I thought it would be good to collect my notes on the Tamam Shud slip together in a single post, hopefully this will give a little clarity.
1st December 1948, 6am
Man found dead on Somerton Beach. Unsurprisingly, nobody thinks to stick an inquisitive finger into the dead man’s trouser fob pocket, so the tiny rolled-up slip of paper hiding in there evades everyone’s attention.
1st December 1948, 6:01am
Rodger Todd’s terrier Dandy (allegedly) pees on the Somerton Man, anticipating 75% of SM-related blog posts by several decades.
1st December 1948, 6:02am
The first of many Somerton Man conspiracy theories gets launched. (Lord spare us from any more.)
19th April 1949
Feltus, “The Unknown Man”, p.79:
“On the 19th. April, 1949 Professor Cleland informed me [Detective Sergeant Leane] that he had found a small piece of paper in the Fob Pocket of the deceased’s trousers produced, bearing the words Tamam Shud”
29th April 1949
In a letter Leane wrote to Adelaide Police Superintendent W. O. Sheridan, he mentions having shown the tie (with “KEANE” on the back) to an Egyptian called Moss Keipitz who worked in a butcher’s shop in Hindley Street, Adelaide. The seven-language-speaking Keipitz didn’t offer an opinion on the “Tamam Shud” slip, but opined on everything else:
Mr Keipitz is of the opinion that the name on the neck tie is ‘KEANIC’ pronounced ‘QUANIC’ and that the name of European origin, either a Chechsolvakian, Yugoslavian or from a Baltic country. He viewed the body, which helped him to form his opinion. He further [states] that the initial, which was thought to be a ‘T’ is a ‘J’ written in Arabic.
Who was “Moss Keipitz”? Moss is almost certainly Moshe, short for Moses: while my current best guess is that Keipitz is a slightly mangled version of Heifitz. (My guess is that the name was written down but then miscopied.)
If you look on Australia’s NAA site, you’ll find an Egyptian called Salomon Samuel Heifetz (born 5th May 1888 in Istanbul) arriving from Napoli to Melbourne on the 15th May 1949, along with a Sabina Heifetz who then “left the Commonwealth” on 1st March 1952. (There’s a Victorian genealogical record of a Sabina Heifetz 1887-1952, who died in Mbeena, Australia, which I’m guessing was her.) So I’m guessing that they were man and wife.
Similarly, the NAA has a Samuel Heifetz (born 3rd May 1918 in Alexandria) arriving by air in Sydney 1st October 1948, and his wife Farida (Frida) Eskenaze Heifetz (born 4th May 1923 in Cairo) and their daughter Sonia (born 8th October 1946 in Cairo) arriving by air 8th February 1949.
Here are Frida and Sonia in 1949: note that the permanent address Frida gave on her 1949 air passenger card was “52 Tunis St, N. Adelaide”, the address where her husband was living at the time.
And here is Frida Heifetz in 1952:
Samuel Heifetz was Manager of World Travel Service Pty: and it seems that his father (who had applied for naturalisation in 1954) died in October 1956, as per this notice of condolence:
My best current guess is therefore that Moss Keipitz / Moshe Heifetz was Samuel Heifetz’s brother, and that Salomon Samuel Heifetz and Sabina Heifetz were their parents. (Note that Moshe Heifetz could not have been Samuel Heifetz, because the conversation with Leane happened while Samuel Heifetz was in transit from Europe. But note that “Moss” could possibly have been Salomon Samuel Heifetz, who would have been 61 at the time.)
Can other researchers please test this (pretty specific) guess? Thanks!
3rd May 1949
Even after talking with Moss Keipitz, SAPOL still believed that “Tamam Shud” was in Turkish.
A small piece of paper printed in Turkish which was found in the dead man’s pocket has led police to assume that he was able to speak that language.
Note that it was (according to Feltus p.79) “Frank Kennedy, the Police Roundsman for the Advertiser”, who told Detective Brown: “If you are looking from where the words ‘Tamam Shud’ come from, find a copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Some copies end in Tamam and some in Tamam Shud.” So it seems fairly safe to conclude that Kennedy suggested this after 3rd May 1949.
8th June 1949
Feltus p.79:
At one time Detective Brown stated:
“On Wednesday 8th. June, 1949 I went to Beck’s bookshop in Pulteney St., Adelaide and made a search of a number of copies of a poem named RUBAIYAT and written by Omar Khayyam. […]”
10th June 1949
On 10th June 1949, Detective Brown circulated a lengthy report (each including a photographic copy of the Tamam Shud slip) to the police in all states.
The following two newspaper reports from the time (quoted in Feltus, p.81) describe the slip in a little more detail:
Because the top of the scrap of paper had been cut clean, it did not fit into the torn part of the page. But the bottom of it corresponded with the printer’s trimming at the foot of the page, and police are satisfied that the piece was torn from the book.
As the scrap of paper found on the dead man had been trimmed, police were unable to identify the book merely by fitting it into the torn page. Proof will now rest with tests on the paper and the print.
Week Commencing 25th July 1949
Tests comparing the paper of the slip to the paper of the book found in the car of an “Adelaide businessman” “in November 1948” were to be carried out during the week commencing 25th July 1949, according to this newspaper article. The rest is, as you already know, mystery. 🙂
Hi Nick, I think the address was 52 Finniss Street North Adelaide
Ironic, I suppose, that a J. Keane lived at 58 Finniss St!
I don’t like the name Heifetz for Keipitz at all, even allowing for possibilities of a mix-up by Leane. For one thing, three letter variants (H F E for K P I) don’t offer any substitute in either Hebrew or Yiddish so for a common seven surname, I’m not at all confident. In saying that, I do however like Farida Heifetz very much indeed, what a doll. Whilst I could not find any Tunis St. in North Adelaide, a mansion at 52 Finnis St. looks the goods, though from ’49 onwards the family were in Melbourne. Very limited inquiries re Sabina Heifetz, whilst not disagreeing in identifying an older woman of that name, seem also to identify an infant, likely to have been Farida’s child who died in infancy at Carlton Melb. In 1952. PS: Jascha Heifetz was a Lith/American violinist (ranked with Paganini) who toured Australia regularly 30s through 50s but was not always popular with Jews for favouring German works in his concert repertoire. He still has relatives in Australia though none are identified as butchers
I think that misunderstanding the H of Heifetz (or Chaifets or Kheifetz or whatever transcription was used) for a K is quite plausible, given that the original sound is a Х in Cyrillic script and a ח in Hebrew (both pronunced as ch- in German). The P for a F is a bit more problematic, because it is a ф in Cyrillic or a פ in Hebrew. However Wikipedia says that פ is pronunced both P or F in modern Hebrew, so maybe the guy had some strange Hebrew accent. The vowel shift is very plausible.
You quote:
“…and that the name of European origin, either a Chechsolvakian, Yugoslavian or from a Baltic country”
Is this quote from Feltus or elsewhere? I keep finding the equivalent to this, but it seems to have started with a paper someone wrote very recently – and to me seems at odds with a “Language Expert” (not least because to me KEANIC doesn’t sound like anything from any of them – particularly when you add the reported “probably pronounced QUANIC”). In fact, I would have thought even alluding to such a pronunciation immediately suggests Middle East more than Eastern Europe (and Keipitz being Egyptian he presumably is more familiar with that part of the world).
