Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-06
STRICKEN FAMILIES
Of the Lynched Sicilians Now Living
Upon Neighbors' Charity.
A FATHERS GRIEF CAUSES DEATH,
Whilea Priest Protests the Innocence Of
His Dead Brother.
SAD SCENES IN THE MOUNTAIN HOMES

/ DAD SCENEO lN luu MUM i AIN dVMEE
LONDON, May 6.-The Herald St. Peters.
burg correspondent has visited Sicily, and
| telegraphs as follows from Palermo: ]
wish the man who led the lynchers at New
| Orleans had been with me yesterday when
rode over the mountains to Caccamo in
search of the widow and orphans of Pietro
| Monastero. High.up on crag among the
crooked streets of a village that existed be-
fore Christ. found her. Below the valleys
| above lowered the ancient castle of Cacca-
mo and the giant tsun-scorched rocks, among
which the bandits held the merchant Arigo
for ransom last year. in spite of a battalion
Of troops sent to lind him.
Down the crazy lane crept to the dim
room from which Monastero went less than
two years ago to America. Bronzed mount
aineers and their children clattered out to
see the Herald correspondent who had come
all the way from st. Petersburg to visit the
families of the slain Slcilians. I have
looked upon sorrow Ill many lands, but here
saw the most pitiiul scene of my lie. In
the middle of a bare stone chamber sat the
widow, draped from head to foot in black in
the native manner Around her stood the
five small orphans Of the dead man-three
toddling boys and two girls: The widows
face was Madonna-like in its simple beauty.
Her eyes were soft and dark.
Living OH the Neighbors' Charity.
On rude table beside her were few
handfuls of raw wheat contributed by the
neighbors to feed the little ones. On the
wall was the dusty crucifx, at which Mon-
astero prayed for success on the day he left
his mountain home. Around the room sat
the five sisters of the dead man, and the
doorway was choked up with the neighbors.
to the poor, and how everybody was con-
tributing few centimes to keep his help
less family from starvation.
I heard for the first time that Monastero
was a member of the Municipal Council
and a hard-working, respectable shoemaker.
who went TO New Orleans to get money enough
to pay his village debts One mountaineer
showed me list Of names scrawled down by
the committee that collected enough every day
to barely feed the orphans. When told the
widow why her husband was killed by the New
Orleans mob she cried like a child.
"God in heaven! how could they murder the
father OF these helpless children?' she walled.
"My poor husband. he was killed by towards,
truer man never lived. No. mol want no ven-
geance no vendetta. want no blood. What
do I care whether his murderers are punished
or not7 1t will not bring my husband back 70
life. Oh. Godi Godi GodI if you had only seen
him here and known what good man he wasr'
The frail figure in black trembled. Everyone
in the room began to cry.
Refuse to Believe Him Dead
I'm the name Of God, see how his children
refuse to wear black, because they will not
believe their father is dead. Two of them do
not remember him at all, and have no photo
graph to show them. Ask everyone in the
mountains about my husband. He never did
wrong in his life. and he wrote TO me from
prison saying that he was innocent. and asking
me to pray to holy st. Joseph to send him back
to his home. We prayed night and day 10 our
good patron saint.
"He was not guilty. Never. never, neveri
1t is impossible. I cannot understand how he
came to be with those other men, but know
he committed DO crime, 1t was all a cruel
mistake Why did they not send him away
from America, instead of killing himf My
husband was shoemaker here and got into
debt. Because he was an honest man he went
to America to earn money enough to pay his
debt; then he was coming back to Caccamo
and was never, never going away again. II
could only get his body, SO 1 might take the
children TO the grave? -.....,
"No, do not think the American people are
cruel. They must be sorry for the murder of
my husband and for me and my children. We
have nothing to cat now but what the people
give us. My husbands five sisters and his OLD
father and mother are all supported Dy his
brother. priest, who only gets one Ira and
for us, toof"
had to leave the house. The scene became
too terrible. Higher up among the crumbling
walls found the white haired father and
mother of Monastero sitting in dreary hutch.
The poor priest. Giuseppe came down from
the sleeping loft, his black eyes sparkling at
the sight of stranger and the weeping
villagers.
Innocence of His Brother.
'Ah," he said, II am glad you have come for
the truth. My brother was spotless man. and
1 firmly believe he was innocent" The priest
spoke pure italian, but now and then he would
drop q word or two in the Sicilian dialect to
comfort his old parents. "Pietro used to write
to me from prison telling me he was innocent.
He even wrote poetry to me. A guilty man
America because he could not bear to be in
debt. He had a credit of $50 lira for his little
shoe shop, and when he failed in business it
was simply because the times were hard"
When asked the priest if the people of Cac-
camo had any desire for vengeance, he made
the sign of the cross and shook his head sadly.
brother and try to feed bis widow and opbans.
Life is very hard here. They call my brother
'Mafioso,' but they speak words they do not un-
derstand. Malta passed away from this land
long ago; there is no such thing now. Tell the
American people that We are honest folk who
cannot understand how they allowed an inno-
cent man to bePubiicly murdered. Tell them
his widow and orphans are helpless"
Everyone in the village had a sad story TO
tell. and the venerable bandmasrer said that
everybody understood that the American Re-
public was not nation of savages but that the
lynching was done under extraordinary circum-
stances. He said that only yesterday eight
meI lett Caccamo to seek their fortunes in
New Orleans. Everyone In the village had a
printed copy of a eulogy of the dead Monas-
tero, written by Rev. NJ Guaggenti.
But not alone at Caccamo did find mourn
ers. There is confused tumble of poor dwell
ings along the sea front Of Palermo, and nun
dreds of Sicilians have gone out from those
winding streets to start for America. On the |
top floor of an old stone house found tho aged |
mother and two brothers of Antonio Abbag- |
nato, who was strangled in such q horrible |
manner in the presence of the mob. The |
mother is a wrinkled, feeble woman, who stood |
and crying in her black garb, while |
her eldest son read the dead mans last letter |
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