Hi all,
Below is an interview with the New York Sun London correspondent Frank White with Assistant Commissioner Anderson on November 14, 1888 (Sun, Nov 26, 1888):
Notes from Whitechapel.
LONDON, Nov. 14 – Though extremely busy, Dr. Anderson, the head for the hour of the Metropolitan Police, has been kind enough, on knowing that I was a representative of THE SUN, to give me a few minutes of his just now priceless time.
I asked him if he would be good enough to let me have from the Superintendent of the Whitechapel district, Mr. Arnold, the measures that had been taken to secure the arrest of the Whitechapel murderer or murderers, and to prevent the accomplishment of more of his or hetir ghastly crimes.
He told me that he would rather that I should not see Mr. Arnold, as it was almost impossible to realize the amount of work he had on hand just now, but that he would himself answer as best he could to my inquiries. “As to the steps we have taken.” He went on. “just for one minute place yourself in our stead. You would no doubt do your very best, and that is what we have done. The crimes we believe to be committed not by a gang but by the same individual. The watch is kept up day and night, but especially at night, all through the Whitechapel district. It could not be drawn a line closer without interfering with personal liberty. Useless arrests must be strongly deprecated. If we begin to arrest on the least possible suspicion, we may arrest all the town. The difficulty in capturing the assassin is in the complicity of his victims. The terror which you would imagine to exist among the class of women he attacks is not to be relied upon when they are hungry or drunk. You have no idea what the regular unfortunates of the East End are. Then as robbery is not the object of these crimes and could not possibly be, all the murdered women being possessed of absolutely nothing, and as the assassin never leaves anything of his behind, there is no human means of tracing him. In this last case of the girl Kelly, we have had every ash of the fireplace inspected, but of course without result. To give you an instance of the care we have taken not to neglect any source of information, we have a special staff which does nothing but read the thousands of letters which are reaching us from all parts with the certain clue to the murderer or the positively only way to outwit him.” I asked Mr. Anderson why the bloodhounds were not employed. His answer was:
“At 11 o’clock the last murder was discovered, and we knew of it here in Scotland Yard a few minutes later. The officer who had wired us the event asked us also to send the bloodhounds. I personally object to the service of these animals in a thickly populated city like this, though I believe it would be extremely valuable in the case of a rural murder. However, as Superintendent Arnold was just then with me, I asked him what he thought, and he begged me not to send the hounds: that it would only lead to mischief.”
To Dr. Phillips, the Divisional Surgeon of Police for Whitechapel, who has made the autopsy of all the women murdered. I said:
“Do you believe that the murderer is a foreigner, an American, as the rumor has been?”
“How can I know? I have not seen him.”
“They have also said that the assassin was a Frenchman, and others that he was a Malay.”
“Have they seen him?”
“Of course it is absurd, as he has not been seen by any one.”
“He has been seen.” Dryly replied the Doctor. Mr. Vallance, the Clerk of the Whitechapel Union, who has assisted at most of the inquests on the bodies of the East End victims, tells me that during these last days and weeks there has been a most remarkable influx in the infirmary wards of the East End of poor women struck mad with the fixed idea that they are followed by “Jack the Ripper.”
Intriguing insight.
Sincerely,
Mike
Below is an interview with the New York Sun London correspondent Frank White with Assistant Commissioner Anderson on November 14, 1888 (Sun, Nov 26, 1888):
Notes from Whitechapel.
LONDON, Nov. 14 – Though extremely busy, Dr. Anderson, the head for the hour of the Metropolitan Police, has been kind enough, on knowing that I was a representative of THE SUN, to give me a few minutes of his just now priceless time.
I asked him if he would be good enough to let me have from the Superintendent of the Whitechapel district, Mr. Arnold, the measures that had been taken to secure the arrest of the Whitechapel murderer or murderers, and to prevent the accomplishment of more of his or hetir ghastly crimes.
He told me that he would rather that I should not see Mr. Arnold, as it was almost impossible to realize the amount of work he had on hand just now, but that he would himself answer as best he could to my inquiries. “As to the steps we have taken.” He went on. “just for one minute place yourself in our stead. You would no doubt do your very best, and that is what we have done. The crimes we believe to be committed not by a gang but by the same individual. The watch is kept up day and night, but especially at night, all through the Whitechapel district. It could not be drawn a line closer without interfering with personal liberty. Useless arrests must be strongly deprecated. If we begin to arrest on the least possible suspicion, we may arrest all the town. The difficulty in capturing the assassin is in the complicity of his victims. The terror which you would imagine to exist among the class of women he attacks is not to be relied upon when they are hungry or drunk. You have no idea what the regular unfortunates of the East End are. Then as robbery is not the object of these crimes and could not possibly be, all the murdered women being possessed of absolutely nothing, and as the assassin never leaves anything of his behind, there is no human means of tracing him. In this last case of the girl Kelly, we have had every ash of the fireplace inspected, but of course without result. To give you an instance of the care we have taken not to neglect any source of information, we have a special staff which does nothing but read the thousands of letters which are reaching us from all parts with the certain clue to the murderer or the positively only way to outwit him.” I asked Mr. Anderson why the bloodhounds were not employed. His answer was:
“At 11 o’clock the last murder was discovered, and we knew of it here in Scotland Yard a few minutes later. The officer who had wired us the event asked us also to send the bloodhounds. I personally object to the service of these animals in a thickly populated city like this, though I believe it would be extremely valuable in the case of a rural murder. However, as Superintendent Arnold was just then with me, I asked him what he thought, and he begged me not to send the hounds: that it would only lead to mischief.”
To Dr. Phillips, the Divisional Surgeon of Police for Whitechapel, who has made the autopsy of all the women murdered. I said:
“Do you believe that the murderer is a foreigner, an American, as the rumor has been?”
“How can I know? I have not seen him.”
“They have also said that the assassin was a Frenchman, and others that he was a Malay.”
“Have they seen him?”
“Of course it is absurd, as he has not been seen by any one.”
“He has been seen.” Dryly replied the Doctor. Mr. Vallance, the Clerk of the Whitechapel Union, who has assisted at most of the inquests on the bodies of the East End victims, tells me that during these last days and weeks there has been a most remarkable influx in the infirmary wards of the East End of poor women struck mad with the fixed idea that they are followed by “Jack the Ripper.”
Intriguing insight.
Sincerely,
Mike
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