Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1892-01-18
JACK THE SLASHER"
Caught in the Act of
Cutting a Man.
DEATH TO ALL DUTCHMEN
He Admits Having Cut the Throats OF
Dozen Persons.

NEW YQgK, Jan. ls.-The mysterious
parsonage Known TO the police Of this city
rs Jack the Slasher" was arrested at 23O
yesterday morning. The police have been
agitated since Dec 90 over series of
peculiar assaults, five having occurred up
to date, and at least one resulting fatally
The victims have, without exception, been
under the influence Of liquor, walking or
staggering along the street, when some
one has noiselessly approached from be-
hind and slashed their throats with a
razor. making his escape before being
identified. One Of the supposed victims
Of the slasher was Lawyer James Carson
Of Baltimore, whose dead body was found
on Chrystie street Friday morning with
the throat cut
Early yesterday morning Detective
Masterson Of the Oak street precinct, in
which most Of the assaults have been
committed, was standing at New Bowery
and Roosevelt street, when roughly
dressed man approached close to him and
stared into his face. The action aroused
the officers suspicious and he determined
to shadow the man. The stranger led the
officer q tortuous trip up and down the
streets of the East side till finally n
drunken man came along. The stranger
accosted the inebriate and the two walked
together a short distance. Then the
stranger fell behind The drunken man
had proceeded twenty feet in advance
when the stranger suddenly flashed some
giittering object from his pocket and
Sprang Like Tiger
upon the other. The latter fell and in an
instant the detective was Mt his side. The
stranger fed with the officer in hot pur-
suit. Two patrolmen Joined in the chase
and the fugitive was quickly overhauled
and taken to the Oak street station. A
blood-stained razor was found i'm the
pocket of his coat.
The victim, whose throat was seriously,
though not fatally slashed, was also taken
to the station. He said he was William
Miller of 326 Cherry street lie had been
drinking heavily and was going homeward
when accosted by his assailant The lat
ter, q well-formed, middle-aged man of
medium height. with dark blue, restless
eyes. gave his name as Henry G.. Dowd Of
"a New Chambers street. He denied hav-
ing assaulted the man, although hc told
the officer when arrested that he acted in
self-defense. He subsequently denied hav-
ing told the officers this. a force of detec-
tives was sent out to investigate several
clues and enough was learned to prove
conclusively that Dowd and "Jack the
Slasher'
Were One and the Same.
It is also hinted it will be showl that &c
is identical with Jack the Ripper" and
that he murdered the old prostitute, Annie
Brown, known rs "Shakespere' for the
killing of whom the poor Algerian,
'Frenchy," is serving life sentence.
Dowd was born in Liverpool a. years
ago. He came to this country while an in
fant His father was one of the original
Central park engineers. Samuel n. Hoyt
Of Brooklyn is his uncle. DUwd has been
adjudged insane, and was at one time an
inmate Of the Flatbush insane asylum.
He has seemed to have a mania for slash
ing people, and served two years of five
years sentence for cutting man, but was
pardoned through the influence ofwealthy
relatives, upon whose bounty he has since
subsisted. He has a brother, James j.
Dowd, who is now in custody as n relig
ious crank, and another brother, William
ID. Dowd, who Is fancy goods merchant
in Boston. To the latter, as well as to the
Hoyts, Dowd has been a source Of annoy
ance tor long time. They have pad his
board at lodging house here.
hospital but Miller said he was so drunk
at the time Of the assault that he could
not identify Dowd.
Another OF tho siashcr's Victims
IL John Clark of Elizabeth, " j. lie also
Is In the hospital, and yesterday Dowd
was taken to Clark's ward. Clark ut once
said, "There's the man that tried to muir
der me-" and became greatly excited
Clark's Identification is regarded as com
plete.
Dowd admitted to Inspector Byrnes
that he had cut the throats OF a dozen diff
ferent people, and in the next breath he
denied that he had ever been guilty ofany
such action. He continued, in his admis
sion, however, that he knew the names Of
the people who had been cut and that he
had q record OF every case
Subsequently he told the inspector that
when he was boy big German entered
his home in Brooklyn and forcibly as
saulted his mother before his eyes lie
vowed vengeance on all Dutchmen and,
as soon as he attained 10 manhood, he
executed the threat upon every one VIII Sc
face resembled that Of his mothers assail-
ant