News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1882-11-02
A STARTLING ROMANCE.
STABBING AT INNOCENT VICTIMS IN
THE STREETS.

sTABBING AT INNOCENT VICTIMS In
THE STREETS.
The Story of the 'saIonster" who Created
Such Complete Panic III the
CITY of London
To find anything approaching paral-
lei to Dubourque's savage conduct, says
the New York World, referring to the
crazy Frenchman who ran amuck on
Fourteenth street, iniuring number
of women, we must go back nearly
century, in the history not of New York
but of London, to the case, which IN
some points but in some points only re-
sembles it, of Renwick Williams, known
in tradition as "The Monster, who to-
ward the close of the last century kept
the British metropolis for nearly two
months in a state of panic. Early In
May, 1870, respectable woman walk
ing in conspicuous street of London
about dusk was suddenly assailed by
man whom she had never seen before,
but who rushed upon her with an open
knife in his hand, pouring out volley
of abuse, and, after striking her once or
twice with the knife and infiictlng
serious wounds, fed away swiftly and
disappeared. On the next evening
similar attacks were made upon two
other women, and from that time forth
during the rest of the spring and early
summer being the height of the Lon
don season-these outrages occurred al
most nightly. The women attacked
were always persons of respectable APP
pearance and quiet demeanor, strangers
to their assailant, and as they were in
most cases too much startled and
alarmed to describe him accurately, it
seemed for ti.ae likely that the villain
would go uET5ansshed, and general
trepidatioa refined among the house
holders of London.
On the night of the Queens birth
day, May 10, 1870, Ann Porter, the
daughter of hotel proprietor in st.
James's street, wss coming home with
her sister Sarah and a friend, Mrs.
Mel, about II o'clock, from watching
the parade of the coaches and the ar
rival of the fine ladies at st. James's
Palace, where birthday ball was going
on. They saw a man walking before
them. A group of chairmen coming
along at that moment and obstructing
the street, this man turned upon Sarah
Porter and crying out "Ho, no II struck
her violent blow upon the head. As
he did so Sarah recognized him as man
who had four times before accosted her
upon the street, each time using the
most violent language. Two other sis
tiers of hers, Martha and Rebecca, had
been treated by him in the same way.
As soon as she was struck, therefore,
Sarah called ont, "The Wretch, the
Wretch p this being the name by
which the sisters had spoken of the man
among themselves, and set off rapidly
for home with Mrs. Mel. Ann Porter
did not understand clearly what had
happened, but followed the others
swiftly and reached the bottom step OF
her fathers doorway as the others, at
the top of the steps, were knocking for
admission.
At that instant man came up face to
face with her and struck her a violent
blow with knife on the hip. She wore
the long stays of that period, but for
,-l,oI, che WOULD ,1rooo hJr bova hoa,,
killed, her dress and her underclothing
having been cut through for the length
of about eighteen inches. AS it was,
she fell from the violence of the blow,
and when taken into tie house was
found to have received a wound some
ten inches long and four inches deep
Ann Porter too recognized the man, hav
ing on several previous occasions been
insulted by him as her sisters had been.
- IT, -. 40, =. SoI... c,e,Iaroa,
of Berkeley square, who took the case
up theoretically. About week after
the attack upon Ann Porter I" the mon
ster" was seen just before dusk passing
through st. James's street. Coleman
and others set out in pursuit of him,
but in the confusion arrested an inno-
cent person and he escaped. About the
middle of June two of the Porter sisters
were walking with Mr.. Coleman in st.
James's Park when "The Monster"
came in sight. He turned and walked
rapidly away. Mr.. Coleman followed
him through several streets, and, hav-
ing learned q lesson from the first mis-
taken arrest, endeavored by walking
past him, looking him full in the face
and otherwise affronting him, to provoke
an alteration.
This Renwick Williams, for he it was,
attempted to avoid. He knocked and
rang at the doors of several unoccupied
houses, but the pertinacious Mr.. Cole
man was not to be shaken off till he had
finally run him to earth in the house of
a certain Mr.. Smith, where he went in.
Mr.. Coleman went up the steps and
entered the house with him, demanding
his address and giving as his reason for
his conduct that Williams had insulted
some ladies whom he knew. After they
had separated it occurred to the me-
thodical and punctilious MIR. Coleman
hat ne had done wrong in letting his
man go, so he pursued him once more,
overlook him and insisted that Williams
should go with him to the residence of
the Porters. After making several OBJ
jections that the hour was late and so
on, Williams went with him and him
self led the way to the house, saying:
"This is Miss Porter's." Miss Ann
Porter tainted on seeing him, but he
showed no agitation and merely said
that ''her behavior was very odd" He
was then and there arrested. AT his
lodgings in Bury street was found IA
nous 'light-colored drab coat" which
had figured in every description of ''rhe
Monster.
Williams when brought to trial at the
Old Bailey ON the 9Th of July for cutting
the clothes of Miss Porter denied the
charge "and protested himself the
warm friend and admirer of that sex
whose cause was now asserted, and con-
cluded with solemnly declaring that the
whole Of the prosecution was founded
in dreadful mistake" No fewer than
fourteen witnesses to his character were
called, "some of whom were very hand
some women" All of them gave him