The Medical Detective

Whitechapel Murder

The last murder in Whitechapel has created an indescribable arousal and movement of the London population. The day after the murder probe d. November 11 billowed immense lots of men uninterruptedly through Dorset Street and the congestion in the streets was so strong that all car traffic was stopped. Everywhere was heard newspapers offering the latest news of the murder, and no one thought of or talked about anything other than the terrible murder, for which Dorset Street was the scene Friday before. Though the police in London, of course, are trying their utmost efforts to detect the murderer, they have unfortunately not been able to gain some enlightenment, which was calculated to lead them on his tracks. Both Saturday and Sunday they arrested several people, but they were soon set at liberty again, then the suspicion against them proved to be completely unfounded. On Sunday at little past 9 was heard cries: murder! Police! from one of the houses in Wentworth Street, which is near Dorset Street. Two policemen came to the house and just ran into the house, before which a crowd gathered in the course of a few minutes. The police, however, upon entering an appearance soon came back and explained to the crowd, that it was all a false alarm. The cause of the outcry was simply the following: An old woman, almost blind, named Mrs. Humphries, who lives on the second floor with her daughter, had gone out to make some purchases. Then she came home and wanted to go in, watching for a young man (her daughter's lover) to sneak past her in the day dark stairs. Mrs. Humphries inquired who it was, and the man only muttered a few unintelligible words in reply. The old woman believed firmly that she had fallen into the clutches of the terrible murderer. She therefore screamed for help with all her might, and that brought the police into motion. The same evening a man who walked up and down Dorset Street, was attracting attention by his strange behavior. He was a rather strange mess, had a blackened face and approached one, than the other with questions about the circumstances of the murder. It was not long, therefore, before they began to regard him with suspicion and finally he was surrounded by a crowd, which simply stated that he himself was the murderer. For a moment, the man's life was in great danger. From all sides were heard shouts and exhortations to tear him to pieces, and he would surely not have escaped unscathed from it, if not a crowd of police officers had beaten a circle around him and took him into protective custody. Only with great effort did the police bring him unharmed by the furious crowd to the police station in Leman Street. At the hearing, an employee informed them that the man was a doctor and that he had gone out intending to track down the murderer alone. This was also the reason why he was black and his face took on the foolish disguise. (N. Pr.)

Source: Westra Finland, No. 16, November 24, 1888