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Show confession f sscomit? tool"f the black hand By WILLIAM J. FLYNN, Chief of the United States Secret Service, i SKCKKT Service operative was v shadowing a man lie suspectod of A being one of the Block Hand 1 connicrfoiiers. For days ho had trailed this man, Nil,, other operative!! h:i.l watched other mliers of the society. The not was "nvir.s closer nliotit I.npo nnd Morello. c knew several of their lieutenants. we were greedy for more evidence. ro facts. My mcu wcre under orders find out where the counterfoil ir.g 1 ol wns. For reasons I have previous--Wplainod 1 shall not divulge the name ifne operative in question. !e followed his man into New York's n(i Central Station. There the sus-.'.-wl counterfeiter honght a cicnr anil jt imp smoking room and remained for ie time. After that lie had his shoes 4" isheii. 11' he walked out of the ( Idins to Sixth avenue, strolled through . Forty-fourth street, where lie turned it nnd returned to the railroad ter- ; ...rv step of the way the Secret Ser-'-h operative was behind liim. When counterfeiter' reached the ticket of-the of-the operative was only a few feet Sind him. He hurried to get in line 'find the man he was following. Iu his ?) lie jostled against a woman carry-j carry-j a heavy suit case. Hastily be apolo- ii, hut the delay was just euougb to 1 ) him a few paces from the counter-j counter-j r when he purchased a ticket. "TV operative could not hear the name he place to which the ticket was pur-d, pur-d, bnf he saw him man give a two-ir two-ir bill to the ageut and receive fifty s in change. e was afraid to ask the agent about ticket. There was little possibility the agent could be connected with Black Hand society, but there might :a 1 f a dozen counterfeiters watching and if he showed any particular est in ftie movements of the Black tier they would immediately tip off Ki comrade and the operative would -,"tne the oue who was shodowed. 2t the same reason he thought it in-table in-table to follow the man into the to-.. But one thing was established. 1 e man was one of the counterfeiters was going to the place where the i money was being made, the plant at a place which could be reached New York for $1.50 railroad fare, ret I thought it was Poughkeepsie. 1 began to put two and two to-ratid, to-ratid, remembering that Lupo when 1 from New York went to Ardonia, Je town back of Highland, .V i., I oc convinced that the counterfcit- Slant must be somewhere along tbe : shank of the Hudson Itiver not far Highland. -'t country a short distance back of :;"'..lil,s which lino the river is -very .I-.-"1'! very lonesome and would be an section for the plant of the counter-Investigation counter-Investigation of that whole dis-immediately dis-immediately started, but an S - (cup made possible by one . i- y best men hastened the final -up of tiie counterfeiters. r.Vuuse it is nothing like his real iC? we call this operative Logan. i','u is known iu the files of the t Service as a fearless operative. f. d the Black Hand members ever ich as suspect that lie was in the ' 'y of the government he will bo io some secluded spot, bis body with knife wounds, the mark of ;3;llack Hand pinned to bis clothing be i warning to those who would whis- j 'e secrets of the Black Hand. The j:;i-rcrs might be some day appro-'eH. appro-'eH. but the reason for the crime I never bo known. Those of the h', who save to the incident anv at- n at "'I would set It down to n 'ble between thieves and let it go 'I- None would ever know that a ;i.h liad died in the act of performing .Mitity to the state and to society iC!tl hero unsung. '" it months of patient toil and after j I his life a score of times, Logan , -id his way into the inner councils ' Black Hand society. od occasion a member of the so-Ported so-Ported out to Logan a roan whom :0;:: ouuterfoiters called "Comito the I ' '-tfTe Soes the man," said the coun-!or' coun-!or' "w'o operates the presses. He (, 'ho actually makes the bogus a"d it is time that you should : him." .an ,atl'L' met Comito and became ;ix'ose friend. At the very earliest ;un'ty he pointed him out to me knew that at last the goal for I had been striving was close at i X " ' " ANTONIO ' ' ' k ft a,") , 4 :! yM(W:A I "' ) f 'TTtTrn Catherine Xow, I learned that Comito was living he knew their methods, but gradually Slj I 1( f. , fili,.; 'I H'Hlif ' 1 H ' r .Vfeli I in a littie flat in New York city with a h f "P"" me e prc ' - t il (. tfA f '1) ; .' J sentative of a power greater than that S8 iltr kit, 1,''. 1 4 t , t! Woman named (.atcrma. He being the of the Black Hand, a power for law and 1 R Jli ill lir's' ' ' - 1 '- A ' H ' ' ' ) man that printed the notes I, of course, order which would protect him even ! Tlpifll I B UsSSTn. ! I ' V s v't '! 