The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-02-04
A CURIOUS KNIFE,
history of Blade THAT Has Killed rwsn-
ty-tw0 People,

Bistory of q Blade THAT Has Killed rwen.
ty-two People,
One Of the detectives attached to the
Twenty-ninth precinct has in his pos
session a stiletto which is said to have
been used in twenty-five murders, and
which was tho ruin of ono of the Oldest
and wealthiest families in Italy. The
weapon is kept by the detective in a
small iron box Mt his home. aud q
Telegram reporter is the only one who
has handled 1t since it came into his
care, five years ago.
When asked to tell the story of how
II came into his possession. the detect
i've said: "I was an officer ON patrol
duty at the time, and, rs my beat was
in that district known as Little Italy,
l got to- know number of Italians
there. Among them was tall. fine
looking fellow named Guiscppi Gray
emo. and he and were great friends.
Hc seemed to be better educated than
tho others of his kind. and would stand
and talk to me ~ the hour of his once
magnificent home in Southern Italy,
but which owed its ruin to u knife.
"The knife, he said. had been picked
mp by one of his ancestors in Egypt
pver two hundred years ago, and had
descended in his family from father to
son, and in that time Twenty-Five people
had been killed with it. used to think
he had been drinking when he would
describe the murders. aud more espe-
ciallv when he would toll me, as he
would often do, that no one could
handle the knife without cutting some
,nc with it.
Zone night he came up to me on post
snd handed me something wrapped
in piece of cloth which he ex-
planned was the mysterious and fatal
knife. He was afraid, he said, to keep
t for fear he might be tempted to use
It, and wanted me to either destroy it
or put it some place where no one
could handle it. took the knife and
put it in my pocket and forgot all
shout it until was at home. took it
,ut. unrollcd the cloth and pulled the
blade out of its sheath. The blade was
about five inches long and curved in
And out in curious manner. giving 1t
look like II tongue Of fame. The
handle was covered with dark -colored
Gather, ard took it up in my hand
70 look at it more closely. didn'i
snow what come over me. but sudden
y I felt IL queer sensation all over my
oody. My fingers closed over the han
lie, and the queer-shaped blade seemed
70 quiver with life. l felt an uncon-
1uerable desire to stick it in to some
one, and would probably have done so
nad my hand not struck the hot chin
ney of lamp, and the pain caused me
20 drop it.
"a managed to get the blade into tht
sheath again and wrap it up rs it was
given to me and put it into that iron
chest. where it has been ever since"
The reporter asked to see the knife
and after considerable pleading got the
detective to open the box and lay the
knife on the table. The sheath was a
plain, heavy leather one, and the knife
looked so like hundreds of others he
had seen that the reporter smiled al
the supposed ghost story. The blade
was withdrawn, and, as the detective
had said. was curved in y curious man
ner. Near the handle were number
of hieroglyphics. and, like the detect
i've. the reporter to examine them
lifted the knife from the table. Hi
hand had hardly closed on the shat
when a curious thrill passed over him
but Just then the detective forced the
knife ont of his hand, and with q sigh
of relief he saw it locked in the iron
chest, from which it will shortly bt
taken and destroyed.
Ancient historians tell OF Damascus
blades which had a similar power. and
the stiletto may have been fashioned
by the hands that fashioned them.-M
Y. Telegram.