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Show Where Vendetta Still Prevails SK son of Martin Pes, whom old Leporl was accused of killing. Salvatore is now some forty years of age. Then there were Mario and Arnold Stangonl, sons of the first victim, well able to remember the horror of their father's murder, Arnold in the uniform of an ardito (storm troopers), with two silver sil-ver medals earned by prowess in the war. After the b&aedictlon, old Paul Leporl Le-porl and Salvatore Pes solemnly embraced em-braced and wept on each other's shoulders, amid the intense emotion and loud applause of the crowd. Tha kissing became general and there were solemn vows of mutual love and respect. re-spect. The Last Combat. This is the story of the latest reconciliation. rec-onciliation. Two families carried on a feud until they were both nearly destroyed. de-stroyed. They fought like wild beasts, concentrating every nerve, every emotion, emo-tion, in the business of killing the traditional tra-ditional foe. Year after year, in ambush am-bush and open fight, members of both families fell victims of the implacable rancor. Oddly enough, however, the two heads of the respective clans, sturdy old men, remained unmolested. Youths and even children were laid low, but the chiefs remained, like stalwart stal-wart oaks, undisturbed by the raging tempest of crime. At last they remained almost alone. A few more murders and they would have been the solitary representatives of their slaughtered lines. They took no special precautions to guard against attack. In fact, one afternoon, one of them was riding quietly back to Sassari, accompanied by a servant. A few miles from home a shot resounded re-sounded from behind a hill and he bit the dust. He shook himself and rose to his elbows, but he knew that his hour had struck. He called 1 quietly to his servant. "Take off the saddle," he said. When this was done he took cover very stealthily behind It, pointed his gun in the direction from which death had been let loose upon him. Then he bade his servant' run toward to-ward the town, shouting as he ran : "My master is dead !" Deceived by Ruse. The man who had fired the shot was completely taken in by this device. de-vice. First, he peered out cautiously cautious-ly ; then his whole body appeared above the hill. It was the chieftain of the other family. The wounded man took a long, deliberate de-liberate aim, fired and saw with satisfaction sat-isfaction that he had hit his mark. The servant came running back, re- called by the shot, and to him the old man said grimly: "Tell them to bring two biers, for we are two dead men." And so it proved. They found the chieftain with his head resting on the hard pillow afforded af-forded by his saddle, and in death he still clung to his gun. After this last tragedy the few survivors of the two families consented to make peace, for it seemed to them that they had carried car-ried out the law of vendetta to Ita bitter end. But vendetta is in their blood the very children play at vendetta, jusl as little Spaniards play at bull fights A trifling accident or a petty quarrel may easily lead to another feud lasting last-ing for centuries and spreading a reign of terror over whole provinces. the crimes, no one was ever punished by the law. Agreed to Attend Mass Together. Then some one having authority suddenly listened to reason. All the hostile families the Leporis, the Pes, the Seazzus, the Spezzigas and the Vasas far more hostile than the Montagues Mon-tagues and Capulets, agreed to attend a service of reconciliation together. Their famous feud has been responsible respon-sible for no fewer than 75 homicides during the last 15 years. It all began with the murder of Prof. Pier Felice Stangonl, a widower who lectured at the technical institute of Sassari. What he had done Is not quite clear. Some say he had flirted with a Miss Pes and then refused to marry her. Another story is that he was unintentionally unin-tentionally killed by a mischievous boy from an unfriendly village. Anyhow, Any-how, the professor was taking a country coun-try walk with his three boys, Albert, Mario and Arnold, when some one lurking In the thickets suddenly hit him on the forehead with a bullet from a catapult and killed him instantly. in-stantly. There was a sensational trial and the suspects were acquitted. A few months later, however, one of them, Martin Pes, was killed. Thereupon the authorities arrested Professor Stangoni's father-in-law, Paul Lepori, a vigorous old man, and he was acquitted ac-quitted for1 lack of evidence. Assassinations Assas-sinations followed with furious rapidity. rapid-ity. Nicholas Arasa was . seriously wounded one day and killed the next. Members of the various families were found dead in lonely places or disappeared and were never seen again. An immense amount of property prop-erty was destroyed. Great numbers of innocent people