Annie Farmer

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THE SPITALFIELDS OUTRAGE.
SOME UNIMPORTANT ARRESTS.

STATEMENTS OF THE WOMAN.
THE PURSUIT OF THE MAN.

Annie Farmer's assailant has not yet been apprehended. As suggested in The Echo yesterday, he is supposed to be in hiding at the place where he lives, for his description is so well known, and the detectives on his track are so vigilant and numerous, that he must have been captured last night had he ventured into the East-end thoroughfares.
There were two arrests during the night, but neither is considered of any importance as far as the melancholy tragedies are concerned. One of the prisoners, named James Edwards, whose apprehension is alluded to in the morning papers as important was arrested in Brick-lane. He had struck a woman, giving her a black eye, and was running along the street, pursued by an excited mob, when two detectives caught him and conveyed their prisoner to the Commercial-street station. There he was merely charged with the assault on the female. There is, the police say, no ground for suggesting that he is in any way connected with the Whitechapel atrocities, and there is, therefore, no importance to be attached to the arrest. The other apprehension was that of a Liverpool man, whose conduct gave rise to some suspicion. At ten o'clock this morning he was still detained at the Commercial-street station, but it is believed his innocence will be established. The assailant of Annie Farmer can be readily identified when once caught.

RELEASED.

The Liverpool man, who had been detained at the Commercial-street Station, was released this afternoon. Full inquiries as to his antecedents established his innocence. There is now no one under detention at the East-end stations.

SINGULAR SUSPICIONS.

The authorities think it not unlikely that the man who is said to have assaulted Annie Farmer may surrender himself at the Commercial-street station. This idea is based on the fact that the offence with which he would be charged would be comparatively a trivial one. The woman's injuries are of a very slight character, and from further examination of them it is thought they may have been inflicted with a hair-pin and not with a knife. There is, too, a remarkable circumstance which Annie Farmer could not explain, and to which allusion has not yet been made. When at the station her mouth appeared swollen, and an officer sympathetically said to her, "Got the toothache, old gal?" Annie Farmer did not reply. The officer's suspicions being aroused, he suddenly thrust his fingers into her mouth, out of which he extracted a shilling and a sixpence, which she had there concealed. This leads the authorities to suspect that the man had a quarrel with the woman as to money, and that he then fled.

Very little additional evidence has been gathered at to the outrage. The story published yesterday was practically correct in all the details. The superficial character of the five small cuts in the woman's throat, the fact that none of them indicate that they were the work of an expert hand, and the additional fact that they appear to have been produced by the use of a blunt, rather than a keen-edged, knife, lend weight to the police view that the man who made the attack upon her was not the individual who has hitherto been the terror of the neighbourhood.

THE INTENDED VICTIM.

The scene of the outrage is within three minutes' walk of Dorset-street, where the last murder occurred, and it is a singular fact that the victim of the George-yard murder lived at No. 19, George-street, while the victim of the Osborn-street murder lived next door at No. 18. Farmer - the name given to the intended victim - is said to be married, Farmer being understood to be her maiden name. Her age is 30. She belongs to the "unfortunate" class, and is known in the neighbourhood under various nicknames, such as "Dark Sarah," "Laughing Liz," and "Singing Liz," the last because she formerly obtained a livelihood by singing in the streets. She is said to be the wife of a respectable tradesman in business near the City-road, who, in consequence of her dissipated habits, had separated from her, but allowed her ten shillings a week. The alimony had lately, it is stated, been stopped on account of the woman's course of life. Farmer has three children at school, supported by the father, and is a fairly well-educated woman. When examined at the police-station she was evidently recovering from the effects of drink. She has been living in Spitalfields and its vicinity for nearly four years.

HER STATEMENTS TO THE AUTHORITIES.

Whether she can identify the man is uncertain. What her statements were at the police-station was not allowed to transpire, but it is said that she first declared she knew the man, and subsequently contradicted herself and said he was an entire stranger. The police seemed dubious as to what reliance should be placed either upon her original statement or her contradiction. She was kept at the police-station in Commercial-street till three or four o'clock in the afternoon, and was then taken to Whitechapel Infirmary in Baker-street, where her injuries were regarded as very slight, and where, in answer to inquiries, she merely asserted that she felt sure she should know the man again.

HER APPEARANCE IN THE KITCHEN - THE PURSUIT.

