In the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens presents a dichotomy. While it was accurate to say that Pre-Revolution France had been experiencing both the best and worst of times, so to it would have been a fitting description of his own London in the 1880's. While the Industrial Revolution had modernized the city, it also brought with it the problems of modern life. In 1882 a word would be coined which would later describe more than a quarter of the city's inhabitants: unemployed. This, the result of a city survey, would be passed over as an unimportant statistic by city leaders (Begg 20). The highest concentration of unemployment would be in London's East End, colorfully referred to as "the Abyss" by Jack London. Here, 2 million citizens officially classified as poor would be left to fight over scarce jobs and housing (Evans 15). In the districts known as Whitechapel and Spitalfields, 90,000 people mostly women and children were crowded into an area of little more than a square mile (Evans 21). Here too, in this Abyss, another modern problem would be born. In Whitechapel there were twelve hundred prostitutes, sixty-two known houses, two hundred thirty-three lodging houses (called doss houses) and a lone killer known as Jack the Ripper (Evans 113). His crimes would baffle the police and outrage the citizens. The West End would learn for the first time that the best of times they had been enjoying, were not common to all of London.

The East End of London was not known for being safe prior to Jack the Ripper. The area was rife with gangs who made raids on the district to terrorize residents and to extort the businesses (Fido 5). The East End seemed perfect for crime. The roads were dark and narrow. Alleyways curving from deserted courtyards were ideal spots for the more

physical of human activities, and as the fog rolled in from the Thames it provided a ghastly yellowish glow resulting from the gaslight reflecting on the smog. Police were unwelcome and were subject to attacks from the residents who were more comfortable with the local criminals then the intimidating uniformed police (Begg et al. 370).

The Metropolitan Police were in charge of most of the Jack the Ripper investigation. The Met or Scotland Yard as they were dubbed, was in charge of the Metropolis of London but not the actually city. The distinction was based on the historical city versus the sprawling metropolis of modern day. The City of London was under the jurisdiction of the City Police who patrolled an area north of the London Bridge. Their jurisdiction was limited to a square mile, mostly the administrative center of London. Mostly the two forces were not troubled with jurisdictional conflicts, but there would be one Ripper murder that would result in a mismanaged attempt at cooperation (Begg et al. 85).

While violent crimes were certainly no stranger to the East End, the last day of August would be long remembered both by its citizens and by the world. Like most of her fellow prostitutes Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols carried all her belongings on her. There were no places trusted enough to store any belongings and she had little enough to begin with (Evans 82). She spent her days looking to earn enough money to keep her supplied with alcohol and, hopefully, with enough left over to pay for her side of a bed in a doss house when night fell. Unfortunately she was turned away from such a house when she couldn't supply the fourpence it would cost her to stay the night. "Never mind! I'll soon get my doss money," would be last words of hers the world would hear (Fido 20-21).

At twenty minutes past three on the morning of August the 31, Charles Cross believed he had discovered a useful piece of tarpaulin on his way to work. As he approached the shadowy object he realized it was the body of a woman. He was soon joined by a neighbor, John Paul, and the two of them decided she was dead and left to find a constable. While they were searching for an officer, Patrolman John Neil came across the body as he made his rounds. As he knelt over her to examine the body he was assaulted by the smell of gin. Thinking she was merely overcome with alcohol he attempted to get her to stand up but the light of his lantern revealed that her throat had been slashed. He called to a passing constable and requested him to summon a doctor. "Run for Dr. Llewellyn- a woman's been murdered." (Spiering 30-31).

The ultimate extant of her injuries would not be discovered until she was examined at the mortuary. The mortuary was actually a shed belonging to the Old Montague Street workhouse infirmary. There were no public facilities for the neighborhood, so the dead were brought to the mortuary to be examined and hopefully identified (Sugden 17). As she was cleaned off by two elderly paupers, it was discovered that the extant of her injuries were more severe than a cut throat. Her neck has been slashed through to the vertebrae suggesting that the killer has attempted to remove her head. The lower abdominal cavity had been opened and exposed by a series of incisions, and there was mutilation to the genitalia (Begg et al. 264-265).

It became apparent that this murder was far from the regular stabbings and robberies common to the area. There was no apparent motive as the woman had few possessions, little regular acquaintances, and the crime was more violent than the usual

prostitute-John conflicts the police were familiar with. Apparently this crime had been committed purely for a visceral pleasure, an extremely alien line of thinking to the law officers of 1880's London.

While the inquest that was held helped establish her tragic identity and determined the series of events leading up to Nichols' death, there was little headway in finding the killer. An area search of the crime scene and the routine questioning of neighbors revealed little, but Scotland Yard soon learned of a suspect who fit their bill. Apparently one John Pizer, known as Leather Apron, frequented the area late at night and threatened prostitutes with a leather working knife. It was established that he was Jewish, in his late thirties, had a small moustache and wore his trademark leather apron (Begg et al. 369-371).

