The Barrel Mystery

by William J. Flynn

  CHAPTER XXV

  TRACING A LETTER

  While I was hot on the trail of the counterfeiting gang led by Lupoand Morello, a letter came to my hand which contained a counterfeitfive-dollar note. The letter was addressed to Andrea Pollara, PortageLa Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. The letter was written in Italian andtranslated was as follows:

  "DEAR FRIEND:

  "I enclose a sample of those for $5 and beg you buy five cents of Griciria (the "black-hand" word for glycerine) which if rubbed on certain counterfeit bills will give them the appearance of age, and so make them the more easy to pass, and rub it on your hands, and then you will do whatever you want. If you see they will go well, notify me at once and I will send you as many as you want."

  The note was signed I. P. It was a registered letter and sealed withblack wax by a stamp seal bearing the name of F. Acritelli, No. 243Elizabeth Street. The return address on this letter was GiuseppeConti, No. 8 Prince Street, New York City. The letter also showed thatit had been mailed at Sub-Station No. 78, which is in the Italian bankconducted by Pasquale Pati, at No. 240 Elizabeth Street, just acrossthe street from where the letter had been sealed at Acritelli'sbanking place. This Acritelli, by the way, is the father of the formerCoroner Acritelli.

  The initials on the signature of the letter, I guessed were those ofPietro Inzarillo. This man conducted a little Italian cafe at No. 226Elizabeth Street, in the same block where Acritelli's bank was, andalso in the same block where the sub post office station was locatedwhere the letter had been registered. Also, I knew that this Inzarillowas just around the corner from the grocery store of Lupo, at No. 8Prince Street; and in the back of Lupo's cafe, Morello conducted hisItalian restaurant.

  I examined the five-dollar counterfeit bill and saw that it was thework of the Lupo-Morello gang.

  Then, too, the return address, No. 8 Prince Street, was where Morelloand Lupo were doing business. The problem was how to connect these twofellows with the writing of the letter. It had been rejected whenbrought back there by the letter carrier.

  I hit upon the plan of finding out whether the handwriting was that ofLupo, which I had reason to believe it was. I remembered that severalof the Lupo-Morello gang were in the Tombs awaiting trial forcounterfeiting. I knew that many of their friends applied to UnitedStates Marshal Henkel for passes to visit the members of the ganglocked up. Two of these were Isadore Crocervera and Giuseppe DePriema.The latter, by the way, was the brother-in-law of the man foundmurdered in the barrel.

  I went to Marshal Henkel and told him what I was after, and madearrangements with him to get the handwriting of all those who calledand asked for passes to see the two Morello-Lupo counterfeiters. Sowhenever the visiting members called at the marshal's office and askedfor passes the marshal pretended that he did not understand and hadthe visitors write out what they wished and required them to sign therequest for passes. In this way I obtained the signature andhandwriting of a number of the gang, but failed in the main purpose,namely, that of obtaining a sample of Lupo's handwriting or hissignature.

  Despite the fact that I was satisfied that the workmanship of the billwas that of the Lupo-Morello crowd, and though I was confident thatLupo wrote the letter, yet when the letter was returned to No. 8Prince Street nobody there would accept it for Giuseppe Conti, theinformation to the letter carrier being that no such person livedthere or was known there. When you know the ways of the Siciliancriminal this occurrence alone is good grounds for believing that agreat deal more was known about Giuseppe Conti at the Prince Streetaddress than was given to the letter carrier.

  I hit upon another plan. I knew that Lupo was importing into thiscountry a large quantity of olive oil, which had to pass thegovernment officials. Accordingly, I went to see John Hughes, brotherof former Inspector of Police Edward Hughes, who was at one time incharge of the Detective Bureau at Police Headquarters. I told Hugheswhat I wanted. He was in the Custom's service.

  Hughes brought it about so that the consignment of olive oil to Lupowas held up, compelling Lupo himself to write out a list of the goodshe desired to have admitted over his personal signature. The statementwas then taken to a handwriting expert and also the letter containingthe counterfeit five-dollar bill was placed at the disposal of theexpert, who declared that the handwriting of the letter and that ofthe statement written by Lupo for his consignment of olive oil was oneand the same.

  Now I had established a connecting link that would stand the test ofthe courts. But there were many other things about the letter that ledme to go further before making any allegation against the wily Lupo.

  It occurred to me it might be well to know why the letter had beensent away out to a railroad camp in Portage La Prairie. I got men towork on that end of the case. We found that Andrea Pollara was alaborer in a railroad camp at the address to which the letter had beensent. Further, it was established that Andrea Pollara was the agentof the gang in the camp where a number of Italians were employedmending and building spurs on the railroad. He had been sent there toinvestigate and see whether it was a profitable place in which todistribute some of the spurious bills. Additional informationdisclosed the fact that the railroad camp had moved and the letterhaving been addressed to Portage La Prairie, and not being called for,was returned to the address written on the back, Giuseppe Conti, No. 8Prince Street. This cleared up in my mind the reasons for the letterbeing sent to the Canadian railroad camp and also the cause of itsbeing returned.

  Other little connecting links were established over which I wasbuilding a bridge to Lupo in his Italian grocery store. It came to mymind that Lupo had done quite some business with Banker Acritelli, andLupo was also on more than familiar terms with Banker Pati. I knewthat Lupo and Inzarillo were very friendly. It was found that the manto whom the letter had been addressed to in Canada was not AndreaPollara. This was an assumed name. The right name of the"Black-Hander" was Salvatore Maccari, who had a wife living in NewYork City. The net of evidence was closing on Lupo.

