The Marietta journal and courier. (Marietta, Ga.) 1909-1918, 1910-09-30
A.PACHES OF PARIS
Niuht Providers Whose Trade Is
Murder and Robbery.
|E TERROR OF THE POLICE.

but Work With the Knife, the Rlud-
aeon or by "TolIins"-They Have a
Short and Bloody Career.
There are very few nights in the
wear when Paris policemen on their
rounds do not stumble upon body w.
ing In a CORY pool. Sometimes the
handle of a long, slender knife pro-
rudes between the shoulder blades:
bmetimes an ugly cash bleeds from
ear to ear; not seldom blood oozes
from mouth, nose and ears, as though
s the dead had not sustained any an.
parent wound, or three little starlike
bruises may dot the temple. or a blush
line an inch wide may mar the back
Of the neck, just above the collar line
lies Apaches," the "cops" whisper
to each other flor Partisan police Of
neers always go two by two), and they
call for an ambulance, much relieved
not to have witnessed the incident.
The steel blade, the blackjack, the
brass knuckles, will serve the purpose
Of the Apache. according to his VIC
Tins size and presumable strength.
For a prey Of small stature, however.
the Apache reserves what in his slang
be calls '@tolling." A sharp blow dazes
the victim and throws him down: the
Apache's knees bore themselves into
the chest, while his hands seize the
ars, lift the head and slam it couple
times on the pavement until ABDUL.
thud tells Of fractured skull.
Entil an Apache is an adept at
sticking" his man in very much the
same way in which Spanish torero
dispatches a bull, with a single thrust
between the shoulders, or at cracking
skull bone at one slam, he is held in
little esteem and never allowed to
tackle big jobs" in a dangerous neigh
borhood, for Paris is a we'll policed
q city. The night hawk must strike like
lightning. empty the dead mans peck
cts in wink and stink away into the
q dark. Therefore Apaches very seldom
carry guns; the knife is silent Toll
ing, too. is safe-so many people are
known to have slipped and fractured
their skulls! Unless the victim is es-
pecially well dressed there is not much
of an inquiry.
When it is all over the gang. which
scatters like flock of frightened spar
rows, meets again at some wineshop
where no one is welcome who is not
Sin the business"
Apaches never try to conceal their
social status, Their very clothes are
sort OF warning to the public. They
even affect peculiar walk, the body
bent from the loins, shoulders hunched
and hands plunging deep into the
trousers pockets. But who would dare
to modest them?
The Apache is marked man. He
joins a gang at three or four and TWEEN
ty, and by thirty or thirty Eve he has
gone. The maws of Jail hold him
for the balance of his earthly exist
ence. He knows that He expects it
Therefore while his freedom lasts there
Is no desperate chance he will not take
to get at the gold that alone could
save him.
Apaches are not born; they are
made-made by the peculiar laws Of
France Every citizen of the repub-
lie, without distinction of rank or class,
CAST serve under his counTy's flag
~ two years. Only the physically I'M
escape that servitude. At the end
~ his term in the ranks every French
%nan seeking employment must pre-
sent as means of Identification his GER
tincate of honorable discharge.
Then it is that tragedy looms up for
some unfortunates Woe to the one
whose certificate mentions the "Afri-
can battalionSr
The African battalions, garrisoned at
the edge of the Sahara desert, are
made up of ali the boys who had the
misfortune of being arrested before
they reached the age of twenty-one
Trivial as their offenses may have
been, whether they were due or moi
10 the indiscreet exuberance OF youth
- W SOAAG dUSuEO CAIdAelCLhSobe NASJ
are sent to the desert Outposts, KEPT
On convict fare, sleeping mostly II
trenches which they dig, watched ovel
oy sentries that shoot to kill.
Under the broiling sun that lay'
them down fast with fever and chol
era they build roads. crept over thu
next day by the sand. They are "th'
'front.' whenever Arabs or Moroccan'
threaten to shake off the French yoke
RWhen they fall by the wayside theI
are tied to horses tail. When the!
protest spurs cause the horse to rear.
And when the creepy water OF sane
wells, bullets from the sentries or from
toe nomads and the boots Of vicious
norses have spared them they return
10 their native city with hatred II
their hearts. with the loathsome mem
cries left by association with the de
PRAYED and the morally diseased.
4hey return to their native city t
nnd doors and hearts locked to them
1nelr military book. which they mus
~ j.