News of the London murders reached East Hampton quickly, if in the tersest form, in 1888. These were the gruesome attacks by Jack the Ripper, a serial killer who killed at least five women and was never found and so named by the British press. His first victim, Mary Ann Nichols, was found with her throat cut and multiple stab wounds on the last day of August.
On Sept. 4, 1888, following a third murder attributed to the assailant, a New York Times correspondent cabled a report. “It is nothing less than a midnight murderer, whose step is noiseless, whose strike is deadly, and whose cunning is so great that he leaves no clue to his identity.”
“He has just slaughtered his third victim, and all the women in Whitechapel are terrified, while the stupidest detectives in the civilized world stand aghast and say they have no clue.” Whether or not Nichols was the third was never clear; there were plenty of other killings in the downtrodden parts of London in those times. Officially, Nichols would be the first of five who were said to have died at his hand.
On Oct. 1, 1888, The Sun, published in Brooklyn, reported, “The police know nothing and seek to make up for their stupidity as detectives by a deep and mysterious silence, which is meant to be, but is not, indicative of wisdom.”
The East Hampton Star printed a short “Current Events Abroad” on Oct. 6: “London is excited over two more Whitechapel murders. The victims, as usual, are women not of the best character.” These were Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes.
On the 20th of the month, The Star noted, “Bloodhounds are being trained to catch the Whitechapel murderer.”
By today’s standards, the paucity of news here about the Whitechapel murders might be surprising. But the infrequent updates in the papers need to be understood amid the carnage of the era. Week in, week out, The Star’s front page was filled with murders, shipwrecks, floods, men dragged to their deaths by horses, and all manner of disasters from around the world.
On Dec. 29, 1888, The Star printed that “Another dissolute woman has been murdered in the East End, London.” If this was about the unfortunate Mary Jane Kelly, who was believed to have been the Ripper’s final victim, the report did not say.