Hi All,
Not everyone was as sold on GH as Abberline appears to have been. Here are two contemporary examples of healthy scepticism.
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.)
Wednesday, 14 November 1888
"The London police have celebrated the retirement of their chief by stumbling upon the first clue which looks as if it could possibly lead to anything. Unless the story told by the man Hutchinson is made out of whole cloth ["utterly without foundation in fact"] - a question which it ought not to take a competent detective two hours to settle - there is now a shadow of hope of capturing the miscreant who has been committing so much butchery. [my brackets]
"But, in the meantime, it would be just as well to keep a sharp eye upon Hutchinson himself. He may be a convenient person to have about at a critical stage of the investigation which is soon to follow. The man popularly known as "Jack the Ripper" is full of devices, and it would not be surprising if it were found necessary later to put Hutchinson in his turn on the defensive."
The Graphic
Saturday, 17 November 1888
" . . . It is true that on this last occasion a man has given a very precise description of the supposed murderer. The very exactitude of his description, however, engenders a feeling of scepticism. The witness in question admits that at the time he saw him he did not suspect the person he watched of being the Whitechapel assassin; yet, at two o'clock in the morning, in badly-lighted thoroughfares, he observed more than most of us would observe in broad daylight, with ample time at our disposal. A man who in such a hasty survey notes such points as 'a pair of dark 'spats,' with light buttons, over button boots,' and 'a red stone hanging from his watch-chain,' must possess the eyes of a born detective . . ."
Regards,
Simon
Not everyone was as sold on GH as Abberline appears to have been. Here are two contemporary examples of healthy scepticism.
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.)
Wednesday, 14 November 1888
"The London police have celebrated the retirement of their chief by stumbling upon the first clue which looks as if it could possibly lead to anything. Unless the story told by the man Hutchinson is made out of whole cloth ["utterly without foundation in fact"] - a question which it ought not to take a competent detective two hours to settle - there is now a shadow of hope of capturing the miscreant who has been committing so much butchery. [my brackets]
"But, in the meantime, it would be just as well to keep a sharp eye upon Hutchinson himself. He may be a convenient person to have about at a critical stage of the investigation which is soon to follow. The man popularly known as "Jack the Ripper" is full of devices, and it would not be surprising if it were found necessary later to put Hutchinson in his turn on the defensive."
The Graphic
Saturday, 17 November 1888
" . . . It is true that on this last occasion a man has given a very precise description of the supposed murderer. The very exactitude of his description, however, engenders a feeling of scepticism. The witness in question admits that at the time he saw him he did not suspect the person he watched of being the Whitechapel assassin; yet, at two o'clock in the morning, in badly-lighted thoroughfares, he observed more than most of us would observe in broad daylight, with ample time at our disposal. A man who in such a hasty survey notes such points as 'a pair of dark 'spats,' with light buttons, over button boots,' and 'a red stone hanging from his watch-chain,' must possess the eyes of a born detective . . ."
Regards,
Simon
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