Casebook Examiner No. 3 (August 2010)

[Phil Carter]

Hello John, all,

Have thought a lot about this. The front page asks for our objectivity.

I thought it was a nicely written piece, but in my opinion, spoilt by the headline grabbing cover piece title "Arise Sir Robert Anderson" which made it sound like his resurrection. "Holier than thou" he was not, although he doubtless would have approved of this formulation.
This headline grabber on the front page, gave me the wrong impression from the word go. Rather like "Le Grand, New Prime Suspect" when a question mark after "suspect" would have made all the difference to that impression in Casebook Examiner No.2, for me, it is an over-the-top proclamation by the cover designers of Casebook Examiner. Whether you had anything to do with this title, I know not, but I DO note, that in your piece early on, you write that this is " not meant to be seen as an endorsement of the Sir Robert Anderson theory"... which, conjoined with the front page seems to be a mis-match. That is my personal opinion at least.

Looking objectively at this, even as a self confessed "Anti-Andersonite", the be all and end all of this is what does this article actually achieve? Does it recuperate lost ground after a steady run of found documentation showing Anderson in a poor light? Does it exonerate his views and opinions? Does it change the way we look at Anderson on the whole? The outcome of it however, rests on weight of evidence. As we stand, I humbly opine the weight of evidence against Sir Robert Anderson actually knowing the true identity of the killer (if there was only one), is greater than the opposite.
These are questions for the individual to consider however. Like you say, we must keep talking and opinion will sway one way or the other, depending on views and theories of who was Jack the Ripper or nay.

Phil Sugdens book has been and still is, an important book in Ripperology.
I am prepared to see it's weaknesses as you have attempted to point out,
I am prepared to digest them, with long thought. I am prepared to consider your views, but in my opinion, if one is first going to re-review and re-entertain Phil Sugden's excellent book, then by only pointing out the exact parts that you have, re Kosminski and Klosowski, one wonders if not a new look at the whole book had been more appropriate? Because then the "Pro-Andersonite" interpretation would not be so alarmingly obvious. We are talking about objectivity here after all. Are we to assume that the rest of the book is still fault free? To be objective, I get the impression that this interpretation on Sugden's work is a retaliation of sorts for the recent opposite interpretations.. (as the self confessed Andersonite you are, then I can see why, whether it was meant in exactly that way or not).

You asked for objectivity. That means for us to consider fairly. It will be done by this writer. But the front cover is NOT objective, it leads us a stated direction... for the 2nd issue in a row, in my opinion.

No doubt there are those who disagree with this viewpoint. Some will agree. However I feel that it would be far better to make less proculamatorial statements on the front page.

I enjoyed most of the issue, but have one other small bug-bear. In the mortuary time-line piece, the over-sizing of the red ink seemed to me to be pointless. A lot of space could have been saved and the effect would not have lessened with smaller type. Just an opinion.

The Princess Alice piece was indeed excellent, and the Whitechapel High-Street photos intruiging and nicely presented.

Overall, a fine edition, CE3. Thank you to all concerned for it's publication.

best wishes

Phil

[Zodiac]

Bloody...cough, cough, hairballs...cough, cough, again...cough!!!

Chris,
The tone of the article, no matter how much I tried to temper it, is indeed a bit too negative; I mentioned earlier today to a good friend that I equate it to coughing up a hairball...unpleasant in itself, but a relief to have out of my system.

Indeed!!! But please John, I implore you, if these symptoms persist for more than 72 hours then you must contact your local medical practicioner for further assistance. Failing that, perhaps a barber or hairdresser could help with hairballs....
Then again NO!!! Best stay away from them barbers/hairdressers, they are a very dodgy looking crowd indeed, an' no mistake!!!

Best wishes,

Zodiac.

[protohistorian]

I really enjoyed Adam Went's piece. Nice to know more about events like that. Dave

[John Malcolm]

Chris,
The tone of the article, no matter how much I tried to temper it, is indeed a bit too negative; I mentioned earlier today to a good friend that I equate it to coughing up a hairball...unpleasant in itself, but a relief to have out of my system.