11 "fC , ,i ' c if ( 'l'jOPt, AW IVAfD expected to find bundles of them in his against the secret vengeance of tbe men 'L iflH? tl xPjSK ' ' lt5l!'iP8uSe,JV4,iWii4u5l,rt iJHW rooms, together with letters and other from Corleone. it J jj LMMB DOOTWE CO TO PHILADELPHIA - evidence connecting him with Lupo, During these excursions with Comito j r-afjj Wtfl W&fZH o H' B1"ck Handers. They never " 'Do not acquire bad friendships,' he Morello and others. 1 went to his flat 1 lished the identity of many men ? MlUAtJM lcr,f l"6 0it0 ' 8aM- 'Be cur"ful- oE llich il among the counterfeiters whom 1 iad iT-jf f lir' s tlllie 1 JmrJ t,oen patlierinff men iuut lay for you. There exists in to make the arrest m person. My men nQt known befofe Comito aIso gave me ff J I , Vfi&Sy' information from Comito and at last in Nw York a baud of malefactors who searched the place from end to end. mm?h inroi:matioil aboit the workings lilljlr &M ll U 'S"S Washington, after I promised to pruteet go by the name Black Hand. Kverv day Every nouk and cranny was pried into, of tiie 80CietV( its methods and its activi- him from tlic vengeance of the Black this band commits crimes, assassinating Caterina was searched and all her he- ljes closer and cloBer we drew the net V ' a Sfe. Hlin(I- te wrote Jus coufcasion, which persons. Betting fire to houses, breaking lontriugs were gono over carefully. Not about leaders, as Comito furnished WwMnMlilllld wiU show you what tllG C0llIlterritf'rs 111 doors, exploding bombs nnd kidnap- a single bogus note was found, nor were ns witJl more and more informution. The Jl I If I III III 111 e doilJS aI1 tbe time tUat meu ing children.' any blackmail letters discovered. I had activitieB of my raen showed the Black I wcre drawing the net about them. It "My uncle's talk I took to heart, for I heard that. Comito was merely the dupe o i 1 1 It 1 1 V Uf LMI ' i Mill It tutu Hiftnmlv n has bci'ii said that rnmif,v mnWinn ....... . , . . Now, I learned that Comito -was living in a little flat in New York city with a Woman named Caterina. He being the man that printed the notes I, of course, expected to find bundles of them in his rooms, together with letters and other evidence connecting him with Lupo, Morello and others. 1 went to his flat to make the arrest in person. My men searched the place from end to end. Every nouk and cranny was pried into, i Caterina was searched and all her he- i luntdugK were gono over carefully. Not a single bogus note was found, nor were , any blackmail letters discovered. I had j heard that. Comito was merely the dupe of the Black Ifanders, and that lie was j not at heart a criminal nor had he 1 profited at all by the counterfeiting j schome. The lack of evidence in his apartment seemed to corroborate this. "The Sheep" was well named- Instead of placing him under arrest I'sat down and had a long talk with him. Not only was I convinced that Comito had been a dummy, hut I soon learned that if I could get him to talk I would ha.ve a witness who could fasten guilt upon almost every man of the baud 1 was runuing to earth. This strange cliaraeter was influenced to a remarkable extent by kindness. There were tears in lu's eyes when I told him that neither he nor Caterina would be arrested, but in the plainest terms I stated that at the first attempt to mingle ngaiu with the Black Handors he would find himself entangled with the law. Though they wcre allowed to go free the Secret Sen-ice did not for ti moment relax TjgiLance. The girl was spirited away and put under the protection of the government and Comito himself was under my own supervision. Kor clays he was iu the Custom House in New York, never leaving the building except disguised and with me. For days I worked over him, always treating him with the greatest kindness ami striving to overcome the fear which at times got the better of him. As you shall see when t come to Comito's confession, con-fession, w,hich 1 shall make public for the first time since it was written for me in long hand by "The Sheep'' himself, he had reason to fear the vengeance of the society for which he had worked. He knew what had happened to many a man who had whispered of the affairs of the Black Hand. Each night I went with Comito to some Italian restaurant and dined on spaghetti with tomato sauce and onion soup until I felt inside like a Sicilian and added inches to my girth. At first Comito glanced fearfully about him and only played with his food. He knew tiie men with whom he had to deal and he knew their methods, but gradually he came to look upon me as the representative repre-sentative of a power greater than that of the Black Hand, a power for law and order which would protect him even against the secret vengeance of the men from Corleone. During these excursions with Comito I established the identity of many men among the counterfeiters