Casebook Examiner No. 2 (June 2010)

[mariab]

He he he, I can hardly imagine this! Even from the newbie perspective, from simply going through some threads, I can see that she's conducted some amazing research!

[mariab]

I've just had the chance to finally go through a couple of Ripper Notes, and I have to say, very impressive and very-very enjoyable. Having also read Jack and the grapestalk Nr. 1, I've found the author's hypothesizing that Le Grand might have written the threatening letter of October 6 to an unnamed witness (Packer) convincing. The handwriting of this letter appears not too completely dissimilar to the September 25th “Dear Boss“ letter and to the “Saucy Jack“ postcard, but I can't pretend I'm convinced that Le Grand might have written these letters as well. In my (newbie, humble) opinion, they appear to be the work of a journalist.
What I need to ask, and with not a little bit of urgency, has anyone ever done any research to identify Le Grand's handwriting in any police archives or other London archives? THAT would be a VERY important, useful find! I still haven't managed to read Examiner 2 for any updated information on Le Grand, but I will. And regarding updated information, I've noticed that in Ripper Notes #25 it's still spelled “Diemschutz“, while in Examiner 1 it's been corrected into “Diemshitz“. Oh, how the times they are a-changing...
And by the by, Tom, I very much appreciated the very thorough and methodical discussion of the entirety of reports on Polly Nichol's wounds in Ripper Notes # 26, but I do NOT adhere at all to the conclusions that you pull out of these, i.e., that the Ripper murders, in typical serial killer mode, were not a “progression“ concerning the increase of the mutilations. There is definite, if light, “intensification“ of the mutilations between Nichols and Chapman, and I rather (and completely) agree with Wolf Vanderlinden's interpretation of the Tabram murder as a Ripper murder initial to Nichols, which I suspect that you don't see as a Ripper slaying.
(By the by, I very much appreciate Vanderlinden's dissertation on Sickert's paintings and, on a different note, Vanderlinden's hilarious but very informative reports from the 2006 Ripperological conference in Baltimore.)
P.S.: Luckily I'm a bit sick and unable to go out during the weekend, and such will work wonders with the Ripperological lit I wanted to catch up on since so long...

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Maria,

I didn't discover the correct spelling of Louis' name (Diemschitz) until some time after publishing that essay in 2006. As for the Ripper letters, I myself am not convinced that Le Grand wrote any of them, although I'd say the 'From Hell' letter is now looking likely to have come from him as well as the 'threat' letter. Keep in mind that at the time the threat letter was written, the handwriting of the 'Dear Boss' letter had been made known, and Le Grand was skilled at changing his handwriting and copying others', so that was probably written by him either to Packer or Schwartz.
Regarding Nichols, you can't say there was a 'progression' from her to Chapman since she was interrupted by Charles Cross, which was the whole point of my argument. He did however learn not to try cutting under the clothes and instead to cut through them. I currently believe it's possible that Tabram was a Ripper victim, but I bounce back and forth.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[mariab]

Tom,
yeah, the “Diemschutz“/“Diemshitz“ part I figured out, plus the ‘controversy‘ is mentioned in the footnotes in Examiner 1. That Le Grand might have copied the “Dear Boss“ handwriting and vernacular into his October 6 letter (to Packer or Schwartz) seems convincing. As for the “From Hell“ letter, I can't make up my mind if it could be a fake or not. When you say that you consider the “From Hell“ letter to have originated from Le Grand, do you mean as a hoax, or as the Ripper himself? (Sorry, but I have my reservations for both.) Also, where would Le Grand locate a human half kidney? (And it WAS a human kidney.)
As for Nichols, I totally agree that the Ripper might have been interrupted before managing to obtain her organs. Still, that doesn't make it less of a “progression“ from Nichols to Chapman. It's the facts that count, not the perp's intentions. And he “learned“ from Tabram to Chapman (to concentrate in strangulation, to avoid too many cuts, to not attempt cutting through clothes, etc..). But I know what you mean about Tabram. Sometimes I “bounce back and forth“ between considering Stride a Ripper killing. But, depending on the suspect, I'd consider even Annie Millwood and Emma Smith as early victims on the Ripper's “learning curb“...
By the way, on which Ripper Notes have you written again about Berner Street? I'd be interested to see what you write about Schwartz's testimony.

[Tom_Wescott]

When you say that you consider the “From Hell“ letter to have originated from Le Grand, do you mean as a hoax, or as the Ripper himself? (Sorry, but I have my reservations for both.) Also, where would Le Grand locate a human half kidney? (And it WAS a human kidney.)

