Servant Girl Annihilator and had a club foot which was similar to a footprint believed to have been left by the killer. In February 1886, shortly after the last murder, Elgin was shot and killed by police while he was attempting to assault a girl with a knife. William Sydney Porter, better known as the short story writer O. Henry, was living in Austin at the time of the murders. Porter coined the term "Servant Girl Annihilators" in a May 10, 1885, letter addressed to his friend Dave Hall and later included in his anthology "Rolling Stones": "Town is fearfully dull," wrote Porter,
USS William D. Porter (DD-579) Porter" which shot down balloons as well. "Porter", along with the other escort ships, also demonstrated a torpedo drill by simulating a launch at "Iowa". This drill suddenly went awry when a torpedo from mount #2 aboard "William D. Porter" discharged from its tube and headed toward "Iowa". "William D. Porter" attempted to signal "Iowa" about the incoming torpedo but, owing to orders to maintain radio silence, used a signal lamp instead. However, the destroyer first misidentified the direction of the torpedo and then relayed the wrong message, informing "Iowa" that "Porter" was backing up, rather than that a torpedo