TUMBLETY

Identifying the Source - Part 2.

By

Joe Chetcuti

The gentlemen of the press must have been excited to see the famous American, "Buffalo Bill," walking alongside Hughes-Hallet on that evening inside the government building. I never realized how difficult it was for a newsman to get the chance to rub elbows with members of Parliament in this type of an environment. For instance, the Daily Mail did not even have a press representative in the House of Commons. In fact, its owner, Alfred Harmsworth, needed to purchase a newspaper company in Scotland that already had “a title to a gallery seat” in the House. For a period of time, that was the only way Harmsworth could get a reporter of his in there. So you might think that since the Daily Mail was not even allowed to get a journalist into this setting, then what chances would an American newspaper have? Hardly any chance at all one would say. But I decided to dig deeper into this, and to my amazement, this following passage was discovered:

One of the important news centres of London is the inner lobby of the House of Commons. No newspaper man has access to that place unless he is entitled to a seat in the press gallery — a rare privilege. Not all London journals have representatives in the reporters’ gallery, by any means. No American correspondent enjoys this privilege of button-holing a member of Parliament in his lair except Mr. James Tuohy of the New York World, who is also the London correspondent of the Freeman's Journal of Dublin, and in that capacity is admitted to the House. Mr. Tuohy is an Irishman, of course, genial, energetic, and well-informed, and although I believe he has never visited the United States, yet he manages to send his newspaper just what it wants. Mr. Tuohy is gifted with that birthright of most Irishmen, adaptiveness. 7 

Tuohy's employment with the Freeman's Journal during the 1880's qualified him for a gallery seat in the House of Commons, and when The World's London Bureau hired his services they finally had a man of their own inside this important venue. Tuohy became a respected figure in Westminster. He was looked upon as a veteran West End journalist who specialized in Irish affairs and could associate himself with Parliament members right inside their own nest. 

All this became magnified when Hughes-Hallet disembarked at Castle Garden in early October, 1888. 8 Soon after his arrival, the Colonel checked into the Brevoort Hotel on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Then, on October 6th, he recited his perspective on the Whitechapel murders to a World reporter. He thoroughly spoke of an East End investigation that had been conducted. The Colonel's words were printed in the Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, and Atlanta Constitution on the very next day, October 7th. The whole production ran like clockwork and everything appeared to have been pre-arranged. This certainly was not a case of some beat reporter luckily bumping into a member of Parliament in the lobby of a first-rate New York City hotel and being wildly fortunate enough to have this dignitary spontaneously deliver an exclusive Whitechapel report to him. The Colonel was an officer of protocol in these types of matters. It is quite practical to assume that the details of the Colonel’s October 6th talk had been discussed in Westminster before Hughes-Hallett even sailed to New York. Even the decision about which American cities the story should be wired to was most likely predetermined. Our attention should now be focused on The World's London Bureau and we should try to identify a man associated with this bureau who had the credentials to communicate directly with a member of the House of Commons. An authoritative newsman whose experience and ethnic background would command the respect of newspaper editors in Irish-American cities like New York, Boston, and San Francisco.

The Brevoort Hotel, one of New York's oldest and most famous hotels, rose to fame as a stopping place for titled Europeans

In the past, many reasons have been produced as to why the West End suspect in Hughes-Hallett’s Whitechapel investigation was Francis Tumbelty. A notorious individual whom The World had "the inside track on." The presence of Joseph Pulitzer’s newsman awaiting the arrival of the La Bretagne alongside detectives Crowley and Hickey hinted to us that key information had been telegraphed from Europe to New York. Less than two weeks prior to this, The World's wire service began to send “special London despatches” across the Atlantic that revealed the news about Tumblety’s arrest and eventual bail jump. Was the informant who transmitted this data a trusted correspondent who "...never visited the United States, yet he manages to send his newspaper just what it wants." Was this man James Tuohy? The resourceful Irish journalist who would eventually become Joseph Pulitzer’s London Bureau Chief? Let’s try to learn more about the man.

[Parnell] intends to marry Kitty...May they be happy. Tuohy, of the Freeman, told me that on the night after the verdict Parnell remarked to him that the divorce was a good thing, as it enabled him to define his domestic position. He now talks without reserve about “Mrs. O’Shea.” Henry Campbell told Tuohy that he found [Parnell] at Brighton on the night the howl arose against him...and that [Parnell] made no remark on the “situation.” When asked by one of the Freeman staff what would be the result if the delegates in America sent an adverse telegram, [Parnell] simply replied, “Then that would be an adverse telegram.” At which the other gasped, “But if that should lead to an adverse vote?” To this Parnell replied, “Oh, then that would be an adverse vote!” Isn’t this sublime? It means he has cracked. 9 

Kitty O'Shea

The paragraph above was written by Timothy Michael Healy, the first Governor-General of the Free Irish State. Healy was an Irish Nationalist politician, author, barrister, and a member of the House of Commons. He was vehemently opposed to Parnell during the autumn of 1890. This was during the time when the "Kitty O'Shea Affair" had risen to a boiling point. As we have just read, James Tuohy was in direct communication with both Healy and Parnell during this transitional period in Irish political history.

Some Irishmen never forgave Healy for his stand against Parnell. In a humorous development, a nine-year-old Dublin schoolboy wrote a poem entitled "Et Tu, Healy?" in support of Parnell. The poem is now a collector's item because that boy, James Joyce, grew up to become one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. An artist named Patrick Tuohy would have the honor of painting portraits for Mr. Joyce.