The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-24
MYSTERY IN ITALY.
Even There Nobody Knows Any thing About the Operations of
 the Assassins.

There is just as much mystery about this society in Italy" says a writer r Golfers Weekly. "as in the United
 '"tes. You might live in Palermo or
 'sina with all your neighbors members
 he Mafia. and yet never hear the word mentioned. It is something that no one cares to talk about. We only know that money is extorted right and left, be. cause 1t is certain death to refuse and unless these murderers are caught red handed, they are rarely convicted A Ma. f1osa never 'squeals,' as you call it in this country. No more will the relatives of Matia victim help the police If they know the murderer, however. they will bide their time and pay him in his own coin.
 The essential idea is opposition to gov ernmental authority, a condition of the spirit The Mafia itself has no recognized head No one to give orders or pass Judgment. The society includes one or two good men; the majority are vile They have an oath I believe. and certain modes of procedure, for instance in the choosing of one who Is to commit a mur- der But for entire secrecy they rely up- on each mans hatred for established law and the fear of vengeance"
 In connection with this it is interesting to know that there is no such word as Mafia in the Italian or any other Ian guage From two or three sources the writer learned that. according to the Ci- cilian legend. Mafia is really a crypto- gram, each letter representing one word of five-word oath. The first is mordo meaning death, and the whole is an oath which obligates the Mafiosa to put to death by dagger, pistol or fire"
 Do not put this aside as being too melo- dramatic for our prosaic twentieth cen The vUh aViS of ety, lasting now for one century. is so fraught with picturesque tragedy that compared with it's annals the most eX- traVagant fiction seems dull. Every en- terprise undertaken by the Mafia is out of the ordinary, whether Kidnapping, mur- der, blackmail or counterfeting. Every man in the order Is prepared to fulfill his oath. too, but he demands an even chance.
 From a confession alleged to have been made last year by Mafia prisoner, charg- ed with the killing of Catania in Brook lyn. these murderers are described as de- ciding who shall put man to death by the tossing of cards. The elect sit about a table, the cards are shuffled. and one starts the deal. Ace of diamonds is the fatal card, and the man to whom it is dealt is given a certain time within which to accomplish his mission.
 by the account or secret service man who stumbled into a Mafla crowd while looking for anarchists. the favorite meth cd Is what they call "thirty-three" In this death count the candidates. six. a dozen, or twenty. put both hands on the table, but withdraw whatever fingers they choose. Each finger is counted. begin ming from certain point, and the owner of finger No. 33 is eliminated. He sits by to see the test narrow down to two per sons. one of whom will surely be elected
 Equipped with citizen papers. these ItaI- ian outlaws scatter all through America Canada and Mexico. Last year. on near ly the same day, their bands murdered a merchant in Brooklyn, burned the home of a fellow-countryma in Paterson, N J.. and kidnapped rich citizen of the City of Mexico, holding him for $50000 ransom Thus far they have not dared to hold up any person of prominence. like Mir. Rock efeller or MT. Morgan, but they may get to 1t in time.
 For the most part their operations are confined to counterfeiting and blackmail- ing their own countrymen In pursuance of these crimes a murder is every now and then committed. The stabbing of Benedetto Madonna Is a precise illustra- ticn.
 This man was associated with a coun-