Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-02-08
All in all, it is a very comfortable

place, indeed.
Mike was offered chair at one side
Of the large fiat-top desk, and told tc
make himself comfortable. Opposite
him sat Mr.. O'Leary, busily attending
to the business Of the day. No one
noticed Mike. This was the third de.
gree.
Mike sat and gnawed his finger nails
but no one noticed him any more thar
II he did not exist.
Finally, after about three hours Of
this, o'Leary turned to a detective
who had stopped to ask question
and said, See that man over there
Well, he Is the cheapest and mosi
bungling burglar in the city,"
With an oath, Mike sprang to his
feet, and pointing his finger at the as
sistant superintendent, shouted, TITS 6
lie! It's lie! am as good a burg.
lar as any of them, and can prove 1t. :
Prove It he did, to the satisfaction
Of all, including Judge Stake, and he
iS iioW ociNLuS tiiC.
So much for Red Nose Mike. Now
for the case Of Mike Comporto. Com
porto is an itinerant Italian, charged
at the present time with the murder
Of James Quinn, a bartender at the sa-
loon Of Patrick Quinn, and Of Henry
Saylor, customer Of the saloon, upon
the night Of September %, 1909. The
saloon is located at 403S York road
Both murdered men had been shot
Comporto confessed. and with his al
legged accomplice, Sabatino De Maci
is under indictment for murder.
The case Of Quinn and Saylor was
one Of the murder mysteries of the day
Clue after clue was found to be worth
less. The police found themselves al
the end Of their resources. Finally, 9
vagrant Italian visited the saloon-and
by the way, a guilty man usually re-
visits the scene Of his crime-bought
drink, told the bartender he "knew
something" and left for parts un-
known.
This man proved subsequently to
have been Comporto. Upon the vague
description furnished by the bartender
Italian detectives of the city were put
to work and the entire city was
searched. Finally these men picked up
Comporto and arrested him on sus-
picion. He was identified by the bar
tender. This time he knew nothing
He claimed a man named Domenick
told him he knew something.
But one thing remained to be done,
and that was to put the Italian
through the third degree. AS Timothy
OLeary put it, the detectives watch
ing Comporto day and night and DUR
ing the six days Of the ordeal got az
thin as the Italian"
For six days the accused man sat In
comfortable chair in one corner OF
the office Of Timothy o'Leary, appar-
emily unnoticed by all. Business OF
the office went along as usual, cas-
ual callers, probably, thinking the sill
ent man in the corner one who had
called upon a business matter Of his
own. Always, however. the detectives
were present.
Comporto squirmed in his chair, and
steadily became thinner. He had plen-
'ty to eat, ana was taken to any the
ater in town he might desire to visit
at night, should the show appeal to
MIN. Always, however, with the de-
tectives by his side. They were with
him all night. His board bill was paid
by his watchers, and nothing was
omitted that would make him comfort
able.
Every day, however, he was led to the
chair and left to his own devices. Ev-
cry phone call, every caller, every let
ter signed by Mr.. o'Leary, in the i'm
agination Of Comporto, had reference
to his own particular case.
This inaction finally got on the
nerves Of Comporto. and he would turn
to oLeary and say: "Ah, say, boss,
what you keepa me here for? Me
gooda man, vera gooda man."
The answer was always the same
Sure you're good man. Keep still
now. I am busy" Then o'Leary would
resume his writing, his 'phoning and
his directions to his subordinates.
Finally, after the fifth day, Com
porto still was obdurate; the detectives
had lost much weight, and oLeary
himself was disgusted. Going to the
phone, he called up his old friend,
Warden McKenty, Of the Eastern pen
itentiary. McKenty listened to the re-
cital Of the case, and said he would
look up his picture gallery and see II
a picture corresponding to the de-
scription of Comporto could be found.
It was Just suggestion, but the pict-
ure was found, and Comporto was dis
covered to have served time In the
penitentiary.
Confronted with his photograph
Comporto, over his signature, confess
ed, having been first told the confess
sion would be used against him. In
mis- confession he implicated De Maci.
De Maci was located by means Of cut
In his upper lip. A piece Of his lip
had been removed in fight some years
ago.
It took six days to find De Maci,
but he was eventually arrested In
Germantown by Detectives Ulrick,
Carr and Walsh and Special Police
men, Ford, Belshaw and Palmer
Although before the confession OF
Comporto little had been discovered
against him, his stress of mind was
such that he had one day admitted he
saw the mythical "Domenick" leave the
saloon the day Of the shooting. This
slight confession seemed to comfort
him a little.
AS soon as he made q full confes-
sion, however, and the weight OF his
secret had been lifted, Comporto be-
gan to look into the future and con-
template his punishment with fear.
Hence, when confronted with De Maci,
he denied his confession. Enough had
been said, however, to enable the po-