The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1911-01-20
APACHES OF PARIS
Night prowlers Whose Trade Is
Murdcr and Robbery.
TIE TERROR OF THE PoLIcE.

but Work With the Knifs. the Blud.
q<ae or ar "To'lina'-They tiave .
Snort ape Bloody Career.
There are very few nights In the
year when Paris policemen on their
rounds 90 hni stumble upon a body ly.
Ihe ~ Goly pool. Sometimes the
hlnGi" ~ ton@. slender knife pro-
tlH!tS between the shoulder blades:
sometimes IN ugly cash bieeds from
ear 10 ear; not seldom blood oozes
from mouth. nose and ears. as though
iIlr dead had not sustained any ap.
hrrnt wound. or three little starlike
bruises may dot the temple. or blush
line an inch wide may mar the back
Of HE neck. Just above the collar line.
Les Apaches." the cops" whisper
to each other tfor Parisian police of.
tIrerS always 80 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 presumabe strength
For prey of small stature, however.
the Apache reserves what in his slang
he 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
ears lift the head and slam 1t couple
OF times on the pavement until dull.
er thud tells of fractured skull.
Until an Apache is an adept at
sticking" his man in very much the
same way in which Spanish torero
dispatches bull. with 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 dangerous neigh.
horhood. for Paris is well policed
city. The night hawk must strike like
lightning. empty the dead mans pock.
cts In Il wink and stink away into the
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 II Is nl over the gang, which
scatters like flock of frightened spor.
rows meets again at some wineshop
where no one Is welcome who Is not
I'm the business
Apaches never try to conceal their
social status Their very clothes are
sort OF warning to the public. They
even arect a peculiar walk. the BODY
Dent from the loins, shoulders huncbed
ana hands plunging deep into the
trousers pockets. But who would dare
TO molest them?
Inc Apache Is marked man. He
Joins II gang at three or four and twen.
~ ana by thirty or thlrty-five he has
gone. The maws OF a jail hold him
Tor the balance of his earthly exist.
nnce. He knows that. He expects It.
therefore while his freedom lasts there
~ no desperate chance he will not take
10 get at the gold that alone could
'ave him.
Apaches are not born; they are
nade-mude by the peculiar laws OF
france. Every citizen of the repub-
ic. without distinction OF rank or class.
must serve under bis country's fiag
or TWO years, Only the physically I'm
u escape that servitude. AT the end
I Ills term In the ranks every French.
nan seeking employment must pre-
ent as means of identification his GER
ncate of honorable discharge.
Then II is that tragedy looms ,ip for
'me unfortunates. Woe to the Oh
hose certificate mentions the "Af a.
N battallonsr
The African battalions, On rrfsrsu, !, :.
G edge OF the Sahara desert arc
noe up OF all the boys who h ID tho
lsfortune of being arrested hafora
ey reached the age of tive, ,tv.ona
lsiai as their otf'4nses ma Y have
en- whether they were duo or not
tue 'hdlscreet exubers.nce of youth
70 some absurd ente. gleT ent. they
ae"' {" we desert outp osts, kept
"nN~, rare sleeping, mostly in
"Na.S sa.'.S "ue' they dig. Watched over
MAJ hut shoot TO kill.
-, 49, the broiling sun that lays
down fast with fever and chol-
,hey build roads crept over the
,ext day by the sand. They are "the
,r,nt' whenever Arabs or Moroccans
.hreu,en to shake Off the French yoke.
when they fa,l by the wayside they
are tied 10 horses tail When they ,
protest spurs cause the horse to rear
And when the creepy water of sand
wells. bullets from the sentries or from
the uomads and the hoofs of vicious
horses have spared them they return
10 their native city with hatred In
their hearts, with the loathsome men,
cries left by association with the de-
praved and the morally diseased,
They return 10 their native city to
end doors aud hearts locked to them.
Their military book, which they must
produce. proclaims them jailbirds.
Who wants to employ an ex-convictg
During their two years In the African
inferno they have ntoned for their er'
rors OF the eighteenth or nineteenth
year. For the second time they have
kst1a khotraa as.antsnf with society.