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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (May 25, 1911)
The Death Sign That Defeats Justice IX Opr* eoert. where Justice sits rtlkpnwssd. tte very embodiment at law sad order, sad in the cer tala i!t-sphere at as authority ar—ust which bc eu teay raise a fcaad; here, is this eery city of New Turh. wttaesae* under uath to speak (he track rely, tare halted with un «H*n word oa tip and become aa •Wlea at the slpht od the tics at dealt The tips at death* A Action? No. A atari**'.#■« motion made to dis naaiiart the oeertimld* Apain no A death sips—a reality* As cer tain aa there are rotate at law. a rlpn behind —tick larks the murderous Mite is the taad at a killer of men; a Mps at aa malips syrniftrar.ee as Chat of the skull and rroseboaes on tte black dap at the peak at the pirmte ship of eld Thai «*sb was made in New Turk, la JBetter Fawcett's court, and a alt ■rue rustled a*d teesa* speechless, •t was trade apaia In Justice O'Sui Ihai court atd a witaees cowered au rhsok like one with the palsy Wk*l Is this s*ru af death* WII Mar F Firm head of the deteetire Iwr- as. seated deputy caemtssiofier sf the poXce department. for years a secret serrke man. shrewd, re Owurerfu:. surceasful knows It sflL H* had see* X. They put one alps of death os the body of a rtettsB—a afer at death accomplished for to fell: tar eespeaace without It would art strike terror The st*s about which Ohf Flynn tell# Is the other— the w tramp •V WILLIAM J. FLYNN (Head «T the Baruau of Detectives. New York City.) THE death sign, trad egHaalre’y taatg south, cm Italians and Sir6!tt*. Is made by placing Os* ftndctr? of the right band be twees the Matt The instant the j •tga M sees by the one for wham it j Is Intended the finger is withdrawn j The entire movement rarely take* near* 'has two or three second* Often It Is made ta a tingle second. j aad for thet rtsoua It oaeopts the ' wstlr* of even the sharpest obserrere When this sign la mad* by a leader or wjrtsmatJt* of a gang ct bad men It never falls '• strike terror Into the bear's at rltsea**. no matter how bald ar nwnswa they may be I hare seen wPnessws who had pre rlOMtff declared their sll’ t gars* to testify asd who were assured of pro ferta* suddenly tarn white as a sheet aad isfwse to after another word against the prisoner who was oa trial. The death sign had been given to them In om court, and hey knew they weald he killed tf they said an other word And It l« undoubtedly true (hot their U««o would be for teHed If they dfaebtyed the sign Not %tr* of those gang* are arrant cow ards. bwt songey or later acme of their number would murder their rVc-1 tfw The rood nested southern tlahsns and SkrfiUxa with whom the folioe hove to deal are mors superstitious than any other race of people living to New fork Sign omen* hove a ptn-Har *. gsiBro.ee for fhra. The death sign It a liMium with (hem They have hoard about It before they could ever talk They are brought wp to dread It. jntt as they are %rtxmht up to dread the Black Hand No matter where they ore they coat get away from It. because they can't gt* away from thetasafve* They kttt heard of fellow-eocEtrymea who gmregarded the death sign and met Hi up 11 la loo So when the death op u given to them h is Utile won dm that they tarn white with (ear and rwfws* to (notify " ‘ 1 . employed j s _ _* token Iho lad «bs« Italians aad of (ha man ignorant class ' carry on a iarge part of their inter -urse by means of gestures A shrug it the shoulders, the raising of the eyebrows, a gesture of the arms may mean more to them than whole sen tences Then, too, a sign is more impressive than a spoken or writ ten word And of course it can be made more quickly and is far less i likely to be detected. The origin of the death sign is ob scure I doubt if any of the men who have used it could tell how it orig inated. It Is very evident that the p!*> ing of the finger to the lips means silence—as a sign of silence it is as old aa the hills Probably the pressure of the teeth on the finger ! !» significant of the fate that will follow if the injunction covered in *te sign is disobeyed. The sign has been employed in southern Italy al most as long as tribunals have ex st<d and it has doubtless been used many times here In America since we began to receive so many Italians •bat a distinct criminal class arose am< ng them Trials of Italians for such crimes as counterfeiting. Black Hand and kidnaping cases in recent years have brought it to the attention | >f the public When witnesses in : »hese case* suddenly refused to tes- | •ify in open court the judges, the j prosecutors and the police knew the 1 death sign had been given, but it had •■eea done so quickly and mysterious | !y that few knew bow It was accom i pllshed. While I was in the secret service I tad to deal with many Italian and Sicilian counterfeiters, and in several i of the cas*.