Pinchin Street Torso

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We have announced a new crime of Jack the Ripper. Here are a few details that respect:
On the morning of the 10th, police discovered under the arch of a bridge located near Cable Street, a street that is most disreputable in London, a corpse, horribly mutilated, of a woman who has brown hair, apparently aged 30 years and belonging to the class of prostitutes. The head, arms and legs were separated from the trunk, the entrails were torn from the body. The police officer with special responsibility for overseeing this part of Whitechapel passes every quarter of an hour next to the place where the body was found. This requires that the assassin had killed and cut his victim in a very short time, assuming that the officer had regularly done his service. He is sure that he had neither seen nor heard nothing, no cry had sounded the alarm in the vicinity. The investigation, however, determined that the murder was not committed at the place where he had found the victim. The corpse was completely bloodless and, according to experts, the crime was up to two days at least. The murderer had, it seemed, dragged the mangled remains of his victim under the arch of the bridge. A torn and bloody shirt was found beside the body. Three sailors who slept under the arch of a nearby bridge had been arrested and brought before the Police Commissioner, but as they could prove their innocence, they were released immediately.

Source: Gazette De Lausanne, September 17, 1889, Page 1

ANOTHER HORROR IN WHITECHAPEL.

SHOCKING DISCOVERY.

London was once more shocked on Tuesday morning by the announcement of another of the dreadful murders which for nearly two years past have from time to time followed each other like the strokes of some avenging deity. According to the early reports this appeared to be indubitably the ninth of a terrible series of crimes - the same locality, the same class of victim, the same awful savagery, the same rush of the police to surround the scene of the murder, and the same blank impenetrable mystery as to the perpetrator. Later inquiry and investigation, however, have tended to throw some degree of doubt on the accuracy of the first assumption as to the identity of the criminal, and all that can be safely said at present is that the probability seems to point to the same madman or miscreant as before - if, indeed, anything can be said to point to one who has hitherto never left behind him the faintest clue to his personality or his whereabouts.
The facts thus far established are really very few. They amount indeed to little more than this - that about half-past five on Tuesday morning a policeman going round in the course of his regular beat in Pinchin-street, just off Cable-street, near Leman-street Station, on the Great Eastern line, saw the trunk of a woman's body without head and without legs, and without any clothing, lying under a railway arch behind a few boards, forming only a slight line of separation between the pavement and the interior of the arch and without actually stopping up the entrance. The first supposition was that another horrible murder had been committed on the spot and that the assassin had not only dismembered his victim, but had carried off the head and the lower limbs. Closer examination, however, showed that this could not have been the case, as the ground beneath the body showed no marks of bloodshed, and moreover the condition of the trunk and of its mutilations proved conclusively that the dismemberment and death must have taken place some considerable time previously - three or four days it was thought. The body could not possibly have lain there long, and it may be taken as quite certain that the frightful work of murder and hacking to pieces took place elsewhere, and that the principal portion of the remains of the victim was brought here and deposited probably between two rounds of the constable who discovered it.
An alarm was given, and constables were soon round from Leman-street police-station with an ambulance, in which the trunk was conveyed to St. George's Mortuary. The report rapidly spread that another murder had been committed on a woman of the same unfortunate class as before, and the rumour that the head and limbs had been this time actually cut off, and the trunk horribly disembowelled, naturally led to the universal belief that "Jack the Ripper" had once again been at work. Dorset-street, Buck's-row, Hanbury-street, Berner-street, and the rest of the scenes of these ghastly tragedies all lie within a very short distance of the spot in which this discovery was made, and for a time the excitement was intense. Not many yards from the spot where the body was discovered is one of the most gruesome places to be found in London. It is merely a passage up under the coal depot of the Great Eastern Railway, a long, dark avenue grimy with coal dust, and rendered ghostly and awesome by the long shafts of dusky light that stream down into its gloom.
So far as could be elicited on Tuesday, the police are not very confident as to whether or not this latest horror should be ascribed to the same fiendish individual as the others that have so horrified the community. It is not exactly true that the trunk of the unfortunate woman has been treated as others have been. It has been slashed and cut about, but not to the same extent as in other cases, nor, so far as could be ascertained, have any of the internal organs of the body been removed. Considering that this murder - assuming, as no doubt we may, that it was a murder - has in all probability been perpetrated in the seclusion of some room or other, and the chances are that there would therefore be ample time for the monster to do whatever he purposed, this fact would certainly seem to discredit the supposition that the same hand had been at work. But then, of course, it is impossible to say what the circumstances may have been. He was undoubtedly disturbed in previous cases, and he may have been in this. The fact that the head and legs were completely severed may, on the other hand, show that on this occasion he had time to carry out fully in some respects what he had certainly attempted on others of his victims. A very general point for debate among the crowds assembled was as to the place from which the body had been brought. It was generally agreed that it could not have been carried far or it must inevitably have been seen by somebody. A man carrying such a burden through the streets would, it was argued, certainly have been noticed, and to the suggestion that it might have been conveyed in a van or something of the kind, it was objected that that seemed to point to more than one person having been privy to the ghastly business. Popular opinion appeared to revolt at the idea of more than one wretch having been concerned in anything of the kind, and indeed this seemed really to be the principal ground for assuming that it was "Jack the Ripper's" work - to adopt that very unpleasant mode of expression everywhere current in the East-end. It appears to be generally held incredible that that unfortunate locality can possibly be infested with more than one creature capable of such hideous deeds. As it has been said, in the early part of the day the excitement was intense in the neighbourhood of the discovery of the body. Whenever, however, it became known that it might be merely the finding of the victim of some murder perpetrated elsewhere, excitement rapidly subsided; and though a crowd, necessitating the presence of a considerable number of police, was present all day long and far into the evening, it was at no time very great after the middle of the day.

Since Christmas week, in 1887, nine women have been murdered in the East-end under mysterious circumstances, five of them within a period of eight weeks. The following are the dates of the crimes and names of the victims: -

1. - Christmas-week, 1887. - An unknown woman, found murdered near Osborne and Wentworth-streets, Whitechapel.

2. - August 7, 1888. - Martha Turner, found stabbed in 39 places on a landing in model dwelling known as George-yard-buildings, Commercial-street, Spitalfields.

3. - August 31. - Mrs. Nichols, murdered and mutilated in Buck's-row, Whitechapel.

4. - September 7. - Mrs. Chapman, murdered and mutilated in Hanbury-street, Whitechapel.

5. - September 30. - Elizabeth Stride, found with her throat cut in Berner-street, Whitechapel.

6. - September 30. - Mrs. Eddowes, murdered and mutilated in Mitre-square, Aldgate.

7. - November 9. - Mary Jane Kelly, murdered and mutilated in Dorset-street, Spitalfields.

8. - July 17, 1889. - Alice Mackenzie, otherwise Bryant, murdered in Castle-alley, Whitechapel.

9. The woman whose mutilated body was discovered on Tuesday morning.

Source: The Courier And London & Middlesex Counties Gazette, September 14, 1889, Page 2

