Complete History of Jack the Ripper (87 page)

1
Statement of Morris Eagle, 30 September 1888, in
DN
, 1 October. For a contemporary description of a visit to the International Working Men’s Educational Club, see John Henry Mackay,
The Anarchists
(Boston: B. R. Tucker, 1891), pp. 182–8.

2
Depositions of William West and Morris Eagle, 1 October 1888, in
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 2 October; statements of Joseph Lave and Morris Eagle, 30 September 1888, in
DN
, 1 October.

3
The gateway, according to Eagle, was nine feet two inches wide.

4
For the discovery of the body, see depositions of Morris Eagle and Louis Diemschutz, 1 October 1888, in
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 2 October; depositions of Edward Spooner and PC Henry Lamb, 2 October 1888, in
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 3 October; statements of Morris Eagle, Louis Diemschutz and Isaac Kozebrodski, 30 September 1888, in
DN
and
Star
, 1 October; statement of Mrs Diemschutz, 1 October 1888, in
DN
, 2 October.

5
Deposition of Dr Blackwell, 2 October 1888, in
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 3 October; depositions of Edward Johnston and Dr Phillips, 3 October 1888, in
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 4 October; depositions of Dr Blackwell and Dr Phillips, 5 October 1888, in
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 6 October; statement of Dr Blackwell, 30 September 1888, in
DN
, 1 October.

6
‘Clavicle’, given in
DT
and
DN
, and ‘brow’, given in
T
, are both errors. On 5 October Phillips said that the abrasion was on the right side of the neck, and Chief Inspector Swanson was probably correct when he reported a fortnight later that it was below the right angle of the jaw (Swanson’s report, 19 October 1888, on Stride murder, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a).

7
DN
, 1 October 1888.

8
This account of the discovery of the body in Mitre Square rests principally upon the following depositions in the coroner’s papers – Coroners’ Inquests (L), 1888, No. 135, Corporation of London Records Office, hereinafter referred to as CPL (Coroner’s Papers, Langham): PC Edward Watkins, 4 October 1888, ff. 6–7; George James Morris, 11 October 1888, ff. 31–32; PC James Harvey, 11 October 1888, ff. 33–34; Inspector Edward Collard, 4 October 1888, ff. 9–10, 11; Dr George William Sequeira, 11 October 1888, f. 24.

See also press statements of PC Watkins, date uncertain,
DN
, 2 October 1888; George James Morris and Inspector Collard, 30
September 1888,
DT
, 1 October; PC Watkins and George Morris, 30 September 1888, and Dr Sequeira, date uncertain,
Star
, 1 October.

9
Deposition of Dr Brown, 4 October 1888, CPL, ff. 12–14.

10
Francis E. Camps, ‘More About Jack the Ripper,’
The London Hospital Gazette
, Vol. LXIX, No. 1, April 1966. The originals are now (1992) framed and hanging in the Secretary’s Office of The London Hospital Medical College, Turner Street, London E1 2AD.

11
Sir Henry Smith,
From Constable to Commissioner
, pp. 149–150.

12
Smith,
Ibid.
, pp. 148, 151–2. The reality of these instructions has been questioned by some writers but they are substantiated by McWilliam’s report of 27 October 1888 to the Home Office, HO 144/221/A49301C/8b, f. 1. Also
DT
, 1 October 1888, and
T
, 2 October 1888.

13
Deposition of Daniel Halse, 11 October 1888, CPL, f. 40; report of Inspector McWilliam, 27 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8b, ff. 1–2.

14
See the following depositions in CPL: PC Watkins, 4 October 1888, ff. 6–7; PC Harvey, 11 October 1888, ff. 33–4; PC Pearce, 11 October 1888, f. 35; George James Morris, 11 October 1888, ff. 31–2; George Clapp, 11 October 1888, ff. 34–5. Statements by Watkins, Morris and Pearce, all 30 September 1888, may be turned up in
Star
, 1 October.

15
Statement of George Morris, 30 September 1888,
DT
, 1 October.

16
Deposition of Inspector Collard, 4 October 1888, and of Daniel Halse, 11 October 1888, CPL, ff. 10 and 40 respectively.

17
Deposition of PC Long, 11 October 1888, CPL, ff. 37–39; report of PC Long, 6 November 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8c.

The writing in Goulston Street was probably the only tangible clue ever left by the Whitechapel murderer. The precise wording of the message cannot now be recovered. Begg, Fido & Skinner,
The Jack the Ripper A to Z
, pp. 96–7, speak of Metropolitan and City Police versions but this is misleading in that there was no unanimity in either force on the matter.