* my witnesses whom I felt certain would "come through”— this is police parlance for telling the ’rue story on the witness stand— stopped «hort In the middle of their •estitrony. and nothing could induce them to utter another word. So In subsequent cases 1 watched the peo ple in the court room very- closely ! I was rewarded by seeing the death sign made clearly and dis tinctly It was made just as I j described it—a quick motion to the teeth with the forefinger of the right ^ hand. Two Case* That Prove Potency of the Sign. Marla Kappa, who with Stanislaus Pat tecta was on trial last December for kidnaping Oulteppe Longo and Michael* Rizzo, was given the death sign In open court. She would have told her whole story but for that rea son A member of the gang of Black Handers who were associated with *>er gave her the sign and she posi tively refused to talk further. Noth ing would move her. She knew if she made any disclosures she would be killed Justice Lewis Fawcett, who tried the case, admitted it. No one taw the death sign given to her, but the fact that she stopped in the mid dle of her lestlmony and turned deathly white is conclusive evidence that It was given to her. If her testimony had not been halted by the death sign we should have been able to round up every member of that gang of kidnapers. St* knew them and was ready to tell | all; but when the death sign was ! given to her she knew If she divulged j i a single came her life would no. be j safe, even In Jail. So it will be seen ! | that the death sign Is often a serious j hindrance to our work. In another kidnaping case the ! I death sign was plainly seen. Rosina * ] Martiueae. a woman held for com plicity in the case of Pietro Pampi j neill. had agreed to tell the truth j , about the affair on the condition that the charge against her be withdrawn. Her lawyer and the asistant district attorney bad agreed to this, and she took the stand to confess her part la the crime Even Judge O’Sullivan askrd her if she was ready to confess and she answered in the affirmative. But a moment later her face turned white and her black eyes grew fixed and staring, aa though something bad suddenly fr'galened her Into dumb ness. She clutched at her throat and placed her hand before her face as though to shut out the hideous ! vision. Impcssfble to Make Woman Give Testimony. Suddenly she shrieked: "No. no; I know nothing! I swear I know noth ing at all.” Her lawyer jumped to his feet and told the court that she had confessed her part in the crime to him and that she had agreed to tell it on the witness stand. But the Martinese woman was immovable. She would not utter a word except to deny her knowledge of the crime. While she was protesting her in ! r.o"ence a policeman rushed to the i prisoner's pen and caught Pietro Pam pin 111. the man cn trial, by the arm. He had seen him give her the death sign and he so informed the court. Subsequent attempis were made to get the Martinese woman to confess, but without success. Like others who had received the sign she knew any confession on her part would be fol lowed by a hideous death. Of course, there are scores of writ ten death signs. The skull and cross bones has been a sign of death for centuries. The Chinese have a death sign with which they mark the house of a man selected for slaughter, and 1 surpose every race has some sort j of written sign which is synonymous j l with death and which has come down j from the earliest times. To this day j when an Italian is murdered his rela- j tives dip their fingers in his blood ; and make a cross with it. The cross, by the way, has been the symbol of death in almost every clime and age. But the death sign we are confront ed. with today is the quick gesture which I have described. It is peculiar , to the southern Italians ana the Sicilians. I have never known it to be employed by criminals of any^oth er nationality, and in my career I have dealt with men of all races. It is a serious thwarting of justice, but I have no doubt that It really means death for the person who disregards it. While Italian criminals are cow ards when it comes to fighting any one not of their own race, the spirit of the vendetta is born in them. The fact that several witnesses who impli cated their fellow countrymen in seri ous crimes have been mysteriously ■ murdered not long afterward proves that the death sign is a dreadful, horrible reality.—New’ York Sunday World. ARROWS THAT CARRY FUME1 — Method of Starting Fires In Which 1 Miscreant Can Escape Without Detection. Arrows bearing a box of matches and an ignited cloth, and which are shot from rice fields and dark alleys, are now known to be the means by which the firebugs responsible for sev eral conflagrations during the last week have accomplished their alms. A strange feature of the present epl- j demlc of Incendiarism in Manila has ; been the utter inability of anyone to catch the firebugs in the act of firing houses, and although the police and | private citizens have been on the look out for these vandals only one charge of arson has been filed so far. The police had a theory the work was done with arrows and that their theory was correct was proved by the discover}' yesterday afternoon of an arrow which had been shot at 241 Calle Singalong. The arrow was about inches long and about one centi meter in diameter. To it w as tied a full box of matches wrapped with a piece of canvas which had been saturated with petroleum. The arrow was designed so that being fixed in the bow, or when ready to be thrown, the canvas was ignited and the arrow hurled at the house intend ed for destruction. By the time it reached its destination the cloth would be burned sufficiently to Ignite the matches and an explosion would oc cur. setting fire to the surrounding nipa or bamboo. Standing off at a convenient distance in a paddy field or a dark street the miscreant would be a^le to Ignite and fire his arrow and then escape without detection.