Early yesterday morning a discovery was made which tends to indicate that another murder may have been committed in Whitechapel, much of the same kind as the eight murders in the same locality during the last two years. About half-past five in the morning Constable Bennett found in a railway arch in Pinchin-street, St. George's, the trunk of a woman. The head and both legs had been severed from the body and were missing, and from the lower part of the stomach was a deep gash through which the bowels were protruding. While the constable was standing by the body he heard a noise inside the arch and three working men came out, saying they were homeless and had been in there to have a sleep. They stated that when they entered the arch after midnight they saw nothing of the body and heard no alarming or suspicious sounds during the night. These men were detained and taken to a police-station, but after inquiry, their story was corroborated, and they were set free. On examination of the body the doctors were of opinion that death had occurred at least three days previously, as the blood was all dried and signs of decomposition were setting in. The woman appears to have been between thirty and forty years of age, about 5ft. 3in. in height. Naturally the first thoughts turned towards the murderer known in these parts as "Jack the Ripper." It is curious that the doctors think the cuts were effected by a left-handed person, and the same opinion was expressed on the occasion of the previous murders. It appears, however, to be pretty certain that the work of mutilating was not done on the spot, but that the trunk was brought and deposited under the arch probably between two rounds of the constable who discovered it. He is positive that the odour was so great that the body could not have been brought from a great distance, as someone would most likely have noticed the odour and stopped the bearer. There are no signs of the body having been dragged along the ground, and it is conjectured that some one carried it to the place, got rid of his load by dropping it over the hoarding, and at once decamped. The cleanness of the cuts, and the knowledge of surgery displayed in dissecting the body, would suggest that it was not the work of the previous murderer. While he did all his work firmly, he did it without any scientific knowledge. On the whole the police think it is not the work of the man who committed the previous murders. Pinchin-street, the scene of the discovery, is a turning out of Back Church-lane, a thoroughfare which runs from Commercial-road into Cable-street, and is in the heart of the neighbourhood in which the crimes alluded to have come to light. With railway arches on one side and a piece of waste ground on the other, Pinchin-street, at the best of times, bears by no means a cheerful appearance. The lighting arrangements are not extensive, and at night time the street is lonely and dark. The arches which run along the street belong to the London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway. One day last week a letter was found at the back of the London Hospital, expressing the determination of the writer to commit within the following week another murder. About seven o'clock last evening another letter was taken to Leman-street Police-station by a young man, who, on being questioned by the inspector in charge, stated that he picked it up in the Commercial-road. It was to the following effect: - "I told you last week that I intended to commit another murder within a few days." However, there is as yet nothing to show conclusively that a murder has actually been committed. It may be one of the hoaxes that are occasionally perpetrated.

Source: The Guardian, September 11, 1889, Page 1354

The inquest concerning the death of the woman, part of whose mutilated remains was recently found under a railway arch at Pinchin-street, was concluded yesterday. Dr. Phillips thought that the whole of the mutilations were subsequent to death, that they were effected by some one accustomed to cut up animals or see them cut up, and that the incisions were made by a strong knife 8in. or more long. In summing up the Coroner observed that it was a matter of congratulation that the present case did not appear to have any connection with the previous murders. The jury at once returned a verdict of "wilful murder against some person or persons unknown." The police do not appear to have as yet found anything to throw any light on this mystery.

Source: The Guardian, September 25, 1889, Page 1426

ANOTHER MURDER IN WHITECHAPEL.

London was again thrown into a state of excitement on Tuesday morning by the report that a discovery had been made which leads to the belief that another horrible murder had been committed in Whitechapel, and that the victim, a woman, belongs to the same class as the eight who have been murdered in the same locality during the last two years. The manner in which the body has been mutilated suggests that the outrage has been committed by the same person.
About 5:30 on Tuesday morning Police-constable Bennett, 239 H, was passing on his beat by a railway arch in Pinchin Street, St. George's, when he noticed something in the arch. The place in question is used as a receptacle for stones belonging to the District Board of Works, and in front of it there is a hoarding. Part of this, however, has been broken down, and the officer, getting through it, was horrified to find the trunk of a woman in a condition which showed it had been hacked about in a most brutal manner. The head had been severed from the body, while both legs were also missing. In accordance with instructions that had been given to all the police in the district, the constable did not move, but blew his whistle for assistance. In a few seconds two other constables came up, and on being made acquainted with the discovery started for King David Lane Police-station, when further assistance was sent to Pinchin Street, and the news telegraphed to the heads of police and to the whole of the stations within the metropolitan district. In order to save as much time as possible an order has for some time past been in force that whenever a murder is discovered in the East-end the telegraphic code should simply be "Another Whitechapel." Consequently, as soon as these two words were telegraphed over the district every outlet in the immediate neighbourhood was blocked. Superintendent T. Arnold and Detective-inspector Reid, H Division, were soon on the spot giving directions for the place to be searched, while the Thames police, under Detective-inspector Regan, were busily engaged in searching the vessels in the river and docks, notably the cattle boats. While the constable was standing by the body he heard a noise inside the arch, and three working men came out, saying they were homeless and had been in there to have a sleep. They stated that when they entered the arch after midnight they saw nothing of the body and heard no alarming or suspicious sounds during the night. These men were detained and afterwards conveyed to the Leman Street Police Station, until proper enquiries could be made concerning them. Dr. Clarke, who is acting for Dr. Phillips, the divisional surgeon, who was away on his holidays, together with Dr. Sargeant, who practices in the neighbourhood, were soon at the spot and minutely examined the body. They were of opinion that death had occurred at least three days previously, as the blood was all dried and signs of decomposition were setting in. Other details having been obtained, a police ambulance was brought and the trunk of the body conveyed on it to the St. George's mortuary, where the doctors again examined it. The result of that examination was that the police afterwards issued the following notice: - "Found, at 5:40 this morning, the trunk of a woman under railway arches in Pinchin Street, Whitechapel. Age about forty; height, 5ft. 3in.; hair, dark brown; no clothing, except chemise, which is much torn and bloodstained; both elbows discoloured as from habitually leaning on them. Post-mortem marks apparently of a rope having been tied round the waist."
The police have carried out a careful examination of all places where they might possibly find the missing portions of the body, or the locality where the murder was perpetrated. Up to the present, however, the detectives have learned nothing to reward their efforts. Of course, without the head, identification is a matter of the utmost difficulty, as the body does not appear to have any distinguishing marks or peculiarities. Neither is much assistance afforded in this direction by the torn and bloodstained garment which partially enveloped the trunk. In most of the East-end murders the clothing has aided in the identification, and it will be recollected that the marking upon some of the clothing found with the Battersea remains eventually enabled the police to trace the movements of the murdered woman up to within a comparatively short time previous to her death. The railway arch under which Tuesday's discovery was made has now been completely boarded up, with the result that a crowd of only the smallest dimensions can now be seen lingering around the spot. Several persons applied to the police for permission to view the remains, but only those who were able to show that more than the gratification of morbid curiosity would be gained were allowed to do so.
A conference, at which the Chief Commissioner, Mr. Munro, and various other officials engaged in the case took part, was held on Wednesday evening at Leman-street Police-station. Dr. Phillips, who had been engaged the greater part of the day in making an examination of the body, was present, and verbally gave his report.

A STRANGE STORY.

The New York Herald of Wednesday says: - "Last Sunday morning, at 1:50 o'clock, a young man called at the Herald office, and reported that there was another "Jack the Ripper" murder. He was sent up to the editorial rooms and interviewed by the night editor. He said that a mutilated body had been found in Backchurch Lane, in Whitechapel. He said that it had been found by a policeman at 11:20. The map of London was immediately studied by two reporters in order to locate Backchurch Lane, while the editor cross-examined the man. He said it had been told to him by an acquaintance of his, a police-inspector, whom he had met in Whitechapel High Street. He said there was no doubt about it, and that he had hurried to the Herald office, understanding that he would be rewarded for the news. He said him named was John Cleary, and that he lived at 21, White Horse Yard, Drury Lane. He was asked to write down his name and address, and did so, the writing being preserved. His information was explicit and seemingly authentic, and two reporters were detailed to take the man with them, and go and get the story. The two reporters went out, and one of them stopped on the landing of the stairway in going down, and asked the man some more questions. Under this examination he varied slightly, saying that the man who had told him was not a police-inspector, but an ex-member of the police force. This statement has, perhaps, some significance to all who have been following the murders closely. He then went down to the street with the reporters. They called a hansom and told the man to get in with them, but he first hesitated, and then refused. His excuse was that it was too far from his home. They urged him to go, but he was firm. One of them proposed to take him back upstairs, in order to have him near at hand if necessary; but the necessity of immediate departure compelled them to start and leave the man to go his own way. He was assured that if the news proved authentic he would be handsomely rewarded, and he went away apparently contented with the arrangement. The two reporters drove rapidly to Backchurch Lane, and found it with difficulty. They made a thorough search of the neighbourhood. They went down as far as the archway where the body was found on Tuesday morning, but found all quiet and no trace of any murder. They met two police-officers, one an inspector and the other a constable. They questioned both, and told them the report they had heard, and these two officers can verify the enquiry. They had heard nothing, however. The reporters again went over the ground, but found nothing. They then returned, and reported. In fact, it is a certainty that on Sunday morning a mutilated and murdered body was reported as having been found in Backchurch Lane, and that exactly such a body was found there on Tuesday morning. The matter was passed over as unimportant on Sunday and Monday. The moment that the body was found on Tuesday, however, the events of Sunday morning loomed up with a significance rather colossal, and a hunt began for John Cleary, of 21, White Horse Yard, Drury Lane. Mr. John Cleary, however, was not known at No. 21 or anywhere else in White Horse Yard, Drury Lane. The house is a four-storey one. The street floor is vacant, the first and second floors are occupied by families, and the top floor by a widow woman with two children. The widow woman was confident that no young man by the name of John Cleary either lived in the house or had ever lived there. The people in every house in White Horse Yard were questioned under circumstances which disposed them to tell all they knew, but nobody had ever heard the name of John Cleary, and everybody said that no man of that name could have lived there without their knowing it."
The inquest on the remains of the murdered woman was opened by the coroner (Mr. Wynne Baxter) at St. George's Vestry Hall, Cable Street, on Wednesday. The proceedings created small public interest. A constable having stated the circumstances under which he made the discovery, Inspector Pinhorn, who was called to the spot, described the appearance of the bundle and its contents.
The inquest was adjourned till the 24th inst.