whom I had not known before. Comito also gave me much information about the workings i of the society, its methods and its activities. activi-ties. Closer and closer we drew the net j about the leaders, as Comito furnished j us with more and more information. The activities of my men showed the Black I Handers that the Secret Service "was i learning some of their secrets. The j members of the society knew that Co-1 Co-1 mito had fallen into my clutches and they realized that it must be he who was tolling mo of tbdr affairs. Lupo and Morello offered $2,500 for information informa-tion as to where Comito was, but they never found out. Knowing that Logan, the operative who pointed out Comito to me, was a friend of "The Sheep," Lupo and Morello thought it possible that the two might communicate. They did not suspect Logan Lo-gan of being a spy. Had they done so his life would have paid for it. They would have taken no chances. However, they believed that Comito might write to Logan. One of Moroilo's aids procured from the Tost Office a regular printed card-used to notify the Postmaster of change of address. This was filled out and mailed to the Postmaster with Logan's name signed to It, asking -that his mail be forwarded to No. 23 New Bowery. Now as Logan had actual ry worked his way into the inner councils of the Black Hand, other operatives who did not know that he was in the employ of the government govern-ment were continually trailing him. As soon as the chauge of address card was received at the Post Office, one of these men notified me. I asked Logan if he had filled out the card or if be had chanced hi-3 place of living. "No," he said, "I have done nothing of the kind." He was very much surprised to hear that the card had been mailed and more astounded o learn that I knew all about it. He did not know that other Secret Service operatives suspected him of being a counterfeiter and were watching his every move, v I obtained the card and it was at once evhient that the siguature was not Logan's. Lo-gan's. It asked to have his mail forwarded for-warded to an address whorn Don Gasparo kept a drug store in which was a branch post office usfd frequently by the Black Hand members. Much of their mail whs sent there. It did not take long for operatives op-eratives to dig up Gasparo's past. lie had lived for a long time in the Bronx near the tenement houses built by Morello Mo-rello and Lupo, From time to time he had been associated with Morello in ventures which did not make for the peace of the community. There were many reasons -why he should desire to help Morello. So we laid a counter plot to the change of address scheme. From all parts of the country I caused to be mailed letters in vari-colored envelopes addressed to Logan in tho Custom House, New York city. Of course these letters were all forwarded to the branch post office in Don Gasparo's drug store, at No. 23 New Bowery, and placed in the general delivery de-livery box marked L. The envelopes were mode large and colored so that Secret Service men could at a considerable distance, see who took them from the general delivery box. For days my men watched the place. They saw the envelopes placed in the box. They saw men they knew to be Black Handers go into the drug store and call for mail, but none took the letters writ- , ten to Loan. A strange face passing by the window; a hint dropped at some secret meeting; an unknown person seen frequently in the neighborhood: any of these would . have been enough to frighten the men : who otherwise would have called for ! and taken away Logan's mail. Some j Black Hander may have been on the very 'point of asking for the letters. A carefree boy parsing the store may have whistled shrilly. That would be enough to prevent him fulfilling his mission. Moreover it is doubtful if any man would have g'vn for the letters without a lookout look-out being posted near thp store. Should this lookout become the lea.t suspicious of any person in the neighborhood, or see any one of whom he was not absolutely certain, ho-would manage to convey to the man inside the store a warning not to act. But if my little plot failed so did that of the Black Handers. They never learned where Comito was. All this time I had been gathering information from Comito and at last iu Washington, after I promised to protect him from the vengeance of the Black Hand, he wrote Ins confession, which will show you what tho counterfeiters were doing all the time that ray men were drawing the net about tiiem. It has been said that Comito's confession .was wrung from him tiirough the so-called so-called "third degree." This is not so. It was won through kindness. With some men this would not have been possible, pos-sible, but with "Tho Sheep" it w;is the only way. Parts of the confession I will quote verbatim, but it will