The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
PALERMO PALACE SECRET.
PRINCBsS OARINI FOUR YEAR,
PRIsONER IN HER OWN HOME

shut Up In = Cieset with Her Blind Daurht..
by 11eF steward-Lover ana s~tnrved-sicuI,,
~1pEeuuity Applied % Hortune Hununr-
Curieus Eisht en- seuth italian Lin
Palermo, tho most wideawake and Important,
city in Sicily, has just been startled by the dis
covory that It was possible for two well.known
women Of noble family to be kept close prison.
ers for four years in their own palace on one
Of the principal streets nf the town without
any one knowing It, A reputable lawyc,
recently informed tho police authorities that The
Princess Carini, q member OF the highest aris
tocracy Of Sicily, was kept prisoner with hc,
blind 20.year-old daughter in her villa in IN.
Via della Liberia by her steward, Giovanni
Cannella. A largo force Of police and carbL
ncers was sent TO the villa to make sure that no
one escaped; at the door tho porter told them
that the Princess was travelling abroad. Thcv
passed him and were stopped by Cannclla',
mother, who told them they could not enter tho
house in tho Princoss's absence. They an
rested her. broke in tho doors, and after a lons
search found tho two women In a dark closet
nearly naked. half frozen and starving. Can.
nella, his family and all the servants were mr.
rested. the remarkable story Of the Princes,
was verified, and the police arc now hunting 10,
the ~accomplices In the crime.
Maria La Grua, Principcssa Carini, has had
plenty of excitement during the course OF be,
life. In her youth she was q noted society
beauty and at 1s married the Marchese Ar,als
di Bollalto g SAINT Onofrio. After some year,
Of married life her husband surprised her with
q lover. secured a judicial separation with Tho
custody of his children. but left to her the young
est child, a little girl born blind. OF whom no
denied that he was the father. This was abou,
twenty years ago. The Princess led n fast life
after that, taking one lover after another. LOSING
her money at Monte Carlo and estranging all
her f%Sl@ SdS g By sIv open ZEN scandal sea even Palermo
epidemic broke out in Sicily In 1885, however
the Princess Carini volunteered as n nurse and
spent months in the hospitals of Palermo tend.
In 1892 her mother died. leaving her an g.
The Princess, by that time a middic.ossei S w6.
man,; fell in love- with Cannella, then a clerk
s ear tn $2 q week, and a married mar. though
ard at a high salary and set up a strange sort
Of a household, such as are not uncommon.
with her daughter, occupled rooms room ,t ON n Fl:
ground floor Of ono wing Of the palace, the
s %inE' and Ti' fhe eis fe" oof tih rSGm n In the ,S SpSGS,i,'
session Of the whole of the Princess's fortuna,
Little by little he removed all OF the old ser.
own, He .maltreated the Princess and h "et
dows or on the balconies, and spread the story
that they had gone abroad. When he found the
qaired for the Princess, his usage Of P the Women en-
grew harsher. no deprived them Of clothes. OF
fuel, and Of food. SO that they were forced TO
beg for bread from tho gardener and such ser.
wants as they saw from time to time. His in.
tention was apparently to drive them mad or 10
kill them slowly.
The unfortunate women were completely in
his power. The Princess, half out OF her mind.
signed every paper that he directed her to sign.
Cannella meanwhile lived in fine style, kept a
carriage, but showed himself to be a careful
administrator, Of the property which he in.
tended should be his. So matters went on for
four yesrs. At last Cannella drew up a will
for the Princess to sign by which everything
was bequcathed to him.. That reused the Prin.
cess; through all her adventures she had shown
a passionate fondness for her helpless daugh.
ter, and when the will was signed, IL they were
not both suppressed. her child would be left at
Cannella's mercy. She refused to do his bid.
ding, and, working on the gardeners feelings,
induced him to take a letter to the lawyer, who
called in tho police.
As this affair occurred in Sicily, the Italian
newspapers. attribute 1t to the workings OF the
Malta. This seems very unlikely. Cannella's
~accomplices arrested 30 far are members Of his
own family and dependents of his; those sought
for are the persons to whom he intrusted his
stealings. The scheme. Machiavellian in its
simplicity, was carried out with the strict at.
tention to business that marks the Italian lower
classes, and could have heen foiled at any time
had the Princess Carini reused herself to action
rs she did at the end.