The Manchester Standard
October 2nd, 1887
Greetings, dearest readers! The Manchester Standard strives to bring you the most relevant and pertinent information each and every day, only here in the world's first city of industry. Without further ado, let us peruse the headlines of the day.
Bone Chilling Baying Terrifies Tameside
Nightly reports of a horrifying howl have haunted the residents of the normally sleepy rural Tameside. Dozens of families have testified to hear the baying of what sounds to be a massive hound. "It's horrible!" said local man, Tom Bleakin, "The horses can't stand the noise, going near mad with fright. My family is kept up at ungodly hours... I'm truly at my wits end." The brave constables of Tameside admit that they can find no animal to match the beasty racket, but have conscripted local hunters, and a reward of 2 pounds fifty for any information that may lead to the truth of the matter.
Local Gentleman's Body Found in Matter of Foul Play
Mister Addison Moore, magnate of Moore Textiles Company, has been found dead in a matter of suspicious circumstance. The Gentleman was found lying supine in his Manchester factory by morning workers, both hands clutched around a bouquet of withered roses. Inspector Pond of the Manchester police has been investigating the strange case, and has declined to answer any inquiries that the Standard has come forward with. For the current time, operations of the Moore Textiles factory have been suspended.
Bolton Cemetery Targeted By Desperate Hoodlums
The Cemetery adjacent to the Cathedral of St. Mary has been vandalized yet again in another case of grave robbery. On the previous evening, three grave were found exhumed and empty. This marks a change in the Bolton Cemetery robberies, as local constables have stated that before, only pieces were taken, and not entire bodies. "It's a ghastly business," stated Officer O'Shea of the Bolton Constabulary, "But this goes to show how effective the constabulary has been at stopping theft and harm visited upon the living. Desperate theives must have resorted to stealing from the dead!" Officer O'Shea further assured Bolton residents that they shall apprehend the villains who have perpetrated these atrocious crimes.
Henderson Smithy Held Under Investigation
Salford blacksmith, Bill Henderson, has had his smithy business halted by a run of defective horseshoes that were provided to a number of carriages around the Salford area. Henderson, who is rather renowned for his work, settled the blame on a shipment of particularly brittle iron. "I saw no such defects with the material whilst I had been working it," Henderson claimed, "I confess that I do not know what could have gone wrong." The problems were discovered after injury to a number of horses, five of which had to be put down. Manchester police have begun an inquiry, to which the Manchester Standard has been denied any information.
Mysterious Illness wracks village of Wigan
A pox of boils and fever burned through the village of Wigan over the past few days, sickening nearly the entire populace of the sleepy burg. Horses and Oxen were not immune, and despite the best efforts of several prominent doctors from Manchester and the surrounding towns, none seem willing to come forward with a cause. The Wigan Sickness has remained, and doctors urge travelers to seek a way around the stricken village.
-Excerpt of the Manchester Standard, Alice Mulholland reporting.
A LETTER TO REPORTERESS HOLLAND regarding BOLTON CEMETERY.
ReplyDeleteDear Madame:
It is with a heavy heart I must inform you that, for now, the defilement of the sacred grounds of Saint Marys will have abated. It seems that a sinister sort of science experiment required the ghastly procurement of all manner of corpse-parts, with both age'd bones and fresher meat being of use to the perpetrator. Of course all has been reported to Officer O'Shea, and he will see to it that the fiend is brought to justice.
HOWEVER, if you would be so interested in producing a sequel to your newspaper story, I have some artifacts and exclusive information that may be of use. All I ask is that your editor offer the payment of THIRTEEN POUNDS (minimum, of course), which shall be to maintain the precious resources necessary used to further investigate and obliterate the unseemly goings-on you so vividly illustrated in your anecdotes. A messenger will be sent to the Standard's offices at noon tomorrow to deliver our half of the bargain, and to accept our payment for our contribution to this outstanding news outlet.
I offer you:
- A key to gain private entry to the cemetery so you may explore the evidence yourself without hindrance (please return it to Officer O'Shea when you are done and tell him you simply found it on the ground by the gate-- he will understandably think it was dropped in our hasty pursuit to the origin of the vile acts)
-A map, wherein you will find drawings (not to scale) of the defiled graves, footprints of the robbers, and a diagram of a staircase to a secret tunnel in a certain mauseoleum (labeled on the map) which leads to a bridge over a canal which takes you to a great warehouse where the specimens were crated and shipped to the origin of the of the vile acts;
-a partially destroyed mechanism created by the perpetrator to apparently attempt to resuscitate the dead by means of a mechanical pump and imported life-fluids
-the address of the heinous scientist (go soon should you wish to photograph it, for I have recommended to the Constabulary to burn it to the ground!
Rest assured the most incriminating evidence has been removed from both the cemetery and the laboratory location in order to preserve it so that justice may be swiftly obtained. And of course, what we could retrieve of the stolen dead has been respectfully laid back in the consecrated earth. And the beast(s?) of burden who so unwillingly participated in the sourcing and delivery of the bodies has(have) been liberated from its (their?) bonds.
This is all I have to say to you for now. Should you accept this offer, look for the ANONYMOUS courier with black glasses on a white horse at noon tomorrow, and meet with him, check in hand, pay to the order of left blank.
Your obt. servant,
A Disposable Hero.