our killer been local

[Graham]

All you have to do is check the local newspapers for sightings in the East End of a dwarf on the relevant date. Job done.

G

[Wickerman]

Well given that the graffito was at an odd height, what if we are looking for an actual schoolboy? Most people write at eye level on a vertical surface. The graffito is lower than a grown man's eye level. So what if it's some snotty kid with the schoolboy hand, maybe even slightly juvenile looking, and the misspellings are because the author is ten?

Your suggestion is more along the lines that I see.

[Scott Nelson]

So what if it's some snotty kid with the schoolboy hand, maybe even slightly juvenile looking, and the misspellings are because the author is ten?

No, he was about 15.

[curious4]

Schoolboy

Hello Errata,

I would wonder a little what a schoolboy was doing running around Whitechapel in the wee small hours, especially with the Ripper scare on. But that's only valid if you think the graffito was newly written, which I do. Also any child hanging round the doorway with a lump of chalk in his hand during the day was likely to get caught. Finally, the actual wording is not particularly childish.

I seem to remember reading that a policeman was quoted as saying that the writing was shoulder high. Height requirement for a policeman was, I think, at least 5ft 7in. So the writing would have been at about 5ft?

Fair point though.

I don't, by the way, advocate caning as a cure for dyslexia - just commenting on the teaching methods at the time.

Best wishes,

C4

[Errata]

Hello all,

I have been thinking a little about who at the time could have written the Goulston street graffito. It was said to have been written in. "a round, schoolboy hand". Writing "hands" were important in an age when typewriters were rare, and accounts were kept in ledgers. There was a "legal hand" for example (found a picture of Lee's Home and Business Instructor, Penmanship, Bookkeeping, Banking, Everyday, Law which puports to teach the various "hands" but couldn't post it).

C4

Well given that the graffito was at an odd height, what if we are looking for an actual schoolboy? Most people write at eye level on a vertical surface. The graffito is lower than a grown man's eye level. So what if it's some snotty kid with the schoolboy hand, maybe even slightly juvenile looking, and the misspellings are because the author is ten?

[Tom_Wescott]

That's nice Dear,

Cannot wait to see you handle Kenefeck.

Monty

Who?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[curious4]

The graffito

Hello all,

I have been thinking a little about who at the time could have written the Goulston street graffito. It was said to have been written in. "a round, schoolboy hand". Writing "hands" were important in an age when typewriters were rare, and accounts were kept in ledgers. There was a "legal hand" for example (found a picture of Lee's Home and Business Instructor, Penmanship, Bookkeeping, Banking, Everyday, Law which puports to teach the various "hands" but couldn't post it).

If it was written in a schoolboy's hand this would point to someone educated in England (handwriting differs from country to country). This would rule out russian and eastern european immigrants, who, even if they were literate, would be more familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet.

The language is also that of an educated person, not "The juwes ain't" which you would expect from a cockney writer. The graffito is not typical of graffiti - this is usually more straight to the point - not "Kilroy was here" exactly but something along the lines of "Pc Watkins is a .......!". I found some other examples of Victorian Graffiti on "The Cat's Meat Shop: Victorian Graffiti".

From what I can see, many from the area would not have been fully literate, poor families sending their children out to earn money rather than to school. This also tends to rule out many of the Whitechapel inhabitants.

The misspelling of Jews could be a sign of dyslexia, which I have previously noted in the Dear Boss letter and others. By frequently applying the cane, I think a dyslectic could be taught to write neatly, but would still make mistakes on occasion.

I did see on the boards a suggestion that the graffito was not complete. This opens the door to some great speculation, explaining the double negative, for example, if he/she were planning to write more. Was the writer interupted? I don't really think so but you never know.

Best wishes,
C4

[Monty]

I'm having a great week, thanks Monty. Just wait until I've done 4-6 months of focused research on Eddowes. Gonna be a while yet, but when I've done it I'll be the master of all things Mitre Square.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

That's nice Dear,

Cannot wait to see you handle Kenefeck.

Monty

[Tom_Wescott]

Its not your week Tom, as PC Watkins was the one reprimanded for being caught having sex with a woman whilst on his beat, not Harvey.

Monty

I'm having a great week, thanks Monty. Just wait until I've done 4-6 months of focused research on Eddowes. Gonna be a while yet, but when I've done it I'll be the master of all things Mitre Square.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Nick,I think the most obvious solution to the mystery of the message is that the police missed the piece of apron found it later and it happened to be near some graffiti.I think too much fuss has been made out of the message over the years I think a lot of people want it to be from our killer so it has to be.

Yeah, that's what it is. It has nothing to do with the evidence.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Michael W Richards]

It only shows the two most likely alternatives, naturally Foster cannot make allowances for any hypothetical 'bolt-hole'. However, the police could use this obvious consideration to conduct house-to-house searches, if they consider the killer to have laid low for an hour or so.

I think all thats missing from the map is a title like "Presumed Flight Path" Jon, what they did was estimate the direct routes available to him, however an indirect path that he may have taken couldnt be estimated by anyone really...far too many possibilities to plot.

I believe that PC Long is the key to that answer, and as Ive said, he wasnt at all vague in his response to the direct question.

If we used what PC Long said,...which I see no reason to doubt, then it stands to reason that there was indeed someplace he likely went for some of the hour-plus that the apron was not in the doorway. It might also help explain if it held the organs taken.

Cheers

[pinkmoon]

Well, the police at the time sure made a big fuss over it for some reason.

Warren thought at the time that some 'group' - or someone within this group - may be responsible for the murders. And we're not talking masons here... but someone who would cause trouble, nevertheless. He was probably wrong on that count, but it is important, as far as historical analysis is concerned, to consider what was in the minds of the people involved and what was going on at the time. This is something that most overlook for some narrow reason.

Warren was more worried about the reaction this graffiti would cause than the obvious reality (in his mind) that this still might have been written by the killer to stir up trouble beyond the murders themselves. It didn't have to be written in big letters on an entrance that was only two bricks wide. The apron of a murder victim was underneath it!

He had it erased to deny whoever did this the benefit that it might accrue for them - in his mind. He was playing damage control in an already tenuous situation as he perceived it.

You've got to put yourself in their shoes at the time (and understand the time and the people involved) to even understand this.

Yes, the City police considered it as a clue into a murder perpetrated in their jurisdiction. The Met saw it as a fuse to a powder keg that was ready to ignite upon the slightest provocation.

I still don't think message was genuine I would be interested to know how seriously the police took the"group" theory

[Robert]

You have to read it carefully, or it will come out as "Having sexual intercourse with a woman on his beat in a public house while on duty."

[Bridewell]

Its not your week Tom, as PC Watkins was the one reprimanded for being caught having sex with a woman whilst on his beat, not Harvey.

Monty

Sorry. I hadn't seen this when I posted my last.

[Bridewell]

other issues such as sleeping with prostitutes while on the job (PC Harvey)

I think it was Pc Edward Watkins who was disciplined for having sexual intercourse whilst on duty. (Monty will know). There is very little in Harvey's file, certainly not his disciplinary record, the only reference to which is the word "Dismissed" (heavily underlined).