The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-17
TOKIO'S JACK THE RIPPER.
.ouR MURDERS CREDITED TO HIM
IN TWO WEEKS.

..,,,, Unable TO Catch Him in spite OF Xxx
,,,or,iIunry Enorts-Hia victima All Women
- IN, Better Ciass-vnvo OF Suicidal
u,.eriA-Ncwa suppressed by tho CenHors.
r-om the private correspondence OF n gentle.
IAN now In this city. who has lived In japan
A. Tho last thirteen years, 1t was learned yes
Ia that n crude imitator Of Jack tho Ripper
- s,ain several young women recently in
T.,io The murders. which were four in num-.
~ nil occurred in tho first part of May, and 80
"a, was the excitement In Toxic that what
sn,uht he called "a wave OF suicidal hysteria act
a. and several young women killed themselves
an, NJ sheer fear Of the murderer. Unlike the
,Ictims OF tho original Jack tho Ripper, tho
xomen slain by tho Japanese murderer were in
,rrry case OF good character, and all Of them
s.lonped to the better class. The murderer has
NOT been caught
The first three Of his victims were killed In the
erst week of May in the kanda district, which
I, the most poprlohs ward of Toxic. Ogawa
street corresponds in many respects to Broad
way. The lower part of II is lined with shops
and business houses, and great crowds throng It
day and night. Along the upper part there is a
Mil called ~Surugadia, on which are situated the
residences OF many Of the wealthiest people of
the city. From IT'S crest there stretches q beau.
tful suspension DrluHe across ono VI tno
canals of Toxic to the Hongo district.
In the carly morning of May 4 the body Of a
yung woman was found lying on the shelving
psnks Of this canal under the bridge. She had
becn disembowclled and her arms were cut Off.
She was identified as the daughter OF respecta-
able and wcll.to-do parents, and the residents OF
the city wero Mortified ut tho brutal murder.
The next morning the body Of another young
voman similarly mutilated was found in almost
the identical spot.
The second murder terrified the women Of tho
city. and the entire efforts Of the police were d.
rrcted toward capturing the murderer. The
city was secured from end to end. but no clue to
the identity OF the butcher was found. The
force patrullinG the Kandn district was doubled.
but in spite of the vigilance of tho police
another murder occurred within the week. On
the shelving banks OF the canal the body
OF another young girl with the arms missing
was found, and so great was the panic that
many women left the CITY,. Then the police force
about the bridge and in the streets adjacent to
Surugadia was quadrupled. and the officers
nSrnIlei The district in such great numbers that
the murderer must have been frightened.
For more than n week no new case was re.
ported. and the people OF the city, particularly
The women, were beginning to breathe easily
again. when early in the morning o: the 18th
the mutuatcd body Of a handsome, well.dressed
young woman. was found, hanging to a tree in
The Ko,imachi district. which Is just west of
kania. The medical examination revealed the
fact that she had been murdered before she was
hsnged. Her arms were missing. but in other
respects the mutilation was not the same as In
the frst three cases. This fact led the police to
believe that there were two butchers instead OF
one, but it did not help them to catch the guilty
persons;
produced a great panic among the women OF
Toxic, which was followed by n wave of suicidal
hysteria far.rcaching in its consequences. Scv.
eral women lthc letter from which this story Is
written did not say how many ended their lives.
either BY jumping into the canal, on the hanks
Of which the bodies OF the first three victims
were found. or by throwing themselves in front
Of moving trains. Each OF the suicides was
attributed TO the fear OF the knife OF the muir
deter.
Then the police issued an order that no young
woman WAS TO be allowed on the streets of Toxic
male escort. and the press censor refused t,
allow any Of the details OF the murders to ap
pear in the Toxic newspapers. Only the vagues'
,atsc the Government officials have an ide,
that If the true story got abroad 1t would iniur'
the entire country.
Tie police believe that the murders wer,
committed by students. % whom there arr
10000 in Toxic. Many OF them arc the hn,
without means OF support. They crowd into thu
city in September IN the hope that somcthinl
they can finish the course in one OF the nu
metOus schools and colleges, but many OF then
beccInc stranded in a shcre time and turn thcil
hsrds 20 al sorts OF desperate deeds. From
their ranks is recruited the Sochi. n hired ban,
OF b-4v'd0s who will for n price commit an,
cr:EI- sarrr OF murder. The district in which nj
bat onr OF these murders occurred swarms will
students,
Two yesrs ngo there was a similar reign o
terror in Toxic caused by n ru ffFnly st,Iitu
who wcat about slasi,.rc The faces OF women O
the Srtter class with a 5 arp kniIc. In q sior
time he srrlled forever the beauty OF seventeen
women. The faces OF sOInc OF them were horri
ty mu,itateh. When the perpctrator of thes
Outrage was caught he confessed. A bcautiiu
reyenging himself on her sex.