The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-03
WORST TOWN ON EARTH.
MURDER rs THE MOST ooMMON
FOIBLE OF THE INHIBITANTS.
AFtena. in the voisciaH NIsuntainu. Has This
UnehvIable Diattnctien-A Nursery or AZ
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES rate or - Postman-

UuNnVlabl0 ninttncttou-A NurferI OF AS
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Pate OF - Postman-
FROM the Courier Journal
ROME, June 17.-Armcd with n Government
commission. Cesaro Lombroso and other no.
nowned students OF criminOlogy have turned
their attention to tho little city OF Arizona, In
tho volsclan Mountains, some forty miles as
tho crow dies from the capital. Lombroso will
writo n book on Artena.
This town of 1000 inhabitants lives in history
as the southern hatching-oven of evil-doers and
felons. As long as four and one-half centuries
ngo Corrado Celtic said Of Its ~citizons: mo pos.
sible punishment can deter them from heaping
up crime upon crime. for their perversity Of
mind lie moro fertile In invontlnR new offences
than the imagination Of Judges is in now pun
ishments." At tho period mentioned new.fan-
glcd ideas for executing and tortnring criminals
wero almost as plentiful as such relating to
bicycles arc to-day.
Either for patriotic or geographical reasons,
or both. Artona has novor figured in the Grimm
ology literature of the present period, which has
branded other places in Italy as homes OF the
born delinquent: but now an overhauling of
records, ancient and contemporary, by the we'll
known authorities on jurisprudence Is prom
ised, and We will soon know all about this ro-
mantle spot. where assassins grow wild, where
fair.browed mothers educate their children in
the noble art of cutting Threats, and where re-
venge is the prayer on tho lips of young and.old.
Meanwhile your correspondent has done q
little investigating on his own hook. To begin
with, he ascertained that while the crop of
understand this docs not include homicides or
mere manslaughtcr-in the whole of Italy is on
a ratio of thirty to every other kind Of 10000
deaths In tho kingdom, nearly . per cent. of tho
men, women and children buried in tho noun
tain cemeteries Of Artena year by year die by
violence. And let the reader remember here
that the Italian national murder crop Is tho
largest in tho civilized world. being four and q
half times larger, for instance, than that Of
Great Britain. which is not reckoned among the
~gentlost countries.
When 1 asked at the railway station here for
a ticket to Artena, l was told that no such place
was on the route, and the map corroborated that
statement. However,, l insisted that this town
had been q reality somewhere in the southeast
Of Rome between the western main chain of the
Apennines and the Alban mountains for five or
six centuries or even more. Then q council of
officials was called and one Of them, who had
formerly been in the service of the Papal Gov
eminent, remembered that Artena was a new
name for the old robber stronghold of Monte
~fortino, where a tribe of the ancient Volscians.
who gave the Roman republic so much trouble.
is still fiourishing.
tion, for we could probably not find n station
master who would trust himself in that neigh
DOrDOOu. Inc nearest station Is at NOlmOntOnO
on the Rome.Naples line via Delletri."
l found the town, which | reached on mule
6Hck, one OF the most pietnresGuely situated In
mountain twelve hundred feet high. Half way
up sf%nS M, q 5mT,GR REcs c1 witS 1 toMsr ike ana f q mSss
galore. 1t belongs to the Borghese, but no mem
Der of that princely family has set foot in it ever
D.. since shirts OF chain mail and steel bonnets
went out Of fashion. In fact they ceased taking
personal interest in their property since their
neighbors acquired their first blundcrbuss.
The town consists OF a single street, crawling
up the mountain in gag fashion. Tho houses
back yards the rocks descend abruptly, as II
4 hewn off by n mighty rush of waters; From the
summit an enchanting outlook can be had into
! the Roman Campagna, the Alban. and Sabine
} mountains.
to the Mayors statements. among the best stu
> ated in Italy as far as means and opportunities
l for making q steady and comfortable living are
concerned, even the poorest Of them owning
r enough rich land in the valley to yield oil they
the heavy wheat sellers and spectators of the
0 province. That actual want does not exist in
Artcna was further demonstrated to me by the
surprising fact that during my visit there not
a single beggar approached me; not even the
' children asked for cent tsimos.
Under these circumstances, to which may be
Y added a particularly mild climate, one should
: incHEy lot, 'n a iitt IL" LAZY Ay' eerSaps w 6mt c q thaiPpfy, S0.
willing TO habitually walk the path of the trans.
!, grSssor; Such a sMrmise would completely coin
0 sons, Ferris and Others. who insist that the ma
Q jority OF criminals are bred under nnomalous
with the latest year book OF the New York Stat
Rctormatory; WHICH says that So per cent. Of
criminals in New York came from homes which
were positively bad; that Is, where want and
l abject, poverty %reigned. besides crime; while
! only 1i9 per cent. came from homes that were
5 So much for pathological theories. As a mat.
lena asi the town were one IMMENSE bagnio
, and its 1000 inhabitants SO many graduates
r from the gallcys. set free on a lone island to mas
l sacre and rob each other at will.
r AS already stated ? per cent. Of all deaths in
Artcna are the outcome OF murder direct: per
I sons dying OF wounds received in assaults or by
! the action OF incendiarisnl are not included in
assaults with stiictto or revolver are matters Of
such ordinary occurrence in the town and in the
, valley belonging anKR to the he pc People s MAT hhaattttop in ny ST.
! city. the number of police officials, and Judges
, would have to be INCREASED out Of all PEopor!ions
l ilics. continued Ibis official, take notice only OF
p the most alrOcious OF crimes brought to their
. notice by the press Of tho capital or when non
This compliment official is the eleventh sue,
q cessor of u Mayor mysteriously murdered in
l Artena in the beginning OF 1879. All these
Mayors were elected for a period of ten years
r them in broad daylight and on the open market
place; The rest received such wounds as e
0 post in haste. The present incumbent of the
. office aspires to the distinction of OUTLYING his
term. and to that end goes about his business
with ears securely plugged and eyes shut. As q
. piece of general Information. he told me that
brought to official recognizance in Artcna Il
= fifteen times greater. relatively to the number
l of inhabitants, than in any other place or dis
o trict OF Italy" Mark the words %"otiicial recog
o nizanCe!'
5 Everything tends to show that almost the en-
tire population of this mountain town Is imbuec
o with criminal propensitles. There is no need o.
o leading an Artenien. who may have strayet
from his or her environment. into crime by sug
g~estion., All OF them seem to DO possessed Of al
wishes its victim TO feel tho bitterness OF death
r The men and women OF Artena are even want
o ing In paternal and maternal affection. Ven
geance is of their daily prayer, and In deliber
Rteness of criminal purpose they have no equals
on the face of Europe, save perhaps In solnt
d parts dominated by 1.-THE unspeRkable Turk"
Since the old name of MontefOrtino wa
erased from the map after the fall of Rome anC
" the end of the Papal Government In 1870. tire,
d entire families. some Of the Oldest in the city
have been completely wiped out-grand
d parents, parents. brothers and sisters, cousinl
u and nieces. nephewS and uncles and aunts-th,
Scarcnzies. the Dabos aud the Rufus. Neigh
a bor throws himself npon n~eighbor In the field