Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 73, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 March 1913 — GETS “DEATH SIGN” [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GETS “DEATH SIGN”

Woman in Court Faints When She Sees Fatal Gesture. , /* Is Code of the Camorrists—Members of Criminal Society Have Ghastly Ways of Telling Victim of Impending Doom. New York. —Annie Grecco was getting along beautifully in her testimony the other day. Her statements were lucid, her memory perfect, her sense of the dramatic keen. ■ Then some one in the packed mob toward the rear of the court room caught Annie’s eye—and bit the knuckle of his bent forefinger. His features wrinkled up in a snarl, as do those of a dog when he worries a bone. Annie pitched sidewise out of her chair in a faint “That,” said an old secret service man, “was only one of perhaps a dozen ‘death signs.’ Any one of them would be recognized by any Italian, because they all have their origin in that instinct of dramatization common to the race. The knuckle biting meant death, of course.- More nearly it meant ‘l’ll tear you to bits.’ 'lf you ever see an enraged Camorrist biting at his knuckle bone and growling like a bulldog, you’U admit that is

easily read. Another is the handkerchief sign. Tears sometimes stream down their faces as they twist a handkerchief between their hands. Sometimes it is clinched 'ln their teeth. Their coda la primitive enough to go back to the men who lived in trees. “Sometimes the threat Is expressed by wringing the two hands together. It is over in a second—but it has sent a promise to the threatened person that he will be torn into pieces. Sometimes a hasty motion of the two bands over the knees means, Til break root

back.’ One of the most common signs is made by uniting the tips of the thumb and forefinger, forming a ring, while the other fingers are extended. A circular motion of the hands means ‘l’ll tear you up.’* One finger is hurriedly passed across the throat —and that threat needs no interpretation. Sometimes the man making the threat slashes upward with one finger on his breast or stomach. That is ‘l’ll rip your heart out.’ The first and second fingers may be extended, pitchfork like, and a sudden jab made toward the eyes, ‘l’ll blind you.’ “But there are too many signs to be listed. Every little secret association of Italian criminals may have its own code. Many of the signs have their origin in the village from which the actors come and might not be recognized by outsiders. Remember, there are eighty-nine distinct dialects spoken in Italy, But the meaning of all is contained in a most expressive gesture of the Calabrians, which means: “‘lf I get hold of you I’ll cut you up—and if you run I’ll shoot you.’ **

Annie Gracco.