Good Evening, My Name is Jack the Ripper

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Good evening. This is Crime Classics. I am Thomas Hyland with another true story of crime. Listen. A man walking along a cobbled street in Whitechapel. It's an April evening, and a pleasant one. A spring rain has just finished and the street lamps spread skins of light over the wetted pavements. Stroll nowhere in particular. Hanbury street is as good as any other. But look there. The young woman waiting. [00:00:37] Speaker B: Well, look who it is, won't you? If it ain't old saucy you hisself. Pleasant night, ain't it? Walk in, will you? I walk along with you. You won't mind. I like April, don't you? And the rain makes everything fresh and nice day, don't it? Oh, now, there's a pretty garden, ain't it? Flowers already. [00:01:20] Speaker A: Tonight, my report to you on Good evening. My name is Jack the Ripper. [00:01:30] Speaker C: Crime Classics. A series of true crime stories taken from the records and newspapers of every land, from every time. Your Host each week, Mr. Thomas Hyland, connoisseur of crime, student of violence and teller of murders. Now, once again, Mr. Thomas Hyland. [00:02:08] Speaker A: The year was 1888, and the place was London. The first murder had taken place on April 3rd and was not reported in the London Times. The woman's name was Emma Elizabeth Smith, and she had blonde hair. [00:02:22] Speaker D: I have blonde hair, too. [00:02:25] Speaker A: The second murder took place not far from the first near the Groveyard Buildings in Whitechapel. The woman's name was Martha Tabram. And the police noted that she died exactly the same way as Emma Elizabeth Smith. Horribly by knife. To be noted. Martha had blonde hair, too, and her eyes were dark. [00:02:45] Speaker D: My eyes are dark, too, and I have blonde hair. [00:02:49] Speaker A: Third murder, August 31st. Buck's Row, also in Whitechapel. Horribly by knife. Dyed. Anne Nichols, to be noted. Anne had blonde hair and her eyes were dark. And there was a gaiety about her. [00:03:07] Speaker D: I have dark eyes and my hair is blonde. My name is Mary Jane Kelly. [00:03:16] Speaker E: And you want a room, dearie? Yes. [00:03:18] Speaker D: Yes, I do. [00:03:19] Speaker E: You come with me, then. Pretty room for a pretty girl. Where are you from, dearie? [00:03:27] Speaker D: Well, I was born in Limerick and 16 when I went to Wales. [00:03:31] Speaker E: Now you've come to London. [00:03:32] Speaker D: I've been to Paris. [00:03:33] Speaker E: And now you've come to London? What for? [00:03:36] Speaker D: I've been all over. [00:03:38] Speaker E: And how many places? The police looking for you, dearie. [00:03:41] Speaker D: Whatever do you say? [00:03:44] Speaker E: Pretty like you. And a room like this. [00:03:47] Speaker D: Oh, I don't mind. Is there a way to come through? [00:03:50] Speaker E: Through the back? [00:03:51] Speaker D: Oh, this will do. Nice. [00:04:05] Speaker A: The neighborhood in which Mary Jane Kelly found a room may be best described as a slum, a rows of poor lodging houses dedicated to the proposition that it is more difficult to find a criminal in a swarm. Mary's room number, oddly enough, was 13. [00:04:21] Speaker D: I never was a superstitious kind. Just to have fun, that's all I like. Live and have fun. [00:04:28] Speaker A: The room itself was a straw mattress and a chair to fling one's clothes over. Now, at this instant, this precise time when Mary Jane Kelly entered her room three blocks away on Hanbury street, you remember a man walking along a cobbled street. April evening, after rain, stroll. But look there. [00:05:05] Speaker B: Well, look who it is, won't you? [00:05:07] Speaker A: Said the young woman who was waiting, whose name was Annie Chapman. [00:05:10] Speaker B: If it ain't old saucy, you hisself. Pleasant night, ain't it? Walking where you. I'll walk along with you. You won't mind. I like April, don't you? And the rain makes everything fresh and nice, don't it? Oh, now, there's a pretty garden, ain't it? Flowers already. [00:06:03] Speaker E: Diddy? Yes, I got a new rumor today. [00:06:06] Speaker D: Oh, that's nice. [00:06:07] Speaker E: A sailor boy. [00:06:08] Speaker D: That's nice. [00:06:09] Speaker E: With cheeks rosy from the sea. [00:06:11] Speaker D: Oh, that's nice. [00:06:12] Speaker E: And he asked me today, what's