It would be interesting to know WHICH 7 languages he allegedly knew (or perhaps “was vaguely familiar with”).
Suppose I can speak 2 reasonably fluently, could have a reasonable conversation in a 3rd, could probably manage a 4th, and would back myself to guess a number of others if I saw them written (even Romanized – Languages with unique alphabets definitely stand out) – but if I were to offer advice to the fuzz in a case like this, do I claim to speak 2, 3…4 (more)? languages? If I want to be credible, I’d probably exaggerate as much as possible, so 7 is possible. And even knowing snippets of language any surname speculation still has me double checking google (and the results often correct my thinking – e.g. intuitively the “ic” suffix sounded Polish – but google results suggest there’d be a ‘z’ involved in that case).
So I repeat an earlier question…why was Keipitz listened to and what were his actual credentials? Was he known in some sort of circle to help people with language puzzles? Did he approach the police? In that case why did they take him more seriously than others? Did he approach the press?
Let’s speculate. What 7 languages would an Egyptian living in Adelaide claim familiarity with? Surely he has more chance of translating “Tamam Shud” than identifying a name as Eastern European (definitions of Eastern Europe vary, this is mine)?
NB: The newspaper reports I can find don’t mention Baltic, Czeck or Yugoslav (nor QUANIC):
typically: “…An Egyptian, who speaks seven languages and is employed by a city butcher, has identified the name “Keanic” written on the tie worn by the dead man, whom he believes is a Slav, probably a Bulgarian.”
so as ranted previously, I think there’s some confusion between the reports and a separate one that has something like “He looked like a Balt or Hungarian” (or similar).
NB2: Does anyone find it interesting that the news articles report: “….employed by a city butcher”. The wording seems to be careful and I can’t help but wonder “In what capacity?”. Was he perhaps employed for his linguistic skills (maybe to help translate for customers, or perhaps in a totally different capacity tutoring the butcher’s children)?
ok, I retract some of the speculation. Apparently Balint’s paper is based on the letter referenced by NP above (my bad, I should read things properly). So I accept Keipitz said it, it didn’t come from later….but in that case I find it more odd (assuming of course Leane was working off his actual notes not recollection of what Keipitz said – which may have gotten confused with other things he’d heard).
@JS: Scribble down “Heifetz” in for messiest hand writing. Come back and look at it a couple days later. “Keipitz” is plausible (f to p is my biggest concern – but still plausible). Maybe he also translated his own writing of “Bulg.” (for Bulgarian) as “Balt”. A few longies of Coopers Sparkling the night before might not have helped much (and we could speculate he had a shaky hand and wrote things unclearly in the first place). Plausible enough to scratch this one, I think.
@Clive: and that Keane disappears from S&M in 1949…..and that street is weird in so far as 58 is on the street front but 52 is sort of next door and behind (accessed by an alleyway alongside the British hotel.
Would 58 be the Publican, or is there a numbering issue? If it is the publican, it would seem particularly odd that he’d go missing unnoticed.
There’s some nice conspiratorial deviations we could speculate here….that Heifetz is trying to steer attention away from Keane? (although odd then that he would introduce the idea of ‘J’ rather than ‘T’).
Milongal: If Keipitz was indeed Heifetz, he was from a Russian Jew family. So he could possibly claim to speak/understand to some extent Hebrew or Yiddish (the tongue of his community), Russian (the official language of the state), some Baltic language like Lithuanian (the common language of his original whereabouts), Arab (the language of his new land) and English (the language of Australia). That’s already five or six.
Nick: By Napoli do you mean Naples or one of the many other Neapolis?
The Haifitz family bar Sonia are all at rest in Melbourne. Thats five in all; another from the 30s may not be related. As for our man Moss Keipitz, ain’t nothing like it in ninety thousand Aust. Jewish burial records but I’m still confident that there’s a Yid word of that spelling that can be traced. Regarding Jascha Heifitz, best violinist ever, he nevertheless had some very acceptable company, in the persona of one Solomon Heifitz our family head, who was world class too, as seen in various trove newspaper reviews of his concerts prior to his passing in ’56.
A lot of older streets in Adelaide seemed/seem to have odd numbering where buildings are concerned. Possible that ‘J.Keane’ was renting the property from the pub owner, a couple of rooms perhaps? (A recent Netflix film comes to mind, called “The Spy”, where a Israeli trainee agent was told to visit a certain house number in a street, a number that didn’t exist, if he looked on & up the other side of the street he would pass the test). How did Keipitz make himself known & why? Did the police walk down Hindley St asking in butchers shops only? Why not a bookshop/furniture shop? The Keipitz story doesn’t ring true, was Joe Public supposed to be impressed that he could,apparently, speak several languages?
If the letter ‘K’ for Keipitz was written down, in the same style to the letter ‘K’ on the tie, it could well have been mistaken for the letter ‘H’?
Chas. G. J., one time resident of 52 Finnis Street, Nth Ad., had a rather interesting life until he left it in 1950. Born in Essex in 1886, he was a well travelled (US/NZ) professional boxer who migrated to Adelaide with credentials of organizer cum industrial chemist in 1925, after service in WW1. In 1927 he took a shonky auto dealer to court following the illegal repossession of his all paid up new Ford. In 1934 he established his own company manufacturing lysol disinfectants, solvent cleaning oils, plus incesticides, and ague remedies &c., He served again in WW2 with ASCO canteens having reduced his age by a tad and when discharged in ’43 he wangled a prime A.L.P seat in a city ward, resigning in 1947 to run for his local council in a failed bid. From ’45 until his death he was also a big wig alongside Jim Lee in the state RSL. How the man ever got to know Solomon & Samuel Haifetz, if he ever did, will have to remain a mystery unless HMV or milongal can come up with a clue or two. NB. Bloke listed as living at 52 Finnis circa. ’48 was an old gent, George Sison Brand who never died according to S.A. gene.
Goes without saying that Det. Leane’s position at time of the inquest, is that he had nothing to say at all about the J Keanic input put over by doubtful sept-lingual city butcher’s blockman informant named Moss Keipitz. R.L. being once more full on for the original T. Keane suspect developed from the left suitcase tie. One can only ponder as to why none of the court celebs, who must have known of Moss K. from press reports, didn’t put anything to him on the subject.
Stefano Guidoni: Naples, I believe. “Napoli” is what it says in the NAA records, which I was merely reproducing.
Clive J. Turner: as the post tried to make clear, at that point in the timeline the Police thought Tamam Shud was written in Turkish, and so had gone looking for anyone who could speak/read Turkish.
Given that Salomon Samuel Heifetz was born in Istanbul, there is surely a high chance that he was able to speak/read Turkish. So, on further reflection, I’m now wondering whether the simplest explanation for everything here is that it was he who was actually “Moss Keipitz”.
