Connecticut western news., 1873-02-14
Hungarian Desperadoes.

Szegedian is little town in Hungary. Since 1860, according to the Lloyd, of Pesth, the inhabitants of this town have besn kept ill such state of terrorism that they regularly barricaded them selves in their houses at dark, and even during the daylight dared not venture into the street unless armed to the teeth. Bands of desperadoes roamed the town and the surrounding country robbery, arson, and assassination were constant; and the stage coaches were attacked and robbed in the very market place.
 How such state of things could be permitted to last for nearly fifteen years in any country claimed to be civilized, would seem incredible to any. Arrests were made from time to time, but they generally turned out to be the victims and not the perpetrators of the atroci- ties; for the chief of the bandits, named Sandor, who scared on his own side most of the authorities of the luckless town. It was @ virtual bandit ring which ruled Szegedin, and only after a dozen years of this kind of thing does it seem to have but thought worth while by the central authorities to attempt to put an end to it. At last, however, the outrages became too numerous and frightful to be any longer passed over in silence, and Royal Commissioner was dispatched with powers of investi- gation and suppression. His inquiries soon revealed the existence in the dis trict of not one. but several distinct bands, each thoroughly organized, and acting independently in a well-reined field, but lending mutual aid for grand enterprises. Thus two of these com panies joined forces, marched upon a bank, and dragged the safe out of the vaults into the street, where being un- able to open or remove it, it was found next morning.
 The discoveries of the Commissioner did not stop here. He found out that the bandits numbered their accomplices by the score in every department of the municipality, while noblemen in the vicinity did not scruple to act as re- ceivers of the stolen goods. In Szege- din alone were arrested two judges, four employees of the Treasury, commissary of police, and forty-six detectives After that, it got to be pretty plain sailing, and number of brigands, in- cluding the great Sandor, himself, and hardly less distinguished coadjutor. Bajdor, were soon in custody. By an ingenious system of torture, even the heroes were brought to confess. Sandor for example, like all great rascals, we'll known to be exceedingly vain of the magnitude of his rascality, and accus- toned to look down upon lesser ruff fans as "chicken thieves" A number of them were thereupon induced to salute him as " fellow chicken thief, " which so outraged the great Sandor's pride that he immediately made @ full confession. If the means seem comical, even to the ludicrous, the resulting re- relations were rather appalling. Crimes, whose existence was not even suspected by the authorities, were freely ackRowl- enged by these panic-stricken ruffians, some of them committed thirty years ago. In all, they have been brought to light the startling number of eight thousand offenses, of all sorts, including murder, robbery, pillage, and arson, the robberies alone being four thousand.
 Regarded in any light, whether as to the extent of the immunity accorded to this banditti, the number and enor- mity of their crimes, or the suddenness with which their hardihood collapsed when confronted with justice, this is certainly one of the most extraordinary cases on record. With all the enterprise our native scoundrels boast of it is doubtful if they can ever rival such m exhibit as that, and Hungary must here after rank among the formost bandit hoo no,1V kri ,f E,,roy1o