The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-08-22

found.
| The two weeks following We're nee
essary for the roundup of the elusive
Mafians. The secret service men had
been watching these Italians for more
! than a year and had followed their
every move. They had seen meetings
in dark, mysterious houses in the low
| er East Side; had, from windows in
adjoining buildings, witnessed the
animated tho cautious discussion of
| the men, conducted with the usual
yivacious gesticulations of the Latins,
and had followed the several members
| to their various homes after these
meetings, noting every move of each
| member accurately described on the
/ record.
Benedetto's coming to New York
was known by the secret service men
the moment he interviewed the presi-
dent, who, however, was not known
| at that time to be the head of the
organization in New York. They
marked him on the record as the
newcomer" They saw him piloted
thru the streets by Fanaro, and one
evening taken by him to a little
butchershop at 16 Stanton street, just
east of the Bowery.
Trial in a Butcher Shop.
/ According to the record of the op-
eratiVes Benedetto sat with the 9TH
| ers at the rear of the store and en-
gagged in excited conversation. Look
ing on from the street. where he sat
on bench in the guise of an East
Side loafer, one Of the secret-service
men saw Benedetto leave the group
and sit at the front end of the store,
while the discussion continued more
spiritedly in the rear. There seemed
to be no doubt that what the secret
service men saw was the trial and
nf nho
of having violated some rule of the
society and his sentence to death.
Soon after this the Italians left the
shop, the secret-service men follow
ing them at some distance, and then
giving UP the watch for the night.
Next morning the body of Benedetto
was found.
Being perfectly familiar with the
excellent system of information and
ntercommunication of a band Of this
sort, the secret-service men would
make no arrests until they were GER
gang at once. Knowledge Of the ar
rest Of one would reach the others so
quickly that they would have little
or no difficulty in escaping. Hence
it was necessary for the secret-service
men, then working in conjunction
with the police, to take no one Of the
band until all could be nabbed.
. Leader an Ar1SfOcrat.
1t took nearly two weeks to get
? them together, and even then one of
the most important of the suspects
was absent. He was one Lupo, a
wine merchant, who lived in a luxu-
rious apartment on the upper West
Side. Lupo was later found to be the
, treasurer of the society in New York.
He had a wide acquaintance among
, honest Italians and never permitted
himself to be seen in company with
the men who did the actual criminal
work of the organization. Occasion
ally he made trips into the lower
Il East Side, and altho these ostensibly
, were to look after his interests as a
wine merchant, it is presumed that
; he there. met the other members of
: the band and arranged with them the
!, details of their operations.
1t was intended to make the descent
on these men early in the day, but
some of them remained in inaccessi-
BILE places and the arrests had to be de-
8 ferred All day the secret-service men
l and central office detectives followed
8 the men, each anXiOusly awaiting the
signal for the capture. 1t was hoped
:, that Lupo might be taken at the same
e time, but as he did not appear, and
= darkness fell, thus increasing the pos
n sibility of escape, all of the officers
o bounced upon the men as they were
f walking along the Bowery and Eliza
e beth street in scattered twos, pre-
y sumably on their way to meeting
t. There was a furious fight, several Of
r the officers being seriously injured
J. and all of the Sicilians being roughly
It handled.
e Near Police Headquarters.
a With half an hour after these ar
q rests the patrol wagon rolled up to thu
police headquarters on Mulberr.
street, bearing trunks and other prop
- erty, in which was found the evidence
connecting the prisoners with tn
Malta. Among these things was bar
rel, an exact duplicate of the one IL
u which the murdered mans body wa
found, which had been taken from tn
% cellar of the so-called Coffee Cafe,
~ at 226 Elizabeth street, another evl
: dence that the murder had been com
IS mitted there. No. 226 Elizabeth stree
n, is but two blocks from police head
:, quarters.
y, Shortly after midnight that sam
night, Lupo was arrested in his home
the detectives gaining entrance b
smashing the door and overpowerin
their man only after a bitter, blood
struggle, for Lupo was POVERTY
OF man. known among his fellow Grim
a inals as 1.-The bull"
ID Threats in Red Ink.
Further 1nVeSClSaC1On reVealeO Tn
fact that almost every member of tn
gang had been under arrest previousl!
and that five of them had been con
victed for counterfeiting. The record
found in the home of the president in
Dictated how widespread the operation
of the gang had been, and that tn
members had not only made and pu
into circulation spurious money, br
had extorted money from Italians /
New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia
Buffalo and other cities in the cas-
There were letters written in red in
threatening the persons addressed
which had not been sent, these prov
ing one of the methods employed
the organization to raise money.
Within two days after the arrest {
the gang, central office detectives VIII
j had long been engaged in the wor
among the Italians, stated positive]
that large fund was being raise
for their defense. High-prfced law
yers were retained, men who ha
never associated with or done any bus
ness for such characters, and it We
evident that they would not hay
taken a case of that character had NJ
the remuneration been great. AS i
d. the cases Of the recent crimes of tn
n peculiar nature in New York, one
r. the results of the murder of Benedict
was widespread fear among foreigne
n. who it is now certain contribute
M largely to these extortionists thru fes
ew of a similar fate. Few italians cou
IF be induced to sneak of the ml1rde