davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04
Old Landed Gentry Class Is
on Its Way to Disappear
ance, Owing to Taxes and
Other Property Burdens

country magnate will be loss bstl
it is not easy to see how the econonis
causes leading to his disappearance afs
to be removed"
"Of course" notes 1.-The Manchester
Guardian" 1.-The working of cause and
effect might be checked or masked
where great rural landowner VA
also, like Lord Egerton or the Dukes
of Bedford and Westminster, q grsst
urban landowner too. Urban groufa
rents have way of coming in witnoos
Attachments or counter-expenses."
1.-THE Guardian" however, does MT
find the passing of the great county
estate an unmitigated evil, aithour
it readily admits its picturesquensa
and its comforts
1.-The life Of the English couns5
house, built up through many centuries
from story to story Of pleasantnsN
is probably the most lastingly en1eJ'
able life that mankind has ever a.
vised for the satisfaction of every ysn
of the nature of the average man, Wa
is neither q student nor q tninkss
nor saint, and who feels himesn
to be at his best in a career Of ruas
health, of mainly physical occupasioh'
of easy social activity, of cons'ass'
able personal consequence, and scps
light and unperplexing public dut'e+
But, the newspaper points out -
system has failed in its chief funesse'
that Of producing self-reIiant indspsa
dent men and women from its iess"
members. Canadian farms and Az.
tralian sheep runs, it thinks. produesa
and, sent to the war better men tas1
the English country village.
"The points at which we showed y
disadvantage" it remarks,
mainly those of sheer arrested hurssa
development.
ION the whole" 1.-THE Guardian ees'
cludes, "the change is not to Be 81
ploted."
The majority of the press and vsv
tic probably think otherwise. Msss'
while rural England continues to -
under the hammer; and no man -
say what the new order Of things ~
be, save that rural England as y 4
been for hundreds Of years must q
cease to exist =,
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04

and fifteenth centuries ended the
feudal system by reducing the availa-
BILE number of serfs and villeins to
such an extent that great proprietors
could no longer find sufficient men to
work their properties. The natural re-
suit of the decreased supply Of labor
was an increased demand. The serf
became a tenant, with his own plot of
land to cultivate, and he was rewarded
not as. his master saw fit, but by the
measure of his own exertions.
Gradually conditions again became
static. Vast areas Of land were still
owned by individuals, but they were
owned on the scheme of landlord and
tenant, and not on that of master and
serf. The industrial revolution, COM
ing at the end Of the eighteenth CEN
fury. attracted capital away from land
by Offering higher returns; neverthe-
less many landlords preferred to keep
their estates.
7 At the beginning Of the last war
(l914) the average rural estate was
just about going concern. Its agri-
cultural rents betrayed costs of main
tenance and taxes, and left enough
surplus for the owner to live very
comfortably in his great house. One
FER cent was perhaps an average mar
sin Of profit; but there was consola-
ton in knowing that one was living in
the house which his ancestors had
passed on for generations, and, as a
matter of fact, in almost the same i'm
pressive state as themselves.
During the tragic interlude from
August 4, 1914, to November Ii, 1918,
nobody in England was quite sure how
he managed to get along. Master and
tenant were in uniform, mistress and
maid were in hospital and munitions
factory. The historic bowling greens
and cricket fields were ploughed up
for potato beds; and the great houses
became convalescent hospitals. A few
aged retainers pottered about making
what repairs they could.
After the armistice, when it again
seemed reasonably probable that the
world would return more or less to
the pursuits Of peace, owners Of great
estates came face to face with the fact
that, unless they possessed large in
comes from other sources, they would
soon be hopelessly bankrupt. Every
ccnceivable form of taxes had in
creased enormously; labor was scarce
and high; the repairssswhich had been
postponed until after the war now
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04

