The consternation which has been excited all over the country by the terrible outrages which the past month has witnessed in the East-end of London has been intensified by the committal, within a brief period of time, of two very similar murders in the same quarter of the metropolis. The discovery of one dead body on the morning of Sunday, the 30th ult., preceded the discovery of the other by only three-quarters of an hour; one woman has been mutilated as well as murdered; and both belong to the class which furnished the victims of the preceding tragedies.
These events have produced something very like terror in East London, and the popular excitement manifested itself in the large crowds which all day on Sunday attempted to visit the two places where the bodies were discovered. Impromptu meetings were held during the afternoon in Victoria-park and at Mile-end, at which resolutions were passed complaining of the conduct of the Home Secretary in declining to offer a reward for information. The Vigilance Committee which has been formed since the murder of the woman Nicholls was summoned on Sunday evening, when resolutions of a somewhat similar character were carried.
The scene of the first outrage is a narrow court in Berners-street [sic], a quiet thoroughfare running from Commercial-road down to the London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway. At the entrance to the court are a pair of large wooden gates, in one of which is a small wicket, for use when the gates are closed. At the hour when the murder was committed these gates were open; indeed, according to the testimony of those living near, the entrance to the court is seldom closed. For a distance of 18 ft. or 20 ft. from the street there is a dead wall on each side of the court, the effect of which is to enshroud the intervening space in absolute darkness after sunset. Further back some light is thrown into the court from the windows of a workmen's club, which occupies the whole length of the court on the right, and from a number of cottages occupied mainly by tailors and cigarette makers on the left. At the time when the murder must have taken place, however, the lights in all of the dwelling-houses had been extinguished, while such illumination as came from the club, being from the upper story, would fall on the cottages opposite, and would only serve to intensify the gloom of the rest of the court. From the position in which the body was found, it is believed that the moment the murderer had got his victim in the dark shadow near the entrance to the court he threw her to the ground, and with one gash severed her throat from ear to ear. The hypothesis that the wound was inflicted after and not before the woman fell is supported by the fact that there are severe bruises on her left temple and left cheek, this showing that force must have been used to prostrate her, which would not have been necessary had her throat been already cut. When discovered the body was lying as if the woman had fallen forward, her feet being about a couple of yards from the street, and her head in a gutter which runs down the right hand side of the court, close to the wall. The woman lay on her left side, face downwards, her position being such that although the court at that part is only 9ft. wide, a person walking up the middle might have passed the recumbent body without notice. The condition of the corpse, however, and several other circumstances which came to light prove pretty conclusively that no considerable period elapsed between the committal of the murder and the discovery of the body. In fact, it is pretty generally conjectured that the assassin was disturbed while at his work, and made off before he had completed his designs. All the features of the case go to connect the tragedy with that which took place three-quarters of an hour later a few streets distant. The obvious poverty of the woman, her total lack of jewellery or ornaments, and the soiled condition of her clothing are entirely opposed to the theory that robbery could have been the motive, and the secrecy and despatch with which the crime was effected are equally good evidence that the murder was not the result of an ordinary street brawl. At the club referred to above - the International Workmen's Educational Club - which is an off-shoot of the Socialist League, and a rendezvous of a number of foreign residents, chiefly Russians, Poles, and Continental Jews of various nationalities, it is customary on Saturday nights to have friendly discussions on topics of mutual interest and to wind up the evening's entertainment with songs, &c. The proceedings commenced on Saturday about 8.30 with a discussion on the necessity for Socialism amongst Jews. This was kept up until about eleven, when a considerable portion of the company left for their respective homes. Between 20 and 30 remained behind, and the usual concert which followed was not concluded when the intelligence was brought in by the steward of the club that a woman had been killed within a few yards of them and within ear-shot of their songs. The people residing in the cottages on the other side of the court were all indoors, and most of them in bed by midnight. Several of these persons remember lying awake and listening to the singing, and they also remember the concert coming to an abrupt termination; but during the whole of the time from retiring to rest until the body was discovered, no one heard anything in the nature of a scream or woman's cry of distress. It was Louis Diemschitz [Diemschutz], the steward of the club, who found the body. Diemschitz, who is a traveller in cheap jewelry, had spent the day at Westow-hill market, near the Crystal Palace, in pursuance of his calling, and had driven home at his usual hour, reaching Berner-street at one o'clock. On turning into the gateway he had some difficulty with his pony, the animal being apparently determined to avoid the right-hand wall. For the moment, Diemschitz did not think much of the occurrence, because he knew the pony was given to shying, and he thought, perhaps, some mud or refuse was in the way. The pony, however, obstinately refused to go straight, so the driver pulled him up to see what was in the way. Failing to discern anything in the darkness, Diemschitz poked about with the handle of the whip, and immediately discovered that some large obstacle was in his path. He got down from the trap and struck a match, and, without waiting to ascertain whether the woman whose body