The Portland daily press., 1888-10-24
UNWORTHY SUCCESSORS OF PATRIOTS
History of the Malta as Learned by
Inspector Byrnes.
An American Brotherhood OF Grim
Inals from Abroad.
Its Members Found In Many of the
Larger Cities.

NEW YORK, Oct. 23.-It has taken Inspec-
tor Byrnes years to touch, follow and under
stand the mysterious threads thar hold COM
munities of criminals together In this city.
and his startling announcement that the man
VINO slew Antonio Flaceomio. near Cooper
Institute the other night, as well as those
who saw him do it, were members of secret
order Of Sicilian criminals which flourishes
in America,is another revelation Of what the
close mouthed, silent footed detective system
organized in New York can do.
So carefully and completely was this case
worked out that not a man even in he inner
sauctum at police headquarters knew that
the Inspector was paying any attention to it
none but the two italian detectives, Tessa-
ro and Perazzo. And yet evidence enough
has been secured to warrant Coroner Ed
man in closing the inquest and committing
Vicenzo Quarterara to the Tombs as an ac-
cessory to his brother Carlo, the real assas-
sin. There Is every reason to believe that
Carlo will soon be In custody.
There Is no doubt at all that the Malta So
clety exists In New York, New Orleans and
other American cities, and that its members
shield each other in crime. Inspector Byrnes,
for reasons that are obvious, will not make
known either the extent of his knowledge Of
this nefarious organization or the means he
has OF knowing its every ramiicatlon. He
can today quietly reach out and touch the
shoulders Of its members as easily as he can
Identify an anarchist or whyo. Their most
sacred haunts are open to his inspection.
IL it had not been for this the three prison.
ers-Natalie Sabatino, Giuseppe Canizzaro
and Francisco Ata-never would have con-
fessed. The open sesame, the concealed
spring. was in the possession Of the inspect
or and his men.
When Vincenzo Quarterara walked into
the quaint, dim room where Byrnes sat yes
terday and surrendered himself TO justice he
did not know that two human shadows were
only few feet behind him-shadows that
had been close to him for five days and
nights. At that very moment the coroner's
jury down town was declaring that he and
his brother were guilty Of murder. The
famous thief taker tried In vain to catch the
prisoner In some admission Of guilt.
The Malta existed ot the beginning Of this
century in Sicily. 1t was then noble order
OF patriots banded together secretly for the
preservation of their nationality. Its aims
were high and pure. The bravest and best
OF the race belonged to 1t. Traitors were
punished In the way known to Sicilians, by
death. There were meeting places, oaths
and officers. The society reached all classes,
from the lowest to the highest The saint
ana the sinner associated on an equal footing
In It's Democracy. But Just after 1860, when
tor Emmanuel, absorbed Sicily, the reason
for the Malta no longer existed, and 1t died
out as patriotic organization. But the low
er orders, and especially the criminals, held
together. In time all honest men abandoned
the Malta, and it became the refuge of crimi-
mails only. 1t was plague to the govern.
ment, barrier to justice, and the police Of
Sicily have in vain tried to break 1t up.
Thousands of criminals have been driven
to America, and here they have come togeth-
er in groups without special forms of organi-
zation and without officers other than the
natural leaders of such bodies. Between
New York and New Orleans there are now,
Inspector Byrnes thinks, several thousand
Mafias. They are proud, fierce race who
look upon ordinary Italians with disdain and
distrust Most of them are BARRIERS, fruit
sellers or saloon keepers. Some carry stilet-
toes, but the favorite weapon Of the Malta is
the razor. Long experience has taught them
that 1t Is better to carry a weapon that is
not prohibited by law. There is no reason
to believe that the Mafias Of New York
take formal oaths of the Masonic kind or
have the attributes of formal societies.
Their order Is as intangible as the Whyo
gang. 1t Is an organization and it isn't. A
murderer who fees from Sicily red handed is
taken into its bosom and shielded. Many
small fry counterfeiters, f0rgers and black
mailers belong to it. The man who betrays
another in the Malta is doomed. There Is no
mercy shown to him. The assassin who is
to avehge the treachery will pursue him to
the uttermost ends of the earth. Whether
the Mafias in New York work directly with
the Mafias in Sicily no one dan say, but there
are reasons for suspecting it.