Of course, there have been innumerable stories, and innumerable people have been interviewed. Most of these statements have reference to the pursuit of the man. There were, it now appears, eight or nine men in the kitchen when the wounded woman rushed into the apartment. Of course they all thought instantly of "Jack the Ripper," but the man, whoever he was, had apparently by this time made his escape, though in order to do so he must have gone through the kitchen. The lodging-house is just in the centre of the district in which all the other outrages have occurred, and it is not improbable that the eight or nine men in the kitchen had no very great ambition to be the first to grapple with the desperado who they all believed had just run out into the street. But some sort of a pursuit seems to have been set up, one man, it is said, managing to gain ground upon the fugitive until he got close upon his heels, when the fellow turned, dealt his pursuer a blow in the face, and continued his flight. The police themselves assert that there certainly was a chase, but for a very short distance. How it could happen that even for a short distance in that neighbourhood a hue and cry could be raised against a fugitive from an attempted murder, and no police should happen to be at hand to prevent his escape, is, to say the least, singular.

HER STATEMENT TO ELLEN MARKS.

Perhaps one of the most interesting of the statements is that made by Ellen Marks, who earns her living as a tailoress. She says: - "Between half-past nine o'clock and ten o'clock yesterday morning I was standing outside No. 18, George-street, with Mary Callaghan. My boots were off, as a woman was rebuttoning them for me, but otherwise I was fully dressed. We were talking to Frank Rume, who had been unloading coke from his cart. At that moment a man came downstairs at No. 19, and ran into the street. He had his collar up, and, making use of a common expression, he said, "Look at what she has done." There was blood on his mouth and a scratch, and his hands had bled upon them. He was about 5ft. 7in. in height, with a fair moustache, and of very sallow complexion. There was a scar of an abscess on the left side of the neck. I should call him a fair man. He wore a blue-black diagonal overcoat, speckled grey trousers, and a hard black felt hat. There was a white handkerchief round the throat. There was nothing in his hands. He seemed excited, and was panting, and as he went off it struck me that he was a sturdily-built man. I never spoke to him. Almost at the same minute I heard a woman scream on the stairs, "He has cut my throat." I ran in the direction of Thrawl-street, whither the man had gone, but could not see him, and I came back to No. 19, George-street, and went to the woman's room, which is on the first flight. The woman was sitting on the bed, dressed in a black body and petticoat. Blood was trickling down her neck. I said, "What has he done?" and she replied, "He has cut my throat." I asked for a light, and a woman brought a candle, for the room was very dark. I then saw that there were five or six wounds in the neck, which seemed to me to be gaping and at least 3in. long. I asked, "What else has he done to you - has he done anything else?" and she said "No." Next I inquired, "Do you know him?" and the woman answered, "I knew him about a twelvemonth ago. I drank in his company, and he made himself known to me this morning. He paid eightpence for the bed, and gave me sixpence whilst in the room. I brought him in about 6:30, and when I was half-asleep I felt a knife cross my throat, which woke me up, and I screamed." The woman was very excited. Then the police came, and the constable 256 H asked me to hold the light whilst he looked for the knife; he found none."

Source: The Echo, Thursday November 22, 1888, Page 3

FIRST FAILURE
In His Bloody Work at Whitechapel.

Foiled In His Last Attempt.
Chased Through London Streets,

The Fiend Escapes the Infuriated Mob.
His Ninth Victim Lives to Describe Him

As a Tall, Well-Dressed Blonde,
Who Knows Whitechapel and Its Low Women.
[COPYRIGHT.]

LONDON, Nov. 21. - A man who is probably the Whitechapel murderer was pursued through the streets by three men today, after trying to cut an old woman's throat.
He escaped.
The last attempt was in George street, a short distance from the scene of the last murder.
The woman and man had occupied the same room all night, and at 9 this morning the man attacked the woman with a knife and cut her throat severely, but she managed to raise the alarm, and the man ran out on the streets.
Three men who lived in the lodging-house pursued him, but he was lost in the crowd.
They describe him as short, stout, with light moustache and well dressed.
Later - News of the attempt at murder flew like wildfire through the town, and hundreds of people flocked in that direction.
The police have taken possession of the premises. No one is allowed to leave or enter.
The woman, whose name is Farmer, has recovered sufficiently to be able to give the following description of the assassin:
Age about 30, tall, fair, light moustache, well dressed, speaks with English accent, and, from conversation, he knew Whitechapel and the habits of its women well.
The police say they are confident of the capture of the man.
According to the woman's story the man had seized her and struck her once in the throat with a knife. She had struggled desperately, and had succeeded in freeing herself from the man's grasp, and had screamed for help.
Her cries had alarmed the man, and he had fled without attempting any further violence.
The woman in this case is