be necessary from time to time to digress and connect the doings of the counterfeiters with the actions ac-tions of my men. It was not until I had Comito's confession complete that I arrested ar-rested the members of tho Lupo-Morello gang. Comito was a native of Cananzero, j Calabria, a province of Southern Italy, j He went to New York in the latter part: of June, 11)07. Pie had been a teacher in private and government schools and was a printer by trade. Seven years of his life were spent in South America, where he learned to speak Spanish very fluently. In Rio Janeiro he taught school and as- ; sisted the Italian Consul. In introducing ! his confession Comito wrote in his own : quaint way : "You will pardon me if in reading the story of my connection with the counterfeiters counter-feiters there are errors of language and periods not well expressed. "During the latter part of 3 90S and a good part of 1009 I had occasion to know many malefactors who from the beginning horrified me and after I had studied their brutal character I feared. J. refrained from denouncing tliem to the police because I was constantly in danger dan-ger of losing my life had I done so." "This is the explanation, in a few words, of Comito's connection with the Black Hand Society. He goes on to say I "My brother met me at the Battery and completing my embraces with him I remained a littie confused. Through the dialing crowds and traffic he took me to hi boiiK'. After dinnpr my uncle, who is a very intl li lth t man and cautious, cau-tious, and who served the Italian government gov-ernment for twelve years ag a non-commissioned officer in the line infantry, talked to me privately. " Do not acquire bad friendships,' he said. 'Be careful, of traps which evil men may lay for you. There exists in Mew York a baud of malefactors who go by the name Black Hand. Every day this band commits crimes, assassinating persons, setting fire to houses, breaking in doors, exploding bombs and kidnapping kidnap-ping children.' "My uncle's talk I took to heart, for I was desirous only of working and did not think of badness, I was a printer and though I did not know English very well I thought to get work on an Itab'an newspaper. At lust I obtained a position posi-tion with M. Lassori and was able to eend considerable money to Italy. I became be-came a member of the Order of the Sons of Italy and the Foresters of America and in the first named society J. became supreme deputy. Business troubles 1 came and I was frequently out of work. , "At times I had little money, but T was 1 in love with a young Italian girl, Caterina, Cater-ina, who lived with me and who was my best friend throughout all the trials which' came. We divided our money equally whea times were hard and some-1 some-1 times Caterina made more than I did. "On the evening of November 5, 1908, : T was at a meeting of the Sons of Italy. As was the custom, toward tbe end of th ' j evening I chatted with the various mem- ! bers of the order. One, Don Pa-squale by : name, came to roe, clasped my hand, and without further ceremony sHid, 'Professor 'Pro-fessor will you take a walk with me? I have sonv'thing to Uilk of to-Dight that will interest you.' "When we wore en U rely alone, Pas- qua.le said, "I know thnt you seek work and that you are a good printer. I kuow j of a position in Philadelphia and I can recommend you for it to my friend there, i But it will be necessary for you to go to i Philadelphia to work.' j 'It makes no difference to me, so that I work,' I told hiim j "The npxt morning I was awakened I by a knocking on my door. I opened it and Don Pasquale and another man en- 1 tered. . j " 'This,' taid Pusquale, 'is Don An-! tnnio Cecala. proprietor of a printing j shop in I'jiiadelphia.' " j Cecaia, you will remember was arrested with Bosarini at one lime and served I a term in prison for circulating counter- i feit money. To continue Comito's confession : " 'Are you a printer':' asked Cecaia. " 'Yes, I replied. " "Weli," s.iid Cecaia, 'I am the pro- j pri-;or r.f a printing shop in Philadelphia, Philadel-phia, and I ne:'d a trustworthy mau who wiil ik after my ini.TCfts while I am away on my other work, inspecting sewing machines. If we rwh an ngrpp-nient ngrpp-nient T hope that you will bring your wife to Fhihob'iphi'i with yon. for thn 1 shall 'be inor.