a sailor to do in Whitechapel for a little fun? What kind of fun, I asked. And he says, for a chap like me. And I gave him a wink and a push with my elbow, and he says, no, lady, no, that's not what I'm talking of. A good girl. A nice girl I'd like to meet. Oh, and he wears an earring in his ear. And he comes from the West Indies, he says. And he comes to live here with a sea chest. I put him in room 12. [00:06:43] Speaker D: Why, that's just across the hall from me. [00:06:46] Speaker E: Oh, yes, I peeked in a minute ago, and the lad's having a sleep. Not more than 17, he is. Rosy cheeks. He keeps his sea chest under his bed. [00:07:03] Speaker D: It. [00:07:28] Speaker E: Well, dearie, the chest is locked. Oh, ain't that a shame? Oh, my. Another. [00:07:37] Speaker D: Another what? [00:07:38] Speaker E: Murder. [00:07:39] Speaker D: Who? [00:07:40] Speaker E: Her name was Anne Chapman, the paper say. Eh? [00:07:43] Speaker D: Did you know her? [00:07:45] Speaker E: She was in these parts for some time. I know her by whatever name. [00:07:49] Speaker D: Read me more. What? [00:07:50] Speaker E: It says her throat was cut. Oh, she was lying close up against the wall and her eyes staring ahead. Says here. [00:07:59] Speaker D: What else? [00:08:00] Speaker E: And her rings were torn from her fingers. Oh, but laid out real neat alongside her. [00:08:06] Speaker D: Horrid. [00:08:07] Speaker E: And it says here the man that did in Ann Chapman did in the other three same Way of killing, it says here. [00:08:16] Speaker D: What kind of man would do killings like that? [00:08:19] Speaker E: That kind of man that did it. There's all kinds. You should know. [00:08:24] Speaker D: What else it say? [00:08:25] Speaker E: It says they've named him. Oh, They've named him the Ripper. [00:08:46] Speaker D: Oh, Robbie's a nice name. [00:08:48] Speaker F: I'm glad you like it. [00:08:50] Speaker D: A sweet and innocent name. [00:08:52] Speaker F: Thank you. Why are you laughing? [00:08:55] Speaker D: Oh, here you sail the sea. Seven seas. And look where we walk. To the Thames River. Why, I should imagine you a sailor and come home from a long voyage. You wouldn't want to come so near to water again. [00:09:07] Speaker F: I'd walk with you wherever. Oh, now I would too. [00:09:10] Speaker D: Tell me a thing, Robbie. [00:09:12] Speaker F: Oh, I want to. [00:09:13] Speaker D: Where you come from and what's your home from? [00:09:15] Speaker F: Boston. [00:09:16] Speaker D: Oh, such a lad to be so far away. [00:09:19] Speaker F: I'm 17, and all my life I've been wanting to sail. [00:09:22] Speaker D: Hey, let's sit here. Robbie. [00:09:24] Speaker F: Hi. It's truly remarkable. [00:09:28] Speaker D: What is? [00:09:29] Speaker F: An affair. Lady like you should be sitting next to me. [00:09:32] Speaker D: I like you, Robbie. Robbie. [00:09:36] Speaker F: Yes? [00:09:37] Speaker D: How did you come to Whitechapel? [00:09:39] Speaker F: Oh, it's where the cheapy rooms are. [00:09:42] Speaker D: Don't you have no money? [00:09:44] Speaker F: Not what you'd call money. [00:09:46] Speaker D: I don't understand you. [00:09:48] Speaker F: Well, things I bought in the Indies with money. Oh, a pearl or two and some other stones and coral. Things you ought to see. I've got my sea chest filled with all. But I'd like to. [00:09:57] Speaker D: You shouldn't say, Robbie. You shouldn't trust nobody. For there's thieves and thieves and thieves come along fast as you would never think. And take your key to your sea chest right from. From wherever. [00:10:11] Speaker F: Oh, they wouldn't do that. There's thieves and thieves and thieves. But they couldn't rob my key from me because I got it right here. [00:10:18] Speaker D: Oh, kiss me, Robbie. [00:10:19] Speaker E: What? [00:10:20] Speaker D: Kiss me. [00:10:22] Speaker F: Yes. Oh, Mary, you're so wonderful. [00:10:27] Speaker A: As she was lifting his key from wherever. Now, at this instant, at this precise time, when Mary Jane Kelly was kissing an apprentice seaman and making a sailor out of him. Up from the London docks and north, a mile away, Whitechapel. This was happening at midnight on Berner Street. [00:10:59] Speaker G: O where do you go, laddie? O where do you go, sweet lad, sweet lady when you go away from me. [00:11:13] Speaker A: Elizabeth Stride. Blonde hair, dark eyes, a melancholy kind of gaiety. [00:11:20] Speaker