Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-05-31

. r. j y
- N open court where Justice sits
silk gowned. the very embodiment
Of law and order. and In the GER
tain atmosphere Of an authority
against which no man may raise a
hand; here. in this very city Of New
York, witnesses under oath to speak
the truth only, have halted with un-
spoken word on lip and become as
mutes at the sight Of the sign of
death.
y The sign OF death? A fiction? No.
A meaningless motion made to dis
concert the overtimid? Again no.
A death sigma reality? As GER
tain as there are courts Of law: a sign
behind which turks the murderous
blade in the hand Of killer Of men;
q sign Of as malign significance as
that Of the skull and crossbones on
the black nag at the peak Of the
pirate ship Of old.
This sign was made In New York.
In Justice Faucets court, and wit
ness iquailed and became speechless.
Il was made again In Justice O'Sul-
livan's court. and a witness covered
and shook like one with the palsy.
What is this sign Of death? Will
liam F. Flynn, head Of the detective
bureau. second deputy commissioner
OF the police department. for years
a secret service man. shrewd. re-
sourceful, successful, knows 1t well.
He has seen It. They put one sign
Of death on the body Of a victim a
sign Of death accomplished. for to
kill for vengeance without 1t would
not strike terror. The sign about
which Chief Flynn tells is the other
the warning.
BY WILLIAM J. FLYNN
(Head Of the Bureau Of Detectives,
New York City,
~ HE death sign. used exclusively
among southern Italians and
Sicilians, is made by placing
!. the forefinger of the right hand be.
tween the teeth. The instant the
sign is seen by the one for whom II
is intended the finger is withdrawn
The entire movement rarely takes
more than two or three seconds
Often 1t Is made in single second
and for that reason 1t escapes the
notice Of even the sharpest observers
When this sign Is made by a leader OF
representative - gang of bad mer
1t never fails to5strike terror into the
hearts Of witnesses. no matter how
bold OF courageous they may be-,
have seen witnesses who had pre-
viousiy declared their Willingness t.
testify and who were assured Of pro
lection suddenly. turn white as shee
and refuse to utter another Wort
against the prisoner who was on trial
The death sign had been given t,
them in open court, and they knew
they would be killed II they said an
other word. And it is undoubtedl!
true that their lives would be for
feited II they disobeyed the sign. No
In open court, of course. for the mem
bers Of those gangs are arrant COW
ards. but sooner or later some O
their number would murder their vic
tim.
The uneducated southern Italian.
and Sicilians with whom the police
have to deal are more superstition
than any other race Of people livint
In New York Sign omens have {
peculiar Significance for them. Til.
death sign is tradition with them
They have heard about 1t before the,
could even talk. They are brough
up to dread 1t, just as they ar,
brought up to dread the Black Hand
No matter where they are they cam
get away from 1t. because they cam
get away from themselves. The,
have heard Of fellow-countrymen VIII,
disregarded the death sign and me
terrible fates. So when the dealt
sign is given to them 1t is little Won
der that they turn white with fea
and refuse to testify.
More impressive
Than Spoken Words.
The reason a sign is employe
rather than spoken word or toxic,
is due to the fact that Italians an
Sicilians of the more ignorant clas