Source: Local Government Gazette, September 12, 1889

The coroner's verdict respecting the death of the unfortunate woman whose mutilated body was recently found in Whitechapel leaves the mystery where it was. The jury find that there has been wilful murder by some person or persons unknown, and there, for the present at least, the matter rests. There had been no lack of sensational rumours and mysterious hints to the effect that the police and others were in possession of important clues, but the evidence given left the case as hopelessly obscure as ever. Absolutely nothing is known either of the scoundrel who committed the murder or of his victim. There is not, in fact, the slightest indication that we are any nearer to the discovery of the perpetrator of the last of the appalling series of Whitechapel murders than we were on the day his crime was first heard of. There was no evidence of anatomical knowledge, as the term is used by surgeons in relation to the human subject, but all the cuts exhibited dexterity in the use of the knife. This seems to show that the murder is not necessarily one of the Whitechapel series. Some of the evidence incidentally threw a strange light on the life led in the district. The shoeblack who was found sleeping under the arch admitted with much candour that he was too drunk when he went to be, or, at any rate, "not sober enough," to enable him to say whether he passed the body as he staggered to rest. The sailor, who was his companion in this strange sleeping apartment, had just been discharged from the hospital, and, after wandering about the streets till four in the morning, had gone into Pinchin Street "to lie down."

Source: Local Government Gazette, Thursday September 26, 1889, Page 8

THE PINCHIN-STREET DISCOVERY.

SUPPOSED IDENTIFICATION.

It is believed the identity of the last Whitechapel victim has been established. The father and mother of the girl named Emily Barker, of Northampton, say they feel convinced the remains found beneath the arch in Pinchin-street were those of their daughter. The girl, it is said, had lived a wild life, and the last heard of her was that she was picked up off a London doorstep in a destitute state by a London missionary. She escaped suddenly from his charge two days before the murder was discovered. The mother says she is convinced of the identity, and that she made one of the garments which were found by the police. Her suspicions are, she says, confirmed by a mark on the finger. The police, however, point out that the garment in question which has been cleansed, was hand stitched in a very indifferent manner. The opinion of the medical men, moreover, is that the remains found are those of a woman between 30 and 40, and the missing girl from Northampton is much younger. There seems to be no doubt, however, about the fact that the girl Emily Barker did find her way to Whitechapel, that she was friendless there, and that she endured some terrible privations after she left home.

A WANDERER IN WHITECHAPEL.

The Rev. Mr. Winter, Curate of St. John's Church, Bethnal-green, who had some knowledge of Miss Barker, says: - It was about six o'clock on the first Friday evening in this month that I was told that a young girl wanted to see me. I asked her what she wanted, and she told me that she wanted to know if I could assist her back to Northampton. She wanted me to pay her fare, as she said she wanted to go back home to her father. I was very short with her, and told her I had no funds for any such purpose. She told me she came to London on the previous Monday, and as she did not know where to go she went and procured a night's lodgings at the Salvation Army's shelter in Whitechapel. I have no home for girls, and as so many are given to lying, I preferred not to have much to say to her, but I got one of my female helps to interview her. She said that on the first night she had to pay 3d. for her night's lodgings at the Salvation Army, but when she went the second night she had no money, and they would not take her in. They told her that if she was a fallen girl, and if she would admit it, they would send her to one of their homes. She, however, persistently refused to make such an admission. As she did not possess any money, she said that the next night she then walked about Whitechapel, and at last got into Hanbury-street, where one of the murders was committed. She walked about in that dark street all one night. As I had no place to send her, I gave her the addresses of several places for girls. She, however, elected to go back to the Salvation Army, and I gave her 3d. I telegraphed to her father, and he replied he could not have her back, as it would only cause another row in his house. She did not return to me the following morning, and what became of her I do not know. In appearance she was rather short, dark, and plump.

SUPPOSED CHILD MURDER.

The remains of an infant were found this morning near Perrott's Foundry, Hanover-street, Cork. The head was nearly severed from the trunk, which was terribly mutilated. The body was in a paper bag, and has been removed to the morgue for the purpose of an inquest. No arrest has been made, but the police are instituting inquiries.

Source: The Echo, Monday September 30, 1889, Page 3

WAR ON LEWD WOMEN.

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS ABOUT THE "RIPPER'S" LAST VICTIM.

The Remains Present a Sickening Spectacle - She Was Detruncated, Matrix Removed and Otherwise Surgically Treated - List of Victims.

LONDON, Sept. 11. - [Special] - Murder sits enthroned again in the east end of London. The body of a woman belonging to the "unfortunate" class was found at break of day under a railway arch in Pinchin street, back of Church lane, in the Whitechapel district, within three minutes walk of the Leman street police station. It is a very secluded place and popularly known as "Dark alley," and is much frequented by persons of the lowest character. It is only a few yards from Berner street, where a year ago today the mutilated remains of Elizabeth Stride, the fifth of the Whitechapel series, were found. A sleepy policeman was leisurely patrolling his beat about 6 o'clock this morning when his attention was attracted to a dark corner in one of the railway arches by a horrible smell. He walked to the spot and by the aid of his lantern discovered a sack containing the terribly mutilated remains of a woman. He blew his whistle and raised the alarm, in response to which a perfect host of uniformed policemen and detectives swarmed to the spot and then scoured the neighbourhood in the vain hope of discovering the murderer.
When the doctors arrived they gave the opinion, after a close examination, that the woman had not been murdered on the spot where she was found. There was no blood upon the ground and very little upon the body. They believe that the murder was committed two or three days ago - an opinion which was borne out by the signs on the body of the beginning of decomposition.
The name of Jack the Ripper's last victim is believed to be Lydia Hart, a well known character of the east end who has been missing from her usual haunts for nearly a week. If it had not been for the smell the body would most likely be lying under the arch now.
At the mortuary this afternoon the woman's remains presented a sickening spectacle, and sent a thrill of horror through those who witnessed it. The head and legs are missing, and have been severed in a manner that indicates the skill of a surgeon. There was a terrible incision in the lower part of the abdomen, extending almost to the chest. The intestines could be seen through the aperture, while, as in the case of all of Jack the Ripper's other victims, the matrix had been removed.
The breast had been cut about in an indescribable manner. The murdered woman was about 30 years of age and has white, plump arms and soft, well-shaped hands, that showed no indications of toil.
Instead of assuming a more cautious and watchful attitude, the assassin seems to have been emboldened by his previous success. That no suspicion or attention should have been aroused by the appearance of a person carrying such a bulky parcel or wheeling it in a cart at such a spot and at such an early hour is quite extraordinary. The Scotland Yard officials decline to say whether they have a clew or not. Their theory is that the woman's remains were brought to the place in a handcart or even carried there, and that the murderer took away every vestige of his victim's clothing to avoid any suspicion. The extra men who had been stationed in the Whitechapel district for months past have not been withdrawn. On the contrary, their numbers have been reinforced, in consequence of the dock strikes. About the time when the remains were supposed to have been deposited in the corner hundreds of constables were on their way through the adjoining streets to all parts of Whitechapel to relieve them, as they had been on duty through the night.
The mortuary was crowded all day by persons to identify the woman, but she has not yet been identified. As the head has been removed it is quite possible that she may never be claimed by her friends, even if she has any.
While there is no doubt that a murder has been committed, and there are the same methods, the same mutilations and the same mystery, the police authorities and medical experts hesitate to believe that it is the work of Jack the Ripper. The crime bears a resemblance rather to the Thames mystery, in which case the pieces of the body of a woman were found at various parts of the river in the early part of the summer. The only chance of obtaining a clew lies in the fact that the murderer carried away the hair of his victim, and this imprudent yielding to the promptings of his horrible lust for blood may lead to his capture. The police have now something tangible to look for; still the probability of solving the mystery is very slight under the present circumstances. No arrests have been made, but the locality is swarmed with detectives working hard to run the inhuman monster to the earth. The generally accepted list of the Whitechapel victims up to date are as follows:

