Blows Out of the Dark By BROUGHTON BRANDENBURG

I'BJ ECTof mystery, lending itself all 100 reaaily to the fancy of mafiusi, and from the revival of the romancer and liiiglv the Mafia in political form has spread , evasive to the sincere ;lent through the greater portion of Sicily. The A of conditions, the alarming wild retreats of the mountains serve as spread of cabali-;-.c criminal organizations hiding-places; the cities and villages are bids lair to become one of the national the .scenes of the enactment of the bold problems plots; and a dreadful condition obtains The columns of American newspapers which has been decried all over Italy. bristle with accounts of half-explained The authorities are almost helpless since crimes and outrages committed by the murder of Emanuele foreign- was a Notarbartolo l«>rn residents ox the country, and s'us- He valiant soldier, of excellent fam- raodic efforts are made by the authorities ily, inthe war with Garibaldi, and devot- to suppress surh outbreaks; but, neverthe- ed his life to reform work in Sicily. Every less, the situation grows worse, evil-doer was secretly his enemy; every becomes hone I more and in>>re complicated, and the need of a man was secretly his friend. In the increases in acute demand. struggle between the two forces more murders than societies that employ deeds of could be listed on these pages occurred. Secret violence to break The out- an end are always the product of two conditions: in New Orleans had a connection with this urst, oppression of large groups of people, or an political . Though guarded night and day unhealthy lawlt-ss spirit that moves organization wherever he went. Notarbartolo was to night murdered one to prey. The Russian Hund and the Russian Ni- in his private compartment in a train return- ing from his estate. hilists come under the l:rst class. The Italian Malia country Itbecame known that sprang from the North oppressing the the murder forestalled a grand exposure of the plun- South. The dering of the Hank of Sicily Ku-Klux Klxa followed carpet-bagging in the re- by the political Mafia. •1". v.:!l arise and wild the i. i I scat- Years passed before an arrest was made; cxmstroction ]>eriod after the Civil War. The Chi- tered gangs but Reform Association, ' into a new II iin detail Lieutenant Notarbartolo, the murdered man's son nese that is the com- <\u25a0 -- fomenting '\u25a0 r : rime as an !• stuck ing revolution inChina proceeds from an oj>pressive ai rgani: ed >r doggedly tothe trail, and finally Palizzolo was w.ir arrested. He was found guilty condition. The Clan-na-Clael was an outgrowth of FirM I will d • in the next trial' a patriotic Irish movement. The MoUy rs out of which but was released by the highest court of the kingdom, Maguires Italian crimes, with all their di i the '' I mystery and Court of Cassation, and is in full power were the response of the beaten strikers the great \u25a0 \u25a0 to-day. of \u25a0 - iron, ' trail ol Italiai Tart of the murder was planned Pennsylvania coal, and \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 in Castcldaccia railroad strike. The froi numerous of Italy, " the Dark Ag< and trickles like whence witnesses fled to the of America, the Wood down the pages When America! H idligans of iVhitechapel, and the of history. In Palizzolo was finally cleared, several of these Caballeros de ntury 1 mgely composite wished toreturn. Four, who were living wretchedly N'oche <•: Mexico are purely criminal in purj>ose. \u25a0 \u25a0 blood had been . in Riyerdale on the outskirts Chicago, being parasites upon \u25a0 \u25a0 • announced the communities they infest. etc., the their intention of • stood behind appearing in Italy, but the 1 \u25a0 Ku-Klux, Clan-na-Gael. Mafia insi Charles of long arm of the Italian Mafia, the dreaded thing n Con- that deals blows out of the dark, them, \u25a0 reached and T^HE Ku-Kluxmay have a few shreds of < Norman line, in 1 all were •*\u25a0 form left - 268. For murdered. in the South. the Clan-na-Gael is all Inn passed, ilians plotted vengeance under as the great body of the expatriated Irish n, in « hich tnm- . • _ ird for The Barrel Murder Gang have K-cn • law wa i <>n May jo, 1282, ""PHI-: present absorbed into the make-up of tin's nation. The old " they rose terrorism had its beginning in the Mafia i-dead; but from its ashes has arisen a hvdra- \u25a0' the ten laughtei I Sicilian metropolis. TheBarrelMurder Gang of New York headed anomaly that is the fifth curse of Southern toriai \u25a0 was one "i several that were preying on the Italian Italy. In the United States the transplanted seeds perished. 1 card colony several years >. They combined counterfeit- \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 have sprouted into a flourishing institution that tory 1 \u25a0 ; ing with their Black Hand methods, and killed \u25a0 • Bene- bids fair to become the greatest criminal organiza- !in the even . t the dot >r- detto Madonia in the basement of an Elizabeth-st tion of the world's history."the sporadic expression f Siciliai t hoi Iii bakery while secret -service men were watching <>: a great criminal condition rather than a more tradition in the a outside, dressed him in other clothes than his own, or less extended group of outbreaks inspired by . \u25a0 .