The Florida star. (Titusville, Fla.) 1880-1917, 1909-03-26

their story. 20 went 20 the district At
tnrnay, who said rd better 60 into the
case thoroughly. 80 started out 70 get
Ceranello. I got trace OF him IN Jersey
City. bat no GOT away ahead Of me. I
followed him 70 Philadelphia, then 20
Millerton, In Delaware. every time inst
too Late. Next I heard he was In Mont
real. 90 20 canada went In Montreal
heard ceramello had gone 20 Nova
Scotia. missed him there. too. and fol-
lowed his tran back to New York. There
I lost all trace OF him.
One day, nearly a month after I first
went after CerameIIo. was standing Al
Elizabeth and Mott streets when i saw
his cousin He knew me. but he didn't
see me. So trailed him up 70 CortIandt
avenue. In the Bronx i saw the cousin
go into house. and watched outside
until O'Clock In the morning; then I
made up my mind that he had gone to
bed. and I went to place near by and
slept until s. Then 1 got back on watch,
followed my man back downtown and
saw him buy a ticket for, Baltimore
telephoned 10 headquarters / was going
out OF town and bought ticket for Bal
timore too.
l was afraid l would be recognized
Then l wore no mustache. and pulled a
! beard out Of my pocket and put II on.
You couldn't see my face at all after
that. and my best friends wouldn't know
me- III bdlllHlOfe man went 10 Cor
coran alley. Let me see. this was about 5
| o'clock in the evening. Oh. l should have
said before that Ceramello. 1 had heard.
was going under the name OF Fioni Well.
| his cousin went into the house. and I
stayed outside, SO as not TO scare them.
The next day l went out at O'Clock to
| get the chief OF police to send a man with
me TO arrest Ceramello, for l felt sure
| he was there. But, no: Il was too early.
The chief said / must wait until the de-
| tectives came in.
So l went back TO the house alone and
knocked at the door.
Come in" some one said.
/ went In. There were three men and
woman on my left and a man leaning
over a stove on my right He answered
the description had Of Ceramello.
Anybody sick here?' l asked. Pm
from the health board. and hear you've
got smallpox"
Whats your Manner "Fioni." Come
| here"
There was an ak standing against the
wall. and as / spoke l kicked II away
with my foot. Then ] grabbed the man
| by the back OF the neck and took him
downstairs. On the way TO the police
station he confessed to having killed
Brogno. 1 brought him back to New
York. and he was tried and sent to pris-
on for life. while Carhoni was pardoned.
Four years later occurred the bar
rel murder" one Of the most important
cases Of PetrosinO's career 1t did not
result In a conviction. but PetrosinO
always believed he had the right man.
The body Of a man with the head
nearly severed was found In 1902 In a
barrel In a tenement on East Eleventh
street, New York. There was nothing
to show his identity, and it looked at
the outset like an impossible case. But
Petrosino had a rather distinct recol
lection Of the face of the dead man.
and he couldn't get rid Of the impress
sion that he had seen II somewhere.
Finally he fixed the time and place, re-
calling him as having attended a trial
Of counterfeiter. Giuseppe Diprimo.
in the federal court a year or so be-
fore. So Petrosino went to Sing Sing
to interview Diprimo.
As soon as he saw a photograph of
the dead. man DiprimO exclaimed.
That's my brother" adding that he
had seen him at the prison recently
with Tomaso Petto. This man Petto
was arrested because he knew Dipri-
mo, because he lived in Buffalo and
because a pair Of gloves found In the
barrel bore the name Of a Buffalo
store. Then the counterfeiter told the
detective that bis brother had carried
watch which he recalled bore some
deep scratches ION the neck" There
the clews seemed to end.
Back to New York came Petrosino.
The pawnshops were raked over, and
DipTimO's watch was found, with its
scratches ION the neck" More, 1t was
learned that Tomaso Petto had pawn
ed the watch. Then Petto was rear
rested. and the pawn ticket for the
watch was found In his possession.
But, though Petto was held in prison
for eight months, the necessary cor
roborative evidence was lacking. The
police were morally sure Of their man.
but had to consent to his discharge.
1t Is interesting to note that among
the men arrested on suspicion in this
case were three who, it was learned
later. were wanted in Italy for muir
der.
AS an example Of PetrosinO's watch
fulness when in pursuit Of a criminal
the story Of Paulo Rondo. who shot
and killed his wife in Little Italy in
New York six years ago. may be cited.
Petrosino tracked the murderer. who
was shielded by his countrymen, to a
little village on the outskirts Of Long
Island City and located him in a house
on the ground floor Of which was a
grocery store. All attempts to get at
the murderer proved unavaillng. The
detective climbed a convenient tree
and. hidden by the foliage. kept a
watchful eye on the house. He spent
a most. uncomfortable night. but was
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