New-York tribune., 1896-12-27
VENDETTA IN NEw-YORK.
MYSTERIOUS UNDERCURRENTs IN THE
ITALIAN QUARTERS.
PRIVATE REVENGE THAT BAFFLEs THE POLICE
AND LEGAL AUTHORITIES-sOME PRO
LIFIC SOURCES OF QuAIRELS.

AND LEGAL AUTHORIZATIONS rHo
LrFTc SOURCES OF QUARRELs.
Just what the effect OF the Maria Barberi acquis'
tai will be upon the lower class Soutn oi '',
Italians OF New-York is a question the ponce a"I
all who come into contact in any way WIN tneSo
people are much Interested in. There Is iee'."s
that vendetta and revenge Will flourish mo'e W
umphantly in the city than II ever mas peioIe' o."
that the wieders OF the knife and pistol Will PROD
ably feel additional sense Of security IN PAYNE
Off grudges At all events, there mutterinss
and grunts OF satisfaction TO be heard In the var-
quarters" particularly in the Neapolitan coll
ony about Mulberry Bend and whore the nerco
Calabrcsi live. In Roosevelt and James SITS. along
side OF the ,'push-cart' Greeks For the chief
characteristic OF these sWarthy. excitable mon and
women Is to want to settle their own quarrels and
manage their own feuds without Interference, ana
when man has wiped out with the knife an injury
to his family CT dozen years before in some little
Italian village. he does not think II fair that the
land OF his adoption should imprison and perhaps
hang him.
When tho law makes effort TO convict there
fore. and fails. these people much reoiced; FOR
that means that their skins have better
chance II their time should ever come This may
seem exaggerated but any one who understands
the temper OF the Italians Of this part OF Italy and
Of this class will readily concede that 1t Is So
Though kept under cover and kept hidden con-
cealed by many secret oaths. the law Of vendetta
still reigns I'm New-York and there scores or
Italians about the city to-day who know they ara
In danger Of their lives that they are being tracked
continually by spies. and that sooner or later
pistol shot or a stiletto thrust will end II all for
them. Their friends try to ward off the danger
by vigilance but some day, In all or THESE
cases CT things will happen-either tho
two bodies of men will come together in brief.
sharp. deadly fight. out OF which many other
vendettas Will spring. the man sought for VIII
be caught In dark. deserted place and hurried
to his end by some unknown hand
THE UNKNOWN HAND"
Unknown hand is to be taken almost literally,
for evidence on vendetta murder Is almost I'M
possible to get. The men called as witnesses DO
know" Even the keen Italian detectives or tne
| Police Department cannot make them open tneir
mouths. Strange it may seem. even the rela-
tiyes Of the murdered man do not TO speak.
word from them that would send the murderer
to the gallows in short order is refused No. II 10
their business. and theirs alone TO punish the mur
derer The District Attorneys office fumes and
frets. and the screws are put on the witness-alt
in vain. Plans have already been laid looking TO
the murderer's destruction by the vendetta.
An interesting instance OF this came up In tho
courts time ago. II was case with novel
features a perfectly evident murder; man was
struck down by knife in sight Of many people
and in the presence Of his wife. There was little
question as to the identity of the murderer. and
all the State needed to convince direct EVIL
dence the simple admission Of the wife OF the
murdered She was therefore. called to the
stand
Did you this man. -. murder your
husband?" asked her.
II was known that she had. But the woman.
pushing up her shoulders. with deprecatory air
and a wild glance around the court. answered, L
cannot say. There were many standing around
l do not know that it him. No. cannot say"
And the case lost and the murderer had to %
set free The evil glances from the crowd OF chat"
terng Calabres around the woman as the pris-
oner left the room however. made it evident to the
detectives that that man would be tracked to his
death period of months, II not years.
Yet not all the Italians in Newlork City are men
of these bloodthrsty characteristics. There II q
wide difference between the sons OF the different
parts Of Italy Vendetta and malta have very little
hold upon the Italians that come from the top OF
the boot" These people are peaceful and quiet.
They have few Quarrels and seldom use weapons.
IT, indeed. they carry them at all. The new Italian
colony of the city on Thompson, Bleecker. Sullivan
and Third SITS and South Fifth-ave.. where a few
years ago the French and the negroes were the
principal Inhabitants is made up OF phiegmetc,
quietly disposed people OF this sort. They are al"
most all Piedmontese. Tuscans and Torinese (from
Turin) and they have no affiliations with their
countrymen OF Mulberry Bend. Roosevet-st and
Little Italy, in Harlem. east Of Third-ave. be-
tween One-hundred- nd-second and one-hundred-
and hma knife mSy bo rwn At any
moment These people. has already been said;
are the Neapotans, with dash OF 'alaprian ana
THE ITALIAN SECRET SOCIETIES.
Tbore ,s no urdercurrent OF Now-York life Of
which so little is known. Tho Anarchists and the
Socialists in East Side halls talk and plot. ha-
/ ra ngue and rave on platforms. But what ana whers
the Italian secret societies are no one knows.
Ryrness keenest detectives could never Ferret
them out: they are and always will be. among tho
~ tha
wineshop may be. and probably i. ineeting-place
for some band which is linked firmly by a vow OF
revenge There Is hardly an hour I'm the day when
the tables in these wneshops are not hlled with
& IN soma ms srnnse a@c only an
expert understand and should any one wh"
vsrsaon n9t om Is mmedaey hused Possible mufSer
takes but an instant. chance word that is con.
s,rued insulting. TO start quarrel ana khiin
NAV fly from a trousers pocket to be buried UP
TO the ht in a mans breast before ten words cali
be spoken. II, 49,. .,,os .. ...
range the life of Italy in NewYork. knows OF.
what a slight thread the lfe of each one of thes"
men hangs Their very games are provocative o.
The most sudden quarres over 'risette' or 'thret
or oyer 2H'h baya p mo nins
or tens by ythe-way). feuds are built ana new ven
dStfds aS in Neapolitan breast like mora game
that Is played with the nngers
THE GAME OF "MORRA."
This game is played in sides. four or eight on
side and its object is to guess the sum total or tho
number OF fingers two players Will snap out from
their clinched hands IT, for example, you know
that YOU yourself are going 10 snap out two fn-
gers you call four five on the chance that the
other man will snap two or three The calling 10
done at the precise instant the fingers are snapped.
A correct counts point. \ game Is twelve
points The losing side pays for tho wine, and one
man OF the winners is appointed boss and AM
other assistant boss"
Now ali this is productive OF quarrels The
"boss'' has full say during that round Of drinks.
what shall be done. though, the assistant boss can
advise and suggest. The boss can distribute the
wine i'm any way he peases. He can 10 one OF
the losers, NO you can't drink. or You may
have lust half a glass or he can drink the whole
quantity himself The losers. smarting under 4
sense OF defeat and thirsty besides. are likely to
protest against such unfarness. though in playing
the game they have OF course. asscnted TO the
di,Ions T,ut defeat and insult. when the boss"