• has dis- put the body in a barrel, and left it on the corner so:r:e organized and governed society. \u25a0 • • of Avenue Dand Eleventh-st. Inspector McClusky \u25a0 That is what puzzles dilettante students of social and his men found cigars identical with those in the and criminal conditions. They learn of a set of dead man's j,K>ekcts in the possession of some of in Sicily crimes committed by the Black Hand, several asso- Justice the twelve members of the gang arrested. Petto, ciated murders hke those in the Eastern D^trict. O i;Iwas expostulating with a well-bred, well- called "The Ox." had pawn-tickets which, when Brooklyn, in the Grccnbricr Valley, Virginia, al«>ut educated Sicilian whom Iknew intimately and traced, produced Madonia 's watch and other effects. -\u25a0'\u25a0' Investigation shows who had told me of 'intention to killanother Sicil- Much other evidence was adduced; yet the men that The crimes were committed by the Black Hand. ian because of a wrong done to the would-be murder- were all turned free. Immediately this declaration is made, responsible er's brother. Iadvised him to prosecute the man in A carnival oi crime resulted. Detective Sergeant and m:luential Italian citizens join in declaring the courts, as he was certain to get a long sentence. Giuseppe Petrosino, the noted central-office man would not be right." cases, there is no such society as the Black Hand. The "That exclaimed my friend. who has charge of all Italian backed by a investigator halts puzzled. Thcresj>ectable Italians "Why should the Judge give him twenty years? number of other officers and public-spirited persons are interested solely in preserving the good name of He did nothing to the Judge. It is 1 who must who were not afraid to risk their lives in the cause, revenge the Italian people, and do not trouble to go further my ]«»or brother." forced the formation of a secret squad "4 Italian and explain the mystery, cither because they do That is the code epitomized. The Southern detectives to combat the spreading evil. For .1 not understand it themselves or l>ccause past ex- Italian finds the law in conflict with his traditional time consternation prevailed in the panys. 'ih \u25a0 perience has shown them that their American audi- jKTSOnaI rights, and he leans toward the traditions. Island of Manhattan was swept clean of them. The/ evades taxes, customs, witness, tors are not cajiable of comprehending the intricacies and duty as a and went elsewhere, and unfortunately took their Black (>:" Italian ways. at all times seeks private rather than legal redress. Hand propaganda with them. In the mining dis- Such an attitude toward the law in any community tricts of Pennsylvania, where there had been scat- The Bbck Hand provides ample protection for criminals. All they tered gangs, the coming of a few bold criminals from need tear is the private vengeance of their victims. Mew York fired them with a new evil ardor, and ntic men- When Garibaldi led his triumphant army in the since then a reign of murder and terror has existed T|\u25a0 cause of the unification of Italy, the bandits who, which grows worse daily. i Ito ' protected by the peasantry, preyed <>n the priv- lr<«m it. is i \u25a0 classes, Reorganizing the Black Hand It • ileged left their mountain retreats and . . \u25a0 : a r-4] i•! joined him. TPIN.* dispersed villains recruited new bands, and ... \\ hen war was at to York, • the over some few continued their when last they ventured back New \u25a0 hereditary practices. Mussolino, the last <;rcut one, after allof Petrosino's men were spotted and known, \u25a0 is now in prison serving a life sentence. Those who their reconcentration effected the state of organiza- \u25a0\u25a0 \u25a0 | did not return the hills kept up their old asso- tion which 1 have described. That is the status of \u25a0 — ciations lor purposes of self-protection,' and formed the Black Hand to-day- a large body of criminals \u25a0 the dreaded Mafia of that time. Such others as formed in gangs, the majority of the leaders of \u25a0 wished to prey secretly ujkjo the people by threats which know each other and exchange couttesies in is the constituted the Camorra. The stern repressive the way <'! mailing threatening letters, pursuing a \u25a0 measures taken by the Government are matters of victim, shielding a fugitive^ and driving the stiletto . \u25a0 history. to the heart of some condemned unfortunate. The Camorra has a shadowy existence. The An appalling record indeed is the summary of ... Mafia is a society of old nun clinging together to Black Hand crimes since 1004. I tot up the de- \u25a0 keep their secrets, and active only in local crises. tailed study of the institution's origin, growl etc.. In me places, however, it has in that year and have kept

\u25a0 \u25a0 I taken on an entirely [toliticalcom- tally on its outrages, per- \u25a0 plexion under the new regime in sonally investigating all of \u25a0 . Southern Italy.Rafaello Palizzolo, those; most interesting. member of the Chamberpot Depu- Many .died Black Hand ties from Palermo, has been shown murders are merely private to have built himself up on the vendettas or the results of \u25a0 v support ofsecret gangs, or cosci of brawls. Many threats of