The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-10-21
THE ITALIAN COMMUNITY EXCITED.

LIE Italian OOMlhC MIL AOliLb'
SERIOUS CHARGES AGAINST COLONEL ROBERT
PRATT, OF THE MAYORS MARsHAL's OFFICE
GERoLINA RANcoRINI AND THE CATHOLIC
PRoTEcToRy-rHE STORY OF A FIVE DOLLAR
BILL.
There was perfect swarm of Italians in and about
the City Hall yesterday all of whom came to attend
the hearing in the matter of the charges made
against Colonel Robert Pratt by the officers Of the
New York Catholic Protectory. The first intimation
on the subject brought to Mayor Cooper
through the following letter from Mr.. Henry L.
Hoguet president Of the Board of Trustees Of that
institution
~. The NEW YORK cArnoLrc PRorEcroRY.)
oYricR. as wAnREs STREET.
-i'F- NEw YORK. Oct. ~, 1879.
DEAR sln,on last rhnrsaay the Executive COMMITTEES
be IN the
Mayors Marsnal,s office had obtained hvo dollar. from
influence the discharge Of her from the Protsctory
Of which forward You tho Of the Who
.sf his as and T n s
also the affidavit of Mr. pooley Of our office who has
no means Of influence on the boy s. discharge
into disrepuc and shake tho confidence which oil
GERS now enjoy among tho classes they arc called on 70
ter your kind attention Very resPsSsfyy yn,rrr
Mr. Hoguet and Mr. Dooley. and at his request
specific affidavits in the matter were drawn up, to
be submitted at the formal hearing. which was set
down for yesterday at P. NJ. Mr.. Pratt is we'll
known among his countrymen In this city, and the
fact that charges of such nature were brought
against him created great excitement in the italian
colony in this city. Long before three O'Clock the
corridors and vestbule of the City Hall lined
with natives OF ''Sunny Italy," and the Office of the
Mayor could barely accommodate portion of the
throng. superintendent P. c. Dooley was on hand
early, and Colonel Pratt appeared punctually at
P. NJ. Although but comparatively small sum OF
money Is involved in the charges yet the Board OF
Managers of the Protectory have decided to prose-
cute it to the utmost account OF tho sur alleged
have been cast the officers of the institution in
the matter.
THE HEARING BEGUN.
Mayor Cooper opened the proceedings by calling
upon Mr.. Dooey to submit such afidavits he
might desire to present. That gentleman rhoreupon
handed His Honor the following:-
PatTcs g. pooey Ssn a duly dposes and says
that no Of the House Of Reception Of
Of his oics Is to consider ai applications OF parents or
fare Of the children decide their discharge
Tina, in the month Of January 1879 he received the
boy Paoo Rancorin who had been committed BY Justice
Gdersleeve to the Protectory on May 10 1873 Action
this application then deferred tho boys period of
the short for the satisfaction
be m and did not
or I Of ." were made by said
deferred until September a. 1879 when being
proper persons to charge him: that they had
Ee Brother Rector good Of
reformation and that and remuneratyc
the to the
know Robert Pratt the individual referred to in the am
of as having received Is from
boys that he has never en- said r" i'd
Judgment that far as he has been able to ascertain.
s ssp hs ssd a h
known to any of ITS officers trustees or employees except
said Pratt has in the remo.est influenced the
o ,e
fulfilled and complied with 49, PC. DooLEY:
JOHN RoDnIouE. notary public New York county, No. a.
MOTHERS STATEMENT.
The mother of the boy, Gerolina Rancorini, makes
| the following statement under OATH
IN
s% va
iectory The said Pratt answered that he could The said
Gsrona Raneorm re mt thu. such had
Dooey whom she believed to be Just man and man Of
with New York.
who were higher in command than sa,a Dooley, and
said Paolo Rancorin Pratt added that he the
said Soy adding that
" the
The said Gsrona RaneGr ri being very poor woman
such large $40 but offered the said Pratt
s s on1 %on ns 'aa said s M his Sy
Mezzard who paid the sum OF - to said Pratt person
The said Gcrolina Roncorni further that her boy
tory until the 9th day Of september 1879 and then only
when his period stay and his persona" conduct 'h0ron
| The affidavit of Mezzardi that about
the 10Th of June he was requested by Gerona to
take IS, which she gave him. the Office OF Robert
Pratt to whom he paid the same, Pratt promising to
procure Paolo's release. In addition Gerolna de-
clares that ION the 18th OF October man named
Ferdinand Sarzanini, who resides at No. 30 Baxter
street, broughtto her room in the same house and
handed her SIS. which he said he had received from
Robert Pratt to bring to and give to her.
The above afhdavits and extracts theretrom give q
pretty clear idea of the case 1t will be observed
18th inst. the day on which the charges were laid
before the Mayor by Mr.. Hoguet and Mr. Dooley.
COLONEL PRATI's DEFENcE.
When His Honor had read all of the documents in
the he passed them to Colonel Pratt. who read
two of them very carefully. Then the Mayor
asked him what he had to say in regard to the
charges aud he began long defence. in which he
claimed that lac had received the money from the
woman to pay to alawycr whom he engaged to have
her child liberated from the Protectory; that he
could show the receipt of the lawyer tor the money
and that he never derived nor expected to derive tho
least benefit from what he bad done in the He
had long been accustomed to help and succor his
countrymen in distress. and had Kept persons who
others elsewhere until he had become poor. He
came from noble family that would
stoop to do such deed had been ascrbcd
to HIM, and he did not propose to allow
his standing in the community to be inn
paired by such charues as those then made.
many Italians present, and requested Mayor Cooper
to call upon any ali of them to testify rs to his
character and to the esteem and love in which he
was held by his people. lie then produced and
handed to the Mayor what purported to be
ceipt for SIS. signed by lawyer named Rogers.
Continuing his argument, Colonel Pratt claimed that
the charges against him were instigated by Officer
Chiardi, of the Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty To Children. whose enmity he claimed O