The form of the writing given in the present text was that transmitted by Warren himself to the Home Office (Warren, 10 October 1888, to Lushington, PRO, MEPO 1/48; Warren’s report, 6 November, HO 144/221/A49301C/8c). The wording, but not the spelling ‘Juwes’, is confirmed by PC Long. On 11 October he told the inquest that the words were: ‘The Juews are
the men that will not be blamed for nothing.’ When Long delivered the apron to the inspector at Commercial Street the inspector returned to Goulston Street with him to see the writing for himself. ‘I wrote [the words] down into my book,’ testified Long, ‘and the Inspector noticed that Jews was spelt Juews.’ (Long’s deposition, CPL, f. 38). This may be correct because both Long and Superintendent Arnold, in their reports of 6 November, record the message thus: ‘The Juews are the men that will not be blamed for nothing’ (HO 144/221/A49301C/8c) and Dr Adler, replying on 13 October to a query of Warren, refers to the spelling ‘Juewes’ (Chaim Bermant,
Point of Arrival
, London, 1975, p. 117).

Chief Inspector Swanson’s summary report on the Mitre Square case gives the rendering ‘The Juwes are the men who will not be blamed for nothing’ (HO 144/221/A49301C/8c), which generally substantiates Warren, but Swanson, as far as we know, did not see the writing. Neither did Dr Anderson. He was not even in the country at the time of the double murder yet he assured a daily paper in April 1910 that the exact words were ‘The Jewes are not the men to be blamed for nothing’ (J. Hall Richardson,
From the City to Fleet Street
, London, 1927, p. 217), which is different again. Sir Melville Macnaghten’s version is ‘The Jews are the men who will not be blamed for nothing.’ Unfortunately Macnaghten did not join the Metropolitan Police until 1889 and wrote most of his 1914 reminiscences from memory. (See, Macnaghten,
Days of My Years
, pp. ix, 60.) Dew,
I Caught Crippen
, p. 137, is the same as Macnaghten and almost certainly copied from him.

The ranks of the City Police are in similar disarray. We have three City renderings, only one – that given by Daniel Halse to the inquest on 11 October 1888 – coming from an eyewitness: ‘I took a note of the writing before it was rubbed out. The exact words were “The Juwes are not the men that will be blamed for nothing.”’ (CPL, ff. 41–42). Press versions of his testimony add that there were three lines in ‘a good schoolboy’s round hand’, the capital letters about three quarters of an inch high and the others in proportion. (Halse’s deposition, 11 October,
DT
, 12 October). Since Halse was there and argued for the preservation of the writing it might be supposed that he took the trouble to record it accurately. But Inspector McWilliam, drawing up a report for the Home Office on 27 October, opted for a version closer to Warren’s: ‘The Jewes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing’ (HO 144/221/A49301C/8b, f. 2). Finally, many years later, Smith remembered the message as ‘The Jews are the men that won’t be blamed for nothing’ (
From Constable to Commissioner
, p. 153).

The reminiscent versions should be discounted. Nevertheless, in view of the conflicting contemporary testimony, the exact nature of the murderer’s message must remain in doubt.

18
This paragraph rests on the deposition of Daniel Halse, 11 October 1888, CPL, ff. 40–2, and the report of Inspector McWilliam, 27 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8b, ff. 2–3. Where the two conflict Halse is preferable. McWilliam did not get to the Detective Office until 3.45 and Mitre Square later still. There is no evidence that he ever visited Goulston Street. Halse, on the other hand, was involved in the events at
both places almost from the beginning. His account, moreover, was set down more than a fortnight before that of the inspector.

19
Report of Superintendent Arnold, 6 November 1888, and report of Sir Charles Warren, 6 November 1888, to the Under Secretary of State, HO 144/221/A49301C/8c.

20
Depositions of PC Long and Daniel Halse, both 11 October 1888, CPL, ff. 39 and 41–2 respectively.

21
Deposition of Dr Brown, 4 October 1888, CPL, ff. 22–3.

22
Smith,
From Constable to Commissioner
, pp. 147, 153.

Smith’s memoir is repeatedly inaccurate. This is true even on matters, like the Mitre Square murder, with which he was directly concerned. Daniel Halse, the City Detective, went through Goulston Street twice on the night of the double murder, once at about 2.20 in search of suspects and subsequently to check out Long’s discoveries. If the apron was there at 2.20 Halse did not notice it. And by the time he returned it had been taken away by PC Long. Smith, however, fuses Halse’s two visits into one and describes him turning up in time to see the piece of apron, folded up and lying immediately beneath the chalk message. The site of these finds is incorrectly stated by Smith to have been at ‘the door of one of the model workmen’s dwellings erected by Peabody’ (p. 153). It was, in fact, in the entry to 108–119 Wentworth Model Dwellings, a site first identified by Richard Whittington-Egan,
A Casebook on Jack the Ripper
(London, 1975), p. 123. I know of no evidence to substantiate Smith’s belief (p. 161) that Warren wiped out the chalk message with his own hand and, given the fact that Superintendent Arnold sent an inspector to Goulston Street with a sponge expressly for that purpose, find the suggestion unlikely. It is perhaps needless to add that Smith’s account of the Berner Street murder (pp. 150–1), an event that fell to the investigation of the Metropolitan force, is grossly misleading and should not be used.

