Criteria for plausibility

[Tom_Wescott]

I knew it! Then perhaps, Mr. Reeks, you'll have some insight into the new 'giant tampon' theory making the rounds on threads relating to Eddowes and her apron.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[mariab]

Heard through the grapevine that Trevor Marriott is even gonna give a talk on this subject at the Hull... (lol) err, the York conf in September. Personally I prefer his ledgers talk, wonder why that is.

[Tom_Wescott]

Heard through the grapevine that Trevor Marriott is even gonna give a talk on this subject at the Hull.

I'd be careful about using the 'H' word, as I think Mike Covell owns the rights to it. You owe him a shilling now.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[mariab]

Most probably. Thanx for the warning, lol.

[harry]

Fisherman,
If the Ripper wasn't seeking victims.then wha t w as his state of thinking before each kill,and if Cross had not set out solely with the intention of going to his place of employment,what had been been his intentions?I believe the state of mind of both,can,be seen in what was said and done.

[Tom_Wescott]

Once again, Harry makes the most amount of sense with the least amount of words.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[sleekviper]

Criteria for most cases? Nit wit with a butter knife, and three semi sane witnesses. For this case:
12 detectives drawing(guns)
11 prostitutes peeking
10 lords a leering
9 ladies fainting
8 news men musing
7 sheriffs shooting(guns)
6 cameras snapping
5 not so gold rings(in his pocket)
4 calling "HELP!"
3 french tourists
2 famous artists
and a victim clutching a sleeve.
That should pretty much put at least somebody in print, picture, and art, with a few witnesses in case he is missed with all the gunfire.

[Fisherman]

Dave:

"Semantics, Fish...You're very clever at it (as befits a good journalist)...but pure semantics all the same...and yes I expect you to persist in arguing on the same track...so carry on showboating by all means!"

You´re not so bad with semantics yourself - you just turned my argument into "showboating", and that´s a clever enough thing to do.
Look, Dave, many people would have used aliases in the East End of 1888, I am not opposing that. They would have been around in thousands. What I AM opposing is that it would have been a thing the man and woman on the street normally did.
You write "when talking to the authorities, almost every denizen of the East End used an alias", and that is simply wrong. I would recommend a thorough look at the Booth map of street statuses. In it, the streets are coloured according to what kind of status the people living in them upheld. The different ratings were:
-Lower class; vicious, semi-criminal
-Mixed; some comfortable, others poor
-Fairly comfortable; good ordinary earnings
-Middle class; well-to-do
and
-Upper middle and upper classes; wealthy
Now, much as the truly wealthy stayed in other parts of London (although there were people who earned good money and kept servants and so forth in Whitechapel), the other classes are all richly represented. The well-to-do middle class, for example is very dominant along Whitechapel Road. And these were people who would emphatically NOT use aliases.
Dr Llewellyn, for example - what do you propose he called himself, talking to the police? And all of the other doctors living in the area, Killeen, Blackwell etcetera? And you don´t need to speak only of doctors or more high-ranking members of society. What did Mrs Maxwell call herself when speaking to the police? George Lusk, did he use aliases? George Morrison? Timothy Donovan? Patrick Mulshaw? Sven Olsen? Joseph Lawende? Fanny Mortimer?
These are all people who are there in the birth registers, recorded by their true names and giving the same names to the police when speaking to them (well, to be fair, Lawende did change his name, but that was in order to make it easier for the Brits to understand).
The victims of the Ripper all lived their lives in the East-End underworld. They lived in doss-houses in streets that were classed as vicious and semi-criminal by Booth. And there´s your correlation for you: Semi-criminal/Use of aliases. The witnesses the police were handed, also came from the exact same background to a very large extent. They too were living under "vicious, semi-criminal" circumstances. Therefore, the share of people involved in the investigation is not representative of the East-end as a whole - a much more law-abiding and much less alias-using community.
We must also realize that poverty did not have to equal using aliases or being semi-criminal. The inhabitants of George Yard Buildings, for example, were described as the poorest of the poor - but patently honest people. Meaning that John Saunders Reeves, Elizabeth Mahoney and Alfred Crow had been given these names at birth (or marriage, in Mahoney´s case), and stayed with them throughout their lives.
... and if that is showboating, then I´m Mother Goose.

The best,
Fisherman

[Fisherman]

Harry:

"If the Ripper wasn't seeking victims.then wha t w as his state of thinking before each kill,and if Cross had not set out solely with the intention of going to his place of employment,what had been been his intentions?I believe the state of mind of both,can,be seen in what was said and done."

I firmly believe that he WAS seeking victims - but I can´t prove that this was so. I also believe that the much more credible thing to believe is that Lechmere WAS en route to work on that morning - but I can´t prove that either.

I work from the assumption that Lechmere was the killer, and that he found his morning walk the most useful window of opportunity. What other parameters may or may not have been present, I cannot tell. But I CAN tell that the possibilities and options count in hundreds and thousands.

The best,
Fisherman

[Fisherman]

Tom!

Thanks for the laughs - and for lightening things up. Much appreciated!

Fisherman

[curious4]

Hello Jonathon,

Sorry about the delay in replying. Jekyll and Hyde was definitely about alcohol (and lately substance abuse), despite what it says on Wikipedia. See "The transforming Draught" etc and try googling Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde together with alcoholism. He definitely blamed the change in personality on alcohol (the draught or potion). Without it there is no change.

We must agree to differ on the body really being Druitt, but I am with you on the Posh Jack idea.

A psychopath would definitely have been in a lot of trouble from the beginning at a prestigious school such as Winchester - psychopaths tend to start out as children who often torture animals and generally act differently, showing a marked lack of conscience at an early age. They do not suddenly develop into psychopaths as adults after being all round good guys at school.

I am not familiar with your vicar - where can I find him?

Best wishes,
C4

[Garry Wroe]

I knew it! Then perhaps, Mr. Reeks, you'll have some insight into the new 'giant tampon' theory making the rounds on threads relating to Eddowes and her apron.

It's Ms Reeks, Sir.

As for the tampon issue, I'll have to refer you to my esteemed colleague Fanny Dribble. Ms Fanny Dribble.

[Bridewell]

The Assumption

I work from the assumption that Lechmere was the killer.

The best,
Fisherman

I think most of us had worked that out!

Regards, Bridewell.

[Fisherman]

One never knows, Bridewell - one simply never knows...

The best,
Fisherman

[Lechmere]

I am sure that whoever did it, he went out on that night with murder on his mind. I am equally sure that whoever did it, he did not kill every time he went out with murder on his mind as for a host of reasons opportunity will not have presented itself.