  While I was gathering the threads together, the tragedy of the barrelmurder came to public notice. While the police of New York weregroping around in the dark, I submitted information of which I havespoken previously in this book, and the arrest of a number of the gangfor the murder of the victim in the barrel followed. Among thosearrested was Lupo. When he was placed in custody his house wassearched, and the following letter, written in Italian, was found. Itwas postmarked Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, Canada, addressed toPietro Inzarillo, No. 226 Elizabeth Street, New York City, datedSeptember 4, 1902, and translated reads:

  "DEAR FRIEND:

  "By the present I give you the news of my good health and of all the friends who are with me, and so we hope to hear from you and all the friends in New York, whom we respect. Meantime, I beg of you warmly to tell me when the goods arrive, and to send me the samples of a five in order to see whether we can do business, prompt answer and samples. I and all the friends salute you together with the friends over in New York, I am your friend Andrea Pollara. My address is the following, Mr. Andrea Pollara, Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. P. S. Dear Paolo, I beg of you to send me five dollars you or Ignazio (meant for Ignazio Lupo) that as soon as I get my money I will return them to you, nothing else, I am your friend 'Salvatore Matisi.' Be so kind as to put them in the letter of your friend, I am sure you will favor me."

  The reader will not require much taxing of his thinking powers torealize that the returned letter containing the counterfeit $5.00 notewas written in response to the above letter.

  When Lupo was searched we found another clue. A note book was found onhim in which the following entry is recorded:

  "S. Matisi, sent to Canada $5.00--to his wife $5.00--ditto $4.00."

  Opposite this entry, that is, on the opposite page in the note book,is written:

  "The name Matisi is mentioned a number of times in this book as arealso the names of a number of
counterfeiters including IsadoreCrocervera and Giuseppe DePriema."

  These entries were taken to a handwriting expert who declared that thehandwriting was the same as that in the letter which I started tracingafter its return here from Portage La Prairie. These entries, however,were in English, and I may note here that Lupo wrote English.

  Twelve of the gang were arrested by the New York police when theyrounded up the crowd incident to the barrel murder. Among thosearrested with Lupo was Pietro Inzarillo. When the latter was arrested,his cafe at No. 226 Elizabeth Street was searched and a letter fromMaccari was found. The letter was postmarked Portage La Prairie,Manitoba, Canada, dated September 1st, 1902, and addressed to PietroInzarillo, alias Saitta (Lupo's full name being Ignazio Lupo Saitta),Elizabeth Street, New York. The rest of the address is illegible. Theletter reads:

  "Canada Pacife, August 31, 1902.

  "DEAR FRIEND:

  "With these few words I come to make you a note of my perfect health, the same I hope to hear from you, you brothers also, I desire to know how your father has been; therefore I recommend to you that affair that I left in your charge. If my Uncle Thomas comes from Ebgostien, do not forget the affair that is the direction that you have given to Carmino, do not let it go up in the air. As soon as possible that you can, make it. Nothing else to tell you. Give my regards to Paolo Marchese, regards to Giuseppe Morello and John Pecorain and all the friends that ask for me, with the best of regards to you, I say your dear friend 'Salvatore Matisi' accept the regards from Carmelo Blandina. This is the direction--Salvatore Maccari, P. O. Portage La Prairie Manitoba, Canada."

  No comment is necessary concerning the letter. It speaks for itself asanother thread in the net I was weaving.

  It did not take agents of the Secret Service long to "pick up"Maccari. He was not aware of the fact that he was under surveillancefor some time prior to May 2, of 1902, when he was placed under arrestat his home in No. 70-1/2 James Street, New York City. When hisapartments were searched agents of the service looked under Maccari'sbed and found letters written from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba,Canada, and signed Salvatore Maccari. These letters were addressed toMaccari's wife, and contained what is termed "rivetting" evidence.Also, there were letters from his wife to Maccari and addressed to himat Portage La Prairie.

  When placed under arrest Maccari at first denied that he knew eitherLupo or Inzarillo, and proved to be a proverbial Italian at givinginformation to the police. He would not admit that he had ever seen orheard of either of the two men. He knew nothing about the counterfeitmoney, and had never even seen any spurious bills either in thiscountry or in Italy. He made the sign of the cross and called on thesaints to prove the truth of his lying statements. He declared that hecould not read, neither could he write.

  Later on he admitted that he was intimately acquainted with Lupo andthat Lupo's father and his father were great friends in Italy foryears and that both families were life-long friends. He also admittedthat he was well acquainted with Inzarillo. He also declared that theletters were written by a friend and signed at his, Maccari's,dictation. And more evidence was ferreted out.

  The water mark in the billheads used by Lupo in his grocery businesswas identical with that in the letter sent to Portage La Prairie, andhaving on it the return address of Giuseppe Conti, No. 8 PrinceStreet. The envelope upon which the return address was written was thesame make as the envelopes found in the cafe of Inzarillo when thatplace was searched following Inzarillo's arrest in connection with thebarrel murder.

  On October 24, 1902, a registered letter addressed to Andrea Pollara,with the return address P. Inzarillo and Giglio, was returned to Lupoat his residence, No. 433 West Fortieth Street. Pollara could not belocated in the Canadian camp and so the letter came back. Lupo signedthe receipt for the returned letter. The handwriting was the same asin the instances already related wherein the "Black-Hander's"scribbling was identified by an expert.

  I will not weary the reader with further efforts along this line ofreaching one of the big chiefs of the gang as he stood far in thebackground, certain of his immunity from any connection in a legalsense with the distributor of the money his brain had planned to buildup his fortune on.