Le Grand could have been the Ripper and still 'hoaxed' the 'From Hell' letter. In short, I don't believe at all that the Lusk kidney came from Eddowes. The evidence supports that conclusion. Obtaining a human kidney would not at all have been difficult for someone with the connections of Le Grand. He was a criminal, after all, and obtained much harder items.

I wrote a 'part 2' of Berner Street, which is in either 27 or 28. There never was a 29. I don't think I have published much on Schwartz, though I have some definite ideas.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[mariab]

Hey Tom, don't want to sound disrespectful or anything, but the way you go on about the “allmighty“ and manipulative Le Grand, who was able to change his handwriting in a jiffy to imitate the “Dear Boss“ letter etc., do you know who you remind me of? Guess who: Patricia Cornwell, with her “diabolical“ Sickert...

[mariab]

I can imagine it easier for Le Grand to have gotten hold of an ANIMAL kidney than a human one. It would have been easy only for a medical student and his acquaintancies to find access to a human kidney in 1888 (as of today!). Or le Grand would have had to (ask someone) to violate a grave, in which case the kidney wouldn't have been preserved in such specific shape, unless he was lucky to have found a fresh one etc..
My reservations with Le Grand being the Ripper do not have anything to do with his “overplaying“ his defense strategy, à la Hutchinson, as Caz says (and I completely feel where you're coming from on this, Caz), since I'm also inclined to consider Hutchinson as a Ripper suspect. My problem with Le Grand does not regard his motivation for his manipulative games, but pertains to his motivation for the killings. But perhaps we are all misled by the typical clichés of profiling (with the Ripper as an antisocial loner etc.). If Le Grand was the Ripper, he could have been both BS or Pipeman.
Do you perhaps recall the special title of Ripper Notes where you've published Berner Street #2? amazon mainly lists them per title...
Thank you and

[mariab]

primary sources on Le Grand

Hello Tom and Debra.
I'm currently (finally!) reading Examiner 2, and I must say, fascinating find Debra re. The North-Eastern Daily Gazette from October 10 1888, and fascinating article, Tom. I haven't yet finished reading it, but I already have questions and remarks:
1) First of all, are you guys COMPLETELY and at 100% sure to have finished conducting research in the contemporary London press pertaining to Le Grand's so-called Detective Agency at Strand? It's most crucial to become at 100% positive if Le Grand had any intentions at all to conduct any legitimate investigative business with his “Detective Agency“, before establishing that his motives were not just to manipulate the police so that he appears more capable as an investigator, thus gaining publicity and prestige for his fledgling business, but that his real motive to misguide the investigation was more personal, with him having possibly been involved in the murders!
In his article, Tom says that Le Grand seems to have gone out of his way to avoid publicity in the press, apart from having been mentioned just once in The Evening News of October 4 1888 (which I've checked in the casebook press archive, and which you quote a lot in your essay, Tom), plus, according to Tom, he was mentioned also a second time, without this second time being precised further by Tom. {Examiner 2, p. 22.} Tom, as I've said before, regarding your essay in Examiner 1: You REALLY have to remember to put footnotes/ precisations for such details, so that your readers be able to check out the information you give. It's a very unfortunate lacuna in an otherwise brilliant context. Thus, I'd be grateful to hear more details about the second mentioning of Le Grand in the press, please.
The reason I insist with asking if Le Grand's appearances in the press (as an investigator, not as a criminal!) have fully been researched is Lynn Cate's recent find of last week, where he located an ad for Le Grand's Agency in Lloyd's Weekly from June 3 1888, which I post below, followed by Deb's reaction:
Lynn Cate's post #483:
Here is a Le Grand PI ad from 1888. The snippet is from Lloyd's Weekly, June 3, 1888.
Deb's post #484:
A very good find, Lynn.
I've never come across 'Grand and Co' advertising in the press before.
Hopefully more new things will be found in the future to add to what we know about him already.The snip shows that Grand and Co. was the name of the detective agency at least, could it be that Le Grand was trying to go straight and operate just like a real private detective?

2) My second question to Deborah and Tom, but also to all Ripperologists researching the contemporary London press (and heroically transcribing all this for casebook), if you'd excuse such a newbie request: Can I please inquire where all these newspapers are kept today? I assume that all of them are available at the British Library, or does one have to visit several other libraries as well? For instance, I know that the equivalent press for Paris is easily available at the Bibliothèque Historique de la ville de Paris, and in Naples it's very comfortably available at the Sezione Napoletana of their Biblioteca Nazionale.