— Manila Times. Deprivation* Cause Disease. If from capricious appetite or deprlv- : atlons certain constituents of food are | left out. certain diseases will be sure to follow. To illustrate: The ab sence of Iron, vegetables, Balts, as phosphates of lime and sodawlll cause scurvy. Arctic sailors suffer from this disease. Anaemia, common among girls at puberty. Is due from an ab normal appetite for slate pencils and pickles for steady diet. Softening of bones, known as rickets, seen In the bow-legged, U caused by a lack of the necessary salts. In health 80 per cent of the tissues of the body are water. Hence the first consideration Is to have plenty of pure water, and to give the patient all he wants in order to keep up the average. To appease this demand for liquids and at the same time supply nourish ment, we can give koumyss, gruels, broths, milk, malted milk, orange or lemonade. If not forbidden. Keep to the llqpld diet if patient is at all feverish.—Woman's World What Babylonian Ruins Reveal. The German excavators of ancient Babylon believe that they have identi fied the remains of the Tower of Babel, although there appears to be some doubt as to which of three structures constitute the foundation of the real Babel. Further excavations are to be made, and are expected to settle the question. v The ruins of Nebuchadnezzar’s pal ace, where Belshazzar's feast took place, and where Alexander the Great died, have been shown to cover the re mains of quay walls built on the river side by Sargon and Nebopolassar. The I enormous brick buildings constructed by the Babylonian architects were veneered with glazed and colored bricks In ornamental designs. Nature’s Provision. Moles and the mole cricket have the same problem to negotiate in cut ting caves In the ground, so here an Insect and an animal both have the same shaped forelegs and shovel-ilk* hands and daws. / V ALPS ARE PIERCED BY ANOTHER TUNNEL ^ ■ ' tzhe' T-iEFrme of fjts. ~ ‘" WORK on the Lotschberg tunnel, the third longest in Europe, is progressing so well that the opening of this bore through the Alps has been set for May 1, 1913. At 3:50 o'clock one morning not long ago the two boring parties met. When the first small hole had been made through the barrier between the two. Chief Engineer Moreau, in charge of the south party, was handed a bunch of Alpine flowers by Engineer Rothpleti, in charge of the northern party. Then the chief engineer passed through the opening and embraced his colleague. The other workers followed. The tunnel, which takes its name from the Lotschen Pass, under which it runs, passes somewhat to the east of the Balrahorn. a 12.000 foot high peak, and Is over nine and one-fourth miles in length. The Simplon is three and one-fourth miles longer; the St. Oothard a quarter mile longer. Unlike other Alpine tunnels, it is curved, its course having been diverted owing to a great disaster of July. 190$. when by an accident, the Kander river was tapped and the water, rushing into the workings, killed 25 men The result of the work will be a number of modifications In the international railway traffic of central Europe. COYOTE IS MALIGNED Bravest Animal Alive. Declares Former U. S. Marshal. _ That is Information Given Out by Jack Abernathy of Oklahoma. Bet ter Qualified for Talk Than Any Other Person. Oklahoma City, Okla.—The coyote has been greatly maligned. Instead of being the worst coward in the animal kingdom it is the bravest thing in ex istence. That is the information coming from Catch-'Em-Alive Jack Abernathy, former United States marshal, and better qualified for dis cussing the coyote, perhaps, than any other living man. Recently while discussing coyote hunting with some friends, Abernathy gave utterance to some statements that are surprising. "There is a mistaken impression re garding the coyote," he said "1 have caught a thousand of them and 1 never made one yelp with pain. They would rather run than fight, but when they are cornered they fight like the vc-ry old Nick and die without a whim per. “I would rather catch a wolf alive than a coyote. The wolf is larger, but the coyote Is quicker. "The coyote never hunts trouble. I never had one attack me unless I had started the fight He sleeps the great er part of the day and forages at night I have noticed that they are braver at night than in the daytime. “As to their Intelligence—why, dang It. they're the smartest things living They are more cunning than a fox. They can ambush a dog with more skill than a Mississippi nigger can in vade a nen roost on a dark night. Their favorite trick is to 'double' on dogs when being chased. I had a fine greyhound killed once by this trick. Three dogs were chasing a coyote. The