The Detroit times., 1908-11-12
HOUSE IS WRECKED
BY BLACK HAND
CONsP|RATORS
BLOW UP HOME OF ITALIAN ON
lARNEo-ST. EAST AFTER SEND
ING DEMAND FOR MoNEY-oc.
cuPANTs uNiNJuRED.

In accordance, apparently. with a
threat contained in Black Hand let
ter sent earlier in the day. unknown
persons exploded charge OF gun pow
der under the home OF Grille Mer-
curio, an Italian peddler, at No. 2lS
Larned,st east. soon after IL o'clock
Tuesday night. while Mercurio, his
wife and two children and five ltal'
ian boarders were asleep In their
beds While all the occupants escap-
ed injury, the house was badly wreck
ed. Flooring was torn up, windows
smashed. doors blown the entire
length of the house, and the front
steps. under which the charge was
placed, disappeared completely.
The police are seeking two men
who were seen by Frank Elder and
Edward Essler, OF Nos. $50 and 9O4
Twenty fifth-st, respectively, run
ming east on Congress-st. just before
the explosion was heard. They can
give only a meager description OF the
fellows, however.
The explosion created great ex
element In the neighborhood. Sleep
ers within a radius of several blocks
we're routed from their beds. while tie
Mercurino household and their neaI
neighbors ran about scantily clad and
in a state bordering on hysteria. In
the excitement, Mercurio fired his re
volver in the air several times and
other Italians In the vicinity followed
his example.
During the past few weeks Mercu
- no
letters demanding $500, with the al
tentative OF being blown up. He ig
nored them all The following Is
translation from Italian of the last
letter. received Tuesday morning:
This is the last letter we are
going TO send TO you. Bring the
$500 that we demand where we
tell you or we will blow up you
and your family. We say little
but we do lots. II you think any
thing Of your family, you won't
refuse to bring this money and
give 1t TO us, but IL you refuse
then we will blow all Of you up.
Thursday night you take a Fort
street car west and ride TO the
end of the line and at o'clock
you will meet one OF our men.
Give him the money and say moth
ing to no one, but return home
Immediately after you hand over
the money. II you fail you will
be blown up.
Why the blackmailers chose Tues
day night TO blow up the house, when
in the letter, Mercurio was given un
til Thursday night to produce the $500
Is a mystery. There Is possibility
1t is thought, that the conspirators
meant Tuesday night and wrote
Thursday" by mistake.
Mercurio was similarly threatened
two years ago and he finally left the
country to avoid the Black Hands
wrath, returning only recently.
The police have received numerous
complaints from Italian citizens who
have received Black Hand letters In the
last few weeks and for some time pas.
have been guarding several homes In
the city. Mercurio, however, was nor
one OF those who complained. II is
believed that an organized Black Hand
gang is at work and the detective force
is exerting every effort to run the
members TO earth. They have received
information that Salvatore Dana,
awaiting trial on the charge OF muir
dering Manuel visconte. is a member
Of the Black Hand and they are work.
ing on the theory that the perpetra-
tors of Tuesday nights outrage are his
pals.