1. Unknown woman, past middle age, Whitechapel outcast, found dead in October 1887, with body horribly mutilated. Little attention paid to the case.
2. Martha Turner, found August 7, 1888, stabbed in sixty-two places with a bayonet.
3. Polly Nichols, found August 31, head nearly severed from the body.
4. Annie Chapman, found September 8, horribly carved.
5. Young woman, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, found September 23, slashed as were the others.
6. Elizabeth Stride, found September 30, body warm when found, but mutilated like the others.
7. Catherine Eddows, found the same morning, body and face horribly disfigured.
8. Unidentified woman, found October 2, with head and arms severed and the usual mutilations of body.
9. Mrs. Mary Jane Lawrence, found November 9, head nearly severed, face lacerated almost beyond recognition, breast cut off and laid on a table, heart and liver removed and matrix missing. Body literally hacked to pieces.
10. Elizabeth Jackson, body found in sections between May 31 and June 25, 1889.
11. Alice Mackenzie, alias Kelly, found in Castle alley dead but with body still warm, June 17, 1889. Mutilations not completed, knife evidently dull.
12. The present case.

Source: The Galveston Daily News, Thursday September 12, 1889

THE WHITECHAPEL SENSATION.
A Well Known and Eccentric London Surgeon Rumored To Be The Fiend.

LONDON, Sept. 12. - The inquest on the case of the woman whose headless body was discovered in Whitechapel is being conducted with closed doors, and extraordinary precautions are taken to prevent the medical testimony in the case being made public. The rumor is afloat but can not be traced to an authoritative source, that one of the doctors has pointed out that the surgical work of the fiend who committed the murder bears a remarkable resemblance in certain features to peculiarities which have frequently been noted by the profession in the work of a well known London surgeon, a man of the highest standing in his profession, but exceedingly eccentric. The police maintain a discreet silence and refuse to either deny or verify the rumor. They appear to be active, however, and their conduct indicates that they have a clew of some sort.

Source: September 12, 1889

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Source: The National Police Gazette: New York, September 28, 1889, Page 16

"TWELVE!"
Is Murderer Jack the Ripper Again at His Work of Butchery?

ANOTHER GHASTLY DISCOVERY.
The Body of Another Horribly Mutilated Woman found by the Authorities.

WHITECHAPEL'S LATEST HORROR.
[SUBJECT OF ILLUSTRATION.]

"Jack the Ripper" is at work again.
A few weeks ago the POLICE GAZETTE gave a full account, with sketches of the latest Whitechapel murder, in which the now famous Jack the Ripper is supposed to have been most deeply interested.
The victim in the case referred to was Alice Mackenzie,

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a woman of the lower class, who was found murdered and horribly mutilated almost within shadow of a police station.
Following so closely in the wake of the last of the ten preceding murders laid at Jack the Ripper's door, it can be imagined that it caused great excitement, not only in the Whitechapel district, but throughout London, and, indeed, the whole civilized world. The excitement had scarcely abated when, on Sept. 10, London was again startled by the announcement that still another crime, of the same nature, had been perpetrated in the same district.
At 5:30 o'clock on the morning mentioned a policeman found the body of a fallen woman lying at the corner of a railway arch on Cable street, Whitechapel. An examination of the remains showed that the head and legs had been cut off and carried away and the stomach ripped open, the intestines lying on the ground. A cordon of police instantly surrounded the spot, but no arrests were made. Policemen passed the spot every fifteen minutes. Those on duty on the previous night say they saw nothing suspicious.
The physicians who examined the body say that in their opinion the murder and mutilation occupied nearly an hour.
The murder was the worst of the whole series of

[img][/img]

Whitechapel murders. The manner in which the limbs had been severed from the body showed that the murderer was possessed of some surgical skill. The woman was about thirty years old. Her clothing was shabby, and she was evidently a hard drinker. The remains have not been identified.
The most intense excitement again prevails in Whitechapel. Crowds surrounded the mortuary in which the body lay.
Later details concerning the finding of the body show that there was no blood on the ground where the body was found; neither was there any blood on the body. From this it is evident that the murder was committed in some other place, and that the body was subsequently deposited under the railway arch. The trunk was nude. A rent and bloody chemise was found lying near the body. The arms were intact, but the legs were missing. It is believed that the woman had been dead for two days.
Three sailors who were sleeping under the arch next to the one under which the body was found were taken into custody by the police. They convinced the authorities, however, that they had seen or heard nothing of a suspicious nature, and they were discharged.
And there is added another mystery to the crimes of the alleged villainous Jack.
The readers of the POLICE GAZETTE will perhaps

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remember, that when the first body was found a note was found pinned to the body which stated that the perpetrator of the horrible crime would not rest content until he had finished fifteen victims.
The last is "Number 12" and three yet remain.
The strange thing about the case is that all of the twelve found have belonged to the abandoned class of women who have their headquarters in and about Whitechapel. As a consequence the greatest degree of excitement prevails among this class of women, and they are well nigh panic stricken, each fearing that she will be the next.
The police have used every effort to apprehend the criminal, but, as has been stated, no result has been attained up to the time of going to press of the POLICE GAZETTE.
By many it is supposed that the last find was the result

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of a ghastly joke of medical students who had dissected portions of the body for analysis and then placed the trunk where it could be found by the authorities.

Source: The National Police Gazette: New York, September 28, 1889, Page 6

THE LAST WHITECHAPEL MURDER.

Mr. Wynne E. Baxter resumed the inquest at the Vestry-hall, Cable-street, Whitechapel, on September 23rd, concerning the death of a woman unknown, whose mutilated body was discovered on September 10th under a railway arch in Pinchin-street, Whitechapel.
Dr. John Clarke, assistant to Dr. Phillips, divisional police surgeon, was the first witness. He said that at a little before six o'clock on the morning of the 10th of September he was called by the police to Pinchin-street. Under a railway arch there, about
8ft. from the road, and 1ft. from the right wall of the arch, he saw the trunk of a woman, minus the head and legs. It was lying with the right arm doubled under the abdomen, and left arm at the side. The arms were not severed from the body. There was no blood,
and no signs of any struggle having taken place. Decomposition was just commencing. The body was lifted on to the ambulance and taken to the mortuary. On re-examining it there the body appeared to be that of a woman of stoutish build, dark complexion, about 5ft. 3in.
in height, and between 30 and 40 years of age. He thought the woman had been dead 24 hours. Besides the wounds caused by the severance of the head and legs, there was a wound 17in. long through the external coats of the abdomen. The body was not blood-stained, and had
the appearance of not having been recently washed. On the back were four bruises which had been caused before death, one just to the right of the spine, and one an inch lower down. About the middle of the back was a bruise about the size of half-a-crown, and 3in. to the
left of the spine was a bruise 2-1/2in. in diameter. It was such a bruise as would be caused by a fall or a kick. None of the bruises were of old standing. Round the neck was an indentation such as would be caused by clothing during life. On the right arm were eight distinct
bruises, and seven on the left, all of them caused before death and of recent date. The back of both forearms and hands were much bruised. On the outer side of the left forearm, 3in. above the wrist, was a cut about 2in. in length, and lower down there was another cut. Both
were caused before death. The bruises might have been caused by the right arm being tightly grasped. There was an old injury on the index finger of the right hand. The hands and nails were pallid, but were not indicative of any particular kind of work. There were no signs that the
woman had been a mother.
Dr. George Baxter Phillips said that he had examined the body, and he confirmed the evidence given by Dr. Clarke. With Dr. Gordon Browne and Mr. Hubbard he afterwards further examined the body. The neck had been severed with a clean instrument, commencing a little to the right side of
the neck behind. The two small cuts on the arm appeared to him as likely to have been caused by the sweep of the knife when dividing the thighs. The pallor of the hands and nails were important elements enabling him to draw a conclusion as to the the cause of death. There was throughout the
body an absence of blood. There was no evidence of disease or poison. He believed that death arose from loss of blood, and that the mutilations had taken place subsequent to death. The mutilations had been effected by some one accustomed to cut up animals, or to see them cut up. The incisions
had been made with a strong knife about 8in. in length. There had probably been a former incision in the neck before the head was severed from the trunk. In answer to a juryman the witness said that he had no reason to say that the person who had dealt with the body had any anatomical
knowledge.
Michael Keating, shoeblack, living near Brick-lane, said he went under the arch at Pinchin-street on the night of the 9th inst., between eleven and twelve o'clock to sleep, not being able to pay for his lodging. No other person was there at the time, and he did not notice any signs of the body.
He was awakened by the police when the body was found.
Richard Hawk, a Cornish seaman, was next called. He said he was paid off in the Thames about seven weeks ago, but subsequently had been in Greenwich Hospital. He left the hospital on the 9th inst., and walked up to London. Shortly after four o'clock next morning he went into the arch in Pinchin-street,
where he lay down to sleep. He was not exactly sober at the time. He did not see any one or anything in the arch.
Inspector Moore, Criminal Investigation Department, produced a plan of Pinchin-street and the surrounding neighbourhood. He said every effort had been made to have the body identified, but without success. At present there was nothing to show how the body had been placed where it was found. He had had
the chemise found on the body cleansed, but no marks were discovered that would give them any clue as to the owner or maker.
Dr. Phillips, recalled, was asked by the coroner if there was any similarity in the way in which the limbs were severed in this case and in the Dorset-street case; and he replied that he did not find sufficient similarity to convince him that it was the same person who performed the operation, but the
division of the neck, and the attempt to disarticulate the bones of the spine in the Dorset-street case were very similar to that which was effected here. The mutilations in the Dorset-street case were most wanton, whereas in this it struck him that they were made for the purpose of disposing of the body.
He thought there was greater knowledge shown in regard to the construction of the parts composing the spine, and that on the whole there was greater knowledge of the mode of separating a joint.
This concluded the evidence, and the Coroner proceeded to sum up. He referred to the want of identification, which in many cases helped to clear up a mystery. The cause of death was clearly loss of blood, but how that came about the jury would have to decide. The circumstances were overwhelmingly in favour
of the opinion that the woman met with a violent and criminal death.
The jury, after consultation, returned a verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons unknown.