OK, please note that “Napoli” (ex Araybank) was the name of a migrant ship, too: https://books.google.it/books?id=P_vfFx5npJUC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=napoli+araybank&source=bl&ots=OP1yFIFee2&sig=ACfU3U0qFnUcNPIGsKoTu6-wNwJdZ0gEKA&hl=it&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjimsuzo-XzAhXkg_0HHfCZCrQQ6AF6BAgXEAM#v=onepage&q=napoli%20araybank&f=false
Stefano Guidoni: sadly, Google won’t let me see that excerpt, though you are entirely correct that the Napoli (ex Araybank) took migrants to Australia from 1948 to 1951. So I would be entirely unsurprised if we were in fact both correct. 🙂
Hi,Nick,ants and scientists. I have been practicing taman shud for a total of two days. And can write this to you all. A red thread was found in the trunk. And tha’s help = threads = is a signature. Otherwise, in that 4 verses it is written with the deceased last eaten. Everything is written as a quiz . Jessica know enough.
Nick, the slip photo in this post has a scale against it. It appears to indicate that the letter T is around 2mm across. Can you confirm that it is correct? By my reckoning, this would mean the Tamam script is in very small type, about equivalent to point size 6 or 7 in modern parlance.
For reference, modern ‘trade’ paperback books seem to use a point size of around 11 for content.
Given that the Taman script is rendered in a decorative type, I would have assumed it would be in a much larger size.
Is something not quite right here?
Hey Jo; Don’t fall into the trap of being overly confident about there being 4 verses (lines) as opposed to 5 which most ants tend to discard out of hand at their own peril. Study of the code page, particulary the struck second line might well merit closer scrutiny, in that the so-called strike mark, be positoned well off centre and indeed low enough to represent underlining instead. Had the offending second line consisted of more letters like the rest, it may not have been overlooked as a mistake so readily. For all we know the third line with some similar lettering might represent a poetic refrain, quite common in Fitzgerald’s ROK.
@NP: The problem with the idea they found Moss while looking for a Turk is that it seems at the time they had him speculating about “Keanic” they still didn’t seem to have any idea what the slip meant. Or not?
Milongal: this is why I posted this in the form of a timeline, to make it clear what the police were thinking and on what dates they were thinking it. They definitely thought it was written in Turkish when they spoke to “Keipitz”.
Tamara Bunke: I don’t recall where the photo came from, but you are correct that the scale is nonsense.
@Nick… Funny thing is, certain other parties with a vested interest in matters of scale have also got it wrong, I think. It’s been pointed out to them but they don’t seem to have understood the implication.
It would make certain instances of “micro writing” rather more macro, wouldn’t it?
Tamara Bunke: please don’t press that microwriting button, I have a hard enough time covering aspects of the case that are real without adding all the surreal ones in too. 🙁
@Nick… Apologies! I’ll slink back to the perimeter of Vallegrande. Maybe one or two of our fellow travellers of more combative bent will pick up this one.
Hasta la Victoria!
Tamara Bunke: you have to understand that my primary aim is to write blog posts that by the end leave the reader genuinely knowing more about contentious and tricky subjects.
You already know how the alternative works out. :-/
@NP: Maybe we’re on slightly different tangents (or maybe I’m missing part of the point) – firstly all the normal disclaimers around “what the papers wrote and what the coppers actually said”, but secondly they fact it’s still reported as Turkish AFTER speaking to Keipitz must ask some serious questions of his linguistic credentials – or at least our assumptions around which seven languages he might have known. Maybe it’s worth having a look at which languages might have similar words (even if they mean nothing the same), but I suspect that’s a lot harder than it sounds.
I’m increasingly agreeing with those who point out there’s an amount of confusion coming out of the cop-shop – but I’m at Hanlon’s Razor with that. In particular, I’m thinking Leane was quite disorganised (e.g. comments from Brown about his filing system) so a lot of reports to the media are based from Leane’s recollection, rather than any notes. And I think that introduces a confusion where multiple facts get muddled (e.g. someone mentions “He looks like ‘e could be a Balt”, and someone else speculates on ‘Keanic’ and when talking to the press Leane muddles them together – call it imperfect recall or whatever).
(I’m not talking Quantum Physics here…..but there might be some parallels) Every layer of information transfer adds noise (think Chinese Whispers) and every time someone tells someone something (even if they record it) there’s a chance that details are skewed (I’ll write a shopping list and later not be able to decipher one of the items on it). In fact if we’re to believe a Heifetz to Keipitz mistake happened, we have a perfect example. But there seem to be clear counter-examples too – and that’s one of the things that intrigues me most about the case. There seem to be fairly clear distinction between Thomson (the players at the centre), Thompson (the lady who came forward with a potential ID (from KI?)), and Thompsen (of Riverland fame). So we seem to simultaneously manage to record some data/information accurately with high confidence of correctness, and a whole bunch of other stuff very vaguely. Perhaps some of this can be dismissed with the idea that different characters had neater handwriting, or better record keeping, or a better feel for names – but it still bugs me. I’ll grant that names your familiar with (e.g. Thom[p]s(o|e)n variations) you might be more accurate to recall correctly, whether foreign names (e.g. Heifetz/Keipitz) are probably harder to decipher in a hurried scrawl (especially if you ask someone else to write their name rather than have them spell it for you), but I’m still bothered by it.
In any case, for me at the moment all of this comes back to “Why did Keipitz get an audience?”. Or more to the point (because we’ll accept for now he was consulted about TS and added his own speculation on Keanic) “Why did the notion of ‘Keanic’ get to the press”? While I can see on the tie where the idea “Keanic” comes from, what about the other items with names on them?
Easy Reader Version: As before, how did Keipitz come into the story? What is his qualification? Why is he here at all? How much can we trust what was reported by the press?
milongal: personally, I don’t think Keipitz/Heifetz adds much to the story. The main reason I posted about him was that there had been a load of comments about him here and that I thought I may have had some additional information about which nobody else had posted anywhere, along with my timeline notes.
All the same, it might be a nice idea to ask one of his descendants if there’s a family story about his encounter with the Somerton Man, you never know what might yield a different angle. Asking’s free, right?
NP: My longheld position is that any ‘facts’ derived from Feltus book are unsafe to the extent that reliance on information therein contains many inconsistencies and is thus unreliable. This has been as pointed out by others having accredited SM case familiarity, case in point being the unlikely story of Keipitz and your related ‘timeline’ thread which supports the contentious Feltus April 19th date for the TS slip’s notification which you share with likes of Peteb, albeit on different grounds. This is in direct contrast with others like Derek Abbott who place their firm reliance on mid June, which fits more precicely with Cleland’s comprehensive examination of clothing and effects prior to the inquest of 17th June, 1949. If that were Indeed, indeed to have been case, than it gives lie to any supposition that Detective Leane was aware of the ‘Tamam Shud’ slip existence when the Keipitz yarn was brought to notice of Adelaide press in early May ’49..Submitted with respect js
While delving into the Leane clan, trying to find a ‘bad egg’ amongst all the ‘goody two shoes’ which I have alluded to, I came across a snippet that might be classed as mere coincidence at this juncture. Fact is that when brothers R.L. & G.M. Leane joined Sapol in the late twenties, they were posted to the mounted police, thus having to aquire a riding skill level to a loud ceremonial parade and crowd control standard. This was subsequently provided by a Colour Sgt. Theodore Keane, head dressage instructor at Keswick Army barracks equestrian stables. Exclusively set up the training of police and service personel, being an Adelaide based extension of a more extensive Govt. remount depot out from O’Halloran’s Hill at Onkaparinga. Sgt Keane was a veteran of Colonel R.L. Leane’s famous 48 Btn in WW1, bn. 1897 and who sadly died at Brighton in 1961. PS: T. Keane on the tie does not match Theo’s handwriting hand at age 18 upon inlistment.
