The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-07-05
NEAPOLITAN THIEVES FORM A
UNION FOR POLICE PROTECTION.
Members of La New Mafa Also includes Fishermen
and Street Vendors of the Of Most
& Unique Clan in Europe.

WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
1t was in 1892 that first came across the
Camorra, and in a most peculiar way
l was travelling in Italy at the time. and
or reaching Naples. complete stranger
and unfamiliar with the language, 1 thought
best not TO attempt any exploring. SO.
jumping into one OF those rickety public
conveyances that they call caro- ellie"
shouted to the swarthy jehu on the box
the name OF hotel that 1 had previously
Nscked up In tho guide book.
A few seconds later We were rafting
through the ill-paved streets at clip that
! should never have imagined the poor, raw
boned nag to have In it.
The guide book had recommended the
hotel ! going to as convenient TO
voyagers because only a few steps from the
railroad station" so ! was TO little s sur,
through some OF the dirtiest tenement dis
tricts / had ever seen.
l put IT down to clever advertising. how
ever. and so said nothing.
Imagine my feelings. when. after nall
hour trip. my man pulled up just across the
hundred yards from our starting point.
Had raised my eyes at all on leaving tho
train ] could not have failed to see the
name OF my hotel right before me. in 81
gantic letters.
Truth 10 tell. was as much amused at
the man s ingenuity as / was annoyed at
DtlIlp TAKEN IN, SO ENeIl L lOulll llidI bue
charge was only 30 cents, l pretended not TO
have noticed anything unusual and paid 1t
without murmur.
'Cahby'' had hardly driven of however,
when l noticed that my cane strap. con-
tanning two umbrellas and several walking
sticks had disappeared, l shouted at once
probably understanding my explanatory
gestures, he soon had it at the door.
By means OF an interpreter. l then told
the driver OF M loss. but all l could get
from him n MI SacclO' MEN an! u
good deal OF shoulder lifting and head
Struggling. so proceeded TO search every
tried to make me understand that I must
have left the strap in the train.
My search proved fruitless: so. althouss
the strap IN the hood OF the cab. decided
that the best thing TO do was to take my
loss rhllosophlcally. and let the man go.
STOLEN ARTICLES RETURNED.
The next day l went to present letter
of Introduction 10 Baron Caprera. who was
then residing In Naples. and in the course
OF conversation 1 related TO him my I'M
pleasant experience.
lie laughed good deal over It, but ended
by promising to find the lost articles for
me, and after giving him a detailed de-
scription of them l left. l thought at The
time that this offer of assistance was mere
ly a matter of courtesy but i was wrong.
The next morning the missing strap was
L.
This set me 10 thinking. Either the police
must be wonderfully well organized force
or the Baron must be blessed with ON
niscence.
I soon became anxious to find out which it
was. SO. on pretext of thanking the Baron.
1 went TO call on him. Contrary 10 expec-
tation it did not take any diplomacy to OBJ
tain the information that l wanted: my
host was perfectly willing to tell all he
knew.
1.-The whole episode 10 as clear as daylight
TO any one acquainted with Naples he
said. Your action in placing part of your
baggage in the hood OF the cab. behind YOU
where any one could relieve you of it with,
out being detected. proved to the cabman
that you We're not only foreigner. but an
one Of his pals was stationed, and the latter
These men all belong. to the same fr,a-
terni;y. a kind of thief union. that they
call the Camorra. They have places all
over town called 'magazzini' tstorerooms),
where the stolen goods are taken. to be dis
BY paying to this associa ton small an
nual tax protection is obtained against rob
berries. and one can recover not only the
stolen, but even the lost articles.
When you told me of your loss I sent one
of the servants to claim the strap as my
own. and as I'm subscriber il was re-
turned"
What I had Just heard was so astounding
that l did not know whether To take 1t
seriously or not, especially as 1t hardly
seemed possible that man of the Baron,s
integrity would countenance this wholesale
blackmail, but l found out later that every
word was true. and. curiosity prompting,
decided to investigate this peculiar associa-
ton at the first chance.
Subsequent events kept me in Italy long
beyond my expectations: but 1t was not
until 1925 that 1 struck Naples again.
BY that time l had mastered the Italian
language and my first thought was Of the
Camorra.
ItaIo-American who knew Naples and its
inhe !tants like book, and. each one by
himself. We set out upon our errand OF dis
covery.
THE SHINES UNION.
From Baron Caprera l had obtained the
address of the organizations headquarters.
and my first visit was to this place found
it to be a grim hole in the toughest part of
town.
a hight of well-worn stairs led ny, to the tn,
ONCE which consisted of one small, dark
room, with succeed bare walls.
1t was divided in two by rusty IRON
grating. behind which Il shrtveled-up old
man sat writing at dllapldated OLD de ssii
attract his attention. and he at once handed
me out piece of coarse paper and pencil.
he said. The fee is lire, 70 centesimi'
tsl.25 American money!. / wrote on the
Slip as directed and then handed It back
ing them up In his desk. he resumed his
work without another lock at me;
- Don't you give o any ,recsiPts;, inquired
What for?" he asked.
The question was so unexpected that l
could find no reason to give on the spur of
the moment.
oh it's all right" said, sheepishly. Il
Just wanted to know, and beat nasty
retreat About a week later l decided to
test the wisdom Of the investment, so left
package of old photographs in a cab and
the next morning went to the office and
asked to have them traced.
TRACING STOLEN GOODS.
The little man heard me out. inquired as
to the locality in which the cab had been
hired and then, asking me to wait a minute.