he saw was drunk or dead, Diemschitz entered the club by the side door higher up the court, and informed those in the concert-room upstairs that something had happened in the yard. A member of the club named Kozebrodski, but familiarly known as "Isaacs," returned with Diemschitz into the court, and the former struck a match while the latter lifted the body up. It was at once apparent that the woman was dead. The body was still warm, and the clothes enveloping it were wet from the recent rain, but the heart had ceased to beat, and the stream of blood in the gutter terminating in a hideous pool near the club door showed but too plainly what had happened. Both men ran off without delay to find a policeman, and at the same time other members of the club who had by this time found their way into the court went off with the same object in different directions. The search was for some time fruitless. At last, however, after considerable delay, a constable, 252 H, was found in Commercial-road. With the aid of the policeman's whistle more constables were quickly on the spot, and the gates at the entrance to the court having been closed and a guard set on all the exits of the club and the cottages, the superintendent of the district and the divisional surgeon were sent for. In a few minutes Dr. Phillips was at the scene of the murder, and a brief examination sufficed to show that life had been extinct some minutes. Careful notes having been taken of the position of the body, it was removed to the parish mortuary of St. George's-in-the-East, Cable-street, to await identification. The woman appears to be about 30 years of age. Her hair is very dark, with a tendency to curl, and her complexion is also dark. Her features are sharp and somewhat pinched, as though she had endured considerable privations recently, an impression confirmed by the entire absence of the kind of ornaments commonly affected by women of her station. She wore a rusty black dress of a cheap kind of satteen, with a velveteen bodice, over which was a black diagonal worsted jacket with fur trimming. Her bonnet, which had fallen from her head when she was found in the yard, was of black crape, and inside, apparently with the object of making the article fit closer to the head, was folded a copy of a newspaper. In her right hand were tightly clasped some grapes, and in her left hand she held a number of sweetmeats. Both the jacket and the bodice were open towards the top, but in other respects the clothes were not disarranged. The linen was clean and in tolerably good repair, but some articles were missing. The cut in the woman's throat, which was the cause of death, was evidently effected with a very sharp instrument, and was made with one sharp incision. The weapon was apparently drawn across the throat rather obliquely from left to right, and in its passage it severed both the windpipe and the jugular vein. As the body was lying in the mortuary the head seemed to be almost severed, the gash being about 3 in. long and nearly the same depth. In the pocket of the woman's dress were discovered two pocket-handkerchiefs, a gentleman's and a ladies', a brass thimble, and a skein of black darning worsted. In addition to Dr. Phillips, the body was examined both before and after removal to the mortuary by Dr. Kaye and Dr. Backwell [Blackwell], both of whom reside in the vicinity of Berner-street. On the arrival of the superintendent from Leman-street Police-station, which took place almost simultaneously with that of the divisional surgeon, steps were immediately taken to ascertain whether the members of the club were in any way connected with the murder. The names and addresses of all the men present were taken, and a rigorous search of person and premises was instituted. The residents of the court had to submit to a similar scrutiny. In neither case, however, was any incriminating evidence discovered. It was five o'clock before the police had finished their investigation at the club, for, in addition to the search referred to, inquiries were made which resulted in a number of written statements which had to be signed by members. The fact that another murder had been committed soon became known in the neighbourhood, and long before daybreak the usually quiet thoroughfare was the scene of great excitement. Extra police had to be posted right along the street, and owing to this precaution locomotion from an early hour was a matter of extreme difficulty. A large crowd followed the body to the mortuary, and here again, it was found necessary to take unusual precautions to keep back the crowd. As the news circulated further afield immense numbers of people flocked to Whitechapel, and before noon the neighbourhood of Aldgate and Commercial-road was literally invaded by persons curious to see the spots selected for this and the other murders of the series. Several matters have transpired which tend to fix precisely the time at which the unfortunate woman was murdered. Morris Eagle, one of the members of the club, left Berner-street about twelve o'clock, and after taking his sweetheart home returned to the club at about 20 minutes to one with the intention of having supper. He walked up the yard and entered the club by the side entrance, but neither saw nor heard anything to make him suspect that foul play was going on. Of course, he might have passed the body in the darkness, but the probability is that he would have stumbled over it if the murder had been committed before that time. Another member of the club, a Russian named Joseph Lave, feeling oppressed by the smoke in the large room, went down into the court about 20 minutes before the body was discovered, and walked about in the open air for about five minutes or more. He strolled into the street, which was very quiet at the time, and returned to the concert-room without having encountered anything unusual. It is believed in police circles that the murderer was disturbed at his work by the arrival of Diemschitz, and that he made off as soon as he heard the cart at the top of the street. Sir Charles Warren and Major Smith, of the City Police, visited the scene of the murder in the course of Sunday morning. The following description has been circulated by the police of a man said to have been seen in company of the dead woman during Saturday evening: "Age 28, slight; height 5 ft. 8 in.; complexion dark; no whiskers; black diagonal coat, hard felt hat; collar and tie. Carried newspaper parcel. Respectable appearance."