The Ninth Victim

attacked by the man now known only as "the Whitechapel fiend."
This failure to complete his work and disappear into the realms of mystery is the first one in his bloody record.
Undoubtedly, but for the Farmer woman's strength, increased as it was by the desperation of the moment, her body, mutilated like those of the eight poor creatures already disposed of, would have been found in her room as the only evidence of the fiend's visit. This woman belonged to the same class as the others.
As in the last preceding case, the attack was made in the shelter of a room, and it seems evident from this that the murderer has found that the streets are getting too hot for him.
Today's failure and its results give hope that the hitherto successful career of the murderer may now be brought to a summary close.

Source: The Boston Daily Globe, Wednesday Evening, November 21, 1888

A WOMAN ATTACKED IN WHITECHAPEL.

London, 22nd November.

A woman in Whitechapel has been attacked by some one who cut her throat slightly. The assassin escaped, but will be recognised.

Source: The North China Herald and S.C. and C. Gazette, November 30, 1888, Page 594

FIRST EDITION.
BAFFLED THE FIEND.

The Whitechapel Butcher Fails With Number Ten.
WOUNDED, BUT NOT KILLED.

Another Murderous Attack in the London Slums.
POLICE HOT ON THE TRAIL.

The Woman Gives an Accurate Description of the Fiend.
LIST OF HIS FORMER VICTIMS.

LONDON, Nov. 21. - This city was startled and shocked this morning by a report that another unfortunate had fallen a victim to the terrible knife of the Whitechapel fiend.
The report stated that the mysterious woman slayer had accompanied his victim to a lodging house, cut her throat and mutilated her person in a manner similar to that of his previous victim, and succeeded in making his escape.
The police at once formed lines surrounding the precinct in which the crime had been committed.
As the report spread crowds of maddened men and women flocked to the scene.
An investigation revealed the fact that the woman was only wounded in the throat. She stated to the police that a man visited her lodgings and suddenly attacked her with a knife.
She struggled and screamed, and the man, becoming alarmed, fled. The would be murderer was chased fully three hundred yards, but succeeded in eluding his pursuers.
The woman states that she will be fully able to identify her assailant. His arrest is hourly expected, for the entire police force is on his heels. The entire East End is wild with excitement, and, confident the real fiend is now tracked, will use every endeavor to stick closely to his trail.

HISTORY OF THE CRIMES.

No. 1. - The horrible series of Whitechapel murders began April 3 of this year, when Emma Elizabeth Smith was found dead in a yard near Osborn street with a large hole in her abdomen, made by a sharp iron stake or some similar instrument. There was nothing of the horrifying mutilation of the body which has made the subsequent murders famous in the annals of crime.

No. 2. - August 7, 1888, the body of Martha Turner, a hawker, was found on the first floor landing of the George Yard Buildings, Commercial street, Spitalfields. The head was nearly severed from the body and there were twenty-nine stab wounds, beside the usual mutilation. The murder was committed between midnight and dawn.

No. 3. - Mary Ann Nichols, aged forty-two, a woman of the lowest class, was the third victim, killed and mutilated like the rest. Her body was found in the street in Buck's row, Whitechapel, in the early morning of Friday, August 31. She had evidently been killed somewhere else and her body carried where it was found, for little blood was found where the body lay.

No. 4. - Just a week after the killing of the Nichols woman Annie Chapman, aged forty-five, another fallen woman, was similarly murdered and mutilated. Her body was discovered in the back yard of No. 29 Hanbury street, 100 yards from the place where the Nichols woman's remains were found. She must have been butchered after five a.m., for she was drinking with a man, probably her murderer, at that hour in a public house nearby. On the wall near her body was written in chalk: - "Five; fifteen more, then I give myself up."

No. 5. - On Sunday, September 23, a young woman was murdered at Gateshead, near Newcastle-on-the-Tyne. All the circumstances, even to the peculiar mutilation of the body, point to the Whitechapel fiend as the murderer.

No. 6. - Another Whitechapel woman - "Hippy Lip Annie," forty years old - was murdered in Berner street, on Sunday, September 30, at about 1 a.m. Her throat was cut, but there was no slashing of the remains. The body was warm when found and the murderer had been apparently frightened and ran away without accomplishing his horrible object.