Below I'm attaching a quote from The North-Eastern Daily Gazette from October 3 1888, (this specific newspaper is represented very scarcily in the casebook press archive), with two details highlightened: (Although I'm sure that most of you will be familiar with this report.)
There was nothing unusual about the appearance of the streets in Whitechapel and the adjoining districts last night, unless it were that there were fewer women parading the footways after a late hour. In the evening from eight o'clock onward there was the usual busy current of foot passengers, some returning from work, others promenading for pleasure. In the close of the evening the rumour spread rapidly that another terrible murder had been committed, the body, too, being horribly mutilated. This caused the liveliest excitement, everyone asking everyone else "Where was it?" The arrival of the evening papers, however, had the effect of subduing the alarm, for on finding that - to use the common pronunciation of the pavement - the tragedy was "down Westminster way," the sting was taken out of the news, and when it was further learnt that there was really nothing to indicate that the Westminster affair was the work of the East End fiend, the matter hardly obtained any further attention. An enterprising show proprietor in the Mile End road displayed a highly coloured and sensational picture of a murderous tragedy, which was introduced to the public as "the murder in Berners street." This attracted the attention of vast crowds, many of whom evidently placed implicit reliance upon the accuracy of the representation. As the evening wore on and closing time for the "houses" came the streets were more and more deserted by the "ladies of the pavement," most of them withdrawing earlier than usual. One of those who stayed on till the small hours of the morning was asked "Aren't you afraid to be out at this time of morning?" She replied, "No." She said the murders were "shocking, but we have no place to go to, so we're compelled to be out looking for our lodgings." Another woman, in reply to a similar question, said, "Afraid? No, I'm armed, Look 'ere," and she drew a knife from her pocket. She further declared, "I'm not the only one armed; there's plenty more carry knives now." The coffee stall keepers are grumbling that their trade has been much injured by the terror in the district, for although the condition of the thoroughfares is as usual up to "closing time," there is a great diminution in the numbers of their customers after midnight; indeed some of them say that the trade they get is not worth coming out for. There is no lack of constables in the streets; they are to be met everywhere. Detectives parade the alleys and courts in twos and threes, and it is impossible to be many minutes out of their sight or hearing. Shortly after four o'clock this morning a man came up to a coffee stall in Commercial street and as he drank a cup of coffee it was noticed that his hand was covered with blood. A constable was called and examined the man, but the cause of the blood stain being obvious he was not detained in custody. The sight of blood upon any person or thing in the district just now is as the proverbial red rag to a bull. Upon enquiry at seven o'clock this morning at Leman street Police Station the officer on duty stated that no arrests had been made during the night.
SUPPOSED CLUE
A description has been issued by the police of a man said to have been seen on Saturday night in the company of Elizabeth Stride, the victim of the Berners street murder. He was about 28 years of age, dark complexioned, and wore dark clothes and a stained felt hat.