Shortly before two o'clock on Sunday morning, or about three-quarters of an hour after the crime described above, it was discovered that a second woman had been murdered and mutilated. This body was found in Mitre-square, Aldgate, within the City boundaries, but on the confines of the now notorious district. It appears that Police-constable Watkins, No. 881, of the City police, was going round his beat when, turning his lantern upon the darkest corner of Mitre-square, he saw the body of a woman, apparently lifeless, in a pool of blood. He at once blew his whistle, and several persons being attracted to the spot, he despatched messengers for medical and police aid. Inspector Collard, who was in command at the time at Bishopsgate Police-station, but a short distance off, quickly arrived, followed a few moments after by Mr. G. W. Sequeira, surgeon, of Jewry-street, and Dr. Gordon Brown, the divisional police doctor for Finsbury-circus. The woman was lying on her back, quite dead, although the body was still warm. Her head was inclined to the left side, her left leg being extended, whilst the right was drawn up. Both arms were extended. The throat was cut half-way round, and blood had flowed from the wound in great quantities, staining the pavement for some distance. Across the right cheek to the nose was another gash, and a part of the right ear had been cut off. The woman's clothes had been pulled up over her chest, the abdomen ripped completely open, and part of the intestines laid on her neck. After careful notice had been taken of the position of the body when found, it was conveyed to the City Mortuary in Golden-lane. Here a more extended examination was made. The murdered woman is apparently about 40 years of age, and about 5 ft. in height. One of the policemen who saw the body expressed his confident opinion that he had seen the woman several times walking in the neighbourhood of Aldgate High-street. She was of dark complexion, with auburn hair and hazel eyes, and was dressed in shabby, dark clothes. She wore a black cloth jacket, with imitation fur collar and three large metal buttons. Her dress was made of green chintz, the pattern consisting of Michaelmas daisies. In addition, she had on a thin white vest, bright drab lindsey skirt, a very old dark green alpaca petticoat, white chemise, brown ribbed stockings (mended at the feet with white material), black straw bonnet, trimmed with black beads and green and black velvet, and a large white handkerchief round the neck. In the pockets of the dress a peculiar collection was found. Besides a small packet containing tea and other articles, which people who frequent the common lodging-houses are accustomed to carry, the police found a white pocket handkerchief, a blunt bone-handled table knife, a short clay pipe, and a red cigarette case with white metal fittings. The knife bore no traces of blood, so could have no connection with the crime. When the news of this additional murder became known the excitement in the crowded district of Aldgate was intense. Usually a busy place on a Sunday morning, Houndsditch and the connecting thoroughfares presented a particularly animated appearance. Crowds flocked to the entrances to the square where the body had been discovered, but the police refused admittance to all but a privileged few. Sir Charles Warren visited the spot at an early hour, and made himself thoroughly conversant with the neighbourhood and the details of the affair. Major Smith (acting superintendent of the City police), Superintendent Foster, Detective-inspector M'William (chief of the City detective department), Detective-sergeants Downes and Outram also attended during the morning. A little while after the finding of the body all traces of blood had been washed away by direction of the authorities, and there was little to indicate the terrible crime which had taken place. Mitre-square is an enclosed place in the rear of St. Katherine Cree Church, Leadenhall-street. It has three entrances, the principal one - and the only one having a carriage way - is at the southern end, leading into Mitre-street, a turning out of Aldgate High-street. There is a narrow court in the north-east corner leading into Duke Street, and another one at the north-west, by which foot-passengers can reach St. James'-square, otherwise known as the Orange Market. Mitre-square contains but two dwelling houses, in one of which a City policeman lives, whilst the other is uninhabited. The other buildings, of which there are only three, are large warehouses. In the south-east corner, and near to the entrance from Mitre-street, is the back yard of some premises in Aldgate, but the railings are closely boarded. It was just under these that the woman was found, quite hidden from sight by the shadow cast by the corner