trail led through a rough country and the wolf, as they are commonly called on the ranges, led the dogs into a trap. A half dozen other coyotes came out from a ravine and took after the dogs. Suddenly the wolf that was being pursued stopped and in a mo ment there was ?he all-flredest fight you ever saw. They killed one of the dogs before I could get close enough to unlimber my Winchester and get into the game. "A wolf knows when he Is In danger and when he Is not. Once I had a coop of chickens In camp. The coyotes were prowling about, ao I took the coop out on the prairie not far away and surrounded it with wolf traps. Early the next morning I took my re volver and went out to see if I had caught anything. Not a trap had been disturbed. While I stood there seven of the rascals snooped up out of the darkness and surrounded me. They came up to within ten feet of me and I began to expect a fight. I drew away from them, making toward camp, thinking to unchain the dogs and have an early morning chase. They fol lowed. but when they caught smell of the dogs, they took to their heels. "There is something queer about the howling of coyotes. It reminds me more of Indians dancing than any thng else. I think the Indians learned some of their antics from the coy otes; and then again when you re member how smart the doggoned coyote is, it may have been the other way, he may have caught the trick from watching the Indians. "One night, several years ago, I saw a coyote come loping along until he reached a little knoll, where he stopped. He sat up on his haunches and emitted a ghastly longdrawn yowl. Silence followed; then another yowl. In ten minutes u dozen other coyotes gathered around him. In stead of sitting up on their haunches like the first one they circled around him in a radius of about ten feet In a kind of a 'hltch-and-a-trot‘ lope, howling, first a short yelp and then ' a long one. Occasionally the one sit ting in the middle would let out a long-drawn .ry. That was the cue for the others to begin all over again. , I made a movement and in a moment | they had vanished like the shadows.” — I IS ATLANTIC COAST SINKING? | Inquiry to Bo Made Tbit Year as to Theory That There la Drop of Two Feet a Century. Trenton. N. J.—Whether the coast of New Jersey Is sinking about two feet a century ts to be ascertained this summer. At a meeting of the board of managers of the state geo logical survey. State Geologist Kum 1 mel reported that he had made ar rangements with Prof. D. W. Johnson of Harvard university to make the necessary research. Some scientists have held that the Atlantic seaeoast was sinking at the rate of two feet every hundred years, and the theory has come to be general ly accepted. Professor Johnson will come to this state and prosecute the study under a research fund estab lished at Harvard. The result is ex pected to have an Important bearing on the coast levels established in this state 25 years ago. HENS TRAVEL 12,000 MILES Descendants of Champion Australian Chickens Arrive In England— Hava World's Record. London.—After a 12.000-mile Jour ney from Adelaide, South Australia, a flock of pedigreed white Leghorn poul try has arrived at the Gartn Poultry farm. Gian Conway, Denbigshire. The fowls were obtained from A. H. Pud man. whose white Leghorns secured the world's record for egg laying in the twelve months' competition which terminated on March 31, 1910, held at Gattoh. Queensland. The six hens laid 1,531 eggs, valued at $30, during the year, which works out to an average of about 255 eggs per hen. The hens now at Gian Con wav are descendants of these birds. SAFETY HATPIN IS INVENTED Massachusetts Matron Has Novel Method of Fastening Bonnet— Has Tiny Lock Nut. Cambridge, Mass.—No more dodg ing the stilletto-like hatpin, according to Mrs. Harry Eldridge Goodhue of thiB city, who has conceived a means of fastening milady's bat to her head which is not dangerous. Mrs. Goodhue's invention does not look different from the ordinary hat pin except that it has a Uny screw or lock nut near the Juncture of the head and shaft. As in the ordinary hatpin, the point Is sharp, and it would he as dangerous a weapon as the kind ordinarily carried were it not that the pin is made to telescope to any de sired length. Money to Burn. New York.—More than $3,000,000 in bills was shipped by the sub-treasury here to Washington to be destroyed as worn and mutilated currency. The amount constitutes a record for a single day. FLIES DISLIKE BLUE PAINT - i Also, Little Peats Are Not Partial to Hop Vines—Idea Comet From France. Topeka, Kan —Dr. S. J. Crumbtne. secretary of the state board of health, has learned of two methods by which the common house fly can be kept away from kitchens and barns. One is to paint the barn and kitchen blue, almost any old shade, and the other is to grow hops around the doors. The blue paint Idea came from France where two scientists. Marre and Fe, in the course of some experi ments with flies, found that cow stables which were painted blue in side were avoided by flies. It was also observed that kitchens and din ing-rooms which were papered in blue or painted blue also seemed to keep the flies away as homes within a few feet where the bide paint or paper was not used were infested with the pests. Doctor Crumbtne is working out some experiments himself regarding the growing of hops around the kitch en doors, A missionary from India told Doctor Crumblne that hops were used by the natives of India in the place of screens. The hop vines were allowed to grow all over the little huts, ar.d the people were never bothered with flies. Doctor Crumblne and several of his assistants have set out hop vines around the back doors. The vines are growing all over the buildings, and Doctor Crumblne is watching the vines this summer to note whether or not the hops are really effective against the flies. Dig Up Petrified Turtles. Cumberland, Md.