Originally posted by rjpalmer
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Exactly. I have little doubt that the Ripper would not have been successful on every occasion, that everything didn’t always went the way he wanted before he was ready to ‘pounce’. Yet, we know of no accounts of men looking like carmen who acted oddly with the ladies, no accounts of failed attempts by such men. Nor any witness in the cases of the Ripper victims who ever saw a man wearing an apron or looking like a carman.
Would not White Apron have entered local mythology, along with Leather Apron? Or, if even if this was not the case, would not have Crossmere wanted to lose his apron and present himself, as you suggest, in more anonymous attire?
As for the horse drawn cart with Pickford's name emblazoned on the side, to be fair to Christer, I think it is only his colleagues who have suggested this in response to the often-proclaimed criticism that Dark Annie was quite probably murdered closer to 5.30 a.m.; I don't recall Christer ever straying from his belief that the murder was committed much earlier, so he deftly sidesteps this embarrassment.
There have been cab driver murderers, but driving a cab is very different than being a city delivery driver where one is left hopping all morning. If Cross had a habit of cruising for unfortunates or wandering off a mere 90 minutes into his shift he wouldn't have lasted twenty years. In the accounts of Pickford drivers in road accidents, etc., we often see the managers assuring the public that their drivers are encouraged and required to drive slowly and safely, but I have my doubts. The Victorian businessmen were geniuses when it came to working their employees to the point of collapse, and I imagine these drivers had a very demanding work regime. The two busiest days in the delivery business are Mondays and Fridays, but in Victorian times I imagine Saturday mornings would have been particularly hectic, as goods needed to get to their destination prior to the Sabbath.
Cheers,
Frank
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