of the adjoining house. The officer who found the body is positive that it could not have been there more than a quarter of an hour before he discovered it. He is timed to "work his beat", as it is called, in from 10 to 15 minutes, and is spoken of by his superior officers as a most trustworthy man. Mutilation was evidently hurriedly performed, and does not appear to have been carried out so skillfully as was the case of the murder of Annie Chapman in Hanbury-street. Five minutes, some of the doctors think, would have sufficed for the completion of the work, and the police theory is that the murderer was thus enabled to leave the ground before the return of the constable. None of the police on duty early that morning appear to have had particular attention drawn to the man and woman together, and this would seem to be strange at first when it is remembered that within the last few weeks the police have been keeping a particularly keen watch on suspicious couples. One of the most extraordinary incidents in connection with this - as of the other - crime is that not the slightest scream or noise was heard. A watchman is employed at one of the warehouses in the square, and in a direct line only a few yards away on the other side of the square a City policeman was sleeping. Many people would be about in the immediate neighbourhood even at that early hour, making preparations for the market which takes place every Sunday in Middlesex-street (formerly Petticoat-lane) and the adjacent thoroughfares.
The Central News says: On Thursday of last week the following letter, bearing the E.C. postmark, and directed in red ink, was delivered to this agency:
"Dear Boss, - I keep on hearing the police have caught me, but they won't fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. The joke about 'Leather Apron' gave me real fits. I am down on ------, and I shan't quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now? I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with, but it went thick like glue, and I can't use it. Red ink is fit enough, I hope. Ha, ha! The next job I do I will clip the lady's ears off and send to the police officers, just for jolly. Wouldn't you? Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give that out straight. My knife's so nice and sharp. I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good luck. - Yours truly,
The whole of this extraordinary epistle is written in red ink in a freely bold, clerky hand. It was, of course, treated as the work of a practical joker, but it is singular to note that the latest murders have been committed within a few days of the receipt of the letter, that apparently in the case of his last victim the murderer made an attempt to cut off the ears, and that he actually did mutilate the face in a manner which he has never before attempted. The letter is now in the hands of the Scotland yard authorities.
A postcard bearing the stamp "London, E., October 1," was received on the morning of the day's date, addressed to the Central News office, the address and subject-matter being written in red, and undoubtedly by the same person from whom the sensational letter already published was received. Like the previous missive, this also has reference to the horrible tragedies in East London, forming, indeed, a sequel to the first letter. It runs as follows: "I was not codding, dear old boss, when I gave you the tip. You'll hear about Saucy Jacky's work to-morrow. Double event this time. Number one squealed a bit; couldn't finish straight off. Had not time to get ears for police. Thanks for keeping last letter back till I got to work again. - JACK THE RIPPER." The card is smeared on both sides with blood, which has evidently been impressed thereon by the thumb or finger of the writer, the corrugated surface of the skin being plainly shown. Upon the back of the card some words are nearly obliterated by a bloody smear. It is not necessarily assumed that this has been the work of the murderer, the idea that naturally occurs being that the whole thing is a practical joke. At the same time, the writing of the previous letter immediately before the commission of the murders of Sunday was so singular a coincidence, that it does not seem unreasonable to suppose that the cool calculating villain who is responsible for the crimes has chosen to make the post a medium through which to convey to the Press his grimly diabolical humour. The mysterious letter and postcard are still in the hands of the police, and it is probable that a photograph of them will be taken.
The following is a copy of the bills issued by the City of London Police offering a reward in connection with the Mitre-square murder:
Information to be given to the Inspector of the Detective Department, 26, Old Jewry, or at any police-station.
