Whiskey Made Him Say It

A man who was stabbed in the neck by “Jack, the Ripper” encounters a drunk who claims to be the stabber.

On last Sunday morning in North 2d street, a white man, whose name I failed to get, prevented what would have been quite a serious occurrence, if not a justifiable killing.
Mr. James Anderson, of 913 north 2d street, who was so mysteriously stabbed in the neck some time ago by an unknown person, whom rumor has since named “Jack, the Ripper,” has recovered so as to be out and able to go and get his wound dressed at the hospital. Sunday morning Anderson left his home to have his wound dressed and on his way met several friends, who expressed themselves as being glad to see him out again.
But on returning, scarcely had he got beyond the corner of Hill and 2d streets when he met a man, apparently intoxicated, who walked straight up to him and said, “Don’t you know me? I am the man who slashed you.” Anderson made a quick motion as if to draw a weapon, but just then a white man walked up, got between them and said that he knew the man. He was drunk and didn’t know what he was talking about.
Anderson did not seem altogether satisfied.

“Whiskey Made Him Say It,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed April 27, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1734.