Missing Memorandum 2

[Simon Wood]

Hi Maria,

Ostrog may have worn a large bicycle bell on his head, but my French-English dictionary translates "guidon" as "handlebars", so could "grand guidon" have referred to him at one time having sported a large handlebar moustache, like Tumblety?

Les moustaches en guidon = handlebar moustache. N'est pas?

Regards,

Simon

[mariab]

Simon,
it might be. I'm everything but knowledgeable about mustaches. And you're so right, guidon is also the handlebars of a bike.
Just to finish this poor thread off:
- The London police report commenting on the anti-tsarist meeting organized by anarchist Beck on april 28, 1905 at the Black Lion links the Bielostock terrorist attack in the discussion.
- An O. Strogorski, member of the Russian nihilists under supervision in London, is mentioned very frequently in the police reports.
The newspaper clippings in the reports, besides Russian newspapers, include:
- The Daily Express issued locally in St. Petersburg,
- A Yiddish newspaper (NOT Der Arbeter Fraint, but of a much smaller frame) for which I can't read the title, but it says in English “Mr John Gilitz, 10 Eckersliy St, Buston, London“.
And now I'm going to bed, after having completely decimated this poor thread...
(And I don't even have to report to Lynn Cates, I'll just direct him to this thread! Economy of effort...)
Many, many apologies, and goodnight.

[Fisherman]

Thanks, Simon, for the Gazette clipping! Makes for interesting reading, that one ...

The best,
Fisherman

[mariab]

Simon Wood wrote:
Ostrog may have worn a large bicycle bell on his head,
Or maybe he was in the habit of saying “Gling gling! Coming through – with stolen goods...“.

[mariab]

last report from the Paris Archives Nationales

Hi all,
I'm back from the Archives Nationales, where I've “finished“ (as much as one can “finish“ with such things), having gone through both boxes with materials pertaining to revolutionary activity in Europe previous to the Russian Revolution. I'm posting a short report here, just to keep it all together with my previous posts from yesterday. More details, including scans, will follow in a few days in the Kaufmann thread.
Unfortunately, hardly 30% of the 2 boxes' contents pertain to anarchist activity in Victorian Whitechapel, including, VERY scarcily, reports about similar activity in Paris. About 40% of the reports are spies' warnings about demonstrations and anti-tsarist activitities in the French province (particularly in North, South, and West France) but also from Russia, Berlin, and even Bulgaria. The other 30% are reports about Russian “nihilists“ crossing the Swiss border to France, back and forth. The “nihilists“' names that most often come along are Plekahnov and Ostrogorski (no first names mentioned). In addition to the 2 boxes I went through, there are another 16 boxes of materials pertaining ONLY to Russian anti-tsarist activity, containing NOTHING about London (at least as the inventaries claim), but partly about Paris.
In the 2 boxes in question, I've gone through ALL reports pertaining to activity in London (mostly Whitechapel) and (very scarcily) Paris, and besides having ordered copies which are expected to be done at some point in January, I've just shot photos of the most relevant documents. Unfortunately the quality of these photos is not very good (courtesy of my cheap digital camera), but I'll email the photos to Rob Clack, and we'll see if we can't do something about this.
The only relevant information I've found pertaining to Ripperology is:
1) the fact that someone named Schwartz (no first name mentioned) spoke twice in a Polish/Yiddish anarchist meeting at the Vonderland in 1904 and 1905. I'm NOT coming to ANY conclusions whatsoever pertaining to this, while Rob Clack is going to try to see if Israel Schwartz can be located in the 1901 census (if such a census took place in 1901, about which I have no information yet).
2) the Paris addresses of some notorious anarchists who were active in Victorian Whitechapel, among them an often reported about Mr. Beck (no first name mentioned).
3) a lengthy French report from May 1887 (i.e., one of the earliest ones) in which a spy describes in great length how Polish and Russian anarchists organized their groups and in which places they met in Paris. The report contains the hint about female anarchists, or, at least, female sympathisants participating in the meetings. In a few days (when I finish with some of my own work on deadline) I'll post a translation of this French spy report, which I was allowed to xerox. Very unfortunately, it was the sole such report surviving in the boxes.
And sorry, Simon, NO mention whatsoever of the Bourdier-Mongruet agency in Paris. In fact, my interpretation is that the very scarce reports from Paris have ended up in these boxes by mistake, as the reports in the boxes are almost invariably FROM abroad TO France.
Tomorrow I'm leaving Paris for a week, but when I get back I'll try to go look at the Police Museum (the Musée de la Préfecture de Police at the Quartier Latin), where I've spotted 2 inventaries from the French Police de Sűreté containing both an index of names and a thematic index. Hopefully they'd be rich in their contents and from the right period (as they're simply listed “1869-1970“!)...

[Chris]

Rob Clack is going to try to see if Israel Schwartz can be located in the 1901 census (if such a census took place in 1901, about which I have no information yet).

There is some relevant information on this in Gavin Bromley's dissertation here:

http://www.casebook.org/dissertations/rip-kuer.html

I think the Israel Schwartz identified by Gavin, who was at 21 Jubilee Street in 1901, was probably the witness, though we don't know for sure.

