Time-gap between Eddowes murder and Goulston Graffito

[Sam Flynn]

Sam sorry to be pedantic but you said two sources? The one you said stated that the writing was under an inch was a newspaper reporting the inquest.
The inquest said 3/4 in.
So I take this as only one source. The other was a newspapers interpretation of it.

They both represent what two separate reporters (for very different newspapers) actually heard at the inquest. They are indeed two separate sources, both of which independently confirm that the writing was small.

[Sam Flynn]

But then why would anyone write graffiti so small? It defeats the purpose of writing graffiti at all.

Graffiti don't have to be huge, Abby - and their size somewhat depends on the whatever surface they're written on. Think of all those "X luvs Y" messages you've seen written on lamp-posts or carved into trees. Besides, even a small message would stand out if it was written in white chalk on black brick.

[curious4]

Street arab or schoolboy

Hello,

If the writing was done by a schoolboy, presumably it had been there earlier in the day, in which case one wonders why the residents didn´t erase it. Can´t see any schoolchildren wandering the streets in the wee small hours. The children who may have been wandering the streets would have been the homeless, who were most likely to be illiterate.

Best wishes,
C4

[Sam Flynn]

I still think it may have meant that the capitals were 3 to 4 inches What a shame they never wrote the words instead of the numerals in the inquest report.

In Victorian times, of course, we see the solidus (forward-slash) used as a symbol for "shilling", as in 4/6, which - rendered into speech - was "four AND six". It was also commonly used to denote "division", as in "3/4" three fourths (or three-quarters), and it's still used in that way today.

However, I've not been able to find out when the solidus came to be used as a symbol denoting optionality, as in "three OR four inches". So, did the Victorians actually use "/" in that way? If someone has a dictionary of symbols, I'd be intrigued to find out.

[Sam Flynn]

If the writing was done by a schoolboy, presumably it had been there earlier in the day

Which might have meant nine or ten o'clock at night, I suppose. It could have been there earlier still, and nobody bothered too much about it; the immigrant Jews had, after all, experienced far worse than chalked insults before they arrived in the East End. Warren's reason for removing this piece of evidence, although well-intentioned, always struck me as a bit of an over-reaction on his part.

[m_w_r]

Which might have meant nine or ten o'clock at night, I suppose.

9/10 o'clock at night, I think you mean, Sam.

Regards,

Mark

[Sam Flynn]

9/10 o'clock at night, I think you mean, Sam.

You little scamp!

[m_w_r]

Of course, 9/10 of the way round the clock is 54 minutes past the hour, or 4/5 of the way between 10/11, whichever you prefer.

[Abby Normal]

Graffiti don't have to be huge, Abby - and their size somewhat depends on the whatever surface they're written on. Think of all those "X luvs Y" messages you've seen written on lamp-posts or carved into trees. Besides, even a small message would stand out if it was written in white chalk on black brick.

Well wasn't your point that one of the reasons you don't think it was written by the killer was that it was written so small?

[Sam Flynn]

Well wasn't your point that one of the reasons you don't think it was written by the killer was that it was written so small?

Indeed, but that's due to the impracticalities of writing in such small, neat letters in the post-2AM darkness. Besides, given the fact that he'd left behind a veritable exploded corpse in Mitre Square, I don't think our Jacky was the type to make small gestures!

[Wickerman]

In Victorian times, of course, we see the solidus (forward-slash) used as a symbol for "shilling", as in 4/6, which - rendered into speech - was "four AND six". It was also commonly used to denote "division", as in "3/4" three fourths (or three-quarters), and it's still used in that way today.

However, I've not been able to find out when the solidus came to be used as a symbol denoting optionality, as in "three OR four inches". So, did the Victorians actually use "/" in that way? If someone has a dictionary of symbols, I'd be intrigued to find out.

I think the suggestion is that it was written "3-4", but a sloppy "dash" may have been misread as "3/4".

The fact this evidence was given verbally negates that possibility in my view. "Three-quarters" sounds nothing like "three-or-four", or even "three-to-four".

I have to admit though, with a standard issue stick of chalk I would have trouble writing anything legible where the capitals are only 3/4 inch tall, and the rest being smaller.
Wouldn't most of us?

[GUT]

G'day Sam

A 1910 version of the "Chicago Manual of Style" uses an example of Australia / New Zealand as an example as using the / with or without spaces.

Which seems to indicate at least a usage of "OR" or at least a non partial descriptor.

[GUT]

In the military 23/24 July meant the night of 23 and/or the morning of 24 July.

[Sam Flynn]

I think the suggestion is that it was written "3-4", but a sloppy "dash" may have been misread as "3/4".

The fact this evidence was given verbally negates that possibility in my view. "Three-quarters" sounds nothing like "three-or-four", or even "three-to-four".

Agreed, Jon. And, after all, the Daily News reporter recorded (or summarised) what was said as "under one inch" - which, although not as exact as the Telegraph's "3/4 inch", is fully congruent with it. Halse may even have said both, one newsman choosing to report the quantitative value, the other the qualitative.

I have to admit though, with a standard issue stick of chalk I would have trouble writing anything legible where the capitals are only 3/4 inch tall

I've seen several "pub-grub" blackboard menus with letters about that big, so it can be done - particularly by those used to wielding a stick of chalk. In Victorian times, of course, schoolchildren would have exercised this skill daily, writing in chalk on the confined surface of an iPad-sized slate.

[Sam Flynn]

A 1910 version of the "Chicago Manual of Style" uses an example of Australia / New Zealand as an example as using the / with or without spaces.

Thanks for digging that out, GUT. Might still be "and", however, and that's partly the point - it's ambiguous. Why would the Telegraph use the solidus symbol when (a) "3/4 in" clearly means "three-quarters of an inch" in normal parlance; and (b) with a mere 1 or 2 extra typeset characters they could simply have printed "or" or "and"?