Source: Cardigan Observer, and General Advertiser For the Counties of Cardigan, Carmarthen and Pembroke, 28 September 1889, Page 2

THE WHITECHAPEL MYSTERY.

There is no clue yet to the identity of the last Whitechapel victim, but the police are keeping a close watch on the railway arch, which has not moved from its position since the crime. All the men who are engaged in building it have been arrested,
and two of the locomotives which run over it are under suspicion, though their previous character has been good. A wealthy gentleman in the borough has offered 1,000 pounds for a sight of the body, but he is blind. Important developments are looked for.

Identity of the Victim not yet Established.

The authorities at Scotland Yard, after careful investigations have come to the conclusion that the body recently discovered in Pinchin-street, Whitechapel, could not possibly be that of the girl Emily Barker, of Northampton who has been missing for the last three weeks.
The father of the girl came up to London on Monday, and had a long interview with the detectives who have the case in hand, but Mr. Barker's description of his daughter by no means tallies with that of the murdered woman, and he has returned to Northampton satisfied that the
deceased was a stranger to him. In the first place, there was an important discrepancy in the matter of height. According to Mr. Barker's statement, his daughter was about 5ft. 4in., and, whilst plump and well nourished, was distinctly petite in appearance. So as far as can be gathered
from the characteristics of the dismembered trunk, the murdered woman must have been a person of very different physique. Her height would be at least 5ft. 8in. or 5ft. 9in., her limbs above the average size, and her frame generally that of an almost abnormally developed female. But
the most important feature in the case is the absence from the mutilated body of a peculiar mark known to exist on that of Emily Barker. One of the first questions asked by Mr. Barker was in reference to this mark, but on turning up the official descriptions of the trunk it was soon found that this
important item in the identification was lacking. Letters alleged to be sent from "Jack the Ripper" are delivered almost every day at Scotland Yard, and although great care is exercised in prosecuting enquiries with respect to them, they usually prove to be the work of silly mischief-makers.

A Disquieting Prophecy.

For another thirteen months the Whitechapel murders will continue. Not until the end of October, 1890, will "Jack the Ripper" be seized. Such is the decree of the stars, "Old Moore" has read them. His predictions for 1890 are published, and the planets have told him many wonderful things. They
have informed him that cigarettes are injurious to young boys. They have whispered to him that marriage is superior to free love. They have assured him that the weather will be hot next July. He learns from them that Parliament will be busy next June, and that next August the old Bath chair will become a
thing of the past. But his most startling revelation is that at the end of October "an important clue will be discovered which will ultimately lead to the detection of the villain who committed so many foul murders in the East-end of London." An astrologer must be clever who discovers so much, but he is not clever
enough. If the stars are so precise why do they not disclose the very murderer himself? Then we should not have thirteen months of anxiety. But then we should have no need of "Old Moore."

Source: Cardiff Times, 5 October 1889, Page 5

ANOTHER WHITECHAPEL ATROCITY.

The Press Association learns that a woman was on Tuesday morning found murdered and mutilated, under circumstances similar to those attending previous outrages in the same locality, in Backchurch-lane, Whitechapel.
The Central News says a woman, believed to have been a prostitute, was found in Backchurch-lane, off Cable-street, St. George's-in-the-East, early on Tuesday morning. The arms and head were completely severed from the body, and she was fearfully disemboweled. The police and doctors believe it is the work of
"Jack the Ripper," and the worst of the series of East London atrocities.

IMPORTANT DETAILS.

Murder sits enthroned (says a later report) again at Whitechapel, and on Tuesday morning the whole of the East-end was panic-stricken by another startling crime. A woman, as in the numerous previous cases, was the victim. A reporter was early on the spot, and got some important details despite the reticence of the police.
At twenty minutes past five the body, bereft of legs and head, was found by a policeman

CONCEALED IN A SACK

in the railway arches at Pinchin-street, Backchurch-lane. Appearances justify the assumption that the murder had recently been committed, though it appears not improbable that the fiendish act was perpetrated at another scene, and the trunk carried to Pinchin-street for disposal. Only the body and arms were there.

THE LEGS AND HEAD WERE GONE.

It was consequently impossible to judge of the age of the victim. The head was severed close to the shoulder, and the legs were cut off right up to the body. The scene of the discovery is close to the spots where the previous murders were committed which have made Whitechapel hideous. Backchurch-lane turns to the right out of
Commercial-road, and at the end the railway crosses it. The arches, with one exception, have gates, and are used, as is commonly the case, for stabling and storage. It was in the solitary arch without a door that the body was found, wrapped in a sack. There was

NO BLOOD-SATURATED GROUND

or mark of struggling. A few stray pieces of straw, a scrap of waste paper whirled in by the wind - this was all. On the other side of the railway line were other high, dark, damp, vaulted, unused arches, but they seem to give no clue. A panic again seems to have stricken the whole neighbourhood. In the early morning excited women and curious
men gathered in small knots discussing the latest tragedy - by far the worst of any of the terrible series. At St. George's Mortuary, morbid curiosity drew a crowd of slatternly young women, eager if possible to catch a glimpse of the ghastly body. The police would admit having no clue, and they refused all information. The cordon of men drawn round
the spot one and all professed

ABSOLUTE IGNORANCE

of a single detail. Nor was their chief at Leman-street one whit better. When the reporter explained his business he tempted him to take a seat and wait, remarking that he was busy just then - taking the story of a man evidently complaining of assault, if the mark on his eye was any criterion. Afterwards he advised the newspaper man to go to the Chief Commissioner,
and ultimately refused point blank to afford any information.

DESCRIPTION OF THE VICTIM.

