Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-05

THE Desperate Salomone
j Spoiled His Chance of
Being a Hero by Shooting
Mayor in the Back Instead OF
. in the Face, and Is, Therefore,
Execrated-Bandits Who Add
to Their Business Profits by
Writing Their Autobiogra-
phies for Italian Newspapers,
and Who Occasionally Pay
for the Insertion of Read
ing Notices"-Baron Tacoma
Went Into the Business, But
Lost Popular Favor by Bad
Form-The Real Hero OF the
Island Is the Man Who Ter
rorized the Country for Years
With the Assistance of a
Band of Confederates Who
Were Really Images Stuffed
With Straw.
Special Correspondence Of The Star.
NAPLES. August 81. 1908.
IcIIY the home of brigandage, Is
in a fernent over a gross viola
ton of the e'hies Of the ca,i'n ea
\ Few Sicilians blame Il man foI
being a knight OF the road-es-
necialIy so long AS they. personally arc
mover molested-but they are unl'ed III
insisting that the Jesse Jameses OF 'he
land shall conduct their little aHdirs III
a manner above board ana give every
man a lair deal" Thus, Salomone, the
bandit who was recently captured shot
the nayor of Barrafranco in the back
and whereas pc might have become Il
nopular hero of Italy, he Is now uni
versaIIy execrated-
Every now and then the Italian papers
devote considerable space to attempts -
prove that bIiSandase has dlsappea'e"
from the country. but subsequent events
give. these stories the lie. The oahoit
NAV have lost considerable OF his PIC
turesaueness may even have lost That
chivalrous valor which he was Away
supposed 10 have possessed in the good
old DAYS but in Italy. and especially III
Sicily. he has retained his courage ana
his power. Brigandage is Il recoshlZei
profe Ssion and. when the heart Is WILING,
the way 10 il is not an especially dlrn-
cul. one TO traverse. y knife thrust IN
the dark. - flight to the countryside, and
nresto a hitherto estimable young man
is q knight of the road and wanders
around with a ->rice On his head and d
yrrdse against all humanity. That is
The manner in which the majority OF them
are made, but there are other agencies
at work Many of the innumerable pan
dts plying their trade in Italy today are
victims of undeserved accusations. sup
portod by false evidence. impossible OF
REPUTATION. Such one was HE famous
Mnsoliro. who. hunted all over the coun-
try for crime of which he was abso-
Iutely innocent. rounded out his career
with or | and unnecessary deeds
Salomone however. was no victim of
er-ing Justice. His murdeS or the unfortu-
nate mayor was his first crime. and 1t
sent him into the hills with crowd OF
enrased Sicilians at his heels because the
shot was no. fired with his enemy facing
him Even his subsequent daring and
courage could not compel the admira ton
Of his fellow citizens. While not busy
picking OF an enemy with his carbtne.
holding up a prosperous merchant on the
highway. or sbducting a pretty girl. this
scoundrel was engaged until his arrest
in writing his. mostly fictitious, memoirs
for a we'll known paper.
Pay for Newspaper Notoriety.
This writing IN the ueWsDaperS by out
laws has become common practice: in
deed. nowadays they do it so frequently
as 10 become regular contributors. Some