Evening star., 1923-06-24

AND ASTONISHING LITTLE
MURDERER" AS GIBBS CALLS
HIM, AT THE TIME OF HIS
TRIAL
of Europe, and the races of the east.
had their special sanctuaries in the
great old city, in which they pre-
served their own speech and habits
and faith.
In the Russian quarter l met vic
tins of the tyranny of czardom, who
lad escaped from Siberian prisons
and still bore the marks of their
Chains and lashes; and the Russian
Jews, too, who had come to England
to save themselves from the pogroms
of Riga and other cities. I" found
many of them working as tailors
and seamstresses in back rooms OF
tenement houses. Whitechapel way.
;1bominably overcrowded, but earning
high wages. 1t was a revelation to
ne that they did most OF the black"
vork for great West End firms, SO
that Mayfair received its garments
from the East End. with any diseases
that might be carried with them
from those fetfd little factories. =
Thousands of them were employed
H. cigarette factories, and spent their
days filling little spills of paper with
tie yellow weed, with increditable
speed. according to the tradition OF
not muzzling the OK that treads the
corn, they We're allowed to smoke as
much as, they liked. and both men
and women smoked continually.
:: x x I;
r MADE a study of German London,
L which, at that time, before some
thing happened like an cafthquake,
had as many German clubs as any
good sized city of the Iatiierland. ard
several German churches workers
rnicns, theatrical a-rI n.usical socie-
ties.
In Soho I I:5kt.i t;'.E~s :-1snch
London, lunched at tvs te<iH Richie
or dined at t:a@ Go.:.1a,e1 and bs~
tween Warden s..:'.c: sae Old couo~
tor street me; III. +-:'eace stris who
made artificial :ss~e-t-s eoS .h3 os.ssts
and pantomibn1@ s.Is rightr fG: the
fairies of the --attti :slta and en-
broidered sho., 1t.c,l twtnkled on
the boards.
Italy in Lonion KS Srn my
earliest discor~e: ae .- young
writer in sear.s. ca t.I~ e,-turesque.
It was but teI. trtt1.e :e; walk from
my first Office, sei: often in lunch
time 1 used to xsar1.i that way
stopping to ltSIet- tc the English
cheap-Jacks in Issa-ho. Lane, on the
sother side Of Hu.ou-n and then
plunging into a labyrinth OF narrow
lanes and courtyards entirely in
.habited by Italians.
1t was a little Naples, in it's color,
its smells, its dirt. Across the court
yards Italian women stretched their
washing" and blue petticoats and
scarlet bodices and silk scarfs for
womeR's hair gave vivid color to
these London alleys. The women, as
beautiful as Raphaers Madonnas,
sang at their washtubs, surrounded
by swarms of bambini.
The foreign element in London
was, on the whole, very law w-abiding.
For centuries London had been the
sanctuary cf political refugees from
| many countries Of persecution, and
it was a tradition, and a good ira
dition. of England that no questions
should be asked as to the political
! faith of those who desired shelter
| s-osn their own rulers. Even the
.sevulutionaries of Europe and the
'intellectual' anarchists had the
good sense, for a long time, not to
stir up trouble or attach. the laws
of the land in which they found
such generous exile. This rule. how
ever. was abruptly broken by a gang
of foreign bandits who carried out
a series of alarming robberies and,
when tracked down at laast, shot a
tpolice inspector and wounded others.
One of their own men was NOR
tally wounded in the ARRAY and car
ried bleeding to a house In Grove
street, Whitechapel. one of the worst
xrreets in London, where he died.
Ho was young Russian. as hand
some as Greek god. in the opinion
of the surgeons Of the London Hos
pItal. with whom I happened" to be
lunohing' when one OF the Janitors
rushed In with the news that the
corpse had been secured, against all
competitors, by the London.
y xx
TT was the death Of this Russisn
i which gave the clue to the habits
and whereabouts of the gang with
whom he had been connected. Their
women were caught and blew the
safr," and 1t was discovered that
the leader of the gang was another
young Russian called Peter tina
Painter. Scores OF Scotland Yard
. detectives set out on the trail and
another police inspector lost HIS life
in the endeavor TO arrest three OF
the bandits at q house In Sidney
street, whitechapel, where they de-
fed all attempts at capture by. a
ruthless use or automatic pistols.
!. Siege .vas 70 shA- hoase-bletAa