The Express.
London, England, 1864-12-03 00:00:00

THE WLTtRLOO•BRIDOE MYSTERY.

Seven years have elapsed since a startling an-
nouncement was made that • horrible murder had been
committed in London. and that as attempt had been made
to conceal it under circumstances of aa unusual character.
It was said that some boys who were out in • boat on the
Thames had found on out of the abutments on the western
aide of Waterloo-bridge • bag, which oontaind the boom
of a human body, with • suit of clothes, which whoa
examined led to the conclusion that a man moving in •
respectable sphere of life had been barbarously murdered,
his body roughly hewn to pieces by unprofessional hands,
and the bag containing the bones let down over the parapet
of the bridge, with the intention that they should sulk in
the river and be no more heard of. The bag, instead of
falling into the water, rested upon the abutment, and was so
found by the boys, who handed it over to the police.
Various rumours were in circulation at the time in reference
to persons who had been seen on the bridge, and who were
sospectei of having dropped the bag, but nothiotzt
elusive was ascertained, and the matter at
subsided, although the most diligent. inquiries had
been made by the police. Last August the subject was vs
rived by • letter which was published in some of the papers
from Mr. Irwin, of Dublin, who pre the initial letters of
the tames of tour persons who ha imagined were impli-
cated in the matter, three of them being suspected of
making away with the fourth, who had mysteriously dis-
appeared, wider airsumataane which be very fully and
somewhat plausibly detailed. Application was made to
the authorities at Scotland-yard that the bag in which the
boors had been deposited, and the clothing, might be sent
to Victoria (Australia), in order that the wife of the missing
man might see them, with • view, if poesible, to their iden-
tification as the property of her husband. That request,
however, could not be complied with la the fuse of stringent
police regulations. It was also considered that the deserip.
lion would be sufficient to sieve present purposes, and that
if the articles were identified the detective caws might
be instructed to bring over any persons whose evidence
they might suppose would tend to further more detailed
inquiries. To make the matter perfectly clear, it may
be mentioned that Mr. Irwin, in his letter, expressed his
conviction that the supposed victim was a roan earned R—,
who had gone out from England to Australia some time
prior to the occurrence, and had amassed • large sum of
money. He left his wife and child is Australia and came
I back to England, bringing with him securities of the value
of 1,4001., for which he received the money. At that time
he was living in the house of one W—, is • street leading
out of the Strand, not far from Widerloo-bridge. B—
remained there • short time, sad all at ones disappeared,
and this was about the date of the dad* of the beg of
bones and clothes. Mr. Irwin's letter also referred to par-
tics with the initial " 8." and " N." ea having had some-
thing to do with the monetary traosactions of B . The
circumstantial character of Mr. Irwin's allegations necessi-
tated in the minds of the authorities at Soot-
land-yard further sod minute inquiries in the di-
rectioe pointed out, and the matter was entrusted for
investigation to one of the most experiesoed officers of the
detective force. Theofficer ascertained is the first place that
just antecedent to the time of the discovery, a man named
Woolfe lived at IS, Arundel-street, Strand, which was then
• private hotel, and about that time • woos of the name
of Ratcliffe came there to en him. It*teliffe remained at
the hotel as • resident for • few dam sod while there
Woolf. took the house No. 30 is the Mine street. During
this period of their acquaintanceship, Ratcliffe told Woolf,
that he bad some Tasmanian debenture bonds, upon
which be was to naive the interest in the City,
and that he triad to turn the bonds into money.
It appears that Woolf, himself did not want to
buy them, but he introduced Ratcliffe to a man of
the name of Sisson, who was understood to be a dealer
in securities and bills ; but he did not require them, and he
in his turn introduced Radcliffe to ace Nathan, who pur-
chased thebonds, payiag theamountin Bankof Eogland DOW,
to Ratcliffe, whoost immediately afterwardadisappeared,
no one knowing what bad become of him. Three months
later, however, as the detective officer has snare ascertained.
Ratcliffe opened an account with the Commercial Banking
Company at Liverpool, and deposited • considerable sum of
money, doubtless the produce of the sale of the bonds, and
after • short interval he withdrew his balance, for the pur-
pose as he stated of going to America. From that day to
the present nothing further is known of him. The identity
of the man Ratcliffe, who lived with Woolfe io Arundel-
street and who was imagined by Mr. Irwin to be the victim
of the Waterloo-bridge tragedy, with the man Ratcliffe
who three months Otani-aide was at Liverpool. was proved
by • comparison of the signature on the Tasmanian bends
with that on the books of the Commercial Banking Com-
pany. It has also been ascertained that Woolfe, having
left England for Australia, died in that colony about three
years since. The result of this investigation entirely puts
an sod to the grave suspicion which Mr. Irwin's letter not
unnaturally raised, and leaves still undiscovered the per-
petrators of • supposed crime which at the time created •
profound sensation is the public mind.

THE CATASTIOPHS IN GLASGOW HAISOLIL—
Any hope that the dreadful calamity we recorded yesterday
bad been to some exteet exaggerated was quesebed by the
events of the day, the fatality assuming even larger propos.
tacos. Not sixteen, se was stated, but nineteen lives are
now to • certainty known to have been lost—all men, young
or is the prime of life, who leave behind them in some cases
large families, and many sorrowing relatives. The scene at
Clyde-street ferry was front early dews of yesterday on.
of palatal interest. During the night, limes of people,
either alert through anxiety for a miming friend, or from
morbid curiosity. gathered about the quays on each side of
the river near the ferry, and invaded the Clyde Polite-office
with eager questions regardiog the accident. The officials
there could of course give no information that could allay
the suspense of the inquirers, no search for the bodies
having been made during the night, and none of the sur-
vivors being able to tell who their fellow paseengen were,
or what bad become of them. Captain H•Farlene, who
during the night until monde; was kept baey with the bri.
einem that thronged in upon him, bed given irtrnetioss to
Mr. Geddes, of the Humane Society, to proceed early in
the morning with the march for the bodies, of which seven.
tees had bees recovered up to last (Thursday) night.—
North British Mail.

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