The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-04-02
A Carnival Trage dy

A Carnival Tragedy
Anne Brewster writes to a Philadel-
phia paper Rome has been visited
with sad carnival tragedy. A certain
Raffaelle SOnzognO, the director of a viO-
lent ultra liberal journal, La CGTitdte,
was assassinated in his private Office on
the 9th of February, at half-past eight
o'clock in the evening. Sonzogno was
one of those Cain-like men against
whom all mems hands were raised; but
he possessed q certain degree of talent
or ability, was a parsonage, and occu-
pied place of no little imI ortance in
Rome. He was a sort of Rabagas.
Poor man He had bitter enemies,
and decent people despised him, but
his sorrowful, tragical end creates SYM
pathy on all sides. 1t was a sad bust
ness. AT the very moment of the MUIR
der the streets were full of carnival
rioters at the Piazza Navona maskers
were dancing gayly in the open air I'M
der the brilliant garlands of Venetian
lanterns and glittering in the fantastic
colors of Bengal lights thousands of
maskers were crowding into the Poll
teama Romana-the vast theatre on the
heard the falsetto voices of disguised
men and women the bang and ring of
tambourines, shrleks of laughter, mad
saturnalian riot was reigning. During
this fierce frOlic huge, powerful man
crept slyly up the long, lonely stairs
that led to the unlucky editors apart
ment, grOped through the dim, long
corridor, and entered the Office where
knew his victims mode of life. evident
ly. Every evening Sonzogno received
the visits of his colleagues and friends
by eight o'clock he was alone, and re-
mained alone a couple of hours writing.
The printing Office of his paper was ON
the ground floor the distance of
two long corridors and the long
staircase separated him from it. He
was quite unprotected, you see. But
he was a bold, reckless man, and had no
fear. He sat with his back to the door,
and the door was never fastened. When
persons came to see him at work hours
he had the habit of crying out 'GUGnti,
'enter, without lifting his head or look
ing to see who came in. Thus his as
sassin was almost sure of accomplish
ing his murder and getting off unde-
tected. The assassin was dressed as q
polchinello, in white linen, masked,
with the pointed polchinello cap on his
head. He stabbed his victim five times
in the back and twice in the head.
SOMEONE'S hat, q soft felt one, which
he always wore when writing, was found
upon the floor afterwards, bloody, and
with two holes cut through it CORES
ponding with those on the head Poor
70 Iol HI
life: and when the brutal murderer
found that he had miscalculated the
amount of SOnzogno's strength, that he
had to struggle with him to get of, he
stabbed him most numerically. Seven
teen stabs were found upon the dead
body. Cries for help were heard in the
printing Office. The men ran out and
up the stairs at the top they found
their employer holding on to the MUIR
derer's clothes, dragging himself along
the floor. His last words were Luigi,
seize him he has assassinated me.
These were said to the first man that
reached the top Of the stairs. The fell
low broke loose from the dying man
and dashed down the steps. Luigi
lifted up Sonzogno and called to the
other wOrkmen, who were below, to
catch the man. So powerful was he
that it took four men to struggle with
and hold him until the guard came and |
arrested him. Luigi held his master a !
few moments, and then saw that he was
dead. The murderer, with unblushing |
GOODNESS, denied the murder, said he |
was not the man, that he had only gone |
into the corridor by chance, and insisted |
upon being released. Since, however, |
A.. L, r
the confession has not yet been given |
to the public At first the report was |
that some political enemy had murdered |
him-an agent of the papai or clerical |
party; but the assassin turned out to be |
a Trastevere carpenter, named Frezza,
whose politics are of the reddest color.
He belongs to Sonzogno's own set. But
he never knew SOnzogno no person
about the office ever saw the man; he
had no enmity of his own to avenge
he was the paid assassin of another;
and am assured that when the whole
sad story is known it will prove to be
one of those common but sorrowful do
mestic dramas which often darken the
courts of Europe. Sonzogno
has had associated with him a young
Giuseppe Luciani. You can
|
the walls and house fronts of the city,
for he was a candidate for election to
the house of deputies this autumn. He
would probably have been elected if it
had not been discovered through his
that he had not the required
age, that be was not yet thirty. LU-
cisni is good looking, it is said, and
passably clever. Sonzogno brought
L l. ID 70 No,, |
years at least younger than himself, a
pretty woman. This autumn Signora
SonzognO left him and went off with
Luciani, Thus he was betrayed by
wife aud friend It is needless to add
that the suspicious are that Lucianl and
his wife know more about the assassin
alton than any other persons. The
most profound secrecy is observed by
the magistrates who are examining into
the matter. Frezza is in prison; no
new arrests have been made. The man,
it is admitted, was only an instrument,
by another or others. He
had accOmplices near him, for while
the four printers were struggling with
him near the front door two men came
up, jostled against them, nearly upset
ting one of the printers, while pretend
ing to aid the scuffle, and cried ont,
: Oh let him go! As the guard ran
up these men disappeared.
TWELVE years ago an efficient Michi-
gan prosecuting attorney nearly rOarei
away his lungs in convicting Henry
Smith of murder, and Henry has been
in the penitentiary ever SINCE. Now
the friends of the prisoner are trying
to procure pardon for him, the muir
derad man having died a short time