G: You want to hear another verse, lovey? [00:11:22] Speaker A: She said to the man she's met a little while ago. [00:11:25] Speaker G: Do you go to Dover? Do you go to Dee. Sweet land, sweet land when you go away from. [00:12:31] Speaker C: You are listening to crime classics and your Host Thomas Hyland. A network already famous for reliable and frequent news coverage. CBS Radio adds an even dozen new newscasts to its schedule. Starting this coming Saturday. Hear Alan Jackson with the news. Three new roundups in your Saturday daytime schedule. Listen for Robert Trout with four new strategically spaced Sunday roundups. And listen Monday through Friday nights for reports by Robert Trout too. On most of these same stations. 12 new broadcasts of news starting this Saturday. Add to CBS Radio's already wide margin for top reporting first. And now once again, Thomas Hyland and the second act of Crime Classics and his report to you on. Good evening. My name is Jack the Ripper. [00:13:29] Speaker A: With regards the murders in Whitechapel. The coroner had this to say, and I quote. I am afraid there will be more murders just like these four. These women were slain by a man who knows considerable about anatomy. That being the case, a madman is probably at large. Unquote. If this sounds like a non sequitur to you, it sounds like one to me too. My guess is that the coroner was shaky about the whole thing. Certainly all of London was. And the morning after the Night of the Knife and Elizabeth Stride, the conversations in Miller's Court went something like this. [00:14:04] Speaker E: Elizabeth Stride. I can't believe it. [00:14:08] Speaker D: Did you know her? [00:14:09] Speaker E: No. Know her? Know her, she asks me. [00:14:13] Speaker D: How will she worked. [00:14:15] Speaker E: For. [00:14:16] Speaker D: Worked for you? [00:14:17] Speaker E: Well, you can call it that if you have to. She helped me to pay for her lodgings. Moved away only last month, she did. What was she like, Blondie? She was yellow hair. [00:14:29] Speaker D: I have yellow hair. [00:14:31] Speaker E: Oh, no. So yellow was yours. And she had dark eyes. [00:14:34] Speaker D: My eyes are dark too. [00:14:36] Speaker E: Oh. Less brown than yours, hers was. Oh, she was a laugher, she was. Why are you laughing? [00:14:44] Speaker D: Look at the skin on my arm now. Chilled and for no reason. Martha. [00:14:50] Speaker E: What, dearie? [00:14:51] Speaker D: I'm silly to fright, but those four of them. Blond hair. [00:14:56] Speaker E: You're silly to fright. None so pretty as you. Nor as young. Tell me, what Was there truly a pearl in the sailor's sea chest? [00:15:05] Speaker A: Ah. [00:15:05] Speaker D: Was letters from his mother in Boston. Nothing else? [00:15:10] Speaker E: Oh, you mean Fox Diddy? Sweet and innocent he was. And rosy cheeked. And now he's off to sea again. [00:15:20] Speaker H: Good morning, ladies. I said good morning to you. [00:15:24] Speaker E: I'm running respectable lodgings office and there's no reason why you should be coming in here. No. [00:15:29] Speaker H: Marthy. Marthy, love, keep your shirt on. Well, who's this pretty one with you? Marthy? Who's she? [00:15:37] Speaker E: Pincha cheek and get done with it. Officer, tell us what you're doing here. [00:15:42] Speaker H: Pretty, pretty. What's your name Mary? [00:15:45] Speaker D: Mary Jane Kelly. [00:15:46] Speaker H: Mary Jane Kelly. Ain't you afraid, Mary? [00:15:50] Speaker D: Afraid of what? [00:15:51] Speaker H: Why, of Jack the Ripper, sir. Yes, Mary. [00:15:55] Speaker D: Truly. Is there such a one? [00:15:57] Speaker H: As surely as I'm standing here. A monster of some sort. [00:16:00] Speaker E: Well, he ain't here, so skedaddle. [00:16:02] Speaker H: He's written on the wall that he's going to kill 16 more afore he's done. [00:16:08] Speaker A: Girl. [00:16:08] Speaker H: Officer Thicks about. Pretty, that's me. So don't you fright. [00:16:11] Speaker E: What do you want here? You ain't told us that. [00:16:15] Speaker H: Questions of what? I'm told that the girl that met the Ripper last night, Elizabeth Stride, she was. I'm told she lived here. I'm told she worked here. And I thought maybe you could answer me then if she had a man friend special, that is. [00:16:32] Speaker E: Elizabeth. Betty. Men. Oh, no, not Elizabeth. Not Betty. Oh, no. [00:16:40] Speaker H: You're sure