The prompt action of the Lord Mayor in offering a reward of £500 for the apprehension of the Mitre-square murderer has been received with general and emphatic satisfaction. The sum offered by his lordship, together with £400 which two newspapers offer to supply, the £100 offered by Mr. Montagu, M.P., and the £200 collected by the Vigilance Committee, make an aggregate sum of £1200, sufficient to excite the cupidity even of an accomplice, and to sharpen the wits of the dullest detectives. In regard to the offering of a reward, the City Police authorities have a much freer hand than the Scotland-yard Police, and they can act without consulting the Home Office.
Colonel Sir Alfred Kirby, J.P., the officer commanding the Tower Hamlets Battalion Royal Engineers, has offered, on behalf of his officers, a reward of £100, to be paid to anyone who will give information that would lead to the discovery and conviction of the perpetrator or perpetrators of the recent diabolical murders committed in the district in which his regiment is situated. Sir Alfred Kirby is also willing to place the services of not more than 50 members of his corps at the disposal of the authorities, to be utilised in assisting them in any way they may consider desirable at this juncture, either for the protection of the public or finding out the criminals. Of course the volunteers will have to be made use of as citizens, and not in a quasi-military capacity.
Between nine and 10 o'clock on the night of the 2nd inst. (according to a report published by the Times), a labouring man, giving the name of John Kelly, 55, Flower and Dean-street - a common lodging-house - entered the Bishopsgate-street Police-station, and stated that from what he had been reading in the newspapers he believed that the woman who had been murdered in Mitre-square was his "wife." He was at once taken by Sergeant Miles to the mortuary in Golden-lane, and then identified her as the woman, to whom he subsequently admitted he was not married, but with whom he had cohabited for seven years. Kelly, who was much affected, told a very straightforward story as to his life and that of the woman he identified as his mistress. They had been living in an abject, poverty-stricken condition, for some time in Whitechapel; but had recently been hopping in Kent. His mistress's proper name he stated to be Conway, she having been married to one Thomas Conway, but separated from him. She had a daughter, married to a gun-maker, living in Bermondsey, and a sister residing in Thrawl-street, Spitalfields, with a vendor of farthing books. "Kate" (the woman as whom the corpse had been identified) had been warned not to stay out late at night, because of the murders. He had not at once acquainted the police of her being missing, because he attributed her absence to having got into some scrape, until he learnt from the published description of the victim that she [had] points in common with his "Kate." Kelly and a man named Wilkinson, a common lodging deputy, who also spoke to the murdered woman being "Kate Kelly," was summoned to attend the inquest.
Mr. Wynne E. Baxter, the coroner for the district, opened an inquest at the Vestry-hall, Cable-street, St. George's-in-the-East, on the body of the unfortunate woman mysteriously murdered in a yard at the rear of a club in Berner-street, Commercial-road. The jury having been sworn, proceeded to view the body, which lay in the mortuary adjoining the Vestry-hall, and the coroner held a consultation with Dr. Phillips and other medical men engaged in the case. The murder, it appears, was committed in the parish of St. George's-in-the-East, within 50 yards of the Whitechapel boundary. After looking upon the horrible spectacle of the dead woman, still fully dressed in the clothes she wore, with her throat cut and bloodstained face, the jury returned to the Vestry-hall, where some evidence was taken; the police were represented by Detective-inspector Reid, of the H division. The attendance at the inquest comprised only those having business at the inquiry, and outside the Vestry-hall there was no crowd, but a knot of poor-looking women clustered around the precincts of the mortuary, some of them wishing to see if they could identify the murdered woman who was known as "Long Liz." At the opening of the inquest it was announced that it was to inquire "how Elizabeth Stride came by her death," but no evidence of identification was offered, and it subsequently transpired that this announcement of the name of the deceased was somewhat premature. The fact was that a woman, on seeing the body at the mortuary, said that she thought it was her sister, Elizabeth Stride, and she could identify her by a mark on her foot. Crying bitterly, she professed to so identify the deceased, but afterwards she expressed doubt as to whether it was her sister, and in this dilemma the police had no evidence of identification to offer at the inquest. The only evidence called was that of members of the International Working Men's Educational Club - an institution of Socialistic tendency - and these witnesses, all young men speaking with a strong foreign accent and affirming instead of taking the oath, spoke as to the circumstances of the discovery of the body in the yard adjoining that building. There are in this yard stables, a house let out in tenements, the premises of a sack manufacturer, and a printing-office. On the night in question the gate of the yard was open, as it sometimes is, all night. There was a back entrance into the club through the yard. One member entered the club that way at twenty minutes to one on Sunday morning, and he then saw nothing of the dead woman lying in the yard passage. From the yard he could hear a friend singing "in the Russian language" in an upper room of the club, and he joined him in the room, where there were other members, and singing went on. Within a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes of that time the steward of the club, returning with his pony and cart, having been out on business, found