Height of GSG a Clue?

[The Good Michael]

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Good Mike, your second dado definition hinted at "support", or a "structural" element, I think that is what the key is here, it was not moulding which in all cases is decorative only. Also, the lower black brick is certainly applied to a "structural" or "support" section of the wall,...the load bearing part, the bottom.

Michael,

I thought this too, but the definition specifically mentions the support of a column or statue. It is interesting that the photo of the entryway shows a support column. I think the term 'dado' was used inappropriately if the definitions are correct and just the base of the wall was meant.

Cheers,

Mike

[diana]

So at 48 inches we are either talking about a child or a crouching man. (Where was Toulouse Lautrec in 1888?)

[Stewart P Evans]

Dado

From my 1887 standard dictionary -

Dado, the square part of a pedestal, between base and cornice; wainscotting round a wall (It. a die).

[Johnr]

In the Late Victorian Period, an increasing number of charitable projects, mainly church mission operations, sought to provide the rudiments of education to the children of the "down-trodden".
For instance, the poor working class denizens of the Eastern portions of London.
These children would not have had access to paper and exercise books, as their post-decessors did.They wrote on slates with chalk: in a sort of "rounded, schoolboy" style. Using chalk....
On average, most of these students would have been about the same height as Toulouse-Lautrec; only they spoke a different lingo.
And, one assumes, they might not have had such an easy familiarity with prostitutes as T-L.
Repeating a line I am much proud of: If Jack The Ripper used Occam's Razor, could not a school child, parrotting some of the anti-Jewish parlour comments of his parents, have chalked up the GSG?


After all, if we have to ask , as a neighbouring thread does, " What Does The GSG Mean ? " then surely, the author of the GSG has failed to communicate with their target audience.
JOHN RUFFELS.

[The Good Michael]

If Jack The Ripper used Occam's Razor, could not a school child, parrotting some of the anti-Jewish parlour comments of his parents, have chalked up the GSG?

No. That would be the opposite of Occam's razor. It would be the creation of a scenario that adds extra steps to the logical conclusion that a person who was being either pro-Jew or antisemitic wrote it. It could be that a schoolboy did it, but creating a link that involves parroting, takes us away from the Occam's Razor concept.

Cheers,

Mike

[Sam Flynn]

No. That would be the opposite of Occam's razor. It would be the creation of a scenario that adds extra steps to the logical conclusion that a person who was being either pro-Jew or antisemitic wrote it. It could be that a schoolboy did it, but creating a link that involves parroting, takes us away from the Occam's Razor concept.

Is anti-semitism therefore innate, Mike? I don't see that absorbing the views of one's peers or parents constitutes an extra step - it happens naturally.

Even parrots have to start somewhere

[The Good Michael]

Is anti-semitism therefore innate, Mike? I don't see that absorbing the views of one's peers or parents constitutes an extra step - it happens naturally.

No it isn't. I was suggesting 2 possibilities, i.e., antisemitism or solidarity, and that either an adult or a child wrote it. I think to make an assumption that a kid is copying his parents words adds an extra step that I'm not opposed to, but that is not a hallmark of Occam's razor. Incidentally, I don't think that particular principle fits with JTR exactly.

Cheers,

Mike

[Sam Flynn]

I was suggesting 2 possibilities, i.e., antisemitism or solidarity, and that either an adult or a child wrote it.

What if an antisemitic child, or a child showing Jewish solidarity, wrote it? That's one step, surely? A child - or adult - is not necessarily a tabula rasa.

[The Good Michael]

A child - or adult - is not necessarily a tabula rasa.

Well, you haven't been to Korea then.

[perrymason]

Of course I understand where the discussion of children fits into this thread question, but the messages ambiguity, and the nerve of writing this where Jewish people are the primary resident ethnic group, hints of an adults conception of how to maximize the impact of the message...and potential sarcasm woudnt be something wed see from a child, would we? Wouldnt "Juwes are innocent", or "Jewes done it and should pay for it",.. something blunt and short, be more likley from a child?

Would a child scrawl grafitti where it is most effective, or where he could do so without being seen,...Im not sure this location fits the second scenario's criteria....at least when children would be around there, mostly in daylight I would imagine.

Cheers all.

[Sam Flynn]

Wouldnt "Juwes are innocent", or "Jewes done it and should pay for it",.. something blunt and short, be more likley from a child?

I dunno, Mike - one might expect an ungrammatical sentence from a child, which is what we have here. Constructions of the type "It weren't me, sir - I didn't do nothin'..." strike me as a particularly childish form of protest.

Would a child scrawl grafitti where it is most effective, or where he could do so without being seen,...Im not sure this location fits the second scenario's criteria....at least when children would be around there, mostly in daylight I would imagine.

I'd think it quite possible that a child would feel rather tempted by such circumstances - perhaps as a "dare", even.

[Monty]

Of course, its a well known fact that there were not short people in the area in 1888.

[Chava]

OK, here is a possible scenario:

Little Bryan Flynn doesn't have a father and his mother works all hours to support him. She leaves him to be looked after by Mrs Cohen nearbye when she's out at work. Mrs Cohen lives in the Goulston St Dwellings. Bryan plays with his pal Moishy Cohen, and the two of them nick some sweeties from a sweet stall in the area. Moishy says 'it wasn't me!!! It was Bryan!!' and Bryan catches hell. Bryan is furious, and undercover of night, scrawls that message on the post of the entry where the Cohens live. It's not for everyone to read. It's for Moishy to read. And know that Bryan thinks that Jews are blame-dodgers and unpleasant people.

I'm not saying this happened. I'm just saying that the inscription is open to all kinds of possibilities. And I still maintain that the height, and the fact that it was done in chalk, suggest some kid mucking about rather than a serial killer with a taste for racial slurs.

[perrymason]

Of course, its a well known fact that there were not short people in the area in 1888.

Well at least we can rule out midgets and dwarves then.

I saw a great Family Guy episode once Monty, dont know if that gets across the pond, but the main character refers to pride he is feeling at that particular moment as feeling so good he feels like "a dwarf among midgets". Maybe that needs the visual, but hope it gets ya smiling anyway.

Cheers Monty

[The Good Michael]

I'm not saying this happened. I'm just saying that the inscription is open to all kinds of possibilities.

Chava, and these possibilities are the reason it may not be possible to throw out what may be implausible, in the spirit of the application of Occam's Razor.

And Chava, do you have access to things that we (meaning: Gentiles and ne'er-do-wells) don't, such as Berner Street Club membership lists, translations of Der Arbeter Fraynt, immigration records, and other things? I've written to a few experts on the Jewish anarchists and labor movements and they have been helpful, but seem reluctant to answer things that may involve JTR. If truth be told, there isn't an easy way to say, "I'd like to see if there's any possibility some Jewish immigrant was involved and others covered for him." I imagine red lights go on immediately.

Cheers,

Mike