Denton and Haughton Examiner, etc. — 1891-03-21 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

THE " MAFIA " IN AMERICA.  =AVID(  There is great excitement in New York over the lynching of the men charged with the murder of Chief of Police Hennessey at New Orleans, and it was only on Sunday morning (says a New York despatch) that full and trustworthy details were obtainable. After the crowd had assembled in the vicinity of Clays statue, the people proceeded to the gaol in an orderly manner. On arriving at the prison their demand for the opening of the door was refused by the officials. A side door was then demolished by the mob, and only 50 men, whashad been previously picked, were permitted to enter. After a long search the prisoners were found in a yard in the coloured female department Here shooting immediately began, earl a rain of bullets quickly destroyed the lives of six of the prisoners. It was then announced to the impatient crowdsoutside the gaol that Baquetto and Poliszi had been miptured. PoHui was speedily run up to a lamppost, and whilst the body was swinging it was perforated by showers of bullets. The scene is described as a ghastly one, the white face turned towards the sky having depicted upon it the intense agonythe man had suffered. .  At this stage of the murderous proceedings • patrol wagon, with a police captain and a dozen men, tore up the Marais-street. They were stopped on the war by the excited populace, and weee given five minutes to clear off. This they did as quickly as they had come. Men and women watched the lynching from the balconies of their houses through opera glasses. Baquetto was next led forth, and when he had been swung up too bough of a tree it was seen that he was already dead. In all 11 persons were killed, the affair only occupying three-quarters of an hour. Cries were heard on all sides of " Lynch the jury,and, '' Lynch O'Malley," the detective who is accused of bribing the jury. Better counsels, however, prevailed, and further violence was restrained. _ .  The coroner then held inquests on the bodies of the men hanged on the lamppost and the tree, and afterwards on the men who had been killed in the gaol lobby. One of the men in gaol was not killed outright, but he died soon utter the inquest was opened. More men were killed than was intended. Baquetto had proved an alibi, and was acquitted by the court. The jurymen are already suffering for the verdict they returned. Seligman, the foreman, besides being expelled by the Cotton and Stock Exchanges, has been advertised by his brother, who is the senior partner in his firm, as no longer connected with it. The Italian papers in New Orleans have shrieked for vengeance, stating that all the Italian citizens would force the Minister at Washington to take action to punish the rioters who had taken part in the alt ray. Only two of the victims are reported to be Italian subjects. The Governor and the Mayor declare that they received no call for assistance in preserving order. Seligman, the foreman of the jury, has been arrested and imprisoned, but the charge preferred against him is not known. The mob was no ordinary lynching snob, but included lawyers, editors, and leading and wealthy business men. _  The lynching of Italians at New Orleans has created a deep impression in Rome, and the Italian Minister at Washington has been instructed by his Government to protest against the lynching by the mob at New Orleans of the Italian prisoners who were acquitted by the jury on the charge of assassinating Chief of Police Hennessey and to demand that energetic measures be immediately taken to ensure the punishment of the murderers and the protection of the Italian colony against outrage.