The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-09-13
BLACK HANDERS
 IN AWFUL CRIME
Three Children Kidnapped from Home Found Under
 Lonely Culvert
ONE GIRL SHOT TO DEATH
Special from United Press.)

Utica, N. Y., Sept. 13.-Rlack Hand CTS are believed to be responsible for a terrible crime unearthed here early today when three children, kidnapped from their homes last night, were found under a culvert near St. Agnes cemetery by a passing milkman.
 One of the children, Teresa Perco- pia, aged 8, had been shot to death. Another, Freddie Infusino, aged 1-2, was in a serious condition from a bull let wound in the abdomen, while the third, Fannie Insusino, aged 6, was unconscious from loss of blood from a wound in her right arm.
 The Italian colony, numbering 15,- citement and if the kidnappers and assassins are caught and identified, grave trouble is feared. The victims are all Italian children.
 From the evidence they have in hand. the police believe there is nc, no members of the Black Hand. The entire police and detective forcei has been put to work on the case and they have three bloodhounds owned by pri- vate detectives of the New York Gen. tral.
 Two suspects have already been placed under arrest and are being given a third degree at police head quarters.
 The children have been missing from their homes since last night and their parents and a posse of Italian friends had been searching the Italian quar- ter for them for hours. The police had not been notified for some time.
 While making his rounds at an early hour today, the milkman, while pass ing over the culvert, in a secluded DOT tion of the city, saw what he thought was a sleeping child near some trees in the ravine beneath the culvert. The ravine had been used as a dumping ground by the city.
 The man thought it was a lost child who had fallen to sleep there, and he walked down the steep hill to pick up the baby. In gully he was mortified to find the three children lying in a great pool of blood.
 They were in a huddled mass, al- most on top of each other. The man, greatly frightened, ran until he found the nearest policeman and the alarm was given. The parents were noti- fled and the two living children rush ed by the police to Paxton hospital. According to Fannie's story, told to the police, she 9hd her baby brother were playing with the Percopia girl late yesterday afternoon, in front of the Percopia home, when an unknown approached them.
 He beckoned to Teresa to accompany him. She agsee6 to do so and called out to her two little companions. Come on; he is my godfather"
 The smaller children started to ac- company them, but unwillingly, until assured by the stranger that their par ents would not be angry.
 The route along which the stranger led the children ran under the culvert and then to an isolated spot in the rear of the cemetery. This spot is almost totally hidden from view by a o1 of cemetery wall on the other. When this lonely spot had been reached, the Italian, without a word of explanation to the children, drew a revolver from his pocket and shot Teresa through the abdomen. She fell unconscious. to the ground and the man stood by and watched her die. a few moments later. The other children did not seem to realize what was occurring. They stood still until Teresa died. Then the man turned his weapon on the In- fusino girl and her brother.
 The news of the finding of the bod ies and the dastardly manner in which the helpless babes had been shot near ly crazed thousands of Italians.