Immediate information of the discovery was sent to the Commissioner of Police by special signal, and Mr. Monro, with Colonel Monsell, at an early hour inspected the scene. The police investigations were committed to Chief-Inspector Swanson, assisted by Inspector Reid, Inspector Moore, and other officers. During the day Inspector Tunbridge, who had the charge
of the Battersea case, was also in the district. The mutilated remains were taken in an ambulance to the St. George's Mortuary, where they were seen by Dr. Gordon Brown (surgeon to the City Police), Dr. Hibbert (one of the Westminster Hospital surgeons), and by Mr. Clarke; but it was decided, in the absence of the divisional surgeon of police, to defer the post-mortem
examination until his return to town, which was expected hourly. From external observation, however, it was agreed that the deceased had been a well-built woman, 5ft. 3in. in height, and between 30 and 40 years of age. The measurement across the extended arms was 5ft. 4in., and round the chest 31-3/4in. The body was absolutely unclothed, but a portion of a linen under-garment,
much stained, had been thrown upon it. There were no marks to lead to identification, except a singular partially-healed semi-circular wound, with a flap of skin adhering, on the index finger of the right hand. This wound might have been caused by a bite, or by a nail. It was noticed that both elbows were discoloured, and there were post-mortem marks round the waist, produced apparently
by a rope. The head had been removed, together with the legs from the hips, but the arms were intact. The latter were not developed muscularly, and the hands, long and slender, were filbert-shaped nails, showed no signs of recent hard work. No ring-marks were detected, and nothing was noted which would indicate the woman's position in life, or her calling, although an opinion was expressed
that she might have been a factory hand or a rope-worker. The abdominal injuries were an imitation of what had been recorded in previous Whitechapel murders, but scarcely so fiendish in their character. The medical opinion was that death had taken place four or five days previously, and it is understood that the doctors also arrived at the conclusion that the dissecting-knife had been used by a
left-handed person, who possessed considerable anatomical knowledge as well as physical strength. This peculiarity has been commented upon in former instances. No hacking was observable, and it was remarked that a saw had been employed as well as a knife. Until the post-mortem examination should be complete it was not possible to say in what manner the woman had come by her death,
or whether she had been subjected to an illegal operation. The police, until possessed of expert testimony on this and other points, refused to commit themselves to any theory, but the resemblances to the facts disclosed in connection with the Rainham, Whitehall, and Battersea mysteries, were too remarkable to be overlooked by them.

THEORIES OF THE CRIME.

A number of theories respecting this supposed crime have been discussed. Some people are inclined to believe that the miscreant who threw Whitechapel into a state of terror last year, and is supposed to have resumed his operations in July, has determined to show that he can defy detection, and wishes to surpass in atrociousness anything which he has yet attempted. But it is admitted that if this version
be correct then the hitherto generally-accepted theory that the Whitechapel murderer is a man possessed with some fearful form of uncontrollable mania falls to the ground, unless it is possible to assume that on occasion he could so bridle his passion that he might in cold blood, and at his leisure, proceed to the mutilation and dismemberment of his victims. It will also be recollected that the Whitehall and subsequent
Thames mysteries were occupying the public mind at the same time as some of the former Whitechapel murders, and no connection between them was then traced. Tuesday's discovery bears a very close resemblance to the West-end cases, the mode of procedure having been almost identical, whilst the strong point of difference is the change of locality. If the Chelsea dissector is still at work, and his motives were never
made clear, he must, it is thought, have purposely removed his quarters to the East-end, or have conveyed the body which he wished to get rid of thither, with the intention of availing himself of the reputation of the undiscovered murderer, and to prevent a search being made for him in other parts of London. He may have taken this step, when he found that it was impossible, decomposition having set in, safely to dispose of the remains
in any other way, but nevetheless he ran great risks of detection, for Whitechapel, owing to the dock strike, has latterly been full of police by day and by night. One circumstance which is favourable to the detectives is that if the man came from the West-end to the East of London he must have had a cart or a cab, as he could not have carried a bulky package in the dead of night without being noticed. It is considered that he had sufficient
reasons for concealing the identity of the woman by removing the head; but, although the same precaution was adopted in the Battersea case, the police, mainly by means of the clothing, succeeded in proving that the woman had belonged to the lowest class, and was pretty well known. This matter appears to have led the author of the Pinchin-street mystery to destroy any clue which clothing could afford.
Last week a letter was found at the rear of the East London Hospital announcing the intention of the writer to perpetrate another murder immediately. The document was handed to the police; but no importance was attached to it in view of the number of such productions which have found their way into the hands of the authorities. On Tuesday night another letter was found in Whitechapel containing the following words: "I told you last week
I would do another murder." Inquiries are being made to test the similarity of the writing.

THE INQUEST OPENED.

The inquest on the dismembered trunk of a woman found in Pinchin-street was opened on Wednesday morning by Mr. Wynne E. Baxter, at the Vestry Hall, Cable-street. The proceedings created no public interest in the neighbourhood, only the jury, police, and reporters being present, and there being no assemblage of people round the door.
Police-constable Pennett was the first witness. He said he was on duty on Monday night at ten o'clock. Nothing of an unusual character attracted his attention. His beat lay through Pinchin-street, and took him half-an-hour or a trifle over to go through. He entered Pinchin-street from Christian-street, through Backchurch-lane, and occasionally down Frederick-street, underneath the arches where the stables were, and which was a very dark place.
About twenty-five minutes past five in the morning he was going round his beat as usual, when going across the road towards the arch to look in the archway he saw the body. He always looked in the archway as he passed. At first sight it looked like a bundle such as some of the Jews threw away in the night time. There were three arches abutting on Pinchin-street, two of which were closed in. The one where he saw the body was open, having had the
wooden fencing taken away, leaving only the uprights and cross-pieces remaining. He could, therefore, easily see the bundle, and did see it before he crossed the road. There was another entrance to the waste land on the other side of the arch from Backchurch-lane. That was a cart entrance, with gates. On reaching the bundle he found it was four or five yards in the archway, measuring from the footpath. The shoulders were towards Backchurch-lane, near
the wall of the arch. He saw that instead of being a bundle, it was the trunk of a woman's body, quite nude, except for some dirty pieces of linen upon it. He noticed that the head had been taken from the body; and that the two legs were missing. It was a dusty place, but he noticed no marks of wheels near the body. Nor did he see any marks of blood. He waited a minute, and then a man came along with a broom, and he sent this man to fetch another constable.
The man went away, and in a few minutes a sergeant and a constable came up. On their arrival he sent for Inspector Pinhorn, who arrived in a few minutes. The inspector directed a search of the arches. No one had passed in the meantime. Two men, who had the appearance of sailors, were found asleep in the arch furthest from the lane. In the middle arch, next to where the body was found, was a shoe-black lying on the stones. He was also asleep. The men were taken
to Leman-street Police-station and detained. The last time he had passed the arch before seeing the body was shortly before five o'clock. He looked in the arch, and was satisfied that the body was not there. Day was then breaking. During the night he had not seen anyone with a bundle or costermonger's barrow, but he saw a costermonger's barrow in an adjoining street left out for the night. Within half an hour of the discovery Dr. Phillips' assistant had arrived, and shortly after
six the body was removed to the mortuary. He could not say if the arches were frequently used for sleeping purposes, as he had been put upon the beat that night for the first time.
In answer to a question, the witness said he had no doubt that the body had been carried there in a sack and then taken out. It had been done carefully, because there was no dust or dirt upon it. If he had seen anyone carrying a big bundle at night, he should have stopped him. Every constable would do so. At ten o'clock at night he met a man who asked him to call him at five o'clock. He did so. It was on passing down Pinchin-street next time that he found the body. The man he called
lived in Ely-place.
Inspector Pinhorn was the next witness. He said that on being called to the spot, he had the street cleared of people who had stopped at the gates, but there were still others passing on to their work. He sent the two sailors and the shoeblack to the lock up. There they were questioned. Two of them said they went there at four o'clock, and saw nothing then. They all said they had heard no noise during the night. People frequently used the arches to sleep in; and people of that class would be
well aware of the probability of sleepers being there. The arch was fully opened to the roadway.
The Coroner: That is a curious state of things, as the whole of the ground is well-paved except this.
The Witness: I do not know about that, as the hoarding is of a temporary character not very high.
The Coroner: But this is in a very different state of repair.
The Witness: Yes, the hoarding has been entirely pulled down.
The Coroner: Do you know if any constable in the district saw anyone with a bundle that night?
Witness: None of them saw anything to excite suspicion.
In further examination, witness said the condition of the body was such as it would have been had it been carried in a sack.
The inquest was then adjourned, the coroner stating that Dr. Clark, who first saw the body, was engaged at the Old Bailey, and could not attend this morning. Tuesday, the 24th inst., at 10 o'clock, was fixed for the resumption of the inquest.