quarries, its laundry, its power plant,
its carpenter shops, its brick kiln, its
stables, as we'll as it's fields, parks,
woods and streams.
The stables require from IL to 18
men. The parks and lakes account for
or 8 more. There are dozen or SO
gamekeepers, 40 to 80 gardeners and
there are carpenters, painters, engi-
neers, bricklayers, plumbers, wheel
wrights, blacksmiths, lodge keepers and
other workmen. The indoors staff of
house containing 100 to 125 rooms must
of necessity be large-16 to "a maids
is the minimum required, in addition
to buffers, hcusekeepersy cooks and
laundresses. Then there are often
golf courses, cricket and football
grounds, picture galleries and green
houses. Sometimes even churches and
schools are maintained for the tenants.
Life on these estates until 1914 was
not so far removed from what it was
hundreds of years ago. The tenants
still regarded their landlord as more
or less Of local potentate. There
has to be something more than bust
ness relation between families which
had associated for 500 years or so.
Now that all this seems in a fair way
to disappear the question. as to what is
to replace it is seriously being consid-
cred. Il i.g,i saI
cit is highly questionable" says 1.-THE
London Evening Standard" whether
the new wealth will be ready, as gen
eral thing, to shoulder the expense of
an anachronistic state. The whole ten
dency of the ago is rather to- concen-
trated luxury than to expensive mag
nificence. The great Elizabethan, ia
cobean or Georgian house was some
thing more than residence. 1t was
the Office of a great bysiness-land-
owning was a real business. 1t was
the palace, if not Of small potentate,
at any rate of great social leader,
with large duties and obligations as
we'll as large privileges.
"Thc old lord was the center OF a
system. The modern rich man, in
his rural capacity, Is an individual. He
has need Of country house only to
entertain his friends, and his friends.
like his interests, belong chiefly to
the urban scheme Of things. The
place in the country only belongs geo.
graphically to the conntry. Spiritually
the atmosphere is that Of the town.
Extinction Of Old Order
OF Country Magnate Loss
"The extinction Of the old order Of
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04

cit is true the Camorra has unique
methods of murder. They have been
schooled in it, you might say, but the
poor people are ignorant-that is all.
They have had few opportunities and
they have suffered. The Camorra,
like your own criminal element, grows
out of desire to live without work,
without serious constructive effort"
Mike Fiaschetti, the man, is, big and
gentle. His voice is low and musical
To anyone he believes is trying to do
right-and this includes former Grim
inals who are trying to go straight
he is soft spoken, sympathetic and
helpful. He would stay awake for
days to do friend q favor.
Mike Fiaschetti, the detective, is
rather different person. He is re-
lentless, rough and unyielding. When
this detective meets crook he prac-
tees the most efficient form of hypno-
tism, probably unconsciously. He gets
his crook in corner and towers over
him. He abuses him verbally, shakes
big fist in his face and says: you're
going to tell me the truth" He follows
this with a burst Of vituperation and
threatening gestures, and before he is
through, the crook usually tells him
the truth. There is no record, how
ever, of Fiaschetti ever having physi-
cally attacked a prisoner ...
Bartolo' Fontano, whose confession
has led to the solution of scores of
Camorra murders and the arrest of a
dozen or more men in different parts
Of the country including seven in New
York, has told Fiaschetti that he wants
to do the right thing, regardless of
consequences. He has proved this by
answering all questions freely and
truthfully. Not single statement
has failed to stand every test for
truthfulness. Fiaschetti believes in
the change of heart of Bartolo Fon-
tano and he treats Fontano like a
brother.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04
BY Roy A. Giles

Wv > HEN IL comes to dealing
~ death, plain or with varia-
wv tions, 1t appears, from evil
dence lately collected by
the Italian detective squad Of the New
York Police Department, that the Sicii-
ian Camorra can put to shame an orr
binary earthquake or tornado.
Some one with q taste for figures re-
Gently compiled . list Of 200 suspected
Sicilian killings in New York alone
and then they stopped counting. Add
to this seventy similar killings in De-
troit, four in Buffalo, Ave in Syracuse,
four in Denver, twenty in Chicago--but
why go further? These figures snatched
at random from homicide lists in the
hands of various agencies tend to prove
an effort to excel in the accomplish
ment of swift and sure death.
And they have q way about them,
these Camorra killers. They do the
deadly work assigned to them by their
leaders in neat and orderly manner,
leaving no evidence. They are inclined
to make rather sociable affair of such
q murder, as in almost every instance
they have lured their victims by prom
ises of a pleasant party. The parties
are always provided just prior to the
sudden and violent demise Of the guest
to whom marked attention is paid. No
expense is spared to make these affairs
real events, in most instances. We'd
ings, dinners, duck hunts and automo-
bile rides have been used as means to
decoy victims out Of their own neigh
horhoods and to lonely spots where the
murders have been committed most
efficiently.
There are exceptions, Of course. In
a rush murderer cannot always be
expected to provide entertainment for
his victim. For instance, eleven quick
daylight murders were committed, on
different dates, at the corner Of Grand
and Chrystie streets, as crowded a
junction almost as exists in New York.
Confession of Barber
May Clear up 100 Cases. s
Detective Sergeant Michael Fla
schetti, head of the Nav York Italian
squad, believes that the confession of
one Bartolo Fontano, handsome,
youthful rowing barber, will help to
clear up more than 100 Of these MUIR
6era. but he admits that he does not
hope to obtain convictions in all cases.
Among the murders that he behaves he
had solved is that. of his immediate
and energetic predecessor, Detective
Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino, shot from
behind and killed in Palermo, Sicily,
in 1909.
Petrosino had gone to Palermo fol-
lowing clew as to the home Office, or
headquarters, of the Black Hand, q
blackmailing organization, now proven
to be but an active subsidiary Of the
Camorra. He was followed from New
York and dispatched by friends of
Black Handlers he had convicted in New
York, where he stopped the operations
Of this particular Camorra activity.
Petrosino, regarded for years as the
greatest italian detective, was in life
a fun-loving, music-loving son Of
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04