went In daily fear of their lives. Ceremony of Reconciliation. Two hundred members came from far and near to attend the ceremony of reconciliation. The boys of Tempio seminary walked first in the procession. Then came Monsigor Sanna, bishop of Tempio Tem-pio and Castelsardo, followed by the parish priest, the mayor with an Italian Ital-ian flag and an enormous crowd from the whole countryside. Penitential hymns were sung and mass was celebrated cele-brated In the open air amid deep emotion. emo-tion. Then Father Deligios, a famous Franciscan preacher, spoke of the beauty of Sardinia, the hospitality of her people, always generous except when carried away by traditional hatreds. ha-treds. He alluded to the 75 victims and invoked the blessing and pardon of heaven on the survivors. Then (he members of the hostile families were divided into two long files and went up side by side to receive re-ceive the episcopal benediction. There was Paul Lepori, "Uncle Paul," as he is known to the whole countryside, the lather-in-Iaw and alleged avenger of the first victim, now ninety years of age, and very hoary, but still erect and vigorous. Beside him was Salvadore Pes, the Code of Honor as It Is Enforced in Sardinia, Corsica and Elsewhere DIFFICULT TO STAMP OUT Most Persistent Disciples Are Among the Most Mild-Mannered and Most Hospitable People in the World Ceremony of Reconciliation. Reconcili-ation. New York. Vendetta still flourishes In many parts of the old world, but In no place is it more firmly established estab-lished than in the Island of Sardinia. Why it flourishes there Is mystery mys-tery still unsolved, for the Saidinl-ns Saidinl-ns themselves are probably among the mildest mannered men In the world. Travel all over their island Rnd you will be received with the greatest hospitality. There are few Inns, except In the two or three chief towns, but inns are not needed, for every door Is open to the stranger, the best of fare is offered of-fered nay, lavished with open hands the fatted calf Is instantly slain, the cellars are ransacked for the oldest wine. Indeed, you might almost start a vendetta by refusing hospitality or wanting to hurry away too soon ! So long as you do not smile at the women folk you are an honored guest for a much longer time than you wish to remain. But the etiquette about women is as strict as in any harem land in the East, and no intercourse Is allowed with strangers. Next to Sardinia in the vendetta business comes Corsica, where the people, peo-ple, after all, are not very different. There is plenty oi bioodshed in Sicily, but it is organized by a secret society so-ciety and has nothing to do with vendetta. ven-detta. Albania runs the blood-feud on very similar lines and Albania's hereditary enemy, Montenegro, oddly enough, cherishes almost the same traditions, whereas the Serbians, the cousins of the Montenegrins, are bloodthirsty in quite a different way. It is probably not an accident that feuds and feudalism feudal-ism have the same derivation, and clannish traditions must have something some-thing to do with the custom, writes Herbert Vivian. Part of Their Code of Honor. The great difficulty that governments govern-ments find in suppressing vendetta Is that its disciples regard it as part of their code of honor. Men who go to church regularly and observe all the religious feasts black-coated gentlemen gentle-men of infinite respectability, who could be trusted anywhere with untold un-told gold and frivolous females nevertheless nev-ertheless consider it their sacred duty to slay the second cousin twice removed re-moved of some one who has killed a member of their family In legitimate self-defense. Indeed, there Is a stigma on their whole clan if blood has not been wiped out with blood, lf many molars have not repaid a single tooth. It ceases to be It never Is, In fact a personal affair. It Is just primitive, savage justice. In Sardinia church and state have been frantically at work for generations genera-tions trying to suppress the vendetta, but It is very slow work. From time to time, however, reconciliations rec-onciliations do take place. Sixty-five years ago there was a solemn ceremony cere-mony of forgiveness between two families fam-ilies that had been at war for two centuries, cen-turies, killing one another and destroying de-stroying one another's cattle and farmsteads. It made an enormous sensation, and marked an epoch in the history of the island. Only the other day there was a similar event, for which the parish priest and the mayor of Tempio, amid the savage rockland of Angina, are jointly responsible. Almost endless negotiations preceded preced-ed the formal kiss of peace. No one wished to forego his vengeance ; the honor of five hostile families was at j stake. Again and again, for a whole generation, men and boys have been stabbed, and though everybody knew the culprits and all the reasons for |