No. 7. - Fifteen minutes after the butchery of Hippy Lip Annie, the mutilated body of another victim, a degraded woman of the Whitechapel district, was discovered in the southwest corner of Mitre square.

No. 8. - On the day following the highly decomposed remains of a woman, shockingly mutilated and giving evidence of having been killed by the Whitechapel murderer, was found on the site of the projected Metropolitan Opera House on the Thames embankment.

No. 9. - Mary Jane Kelly, a woman of Whitechapel, was found murdered and mutilated on the morning of November 9, not above two hundred yards from where first victim was killed. She lived in a garret in Dorset street and was married.

Source: The Evening Telegram, Wednesday November 21, 1888

LONDON MYSTERIES.
Another Outrage in Whitechapel.

ATTEMPTED MURDER OF A WOMAN.
LONDON, WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

Great excitement was caused in the East End and throughout the metropolis generally today by the attempted murder of a woman in the district of the recent tragedies. The crime was committed within three minutes' walk of Dorset-street, the scene of the last murder, and by a singular coincidence the victim of the George-yard murder had lodged at the same house, and the woman murdered in Osborne-street lived next door. The circumstances, therefore, gave colour to the theory that the man was the individual known as "Jack the Ripper." The woman who was the victim of today's outrage was named Annie Farmer. She is stated to be a married woman of good appearance, and about 34 years of age. A woman who stated she had some knowledge of the circumstances said the injured woman, who is also known as Matilda, has been in the habit of lodging in common lodging-houses in the locality, and had known the man who attacked her for about twelve months. About seven o'clock this morning she met him near Spitalfields Church, and she stated that she was not able to pay for a bed. The man thereupon accompanied her to 19, George-street, a street running from Flower and Dean-street to Thrawle-street. About half-past nine the man hurriedly left the house, and almost immediately the woman came downstairs with her throat cut and bleeding profusely. It appears that when the man attempted to cut her throat a struggle ensued, and she was able to give the alarm. Her assailant then fled, and was observed to leave the house hurriedly, but some who saw him attached no importance to the circumstance. Others, however, who heard the alarm, followed, but lost him in the direction of Heneage-street. The woman says she can identify him. Farmer was taken away by the police to the police-station on a stretcher, and that gave rise to the statement that she had been murdered, but it appears that the wound, although it bled freely, is only superficial, and no danger is apprehended. A large force of detectives was immediately drafted to the district, and have been prosecuting inquiries throughout the day, and from the accurate description of the man which is in the possession of the police it is thought that his apprehension will not be long delayed. Several statements have been made to the authorities, but they do not accord with the description of the man who is supposed to have committed the series of murders, and the general opinion, as well as that of the police, is that the author of today's outrage is not the murderer in the previous cases. Great excitement, however, still prevails in the locality, although apparently the outrage was the result of a common quarrel.
The Central News says that right up to this evening the people remained in a state of excitement amounting almost to panic, for few doubted that the attempted murder was the work of the Whitechapel fiend, popularly known as "Jack the Ripper." Upon the facts of the case, however, there does not seem much reason for the popular belief, and it is certainly not entertained by the police authorities. All that is known with absolute certainty, however, is that a woman named Annie Farmer met a man in the streets early this morning, and went with him into several "early" public-houses, where they had drink. The man did not take much liquor, but the woman partook so freely of hot rum that she became intoxicated. The couple went to the common lodging house at No. 19, George-street, and engaged a double bedroom, or rather a boarded-in compartment, containing a large-sized bed. Nothing more was heard of them until about half-past nine, when the man was heard to run downstairs, and presently the woman was heard following him and screaming out that he had tried to murder her. As soon as he reached the street the man set off at a smart run, and a number of men, attracted by the woman's screaming, went in pursuit of him. Strange to say, although the streets were thronged with people, no one ventured to stop the fugitive, and after a chase of three or four hundred yards he completely disappeared, and has not since been heard of. The inmates of the lodging-house, seeing that the woman Farmer was bleeding from a wound in the throat, took her back to bed, and sent for the police and a doctor. The first medical man to arrive was Dr. Phillips, police-surgeon, who soon announced that the wound in the throat was little more than superficial. An ambulance was sent for, and as soon as the wound had been properly dressed the woman was conveyed to Commercial-street police-station for examination. The woman was covered up, and it could not be seen whether the police were carrying a live person or a corpse. This, of course, added to the popular excitement, and strengthened the belief that another horrible murder and mutilation had been committed. Commercial-street was in consequence completely blocked, and the police had great difficulty in reaching their destination. On arriving at the police-station Farmer was placed in a warm, comfortable room, and interrogated. She was suffering, however, from the effects of drink, and was in such a stupid condition that neither a coherent narrative nor a satisfactory description of her assailant could be extracted from her. It was not, indeed, until the evening that the woman had sufficiently recovered from her debauch to answer questions with anything like clearness, and the description which she ultimately gave of the attempt on her life, and the appearance of the would-be murderer, was somewhat confusing. It seems certain, however, that the man was not a stranger to Farmer, and that she had known him as a casual acquaintance for about 12 months. This, together with the evidence of some of the men who pursued the fugitive, has furnished the police with a clue which, it is hoped, they will follow to a successful issue. The description of Farmer's assailant, as circulated by the police, is as follows: -