Source: Aberystwyth Observer, 14 September 1889, Page 2

The Whitechapel Murder.
A REPORTED CLUE.

The authorities have now, they believe, in a statement made to them on Saturday morning by a gentleman of the highest respectability, obtained testimony by which they hope to elucidate a series
of crimes which have hitherto baffled the ingenuity of the most experienced detectives. It appears that not long since there resided in the metropolis - or, rather, its outskirts - an ordinarily well-dressed man,
who lived in a house by himself, his wife having left him. At the time of the seventh murder in Whitechapel - when the police, as they have done in each case, made great exertions to obtain the slightest clue -
the suspected man, having sold his furniture hurriedly, left the locality on the plea that he was going abroad. Then it dawned upon one of his neighbours that the individual in question came home on the morning
of one of the murders in such an altered garb as to astonish those who had known him. His explanation - that he had so dressed as a practical joke - was accepted, while to account for some blood on his clothes he said
he had been assaulted. For a time nothing more was thought of the occurrence, as his neighbours fully believed he had sailed for America; but, strange to say, the man was recently seen in London, and on the morning the
horrible discovery was made in Pinchin-street it is now believed he was in that district, and probably passed by one of the police-officers called to the scene. To give further details of a voluminous statement, which has been
duly reported to the Chief Commissioner of Police, would, it is thought, tend to hinder an investigation now going on; but a search for the suspect is being actively pursued, and the authorities think that at last they are on the track
of the Whitechapel miscreant.

DISCOVERY OF A BLOOD-STAINED GARMENT.

What may prove an important discovery in connection with the recent murder in Whitechapel was made on Saturday night. Fireman Etherden was standing on a floating fire station, off Charing Cross, when he noticed something
floating by. On reaching it he found that it was a brown paper parcel, which contained a chemise covered with blood. The parcel was handed over to the police at Scotland Yard.

A Woman in Man's Attire.

The chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, Mr. Albert Backert, informed the Press Association on Thursday that the police at Leman-street station having received a letter stating that it has been ascertained that a tall,
strong woman has for some time been working at different slaughter-houses attired as a man. Searching inquiries have this morning been made at the slaughter-houses in Aldgate and Whitechapel by the police. It is presumed that this
has something to do with the recent Whitechapel murders, and it has given rise to a theory that the victims may have been murdered by the hands of a woman. It is remarked that in each case there is no evidence of a man having been seen
in the vicinity at the time of the murder.

Dr. Forbes Winslow on the Assassin's Track.

There is one man in London, says the New York Herald, who knows more about "Jack the Ripper" than all the policemen and detectives in the metropolis. For the present, for obvious prudential reasons, the name and address of this person cannot
be disclosed. The information in his possession is of the last and the highest importance, and in view of the commission of another East End butchery it should receive the most respectful attention at Scotland Yard, and lead to prompt investigation being
instituted. This gentleman, who possesses sufficient material and circumstantial evidence to hang ten "Jack the Rippers," is in secret communication with Dr. Forbes Winslow, and a Herald reporter is in the confidence of the lunacy specialist. "Jack the Ripper"
is known. He is known to the police, and he is known to several other persons. The latter have supplied the former with full descriptions of his personality, manners, and habits, and at certain times there has actually been no doubt as to his whereabouts. The
invisibility in which "Jack" is enveloped is growing thinner, and to those who have followed his murderous movements it is certain that Nemesis is closing upon him, and that within a period that may be measured his capture and identity will be effected. A good many
people have seen "Jack the Ripper," or they think they have, which, in the state of frenzy to which the public nerves have been worked, is very much the same thing. A man living at Elham, near Canterbury, is quite certain that he has seen him. He was a man who always
had plenty of money, and pretended to be a travelling jeweller. He was always absent from Elham when the Whitechapel mutilations took place. Some time ago he gave out that he was going to Manchester. Two days later the Backchurch-lane murder took place. The Elham
man cannot afford the expense of coming to London, but if that is paid for him he offers to come to London and put his hand on "Jack" right off. The call of John Cleary at the Herald office on the morning of September 8th would appear to be coincident with several other similar
warnings. A Mr. Chivers, living at Brixton, called upon Dr. Forbes Winslow several times to give information anent a Whitechapel murder, but unfortunately every time he called the doctor was out. The doctor is on the murderer's track. He possesses tangible proof of identity, and is
convinced that he could effect his arrest in a week. He means to act upon the clue supplied to him, and he does not intend to call in the assistance of the police. He has done that before, and has formed such an opinion of their incompetency and the mad jealousy which excites them
that in future operations he would prefer to do without them.

Dr. Lawson Tait on the New Theory.

Dr. Lawson Tait, the eminent woman's surgeon, having read the suggestion circulated by the Press Association on Thursday, that the Whitechapel murderer might be a woman, yesterday stated in conversation with a Pall Mall Gazette reporter, that the murders, not only in Whitechapel but
in Battersea and Chelsea, are the work of the same individual, who is a lunatic and a London butcher. The cuts were made in a fashion peculiar to the London butcher. They would have been made quite different if the operator had hailed from Dublin or Edinburgh. He or she undoubtedly suffered
from fits or epileptic furor, which in a woman are more regular than in a man.

The Rev. S.A. Bennett on the Question.

In his pastoral address on the work being done in St. Jude's, Whitechapel, by the Rev. S.A. Barnett, its vicar - a very interesting compilation - reference is made to the Whitechapel murders and the real cause of them. In Mr. Barnett's eyes, the murders are less horrible than the conditions out of which
they spring. Describing the state of the streets in the neighbourhood, he remarks that "a mere murder, which represents nothing but one man's madness or even vice, is not comparable to the destruction of character, the degradation of woman, the public shame, which every night mark this small district.
The names and position of the ground landlords were discovered. Efforts were made to purchase the property with a view to its reform. Up to the present those efforts have failed, because it was not possible to bring home to the consciences of the owners that they who have received the rents for such property
have no right to large profit on its sale. The money they receive is dirty, and has not been cleaned because it has passed through the hands of agents and lessees. The owners have now no excuse of ignorance, and public opinion will some day make it impossible for honourable men to urge rights which rest on the
dishonour of others." It seems to be very nearly time for Lord Randolph Churchill to force upon his party a measure which will prevent landlords from regarding as property the profits they make out of neglect, or from claiming compensation for the income they receive for not doing their duty.

Source: Cardiff Times, 21 September 1889, Page 4

The Whitechapel Murder.
LATEST DETAILS.

LONDON, Thursday.

The Press Association says there has been no fresh information to be gained this morning regarding the mysterious discovery in Pinchin-street, though every effort is being put forward by the police and
others to gain a clue to the matter. As the result of the post-mortem examination made last evening, a small quantity of fluid was found in the stomach, leading to the belief that the woman was drugged or
poisoned. An analysis of the contents of the abdomen will be made.

NO CLUE.

A Central News telegram says: - The police up to eleven o'clock had made no arrests in connection with the latest crime in Whitechapel. Nothing has transpired calculated to throw any light upon the woman's
identity, and the police have obtained not even the faintest clue to the murderers. The report that a bloody apron had been found near the scene of the crime is untrue. The excitement in the district has subsided.

The Police Nonplussed.

As the result of the fullest investigation, the police are still without a clue to the identity of the dead woman, whose mutilated body was discovered early on Tuesday morning lying in a railway arch off Pinchin-street,
St. George's-in-the-East. Neither is there any indication, or suspicion, pointing to the author of what is now believed to have been an atrocious crime. The medical examination has made it quite clear that the cause of death
was syncope, caused by hemorrhage, but there is no evidence to prove in what manner the loss of blood was produced; still little doubt is entertained that it followed upon some act of violence, perhaps the fracture of the skull,
or, more probably, the cutting of the throat. It is understood that there is no reason to support the theory that the woman had been subjected to an unlawful operation, from the consequences of which she died. Her condition
negatives any such supposition. There is no confirmation of the assertion that the injuries were inflicted by a left-handed man; on the contrary, the cutting seems to have been done with the right. The one fact left undisputed is that
the deceased met with her death in no ordinary way, and if she was murdered, the deed must have been accomplished by some person with an insufficient motive. For taking all the appearances together, it is supposed that the victim
was of a low stamp, belonging probably to the same class as the woman whose remains were thrown into the Thames at Chelsea or concealed in Battersea Park. The resemblances between the Pinchin-street and Chelsea cases are
positively startling, and there is warrant for believing that the dissecting-knife had been employed by the same hand in both instances.

