Shortly after this incident, a similar figure emerged from the darkness and attacked a group of passers-by nearby. He caught a woman who was following his companion, and she ran away when her coat was torn. However, in this group of people, a bar girl named Polly Adams fell down, leaving her alone. A few hours later, the police found her lying on the right side of the attack. According to her description, the attacker cut off her blouse and grabbed her bare breasts. He scratched her abdomen deeply with his paw, which caused her to bleed and fall into a coma, but she was still alive.
Later, in the month of 1837 10, a girl named Mary Stevens went to Battersea to visit her parents, and then walked to Mount Lavender, where she worked as a waitress. When she passed Clapham Commons, a strange figure came from the dark alley, hugged her tightly with his arms, began to kiss her cheek, tore her clothes with his claws and stroked her body. According to the client's description, his claws are "as cold as a corpse". Because of extreme fear, the girl screamed loudly, which made the attacker run away quickly. The riot caused nearby residents to organize to look for the attacker, but he disappeared everywhere.
The next day, the jumping figure chose a completely different victim near Mary Stephen's house, creating a typical modus operandi in the future: he jumped into the carriage way, causing the coachman to collide out of control and be seriously injured. Several witnesses said that he jumped over a nine-foot wall and ran away, screaming and laughing at the same time.
A few days later, another woman was attacked near Clapham Church. This is the first time that police agents have found evidence of crime on the scene: two footprints about 3 inches (about 7.5 cm) deep indicate that someone has landed from a height. According to the police officer at the scene, after careful observation, some strange marks appeared on the footprints, indicating that the attacker had some kind of gadget on the sole, "maybe some kind of compression spring." Excluding its importance, the lack of forensic expertise at that time made the police forget this evidence and the plaster model that made the footprints, and the weather destroyed it. Gradually, the news of the strange man spread, and the media and the public soon named him Jack with Spring Legs. (about 1840) public meeting of London building. A few months later, Sir John Cowan, the mayor of London, published an anonymous letter of complaint he had received at a public meeting held at his London mansion a few days ago, hoping to get more information. The reporter signed the letter "peckham resident" and wrote:
"It seems that some people (according to the author's understanding, they belong to the upper class) bet with a naughty and reckless companion that he dares to undertake the task of visiting many villages near London and appear in three different identities-a ghost, a bear and a devil. What's more, he didn't go into the gentleman's garden to wake his master. On the contrary, this bet made the cowardly villain deprive seven women of their consciousness, and two of them showed no signs of recovery, but became a burden to their families.
He rang the doorbell in front of a house. When the servant answered the door, the beast was standing at the door wearing a horrible costume, which caused the girl to faint on the spot and never regained consciousness.
The incident has happened for some time, but strangely, the news media kept silent on this topic. The authors have reason to believe that they have fully understood the whole incident, but for some interesting motives, they remain silent about it. "
Through the mayor's seemingly reasonable suspicion, many listeners were convinced that "the girls in Kensington, hammersmith and Ilya told horror stories about this ghost or demon." The Times reported the incident, and other national newspapers also reported it the next day. On June183865438+1October1Sunday, the mayor showed a bunch of similar letters from all over London, all complaining about "evil pranks". The influx of these letters into the mansion meant that Jack Springsteen's behavior was widely known in the suburbs of London at that time. A writer mentioned that he found several girls in hammersmith "on the verge of dangerous fainting", and some were "injured in several places by claws worn by thugs". Another writer is convinced that in Stockwell, Brixton, Cumberwell and vauxhall, several people have died of fright, while others have fainted. At the same time, another reward is that the swindler was seen many times in Lewisham and Blackheath, but the police were too afraid of him to act.
The mayor himself has two thoughts about this incident: he thinks that this incident has been "exaggerated" and that "the ghost completely shows the great achievements of the devil" is completely impossible to happen, but on the other hand, he thinks that he has heard rumors about what happened to a young maid in Forrest Mountain, and the person wearing bear skin has fainted; I believe that individuals or groups involved in this farce will be caught and punished. Since then, the police have been ordered to find out the personal reasons for the attack and offer bonuses for solving the case. Many people, including the respected edward codrington, decided to join the search, but in vain: he was never caught, and even seemed bolder, and the number of attacks increased exponentially. Spring-legged Jack depicted in early cheap thrillers. Perhaps the most famous event about Jack with Spring Legs is that he attacked two young girls: Lucy scales and Jane alsop. The Elso incident was widely reported in newspapers, but only one media disclosed the attack on Skell. It is generally believed that this is because Elso comes from a wealthy family and Skell comes from a businessman's family. The news report in this newspaper pushed the incident to collective hysteria.
1838 On February 20th, 18-year-old Jane Elso opened the door of her father's house in Bow to meet a man who claimed to be a policeman. He asked her to bring a lamp because he and other policemen "caught Jack with spring legs in the roadway", but then the man suddenly attacked her and tore her clothes and hair. Her family came to save her. She told the police in Lamberthz, "He was wearing a hood and a tight white suit similar to a waterproof raincoat. His face was covered and his eyes were like fireballs. His hands have claws made of some kind of metal, and he spits out blue and white flames. "
On February 23, a man in a black cloak knocked on the door again, this time on Turner Street, some distance from the commercial road. When the footman answered the door, the guest asked to speak to Mr. Ashworth, the owner of the house. So the servant turned to inform his master, only to find that the man standing at the door turned red. Because of fear, he screamed loudly and attracted the attention of his neighbors. With a snort of anger and frustration, Jack with spring legs waved his paws in the footman's face and quickly jumped onto the roof of a nearby house. According to the official inquiry record, the boy claimed that he noticed an evidence that would become very important in the future: when Jack with spring legs turned his back on him, he noticed that the shirt covered by his cloak was embroidered with the golden letter "W", which was very similar to the coat of arms.
