evening, and I superintended its disinfection and the placing of it in spirits. On the next morning I made a post-mortem examination, assisted by Mr. Hibbert. The trunk was that of a woman of considerable stature, and well nourished. The head had been separated from the trunk at the sixth cervical vertebra, which had been sawn through. The lower part of the body and the pelvis had been removed, and the fourth lumbar vertebra had been sawn through in the same way as in the removal of the head, by long, sweeping cuts. The length of the trunk was 17 in., the circumference of the chest was 35½ in., and the circumference of the waist was 28½ in. It was all very much decomposed, but the skin was not so much decomposed as the cut parts, and I examined it for wounds. I found none on the body. The skin was light. The arms had been removed at the shoulder joints by several incisions, which had been made apparently obliquely and then downwards around the arms. The joints had been removed straight through the joint - that is, disarticulated through the joint. Over the body were clearly-defined marks, where string had been tightly tied. The body appeared to have been wrapped up in a very skilful manner. On close examination we could not find the linea alba which would indicate that the woman had borne children. It was impossible to ascertain, owing to the decomposed condition of the remains, whether there had been any wound inflicted on the neck in life. The neck had been divided by several incisions and sawn through below the larynx. On opening the chest, we found that the rib cartilages were not ossified; that one lung was healthy, but the other lung was adherent, showing that for some time the woman had suffered from severe pleurisy. This was of long standing. The heart was healthy, but there was no blood in it, and no staining of the organ with blood. That, to my mind, is an indication that the woman did not die from suffocation or drowning. The liver was in a normal condition, and the stomach contained about one ounce of partly-digested food. There was no appearance of inflammation. The kidneys were normal, and the spleen also. The small intestines and the part which attaches the intestines to the body were in place, and were healthy. The lower part of the large bowel, and all the contents of the pelvis were absent. We found that the woman was of mature age and over 24 or 25 years of age. She was, to every appearance, a well-nourished woman, and was, in fact, a large, well-nourished person, with fair skin and dark hair. There were no indications that she had borne a child, but it was possible that she might have done so. The date of death, as far as we could judge, would have been six weeks or two months before the discovery, and the decomposition occurred in the air, and not in water. I subsequently examined the arm which had been brought to the mortuary from Pimlico, and this was fully examined and will be described by my colleague, Mr. Hibbert. I found that the arm accurately fitted to the trunk. The cuts corresponded, and the general contour of the arm corresponded with the body. It was a fleshy, rounded arm. The hand was long, the fingers tapering, and the nails very well shaped. It was the hand of a person who had not been used to manual labour. Mr. Hibbert has compared the hairs, and he will tell you the result.
The CORONER. - About the cuts? Were they made after death? - Undoubtedly. It is impossible, owing to the state of decomposition in which the body was, to say whether there had been a cut round the neck during life which would have caused death. The decomposition was very far advanced, and the body was absolutely full of maggots. I could not have ascertained from the condition of the trunk whether any wound on the neck was made in life.
The CORONER. - Then there was nothing to indicate the cause of death? - Nothing whatever. There was nothing to show that it was sudden, but I am satisfied that it was not a death by suffocation. It was more likely death from hemorrhage, for the heart was pale, and free from clots, whereas in the great number of post-mortem examinations which I have made after a very long period, where death has been from drowning, the interior parts of the heart have been very much stained with blood. In this case the interior part of the heart was quite pale, proving, to my mind, that the woman died from hemorrhage or fainting. I did not anatomically examine the arm, but merely fitted it to the trunk.
The CORONER. - Can you give us any opinion as to the height of the woman? - We believe the height of the woman to have been about 5 ft. 8 in. Those measurements depend more upon the measurements of the arm than of any measurements which have been made of the trunk.
The CORONER. - Was the woman a very stout woman? - She was not a very stout woman, but she was a thoroughly plump woman, and a fully developed one. There was no abnormal excess of fat, but the body was that of a thoroughly well nourished, plump woman. These measures are not strictly diagnostic to an inch, but they lead to a very fair inference that she was a very tall, big woman, at least 5 ft. 8 in. high. The hand was certainly that of a woman, as I have said, who was not used to manual labour.
The CORONER. - Would the hand be that of a refined woman? - The hand was that of a woman not used to hard work.