Sicilian Gang Makes Killings
Social Event for the Victim,
Michael Fiaschetti, Nosed Detective, Exd,s.
Working of Criminal Band Which Ex-
tends to All Parts of Earth

and shipped 1t here, paying i,
penses for having it placed.
Mike Gets Three Medals
For Trapping Murder Gang
Detective Sergeant Fiaschett,. !.
sounds awkward, because tho.. 8.
know him call him Mike-wss .x.,,. y
three gold medals in June, 1914
Four policemen had been n,..
IN Akron, Ohio, in one district ~.
four months. AS fast as one pol,..~
would replace another it seemed ID
would be another murder and a,.s. !
job for another policeman. Ana
policemen were shot in the back "a
on duty. The local and Chicavo 4
tectives and others had failed 10 49,
these cases.
Fiaschetti moved into the dl,s..T
in Akron and started to get acou.,,s., /
He appeared to be a prosperous ~.
contractor, but he made himself k,.,rI
in the underworld IS q person :.
would not hesitate to make none, {.
soon won the confidence Of N. =
raft, and then his attention cens,'.
on an Italian who kept a disord-s.
house. This man had been impri,ns.,
and released, and refused to cea,. =.
operations. The police raided aim n,
quently and he started killing Of y,
licemen in the hope that one snsn,
would be sent to his district s..
could be bribed.
Fiaschetti rounded up nine. Of 81
gang. Seven were electrocuted ard =.
given life sentences. Akron was ~.
prised and delighted. The Mayor s,,,|
Mike a gold medal. The townspes,i.|
gave him one and the Chamber III
Commerce gave him one. One Of tn
medals, as big as butter chip, resa.:
presented to NJ. Fiaschetti By AL
Akron Chamber of Commerce .,t1
Summit County. Ohio, in appreciate.
of valuable assistance in the ana
and conviction of murderers Of Ain,
policemen"
The citizens worded theirs . I'M,
differently, thanking Mike for Il.
electrocution of the worst band a
murderers ever known in their cib.
Three hundred thousand residsrh
of Akron sent telegram of appreeis.
ton to Commissioner Enright, thsat
ing both the Commissioner and Mik.
Mayor Myers Of Akron sent per-
sonal letter.
Denis O'Leary, District Attorney u
Queens, in March, 1920, commendes
Mike in the Holbach murder ease.
Holbach and his wife were murdered
in Long Island City hotel. Fissohstsi
rounded up !: Camorra of seven Five
were electrocuted and two sent up tie
river for life. Then there srs AssAxs
from Boston and elsewhere. = s
Fiaschetti won commentator In hs
Ruth Cruger murder case, the varota
kidnapping and murder; the Angelina
Cont murder case and a number Il
others.
A few days ago he recovered $7oM
worth of loot in a burglary case sad
arrested two men, father and son. III
newspapers did not note the case sld
Fiaschetti said:
at is getting so I have TO givs. tls
newspaper boys very big stuff beicrs
they will notice me at ALL"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04
Confession of Barber Marked
To Die May Clear 100 Cases
Slayers Are Schooled in Methods of Swift and
Sure Death, Which Are Carried Out
Neatly and Orderly

