Arizona republican., 1914-07-26
ITALIAN FEUD
OF MANY YEARS
A Band of Brigands Which
Has Terrorized a Sar-
DINA District Practically
Wiped Out by Carblneers
After Bloody Battle

ROME, July 25.-Brigandage. which
in the early days of the present re-
gime was Il permanent peril to the
lives of the people in many parts of
Italy. ras been very nearly stamped
out for some time on the continent.
chiefly through the untiring efforts
Of the carabineers, that fine body of
soldier police whose cooked hats and
CID world uniforms are familiar to
visitors in all parts of the peninsula
Isolated cases however, still &C.
cur, especially in outlying districts.
such as Sicily or Sardinia, and an
encounte" has just taken place in
the latter island between three cara
bineers and a band of armed mis-
creanJs, in which a young non com
missioned officer of the 'Well-de
serving" body, as the carabineers are
called. was killed, and also two of
the outlaws. This is the last cpl
sode in a long series Of murders and
crimes spread over eight years which
have convulsed an enti:e district. AS
is often the case among Italian peas
ants. this vindictive. unrelenting feud
had its origin in questions of inter
est between relatives.
A brother and sister, called Antonio
Corraine and Giovanni Cossu, lived
in the southwest of Sardinia, at a
placed called Orgosolo, long famous
for its bands of brigands. These two
people had an old uncle, Diego Moro
the foundation of whose fortune was
said to have been laid as the result
of a successful career of b.igandage.
When Moro died it was found that
he had left two-thirds of his wealth
to his niece. Giovanni Cossu. and
only one-third to her brother An
tonic, who, together with his family,
considered that he had been unjustly
used. Antonio consequently proposed
that his son Carmine should wed
Giovanna's daughter Ito keep the
money in the family His sister,
however, refused to entertain the
idea, and passion of hatred sp:ang
up between the two families, and it
was not long before they passed from
threats to bloodshed.
In 1907 Carmine Corraine, the re =.
jected sutton. quarrelled with Egidio
Poddu, a relative of the Cossu fam
lily. and was found one day among
his flock with a bullet in his heart.
Poddu was arrested and tried, but
the jury declared that he had killed
in Legitimate defense, and he was
liberated The general opinion was
that the verdict was due to the
money and influence of the Cossu
family, and the Corraines, hopeless
OF receiving justice, determined to
aVenge themselves. Then followed a
series of crimes. and the next move
was that two of the partiSans of the
Corraines, Onorato Succu and Fran
cesco Devaddis, took to the wilds and
became b.igands of the most APP
proved type. These utilized dynamite
to blow up the house of the Cossus
When the police and Carabineers
pursued the brigands all their effort:
were stultified by the help and pro
lection which, as is always the cas-,
in Italy, the outlaws received from
the surrounding population. In 191;
Francesca Devaddis. one of the orig
inal brigands, surrounded by the Car
abineers. died fighting like a lion
And since it was the belief of tn,
countryside that he had been betray
ed by members of the Cossu party
the entire family of the Corraine
joined the brigands, vowing to liv,
for nothing but the determination 0
the CossuS and all their followers.
So far the band has been guilty o
at least twelve murders. The author
tiles, as last resource, just yea
ago, arrested en- masse no fewer thar
thirty of the well-known friends anC
protectors of the brigands, but tn
only result was that four of the fol
lowers of the Cossu family were mu
tilated and murdered in the mos
horrible manner
-O-