Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 June 1875 — The Brigands of Italy. [ARTICLE]

The Brigands of Italy.

Those who imagine that brigandage in Italy is a thing of the past are as far from right as those who believe that it still exists on the models- cf Fra Diavolo and Kinaldo Rinaldini. The picturesque, bloodthirsty villain in conical, ribbonbound hat and swathed colors is no longer, but in his place exists a set of desperate ruffians, fierce' and crafty, who beset travelers even in close proximity to cities, men who have all the bad qualities of the ancient ■ brigands with none of their redeeming picturesqueness and gallantry. We hear how the old set used to treat ladies with profound respect, bowing to the ground while they demanded watch and purse,, and kneeling to kiss the fair hand that passed over jewels and money. Such ideas exist now only in tradition; they form no part of the code of modern Brigandage. Now women are treated with great rudeness, rings are torn from fair” fingers, hands and mouth are bound if there is resistance or crying out, and the chivalric speech of the old school is exchanged for insult and ribald jest. The other day a party of four women, two American ana two English, were robbed within a few miles—less than nine, I think—of Rome. They were making an excursion to some distant ruins, stopped to see an old town, missed their coachman for a while, and shortly after he came back to them they were attacked by a gang of ruffians and robbed of all they had. One of the party, who feared a knife held at her throat, pushed it away, and in so doing cut her hand fearfully. The party returned to Rome and not one of them dared to go before the authorities and testify against the brigands on account of the dreadful threats that had been made to them. The police, with the usual apathy of Italian authorities, took very small pains to secure the robbers and so they are at large and ready for another party.. Cases like this might be given by scores. Within sight of Naples, on the sides of Vesuvius, parties are robbed and ill-treated with an impunity that is "astonishing to an Englishman or American. It is not considered safe to travel at all in Sicily beyond a three-mile radius of the cities; and yet the Italian authorities go on in their heavy, careless, lethargic way as if all was peace and safety, now and then bringing a robber to justice for example’s sake, but making no systematic effort at putting a stop to brigandage. Even in the cities there is an incredible amount of thieving. In Naples one is cautioned to guard closelydds portmanteau as he rides along in an open carriage, lest some adroit thief whisk it away before his very eyes as he drives through the streets. Pockets are picked with a degree of skill and impunity that would astonish a London thief. One old English gentleman that I saw had had his watch stolen twice within a week’s stay. Another old gentleman was walking quietly along in a retired spot of the public park, when a ruffian approached him, coolly took away his pocket-book, abstracted the money and tossed the book back before the astonished victim could raise a cry. He did, however; finally come to his senses, drew a crowd about him and, before the crowd dispersed, had his watch and spectacle-case stolen. Instances are by no means uncommon where gold-bound spectacles and eye-glasses are snatched from the face, and the climax of thieving was attained by a gang of brigands who attacked a man not far from Pompeii, and even took away his golden-roofed teeth, leaving him to mumble his cries in toothless misery. It is a noticeable fact that, notwithstanding Americans:' form by far the largest proportion of the travelers in Italy, they are the least frequently robbed. One reason of this may be that they nearly always go armed with revolvers—a weapon of which the brigand has a wholesome fear. Women are much more frequently attacked than men, for these modern brigands are arrant cowards and only mark their victims among those who are defenseless, or at least likely to be an easy prey to their threats. It is said, and with some-show of truth, that the brigands that infest the neighborhood of the large cities are almost always in league with the drivers of public carriages, who advise them when parties are about to make excursions into the country, and whether or not they are likely to be profitable and easy victims. It is almost a proverb in Rome that all the robberies in the Campagna are arranged in the Piazza d’Espagna, the center of the strangers’ quarter and of hackney carriages. It is an unpleasant thought when yon are driving among the ruins and about the city that your coachman is in league with brigands, bat if popular report can be relied on it is true m very many instances. For this reason people who have lived long in Rome or Naples counsel one never to speak of a projected excursion into the country outside of one’s own party, not even directing the coachman until the start is fairly made. If the trip is to be made to Tivoli or Albano simply order a carriage for the day, and at the start from the hotel give the coachman the first intelligence of what his destination is to be. It is an unpleasant state of things to think about, but it exists nevertheless, and travelers most be governed accordingly if they would not run the risk of being robbed and perhaps murdered. With all'this state or danger, which, in justice it should be said, is much less than under the old regime, Italy is literally crowded with travelers. The country owes much of its prosperity to the money they bring and leave behind them; this is a fact that the Italian Government will, undoubtedly, take into consideration after a time, and for the sake of its own prosperity make a campaign against the organized sets of robbers that have long given to Italy the reputation of being a badly-governed and dangerous country. Victor Emmanuel’s policy has been one of reform, and it is reasonable to suppose that the police system will be taken in hand in the course of time. In the meanwhile trav. clers who go into the Italian interior towns and make long excursions from the cities must be counseled to go armed, and take much the same precautions against Italian brigands as they would against the Indiana if crossing the Western plains of the United States. —Roms Cor. Hearth and Home.