The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-12-06
BLACKnAND CREW
N DEATH FIGHT
Seventeen Men Will Go on Trial
Tuesday for Thirty
Killings.
GOOD EVIDENCE SECURED
THERE ARE 225,ooo MEMBERS IN
THE UNITED STATES AND THEY
PREY ON RICH ITALiANS-TRI-
AIS At TOLEDO.

Toledo O.. Dec. 6.-Probably the
most extensive efforts to convict a
body OF Sicilians. who are charged
with being members of the Malta, will
be started Tuesday in this city.
On that day there will be arraigned
seventeen Sicilians. The postal in
spectors charge them with being re-
sponsible for thirty murders in this
country and nearly every other crime
down to petit larceny. Inspector J.
Frank Oldfield, who will head the
prosecution, says he has enough evil
dence to send them to prison for the
rest of their lives.
The head of the Society of the Ba-
mana, as the Ohio organization is
known, is Salvatore Lima, fruit deal
er at Marion. Ohio The former lead
er was Salvatore Arrigo of Cincin-
natl, also under arrest. Others in
the party are Sebastian Lima, Vincent
Arrigo, Francisco Spadora, Joseph
Batagalia and Salvatore RHO, arrest
ed in Marion in June: Joseph and An
tonic Nuzzo. arrested in Cleveland;
Ausustini Marfesi. Antonio and Colo
zero Viccario. Dennison, o.: Antonio
Bicherio, Bellefontaine, O.; Salvatore
Ventola. Columbus. O.. Pettino Galbo.
Meadville, Pa, and Orazio Rumpola.
Pittsburg.
All Members Of Malta.
All these men are Sicilians and
members of the Malta. In Italy there
is similar organization known as
the Neapolitan Camera, which flour
ished in Naples at the time of Napo-
Icons wars. and has since degenerat-
ed into a class of cut-throats and rob
bers, where before it was a political
adjunct.
Very little of the history of these
men will be given out by the postal
authorities. through whose efforts
alone they were arrested. They are
charged with attempting to extort
$4,000 from John Amicon, a wealthy
fruit dealer of Columbus. That is all
the inspectors will say. But it is
known that the officials hope to prove
the origin of more than thirty muir
ders through this one body, which has
flourished in Ohio for several years.
Inspector J. Frank Oldfield of Athens,
the "Petrosino of the postal service"
says he knows they can be convicted,
and that he has evidence that will
send them all to the federal prisons.
Two Bands Of Criminals.
There are two bodies of criminals
in Mediterranean Europe which have
come to a considerable standing in
America. One is the Sicilian Malta;
far the more dangerous of these is
the Malta. The Sicilian organization,
if such it can be termed, has always
existed there. from the time half
civilized people occupied that beauti-
full island. The Camera was organ
lied at the time of Napoleons con-
quest of Italy and was for the political
purpose of keeping down the demands
of unlicensed or extravagantly licens-
ed tax gatherers. 1t is said that fully
three-fourths of the criminals coming
The Malta is the criminal class of
people in Sicily-those who blackmai!,
kill, threaten to kill and so on. There
is no head to it and anybody who can
write can belong. In Sicily the mem.
Ders of the society are known as the
Mafiosi, and each one is known as a
Mafioso. The workings of the organ
ization are without limit, unseen, fire.
quently unknown, unaccountable, but
always present. BY the conspiracy OF
silence known as the "Omerta'' it's
workings are safeguarded, if Mafio-
SO commits crime his friends and
enemies alike keep still.
These people are not especially
noteworthy for their deeds, except
that they will kill if their demands
are not granted.
Two-thirds of the ordinary police
force in Sicily are said to be mem
bers of the Malta. three-fourths the
judges the same and fully half the
men given to depredations upon the
others.