! southern italy, who spent his leisure
hours twAnging an italian harp, hum
ming operate airs or playing with
kiddics.
As detective, he left nothing to be
desired. The personifcation Of bravery,
efficiency and ambition, he walked
beat for fifteen years to become de-
tective and having become one he gave
all he had for years and then added his
life to the measure of his services.
His arrests were numerous and impor-
tant and when he finally died on his
native soil wave Of grief swept across
tho Atlantic, to the downtown loft
where his squad had it's headquarters.
His body was brought to America and
his funeral was with honors.
Then along came Michael Fiaschetti,
tooter of barytone horn. Petrosino
and Fiaschetti, the two names linked
by activities against the ancient Ca
Morra, are names destined to live in
police circles. Mike Fiaschetti, as he
is best known, had in common with
Petrosino, love for music, and even
now he likes to get just one night,
once in great while, to blow his barry
tcne horn with the police band.
Mike Not SO Good on Horn,
But He's a Fine Detective
Mike Fiaschetti may not be the best
barytone horn virtuoso extant, but as
detective he doesn't have to take of
his hat to anybody in the business and
he has collection of gold medals and
letters Of commentator to prove this.
Any one who meets Fiaschetti q few
times will lose sight of Fiaschetti the
detective to become interested in Fias-
chetti the man. His outstanding char
acteristic is his love for his people.
"The Italian people are good, hard
working, emotional, artistic and kind
ly," he said the other day. "You can
walk along Mulberry or Roosevelt
Street, the most congested Italian dis
trictS in New York, at any hour Of the
day or night, in perfect safety. The
Italians work so hard they have to re-
tire early. They attend to their own
affairs, are devout in their religion
and make good citizens. The Camorra
is composed mostly of Sicilians and the
cause of the lawlessness Of this class
10 ignorance. They are not my people,
like the Italians, but they have my
sympathy. On the Island of Sicily
they have inadequate educational ia
cilities and human life is held cheap
because of ignorance alone. These bad
individuals make it unfortunate for the
whole Italian people
"This lawlessness is not only found
among the Sicilian provincials Of the
Italian people. You will find it among
all peoples-all nationalities. America
has its hold-up men, who will kill with
out provocation and who will beat their
victims numerically. America has its
"yeggs," who are notorious murderers
and work in bands or Camorra. France
has its Apaches, who murder with
spiked mitts and daggers. England has
it's Whitechapel district, which pro-
duces repellent class Of murderous
characters. So you see, the Italians
are not alone in crime.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04

>strange bedfellows. In Palermo, Sicily,
few years ago sixty-eight men, men,
bers of Camorra were arrested.
Thirty were convicted and among those
found guilty of wholesale crimes, in
Guiding murder, was one priest. The
Camorra has been identified with muir
der, torture, extortion, gambling, boot
Logging, narcotic drug smuggling and
vending, kidnapping of children for ran.
som, kidnapping Of white and negro
girls, arson, burglary, swindling and
nearly every form of criminal en-
deavor.
According to Fiaschetti, the Camorra
works much like packs Of wolves. There
is leader to each pack and some
times the packs run together for a
big hunt. Sometimes wolf no longer
useful to the pack, or against whom
the pack. leader bears a grudge, is
killed. Sometimes two or more wolves
in the pack have fight of their own
and one or more are killed. Any wolf
can run with any pack as soon as he
is recognized as wolf, and can con-
tinue to run, under the leader. In try
ing to become leader he might be
killed, or he might kill the leader and
by a record Of successive killings and
good hunting become the new leader in
his own right The Camorra is all very
simple oncecyo get the chang" Of it.
Through his activities in Italy and
various American cities Mike Fiaschetti
has become one of the most famous
of detectives. His fame is even great
err, and his medals and recognitions
more numerous, than his predecessor,
Petrosino.
William J. Dineen, prominent in
North Adams, Mass, predicted twenty
years ago that Fiaschetti would be a
famous detective. This was when Mike
was steering cotton goods through a
printing machine and blowing the old
baritone horn in odd moments.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04

the belief Of the members that their
leaders word is law. They carry out
orders to kill to keep from getting
killed themselves for disobeyings or
ders. The motives for the murders are
gang politics, criminal business rival
ry, family, fueds, card games and
sometimes women. Camorra means
simply getting together" and these
gangs get together for all kinds of
crime, just as the Chamber of Com
merce gets together for all kinds of
business"
Camorra Brings Together
Some Strange Bedfellows
The Camorra will do anything for
either money or revenge, and the
Camorra has brought together some
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04