3) And, as a last question: Below I'm quoting another report from the Echo of October 18th 1888 (also from the casebook press archive), from the Echo issue which also mentions Packer's so-called testimony PLUS links Packer (and accessorily Le Grand) to the Batty Street Lodging House and the allegedly found blood-stained shirt. {See the Echo quote about Packer in Examiner 2, p. 24.}
EAST-END ATROCITIES – A MYSTERIOUS BLACK BAG, DAGGER FOUND
A very mysterious incident, in connection with arrest of the man at King-street Police-station, Westminster, whose apprehension was yesterday announced in The Echo, has transpired this morning. It appears that on Monday the man went into the shop of Messrs. Bellamy Bros., Railway-approach, Charing-cross, and after a brief but somewhat incoherent chat with Mr. Batchelor, the manager, he suddenly placed a black bag on the counter, and left the shop. The incident has come to the knowledge of the police authorities, but up to the present they thought it prudent to regard the affair as a secret. The bag contained a razor, a dagger (which bore more or less recent marks of blood stains), several miscellaneous but almost valueless odds and ends, together with a broken piece of looking-glass and a small piece of soap. It is regarded as somewhat suspicious that these latter articles are similar to those found on the Whitechapel victims.
MR. BATCHELOR'S STATEMENT
The shiny black bag and its contents were inspected this morning by an Echo reporter, who called at Messrs. Bellamy's in order to verify certain reports respecting their strange visitor. Mr. R. Bachelor, the manager, made the following statement:- "He was such a mysterious-looking person that I could not make him out at all, but it was not until after he left the shop that it somehow occurred to me that his mind was unhinged from some cause or other, and then the Whitechapel murders and the affair at Whitehall came across my mind. It was from reading the special edition of last night's Echo that I felt convinced the black bag was an incident worth mentioning. Well, as soon as the man came into the shop he took out a pencil and commenced to write some words which no one could read. The he straightened himself up, remarked 'You must not be surprised to hear I'm Jack the Ripper - I'm a most mysterious man' and darted out of the shop. He made use of the expression, 'I'm used to cutting people up, and can put them together again. The police are all disguised, and wherever I go I meet them.' He looked to me like a doctor or doctor's assistant, but was rather shabby." The razor and dagger found in the bag have been examined by Dr. Bond.
Has anyone investigated if this R. Batchelor person was perhaps acquainted with Le Grand's “assistant“, WVC private investigator James H. Batchelor, who, as Tom Wescott says in Ripper Notes #25, is listed in 1899 as proprietor of the Lion Public House at 309 The Strand, that is, 8 doors down from where Le Grand and Co. stand in 1888? {www.londonpublichouse.com/london1899/London1899-Lhtm}
I apologize for the huge length of this post, but please be reminded that I've only formulated 3 precise questions.
Congratulations again, Debra and Tom, and I'm going back to reading Examiner 2 (since I'm a little bit sick and “vegging it out“ today!).
Thank you so much and

[Debra A]

Hello Tom and Debra.
I'm currently (finally!) reading Examiner 2, and I must say, fascinating find Debra re. The North-Eastern Daily Gazette from October 10 1888, and fascinating article, Tom. I haven't yet finished reading it, but I already have questions and remarks:
1) First of all, are you guys COMPLETELY and at 100% sure to have finished conducting research in the contemporary London press pertaining to Le Grand's so-called Detective Agency at Strand? It's most crucial to become at 100% positive if Le Grand had any intentions at all to conduct any legitimate investigative business with his “Detective Agency“, before establishing that his motives were not just to manipulate the police so that he appears more capable as an investigator, thus gaining publicity and prestige for his fledgling business, but that his real motive to misguide the investigation was more personal, with him having possibly been involved in the murders!
In his article, Tom says that Le Grand seems to have gone out of his way to avoid publicity in the press, apart from having been mentioned just once in The Evening News of October 4 1888 (which I've checked in the casebook press archive, and which you quote a lot in your essay, Tom), plus, according to Tom, he was mentioned also a second time, without this second time being precised further by Tom. {Examiner 2, p. 22.} Tom, as I've said before, regarding your essay in Examiner 1: You REALLY have to remember to put footnotes/ precisations for such details, so that your readers be able to check out the information you give. It's a very unfortunate lacuna in an otherwise brilliant context. Thus, I'd be grateful to hear more details about the second mentioning of Le Grand in the press, please.
The reason I insist with asking if Le Grand's appearances in the press (as an investigator, not as a criminal!) have fully been researched is Lynn Cate's recent find of last week, where he located an ad for Le Grand's Agency in Lloyd's Weekly from June 3 1888, which I post below, followed by Deb's reaction:
Lynn Cate's post #483:
Here is a Le Grand PI ad from 1888. The snippet is from Lloyd's Weekly, June 3, 1888.
Deb's post #484:
A very good find, Lynn.
I've never come across 'Grand and Co' advertising in the press before.
Hopefully more new things will be found in the future to add to what we know about him already.The snip shows that Grand and Co. was the name of the detective agency at least, could it be that Le Grand was trying to go straight and operate just like a real private detective?

2) My second question to Deborah and Tom, but also to all Ripperologists researching the contemporary London press (and heroically transcribing all this for casebook), if you'd excuse such a newbie request: Can I please inquire where all these newspapers are kept today? I assume that all of them are available at the British Library, or does one have to visit several other libraries as well? For instance, I know that the equivalent press for Paris is easily available at the Bibliothèque Historique de la ville de Paris, and in Naples it's very comfortably available at the Sezione Napoletana of their Biblioteca Nazionale.