Mr. Charles Alfred Hibbert, M.R.C.S. of Great College-street, Westminster, deposed. - I assisted the last witness. I saw this arm first on the 16th of September, and then made an examination of it. It was the right arm which had been separated from the trunk at the shoulder joint by a cut which passed obliquely round. The arm measured 31 in. in length, and its circumference at the point where it was separated was 13 in. The hand measured 7½ in. The arm was surrounded in the upper part by a piece of string, and this made an impression upon the skin of the arm. When the string was loosened it was found that there was a great deal of blood in the arm. The skin of the arm was in a fair condition, and was not very much decomposed, but the skin of the hand was very thin, white, and corrugated through immersion in the water. The hand itself was long, well-shaped, and carefully kept, and the nails were small and well-shaped. There were no scars or marks of any kind, and there were no bruises. There were a few dark brown hairs left under the arm. The woman must have been over 20. The arm had apparently been separated from the body after death. The calculation as to the height of the woman, founded upon the measurement of the arm, made her about 5 ft. 8½ in. high. I thought the arm was cut off by a person who, while he was not necessarily an anatomist, certainly knew what he was doing - who knew where the joints were and cut them pretty regularly. There were not many cuts - about six or seven. They had evidently been done with a very sharp knife. I was enabled to examine the arm at the same time as the trunk, and found they exactly fitted. The skin cuts corresponded, and the bones and the hair corresponded: The hair was precisely the same, and when the two lots were mixed together they could not be separated.
The CORONER. -- Did you notice whether there was similar skill in the division of the corresponding arm according to the appearance of the shoulder? - Yes. It was done exactly in the same way. The line of the cuts began at the top of the shoulder and passed round the arm at either side.
In a division like that one which you have for any purpose of anatomy? - No. For a surgical motive, the cut would have been so made as to leave the skin outside. In this case the skin was cut through by several long cuts, and then the bone was sawn through. The pieces of paper produced, which were found near the body, are stained by some animal blood. It is certainly not the blood of a bird or a reptile. There was no mark of a ring on the finger of the hand.
Detective - Inspector Marshall, sworn, deposed, - I am an inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department, attached to the A Division. About 5 o'clock on the 2d inst. I went to the new police buildings on the Thames Embankment, and in the basement saw the trunk referred to by previous witnesses. Mr. Hibbert was there. The corner of the vault from which it had been drawn was pointed out to me. I saw that the wall was a good deal stained: I examined the ground, and there found a piece of newspaper (produced). I also found a piece of string, which seems to be a piece of sash cord, and Mr. Hibbert handed me two pieces of material which he said had come from the body. I made a thorough search about the vaults in the immediate vicinity at once, but nothing more was found. On the following morning, with other officers, I made a further search of the vaults of the whole site. Nothing more was found nor anything suspicious observed. With regard to the piece of paper, I have made inquiry, and find it is a piece of the Echo, dated the 24th of August, 1888. Mr. Hibbert also handed me a number of small pieces of paper, which he said were found on the body, and I find they are pieces of the Daily Chronicle. They were not pieces of any paper issued from that office this year. The dress is a broche satin cloth, of Bradford manufacture, but an old pattern, probably of three years ago. It is rather common material. There is a flounce in it six inches from the bottom. The material probably cost 6½d. a yard. It is easy, I think, to get over the hoarding in Cannon-row, but there are no indications of any one having done so. It is quite easy for any one to open the latch referred to. I should think the body had been where it was found for days, from the stain on the wall, but the witness who has been examined declares most positively that it was not there on Saturday, as he was on the very spot.
Hedge, recalled, deposed, - Where the parcel was found was in a corner.
The CORONER. - Would you have any occasion to go into that corner? - No, except to nail a locker up, and I looked into the very corner with the light for a hammer. I am quite sure the parcel could not have been there without my seeing it.
In reply to the CORONER, Inspector Marshall said that was all the evidence he possessed.
The CORONER asked if it was probable that any other evidence would be forthcoming.
Inspector Marshall said one or two more of the work-people might be examined. Of course, the all-important task was to find the head.
The CORONER. - As there are other witnesses, and there seems to be this doubt as to whether the parcel was in the vault before Saturday, I think we must adjourn, and I therefore adjourn the inquiry until this day fortnight.
The inquiry was accordingly adjourned.
At the THAMES Police-court, HANS BURE, a well-dressed German; was charged with assaulting Elizabeth Jennings, of 37, Duckett-street, Stepney. Prosecutrix said that about 12 30 on Saturday night she was walking along Harford-street, on an errand, when the accused came up, caught hold of her arm, which he pinched, and said, "Come along with me." Witness was frightened and screamed. She stood by a young man whom she knew, when prisoner followed and she ran into the road. Prisoner ran after her, but saw another lady coming, and then caught hold of her shawl. Several men caught hold of the accused and detained him until a constable came, when he was given into custody. Mrs. Matilda Beck said the accused caught hold of her shawl, but she released herself and ran away. He followed, but some men stopped him. Witness was very much frightened. Constable 150 E said when he arrested the accused he said he did not mean anything. He was under the influence of drink. Prisoner, through an interpreter, said he took the prosecutrix to be a prostitute and did accost her. She screamed and ran away, and he followed to give an explanation, when he was detained. He did the same to the other woman. A witness for the defence, named Webb, said he saw the prisoner just touch the women. They screamed, and a mob of men got round the prisoner calling him "Jack the Ripper." Mr. Saunders said the accused had frightened the women and at a time when they would easily be frightened. He would be fined 40s. or undergo one month's hard labour.