Nick,
the name Heifetz sounds remarkably similar to that of one of Jessie’s boyfriends who is buried beside her. Dr Albert Hefez was a psychiatrist who practiced at the Parkside mental hospital.
Maybe the story of the butcher speaking seven languages was just an inside joke by the coppers? Remember that Prosper was renamed Prestige? And psychiatrists at the time were doing some pretty ghastly psycho-surgery. Fifteen second frontal lobotamies and shock therapy for instance. So I can see how coppers might have referred to Hefez as a “butcher”
john sanders. Interestingly. 2 lines. WTBIMPANETP ( TIMAN = TAMAN ) ( I= A). will remain = WBPETP. substitution numbers jew – 628548 = 6 KVET 8.
Character in the middle = X. ( 6 ) center sing.
Word KVET = means in English – flower. Jestin shows you that the character X is P. ( 6=8 ). substitution = 6 = UVXW. 8 = FP.
Top line = WRGOABABD. ( WRABAD = RUBIAT ). substitution 1 =AIJQY. 2 = BRK. 4 = DMT. will remain = GOB.
Magic. remaining characters. WBPETP GOB = 6 KVET FSOR. ( X flower pattern ).
Importance. the meaning of Jestin show you the Jewish substitution. ( X=P). ( 6=8). ( X = V ).
Center sing = X + V.
3 lines = The full name of Omar Khayyam.
BD: Albert arrived in 1956, married Rosalie Jean Jewell in 60 and they had a daughter in 62 who died youngish, named after his Egyptian born mum Esther. His dad Meyer was also Egyptian, both being of Italian Nationality upon arrival around 58. Interesting chap Albert, in that he wrote a lot about claimed post traumatic stress in homecoming Vietnam veterans. Much younger than Jessica and followed her to wherever good Jews go two years later. Certainly no other Hefez types were knocking around town in ’48, but an interesting link to similar names, although the ‘butcherof Hindley St.’ reference might be a trifle unkind.
I think you’re onto something there Jo and it would not surprise if the final solution can be found in the Czech language of Peter Chelcicki’s time as I’m almost certain we’ve discussed in some detail previously. Well done that man.
hi John Sanders. You know why Jessica name was = JO. ??? And why did she sing a book ( Baxall ) named – JEstyn ???
John. No sing. she signed. JEstyn.
Byron: Couple more longshots on Keipitz, first being that he was a Rumanian Jew out of Bucharest (Mossy the Bulgar? butcher); then there’s Norman Keane (army intelligence) , with likely S.A. links in a post WW2 Dubbo NSW law partnership with a bloke name of Butcherine, known locally as Doug the Butcher you can bet. Not great but best we’ve got at short notice.
Nick.
S. Keane jr. ( junior ). Is not a name. It’s a trick. How to distract.
Kibitzer is Yiddish for ‘nosy parker’ or more precisely the cove who’s always looking over his mate’s shoulder offering unwanted advice. It’s derived from the German Kiebitz which amongst other terms is English for the constantly interfering Peewit bird. In colonial Australia the new arrivals saw commonality with native birds of similar pied colouring and manner, namely the magpie, peewee lark and also the butcher bird which in Sth Australia was also called peewee. So we don’t have to draw a very long bow in order to fit our Moss Keipitz into the above equasion methinks, especially in that Det. Leane was not known for his note keeping proficiency; One could forgive the man for following the old i before e rule and mistaking a b for a p and so all comes together when one considers the lack of other options.
Hi John.
You have been working on if for a very long time. Since 1948. And I think that’s very bad. So I decided to help you with the Somerton case. I know that you are a very clever scientist, depending on how very well you comment here with John Nick P. The Somerton case is qvite complicated because Jewish sub. is used in that writting. As Jesstin herself writes in her 4 – line writing. What is also interesting is that Jesstin writes how old he is when he writes the envelope. I can write you here that one Russian word is used there. And that word is URA. That means Czech = Hurá. There are several names in that writing. If you are able to read the text, you will find that Jesstin also used deceptive characters. You will also learn that corpse ate a total of 3 fried pastes. etc.
NP: seems you and Bowes are on board with Feltus (no doubts), on 19th April as being J.B. Cleland’s hand over date for the TS slip, a first by my reckoning which hints of a possible new level of understanding, also noted is agreement of Turkish language as opposed to Arabic or even high Farsi for the Latinised Tamam Shud wording. So all’s swell but what about Leane’s plea for help to the big boys in Canberra of 3rd May, if we’re to believe it’s bonifides. By this stage, if he already has in his possession the fob pocket find, then why omit details of same in an inter agency memo on a surely related subject mentioned by his polymath informant Moss Keipitz. And for all that wouldn’t it be expected that police would have asked the flighty Butcher bird to give his educated opinion on the untranslated TS slip.
Joseph: you’re right of course, F. KeaneJr was a mere distraction courtesy of the bold knight SirHubert, and actively championed by Peteb, Voynich minnow and one time subscriber to a lost tribe authorship for said manuscript. Of course neither theory attracted any following and so our Kisa rode off into the gloom.
@JS: That was roughly my point earlier….If Moss is such a linguist, why wasn’t he consulted about the TS (the TS and Moss are reported in the paper on the same day, from memory)
milongal: from the timeline, the Police at that precise time still thought “Tamam Shud” was written in Turkish (which it clearly wasn’t), and – strictly speaking – it wasn’t in Arabic but rather in a vowelled Romanized transliteration of Arabic. All the same, if their whole investigation hinged on having a Egyptian bloke working in an Adelaide butcher’s shop translate it, perhaps it’s a bit unfair to try to pin the problem on that bloke, hmmm?
Nick: The time line you so firmly adhere to seems to also agree with those giving their acceptance to numerous historical inacuracies and falsehoods within the so Feltus SM bible. Some of these you even queried but allowed to pass through to the keeper nonetheless. To my way of thinking any such display of weakness plays directly into the hands of former cronies and urgers who still swear by the man’s reliability, ever on the lookout for a chance to belittle his detractors. Derek Abbott has always stuck to his guns despite constant critical lambasting of his at times unsupported views and unlike Gerry, our absent minded professor isn’t shy in coming forward to express them….What happened with the Feltus promise to provide more relevant detail soonest following his viewng of the August 2018 ‘Missing Pieces’ piece of shit..
Didn’t intend to pin it on him, but I’m having a hard time understanding how he gets involved. And probably (as ever) overthinking it a bit….