the body of the murdered woman in the passage from the gateway into the yard, and running into the club he gave an alarm that brought down the members to the spot. The supposition is that it was within that quarter or an hour or twenty minutes that the murder was committed, and perhaps the murderer, disturbed by the sound of approaching wheels, may have hid himself in the large dark yard, where there was a recess, and then, while the owner of the pony and cart was giving the alarm in the club, made his escape, because after the members of the club were called to the scene no one passed out until an examination of the premises had been made by the police, who also satisfied themselves that there were no blood marks on the clothes of any of the members of the club present, or the strangers who had entered the building. It is possible, however, that the dead body was there at the time one member passed into the club at twenty minutes to one, and that he did not notice it, for the steward with his pony and cart had his attention drawn to the body, apparently only by the animal "shying" at the object. Any way, the evidence given at the inquest on the opening day shows what a narrow shave the murderer had from being caught red-handed, and can leave no doubt that he was disturbed in his fiendish work, but whether by the noise of some one coming, the singing in the club, or the sound of the wheels as the pony and cart approached, is open to conjecture.
Mr. Baxter resumed, on the 2nd inst., the inquest touching the death of the woman whose body was found early on Sunday morning in a yard adjoining Berner-street, Whitechapel. Additional evidence as to the manner of the discovery having been taken, Mrs. Mary Malcolm, wife of a tailor in Eagle-street, Holborn said: I am the wife of Andrew Malcolm, a tailor. I have seen the body in the mortuary. It is that of my sister, Elizabeth Watts. There is not the slightest doubt about that. I last saw her alive on Thursday last at a quarter to seven o'clock in the evening. She came to me at 59, Red Lion-street, where I work as a trousers maker, to ask me for a little assistance, which I have been in the habit of giving her during the last five years. I gave her a shilling and a short jacket - not the one she was wearing when found in Berner-street. She was only with me a few minutes. I do not know where she was living, but I knew it was somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Commercial-road, and amongst the tailoring Jews. I understood that she was living in lodging-houses.
Did you know what she was doing for a living? - I had my doubts. She was sober when she came to me, but she was sometimes the worse for drink. Drink was unfortunately a failing with her. (The witness here burst into tears.) She was in her 38th year. She was married. Her husband, who is living, is the son of Mr. Watts, a large wholesale wine and spirit merchant of Walcot-street, Bath. I believe her husband is now in America. My sister left him I believe about eight years ago, having been caught misconducting herself. She has had two children. Her husband sent her home to my mother, who was then alive, with the children. The little girl is dead, I believe, and the boy is at a boarding-school with his aunt, Miss Watts. My sister was not subject to epileptic fits, but she was a very excitable woman, especially when she had been drinking. She had been before the Thames Police-court magistrate charged with drunkenness. I believe she has at times got off on the ground that she was subject to epileptic fits, but I do not believe that she was. The deceased lived with a man who kept a coffee-stall. His name was not Stride, but Dent, I think. This man went to sea, and was wrecked on the Island of St. Paul. This is about three years and a half ago. She did not to my knowledge live with anyone after that, but there is a man who says he has lived with her. I have never heard of her having any trouble with any man. She always brought her trouble to me. I never heard of anyone having threatened her. I never visited her in Flower and Dean-street. I knew that she was nicknamed "Long Liz". Her Christian name was Elizabeth. I never heard the name of Stride till yesterday. I think she would have told me if she was living with any one. She came to see me every Saturday, when I gave her two shillings. She did not come to me on Saturday last, at which I was surprised. The Thursday visit was an unusual one. She had not missed coming on a Saturday for three years. She used to come to me at four o'clock in the afternoon. She used to meet me at the corner of Chancery-lane. I was there last Saturday from 3.30 until 5 p.m., but she did not turn up. On Sunday morning, when I read the paper, I thought that as my sister had not turned up on Saturday it might be she who was murdered. A sort of presentiment came over me and I went to St. George's mortuary. My sister used to have beautiful black wavy hair. I did not recognise her on Sunday in the mortuary, as it was in the gaslight. As I was in my bed at 20 minutes past one on Sunday I had a presentiment. I felt the pressure of three kisses on me and heard them. I did not see a vision of my sister. I am sure the deceased is my sister. She always had a small black mark on her right leg, and I have seen it on the corpse. The mark came from the bite of an adder when she was a child. I have a similar mark on my hand. (Witness showed it.) The adder bit me first and then her, as we were rolling in the grass playing. My husband saw my sister once about six years ago. I have a brother and a sister, but they have not seen the deceased for years. I always kept her shame from everyone. (Witness here broke into tears, and said the disgrace of the story would kill her other sister.) The deceased had a hollowness in her right foot, caused by its being run over. I did not notice any hollowness in the foot of the body in the mortuary. I cannot recognise the clothing, as I never noticed what she wore. She left one of her own babies naked outside my door.