now? [00:16:41] Speaker E: I'd swear on my dear Aunt Anna's grave. [00:16:43] Speaker H: Then what of you, pretty? [00:16:44] Speaker D: Oh, I'm new to London, sir. [00:16:46] Speaker H: Oh, now, don't you let this Ripper fella fright you. [00:16:49] Speaker D: No, sir, not with you about. [00:16:51] Speaker H: That's my girl. That's my girl. All right, ain't you? Ain't you? [00:16:56] Speaker D: Yes, sir. [00:16:57] Speaker H: There. [00:17:08] Speaker E: Mary. [00:17:10] Speaker D: Mary, what is it? [00:17:11] Speaker E: Open up, quick. Mary. Oh, Mary. [00:17:15] Speaker D: Whatever's the matter? [00:17:16] Speaker E: Come quick. Come with me, quick. [00:17:17] Speaker D: Where to? [00:17:18] Speaker E: He's got his door open a little bit and he's sitting there. And I want you to take a look at him. [00:17:22] Speaker B: Who? [00:17:22] Speaker D: Who are you talking to? [00:17:23] Speaker E: The new rumor. He just arrived. [00:17:26] Speaker D: Oh, no. [00:17:26] Speaker E: Come take a look. Quiet now we'll take a peek at him. Oh, handsome man as he sits there and reads his book. Quiet now. [00:17:37] Speaker D: See him? [00:17:38] Speaker E: See him. [00:17:39] Speaker D: Oh, my. [00:17:40] Speaker E: Now, quickly, before he gets up and sees us. Gets us away from here. Oh, he is handsome, isn't he? [00:17:50] Speaker D: I suppose. [00:17:52] Speaker E: You suppose? Handsomer than any about here, I suppose. [00:17:57] Speaker D: Lessen you love somebody, then they're handsomer than anything. Love somebody like I love Officer Thomas Thick. Love him with all my heart and soul. Well, now. [00:18:12] Speaker E: Well. [00:18:12] Speaker D: Well, now, with all my heart and soul. [00:18:16] Speaker E: Couldn't you go talk to my new roomer a bit, for old times sake? Welcome him, so to speak. He seems like a lonely man. No, no. [00:18:29] Speaker D: I'm to meet Officer Thicke in a sec. [00:18:32] Speaker E: Truly? [00:18:33] Speaker D: Truly. You need money, Thomas Thicke. Now you got the money. Oh, just because you're a police officer, you don't have to be proud. Besides, I love you true. [00:19:06] Speaker H: Oh, you're a girl, Mary. You're truly a girl. [00:19:09] Speaker D: Ah, don't you be Proud? Let me be proud of you. [00:19:12] Speaker H: Come, I'll walk with you. [00:19:14] Speaker E: What? [00:19:15] Speaker H: Wait here. [00:19:27] Speaker D: What is it, Thomas? What was it? [00:19:29] Speaker H: That drunken. She screamed a trick. She playing a trick like the Ripper was at her. She saw me walking with you in it. That drunkard. [00:19:37] Speaker D: Oh, I don't. Don't say nothing too bad against her. Everybody lives here in these alleys. You forget what's funny and what's not funny. [00:19:45] Speaker H: Now, you're a dear girl. Come, I'll walk you home. [00:19:47] Speaker D: You best leave me here, Thomas. I can walk the half of the block. Besides. [00:19:52] Speaker H: Besides what? [00:19:53] Speaker D: They laugh at me. The other ones at Martha's, that I'm walking with an officer. They say that's awful funny. [00:20:00] Speaker H: Well, I'll not let you walk alone. Not these times with Jack and his knife about. [00:20:04] Speaker D: He ain't done that thing he does for weeks now, so don't you worry. Here, give us a kiss, Thomas, and look for me tomorrow. [00:20:12] Speaker H: I wish you'd let me walk with you. [00:20:14] Speaker D: Ah, just give us a kiss. Now, look for me tomorrow. Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I didn't see you. Well, you're the new roomer, ain't you? There at Martha's, ain't you? Well, good night. [00:20:59] Speaker B: I'm laughing, sir, because I'm happy. And when I'm happy, I'm a girl to know. Oh, I don't know you, sir, but you appear to me a gentleman of uncommon worth. So if I say to you. Let's find a pub. [00:21:19] Speaker E: Oh. [00:21:50] Speaker A: Murder. Murder most foul. The sixth, Catherine Eddowes, found in a footpath in Mitre Square, lying on her back, head inclined to the left side. Her throat had been cut. Other lacerations indicated great anatomical skill by the killer. Jack the Ripper had slain his sixth victim, and London was washed again against the heights of terror. A hysteria took hold. Fingers were pointed and Jack the Ripper shouted. And innocent men would be stoned. And Whitechapel was caught up in an orgy of self guilt. [00:22:23] Speaker E: It's a fiend