The Barrel Mystery

by William J. Flynn

  CHAPTER XIV

  PRINTING THE BAD MONEY

  "Calichio was up at an early hour and set to work retouching thetwo-dollar American note plates. He fixed the plates on wood blocks,made the press ready and got the right impression, prepared the inkand struck off proofs on several kinds of paper to see the effect ofthe ink and get the correct shade. He also prepared some chemicalswith which to dampen the paper and give a darker shade. Havingsucceeded in getting the right shade of green Calichio explained thatthe color was the same as on the genuine notes and that all theyneeded now was the paper.

  "Cecala then said he would leave immediately and have the papershipped forthwith. Turning to me Cecala gave instructions for me to bebusy only at feeding the press. Don Peppe was to direct the job. I toobey the latter in every detail. Cecala then took the proofs and putthem in his pocket, saying that he would show them to Ignazio and DonPiddu (Lupo and Morello) and mark the difference between this and thefirst job, which was mine.

  "Two days later Nick Sylvester came and brought with him a suit-casefull of paper which he gave to Calichio saying:

  "'To-morrow Ignazio will come to see how the work is going along. Inthe meantime you can proceed with the work and print. I will remain tohelp you.'

  "When Lupo arrived the next morning in company with Cecala and Cinathey all came up to the work room. After examining the work theypraised Calichio, telling him that they ought to give him a goldmedal. As for me, I was deserved of a dirty, leather medal, thebandits hinted.

  "Turning to me Lupo said, 'This homely Calabrian doesn't even deserveto be looked at. The work he did should have been _burned on hishead_.'

  "I did not reply, but played the simpleton.

  "After examining the work Lupo turned to Uncle Vincent and said:

  "'Uncle Vic--guess what's happened?'

  "'What?'

  "'Petrosino was killed in Italy.'

  "'Honestly?'

  "'Honestly. The papers are talking about it.'

  "'I said it,' continued Uncle Vincent, 'that if Petrosino went toItaly they would kill him.'

  "'Who was the hero? He deserves a medal,' said Cecala.

  "'And where have they killed him?' continued Uncle Vincent.

  "'In Palermo.'

  "'Then it means that it was _well done_,' said Uncle Vincent,significantly.

  "'Certainly. The way it was done it could never fail,' said Lupo.

  "'And----,' Cecala said. 'This was death becoming him. How many sonsof mothers he has condemned for nothing.'

  "Hearing all this I asked:

  "'Who is this Petrosino?'

  "'He was the head of the secret police in New York,' replied Cecala.'A homely man! Worse than the Bubonic Plague.'

  "'I never heard of him.'

  "'You will never meet him,' said Cecala dryly, the others grinning.

  "'Then it was successful?' continued Uncle Vincent.

  "'Certainly,' replied Lupo. 'It could not be successful in New Yorkbecause he guarded his hide. Here he toted a revolver in his coatpocket and was guarded by two policemen a short distance behind him.'

  "'It is a good example for the policemen,' continued Uncle Vincent.'No one will now dare to go to Palermo. There they will find only suredeath.'

  "Cina did not talk any because he was intent on spreading thecounterfeit notes out on the garret floor. When he came downstairs tothe workroom, however, he said:

  "'As soon as we can we must celebrate for joy; just now we will becontent with a glass of wine.'

  "They all went downstairs and sat at a table conversing in low voicesand I could not understand what they said because the press made anoise and interfered with my hearing.

  "I and Uncle Vincent continued to work at the press under Calichio'sdirections. Sylvester would take the notes as they were printed andspread them out on the floor in the garret to dry. Bernardo wasstationed outside armed with rifle and revolver to guard the house andto 'spot' any person who might pass or prowl about the premises.

  "In the afternoon of that day Lupo, Cecala, and Cina went outside andhad some sport trying out their revolvers against the trees. When theyreturned Lupo asked Calichio how long it would take to print the tenthousand two-dollar bills. About twenty days was Calichio's estimate.

  "Lupo then told Calichio that he would leave the plant, but wouldreturn at the end of the month and bring plates for five-dollarAmerican notes. He addressed Calichio as 'dear Don Peppe' and told himto be prepared for the work and to take particular pains with thefive-dollar notes, because he intended sending some of them to Italy.