[John Malcolm]

Sugden may very well be "spot on" about his assessment of Anderson, I just thought he went too far out of his way to drive his opinions home. No doubt Sir Robert was a controversial figure on more than one front, but I think there is much more to his "Polish Jew Theory" than simply "addle-headed nonsense." As a self-confessed "Andersonite" I doubt I'll ever be able to claim true objectivity, so naturally I've had to exaggerate a bit to get my points across. We can agree to disagree about these issues, we just need to keep talking.

[Chris]

But an enjoyable read and well argued John!

Yes - though it was a bit too anti-Sugden for my taste.

And I hate to say it, but the illustration showed the wrong Seaside Home (not that I'm convinced Clarendon Villas is necessarily the right one) ...

[Natalie Severn]

Disappointed RJ Palmer"s article is delayed.Still we can"t very well tell you to "hurry up" can we Roger?

Actually quite impressed by John"s critique of Philip Sugden"s brilliant book .Must say though that Sugden is my all time favourite writer-well he comes joint first with Stewart Evans - but perhaps his book does need a bit of updating now.However, I believe Sugden"s theory on Klosowski still holds good and his overall assessment of Anderson is spot on.But an enjoyable read and well argued John!

[Zodiac]

Arse!!!

Zodiac,

Quite co-incidentally, I made a very similar comment on my Facebook status update today:

"Notice how, if you glance very quickly at the headline story on the front cover, it looks like it says "ARSE!".

Great minds think alike apparently!

Just started perusing issue three, and it looks like I'm in for a very enjoyable read.

All the best
Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Great Yorkshire minds too!!!

Best wishes,

Zodiac.

[Andrew Firth]

Zodiac,

Quite co-incidentally, I made a very similar comment on my Facebook status update today:

"Notice how, if you glance very quickly at the headline story on the front cover, it looks like it says "ARSE!".

Great minds think alike apparently!

Just started perusing issue three, and it looks like I'm in for a very enjoyable read.

All the best
Andrew

[mariab]

Oh my god, Zodiac, you should be ashamed of yourself! Such irreverence! I'm having a fit of hysterical laughter right now.
(By the way, I can understand how your “dyslexia“ was enhanced by the artistic use of tie-dye-like colour in the headers.)
I'm looking forward to reading Examiner 3, while I'm currently still going through Supe's piece on Sherlock Holmes in Examiner 2 (instead of doing work).

[Natalie Severn]

I enjoyed that Zodiac!

[Zodiac]

Dyslexia strikes again!

Hi all,

I have a mild form of Dyslexia which is, more often than not, a cause of some frustration to me. However, it does occasionally give me cause to have a damn good laugh at myself! When I first saw the front page of the Examiner No.3, I could have sworn that the title read "ARSE"!!! Images flashed through my mind of "Sir Robert Andersons Arse Disaster On The Thames"!!! and us being asked for our objectivity, and to remember the forgotten hundreds!!!

Best wishes,

Zodiac.

[jmenges]

Adam Went takes a new look at a “forgotten” maritime disaster, the sinking of the S.S. Princess Alice. In the process he examines the possible loss of Elizabeth Stride’s family and also uncovers a new connection between the tragedy and the Ripper murders.

No offense intended, but this should read "reminds us of the connection" regarding Joseph Martin, as Robert J McLaughlin's The First Jack the Ripper Victim Photographs reprinted the 'Fifty Years a Corpse Photographer' article and he wrote about Martin's brush with the Princess Alice in some detail.

I am thoroughly enjoying this issue and my appreciation goes out to all involved.

JM

[Casebook Examiner]

Dear Subscribers and Premium Members,

Issue 3 should be arriving in your inbox now. We hope that you enjoy it!

[Adam Went]

Jon Simons' article in particular sounds great. He was very helpful with the Princess Alice article as well, so shall look forward to it.

Cheers,
Adam.