IF he came to the coppers and said “I know lots about languages” then why listen to him about “Keanic” and not ask his thoughts on the TS slip.
Alternatively…
IF someone sought HIM out, it suggests he has a reputation as something of a linguist (in some circle). In this case, it still seems a bit odd that they’d listen to him on the name, and not mention the TS.
I guess the bit I struggle with is irrespective of what language they thought the slip was, they didn’t know what it means. So some guy lobs who claims to know 7 languages, and it doesn’t occur to you to say “oi, mate, take a squiz at this – any thoughts about it?”.
Something just seems a bit odd – even if he’s only a self-proclaimed linguistic expert, the fact he’s in the Police Station talking language stuff (seriously enough for the papers to write about it) and you have foreign words on a piece of paper but it never occurs to run it by him? I suppose maybe he was asked and responded “no idea” – but even that seems odd given his background. Even allowing for romanization – firstly this guy is linguistically fluent (so presumably has some idea about romanization) secondly, surely in the process of coming to Australia (possibly through many other channels) he would have experienced countless romanization quirks (insert my typical rant about the 32 variations of Mohammed, or the various ways of spelling Zhang/Cheng/Xiang….).
Aside…Could be wrong, but I seem to remember that romanizing Arabic is particularly problematic, because there’s not really any clear standards (Chinese has similar issues, although I think with Arabic the problem is basically there is no standard, and with Chinese there are many standards, but noone can agree on which one to use).
Revisiting the news articles of the time, there are 2 interesting things – the police took him VERY seriously (they re-issued descriptions with the new name); some of them say “after a minute examination” (minute as in small/close up not 60 seconds presumably). But they also almost invariably say “….slav, possibly Bulgarian” – which is different to the Balt/Czeck/Yugoslav in Leane’s letter – which sort of might support the idea floated before that Leane wasn’t very thorough with notes and worked instead from recollection (or perhaps had very illegible notes – maybe Slav becomes Yugoslav or Czeckoslav, and Bulgarian becomes Baltic). That in turn may add more weight to the idea of Heifetz becoming Keipitz – but we’re on old ground.
I know I’m kind of making a lot of an incidental connection, but it seems a bit odd – and the Hindley connection is interesting (didn’t the small ads link into Hindley St as well?)
Short version: They took “Keanic” seriously enough to send it international, but didn’t think a linguist might be able to help them with other language problems they had.
Please note that “Tamam Shud” is Parsi (old Persian), not Arabic, so understandably mr. Keipitz could not understand it.
Also note that surnames like “Kheifits” are known alternative versions of Heifetz: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heifetz
And they enjoy a great tradition of liguistic experience: https://www.unive.it/data/persone/12588577
However “Keanic” does not make sense, even as a botched romanization.
milongal: simple answer is that Keipits, if he was for real which is debatable to a degree, was discredited and his theory on Keanic blown, long before the TS slip surfaced a month or more later according to the best evidence available. The Gerry Feltus assertion on page 79 of his book is an out and out fabrication, and easily discredited by presence of the word ‘produced’ suggesting it was part of Lionel Leane’s inquest testimony, of which there be no such mention. For additional denunciation of the 19th April date line, we need go no further than page 38/11 of Len Brown’s interview with Littlemore on Inside Story, where he asserts that the slip was found by Cleland in late? May or June. This being just prior to said Coronial Inquest that convened 17th instant and to which Derek Abbott wholeheartedly concurs…..I rest my case.
Stefano Guidoni: you are absolutely correct about Parsi, well noted! 🙂
Note that the word “tamam” meaning “complete” also occurs in Turkish, where it is also used as an interjection meaning “OK” (I often hear it used in this way by Turkish-German people, even when speaking German), and apparently it’s originally from Arabic. See:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tamam
So if someone was familiar with the Turkish use of the word, they may well have assumed that the phrase is Turkish.
The language is Farsi (otherwise known as Persian or Iranian). A Parsi or Parsee is the name given in India to an adherent of Zoroastrianism.
@Stefano: We don’t know which 7 languages Keipitz claimed to know (and there’s nothing to suggest they were “current”). In any case, we don’t know that he was even shown the slip – which is sort of my point. We have a claimed linguistic expert offering (nonsensical) thoughts about Kean[(e|ic]) but we forget we have the TS slip (@JS: TS slip reported in papers on the same day that Keipitz appears in the papers (about 3rd May, I think) – which if anything makes things more intriguing)).
But as with so many things around SM, I find any explanation equally as problematic. Why would the police believe Keipitz if he just appeared from nowhere….but equally why would they engage him when they didn’t think Keane was anything but Keane? If they brought him in to speculate on the TS slip, why doesn’t that seem to be mentioned anywhere? Is it possible that it was HIS ‘expertise’ that had them thinking the slip was Turkish (this from the same person who suggested “Keanic” might be Bulgarian)?
@Lars: That is a bit more interesting….
Depending on which narrative we believe, “Keanic” might be:
Bulgarian – unlikely. Names overwhelmingly seem to end ov/eva (or ova/eva for feminine)
Yugoslav – maybe. the “ic” ending is certainly common, but “KEAN” doesn’t seem a likely prefix (I don’t think “ea” is a common letter combination there….but not sure).
Czekoslovak – unlikely. “k” would be far more likely than “c” as the last letter.
Balt – nope, nope, nopety, nope, nope, nope. Estonian names (I think) would be similar to Finnish, Latvian and Lithuanian names (i.e. “Baltic languages”) would typically end with “is” or “as”. In fact, the “c” is a soft sound, and while that doesn’t eliminate it as an ending, the sound at the end of a word would be “ts” (or maybe “tz” – but maybe not) rather than “c” (e.g. the Latvian version of “Smith” would be “Smits”).
Maybe let’s go back to the question of which 7 languages Keipetz knew….and/or how did he even come to be in this story?
Stefano Guidoni: you are absolutely incorrect in ascribing Parsi to being of itself a recognised language, it being in fact used to describe a number of at best spurious lesser dialects. These being of Indian sub continent or Middle Eastern origin and closely aligned with Farsi to which it is mostly identified as being a like dialect as Furphy suggests. Interesting in that here we find letters F and P being definately interchangable not far removed from Haifetz and Keipitz which might yet prove to be a mere aboration.
Why 7 languages, why not 5 or 9? How come a man who could speak/understand 7 languages worked in a butchers shop? Yes, Hindley St was in Prosper’s ads, well, street # 222 was. As for the search for the meaning of ‘Taman Shud’, surely the quickest method to find its meaning would be to approach a university for the answer, obviously it tool a long time for SAPOL to join the dots. If the SM was suspected to have been a Bulgarian, Slav etc, a visit by authorities to Woomera may have paid dividends?
So what’s with John Cleland and his chance discovery of the TS slip on whatever date strikes one’s fancy, 1949. Fellow’s 71 years of age, an educated soon to be knight of the realm, widely travelled to distant places including sub saharan ports of call no doubt and a prolific author to boot. Fellow sticks his mit into the dead chap’s exacto-fit trouser fob pocket and out pops a piece of rolled up paper with text. There’s just two text words of script in an oriental font style to play with yet, here we have the brightest man in town with not a flaming schmick what ‘TAMAM SHUD’ could represent…It is possible of course that old Bert who, in his later years was blind as newt, may even by that stage have been visually tested; then again he had no trouble comparing carded linen threads and sewing repairs did he?