  "'Have no doubts,' replied Calichio. 'I have never done any work thatwas useless, and you know it. My work has always been perfect.'

  "'Bravo, Don Peppe, we know that you are a professor at it,' saidCecala.

  "That same night about six P. M. Cecala, Lupo, and Cina went away,leaving me with Calichio, Uncle Vincent, Sylvester, and Bernardo.

  "During that month (March, 1909) we worked without interruptionprinting the two-dollar notes. About the 27th, the first twentythousand dollars of the counterfeit two-dollar notes were ready andwere turned over to Cina and Sylvester, who were to bring them to NewYork.

  "After this first job of Calichio's workmanship had been turned over,on the last Sunday in March Lupo returned in company with Cina,Sylvester and Giglio, who brought the plates for the five-dollar notesand about twenty thousand sheets of paper upon which to print theadditional money.

  "Upon receiving the plates Calichio looked them over attentively andsaid that they were copper plates and not zinc, and that there wasneed of slight retouching. He detected several lines that were notshown in the photograph on the face of the note. These lines needed tobe etched into the plates in the picture, which represented a farmerand an old man with a woman and a dog.

  "Lupo explained to Calichio that Cecala was on the road about NewYork, Brooklyn and Hoboken, selling the two-dollar notes, but that assoon as he finished up this work he would return to the stone houseand oversee the work there.

  "Calichio prepared the press, fixed the inks, and printed the firstproofs for the green side of the five-dollar notes. These werepronounced very good by Lupo and Uncle Vincent and they ordered thatfifteen or twenty thousand of them be printed. Whatever paper was leftwas to be used for the two-dollar notes, which were very good andeasily disposed of.

  "On the night of the 29th, or 30th of March, 1909, Lupo left incompany with Uncle Vincent and Cina. Before leaving, however,instructions were given to Bernardo, Giglio and Sylvester to count thenotes printed daily so that none could be unaccounted for and soldinto circulation. The fear that cheating might be practiced wasevidently in Lupo's mind.

  "We had been working about a week on the green side of the five-dollarnotes when on April 5th, or 6th, Cina came to the stone house and toldus to suspend the work and start in on the two-dollar notes, becausethere was a large demand for them from Boston, Buffalo and Chicago,where customers were anxiously awaiting a new supply. Calichioimmediately got the press ready to print another ten thousand of thetwo-dollar notes.

  "It was at this time that I decided not to continue the work and leftthe press because I was not spoken to but ignored entirely. EvenSylvester and Giglio called me by an obscene name and referred to mein the most distasteful language, horrible to hear because of theprofanity. I told Cina I wanted him to write to Cecala and tell him tosend me sufficient money for my fare to New York. At this Cinaanswered in the Sicilian dialect:

  "'You are waiting for me to blow your brains out. Now that we are atthe point where we can earn some money, you get sassy. Here you aredealing with gentlemen; otherwise, by this time you would be dead. Goahead and work. No more of this fussing.'

  "Then turning to Sylvester and Giglio, Cina continued: '(Piciotti)Boys, watch this Calabrian, and if he don't want to work, shoot himand make a hole for him in the farm.'

  "After hearing this I felt like a whipped dog and kept my mouthclosed. I went over to the press and started in to wor
k. Calichio cameover to me and said:

  "'Don Antonio, look out. Don't act this way with these people, becausethey are all of the (Mala-vita) Mafia and will do you harm in aninstant. As long as you are among them you must obey orders, as I do,using prudence.'

  "Now it happened that for two weeks Calichio had not received hisweekly salary and he became nervous for this reason. One day, when Idid not want to print on wet paper, he dressed and went away. I,thinking that he had just gone out, stopped working and waited for himto return. But at night, when Sylvester, Giglio and Bernardo saw thatCalichio did not return, _they threatened me with death_. Sylvesterpointed a loaded revolver at me saying that he would dig my eyes out;Giglio, taking an axe in his hand, said he wanted to cut my head off,but Caterina intervened and the threatening stopped. Sylvester leftthe stone house to carry the news to New York.

  "Three days went by without any work being done, then Calichioreturned in company with Sylvester and Cina. Cina handed me a notefrom Cecala which informed me that I must obey Calichio's order orsuffer terrible consequences. I worked on against my will underCalichio's orders."