Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-03-12
SICILIAN MYSTERY.
PRINCESS CAR!Ni FOUR YEARS A
PRISONER IN HER OWN HOME.

ter by Her Steward Lover and Starved
Curious Light on South italian Li;e-In-
| genious Fortune Hunting.
Palermo, the most wideawake and
important city in Sicily, has just been
startled by the discovery 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 OF the
town without any one knowing It. A
reputable lawyer recently informed the
police authorities hat the Princess
Carini. a member of the highest aris-
tocracy OF Sicily, was kept prisoner
with her blind 20-year-old daughter in
her villa in the Via della Liberia by
ner steward, Giovanni Cannella. A
large force of police and carbineers
was sent to the villa to make sure
that no one escaped; at the door the
porter told them that the Princess was
travelling abroad. They passed him
and were stopped by Cannella's moth
er, who told them they could not enter
the house in the Princess's absence.
They arrested her, broke in the doors,
Il after a long search found the two
women in a dark closet, nearly naked.
half frozen and starving. Cannella,
his family and all the servants were
arrested, the remarkable story of the
Princess was verified, and the police
are now hunting for the accomplices in
the crime.
Maria La Grua. Principcssa Carini,
has had plenty of excitement during
the course Of her life. In her youth
she was a noted society beauty and at
IS married the Marchese Artale dt
Bollalto~e SAINT Onofrio. After some
years of married life her husband sur
prised her with a lover, secured a judi
clal separation with the custody of his
children, but left to her the youngest
child. a little girl porn blind of whom
he denied that he was the father. This
was about twenty years ago. The
Princess led a fast life after that, TAX
ing one lover after another, losing her
money at Monte Carlo and estranging
all her relatives by open scandal; ever
Palermo society had to give her up.
When the cholera epidemic broke out
in Sicily In 1855, however, the Princess
Carlnl volunteered as a nurse and
mo tending the sick.
In 1892 her mother died, leaving her
an estate hat yields an income Of
$4,000 q year. The Princess, by that
time g middle-aged woman, fell in love
with Cannella. then a clerk earning So
a week, and a married man, though
she did not Know It. She made him
her steward at a high salary and set up
a strange sort of a household. such rs
are not uncommon. however. in outh-
ern Europe. The Princess, with her
daughter, occupied rooms on the
ground floor of one wing of the palace,
the steward, with his family, rooms in
the opposite wing, and they took their
meals together. Cannella then pre-
pared his plan to obtain possession of
ne whole of the Princess's fortune.
Little by little he removed all Of the
old servants and put in their places
creatures of his own. He m%altreated
the Princess and her daughter, forbade
their appearing at the windows or on
the balconies, and spread the story
that they had gone abroad. When he
found the statement accepted by what
ever persons inquired for the Princess,
his usage of the women grew harsher,
he deprived them of clothes, of fuel,
and OF food. SO that they were forced
to beg for bread from the gardener and
such servants as they saw from time to
time. His intention was apparently to
drive them mad or to kill them slowly.
The unfortunate women were COM
pletely In his power. The Princess,
half out Of her mind. signed every pa
per that he directed her to sign. Can
nelia meanwhile lived in fine style.
kept a carriage, but showed himself
to be a careful administrator of the
property which he intended should be
his. So matters went on for four
years. AT last Cannella drew up a will
for the Princess to sign by Which
everything was hequeathed to him.
That reused the Princess: through all
her adventures she had shown a pas
%sionate fondness for her helpless
daughter, and when the will was sign
ed. II they were not both suppressed,
Az SAAi "c"iu w lSLI At Sdilllclll )
mercy. She refused to do his bid
ding, and, working on the gardeners
feelings, induced him to take & letter
to the lawyer, who called in the 20
lice.
AS this affair occurred in Sicily, the
Italian newspapers attributed it to the
workings Of the Malta. This seems
very unlikely. Cannella's accomplices
arrested so 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 atten-
ton to business that marks the Italian
lower classes. inc could have been
foiled at any time had the Princess
Carini reused herself to action as she
did at the end.
The Husbands Way.
She tat the desk)-Dear, please tell
mo hour n cro1I rrCf,p,, r. ,