[mariab]

To Chris:
Thank you SO very much for the information. I happen to recently have acquired the Gavin Bromley article (about which I've been hearing the most ecstatic comments), I'm not sure if I can read it tonight, as I have some friends over and later I must prepare for my own research tomorrow (on early drafts of a Meyerbeer libretto), but I'll read it ASAP, hopefully during the weekend.
Does Chris Phillips or anyone else here have any idea of how to research workers/sweaters in Whitechapel in the 1880s/1890s (ideally, online? I know, dare to dream). Pertaining to Israel Schwartz, Lynn Cates is having some issues of Der Arbeter Fraint translated by an acquaintance of mine, in the off-case that any ads about workers might give us any hints. (Another long shot, I'm afraid, but I'm for giving a shot to everything that comes to mind.)
It's VERY unfortunate that the spies reports don't EVER mention first names. Sloppy spies!

[Chris]

Does Chris Phillips or anyone else here have any idea of how to research workers/sweaters in Whitechapel in the 1880s/1890s (ideally, online? I know, dare to dream).

Well, one possible source would be the Charles Booth Online Archive (http://booth.lse.ac.uk/ ), which has a lot of digitised information from Booth's survey.

Another would be the reports of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Sweating System (1888-1890). Those aren't available online as far as I know, but may be held by larger research libraries.

[Debra A]

Another would be the reports of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Sweating System (1888-1890). Those aren't available online as far as I know, but may be held by larger research libraries.

I have these papers somewhere, Maria. I can't say I've ever come across any relevant names but if you are interested I will try and send you a copy.

[mariab]

To Chris:
Thank you SO very much for the hints! I'll have a look inside the Charles Booth online archive in a couple of weeks (when things get a bit quiter on my front), and I'll try to read the Gavin Bromley piece tomorrow evening. As for the reports of the House of Lords select committee on the sweating system (1888-1890), any chance that it might be posted somewhere on the Hansard – online? (Just trying to be an optimist here.)
I'll post the translation of the French spy report about Polish anarchists in Paris in the Kaufmann thread during the weekend.
As for the pictures I shot, Rob Clack will be travelling for a few days, but at some point next week I'll email them to him and see if he can do anything about their (bad) quality.

[mariab]

To Debra Arif:
Hi Debra,
if you happen to have copies of the reports of the House of Lords select committee on the sweating system (1888-1890), I'd be very interested to have a look in there. (I hope it's not thousands of pages!) What interests me is any possible link between Israel Schwartz and William Wess/the IWMC. Actually, Tom Wescott wanted to go through these papers first, so perhaps it'd be best if he got the copies emailed too?

[Debra A]

To Mariab ,
I do have them,they are very large PDF files that I keep on my own personal web storage. I offered them for download a year or so back along with the Immigration and emmigration select committee papers and a few people took me up on the offer. If I can't access them myself (my storage account has lapsed) then I will try and contact the people who may also have a copy.

[mariab]

Hello Debra,
if they are truly LARGE pdf files, it's not a great idea to email them to me, as my iBook is a few years old, and my hard disk almost full to capacity. (It even contains music scores, and I even get complaining messages from the Finder sometimes.) Perhaps Lynn Cates would be a better candidate, as he's used to work with HUGE Hebrew pdf files (for Der Arbeter Fraint). I'll ask Lynn if he's willing. He doesn't have much time, but I'm sure he has plenty of RAM space, and he might even store the pdf files in his University's digital space. Also, probably not the best idea to email them to Tom Wescott at work. Can you imagine if this causes a database crush or something?! I can imagine someone getting fired over this!
PS.: Hmmm...now I have a thought about what to send to some of my enemies for Xmas. (Just kidding. And I have no enemies!)

[Debra A]

Hi Maria,
They aren't that big but I wouldn't want to force them on anyone!!
These papers are available online to participating libraries and universities. This is a great site,which I no longer have access to it unfortunately:

http://parlipapers.chadwyck.co.uk/marketing/index.jsp

Just checking through my old computer I have the select committee papers on the sweating system cited by Chris (I think it's the same one), I have the 1890 Metropolitan Police Superanuation debate, a paper relating to prisoner visitors at Chatham, (connected to the dynamitards convicted between 1881 and 1888 and kept at this prison) and The 1888(305) Select Committee on Emigration and Immigration (Foreigners) Report, Proceedings, Minutes of Evidence (which was reproduced in part over on JTR forums) I also have debates from other years covering this same topic.

So, that's what I have, if anyone is interested in any of those just let me know .....I won't hold my breath though.

[mariab]

Hello Debra,
thank you SO much! I'm about to email Lynn Cates, he might be really interested in getting your pdf files. I'll have a look at the parlipapers link you cited (but in a couple of weeks, when things get a bit quiter on my front). I'll even have a look at the JTRForums, if part of this was uploaded there. But, like I said, probably not yet in the next 2 weeks.
There were files about London and Paris dynamitards in the 2 boxes I went through at the Archives Nationales, but the darn files were EMPTY! No reports whatsoever present!
I'm afraid I didn't go do any research today (on some libretto drafts at the manuscripts department of the Paris BN), as I'm afraid I got up about an hour ago. The little impromtu party from yesterday turned into a longer affair, until about 4 a.m., and it even briefly ensued into some craziness, when someone got rum spritzed in the eye. Don't ask – there were little plastic spritzes filled with rum on some “baba“ minie cakes we were eating, and somehow this ended up into a spritz fight. The French are definitely crazy. Thakfully, no visible stains on the carper, otherwise Claudine, the apartment owner, will kill me when she turns up in a while.