The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1903-04-16
SICILY'S BOLD BANDIT
CAMPAIGN ON LARGE SCALE TO
CAPTURE VARSALoNA
his Extraordinary Exploits-He Has
Become Rich Out of Tolls
Levied on Farmers.

the Washington Post the following in
teresting article in regard to the great
bands, Varsalona:
With the exception of the white
134561 gOwned sultan of Morocco,
who is being hunted from his gorgeous
throne because he rides a bicycle and
takes snapshots of his SuperStltlouS
subjects with the latest American cam
era, there is no one in the news so pic
turesQuC, so romantic and so fasc1n-
ating as the bandit Varsalona, who is
at present engaging the attentions OF
the entire sOldiery Of Sicily, and is keep
ing even the war Office at Rome IN
state of unhappiness.
Like Count Malatesta, who, living in
g grim back room of London Slum, is
supposed to direct the anarchists in the
assassination of kings and presidents,
Francesca Varsalona started out in life
rather we'll. He was nine years ago
cavalry sergeant, with first-class rec
ord in the Italian army-impulsive and
hOr-headed, but good soldier, with
ideas that might have made him as willy
q general as De Wet if he had kept on.
But one day somebody murdered his
brother in Palermo. The man who was
probably guilty of the crime was ar
rested, tried and imprisoned, but for
some reason or other Varsalona got it
into his head that citizen named
ProvepZanO was the real murderer 1t
became a matter Of honor to him, just
as it used to be with the participants in
the Kentucky feuds, to kill this man.
Armed with a gun and provided with
friends to help him stalk his prey, he
finally ran his man down, shot him
IN a6 CT rnTChpd his
way through the terrified spectators,
and escaped to the hills.
Vicarious Murder.
The pitiful thing about this turning
point IN the career of a man who has IN
hixc some of the qualities OF a great lead
er, was that there is some evidence to
show that he had been duped by friend
who had a grudge against Provenzano,
and wanted to pay it without danger to
himself 1t is doubtful if it will ever
be known exactly how many people he
has killed since 1893, when he began
with PrOvenZanO, but one can get some
idea of the total from the fact that ten
deaths have been laid to his door within
the last six months.
Like his lately captured rival in crime,
MusOlino, Varsalona has romantic ideas
of right and wrong. Some Of his VII
lainies have been cruel and treacherous
to the nth degree, as they say in
mathematics, and on the other hand, he
has scorned highway robbery, has been
generous to the poor, and has been
good enough friend to those who stood
by him, whenever it was not necessary
to sacrifice them in order to save his
own skin.
CT, in, he
IRENE. He has an extended districh
where many rich land owners and farm
ers live, and on these he levies tax.
They pay him so much year-a good
slice OF their incomes-and he protects
them from otner gentlemen Of the road.
And besides,' he adds, almost as an
afterthought, IF you do not agree I
shall kill you!" AT first there were
protests followed promptly by sudden
death. On the other hand, those who
paid the tribute were fairly dealt with
thereafter, lesser bandits being afraid to
interfere with Varsalona's clients.
Simple Way of Getting Rich.
Besides these regular" revenues,
which amount to several thousands of
francs every year, our clever brigand
has other sources of income. For in
stance, he demands large sums by let
ter, and ON pain of death, they must
be delivered to a certain person at
certain time. If the victim complains
to the police, it is not the brigand who
is taken prisoner, but his accompl1ce,
while Varsalona is left free to wreak
his vengeance on the person whom he
intended to despoil which vengeance
usually takes the form of particularly
cruel and atrocious murder.
However he is a gregariOus creature,
and runs startling risks for the pleasure
of being with his friends-especially
feminine. as he is somewhat of a lady
killer-and, is besides very fond of all
games Of chance where money changes
hands. Many times it has only been his
extraordinary presence of mind and in
genuity, together with total disre-
gard of the lives of others, which has
carried him through tight place.
Once he went to spend the evening
with some people in a lonely house
among tbs hills. Gambling went on af-
ter supper, and so absorbed did they all
become that they forgot to keep look
out. Suddenly the police battered on
the door and demanded admission. An
other man would have given up all as
lost. Varsalona put out the light,
seized the wife of his friend, dragged
her to the window and from behind her
shouted defiance to the police, who fired,
but struck the woman, as the gallant
Varsalona intended they should. In the
midst of the uproar which followed, he
slipped on the poor woman's gown,
threw her shawl over his head. and
opened wide the doors, escaping into the
darkness in the confusion which fol-
lowed the entrance of the police.
It's Hard Work.
Except for excitement it is difficult
to see how the bandits life affords him
much fun. He is never safe in ventur-
ing from the mountains, and may never
even spend a whole night in any one
place. He enters the hut of an accom-
pljce-a hut having no windows but a
secret exit-say at IL p M, seats him
self on the ground with his back to the
door and his gun between his knees,
and thus sleeps until 1 a. m. He then
departs, tramps perhaps an hour
through the mountains to another hut,
and there has another two hours sleep,