The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1880-04-23
Audacfty Of Italian Brigands.

Audacity Of Italian Brigands.
for some time past, says the Rome
correspondent of the Pail Mall Gazette,
II has been scarcely possible TO pick up
an Italian newspaper without finding
mention in it of some robbery remarka.
ole for its magnitude. daring or brutal
lty; and these can scarcely be excused
on the score of the hardness of the
times, Tor many are committed by per-
sons in respectable position. 1 have
picked out few of the chief cases, be-
ginning with one in which brutal out
rage was inflicted on DIR. Small, one of
the oldest of the British residents in
Rome. DIR. Small, who has retired
from practice, lives alone with a man
servant in one of the large barracks of
houses lately built near st. Maria Mag
giori- Yesterday morning, while his
servant had gone out, he heard a
ring at the bell, and, thinking it was the
baker with the rolls for breakfast, he
opened the door himself. Two Young
men, decently dressed, stepped in, say
ing they wished to speak to him, and,
once inside, closed the door, pushed
him into his sitting room, and threw him
on the ground with great violence. DR..
Small, who is advanced in years, could
offer no resistance. but, nevertheless.
one of the ruffians knelt on his chest
and squeezed his throat, while the other
took his keys and ransacked the drawers
for money. Finding none, and the doc
tor being by this time unconscious, they
tied his arms and legs, wrapped thick
cloth tightly round his head, over the
mouth, and left him. After while, as
he recovered, he was able to free him
self and send for the police. Fortunately
the thieves only secured very little
booty, but they were persons evidently
well acquainted with his habits. Ihave
just heard they are already both ar
rested, to the great credit of the Roman
police. Another very desperate attempt
on the house of a priest, who also lived
alone, is reported from a village near
Casino. In this case, however, the
priest had received warning, and for
some nights an officer and six gen.
darmes had been keeping watch in the
house. At last they had begun to think
it must be false alarm. when in the
dead of the night they heard the
sound of hole being made in the wall
at the back of the kitchen fireplace; a
breach was quickly made, by which
six men entered the house, the police
keeping quiet the while. The leader
then struck light, but, catching sight
of the police for the first time, blew
out the match, and with his followers
opened fire on them. The officer
dashed at the leader of the party and
grappled with him, and a terrible fight
occurred in the darkness. The gen
darmes, fearing to wound each other,
made for the door to surround the
house. but there found nine other
men, who opened fire on them. Mean
while the thieves inside escaped as
they entered, and the whole party took
flight, with the exception of the man
the officer had seized, who was mortal
ly wounded with pistol shot. Through
his means the whole band was cap
tured within twenty-three hours, for he
took it into his head that he had been
betrayed and entrapped by them. and
gave all their names before he died.
From Bologna we hear that the land
agent of Prince TOrlOnia, the million
aire ex-banker, who owns land over the
whole of ROmagna, has absconded,
leaving deficit of nearly 100000
Tires in his accounts. This man seems
to have been implicitly trusted by the
Prince, who mostly manages his own
affairs himself, with great attention.
He had place to live in, rent free;
two horses at his disposal, and hand
some salary for Italy, besides the pres
cts and pickings, which, in the manage
ment of such property, amount to a
considerable sum in the year. There is no
news of him yet. A successful fraud
on the Government has lately been
brought to light in Genoa. The pro-
vincial treasures are authorized by the
central Office to pay the coupons of
Italian stock which may be presented
to them, and draw on the Treasury for
the amount, forwarding the said eou-
pons in packets of SO many lires each,
coupons of the same amounts being, of
course, classed together. There APP
pears to have been considerable negli-
gence in the verification of these pack
cts, for in the last lot forwarded, one of
them having been opened as formal
", IL was ulScONcIcu, ny ucIe C0aA<oe,
that instead of containing all coupons
of ESQ, each of the center ones were of
far smaller value, and further examine
ton showed that there were E35, 600
wanting in that parcel alone. Some
thing of she same description lately hap
pened at Naples also. The paid eou-
pons and bonds of the municipal loan
are stored in a room in the prefecture.
to which there are three locks, the key
of each one of which is kept by sepa-