The Scotland Yard library holds a copy of Smith’s memoir annotated by George H. Edwards, Secretary to the Metropolitan Police from 1925 to 1927, thus: ‘A good raconteur and a good fellow, but not strictly veracious . . . In dealing with matters within his own knowledge he is often far from accurate as my own knowledge of the facts assures me.’ (Begg, Fido & Skinner,
Jack the Ripper A to Z
, pp. 92–3). Edwards’ last stricture, quite frankly, might truthfully be said of most volumes of reminiscences. As far as Smith’s veracity is concerned he was refreshingly honest in admitting his failure on the Ripper case, which can by no means be said of all the officers involved in the investigations.

23
Smith,
Ibid.
, pp. 153, 161–2; report of Inspector McWilliam, 27 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8b, ff. 3–4; Warren, 6 November 1888, to Under Secretary of State, HO 144/221/A49301C/8c.

1
Deposition of Inspector Reid, 5 October 1888, in
T
and
DT
, 6 October; report of Sergeant Stephen White, 4 October 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 212; report of Chief Inspector Swanson on Berner Street murder, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a; report of Inspector Abberline, 1 November 1888, MEPO 3/140, f. 205.

Dr Phillips later discovered a collection of further trifles in the pocket of the victim’s underskirt. They comprised a key (as of a padlock), a small piece of lead pencil, a comb, a broken piece of comb, a metal spoon, six large and one small button, a hook (as if from a dress), a piece of muslin and one or two small pieces of paper. Deposition of Dr Phillips, 3 October 1888, in
DT
and
DN
, 4 October.

2
Deposition of Mary Malcolm, 2 October 1888, in
DT
,
T
and
DN
, 3 October; deposition of Elizabeth Stokes, 23 October 1888, in
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 24 October; Begg, Fido & Skinner,
Jack the Ripper A to Z
, pp. 277–8.

3
DN
, 6 October 1888.

4
Deposition of Dr Phillips, 5 October 1888,
DT
6 October.

5
Unless otherwise noted the account of Elizabeth Stride rests upon: depositions of Elizabeth Tanner, Catherine Lane, Charles Preston and Michael Kidney, 3 October 1888, in
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 4 October; depositions of Sven Olsson and Michael Kidney, 5 October 1888, in
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 6 October; depositions of Inspector Reid and Walter Stride, 23 October 1888, in
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 24 October; statement of Thomas Bates,
Star
, 1 October 1888, and
DN
, 2 October; statement of ‘old artilleryman’, i.e. Michael Kidney, 2 October 1888,
DN
, 3 October; registrations of births, marriages and deaths, St Catherine’s House; Begg,
Jack the Ripper
, pp. 92–5; Shelden, ‘Victims of Jack the Ripper’, p. 50.

6
For these and other details of Elizabeth’s life in Sweden, communicated by Klas Lithner, see Rumbelow,
Complete Jack the Ripper
(1987), 74–5.

7
Statement of ‘old artilleryman’ (Kidney), 2 October 1888,
DN
, 3 October; deposition of Sven Olsson, 5 October 1888,
DT
, 6 October; Begg,
Jack the Ripper
, p. 94, citing Sven Evander, former Rector of the Swedish Church; deposition of Catherine Lane, 3 October 1888,
DT
, 4 October.

8
DN
, 1 October 1888.

9
Thames Magistrates’ Court, Court Register, 6 April 1887, GLRO, PS/TH/A1/8.

10
Thomas J. Barnardo, 6 October 1888, to
Times
, ‘The Children of the Common Lodging Houses,’
T
, 9 October.

11
Report of Chief Inspector Swanson, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a.

12
For the medical evidence, see chapter 9, note 5.

13
We have three accounts of PC Smith’s sighting. The report of Chief Inspector Swanson, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a, was probably based upon the constable’s original statement, now lost. Smith gave another account to the inquest on 5 October 1888, see
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 6 October. And finally, Scotland Yard circulated Smith’s description of the suspect in
The Police Gazette
, New Series, Vol. V, No. 502, 19 October 1888.

14
Report of Chief Inspector Swanson, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a. Schwartz’s description of the first man was also published in
The Police Gazette
, New Series, Vol. V, No. 502, 19 October 1888.

