September 17th Letter

[Sam Flynn]

That's your 'rub', Sam, not mine.

No - it's THE rub, AP. What else distinguishes the "17th September" letter, other than that it purports to pre-date Dear Boss, yet uses the same salutation and valediction? It's hardly "original" in any other aspect, is it?

Patterns emerge... given time, and energy.

"If you gaze too long into an abyss, the abyss will stare back into you" - Nietzsche.

You say not much about my press report, old sport.
A silent cannon often thunders louder than a spent one.

I didn't think it needed any particular comment, but if it pleaseth thee: "BOOOM!"

[Cap'n Jack]

Yes, Sam, and he also said if you chase monsters you will become a monster.
The trick is to let the monster come to you, and then you floor it with a year's supply of Robert's dried tea bags.
Kearly and Tonge of course.

[Sam Flynn]

The trick is to let the monster come to you, and then you floor it with a year's supply of Robert's dried tea bags.
Kearly and Tonge of course.

...only the best for you and Robert, AP!

[Dan Norder]

Undiscovered letters from someone claiming to be Jack the Ripper over a hundred years after they were supposedly written does not mean they are modern fakes, even when they contain the words 'old boss' or similar.

The words "Jack the Ripper" on a letter ostensibly written before the first letter all the police said coined the name is an extremely strong indication of a later fake, though, and added to all the other major problems with it it's basically a deal breaker, I'm afraid.

As far as these rumored scientific tests supposedly dating it as old: well, as we've seen from the Crippen case, the Diary fiasco, Cornwell's ridiculous claims about science supporting Sickert as the Ripper and countless other examples, science is as only as good as the objectivity and skill level of the people involved. Until we have confirmed tests from experts who don't have a suspect to push (as I fear these rumored tests will be doing -- hopefully I'm wrong on that suspicion, but we'll see) we'll have to go with what the content of the letters and the historical record has to say.

[Cap'n Jack]

Sam
if you look at the Openshaw letter it is obvious that the writer actually began 'Old Boss' with a lower case 'o', and then later capitalised it.
So he originally wrote 'old Boss'.
Now compare that to the 17th September letter where in the third line the author writes: 'Dear old Boss'.
Almost like old friends.

Similarly in the Openshaw letter the writer originally appears to have started the word 'Jack' with a lower case 'j', and then altered it slightly in an attempt to capitalise it.

Strange that in both letters the line in which the word 'rite' appears is composed of 7 words.

[Sam Flynn]

Sam
if you look at the Openshaw letter it is obvious that the writer actually began 'Old Boss' with a lower case 'o', and then later capitalised it.
So he originally wrote 'old Boss'.
Now compare that to the 17th September letter where in the third line the author writes: 'Dear old Boss'.
Almost like old friends.

...and the other hundreds of characters in each letter? Why are they so completely different? Not that I'm agreeing that your comparison is valid either, AP, because I don't.

Strange that in both letters the line in which the word 'rite' appears is composed of 7 words.

Why should that be strange, especially when there appears to be no discernible pattern in the length of the lines elsewhere? Why does "rite" appear in the 5th position on the first line of Openshaw and in the 7th position on the sixth line of 17th Sept?

My guess, and call me a silly fantasist for proposing such a thing, is that it has something to do with the fact that a piece of paper is only so wide, and one can only fit in so many words before starting a new line.

What next, I wonder? There's some mysterious meaning encoded in the dimensions of the Great Pyramid? Or that taking every Nth letter in the Pentateuch spells out "Shop at Solly's", perhaps? Oy!

[Dan Norder]

What next, I wonder? There's some mysterious meaning encoded in the dimensions of the Great Pyramid?

I guess you're not familiar with A.P.'s other book...?

[Cap'n Jack]

Well, Sam, you belittle yourself and the subject with talk of the great pyramid and the like; and I'd certainly prefer it if you stuck to an engaging, social discussion about the similarities in the two letters.
Like the double 'p' and the capacity of the writer in each letter to produce a single 'o' that is a mere full stop.
There is no doubt in my mind, that both you and Dan, and whoever is archiving material here on site, have the mindset that this letter is a fake. It is designated thus here.
That is slightly impolite.
I view this letter as a challenge, not to history, but rather to a preconceived and immovable notion on the part of a select few who do not like to be challenged in their comfortable armchairs.
Sit there by all means, you twins of terror, but don't expect to be sitting there for long.

[Cap'n Jack]

Dan
you of course mean 'books'.
One day I really must send you a copy of my survey of the Houbara Bustard in Maroc; or my comprehensive study of the environment in Bahrain, which made me a fortune; or some of my fiction...
You appear to wish to bedevil my work by discrediting some of my honest effort, in an effort to make me appear implausible, or even irrational.
Don't bother, Dan, for I am all those things and many more, but my honesty and attention to detail will see you in an armchair for many a long year.

[Sam Flynn]

I guess you're not familiar with A.P.'s other book...?

I am, Dan - I was being deliberately waspish

[Sam Flynn]

There is no doubt in my mind, that both you and Dan, and whoever is archiving material here on site, have the mindset that this letter is a fake. It is designated thus here.

All I'm saying in this context, AP, is that I see no similarity between the handwriting of the 17th Sept letter and the Openshaw Letter. The fact that I have no confindence in the former's authenticity is incidental to the point. I have nothing whatsoever to do with how the items in the photo archive are labelled.

[Supe]

AP,

I view this letter as a challenge, not to history, but rather to a preconceived and immovable notion on the part of a select few who do not like to be challenged in their comfortable armchairs.

Ah, at least you have articulated the the bloody obvious--that your entire game with the September 17 is to discommode "a select few" with the hope that the letter will be proved not a late 20th C fake. And of course, if you were truly honest, you would admit that your target is nor really a few but but a select one, Stewart Evans.

Let me ask you a question, which I hope you'll answer in a way other than your usual mock-moronic manner: just what is it about Stewart that so annoys you? Is it simply envy that he commands respect from so many and you from so few? did he once, years ago, nick you, or is it something else entirely? Come now, be honest. Confession is good for the soul and you might even be able to get help for your obssession to see Stewart with hen fruit on his face.

Don.

[Rob Clack]

Just for info, it was me who labeled the 17 September letter a fake in the Photo Archive.

Rob

[Natalie Severn]

Ever wondered why people quit these boards Rob?

[Rob Clack]

Ever wondered why people quit these boards Rob?

Yeah, all the time.