WANTED.

For attempted murder on the 21st inst., a man aged 36 years, height 5ft 6in., complexion dark, no whiskers, dark moustache. Dress: Black jacket, vest, and trousers, round black felt hat. Respectable appearance. Can be identified.

PERSONAL STATEMENTS.

Esther Hall, who lives in the house in George-street, Spitalfields, where the attempted murder was committed, said: "This morning, about half-past nine or a quarter to ten o'clock, a cry of "Murder!" was raised. I went up to the room where the murder was attempted. The woman was lying undressed on the bed, and blood was flowing from two wounds in her throat. I went up to her, and asked her if she was able to get up. She said "Yes," and I asked her, "Shall I help you to dress?" She said "Yes, please," and I placed her clothes round her, and wrapped a sheet round her throat. I asked her how it happened, and she said she was just dropping off to sleep when she felt her throat was being cut. She called out, "Oh, my throat!" and the man she had gone to bed with "bolted." She stated that he had not undressed at all, and that previous to going to bed they had been drinking at a public-house in Brick-lane. The woman was able to walk downstairs, and got into the stretcher and was taken to the police-station, where she was attended to. She had two wounds in her throat, one across her throat and one underneath it, which was straight down and met the other."
Sarah Turner, of 27, Thrawl-street, says: - About a quarter to 10 this morning I was standing at my door in Thrawl-street, when I saw a man come running round from George-street, and three running after him. I saw him turn the corner, and afterwards heard that he had disappeared. He was a short, thick fellow, about 5 feet 4 inches, with no whiskers. I could not see if he had any moustache, as his hand was held up to his mouth. He wore a rough blue overcoat, and had a round billycock hat. He did not seem to be carrying anything.
A hawker named Philip Harris, who was sleeping in the lodging-house says: - I don't know anything about the woman, but I am told that she came into the lodging-house at four o'clock this morning. About half-past nine I was sitting in the kitchen with eight or nine other men when the woman came downstairs, and opening the staircase door called out - "He's done it." I looked round and saw her standing in the doorway with blood trickling down her neck. I did not hear any screams, and until the woman looked into the kitchen had no idea that anything was the matter. We all jumped up and rushed out into the street, the woman saying the man had run away. Outside was a man with a cart delivering coal. We asked him if he had seen anybody run out, and he pointed to a man who was running round the corner of the street into Thretfall-street, saying, "There he goes." We gave chase, but could not catch him up, and we soon lost sight of him. A policeman now came up, and the woman was taken to Commercial-street police-station. She was not bleeding very much. We all thought at the time that it was "Jack the Ripper" who had done it.

LATER DETAILS - STRANGE CONDUCT OF THE POLICE.
LONDON, Midnight.

Up to a late hour tonight the police had not succeeded in finding Annie Farmer's assailant, and no arrests have been made even on suspicion, although a large number of detectives have been in the streets all day. About four o'clock this afternoon the woman Farmer was removed from Commercial-street Police-station and conveyed to the Whitechapel Infirmary, in Baker's-row, where she will remain for the present. The object of this removal was primarily to place the woman beyond the reach of the reporters, against whom the police are curiously incensed. All the officials at the infirmary have been solemnly warned against allowing any person to see the woman, and to give no information whatever respecting her. This warning has even extended to the medical staff of the infirmary, with the result that when a Central News reporter called upon Dr. Herbert Larder, the chief medical officer, this evening, that gentleman declined to give information except as to the condition of his patient. Dr. Larder stated that the wounds were not dangerous in themselves, and that should no unforeseen complications arise the woman would be convalescent in from ten to fourteen days. The throat was cut in two places, one wound being across and the other up and down, but the latter cut is merely superficial. Great excitement continued to prevail in the neighbourhood up till a late hour tonight.

