Today’s Systematic Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
On September 30, 1888, Jack the Ripper struck again—twice. In a narrow court of Berner Street he slashed the throat of Elizabeth “Long Liz” Stride. Apparently in fear of being caught in the act, he fled without butchering her.
Berner Street as it looked at the time of Elizabeth Stride’s murder.
Young Elizabeth in life…
… Elizabeth Stride in death.
Fifteen minutes later in Mitre Square, he encountered Catherine Eddowes and cut her to pieces. A letter from Jack to detective Abberline boasted of the “double event.”
The body of Catherine Eddowes was discovered close to the fence seen at the centre of this image
An illustration of Catherine Eddowes in life…
… and Catherine Eddowes following her autopsy
Terrified East Enders directed their mounting frustration and fury at Commissioner Warren, demanding his resignation. It was, said the Star, “War on Warren.” But dismay over Warren’s conduct was not limited to the public and the press. It was shared by Abberline and others within the police who felt that the police commissioner was as much a hindrance as a help, citing his interference with the investigation of the Eddowes murder when he’d ordered the obliteration of a clue. Chalked onto a wall nearby was:
The Juwes are not the
men that will be blamed
for nothing.
Convinced that it was a message from the killer, the police pleaded with Warren that it be preserved until first light of day so that it could be photographed. Concerned that passersby might interpret the message as an accusation against Jews, and fearing a mob action against Jews, Warren had the words erased.
In the midst of the drumbeat for his scalp, Warren defended himself and the police, and in an article for Murray’s Magazine criticized the organization of the Metropolitan Police in which the head of the Criminal Investigation Department was not subject to his control as commissioner. This division of authority, he argued, made efficient police work impossible. Infuriated by the article, Home Secretary Sir Charles Matthews called Warren in for a tongue-lashing. Warren offered to resign. Matthews accepted.
The next morning, the police and the rest of London reeled with disgust at the discovery of the Ripper’s newest victim. Her name was Mary Kelly. Another prostitute, she was spied through the window of her room by the landlord, come to collect rent. What he saw sickened him and sent him hurrying to find the police. Her death differed from the others in that she was slaughtered inside a dwelling, very near the previous killings, all of which had been committed outdoors with the possibility of the killer being seen and caught. But behind the locked door of 26 Dorset Street of Miller’s Court, unworried and unhurried, Jack the Ripper labored for at least two hours in systematic destruction of Mary Kelly’s body—cutting, slicing, hacking, arranging, displaying.
13 Miller’s Court. The murder of Mary Jane Kelly occurred within this single room on 9 November 1888.
An illustration of Mary Kelly in life.
… and the body of Mary Jane Kelly as discovered in Miller’s Court
Although Abberline and the others could not know it at the time, it was Jack’s last horror: November 17, 1888. He’d held London in terror for seventy-nine days. But who was he? No one knows.
Culled from: Bloody Business: An Anecdotal History of Scotland Yard by H. Paul Jeffers
Post-Mortem Portrait Du Jour!
Together in Death – circa 1854 – half-plate daguerreotype – 6″ x 5″
A woman and her newborn infant. In the nineteenth century, a difficult birth, such as breech, could often lead to death for both the mother and the child.
Culled from: Beyond the Dark Veil: Post-Mortem and Mourning Photography
Garretdom (Olde News)
So today’s clipping is entitled “A Fiendish Woman” but the type on the copy that I have is so darkened, I can’t read the article. But I thought, what a fantastic title!! “A Fiendish Woman.” So I thought I’d do a series of newspaper articles entitled “A Fiendish Woman”. And there are many! Let’s see what variety of fiendishness we can encounter!
First up…
A FIENDISH WOMAN
Throws Vitrol [sic] in the Face of a Bride.
AUGUSTA, Ga., Sept. 16.—A sentence of six months in the County Chain Gang was passed yesterday upon Mrs. Fannie E. Denham, a widow of Terreon, for disfiguring the face of Mrs. Frank Hughes by an application of vitriol. Frank Hughes had been an admirer of Mrs. Denham, and when he married a farmer’s daughter she sought revenge.
Mrs. Denham rode up to the Hughes home on horseback and engaged the bride in conversation, and then she threw vitrol [sic] in her face, blinding her and leaving her disfigured. The trial attracted much attention, and the court room was constantly filled.
“Vitriol” is the old word for sulfuric acid.
Culled from the September 20, 1893 issue of The Fresno Expositor