St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-06
A CURIOUS KNIFE.
History of Blade That Has
Killed Twenty-Two PeOnIe.

One of the detectives attached to the
Twenty ninth precinct has in his pos
session stiletto which is said to have
been used in twenty-five murders, and
which was the ruin of one of the oldest
and wealthiest families in Italy. The
weapon is kept by the detective in a
small iron box at his home, and Tele-
gram reporter is the only one who has
handled it since it came into his care,
five years ago, says the New York Even
ing Telegram.
When asked to tell the story of how it
came into his possession, the detective
SAID: 81 was an officer on patrol duty
at the time, and, as my beat was in that
district known as Little Italy, l got to
know number of the Italians there.
Among them was tall, tine-l0Oking fell
low named Guiseppi Graveno, and he
and l were great friends. He seemed
to be better educated than the others of
his kind, and would stand and talk to
me by the hour of his once magnificent
home in Southern Italy, but which
owed its ruin to knife.
The knife, he said, had been picked
up by one OF his ancestors in Egypt over
200 years ago, and had descended in his
family from father to son, and in that
tlihC pCOpiC Hdtt Utcll klIlGu
with it. | used to think he had been
drinking when he would describe the
murders, and more especially when he
would tell me, as he would often do,
that no one could handle the knife with
out cutting some one with it.
Zone night he came up to me on post
and handed me something wrapped in
piece of cloth which he explained was
the
MYSTERIOUS AND FATAL KNIFE.
He was afraid, he said, to keep it 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. l took the knife and put it in my
pocket and forgot all about it Until 1
was at home. took it out, unrolled
the cloth, and pulled the blade out OF it's
sheath. The blade was about five
inches long, and curved in and out in a
curious manner, giving it look like
tongue of flame. The handle was
covered with dark-colOred leather, and
l took it up in my hand to look at it
more closely. didn't know what came
over me, but suddenly felt a queer
sensation all over my body. My fingers
closed over the handle, and the queer
shaped blade seemed to culver with
life: | felt an unconquerable desire to
SUCK III lItO SOile one, ana would PROB
ably have done SO had my hand not
struck the hot chimney of a lamp, and
the pain caused me to drop it.
81 managed to get the blade into the
sheath again and wrap it up as 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 at the sup
posed ghost story. The blade was with
drawn, and, as the detective had said,
was curved in curious manner. Near
the handle were a number of hero
glyphics, and, like the detective, the re-
porter to examine them lifted the knife
from the table. His hand had hardly
closed on the shaft when the curious
thrill passed all over him, but just then
the detective forced the knife out of his
hand, and with sigh of relief he saw it
locked in the iron chest, from which it
will shortly be taken and destroyed.
Ancient historians tell of Damascus
blades which had a similar power, and
the stilettO may have been fashion by
the hands that fashioned them.