15
Star
, 1 October 1888. I have broken this long report into paragraphs.

16
Deposition of William Marshall, 5 October 1888,
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 6 October. The time of 11.45 given for this sighting was apparently that at which Marshall first saw Elizabeth and her consort by No. 58 but this is not made explicitly clear in the sources. If correct, it must have been about 11.55 when he last saw them, walking towards Ellen Street.

In the different renderings of Marshall’s deposition the man’s coat is variously described.
DT
gives it as a ‘black cutaway coat’,
DN
as a ‘black small coat’. In
T
it is first described as a small, black coat, and later as a cutaway coat.
Star
, 6 October 1888, makes Marshall speak of it as ‘a black coat (not an overcoat).’

17
Deposition of James Brown, 5 October 1888,
DT
,
DN
and
T
, 6 October.
DT
prints Brown’s occupation as that of dock labourer. The
DN
reporter heard it as ‘box maker’.

18
‘Was he thin or stout?’ The answer to this question, put to Brown by the coroner, is conflictingly reported by the press. In
T
Brown is made to reply that the man he saw ‘appeared to be stoutish built.’ This seems to have been an error. Both
DT
and
DN
print Brown’s answer as: ‘He was of average build.’ A report in the
Star
, 6 October 1888, renders it: ‘Not so very stout.’

19
Statement of Mrs Mortimer, 30 September 1888,
DN
, 1 October. The news report will be found in the same issue and may be inspired by Mrs Mortimer’s statement.

20
Deposition of Dr Phillips, 3 October 1888,
DT
, 4 October.

21
Depositions of Morris Eagle and Louis Diemschutz, 1 October 1888,
DT
, 2 October; statement of Mrs Diemschutz, 1 October 1888, in
DN
, 2 October; for Mrs Mortimer, see n. 19.

22
Deposition of Dr Phillips, 5 October 1888,
DT
, 6 October. An assistant of Roderick Macdonald, Coroner for Northeast Middlesex, had suggested that the victims might have been drugged by the murderer offering them a vial of rum or brandy drugged with an opiate such as a solution of morphia. See, Macdonald, 3 October 1888, to
DT
, in issue of 4 October.

23
Baxter’s summing-up, 23 October 1888,
T
, 24 October.

24
Deposition of Dr Phillips, 5 October 1888,
DT
, 6 October.

25
Star
, 1 October 1888.

26
For early release of Smith’s account to press, see report of Chief Inspector Swanson, 19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a;
DN
,
DT
and
Star
, 1 October 1888.

27
Deposition of Louis Diemschutz, 1 October 1888,
DT
, 2 October.
DN
, same date, renders it thus: ‘I noticed the time at a tobacco shop in Commercial Road.’

28
Deposition of Edward Spooner, 2 October 1888,
T
, 3 October; statements of Matthew Packer,
Evening News
, 4 October 1888; deposition of PC James Harvey, 11 October 1888, CPL, f. 34.

Other witnesses were almost as badly adrift in their times as Spooner. Isaac Kozebrodski told the press that Diemschutz first called him into the yard to see the body at about 12.40 and Abraham Heshburg that he was alerted to the tragedy by the sound of a policeman’s whistle at about 12.45. Diemschutz was positive that he did not get home until one. See, statements of Kozebrodski and Heshburg, 30 September 1888,
DN
1 October.

29
Deposition of PC Lamb, 2 October 1888,
DT
3 October.

30
Deposition of PC Smith, 5 October 1888,
T
6 October; depositions of William West, Morris Eagle and Louis Diemschutz, 1 October 1888,
DT
2 October; statements of Barnett Kentorrich, Charles Letchford and Mrs Mortimer, 30 September 1888,
DN
1 October.

31
Warren, 24 October 1888, to Under-Secretary of State; Lushington annotation to Swanson’s report on Stride, 19 October 1888, f. 3; minute of Henry Matthews, 27 October 1888; all HO 144/221/A49301C/8a.

32
Under-Sec. of State, 29 October 1888, to Com. Met. Police, HO 144/221/A49301C/8a.

33
Report of Inspector Abberline, 1 November 1888, MEPO 3/140, ff. 204–6.

34
Abberline’s comment on the use of Lipski’s name as an anti-semitic taunt is substantiated by a complaint in
Die Tsukunft
for 12 August 1887: ‘When an ordinary person kills a person everything is quiet. It will not occur to anyone to call another person by the name of the murderer. But when Lipski is sentenced to death, the ordinary people taunted other Jews ‘Lipski!’ Two weeks ago Saturday it happened in Brick Lane. Last Saturday in Church Lane there was a great fight between Jews and locals, and all because of Lipski.’ Quoted by Martin L. Friedland,
The Trials of Israel Lipski
(London, 1984), p. 118.