Clive: This conversation has covered all angles and with your last we seem to be back where we started ie. up the Putty Rd. Why not get Peteb or GC to take up the cudgels on a Keanic spy case scenario to see where the bulging balls of your big bold blond Bulgarian bastard might bounce.
Furphy, John: Farsi is just the modern pronunciation of Parsi, which, under the influence of the standard Arabic language, which lacks the sound /p/, shifted its p to f. Classical linguists from Friedrich Spiegel to Joseph Greenberg and beyond, called Parsi the Classical Persian and Farsi the Modern Persian. Omar Khayyam wrote in Classical Persian, hence why I called it Parsi.
Persian purists like it better than Farsi: https://www.iranchamber.com/literature/articles/persian_parsi_language_history.php
milongal: Finnish and Estonian are not Baltic languages, they are Finno-Ugric languages, a completely different family. Also note that “c” in some Eastern European languages is pronounced /ts/, e.g. in Albanian.
Once I met a Swis girl, whose father was Portuguese: she spoke quite well French, Italian, Portuguese, English (she was an exchange student in the USA), maybe some German (I can’t remember for sure). She attended a gymnasium in Switzerland, so she studied Latin and ancient Greek. That’s already six to seven languages: it is not hard.
JOhn Sanders.
What is strange about the fact that the words TAMAM SHUD mean = finished- end -death ? What matters is what is written in the 4 verses. There is a clear answer.
I’ll write you why JEstyn was also called ” JO “. ( JES = YES ). In the Czech language, YES means JO. ( or ANO ). Also the name JEstyn.
There is a deceptive sign in that word – ( T ). So it reads = JE SYN. ( English = He’s a son ). Jessic wrote there that Boxall stabbed her and that she had a son with him ( Robi ). That’s why she signed the book Boxall had – named JEstyn.
JOseph Zlatodej Prof.
NAA records for Alfred Boxall’s service history gives lie to the claim that JEstyn and ALf could have begat wee RObin period. Simply put Robin Thomson was born on 10th June 1947, a date confirmed recently by his sister Kate and most reliable. His mother’s whereabouts prior to conception/insemination early September ’46 are unclear though more likey to have been Sydney NSW where she claimed to have been nursung. ALFred Boxall, as we can prove, exited Australia on 12th September 1945 and did not re-enter until 18th October ’46, which according to best medical opinion leaves him well short of the crime scene (point of entry) and therefore innocent of said ‘stabbing’.
@Stefano Agree that Finnish and Estonian are not Baltic languages – but when people refer to Baltic (and the point I was addressing was the mention of “Balt”), they typically mean Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Finland was only mentioned as a means to dismiss Estonian – and yes, I mentioned that in Latvian the ‘c’ would be more a ‘ts’ or ‘tz’ sound (which would not be a common name-ending, and the ‘ea’ is unlikely too) . Probably worth adding that in some it might also be pronounced like the english “ch” – especially if there’s a diacritic (e.g. č ) that might not be visible on the tie – but in any case, it puzzles me why Slav or Baltic was the conclusion.
I’m not saying it would be hard for someone to know 7 languages, rather I’m speculating on WHICH languages they might be (and to a lesser degree how proficient they might be – I speak English fluently, can hold a reasonable conversation in Latvian, could probably survive speaking Italian, have a basic knowledge of German, am vaguely familiar with words in Latin (although this is largely where words appear similar to Italian) and can recognise words in some other languages (and have a good guess at a few more) – but if someone asked I’d probably say I speak 2 languages). So the claim to “7 languages” to me implies some proficiency in most them – the problem is, unless those 7 include the languages that he speculates “Keanic” might appear in it holds little weight.
So for mine there’s 2 questions:
1) WHICH 7 languages might Keipetz have been familiar with?
2) WHY are the police talking to him (partly did he reach out to them, or did they reach out to him – and in either case, why are they entertaining his thoughts).
There’s also a side question…..somewhere I remember reading “pronounced Quanic” can’t remember if that was in original reports, or more recent speculation. But in any event, why would someone be so comfortable that’s the correct pronunciation unless they have some idea (or opinion) of the origin?
In any event, suspect the Keanic is just a speculative distraction – although it is interesting the weight that the Detectives gave the idea.
So, the meetings for drinks at the Clifton Gardens Hotel may have been ‘swift and sudden, never really arranged’ per Littlemore’s interview with Boxall. I’m presuming the other meeting(s) Jessie had with Boxall were not ‘swift and sudden, no sneaking down stony stairs’?
Milongal: if Moss Keipitz was – as I now think probable – Solomon Heifetz, we can have a good guess at his languages.
Heifetz as a surname comes from Belarus and Lithuania: Solomon was born in Istanbul but was of Egyptian nationality. So we have Turkish, Hebrew, Arabic, English, and probably Lithuanian, German, Yiddish too, making a nice round seven.
Nick: Saloman Samuel Heifetz, as I tried to explain on a post that somehow missed the cut, could not possibly have been Moss Keipitz. Even going by your timeline, which on that point confirms arrival of Sal & Sabina by ship on 15th May 1949, well after Leane’s alleged dealings with his Keanic informant in late April. On a related matter, I’ve just searched (not complete) the ‘Fifth Fleet’ ships manifests on arrivals between 1947 to April 1949 and nothing vaguely similar to the Keipitz appears. PS: I’m sure that upon reflexion you would also agree that old Sal’s birthyear of 1888 is a bit of an overeach for our decade younger Jerry Somerton.
milongal: let me remind you and others that it was only the Adelaide press who mentioned the unamed police informant having worked for a butcher in Hindley St. and seven language fluency. Leane’s strange memo to his, at that time non existant Commonwealth Police counterparts in Canberra made no such claims. A formal negative reply in early May sans letterhead seems to have come through CIS and made no mention of Keipitz status either which might have helped.
john sanders: yeah, I’ve got myself a little tangled there, sorry. It was Samuel Heifetz (born 3rd May 1918 in Alexandria) who arrived by air in Sydney on 1st October 1948, who was possibly “Moss Keipitz”, because Solomon Samuel Heifetz (born 5th May 1888 in Istanbul) didn’t arrive in Melbourne until 15th May 1949.
None of the Heifetzes had anything to do with Jerry Somerton.
Nick: it had crossed my mind, how ingenious some cops can be, in that maybe the name Det. Leane really wanted checked out with immigration was Moss Keipitz and that Keanic was a blind all along. Why else would he have given uneccessary details of his informant to the Feds; only reason I can think of is that he knew they were likely to put Moss Keipitz through their search agenda too. I’m betting they did and their response told Leane that nothing registered. I guess we’ll never know for sure. In my day we’d often do something similar using a plausable monicker like Ron Bankton with full knowledge that no such name was on file in Australia.
JOhn and John.
4 Verses .
S písma smaž T,M,T. ( Czech language ).