Now, supplied with a grotesque crime and a sinister suspect, the newspapers entered the scene. The newspapers' search for Pizer matched the intensity of Scotland Yard's; a veritable campaign was launched against Leather Apron. Pizer, afraid of being lynched or falsely accused, went into hiding. Eventually he would be arrested and cleared (the police realized that there was no evidence connecting him to the crime except rumors). The Leather Apron affair would have two lasting results, however. The power of the press would be realized and the image of a dark Jewish man hunting down prostitutes in Whitechapel would be emblazoned on the public's mind.

In events eerily similar to the circumstances around Polly Nichols' death, Anne Chapman found herself early in the morning of September 8 without any money for a doss house. Although her prospects had been brighter than Nichols', she too fell to drink and

survived by selling her body. She was found at 6 in the morning by John Davis, an elderly man who lived in the area, and after notifying two neighbors he went to the Commercial Street Police Station (Begg et al. 104).

While the examination of Chapman's body was partially thwarted by miscommunication between attendants and a failure to keep track of evidence, what was established was that the injuries were of a similar nature to the Nichols' murder although much more severe. The abdomen was once

again exposed and a section of intestines were removed and arranged. Also part of the bladder and vagina had been removed (Begg 59-60).

It was established at the inquest that the murderer was the same person who had killed Polly Nichols. Also some witnesses stepped forward who had seen Chapman soliciting a man who had been described as dark, dressed in dark clothing and who spoke with a foreign accent (Sugden 114). Combined with the rumors of Leather Apron (described as a dark Jew) and the new information of Chapman being seen with a dark foreign looking man, anti-Semitism among the citizens grew high. Following the Russian pogroms, attacks on Jewish citizens, in the late 1870's and early 1880's a large immigration of Jewish citizens set in. Originally the East Londoners were sympathetic to the Jews, but as the newcomers moved into the community and began taking jobs for less money, the East Enders became less understanding. The Jews were perceived as a threat because they brought with them a strange language and unusual customs. The kosher slaughterhouses they established, soon entered the urban folklore as being part of a Jewish blood ritual. Combined with the fact that the murders were taking place in a

largely Jewish section, and the newspapers' sensationalized accounts of the murders and the suspects, anti-Jewish feeling soared.

The terror that gripped London was often the result of exaggerated newspaper reports. When the sensationalized accounts of the crimes such as the following were read by the citizens, it became clear that not only was there a monster in the London, but the crimes were obviously unEnglish.

The Star (September 8, 1888)

A nameless reprobate- half beast, half man- is at large, who is daily

gratifying his murderous instincts on the most miserable and

defenseless classes of the community...The ghoul-like creature

who stalks through the streets of London, stalking down his

victims like a Pawnee Indian, is simply drunk with blood,

and he will have more... (Sugden 118)

Earlier in the century, newspapers were blandly written and catered to the upper class. After the taxes on newspapers were repealed coupled with an improved educational system, the lower classes soon became targeted by the publishers who made newspapers both affordable and entertaining. Called the penny dailies, these newspapers were written expressively for the newly literate and combined sensationalized articles with lurid artwork. The murders in Whitechapel were perfect for this venue and the penny dailies experienced a boom. Often to scoop the other papers, stories would be invented about possible suspects and the populace devoured it (Begg 14).

The newspapers were effective in alerting the city as to what was happening in the East End, however. The people were equally repulsed and sympathetic to the conditions in Whitechapel and other areas. Although there was no official reward or bounty for the Whitechapel killer, donations were made to local vigilance committees for information leading to the capture of the murderer. Scotland Yard answered the public's demand for greater protection by increasing the number of footmen in the area. But as first days and then weeks passed from the time of Annie Chapman's death, the populace was lulled into a false sense of security. This would change following the events of September 30. After three weeks of relative peace the Whitechapel murderer would explode on to the scene again, and for the first time a name would be given to him.

At 1 am, that Sunday, the body of Elizabeth Stride was found by Louis Diemschutz. Then forty-four minutes later Patrolman Edward Watkins discovered the body of Catherine Eddowes (Sugden 168-176). Stride's cause of death was established as the result of a cut throat. There was no other mutilation which has led some to wonder if she was actually a Ripper victim, it just being a coincidence that her murderer would choose the same night as the Whitechapel Killer. The more common interpretation of the crime scene is that Jack was interrupted before he could mutilate Stride so he found a second victim three-quarters of a mile away (Sugden 174).

That Catherine Eddowes is a victim of Jack the Ripper has never been disputed. Her injuries were more severe than the other victims. Her face was heavily mutilated which hindered identification. The throat was opened, and cause of death was established as loss of blood from the pierced carotid artery (death being immediate and prior to any

mutilations). The abdominal cavity was opened and contents mutilated, with the left kidney being removed. There was also minor mutilation of the pelvic region and some missing reproductive organs (Fido 72-73).