—Down under the slate beds and In a sandstone forma tion found by a contractor while ex cavating for the new Masonic templ6 on the site of old Fort Cumberland, has been found a little colony of turtles, each measuring about three Inches across. All were petrified. SHE SUFFERED FIVEYEARS Finally Cured by Lydia E. Pink ham’s Vegetable Compound. Erie, Pa. — “I suffered for five years from female troubles and at last was almost helpless. I went to three doc tors and they did me no good, so my sister advised me to try I.ydia E. I'ink. ham’s Vegetable Compound, and when I had taken only two bottles I could sea a big change, so I took six bottles and I am 'now strong and well again. I don’t know how to express mv thanks for the good it has done me and I hope all suffering women will me Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound a trial. It was worth its weight in gold.”—Mrs. J. P. Exnnicn. B. E. I>. No. 7, Erie, Pa. Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Com pound, made from native roots and herbs, contains no narcotic or harm ful drugs, and to-day holds the record for the largest number of actual cures of female diseases we know of, and thousands of voluntary testimonials are on file in the Pinkham laboratory at Lynn, Mass., from women who have been cured from almost every form of female complaints, such as inflamma tion, ulceration, displacements, fibroid tumors, irregularities, periodic "pains, backache, indigestion and nervous prostration. Every suffering woman I owes it to herself to give Lydia E. Pink uam’s Vegetable Compound a trial If you want special advice write Mrs.Pinkham, Lynn,Mass- for Is, It is free and always helpfni. “iSSKi.’SiJ Thompson's Eja Watai SURE SIGN. Mrs. Wiggins—Our daughter Mary'* n lore. Mr. Wiggins—How do you know? Mrs. Wiggins—She refers to twi light as the gloaming. Politician and Preacher. A politician in a western state, Iona suspected of crookedness and noted for his shifty ways, was finally in dieted and tried. The jury was out s : long time, but eventually acquitted ! him. After the verdict was in and , the politician was leaving the court 1 room, a minister who had been in i part responsible for the indictment j and trial approached the politician ; and said: “Well, my friend, you havi ; escaped; but you had a close shave I trust this will be a warning to you to lead a better life and deal more fairly with your fellow men." “That may be,” the politician re plied. “That may be; but 1 ain't pledged to any one.”—Saturday Even | ing Post. Wanted an Officer. The sheriff was snoozing aw&y ia his seat in the coach, when he heard some one call out: "Is there an otEeet in the coach from New Castle?" “Yes.” replied the sheriff very ea phatically. “Loan me your corkscrew, please, sir.” calmly continued the drummer Frightful. “They say she looked daggers at him?” “Worse than that. She looked long hitpins.” The chief secret of comfort lies in no1', allowing trifles to vex us.—Sharp FEED YOU MONEY Feed Your Brain, and It Will Feed You Money and Fame. "Fver sine© boyhood 1 have beew especially iond of meats, and 1 am con vinced I ate too rapidly, and faded tc masticate my food properly. "The result was that 1 found myself, a few years ago. afflicted with ail ments of the stomach, and kidneys, which ir-terfered seriously with my business. "At last l took the advice of friends and began to eat Grape-Nuts instead of the heavy meats, etc., that had coo stituted my former diet. "I found that l was at once ben© filed by the change, that I was soon relieved from the heartburn and indi gestion that used to follow my meals, that the pains in my back from my kidney affection had ceased. "My nerves, which used to be u» steady, and my brain, which was alow and lethargic from & heavy diet ol meats and greasy foods, had, not in a moment, but gradually, and none the less surely, been restored to normal efflcl mey. “Now every nerve Is steady and my brain and thinking faculties are quick er and more acute than for years past. “After my old style breakfasts 1 used to suffer during the forenoon from a feeling of weakness which hindered me seriously in my work, but sine© I began to use Grape-Nuts food 1 can work till dinner time with all ease Wnd-'^omfort.” Name given by Po© vom Co., Battle Creek. Mich. “There’s a reason.” Read the little book, “The Road to Wellville,” in pkgs. Ever read the above letter? A na oee appears from time to time. Thev are ceauiae, true, and fuU at l.-.| iltCKSte