Delete with fonts T,M,T. ( English language ). letters T,M,T = deceptive characters.
So you have to delete the characters from the 4 verses. Then you will read what Jesstin wrote to you. Ewerything is in the Czech language.
Also look at the name of th drogs that identified the coroner. Jesstin knew very well what effects he had OVABAIN. The end of the word KAIN is important .( substi. Jew = number 2 = B,R,K ).
TIE is also important. I’ll show you the magic.
JESTYN = JESTIE = JES = YES = JO. ( JO is a signature ). ! YESTIE = Yes tie !
Everithing is encrypted by Jewish substitution. ( number 5 = E,H,N ). ( 1=I,Y,A,Q).
And what is also important, Jo writes there, how old she is. He writes 27. That means – 1921 + 27 = 1948.
@JS: Noted, but I’m gonna go with it for now because:
1) It’s consistently reported such (which suggests a single source)
2) There wasn’t a need for Leane to be explaining to big wigs he was talking to a foreign butcher (in fact he might have felt that would discredit an idea he seems to have subscribed to – given he supposedly recirculated a description with “Keanic” rather than “Keane” internationally).
@NP: Now we’re getting somewhere . So let’s agree Turkish is in the mix, isn’t it even stranger that he wasn’t shown the TS (if the plods thought it was Turkish)? Or did he point out that it could be Turkish (and how did he miss it was Arabic – I think you’ve previously suggested Romanization – which I guess is plausible given that it’s written in a Latin script rather than Arabic, but still strikes me a touch strange). In fact, on that basis I’d be leaning toward him having been engaged to offer thoughts on TS, and then offering his Keanic opinion and having that take off a bit….
In any case, assuming we’ve guessed the correct 7 languages,I doubt there’s any way he’d say “Keanic” was Baltic, and it’s sort of interesting he’s come up with Slavic – because that almost seems to be a “Oh, it doesn’t sound like any languages I know…..maybe he’s Slavic” (and it’s a surname that seems reasonably rare – ironically, a couple of the results I get seemed to be failed OCR on Keane…..). So I think my earlier speculation that “Slav probably Bulgarian” was jotted down in a hurry and later neatened into “Czechoslovak, Yugoslav or Balt” when mixing recollection with illegible notes might be where things got confused (and I’m still interested whether the “Quanic” pronunciation was something originally suggested by Keipitz, or if that’s some fan fiction that came later).
TBH the more I look at it, the less likely I think the “Keanic” idea holds any water – I think Leane (or someone) got excited about a new angle …In fact, if “wokeness” were a thing back then I’d suggest Leane was trying to show he was open-minded enough to listen to a foreigner and speculate about the non-English speaking world – but maybe that’s a touch unfair to him.
Scrub that – Leane’s memo says “Keanic” pronounced “Quanic”…..which to me suggests Keipitz said it.
But it’s hard to tell how much is Leane’s bumbling (I like that he’s corrected “Chzechsolvakian” (sic) to include the z (and remove an o between l and v)), and how much comes from Keipitz.
Personally, I’ve always imagined “QUANIC” to describe a Middle Eastern rather than European language, and it also seems a bit odd to say “The surname is European, but the first letter is an Arabic ‘J'”
Digging real deep, I’ve hit on KEIP as being the monicker given to an old Bavarian family of noblemen who raised horses, smoked dope and did not get on with their neighbours so well. Goes without saying that the ITZ suffix applied to sons and heirs thereafter but, for those who are more into intrigue, KEIP is also used as a word for a type of fish entrapment method in East Prussian, dialect of which a certain Adelaide police photographer Dud Aebi would have been familiar. So take your pick, my preference being for the latter and it’s subtle reference to SAFCOl’s connection to ‘floundering fish out of water’.
Hi. It would not be possible to find out who E.C. Johnson ???
Nick: My last shot at chopping Samual Heifetz as your top contender for butcher’s aid Keipitz, relies on factors connected with the man’s elevated status as a new legation Israeli Jew with diplomatic favours extended. Not to mention that by 1949 he seems to have selected Melbourne as a base to run his World Travel Service enterprise, as evidenced by forty nine logged air arrivals into Melbourne between 1952 and 1972. If that’s not enough, look no further than Ferida, Sam’s delectable Audrey Hepburn look alike missus; can’t imagine a piece of meat like that hooked up with a motley Henley St. butcher, can you?
With the Code page, Jessie’s inscription in Alf’s copy of the Rubaiyat and the Taman Shud slip, all, apparently concealing micro-writing, could the ‘J. Keane’ on the tie also conceal something?
C.J. Turner
Alf’s copy of the Rubaiyat and the T.S. Vhat is written betwen the hyphens is important. ( – ).
( – bare Penitence – ).
1. Penitence = Fenitence = PLOT. = Czech + substi. Jew = PLOD. ( fruit ) = Fetus = child. ( number 8 = P,F ) ( 4 = D,M,T ).
2. Bare Penitence = ECNETINEP ERAB = ELEN TI NEFĚŘÍ = (czech gramatika = ELEN TI NEVĚŘÍ ).
English language = Elen doesn’t trust you .
Clive J.Turner: we were under the impression that your contention centred on a Major William Jestyn Moulds MBE having inscribed Alf’s ROK with verse 70 and the JEStyn signature, then over or underwritten in 0.05ml.micro code. Regarding the ‘J. Keane’ [sic] inscribed tie including other physical evidence recovered from the body and suitcase, I think you’ll find that according to one source it is possibly still infused with recoverable DNA material for comparison.
Josef Z. Prof: Edgar Cecil Johnson 1893/1955, 2nd Field Bakery AIF. Missing middle finger right hand and resident of YMCA Adelaide 1948.
John Sanders: I bet someone had a surprise in their cream finger. =:-o
Clive J. Turner: one famous Voynich Manuscript ‘decryptor’ was surprised to find that his Voynich decryption also appeared to work with writing on Etruscan graves. Of course, he wasn’t able to read either, it was just a delusion.
Might it be that microwriting – that appears to be everywhere when you squint at it in just the right way – works in the same way?
Has anything useful actually come from the alleged microwriting? It apparently appears everywhere (including at one stage on the cover of Feltus’ book) and yet AFAIK (not that I’ve really been following) nothing useful has ever been found (notwithstanding I’ve never understood an explanation on how it would have transferred between media).
Too each their own, of course, but that ain’t a direction I would be chasing in.
Mildly unusual that E.C. Johnson’s full name was not tabled by Adelaide press at the time, even after his having come forward to identify himself. Nor was it ever disclosed as to the source of his nomination or his standout missing digit and whilst I could never quite put my finger on it, I always felt something of substance was missing. Might it have been a certain piece of paper found on the beach body bearing the nominees name which was later refered to as ‘a piece of paper with writing’ in Jim Durham’s inquest testimony.
milongal: you’ve obviously missed out on GC’s simple method for producing his amazing results. Turns out that a generous application of ready accessed Bon Ami household bleach combined with the filtered juice of two Tahitian limes (stirred not shaken), is all that’s required for bringing up secret writing from beneath layers of overlayed script, whether photo imaged or original. It has even been claimed that this methodology was used by soothsayers and charlatans of old to raise the dead from their slumbers.