Catherine Eddowes was actually injured in the jurisdiction of the City Police, but as Scotland Yard was actively investigating the crimes, they attempted a joint investigation. Any harmony would end at 2:55 am when Police Constable Alfred Long discovered the most disputed piece of evidence in the investigation. A bloodied piece of Catherine Eddowes' apron was found under a doorway on Goulston Street. Above the doorway, written in chalk on the wall, was graffiti that may or may not have been written by the Ripper, but was certainly suggestive. The City Police demanded that the Goulston Street Graffiti be photographed before it was destroyed, but Sir Charles Warren ordered it destroyed immediately. The graffiti read as follows:

The Juwes are

The men That

Will not

be Blamed

for nothing (Sugden 183)

Or at least that is how Scotland Yard remembered it. The City Police recorded it as : The Juwes are not The men That Will be Blamed for nothing (Begg et al. 157). "Juwes" was interpreted as meaning Jews. The officials were unsure whether or not the message intended to defend the Jewish population or to incriminate them but, because it would soon be seen by the populace, prompt action was taken. Sir Charles Warren later defended his actions, "What might have happened to the Jews in that quarter had that writing been left there would have been an onslaught upon the Jews, property would have been wrecked,

and lives would probably have been lost.." (Evans 90).

With the repeated newspaper reports of a dark, foreign man stalking through the streets and the general tension between the Jewish and Gentile population, the police were convinced that the surmounting would lead to riots. They were probably not far from the truth as several "suspicious" looking men had already fled there way from lynch mobs into police custody. Any calm that had spread over the city, evaporated with news of a double murder. The police were seen as ineffective and inefficient. Queen Victoria telephoned the Home Office and berated the police force in a telegram to the Prime Minister (Sugden 341-42). The citizens, both West Enders and East Enders, were appalled at the latest crime and demanded action.

The press jumped into action once again vilifying both the murderer and the detectives chasing him, while they detailed the tragic lives of Liz Stride and Catherine Eddowes. But for some reporters the double event was not enough. At this time the killer was known as the Whitechapel Murderer, but the Central Press Agency would receive a letter written in red ink, purporting to be the murderer. In this letter the killer detailed intimate knowledge of the crimes and taunted the authorities. "I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them," he wrote. He added with a flourish, "Yours truly Jack the Ripper" (Evans plate iii). Later the letter would be ascribed to two enterprising journalists in the press corps, but at the time it dominated the papers for the Ripper had finally spoken out.

In spite of all the criticism they faced, the police did as well as they could have. Efforts to use bloodhounds failed because the hounds could not track through the filth. There was no forensic techniques they could have employed. Even fingerprinting at that

time was still theoretical. What they could do, and what they did, was to continue stepping up forces. The amount of footpatrol doubled in the area. Perhaps this is what delayed the Ripper from making his final assault. It is generally assumed in serial killers that they are compulsed to commit their crimes. The depth of depravity in the crimes build until the killers lose touch with reality and err. Normally they are stopped by police or institutionalized by friends and family or even commit suicide, but it is improbable that they would end their spree of their own volition. The only reason experts have been able to ascribe to the length of time between the double event and his final crime is that either he was absent from the area or institutionalized/imprisoned.

The final recognized victim of Jack the Ripper was Mary Kelly. She went by any variation of Mary/Marie Jeanette/Kelly. She was found dead on the morning of the 9th of November. More than a month had passed since the double event, and if Jack felt frustrated by the increased surveillance it was demonstrated by the brutality of his final killing. Unlike the prostitutes before her, Mary Kelly had a permanent place of residence where she lived and entertained. It was small (10ft by 12ft) and had the bare essentials: a bed, a table, and a small fireplace. It was here that Jack the Ripper had for the first time no concern about strolling police constables or wandering neighbors. The extant of her injuries are such as cannot be described, for the Ripper had no time constraints and had been restrained for the longest period of his spree. What is significant is that it was his last murder.

Following the investigation, no new evidence was turned up. After five increasingly brutal crimes, the police were left with no official suspects although privately several

members had their own ideas. The East End would know little peace after that brutal fall. The sites of the murders became tourist attractions and the graveyards of the Ripper's victims became popular shrines. Conditions would improve slowly in the East End, even today it is the roughest part of London, but the quiet anonymity of the area would change. The newspaper accounts of the crimes had created awareness and sympathy for their situation ranging from the man on the street through the Queen of England. The Ripper's crimes had other less positive effects, though. In France and America, a string of similar prostitution slayings led people to speculate that the Ripper had escaped to another country. What actually became of Jack the Ripper is unknown. In the hundred plus years since those killings there have been hundreds of books written, two major periodicals, and many different movies all purporting to solve the crime. It remains, as of yet, unsolved.