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Row in Miller's Court

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  • #16
    The description of the visit to the mortuary and murder room, that I couldn't remember earlier, is from the Pall Mall Gazette, 12th Nov;

    By this time quite a crowd had gathered round the hall, and followed us quietly to the gloomy gate of Shoreditch Church. The little rusty iron wicket guarded by a policeman, who held it open as we passed into the melancholy churchyard, with an acre of grey, soot-covered gravestones, and sorrowful grass and weeds. The path ran alongside the church, and as we turned sharp round to the left there was a little brick mortuary, a red oasis in the desert of tombstones and soft, dank soil. The door was open, and disclosed a cool and lofty apartment, lighted by a couple of windows placed high up, which shed a good light on the fearful spectacle upon which we all gazing. There, in a coarse wooden shell lay the body the Ripper's latest victim. Only her face was visible: the hideous and disembowelled trunk was concealed by the dirty grey cloth, which had probably served to cover many a corpse. The face resembled one of those horrible was anatomical specimens which may be seen in surgical shops. The eyes were the only vestiges of humanity, the rest was so scored and slashed that it was impossible to say where the flesh began and the cuts ended. And yet it was no means a horrible sight. I have seen bodies in the Paris Morgue which looked far more repulsive.

    The jury being quite satisfied we marched through the churchyard again, and pushed our way through the crowd which followed us up the Commercial-road, and into Dorset-street. Here another crowd held possession of the field, trowy women, with babies in their arms, drunken men recovering from their orgies, and a whole regiment of children, all open-mouthed and commenting on the jury. The entrance to the court was held by a couple of policemen, and it was so narrow that we could pass up in single file. It was only about three yards long, and then we were at the door which is numbered 13. The two windows which look into the little court were boarded up, and had apparently been newly whitewashed. From the windows above a girl looked down upon us quite composedly, and several pots of beer were brought in during our stay to comfort the denizens of the court. At last the key was procured, and the room was surveyed in batches. The inspector, holding a candle stuck in a bottle, stood at the head of the filthy, bloodstained bed, and repeated the horrible details with appalling minuteness. He indicated with one hand the bloodstains on the wall, and point with the other to the pools which had ebbed out on to the mattress. The little table was still on the left of the bedstead, which occupied the larger portion of the room. A farthing dip in a bottle did not serve to illuminate the fearful gloom, but I was able to see what a wretched hole the poor murdered woman called "home". The only attempts at decoration were a couple of engravings, one, "The Fisherman's Widow", stuck over the mantelpiece: while in the corner was an open cupboard, containing a few bits of pottery, some ginger-beer bottles, and a bit of bread on a plate. The rent was 4s. a week. In twenty minutes the jury filed out again and marched back, still accompanied by a curious crowd, to the Town Hall, and began their very simple labours under the direction of Dr Macdonald, the member for the Scotch Crofters.

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    • #17
      Originally posted by Joshua Rogan View Post
      Iris Times 13t Nov;

      "During the adjournment.
      The Coroner's officer reported to the Coroner that an official of the Shoreditch Vestry had been persuading the jury that they ought not to have been summoned to this inquest at all."

      Sounds a bit fishy....


      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas..._(toxicologist)
      My name is Dave. You cannot reach me through Debs email account

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      • #18
        Back on thread, here is a snippet from the Syracuse Herald 11 Nov 1888;

        "The girl with the red hair did not think it wonderful that no one had heard any sound of the murder. Someone was always drunk and yelling in Miller court, and she rightly guessed that a woman being beaten would make as much noise as one cut up, so that the murder would not be noticed. She had strong mind, however, had not had any beer and did not cry. She knew positively that Mary Jane was alive at 1 o'clock, for at that hour she had heard her singing "Sweet Violets" to whoever was in her room."
        Last edited by Joshua Rogan; 08-18-2016, 08:03 PM.

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