Below I'm attaching a quote from The North-Eastern Daily Gazette from October 3 1888, (this specific newspaper is represented very scarcily in the casebook press archive), with two details highlightened: (Although I'm sure that most of you will be familiar with this report.)
There was nothing unusual about the appearance of the streets in Whitechapel and the adjoining districts last night, unless it were that there were fewer women parading the footways after a late hour. In the evening from eight o'clock onward there was the usual busy current of foot passengers, some returning from work, others promenading for pleasure. In the close of the evening the rumour spread rapidly that another terrible murder had been committed, the body, too, being horribly mutilated. This caused the liveliest excitement, everyone asking everyone else "Where was it?" The arrival of the evening papers, however, had the effect of subduing the alarm, for on finding that - to use the common pronunciation of the pavement - the tragedy was "down Westminster way," the sting was taken out of the news, and when it was further learnt that there was really nothing to indicate that the Westminster affair was the work of the East End fiend, the matter hardly obtained any further attention. An enterprising show proprietor in the Mile End road displayed a highly coloured and sensational picture of a murderous tragedy, which was introduced to the public as "the murder in Berners street." This attracted the attention of vast crowds, many of whom evidently placed implicit reliance upon the accuracy of the representation. As the evening wore on and closing time for the "houses" came the streets were more and more deserted by the "ladies of the pavement," most of them withdrawing earlier than usual. One of those who stayed on till the small hours of the morning was asked "Aren't you afraid to be out at this time of morning?" She replied, "No." She said the murders were "shocking, but we have no place to go to, so we're compelled to be out looking for our lodgings." Another woman, in reply to a similar question, said, "Afraid? No, I'm armed, Look 'ere," and she drew a knife from her pocket. She further declared, "I'm not the only one armed; there's plenty more carry knives now." The coffee stall keepers are grumbling that their trade has been much injured by the terror in the district, for although the condition of the thoroughfares is as usual up to "closing time," there is a great diminution in the numbers of their customers after midnight; indeed some of them say that the trade they get is not worth coming out for. There is no lack of constables in the streets; they are to be met everywhere. Detectives parade the alleys and courts in twos and threes, and it is impossible to be many minutes out of their sight or hearing. Shortly after four o'clock this morning a man came up to a coffee stall in Commercial street and as he drank a cup of coffee it was noticed that his hand was covered with blood. A constable was called and examined the man, but the cause of the blood stain being obvious he was not detained in custody. The sight of blood upon any person or thing in the district just now is as the proverbial red rag to a bull. Upon enquiry at seven o'clock this morning at Leman street Police Station the officer on duty stated that no arrests had been made during the night.
SUPPOSED CLUE
A description has been issued by the police of a man said to have been seen on Saturday night in the company of Elizabeth Stride, the victim of the Berners street murder. He was about 28 years of age, dark complexioned, and wore dark clothes and a stained felt hat.

3) And, as a last question: Below I'm quoting another report from the Echo of October 18th 1888 (also from the casebook press archive), from the Echo issue which also mentions Packer's so-called testimony PLUS links Packer (and accessorily Le Grand) to the Batty Street Lodging House and the allegedly found blood-stained shirt. {See the Echo quote about Packer in Examiner 2, p. 24.}
EAST-END ATROCITIES – A MYSTERIOUS BLACK BAG, DAGGER FOUND
A very mysterious incident, in connection with arrest of the man at King-street Police-station, Westminster, whose apprehension was yesterday announced in The Echo, has transpired this morning. It appears that on Monday the man went into the shop of Messrs. Bellamy Bros., Railway-approach, Charing-cross, and after a brief but somewhat incoherent chat with Mr. Batchelor, the manager, he suddenly placed a black bag on the counter, and left the shop. The incident has come to the knowledge of the police authorities, but up to the present they thought it prudent to regard the affair as a secret. The bag contained a razor, a dagger (which bore more or less recent marks of blood stains), several miscellaneous but almost valueless odds and ends, together with a broken piece of looking-glass and a small piece of soap. It is regarded as somewhat suspicious that these latter articles are similar to those found on the Whitechapel victims.
MR. BATCHELOR'S STATEMENT
The shiny black bag and its contents were inspected this morning by an Echo reporter, who called at Messrs. Bellamy's in order to verify certain reports respecting their strange visitor. Mr. R. Bachelor, the manager, made the following statement:- "He was such a mysterious-looking person that I could not make him out at all, but it was not until after he left the shop that it somehow occurred to me that his mind was unhinged from some cause or other, and then the Whitechapel murders and the affair at Whitehall came across my mind. It was from reading the special edition of last night's Echo that I felt convinced the black bag was an incident worth mentioning. Well, as soon as the man came into the shop he took out a pencil and commenced to write some words which no one could read. The he straightened himself up, remarked 'You must not be surprised to hear I'm Jack the Ripper - I'm a most mysterious man' and darted out of the shop. He made use of the expression, 'I'm used to cutting people up, and can put them together again. The police are all disguised, and wherever I go I meet them.' He looked to me like a doctor or doctor's assistant, but was rather shabby." The razor and dagger found in the bag have been examined by Dr. Bond.
Has anyone investigated if this R. Batchelor person was perhaps acquainted with Le Grand's “assistant“, WVC private investigator James H. Batchelor, who, as Tom Wescott says in Ripper Notes #25, is listed in 1899 as proprietor of the Lion Public House at 309 The Strand, that is, 8 doors down from where Le Grand and Co. stand in 1888? {www.londonpublichouse.com/london1899/London1899-Lhtm}
I apologize for the huge length of this post, but please be reminded that I've only formulated 3 precise questions.
Congratulations again, Debra and Tom, and I'm going back to reading Examiner 2 (since I'm a little bit sick and “vegging it out“ today!).
Thank you so much and

