The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1922-02-05
Hon We Handled Giuseppe MOrelIO
and His Gang, Thoroughly Bad
outfit The Part LupO the Wolf
PLAYED and Some of the Murders that
Marked Contests for Mob Leadership

Let me see this letter." replies the mag
nifcent Morello
"Ah, yes" he says when he has read it.
1T is outrageous. But no harm shall befall
Morello's friend Pietro Caporale. Neither
shall he pay those blackmailers $500 No.
he shall pay to Morello-say--$200, with
which the safety of Caporale shall be as
sured. You understand, Morello is not a
magician and that miracles come from
heaven only. But shall strive nightly
and pay my way into the mercies of the
blackmailers. 1t will cost-yes, $780,"
And that was a most lucrative business
1t was not always so Immediately produc-
tive, to be sure Sometimes three or four
letters were written. Some men are a bit
stiffnecked and insist upon having a word
to say about plans that affect them. Mo-
relic had way with such. I'm of the
opinion that fifty murders could be traced
to the Morello-Ltpo. outfit
There was nothing else extraordinary
about Morello's counterfeiting. As I have
said, the bills were poor limitations. / often
wondered why he made them at all, be-
cause he couldn't pass them as good money
except to the most ignorant of foreigners
and that was slender graft at best. He
and his crowd tried to pass one at the Iron
National Bank, Morristown. N. j., and that
trfpped them up. They became too ambi
tious. They should have stuck to forcing
the stuff on the East Side merchants.
Therefore l shall devote myself more
to the personality Of the man Morello and
to his career in Italy to certain extent
He was infinitely more interesting as a per
sonality than his crimes were.
We went to Morello's house, 2O7 East
10th street on the night of November Is,
1900. Morello was in bed with his step.
brother, Nicola Terrenova. We used some
delicacy in approaching that bed Both
men we're asleep. quite fortunately, and we
had virtually no desire to awaken them
until we were sitting on them.
Under Morello's pillow we located four
fully loaded revoivers: beneath Terre-
nova's, five. That's bound to impress you
You understand, now our circumspection
In entering the place. And two of Morello's
guns were loaded with cartridges contain
Ing buckshot-three or four pellets in each
cartridge. One might compare Giuseppe
TO one man war, and / frequently won
dered whether he didn't fear himself at
times.
Woman Drew Wicked Knife
And Fought of Two Men
The furore was spectacular. Morellos
wife made herself extremely unpopular
with us by drawing wicked knife. 1t
took two Of us to get it away from her.
Bereft OF the knife she subsidized into tears.
She was to be murdered by the police. Her
great, good husband was to be slain. And
what was to become Of these magnificent
children Of hers?
p She swooped the baby into her arms and
1t was more or less noticeable that she
was stuflng something into the childs
clothes. She would go into the next room
and put her beautiful children to sleep and
then she would go to the prison and be
mutilated by the dogs Of police.
We relieved her of the child after sustain.
ing forty or fifty minor bruises and dis
covered that this loving creature had hid
den in the most obvious position of the
baby's apparel no fewer than six Black
Hand letters.
Probably had better explain that when
ever the great and magnanimous Padrone
Morello took pity upon threatened mer-
chant and received the frightened mans
money he would pick up the threatening
Black Hand letter and tuck IL into his
pocket. 1t would help him discover the
writer, he used to say.
See? Our friend walked of with the
money and the evidence.
Morello's power lay in his mastery OF the
gang that followed him. In himself he was
more or less impotent because he lacked
the daring and the nerveless bloodthirsti-
ness to do his killing himself He was ut
terly cruel when 1t came to decreeing
death, but IL Is a question whether he COM
mitted many murders with his own hands.
Lost Control of His Gang
When Locked Up in atlanta
When Morello went to jail his power
was menaced. He was In Atlanta. behind
bars The youngsters were footloose in
New York. They had the power to under
mine the imprisoned padrone and the de-
sire and opportunity likewise. But for
more than year Morello chung to the
reins, directing his band Of the Malta from
bis CELL A letter from him was obeyed.
AT liberty also we're some Of his old lieu
tenants, who for various reasons, including
n