The Wichita daily eagle., 1903-05-03

trunk at pier 10, East River, january
! 16, 1851.
| Giusseppi Catania, grocer, OF Coium-
! bia street, Brooklyn had a falling for
/ talking when he became intoxicated
that was not at all SiciIian. This made
| him dangerous to his Mafian comrades
hence he was removed" That is 10 say
his body was found in "a sack at the foet
| of Seyenty-third street, Bay Ridge, July
| q last.
On May IS. 1896, when Givacheso Goo
haro was mysteriously killed in Brooklyn
! the late Police Commissioner Welles,
said
These murders are so carefully planned
and so cunningly executed that oetection
is almost impossible"
| On October Il, 1888, Antonio Floccamio
was stabbed in front of Cooper Union.
Superintendent Byrnes seemed TO estao-
lish the fact that his removal was or
dered by the Malta and that Carlo and
Vincenzo Quartaravo had been selected as
his -executioners. Carlo ran away to Italy.
| His brother was tried, but the sheer ma
bility of the prosecution TO establish con-
| ch,sivelv his presence together with the
disappearance of Carlo, whom the de-
/
to constitute reasonable doubt" and IN
| sure the prisoners acquittal.
| In 1892 one Sicilian named Rilla cut the
head off of another named Nicolo Martlclo
This was deemed a Malta crime, and no
conviction resulted.
Three years afio Luigi Catalano was
murdered, presumably bby order OF the
Malta. said Detective Petrosino yesterday,
and nobody was punished for H. Inc
same is true of the murder of an Italian
named Pocorare in Elizabeth street about
| a year ago.
! Instances could be multiplied, ne said'
almost without number. all going to snow
the menace of this secret power.
The Malta has often been said to be
myth Officials who know the facts have
denied it's existence, but at times when
it becomes especially prominent the pub
has the advantage of expert opinions
| like these
| In 1891, at mass meeting at Cooper
| Union to protest against the New Orleans
affair, Police Captain McCullah said
This meeting proves one thing-the Malta
| is not myth. When people fear 1t and
denounce it they recognize its existence.
When Francis Wellman was District
Attorney, in prosecuting a case of this
sort where acquittal followed. be said
THE defence ascertains how many wit
| nesses the prosecution will call, and the
result is there are twice as many wit
nesses for the prisoner as there are for
| the people.
When Detective Sergent Heidelberg was
| detailed to find out why a Malta feud
actuated Micaelo Rila TO nearly cut OF
| the head of Nicolo Marticio with a razor
| he said:-"The police are almost helpless
| in cases of this kind. Not only do the
people of the quarter where the crime is
committed refuse to help the police. but
| they lie to them and put them on false
scents. Italians have been employed on
the force to ferret out these things, but
the result is pretty much the same al
| ways"
| When Inspector Byrnes was at the head
of the police force he tried to greak up the
| alleged Malta groups and several times
subjected suspects to his famous third
| degree" After one such effort he said
| This man confessed to me that he would
| rather go to prison himself than betray
his accomplices. They would certainly
| xii him sooner or later and they were
bound by oath not to betray one another"
| According to Detective Petrosino and
| others who are familiar with the work.
| ings of this organization, it often hap
| pens that the murders which occasionally
| startle the pubuic are really the ''remov
| al of the men selected to act as execu-
| TONERS of Malta victims, men who have
| failed to do their part in the programme
| and consequently suffer the same fate
| as their intended victims
It is very difficult to sift out the actual
method of selection. 1t is known from
| observation, though, that If one suspected
| of infidelity to ''the cause" for any pur
! pose whatever leave Italy or Sicily to
| seek asylum here he is watched from the
| instant of his departure from his nnative
| town until he reaches some tenement
| tation here.
This surveillance is accomplished with
| consummate art nothing being done to
| awaken any suspicion of espionage on the
part of the doomed man. Agents of the
| offended are found in the most unexpected
| places and among the most surprising
| relations. The woman his brother loves
| reports him; the pedler who at first har-
bors him acquaints the chief of the local
! band with the newcomers arrival. The
rules of the Malta seem superior even TO
the ties of bloodd and friendship, and the
obedience found In the dominant instincts
of fear and of superstition never fails.
Disguise himself as he may, discovery
haunts him like a shadow. He Know sfrom
hundred instances that the ultimate re-
suit will be the same, and ne commits
suicide or goes well armed, resolved, if
his life is to be sacrificed. it shall exact
at least one other in reparation. So he
wanders from place tc place, lodging and
squirming to avoid discovery.
The manner Of selecting the executioner
is said to differ, but peculiar care is ex-
ercised by the committee to make sure
of the result. The methods most in vogue
are understood to be two. One is throw
ing the fingers and the other is ellot-
ment by card. The finger method is re-
lie OF a game the children used to play
In Rome centuries ago. 1t is really NOR
ra" adapted to fiendish purposes.
According TO the descriptions OF the
way the form is used in the committee
meetings. the individual members lay
their right hands on the table in such
way that one or bore OF the fingers are
visible. The number varies according 10
choice but they must be shown suddenly
at the word of command from the leader.
two three. four. Eve one.
He counts up the total. say thirty. Then
the counting out begins The leader starts
! TO count till he comes around TO the one
. / who is number thirty lust like children