Maria, I am busy at the moment but just to say research on Le Grand is definitely ongoing. Just to clarify, I am an amateur researcher who voluntarily gives information to other interested parties just for the heck of it. I'm not a paid full time researcher,and although the Le Grand is a research interest of mine, the conclusions in Tom's article are entirely his own.
Thanks for the kind comments.

[lynn cates]

God send

Hello Maria. A source that might interest you is "Newspaper Archive." It is quite affordable--about L4 per month (extended contract). It is a real God send for some of us.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

good luck with your research

Debra, good luck with all your important research! Would you be conducting any research in the infamous classified Special Branch ledgers, were they to become available? I think I've heard that Trevor Howard (hopefully I got the name correctly) is trying to get access to these, since several years? It would be fascinating to see if they contain any info pertaining to Le Grand's criminal activity, and to what became of him after his incarceration in 1891...
Though I'm currently appointed in Paris as a chercheur associé at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme with a salary (obviously only for the months when I'm in Paris, and Paris is as prohibitedly expensive a city as London!), I've done a lot of research for different parties and projects without remuneration at all, so I totally feel where you're standing. (OK, often there was an "ulterior motive" to later get involved officially with the project, but it was always motivated by real, deep interest!)
Anyway, lots and lots of luck for your plans!
PS.: This is probably the most moronic, Polyanna-like idea, but is it possible to research Le Grand's financial records in any bank archives in London (that is, if they were not destroyed in the Blitz), and see if you can perhaps also find his signature/handwriting? It would be interesting to compare this with the Ripper letters...

[Scott Nelson]

Just to clarify, I am an amateur researcher...

Don't let her kid you. She is the consummate professional researcher.

[mariab]

thank you so much for the hint

Lynn Cates wrote:
Hello Maria. A source that might interest you is "Newspaper Archive." It is quite affordable--about L4 per month (extended contract). It is a real God send for some of us.
Lynn,
thank you so much for the tip! Could you give me their internet address? L4 per month won't break me, although I have to confess that August is a salary-free month for me and therefore a bit stressful, esp. after my having splurged a bit with dining and wining like a rock star in South Africa (which was not expensive per se, but it definitely adds up.) Luckily Berlin is a very inexpensive city, I know all the places for buying cheap food/wine, and there's a Russian Café in a park 2 blocks from my apartment when one can eat like a king (including soup, and fish, and divine cappucinos) for just over 10-€, but still...
What further infuriates me is stupid easyjet (sleazyjet) owes me a one way ticket to Paris and they've promised to give it, but now they won't. Pigs! We're just talking about 100–€, but I just HATE it when it's stupid air companies or the banks cashing it in... I have to buy this ticket tonight and I'm completely disgusted. I wish I could take another company, but easyjet's really the cheapest and the easiest if one needs to change the dates. Grrr...
By the way, friends of mine claimed that ryanair is planning lower cost tickets (from 5-€ on) for flying STANDING UP (pleasantly strangled by the security belt). Fancy a transatlantic flight like this? Totally reminds me of how people sometimes slept outside houses holding a rope, in the cheapest possible accommodation in Victorian Whitechapel. What's next, a 1-€ flight ticket for commuting inside the belly of the plane, with the luggage? (Which would probably be more comfortable than flying standing up.)

[lynn cates]

archive

Hello Maria.

http://www.newspaperarchive.com/

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Thanks so much, Lynn!