Five days later,1February 28th, 838, 7, 18-year-old Lucy Skell and her sister went to visit the butcher's brother in Lehmhaus and were preparing to go home. Lucy walked not far in front of her sister, but when they crossed the Green Dragon Lane, they met a mysterious figure: he hid behind a corner she passed and seemed to attack her as she passed. The character spurted flames into Lucy's face and jumped away when she fell to the ground, while Lucy twitched for hours. At least four witnesses said that the attacker jumped from the ground to the roof of a nearby house when he escaped. A few days later, on March 6th, Lucy and her sister, accompanied by their brother William, appeared in Lamberthz Street Court to testify. The Times reported Jane Elso's attack on "Anger at Old Ford". Then came the trial report of a man named Thomas milbank. Shortly after the attack, Jane Elso fell into Morgan's arms, claiming to be Jack with Spring Legs. Then he was arrested and tried in Lamberthz Street Court. The police officer in charge of the arrest was Jonas Lea, who had previously arrested William Cawder, a murderer in the red barn. Milbank was wearing a white shirt and coat outside the house, and the candle he had dropped before was also found. The only reason why he was exonerated was because Jane Elso insisted that the attacker had erupted in flames, but milbank admitted that he could not. Undoubtedly, among all the reports about Jack's activities, the most complete record was made by a drunken carpenter. Most other reports were completed long after the incident, so the newspapers at that time didn't mention it at all.
(1863) After these incidents, Jack with spring legs became one of the most sensational figures at that time. His behavior was reported by newspapers and became the theme of cheap thrillers and many cheap theaters at that time. But with the rising popularity, his activities in this vast area are less. However, in 1843, a wave of sightings swept across the country again, this time in Northamptonshire and Hampshire, where he was described as "a demon with two horns and a pair of fire eyes", while in East Anglia, news of attacking coach drivers was very common.
Although residents are afraid of his shadowy appearance, and he has caused various injuries and victims in some places, Jack with spring legs has not killed anyone so far. However, 1845 is a turning point. That year, he appeared in Jacob Island in Beaumont West, a slum full of dilapidated wooden houses and plague ditches. This place is famous in history, because it is the hiding place of the thieves of Fagan and his children in Charles Dickens' masterpiece Tears of an Orphan Baby. It is said that Jack with spring legs pushed a prostitute named Maria Davis 13 years old under a narrow bridge, which crossed the dirtiest ditch in the area, called Yugou. He spat a flame on her face and threw it into a stinking ditch. Witnesses told the police that they found the girl's body after salvaging the ditch. Later, the autopsy found that it was an accident, but the local residents identified the murderer as Jack with spring legs. In the early1870s, Jack with spring legs reappeared in several distant places. 18721/month, the News of the World reported that Bi was "thrown into chaos because of the well-known ghost of Bi: a mysterious figure with unusual appearance". The editor also pointed out that no one can compare with Jack with spring legs, and he frightened a whole generation in the past. A similar story also appeared in Police News Illustrated. 1873 from April to May, a large number of eyewitness reports about "ghosts in the park" appeared in Sheffield, and local residents gradually recognized him as Jack with spring legs. At the peak of these activities, thousands of residents gather every night to chase ghosts.
Elders Qiaote Military Camp-Beiying, the picture shows its Central Avenue 1866. With this news, more witness reports came, which lasted until August, 1877, when Jack with spring legs made his most famous appearance in front of soldiers in Aldershot Barracks. A sentry on duty in the North Camp was observing in the dark. He noticed a strange figure jumping on the road in front of him and making an annoying sound. The soldier gave a password, but no one paid attention to it, and the figure disappeared from his sight for a few minutes. When he turned back to the outpost, "He" appeared beside him and slapped him with "a hand as cold as a corpse". Hearing the continuous noise, several men rushed to this place, but they claimed that the figure was a few feet above their heads and fell behind them. According to their story, Jack with spring legs just stood there, looking at them, grinning, as if waiting for their happy response. Then the strange figure rushed at them, spewing blue flames, causing the guards to evacuate in panic and then disappear into the darkness.
Jack "Spring Leg" attacked Eldershort's guards many times. All the sightings are described as follows: tall, male appearance, wearing a hood and a tight tarpaulin raincoat.
After these events, a craze to witness Jack's spring legs swept across Britain. In Lincolnshire, he was seen walking through several houses and wearing sheepskin. An angry mob chased him, surrounded him, and then, as happened in El Dessault before, residents shot at him, but to no avail. Many witnesses claimed that they did hit him, but the sound of their shooting sounded like hitting a hollow metal object, like an "empty bucket". As before, he used his jumping ability to get rid of the crowd and escape again.
/kloc-at the end of 0/9, the geographical division witnessed by Jack with spring legs showed that he was moving to the west of England. 1904 September, Everton, north of Liverpool, Jack with spring legs appeared in St. Francis? On the roof of the church in Chabrio. Witnesses reported that he suddenly jumped to the ground and landed behind a nearby house. When they arrived at the landing site, they saw a tall and strong man, wearing white clothes and an "egg-shaped" hood, standing there waiting for them. He laughed wildly and rushed to the crowd, making several women gasp. After that, he got rid of the crowd in a big jump and disappeared behind the nearby houses.
It is generally believed that the Liverpool incident was the last time Jack with spring legs was witnessed. Although there are still several eyewitness reports up to 1986, and most of them happened outside England (even in the United States), these statements are too shocking and vague to be confirmed.