from hell that's loose among us, Martha, and judgment day's closing down on us. [00:22:28] Speaker D: I can't find him. [00:22:29] Speaker E: And the night of witches and beasties is nigh. Maybe even this very night. [00:22:32] Speaker D: I've looked all over and I can't find him. [00:22:35] Speaker E: What are you babbling? Why are you standing there babbling, Thomas? [00:22:39] Speaker D: Thick. He's no longer in Whitechapel. [00:22:41] Speaker E: What do you mean? [00:22:42] Speaker D: He was seen going about with me, and they took him from Whitechapel to another place, and I can't find him. [00:22:48] Speaker E: Oh, Dearie. Oh, dearie. That's not so bad, is it? But I loved him and gave him your money. [00:22:57] Speaker D: What of it? [00:22:57] Speaker E: And he took it. Mary. [00:23:00] Speaker D: What? [00:23:01] Speaker E: The new room. Oh, a gentleman. Now there's one for you. See how he stands outside there on the stoop? The way he smokes a cigar. A true gentleman. [00:23:13] Speaker D: Oh, what of it? [00:23:15] Speaker E: He's lonely. [00:23:16] Speaker D: What of it? [00:23:17] Speaker E: Can't you tell he's lonely? [00:23:19] Speaker D: Why should I care? [00:23:20] Speaker E: And you're lonely too. [00:23:22] Speaker D: Yes, I am. [00:23:23] Speaker E: Then go to him. Talk to him. He's looked at you. I know he has. [00:23:30] Speaker D: Such a handsome one. [00:23:32] Speaker E: And he's looked at you. [00:23:34] Speaker D: Oh, has he now? [00:23:35] Speaker E: I swear on my Aunt Anna's grave. [00:23:37] Speaker D: Has he now? Does my hair look all right? [00:23:42] Speaker E: Softy gold. Truly, Truly. And your eyes, so dancing dark. Enjoy. Diddy. [00:24:01] Speaker D: Hello. Isn't it a lovely night? So warm for November spring. Really, I love walking. Oh, not so quickly, please. You take such long steps. I'm chilly. It's not warm at all. Lets go back to my room. I'll fetch a coat or whatever. I must tell you, Martha said a thing. You know Martha. She said you were looking at me. Oh, no, no. If we go down the alley here, we can go in the back way. Well, I'll tell you. I've been looking at you. Right down there. I've put some pictures up on my wall. Ah, you'll like them. I know. Ah, right in here. Thank you. Now I'll just light the lamp. Oh, would you like it? [00:25:45] Speaker A: The seventh, the last, the greatest unsolved crime in history. The year was 1888 and it's generally considered that Jack the Ripper was a very young man. And it's thought that he ran away to America. So that spry old gentleman over there carving so deftly the roast, spooning out the kidney pie, or that one there whittling. Or the one there, silver haired, a fine surgeon by day. Well, I'm just pointing out the possibility, that's all. [00:26:50] Speaker C: In just a moment. Thomas Hyland, Jack the Ripper. Tonight's crime classic was adapted from the original newspaper accounts by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. The music was composed and conducted by Bernard Herman and the program is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis. Thomas Hyland is portrayed on radio by Lou Merrill. In tonight's story, Betty Harford was heard as Mary and D.J. thompson as Martha. Featured in the cast were Irene, Ted Row, Ben Wright, Paula Winslow, James McCallion and Richard Peel. Roy Rowan speaking. And here again is Thomas Hyland, ladies and gentlemen. [00:27:23] Speaker A: On Tuesday next I begin a world cruise, during which time I will re establish my friendships with antiquarians, historians and police officers throughout the world. This commitment makes it necessary for me to conclude this present series of crime classics. Effective with this broadcast. I hope to return in time to resume the series in the fall. Thank you and good night. [00:27:46] Speaker C: Everybody has at least one day in a lifetime like. Well, like. You're going to hear about tomorrow night when CBS Radio presents Kathy and Elliot Lewis on stage. Hollywood's acting Lewis's star in a most unusual original story titled Some days it just doesn't pay. And we think you'll find it delightful listening for a summer Thursday night. Try it and see tomorrow night on most of these same stations. Kathy and Elliot Lewis on stage. It's light entertainment, the Peter Lynd Hayes Show, Monday through Friday evenings on the CBS Radio Network. [00:28:25] Speaker D: SA.