E.C. Johnson could also be a Carl Eric Johnson per NAA? I personally find it odd that we have photocopies of the Tamam Shud slip, Jessie’s Rubaiyat inscription and a photocopy of the Code page, And, wonder of wonders they all appear to contain micro-writing in some form or other. An independent assessment examination of how the micro-writing came to be discovered and, all the resulting methods etc of detection is the only way forward so individuals can make up their own mind. It should not be rocket science, surely?
Before we get off this threadline and move on towards our end goal, I’ts essential that we bring back into line as points fo reference, the tendering of two distinct Tamam Shud slips numbered C1 (f) and C9 with evidence given at the inquest by Constable John Moss and his counterpart Detective Leonard Brown in July 1949. I recall offering full details of my assertions here on TS/TS 18/21 June 2020 to which one dedicated Tbt plant responded. I’d recommend it’s evaluation in context with James Durhams own reference to “the piece of paper found on the body” which may support contention that discovery was contemporaneous with Strangway’s initial search of the death scene on day one and likely not the Tamam Shud slip..
Josef Z. Prof. Your next question on how police gettting name E.C. Johnson and address on day 1 before any public appeal or press releases. Only way is that deceased had that name and address on him when found so police were thus able to make contact by telephone to Peoples Palace hostel that evening. Next morning Mr. Johnson obediently checked in to have his credehtials varified with Payneham Police where he was well known. Apart from his missing finger (1918), Edgar was 55 years old at the time and a doubtful candidate for the beach body from the get go. Elementary thinking and sad that such details were never released or made subject of duscussion since Jerry’s fall from Grace in 1948.
Clive: Carl Eric Johnson (not E.C.) was a Swedish-born WW1 soldier from Mackay QLD who died at Brisbane in 1974 aged 81. Only commonality with SM doings is that he had a wife named Jessie, so a GC ‘well spotted’ award for that, I guess.
John Sanders.
Jestyn wrote on her tie. So it will be a quiz. You need to look at the characters well.
R – are 2 characters ( I + 2 ), ( 2 = B,R,K ).
3. letter is lowercase = m.
4. letter is = A.
5. letter is = Z.
6. letter is = J.
7. letter is = R.
1. letter is = S + Z.
So the word is = SIR MAZ I R. ( Sir maži R ). ( Sir deleted – R ).
Jestyn writes that the letter R should be deleted.
You have 2 meanings ( S + Z ).
Meaning with S. = Sama ží. ( Sam lives ). Also reads upside down = JO i mal. ( Jo i had ).
Meaning with Z. = ŽIDA ŽÍ. ( The Jew lives ). Also reads upside down = JO i máž. ( it means in English = JO i had ).
Jestyn says you found her. I think that’s the magic that’s written on the tie.
JES TIE – YES TIE , JO TIE. ( YES TIE – EIT SEY = HAD CEY )
not upside down. it also reads from right to left.
Josef Z. Prof. I’m onto your latest quiz, but a little short on time. ‘The Beat Up’ thread on Tomsbytwo blob, is by former Voynich minnow Peteb who thinks your unique injection of a Chech language substitution to crack the Rubaiyat code is ground breaking and ingenious. His own sulution rests with the four letters ‘A’ to be found within the code in a 7 space sequence of fall which he says accords with a particular verse not to be found in the Kenny Rogers first edition. Perhaps you can come up with a joint effort compromise.
John Sanders. ( 4 = A ) ( A,I,A,Q ).
M.L.I.A.B.O. A.I.A.Q.C.
The full name is hidden in these letters.
M.L.I.A.R.O. = OMAR. ( These letters will remain = L.I.A.I.A.Q.C.
( OMAR = 1 A….KHAYYAM = 4 A. )
JEW substitution number 1 = A,I,J,Q,Y.
Mising number for letter H. ( number 5 = E,H,N ).
Add I,A,I,A,Q . This means – 1+1+1+1+1 = 5. ( Result number 5 = E,H,N ).
Now you have all the letters for the name KHAYYAM. A At the same time, if you use the letter = L you will make the name – ELEN. ( EHN + L = Elen . H = E ).
The last character = C, belongs to the line. ( C= S ). The letters SH, are in 3 lines. Start of line 4 = V,T. ( substitution = U,D ). This creates the word SHUD.
@JS: I’ve read his explanation on technique, but there’s a missing bit of science for mine in terms of how the cross medium transfer is even possible. I can’t even remember if it was ever established that the piece of paper is the original piece of paper (I remember speculation that it may have been traced using a piece of glass or something…..but not sure anyone really cared enough to think about it).
Even if it is the original paper, I’m not convinced that any backyard technique will reveal the original pencil under the texta from a subsequent photograph – as I say, each to their own, but it’s not where I think effort is best invested.
milongal: I really hope I don’t need to make it clear once again just how little confidence I have in the processes being described there. But as you say, each to their own.
Detective Brown, when did he take over the investigation, anyone?
Where did you get that from Peteb. Brown was taken off for reasons known but to he and moi. That was before the ROK came to CIB according to the white lie he told Stuart in the ’78 interview and, he went on to disclose that both he and Det. Sen. Const. Leane were assigned to other cases/duties shortly thereafter. However newspapers were citing occasional progress reports from the pair long afterwards right up until 1952 though it did go quiet for a spell following the Alf Boxall ID confirmation. One of the Leane team took over the cold case brief up until the second sine die inquest and it was subsequently handed over to my colleague Ron Thomas until he went to the Feds same time as me around ’73. No doubting that Len Brown had forgotton a great deal about the case when he stuttered through his lines with Stuart Littlemore in ’78….From my stored ‘knowledge’ of the case; speaking of which, what’s the guts on Feltus’ hidden pearl of knowledge passed on from Clive Walker if you don’t mind?
Geez, Johnno, where haven’t you been and who haven’t you served, pity nobody can prove you had anything to to do with SAPOL, then again, I was the undisputed surfing world champion in 1961 just prior to being employed as one of Abe Saffron’s hard men in ‘65 followed by an executive stint in a world class corporation headquartered in Gibraltar with branches in Jersey. Then I took on a couple of Sydney shysters building boats with stolen plans before going into the international dope business in the northern rivers … the life we live old fellow, unbelievable, ain’t it .. well, yours isn’t.
PB: you mean to say that in your opinion I’m totally believable. Cripes I didn’t think anyone could be so easily duped, anyone but your gullible self I’ll concede. As if a man of my calibre and investigative accumen might have stooped so low as to have served with Sapol. Whatever could have given you that impression I wonder?
GC: thanks for the “JS” mention in your very latest blurb, and might we expect yet another shout from the tree tops “Gordon has SCOOORED” from our mate. By the way I’m still owed three heads up from memory (salon hair, gusset fob, Stamina duds for sale), and until they appear on BS/TS, expect no heartfelt compliments on your latest bleach and lemon juice conjurer’s magic from moi. Not much chance of me getting my five remaining lower teeth into anything, not even your tempting grapes of wrath revamp exposure.