Jack the Ripper Tech

[Jason]

When you look at the East end thread on scenes of the crime, it makes you wonder how many amazingly relevant pictures there are out there in the public domain owned by people who have long since forgotten that they lay in a trunk or attic somewhere. if only they knew this website existed and could only dream of giving them exposure in a modern environment. Who knows, perhaps there are even photographs in existence of the actual murder sites, my dream would be to see a photo of the real Millers Court, possibly through the passgeway itself. i can only dream !! there is an old lady who lives round the corner from myself who is about 95. One day i am going to ask her if she has visited London and whether she took any photos !!

[RivkahChaya]

It's no less likely, surely, than the idea of a flashily turned out coach and four pulling up un-noticed in the slums of Whitechapel to offload murder victims. People have speculated on that for years.

So is the idea that the US government faked nine moon landings, then just stopped, and has kept it a secret for decades, yet could not break into a hotel room without getting caught.

What's your point? If you are confusing me with a poster who once claimed the Gull-cab theory was correct, you are mistaken. The closest I ever came to something like that was to say that I thought the 1988 Michael Caine movie with that ending was a good movie. I've said that a couple of times, but always, I'm pretty sure, with the caveat that I thoroughly disliked the ending, and didn't think it had a quark of truth.

[Ginger]

If you are confusing me with a poster who once claimed the Gull-cab theory was correct, you are mistaken.

No, not at all, and I apologize if it came across that way. That wasn't my intention. I just think it's a weird, interesting idea, and no less likely than some that have received serious consideration.

[RivkahChaya]

Good enough.

Anyway, the photograph idea, FWIW, is at least in the Venn circle of "possible," if not "plausible."

The coach-dumping idea is for all practical purposes, impossible. It's not as impossible as, say, that they were killed aboard the starship Enterprise, and then beamed down to the locations where they were found, but no one heard a coach, and there seemed to be plenty of blood at the scene. A couple of the murders (not even including Stride) can be put into a narrow time frame, because a beat cop walked by, and the body wasn't there, and then in the next passing, it was.

Since a private coach would be an odd thing in the East End, or even one for hire at that late/early (however you want to think of it) hour, I would think the beat cop would have mentioned hearing one.

I know that in the modern day, we can tell different sorts of vehicles apart by the sound-- big cars from small cars, sports cars from economy cars, diesels from gasoline engines, motorcycles, buses, even automatics from manual shifts. Probably people back then, especially people like beat cops, could tell passenger coaches from carts, large flatbeds from wagons, single horse hitches from teams, and carts pulled by some animal other than a horse. A closed coach probably even sounded different from an open passenger cab. And again, at a late hour, there probably weren't many carts or coaches of any sort around. It would be really conspicuous.

Also pointless. The women were killed pretty near where they generally resided. JTR would really drive into the area, pick up a woman, kill her in the coach, then dump her more or less where he picked her up? That's idiotic. Killing the women outdoors was dicey, since JTR was vulnerable to onlookers. The few advantages of it were that it was inconspicuous-- nothing blends in with the scenery better than the scenery itself-- and two, that you don't have to convince the women to go anywhere with you, which might serve as an alarm for them. The coach kills those two advantages without adding any new ones, such as better lighting, and it adds the further disadvantage of a cramped space.

Compared to that, carrying around a bulky 19th c. camera, delicate glass plates, and flash powder, is easy. But I still think its silly.

[sdreid]

I'm trying to find the world speed and altitude records in 1888. It's pretty certain the the speed record would be held by a locomotive and would be somewhere between 65 and 100 mph. I'm less sure about the altitude record or even the record holder - it would either be a mountain climber or a balloonist but I have no clue to which or how high up it was.

[sdreid]

OK - The altitude record was apparently 39,000 feet (higher than any mountain) set in 1862 by balloonists Henry Coxwell and Dr. James Glaisher. Both became impaired due to cold and lack of oxygen but survived after Coxwell opened the gas valve with his teeth to begin the descent.

It looks like the speed record was 82 mph set by the crew of the British locomotive Bristol & Exeter Railway #41 in 1854.

[Steve S]

Just cos no-one else has said it....high-velocity,bolt-action rifle...Adopted by British Army that very year.......

[sdreid]

Thanks Steve. Were they using smokeless powder yet?

[Steve S]

I think(?) that's 1895 when the Lee-Enfield replaces the Lee-Metford...But UK service pistols are still black powder til 1912.

[sdreid]

I think 1895 is the date when smokeless became the powder for the majority of guns. As I understand, here in the States, guns made before that ~date are considered antique and not under as stringent gun laws as firearms made after that time. Hmm, I wonder where I can find an 1894 Maxim gun.

BTW, as per a court ruling yesterday, we are getting the right to carry a concealed gun here in Illinois. I already have a shoulder holster for my .45 ACP.

[Steve S]

French had it in the 1888/92 Lebel,I think......

[sdreid]

Although made at a later date, my Russian 1891 Model Mosin-Nagant bolt-action uses smokeless ammunition. It is a very corrosive propellant though, I think mostly due to the mercury primer.

[sdreid]

French had it in the 1888/92 Lebel,I think......

One site says that the 1886 Lebel was the first smokeless small arm.

[Steve S]

Sounds about right...not fully issued til about '95,so not that far in front!

[sdreid]

Supposedly the first bolt-action rifle was invented in the 1820s but I'm not sure how it worked since the self-contained metallic cartridge wasn't invented until 20 years later.