- rem in of your honesty." , " "Iiii: I shall not n-t as boss, shall I? Yon must have oth''r cperienced men there.' I said. " -They do not know their business. Cecal a told ivo. "They r:uuot properly ee'inr the work ( wish you to d". '-Cecaia tlnm showed me some money order blanks, commercial papers and handbills. ;ir.d I told him that such work was my specially. "Ii was agreed thai Caterina should go with me to Philadelphia, and Cecaia promised s that we should soon be so wealthy we would not have to work. U vas not fixed in my mind just where Philadelphia was. for 1 hud not been in Aineriea long ::nd had remained all the lime iu Now' York. But Cecaia told we would bo well taken care of during the trip, and that if I did not care to keep the position I would receive my faro back to New York. When Cecals promised to pay the rent we owed on out-rooms out-rooms and to discharge any other debts Caterina or 1 had contracted, I was swept bv a great wave of gratitude. Cecaia Ce-caia even told me that we should live in the house where he carried on his business, busi-ness, and that there would be no rent to pay, as he owned it. "When Caterina returned from work that evening she cried with happiness over the news and seemed more joyful over my own fortune than her own. At first she did not want to go with me, however, for she said the trip would be expensive, and she wanted to remain at her work so that all my earning would benefit me. It was not until X told her that the expenses for both of us were to be paid that she consented to "With Cecaia I went to a photographer's photog-rapher's and bought cameras, plates and ' a tripod, and then to the printing shop I in which I had worked and struck a bargain for a press which Cecaia said he needed. It was on leaving there that I met 'Don Turi' Cina, whom Cecaia introduced in-troduced as his godfather. Cina took ; my hand in his great paw and shook it so that the bones crackled, and I could . have groaned with the pain of it. He ; was a terrible man. That I knew at the first sight of tiim. " 'Do not watch his ordinary clothes,' " said Cecaia to me. He ts a man of gentle manners.' "Late iu the afternoon Cecaia. Cina, Don Pasquale and a man named Syl-vestre Syl-vestre rushed intc our rooms and begen putting labels on the furniture, which we had packed for shipping. All the time Cecaia kept me busy with some papers and Caterina was so occupied with wrapping up some of the gmallw things that neither of us noticed what was printed on the labels. "Just as they were carrying the furniture furni-ture frou the house my eye canght one of the tags. On it was printed : " 'A Cina, Highland.' "Suspicious, I turned upon Cecaia. 'Do we not go to Philadelphia?' I cried. ' 'A ha ha,' laughed Cecaia, and his eyes sTiot black, wicked fire. 'We go to Philadelphia, but the house is really ont side the city. This is the place where the 'boat stops and from there we walk' j twenty minutes. But have no fear, you i will be put to no inconvenience, for we j shall hire a carriage. Do not worry about j the labels. It is just as though we were sending the furniture to the Bronx, or i Harlem. Would it not be all New York?' ! " 'But do we not go by rail?' I inquired. ! " 'That would cost too much,' said Cecals. Ce-cals. 'Besides we could not load the fumi-ture fumi-ture on the train as we can on the boat. It will he a beautiful trip.' ' "We left New York that evening. When we were not more than two hours from ! the pier Cecaia came to me and said, 'Mr. Comito, we are about to make a very poor showing. ' '"Why is that?' I asked. M 'Becau.se I fino I have uot money , enough to pay all the fares to Philadel- phia, Our friends who helped us pack ! the furniture are going to assist us iu i setting up the presses, so I should cer- I tainly pay their fare. " I have not one penny,' I told him. I "When he asked Caterina if eubc could lend him some money bbe took fire dol- ; l lars from her stocking and gave it to him. I ! This was the only money we had between ! us." ; In this way Cecaia and his frieodn I made it impossible for Comito aud Caterina to escape them if they f-hould become suspicious. Once more, accord- ! ing to Comito's confession: j "Late at night Cecaia awoke me and ! said that the boat waa stopping at High- ', land, where we should get off. It wan cold and there was enow on the ground, which in ado Caterina very cross arjd we were not at. all happy. '"I am sorry you are both tired after ' the trip,' Faid Cecaia. 'Philadelphia in uot, far from here, but we will stop at the house of my other godfather for a ' few days until you arc rested.' ! "We waited for half an hour on the j pier and Caterina grew crosaer each minute. I myself had many misgiving?, yet I fell, very grateful to these men and the thought, of having good work and saving a little money outweighed nil els-. 1 "There was a clattering of horses' hoofs and a wagon rattled up to the pier at great speed. Cecaia introduced the driver as Vinceuzo Ciglio, his father-in-law, and wc droie to his plae, where there was a great feast ready with plenty of wine, which put Caterina In a good humor onee more. My suspicions were lulled and h seemed that at last life was to flow along like a beautiful dream." How "life flowed uloiiKM for Comito and Caterina you will see by the next 1 article. . ' i |