Fiaschetti was born in Rome on Feb
rnary 5, 1884. His father was mu-
stefan. The family came to America
March 2, 1895. Mike had little school
ing on both sides Of the water. While
he took industriously to the task Of fit
ting himself to be bandmaster, as
one Of his brothers is now, this boy
Mike always had dreams Of being de-
tective. These dreams were born Of
the literature of Italy, for detective
stories are popular everywhere.
In America the family settled in
North Adams, Mass, where music was
far below par, but where there was
much work in the mills for immigrants.
Mike laid aside the horn and went into
the mills. He confded his desire to be
q detective to William J.. Dineen, and
Dineen, promised to help him.
Fiaschetti as Amateur
Detective Captures Man
: In 1900 Dineen sent for Fiaschetti and
showed him police circular asking the
police to locate one Antonio Tonitto, on
whose head there was a reward. FL
aschetti took the circular and left the
mill. In a few days he had found his
man and caused his arrest.
Then he came to New York and tried
to get on the police force. He sue
ceeded in June, 1901. Unlike Petro-
sine, who walked a beat for fifteen
years waiting to forge ahead, Fiaschetti
won promotion to the detective force
in two weeks. His police uniform was
almost new when he discarded it for
neat business suit and became plain
clothes detective under Petrosino, who
said Fiaschetti possessed every requi-
site, physical, mental and moral, to be-
come great detective.
Mike Fiaschetti's love story should
fit in here, for it was his habit Of
going to church as young detective
that brought him his one great and
only love.
In congested apartment house dis
trict in Roosevelt Street stands the Ro-
man Catholic Church of San Joaquin.
The parish is nearly 100 per cent
Italian, and any one who likes raven
haired, dark-eyed feminine beauty
should attend mass at this house of
worship Fiaschetti did.
The prettiest girl in the parish, FL
aschetti insists, was Jean Cavagnoro,
twenty years old. All the sunshine of
Southern Italy had found haven in
this girls eyes. Fiaschetti will tell
you so. Her hair was like star-dusty,
night breezes-but only Fiaschetti can
describe her. .4.s
He met her as the two were coming
from mass and he walked with her
and talked with her. June 81, 1905, he
married her in the church where he
met her after short and tempestuous
courtship. His happiness lasted lit
tie over two years. She died November
81, 1907 AT her grave in Calvary
Cemetery there is an eighteenfoot
marble shaft, surmounted by an ex
quisitely carved angel. The monument
is a gift to Fiaschetti from Pietro
Nardini, the famous Italian sculptor,
who met with Mike Fiaschetti's kind
ness when Nardini visited this country
two years ago. Nardini fashioned the
monument with his own skilled hands
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04
PARIS, Aug. 90.
TOT so long ago there were con-
\ siderable hundreds of German
soldiers in France. To-day

there are just ninety, and
these members of the Kaiser's former
armies, remain because they are in Jail.
OF these forty-one are kept in the mill
tary prison at Avignon, in the South
of France. Others are scattered about
various parts of France on voluntary
labor assignments.
Friends and relatives in Germany of
the dwindled German military force on
French soil are constantly active for
the release of the prisoners before the
expiration of their sentences, and Ger
man newspapers recently charged that
they were martyrs" with the wrath
of France upon them, undergoing ter
rible privations in damp and unhealthy
holes.
An Investigation Of the status of
German prisoners at Avignon, which is
typical Jail for enemy offenders, in
dicates that they still enjoy preferen-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04

Fontano is given many favors. He is
allowed the counsel of an aged woman
who, has. taken an interest in him.
Also he is protected against the Canon
ra, which he believes had planned to
murder him because he knew too
much. He is freed from the ghost Of
murdered man who appeared to him,
repeatedly, he says, and advised him
to make clean breast of his crimes.
Gust what is the Camorra ?" Mike
Fiaschetti was asked.
"It is what you would call gang,
or number of gangs. There is an
understanding among all of these
gangs, if not close organization
These gangs have one big leader, and
the leaders have their leader. 1t is