Another Letter from " Jack the Ripper." (Via Brindisi.)

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 321, 1 December 1888, Page 3

Another Letter from " Jack the Ripper." (Via Brindisi.)

London papers by the incoming mail contain" further news concerning the Bernersstreeband Mitre Square murders.

ANOTHER STRANGE REPORT. The " Central News " of October 12 says a startling fact has just come to light in connection with the recent Whitechapel murders. Alter killing Catherine Eddowes in Mitre-square the murderer, it is now known, walked to Goulston-street, where he threw away the piece of the deceased woman's apron upon which he wiped his hands and knife. Within a few feet of this spot he had .written upon the wall : "The Jews shall not be blamed for nothing." Most unfortunately one of the police officers gave orders for this writing to be immediately sponged out, probably with a view of stilling the morbid curiosity which it would certainly have aroused ; but in so doinsj a very important link was destroyed : for, had the writing been photographed, a certain clue would have been in the hands of the authorities. The witnesses who saw the writing, however, state that it was similar in character to that of letters sent to the< ."Central News 5 ' office, and signed "Jack the> Ripper." Though it .would , be far better to have clearly demonstrated "this by photography, there is no reason to believe that the writer-of the letter and postcard sent to the" Central News,", facsimiles of which are now to b*e seen outside of every police station, is the actual '.murderer. ' The police consequently ' are very anxious that every

.citizen, -who .can identify the handwriting should without idelay commuuicate, .with the authorities./ , ,The " Central News," since the original lebter . and t postcard of "Jack the Ripper," were published, have been receiving from, 3o to 40 communi-cations-daily signed "Jack the, Ripper," These are evidently the concoction of silly notoriety-hunters. A third communication', however, ■■has been received from the writer of ,the " Original' Jack the Ripper " letter, and a postcard which, acting upon official advice, it has been deemed prudent to, withhold for the present. it ,may be 1 ,stated, however, that although the miscreant avows his intention of committing further crimes shortly, it is only against women of the, unfortunate class that his threats are directed, his desire being to respect and protect honest women,

A STRANGE SUPERSTITION. A i Vienna correspondent states that Dr. Block, a member of the Austrian Reichsrath, has called his attention to certain faces which may throw a new light on the Whitechapel murders. In various German criminal codes of the I7th and 18bh centuries., as also in' staluts of a more recent date, punishments are prescribed for the mutilation of female corpses with the object of making from certain organs the so-called " dietslichter " or schlafs ichter " .respectively (thieved candles and soporific candles). > According to an old superstition still rife in various parts 6t Germany, the light from such candles will" throw those upon whom it falls into the deepest slumbers, ani they may consequently become a valuable instrument to the thieving profession. Among other cases the " schlafslichter " were heard of at the trial of the notorious German robber, Theodore Unger, surnamed Handsome Charley, who was executed at Mogdeluy in 1810. It was on that occasion discovered that a regular manufactory had been established by gangs of thieves for the production of such candles. That this superstition hassurvived among German thieves to the present day was proved by a case tried at Biala in Galica as recently as 1875. In this the body of a woman had been found mutilated in precisely the same way as were the victims of the Whitechapel murders.

EXCITEMENT IN PARIS. The "Daily News" correspondent telegraphs: The Whibechapel murders have not only been a newspaper sensation of the first magnitude, but have got on weak brains and set madmen and lovers of practical jokes writing to the Prefect of Police. M. Gauren, the head of the Criminal Investigation Department, receives letters written from both. The following 1 was received by hitn lecently : "Sir You must have heard of the Whitechapel murders. This is the explanation ot their mysterious side. There are partners— l and another —in this business ; one is in England and the other in France. I am at Brest, and am going; to Paris to operate as does my London colleague in London. We are seeking in the human body that which the doctors have never found, and you will try in vain to hunt us down."

THE WRITING ON THE WALL. It is stated that the police authorities attach a greab deal of importance to the spelling of the word Jews in the writing on the Avail at the spot where the Mitre-square murderer threw away a portion of the murdered woman's apron. The language of the Jews in the East End is a hybrid dialect known as yiddish and their mode of spelling the word Jews would be "Juives." This the police consider a strong indication that the crime was committed by one of the numerous foreigners by. whom the East End is infested. The order- to erase tne wotds on the wall, as stated in evideuce at the inquest, was given by an officer in the Metropolitan Police Force with the humane intention of averting an increase of the Anti-Jewish feeling which is, unfortunately, but undoubtedly, very general in the East End of London. So real were the apprehensions of the police authorities in this way, that on the Sunday night of the murders the chief police stations in the East End were reinforced by fifty constables each.

A MAN OF DISGUISES. The police, says the "Star," have reason to believe that the Whitechapel murderer is a man of several disguises. It will be remembered that Ann Nicholls was murdered on the night of August 30th, and on the following night it was reported that a woman was set upon by a gang of roughs in Cambridge Heath Road, one of whom had attempted to force her into an alleyway. This report proved to be false as far as> the gang were concerned. The police ascertained, however, that a woman had been set upon by a man, and that her cries had attracted a number of others whose efforts to capture her assailants led to the gang story. The miscreant escaped in the direc. tion ot the Commercial Road. That waa about 11 o'clock, and not later than a quarter-past 11 a man stepped hurriedly into a yard entrance at No. 2, Little Turnerstreet, Commercial Road. On one side of the yard is a milk stand ; the man asked for a glass of milk, and when served drank it hurriedly, and then, looking about in a frightened manner, asked it he might step back into the yard. The proprietor, Heniy Birch, did not object, but presently, his suspicions being aroused, he &iepped towards the man and found him drawing on a suit of new overalls over his ordinary clothes. The pants were already on, and he was stooping to take a jacket from a black shiny bag which lay ab his feet. When the proprietor Birch stepped up to him he seemed to be veiy much upset by the interruption, and for a moment could not speak j but presently he said, "That was a terrible murder last night, wasn't it ?" and, before Birch could answer, .he added, "I think I've sot a clue, and snatching up his bag ho disappeaied a own the street. Mr Birch then thought he might be a detective adopting a disgui&e for some purpose, but the police believe he was the man who assaulted the woman in Cambridge Heath Road, and that he donned the overalls to mislead anyone who might be tracing him. They have the name of the woman referred to, and her description tallies with that", given by Birch of his mysterious caller, whose clothing /was described as a blue serge suit and a stiff brown hat.

The French have discovered a method of making smokeless powder v the detonations of which are scarcely audible. The prospectus of the Block Gold-mining Company, of Otago, with a capital of £60,000, has been issued in England. ' " You have heard a cat purr, I suppose ?'- asked the Judge.- "Yes," replied the Major. "But, outside of poetry, you never heard a Cowper." £63 has been subscribed at Westport to Wards the Parnell Defence Fund ; also £20 i to the 1 Irish National League. Lincoln College students aie to be paid during sheaiing and harvesting a bonus of 25 per cent", less than current contract rates. " At a meeting of v the Christchurch Wool .Brokers' Association, ,the following dates were fixed for the wool sales of the heasqn. : —1888 : December 21st and 22rid. 1889 : January 11th and 12th ; February Bth and ; 9bh.- '" - v> ' - -