"the women who escaped him"

[HelenaWojtczak]

Hi all

Wondering if anyone can shed light on this, from Daily Chroncicle 23/3/1903

"The man who was wanted in connection with the Whitechapel murders wore a ‘P. & O’ cap and carried a black bag, according to the tale of some of the women who escaped him."

I gather from what I read on here that the description is utter nonsense, but the bit I am now interested in is, were there actually any "women who escaped him" among those who gave a description?

Helena

[jason_c]

Ive always believed a few women had a lucky escape the night of Chapmans killing.

[niko]

misfired

Five attack's five victim's, there is the possibilty he misfired along the way, all the best,Agur.

niko

[HelenaWojtczak]

I have read a lot about the descriptions given by witnesses, and I don't think any were given by wome who "escaped" from Jack.

I just want to make sure I haven't overlooked something, by asking the experts.

[GregBaron]

Who be da him?

Not to be snide but how do we know who escaped him when we don't know who "him" was?


Greg

[HelenaWojtczak]

Not to be snide but how do we know who escaped him when we don't know who "him" was?


Greg

Well, quite. This is a quote from a newspaper reporter, long dead. I'm trying to make head or tail...

helena

[GregBaron]

Tall tales...

Well, quite. This is a quote from a newspaper reporter, long dead. I'm trying to make head or tail...

My guess, Helena, would be that these are stories of hysterical women who claimed to have met some spooky fellow a la Bethnal Green Man. The reaction probably resulted from an altercation with a character that coincided with the woman's preconceived notion of what the fiend looked like; ie, he carried a black bag, he wore an American slouch hat, he was a sinister Jew etc....

Again, I'm only speculating..............


Greg

[HelenaWojtczak]

My guess, Helena, would be that these are stories of hysterical women who claimed to have met some spooky fellow a la Bethnal Green Man. The reaction probably resulted from an altercation with a character that coincided with the woman's preconceived notion of what the fiend looked like; ie, he carried a black bag, he wore an American slouch hat, he was a sinister Jew etc....

Again, I'm only speculating..............


Greg

Yeah it's all a load of twaddle, wish I had not started this thread now.

[curious]

Yeah it's all a load of twaddle, wish I had not started this thread now.

Well, there were women who escaped Bundy and he was quite good at his "job."

So, who knows? You might turn up something.

curious

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Helena. Perhaps the answer lies in an earlier edition of the Daily Chronicle, perhaps the tale of a woman who claimed to have met Jack and lived.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

P.S. At the risk of appearing very ignorant, what's a P & O cap?

[Phil Carter]

Hello Tom,

P and O line is a shipping line.

kindly

Phil

[Archaic]

P & O

Hi everyone.

Yes, 'P & O' is a shipping line and was a major British carrier throughout the 19th Century.

Its full name was 'The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company', but it was usually referred to as 'The P & O'. It's still in existence today.

Best regards,
Archaic

[Rubyretro]

[QUOTE]

My guess, Helena, would be that these are stories of hysterical women who claimed to have met some spooky fellow a la Bethnal Green Man. The reaction probably resulted from an altercation with a character that coincided with the woman's preconceived notion of what the fiend looked like; ie, he carried a black bag, he wore an American slouch hat, he was a sinister Jew etc....

Again, I'm only speculating

..............

And, once again...

[Heinrich]

...
P.S. At the risk of appearing very ignorant, what's a P & O cap?

The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is an English shipping and logistics company which dates from the early 19th century.

[Mayerling]

Possible escapees

Hi all,

Actually in the years immediately following 1888 there was an example of a serial killer who was horrified to discover one of his victims was not a victim. In fact it is one of our suspects.

Dr. Thomas Neill Cream was tried for the murder of Mathilda Clover and three other prostitutes in 1892, and he was always curious about the fate of a fifth woman (again a prostitute) named Lou or Loo Harvey. Like his other victims he gave Harvey one of his strychnine pills for some minor illness she had, and "thoughtfully" stayed around to watch her take her "medicine" like the "good doctor" he was. Unfortunately for Cream, Harvey was smarter than the other four Victims in wondering why this would-be John would be giving her free medicine. She pretended she took it, and convinced him she had swallowed it (he rapidly high-tailed it away from her afterwards). Lou Harvey appeared at the trial as a witness on a subsidiary charge of attempted murder. When he saw her in court Cream apparently turned white as though he saw a ghost.

Yes, there probably were similar close calls for others with Jack, as there was here with Neill.

Jeff