Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-22
SlCILIAN BANDITS.
fcontinued rrom FIrgt PAGE,

property. So great is the danger from
armed incursion, however, that govern
ment officers have their barracks within
the house enclosure. Nobody ever ven
lures out of the house without putting
Winchesters in his carriage and pistols
in his p )ckets Even when going from
the house to the yard, within the walled
enclosure, everybody is requested to
take pistol with him, and the six
shooters lie in a row with the hats on
the hall table. When a man goes out,
he picks up pistol with his hat as
naturally as an umbrella on a rainy
day. Nobody is allowed to enter the
gate without the countersign, and if a
man forgets it, and comes back after
dark. he has to remain out all night.
There is much method in the bandits
madness They go about their business
systematically. They shoot gendames,
don their uniforms and arrest the mayor
of town, in full view of the people, and
carry him off to the woods. Then their
identity is made known, and a ransom
demanded and paid. They go about their
business peacefully, so far as all but
their special quarry is concerned. The
steward of the old house afore-mention-
ed (Corleone) passed some time with a
pair of worthy farmers, lunched with
them il the fields, and returned home.
Afterwards he discovered that the
worthy farmers were bandits belonging
to a gang with which he was at war.
If the companions had suspected each
others identity, there would have been
shooting, for all sat at lunch with their
rifles between their knees.
Another popularity of the Sicilians
(which is shared with the Italians) is the
evil eye" superstition. This is the eye
that brings misfortune, whether inten-
tionally or unintentionally, it matters
not which, upon whomsoever and what
Soever it encounters. If a man acquires
the reputation of the evil eye he might
as well emigrate forthwith, for 1t means
social ostracism. Nobody will have any
thing to do with the possessor or even
sit with him at table. Cabmen will dodge
him on the street
The narrative was often frightened by
some sally of playful humor that added
much to the interest and contributed
variety to the description. The striking
part of the talk was that what seemed
so barbarous and cruel to American
ears is accepted as the normal condition
of social life among the strange people
of whom the speaker told. The bandits
are esteemed the friends of the people,
who turn to their support and assistance
against their government pursuers. In
some cases the bandits have even been
safe in the streets of Palermo, and in the
opera, where q famous chlef once
owned and occupied a box.
This hostility to government the car
dinal principle of the Malta, was demon
strated in the last cholera epidemic,
when the people believed that the epi-
demic was a device of the government
to cut down the population. For what
reason it was supposed the government
desired to reduce the population has
never been explained. But that did not
prevent attacks upon the health officers
and the burying alive of devoted ply
sician, who was subsequently rescued
by gendarmes who CHANGED to pass his
way. and saw his head sticking above
the ground beside glass of water. The
intention apparently was to sacrifice the
young man to some divinity or some
genius Of the place.