The New York herald., 1921-06-15
5000 AT The BIER
OF KIDNAPPED BOY
kindergarten PlayfellOws
of Giuseppe Varotta At
tend Funeral.
JUSTICE Is DEMANDED
God Grant They May Be
Punishedr Father Cries
Over Coffin.
POLICE NEAR STANDSTILL
Nothing Definite Developed to
Fix Crime on Any of the
Ten Prisoners.
POLICE NEAR STANDSTILL

son River on Sunday, was buried ian
Calvary Cemetery yesterday but be-
fore the little white coffin was placed
in the grave the child's father had
offered his defiance to the men who
stole and murdered his child. For
the body was carried into the parlor
of the Varotta home, as the grief
stricken father had said it would be,
even after the kidnappers had sent to
him their last boast that he never
again would see the child, either in life
or death.
One of the floral tributes that fol-
lowed to the grave the dead child and
his heartbroken parents was a wreath
sent by the children of Public School
10, in the kindergarten class of which
the boy .>ad been member and pet.
AZ Il lay upon the coffin. which re-
mairrvS sealed from the moment the
body reached the Varotta home, a
broad ribbon streamer knotted to the
wreath Haunted in the faces of the
thousands of mourners this challenge
boldly lettered:
Victim of the Black Hand. We
Demand Justice. Let Justice Be Vindi-
cated"
ThrOng Around Tenement.
That inscription seemingly spoke the
sentiment and the temper of the vast
crowd that besieged the block in which
is the tenement 354 East Thirteenth
street, where the Varottas make their
home. Fifty uniformed policemen had to
be detailed to hold In check and to re-
strict into some semblance of order the
throng which they estimated at 5000
persons Close to the front steps were
grouped the children of the kindergarten
class, large eyed and olive skinned for
the most part, silently decorous. and each.
wearing a band of white crepe girdling
the right arm.
They were standing there solemn and
attentive when the small white motor
hearse bringing from Nyack the body Of
their little classmate wheeled into Thir-
teenth street from First avenue and
stopped In front Of 354. Five minutes
later the whole block was so densely
packed as to halt traffic. while scores of
swarthy faces peered down from neigh
boring windows, fire escapes and roof
tops.
AS the coffin was borne up the steps
Salvatore Varotta, father of the slain
child. stood in the doorway holding by
the hand his baby daughter. Rose Marie.
He stood bareheaded and neighbors re-
marked how his close cropped hair had
whitened since this great grief tested bis
strength. The man sobbed brokenly.
Stretching out his arms toward the cof-
fin. he gave way to his emotion.
mi figio. mi figlio!" he walled.
Tender hands restrained him and guided
him into the house. He followed the
casket up the stairway, but long after
he had disappeared the jostling throng
echoed sympathetically his despairing
cry In the family paror. already
packed to suffocation by the forty or
fifty relatives and close friends assem-
bled there. they laid down their slight
burden on the pedestal amid the burning
candles. All in the room were sobbing.
but the stricken mother. she who already
had endured such agonies of doubt after
few moments OF unrestrained grief
rallied her strength for the new ordeal
and withstood 1t bravely.
Once again the father yielded to emo
tional strain. Bending over the coffin.
he cried "And are you really there and
dead, my little bambino? And did they
kill you?" Then, lifting his brawny
arms above the stubby gray hair. he
cried, as much in prayer as In lust OF
vengeance. God grant they be pun
ishedr
At last the police had the pressing
mob In control and two thousand persons
passed through the little parlor, down
the stairway and back into the street
while the Rev. Antonio Maglio pastor of
the Church of Mary, Help of Christians.
in East Twelfth street. consoled the
parents.
Then four youths bore the coffin back
to the hearse and the body was taken to
the church. Behind the hearse marched
the kindergarten children. The father,
Salvatore V3rotta, stalked close beside
!; as though to guard his poor little de-
spoiled treasure to the last. The mother
and other members of the family rode
In a carriage.
Police Make Little Headway.
The church was crowded to the doors.
After the service the white hearse and
the single carriage that trailed It passed
again the Varotta home on the way TO
the cemetery
Little progress was made yesterday in
the police task Of fastening the crime
upon any or all OF the ten Sicilians who
have been arrested. Benedict y. Dineen.
the Assistant District Attorney of the
Homicide Bureau who now hrs charge
of the case, again catechised 'rcny Sus-
ella and Joseph Margolio. tv,- of the
five suspects arrested last Sunday. but
he said he had ELECTED little new that
was OF moment. These men were sent
by Judge Mcintyre to the House OF
Detention as material witnesses in de-
fault of $500 bail each.
The other three Sicilans taken on
Sunday. and In whose possession weap-
ons were found. pleaded guilty when
arraigned In Special Sessions. to the
charge OF violating the Sullivan law.
They were remanded TO the Tombs until
June "a and T. the meantime the de-
receives of the Italian squad hope 10
determine whether they have any moro
serious accusation 10 lay against them.
Detective Sergeant Fiaschetti, who
was moving about actively with mem
bers OF his squad through the crowd
that beset the funeral. admitted that
ne had received one more threatening
letter promising him painful death
unless he ceased from his investigation.
NJ. CAsENAvE TO he SPEAKER.
Maurice Casenave. director Of the
French Government Services in the
rnA.~ states. will deliver the commence
Inent address to $50 graduates of the
College Of the City of New York Thurs
day. June %. The Rev. Charles T. Fag-
nani Of Union Theological Seminary,
viii defyer the invocation, and Charles
". TuttM. trustee. will administer the
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