THE NATURE OF THE MUTILATIONS.

Upon a careful examination of the arms of the last victim four distinct bruises were noticeable, and these, in the opinion of the medical experts, were occasioned by the woman's struggles with the murderer. The body was well nourished,
and the age is now supposed to be about 25. The trunk now lies in methylated spirits. It is thought that the murderer may be one acquainted with the dissecting room, as the injuries bear the appearance of having been made with a dissecting
knife.

The "Herald's" Strange Story.

The sensational story from the New York Herald has aroused much curiosity, and is now receiving the attention of the police.
Detective Swanson, of Scotland Yard, called at the Herald office at noon on Wednesday, and asked to be placed in possession of all the particulars. He questioned closely all the parties who had had a sight of Cleary, and went over all the facts
as set forth in the published account, together with a number of trifles which had not been printed. He then made an appointment for four o'clock at Scotland Yard with the reporter who had had most to do with Cleary, and went away. In the meantime a number
of reporters had been sent into the Drury-lane district with directions to run to earth everybody by the name of Cleary. There are almost as many Clearys in that district as there are gas lamps, and there was consequently plenty to do. All the Clearys seemed to be
more or less related to each other, but there was no John. White Horse-yard, Clare Market, Drury-court, Sardinia-street, Shetland-street, and other thoroughfares revealed Clearys or traces of them, and the father or grandfather of them all, an old man living in a garret
in Shetland-street, was questioned, but without any result. It was finally concluded that Stephen Cleary, a hawker, who lives off Drury-court, might possibly be the man, as he answered to the description to some extent. Stephen was not due at home until five o'clock, and
investigations were consequently suspended until then. Stephen turned out to be a false scent, however. It soon became evident that a false address had been given, and for the present all trace of the mysterious visitor to the Herald office has been looked for in vain.

MURDER MORNING IN WHITECHAPEL.
[BY TWO OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENTS.]

There is no doubt about it. The East-ender is blase of murders. This was certainly the feeling in the East-end on Tuesday. When we started for the scene of the murder the West was just awakening, but the news was printed as early as half-past nine, and selling like wild-fire
all along the Underground line. The City clerk invested another penny in another paper, as his master was not behind him in curiosity. The newsboys were blowing out their lungs with the news. But once in the Commercial-road, roaring with traffic, Jack the Ripper was lost in the crowd.
"Good morning. Another murder!" "Oh! how many's that? Good morning." The carmen and the hawkers and the shopkeepers are too busy to dally with drams of gossip.
On the way to the scene of the murder we walked down Leman-street. Two policemen were sunning themselves at the door of the station, and smiling, for it was a pleasant morning even in the environs of Whitechapel. On the walls was a murder notice printed in big, staring letters; through
the door you could see a squad of policemen drilling in the yard. These were the signs of official activity. The police drill, and plaster London with murder notices. As usual, the officials at the door "know'd nothing. They 'ad 'eard that somethink 'ad bin found." And we left the two gentlemen still
sunning themselves and brushing the flies off their noses. We passed on and turned into Cable-street, which is a narrow, filthy road, blocked up with barrows of vegetables, fish, and butchers' meat. The housewives of Whitechapel were evidently not much affected by the news. Meat had risen a
farthing, which was a much more serious matter. With more violence than was quite chivalrous we urged our way onwards through the chaffering housekeepers, stumbling through the autumnal cabbage leaves which lay thick on the ground as our old friends of Vallombrosa. It was evident that marketing
was more interesting than murdering. Did we see howling mobs of women, with arms akimbo and faces aflame with rage? No. The smells were strong, the language was strong, and there was a high-flavoured tone about Cable-street; but of horror or consternation not a bit. "They've got another job, and really,
sir, if you just cast your eyes around, you will see that a murder more or less is not worth mentioning. It's good for you newspaper reporters. And for good liars, sir, give me a newspaper reporter, especially the seedy ones who are always lifting their elbows in the bars. You see, I have come down in the world.
I, too, gentlemen, was once connected with the Press. It is a dangerous profession. May you be morning or evening? It's those evening extra-special specials that take the cake, vulgarly speaking. Munchausens, gentlemen, Munchausens. Now as for this miserable trunk that you are down here about - lemons,
I see you're drinking mild drink, sir, you like it mild? - excuse the interruption - you have given me this drink, or I should put it in the past tense, for you see, sir, my glass is - thank you, your health, well, as I say, I like to earn my wages - this trunk which is making all this fuss - this headless, legless trunk - why, it is
a week old - only a stale trunk." When we had explored the horrible nest of torturous slums, in the centre of which the body-carrier had deposited his load, it was evident that our casual acquaintance, who had picked us up at the cat's-meat shop at the corner of Backchurch-lane, was perfectly correct when he said
you "might do a murder a minute, send a large family to the board school, and die a natural death." The whole neighbourhood is a network of slums which it would be impossible to examine, and every slum has an outlet, with runs like a rabbit warren.
Cable-street runs at right angles to Leman-street, and Backchurch-lane runs off Cable-street at an angle of 45 degrees. It is a murderous-looking neighbourhood when the September sun is shining, and the street is alive with hucksters and housewives. At night it might be called Murderers' Mansions. The entrance
to the "lane" is bridged over for the railway, and it is under one of fifty gloomy arches along which the line runs that the human trunk with its covering of coarse sacking was found. Each arch would conceal a body, or hide a murderer. These arches form one side of Pinchin-street, at right angles to which run rows of brick
cottages. On the doorstep of one of these a dirty woman was sitting with her elbows on her knees and her chin resting on her hands. Through the passage we caught sight of a naked boy performing his ablutions at the pump in the back-yard.
"Another murder. Who was it?"
"No one knows, sir. No head, no nothink."
"Do you feel nervous?"
"This is a lonely place of a dark night."
"But you have gas-lamps and policemen."
"A gas-lamp, yes. But police we don't see for hours, as often as not."
It is pathetic to see the love for flowers and leaves which these miserables show. One side of the street was a mass of creepers, thick with dust and filth, but still things with leaves. The East-end creeper is a kindly parasite, which clothes the grimiest walls, and even serves for a window-blind.
You may be quite certain there were lots of police about just now. We tackled one with a beery face, but he only leered.
"D---- it all, you don't expect us to identify a trunk without a 'ead, do you?" remarked his companion.
Then we walked back to the fatal arch, which was guarded by three jovial bobbies, who kept a crowd of fifty drunken, lazy sluts and children and an old coalheaver or two quiet.
"Where was it found?" we asked one of the guards.
"Here. Just where you see the pink dust. It's carbolic."
"To cover the blood?"
"Blood - there wern't no blood. It stunk. Move on, please."
In the middle of the road a sandy female, without a covering on her head, was addressing the crowd. We took the liberty of joining in the conversation.
"Somebody missing, missus?"
"Ay, guv'nor. A sort of relation of mine. A respectable woman, not an unfortunate. Oh! no. Quite respectable, and you may say she was born in the neighbourhood. She has not been seen since yesterday morning, and we think it's her. If you calls at No. ----- Street, you can find out for you'self."
The house was closed, but we dropped in to have another "small lemon" at the "pub," to pursue enquiries. The bar was filled with five giantesses drinking ale, but the murder was never mentioned. We left the ladies and called in a little shop, where we were informed that the missing washerwoman's son had been down to
"the house" and found his mother there. She'd only been on the drink, and had gone to the House to sleep it off. She was quite a respectable woman, they all told us - a most respect'ble body; but when she had a bit o' drink inside her - well, no doubt she might have gone along of "Jack" then. Indeed, every one seemed to have
only two ideas on the subject; first, that another murder was the most natural thing in the world; and secondly, that it would also have been the most natural thing in the world to have "gone along of Jack." And as we turned round for a last look at the sordid squalor of the houses and streets, we were of the same opinion also. "Another murder."
"Of course, why not?" - Pall Mall Gazette.

Source: Cardiff Times, 14 September 1889, Page 4