The Barrel MysteryFlynn, William J. (William James)
General
The Barrel Mystery
Flynn, William J. (William James)
Detective and mystery stories; Fiction
At this point Comito enters a long apology to those people of Southern
Italy who are good citizens and law-abiding. He does not refer in
this article, he says, to the honest Sicilians, who labor and earn
their living honestly. It is of the malefactors, he says, that he
speaks.
Comito then tells of entering New York and meeting his brother at the
Battery. He relates his sensations at seeing the tall buildings of New
York and the hurrying crowds in the noisy streets.
After going to the home of his brother in Bleecker Street, Comito
says:
"During the dinner I was carefully advised by my uncle, an intelligent
man and very cautious, having served the Italian government for twelve
years as non-commissioned officer in the line infantry. He said, 'Do
not acquire bad friendships. Be careful of traps that strangers may
lay for you. There exists in New York a band of malefactors which bear
the name of Black-Hand. Every day this band commits crimes,
assassinating persons, setting fire to houses, breaking in doors,
exploding bombs, and kidnapping children.'
"He told me also never to tell any one where I worked and how much I
earned. He advised me to think only of bettering my condition and
that of my family, because in America, in time, the man with a good
will can acquire a good position."
Perhaps these words that follow may be of interest to the reader in
getting an insight into the mentality of the newly arrived immigrant.
Says Comito:
"My only wish was to work and put aside something; to economize, and
so help the condition of my family and provide some day for my
daughter that she might have a profession. I did not think of evil,
and hoped from day to day to find occupation. I was a printer, and,
though I did not know English, I felt confident of finding work in
some Italian printing-office."
Comito then tells of finding employment in the Italian printing house
of M. Dassori, at No. 178 Park Row, where he was getting along well.
He tells of sending money to Italy to his wife and children. He tells
of his brother here introducing him to honest Italians of the working
class and of how he joined the order of the Sons of Italy and also the
Foresters of America. Comito then relates his rapid rise in the
Foresters, mentioning also how he became Supreme Deputy of the Order
of the Sons of Italy, besides being chosen a member for the Congress
of Italians abroad, which was held in Rome in 1908. He dwells on his
losing employment because of lack of work in the place where he was
employed. After getting employment again he finds himself once more
out of a place, about the beginning of September, 1908. He tells very
frankly of taking up with a lady named Caterina and how they shared
the apartment which he furnished as well as his means afforded. He and
Caterina lived together, he says, "respecting one another as husband
and wife." Describing his affair with Caterina, who, by the way,
enters in some measure into the counterfeiting story, Comito says:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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