Was that one of the two children you have mentioned? - Oh no; it was one she had by a policeman, I believe. I kept it until she came and fetched it away. That child is dead, I believe. She was a girl that anyone could like.
The coroner, who thought the identification of the body by the witness hardly satisfactory, pressed the witness on the point, but she still insisted that the deceased was her sister. He also thought the witness should go to the usual rendezvous next Saturday to make sure that her sister did not come.
In reply to a juryman, the witness said - When my sister came to me on the Thursday she was in great distress, and said she had no money to pay her lodging, and asked me to assist her. I said, "Oh, Lizzie, my child, you are a curse to me." She was never locked up for anything else but drunkenness.
Preliminary evidence was then given by Dr. Blackwell as to his being called on the discovery of the body. Witness withheld the details of the post-mortem until later on in the enquiry, which was further adjourned.
The inquest on the body of the woman found murdered in Berner-street was resumed on the 3rd inst. When Mrs. Malcolm told the coroner that she was certain deceased was her own sister, the interest and excitement greatly increased. Any one present at the inquest would have had all doubts removed as to the witness's firm belief that deceased was her own flesh and blood, but her answers to the questions put to her by the coroner and Detective Inspector Reid led those gentlemen to come to the conclusion that the identification was not completely satisfactory. This led the coroner to suggest to the sobbing and apparently greatly distressed witness that she might possibly see her sister, whose death she mourned, if she went to the usual rendezvous where they had met every Saturday afternoon, except last Saturday, for the past three years. The witness was disinclined to adopt the coroner's suggestion, and reiterated that she was quite certain that she had not been mistaken. However, on the resumption of the inquiry, another witness came forward, and, to the dismay of Mrs. Malcolm, swore that the body was that of Elizabeth Stride, with whom he had lived up till Tuesday of last week for the past three years. The evidence of this man - Michael Kidney - could not be doubted, as he thus confirmed the statements made by previous witnesses at the earlier stages of the inquiry. The police are now satisfied that the identification is complete, and that the body is that of Elizabeth Stride. The police are busily engaged making inquiries with reference to a knife which has been produced at the inquest, but, however it came to be put on the steps of a house in Whitechapel-road, as was stated by the finder, it is certain that it could not have been there an hour before it was found, although the murder was committed 24 hours previously. What the motive of the person who put it where it was found could be cannot be imagined, but owing to the blood upon the blade and the blood-stains upon the handkerchief which was tied round the handle the police are not going to allow the matter to drop. It is not thought that the witness Michael Kidney is keeping back any important information, but should this be the case he will be re-examined. Dr. Phillips detailed the result of the post-mortem conducted by Dr. Blackwell and himself, and the inquiry was again adjourned.
Sir C. Warren has written a letter in reply to one from the Whitechapel Board of Works, in which he states that the police are doing their best to discover the perpetrator of the crimes, and asking the inhabitants to render them all the assistance they can.
The inquest on the woman murdered in Mitre-square, Aldgate, was opened on Thursday. Eliza Gold, a widow, identified the body as that of her sister, Catherine Eddowes, who some years ago lived with an army pensioner named Conway. Thomas Kelly, who had since lived with Eddowes, said they returned from hop picking in Kent last Thursday. Being in want of money, she left him on Saturday to go to her daughter, there having been no angry words between them. The deputy of the lodging house where Kelly slept on Saturday night, said she did not go out after ten o'clock. Dr. Gordon Brown, who examined the body, said it was mutilated about the face, and the left kidney and another organ had been cut out by some one acquainted with the position of the abdominal organs. The inquiry was adjourned till next Thursday.
