Rock Island daily Argus., 1891-03-16
MOB LAW SUPREME.
Juries and Courts No Use in
New Orleans.
SLAUGHTER OF ITALIAN PRISONERS.

Eleven of Them Bludgeoned and Riddled-
and Three of them Later Hanged-An
Outbreak That Uncle Sam May Have
TO ray For-Fellow Countrymen of the
Dead Men, at Home and Abroad, De-
manding Reparation-The italian Gov
ernment Sends in Vigorous Protest,
and Secretary Blaine Telegraphs rs
Vigorously to Gov. Nichols.
NEW ORLEANS, La, March 16.-Thirty-
four years ago political mob murdered
dozen or more Italians who were thought
to have obtained too much influence in
the politics of this city, and Saturday
eleven more of the same nationality were
slaughtered by mob lead by the ''best
citizens" because duly authorized court
and jury selected with the greatest
care did not fiud them guilty of the MUIR
der OF Chief of Police Hennessey. The in.
tention of the leaders of the move
ment TO resort to mob law was
announced boldly the night before:
the preparations for the slaughter were
made with deliberation; but notwithstand-
Ing this there was practically no attempt
w PASNShO thO LIOD WORKING VIII
The mayor never gets to his Office much
before noon, and although he must have
known the temper of the people and the
danger of an uprising, he didn't hurry
himself. In fact, the work was made as
easy for the mob as it was possible with
out the officials bringing the prisoners out
and delivering them up to death.
Leaders of the Mob
j. c. Wickliffe and W. 5. Pa-kerson.
both prominent citizen, were the imme-
diate leaders of the mob The call for its
meeting was issued the night before, and
TO said call the names of sixty-one citizens
were appended-m in business, profes.
sional men, and all prominent in some
walk of life. The mob collected around
the statue of Heary Clay, where Parker
son made an address il which he ca lied
upon the citizens to avenge the death of
Hennessey, and told them to bring their
guns. This was about 10 O'Clock am
and shortly thereafter the mob was on its
way TO the Jail, many of its members hav-
ing taken Parkers on's advice and armed
themselves with shotguns and VIM
chesters.
at the Jall.
When the Jail was reached there was lit
6ie trouble. There was no one there to up
hold the majesty of the law. The gates
were broken in speedily, and those with
glns Tvere admitted The only effort to
save the lives of the prisoners was the
sending OF them all to the woman's de-
partment, which was quickly invaded.
and the wretched men shot down or blud-
geoned mercilessly. Three of the prisoners
had been ordered acquitted by Judge, and
Others had not even been tried The three
ordered acquitted were spared, but the
others to the number of eleven met the
fate of death.
Amusement for Those Outside.
Those of the mob who had been ad-
mitted to the Jail clamored to have a
hand IN the fun, and Politz, the prisoner
who went crazy during the trial, was first
shot and then dragged to the outer gate.
where he was delivered to the mob, who
fastened a rope around his neck and
hauled his yet living body up to lamp
post, where, as it hung it was filled with
bullets. Two others were treated in the
same way, while the crowd yelled with
delight When the bloody work was done
Parkerson asked the mob to disperse, and
they did so, first carrying him in triumph
the street. One of the men lynched was
quite IA wealthy merchant-Macheco-
and his connection with the murder of |
Hennessey was that he owned the house |
where the conspirators are said to have
met the night of the murder
Names of the Victims
The names of the men who suffered |
death are as follows: Gerachi. Romero, |
Monastero. Caruso, Cometez, Trahina. !
Macheca, Scaffed, old man Marchesi, |
Politz, and Bagnetto. They were abso- |
lutely defenseless, and their screams of |
terror were appalling when their slayers |
entered the room, which was soon con-
verted into slaughtering pen. y dozen |
reports rang out as the victims were |
pointed out TO those who were detailed to |
do the killing, and in some cases the bod |
les were riddled with bullets. Three or
four of the men were knocked in the head |
before being shot. Romero was shot to |
death as he knelt praying for mercy.
Vengeance Sated and Order Restored.
Half an hour after the events above re- |
corded the mob had dispersed and order |
was restored. Around the Jail curious |
crowd of thousands was gathered, while |
at the newspaper offices other throngs |
stood around the bulletin boards waiting |
LOT GHe laUeSG news. nowhere was there |
a word of condemnation for the lawless
work. Every one approved it, and the |
only thing that seemed to be regretted was
that O'Malley, a detective who had been
active in gathering evidence in favor of |
the prisoners. and who was Hennessey's |
mortal enemy, had not also been killed.
But he had dlsappeard, and could not be
found, or ne probably would have made
the twelfth victim
A Reflection of Public Opinion.
The Times Democrat reflects public
opinion in the following editorial: This
paralysis of justice was due neither to the
of the police nor TO the in
capacity of the officials appointed to ad-
minister the laws; it was due to the
settlement in New Orleans of lawless
bands of men hailing mostly from south
ern Italy, who brought with them to this
of freedom and of free institu-
tions the pernicious ideas and murderous
which have planted conspiracy
and assassination societies in their uuon-
dam home, and which enable the MEM