AN IMPORTANT ARREST.

A man was arrested between one and two o'clock this (Thursday) morning on suspicion of being the assailant of the woman Farmer. A woman was heard calling "Murder" near Brick-lane, Spitalfields, and immediately afterwards a man was seen making off rapidly. He was pursued by the police and detectives, and was captured near Truman, Hanbury, and Buxton's Brewery. He is reported to have drawn a knife and made a desperate resistance, but was eventually overpowered and conveyed to Commercial-street police-station.

THE DORSET-SQUARE MURDER.
Arrest of a Doctor.

On Saturday afternoon the London police received a communication from the Birmingham detectives to the effect that a man suspected of being concerned in the Whitechapel murders had left Birmingham by train for London. Acting on this information, Detectives Leach and White, of the Criminal Investigation Department, proceeded to Willesden Junction and Euston respectively, and at the latter station Inspector White, on the arrival of the Birmingham train, arrested the suspected individual, and conveyed him to Scotland-yard. It is stated that the man under arrest has been staying at a common lodging-house in Birmingham since Monday last, and the theory is that if, as is supposed by the police, he is connected with the East End crimes, he left the metropolis by an early train on the mornings of the tragedies. The prisoner is a medical man who was some years ago practising in London with another gentleman of some repute. He is of gentlemanly appearance and manners, and is declared to resemble the man described by witnesses at the inquest as having been seen in company with Marie Jeannette Kelly early on the morning that she was murdered. Subsequently the man was released. He proved to be a medical man in reduced circumstances.
On Saturday, at Worship-street police-court, shortly before Mr. Bushby left the bench at the close of the day's business, a Swede, named Nikaner A. Benelius, 27 years of age, and described as a traveller, living in Great Eastern-street, Shoreditch, was placed in the dock charged with entering a dwelling-house in Buxton-street, Mile End, for an unlawful purpose, and with refusing to give any account of himself. The prisoner is a man of decidedly foreign appearance, with a moustache, but otherwise cannot be said to resemble any of the published descriptions of men suspected. - Detective-Sergeant Dew attended from Commercial-street station, and stated that the prisoner had been arrested that morning under circumstances which made it desirable to have the fullest inquiries made as to him. Prior to the last murder of Marie Kelly, in Miller's-court, the prisoner had been arrested by the police and detained in connection with the Berner-street murder, but was eventually released. He had, however, remained about the neighbourhood, lodging in a German lodging-house, but having, the officer said, no apparent means of subsistence. In fact, the landlord admitted that the prisoner was 25s. in debt to him. Harriet Rowe, a married woman, living in Buxton-street, Mile End, then deposed that at about half-past ten that morning she had left the street door open, and whilst sitting in the parlour the prisoner, a stranger to her, opened the door and walked in. She asked him what he wanted, but he only "grinned" in reply. She was greatly alarmed, being alone, and ran to the window; but the prisoner then opened the parlour door and left. She followed him into the street until she saw a constable, but the prisoner first stopped the officer and spoke to him. She (witness) ran up and told the constable what the prisoner had done, and he was thereupon taken to the station. The prisoner was remanded. Two men, one of whom was stated to be the prisoner's landlord, subsequently called about him, and said that he had been preaching in the street at times, and of late acting very strangely.

Another Arrest.

A man was arrested on Tuesday afternoon in the East End on suspicion of being the Whitechapel murderer. He refused to answer the police, and was roughly handled by the crowd.
A meeting of the Spitalfields Vigilance Committee was held on Tuesday evening to consider what further steps should be taken in respect to the East-end murders. On the proposal of Mr. Cohen, seconded by Mr. Shead, it was resolved that a deputation of five members of the committee should wait upon Mr. Samuel Montagu, M.P., with a view to his having an interview with the Home Secretary respecting further police protection in the neighbourhood, and of obtaining the Home Secretary's sanction to the formation of bodies of amateur detectives. It was also resolved to appeal to the public for subscriptions.

Source: Cardiff Times, 24 November 1888, Page 5