A SENSATIONAL AFFAIR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 106, 28 January 1908, Page 9

A SENSATIONAL AFFAIR.

POLICEMAN'S PLOT. The Marquis Cito, brother of tho. Master of tilo Ceremonies at King Victor Emmanuel's Court, has been seized, imprisoned in ah, underground grotto, and maltreated .so badly that ho yas compelled to keep to his bed. In September last a certain policeman mado inquiries about ono of the many , grottoes dug in stono in the neighbourhood of Naples. Ho Baid he desirod to uso it as a storehouse, and a short while ago'hired a grotto at the end of an orchard, reached by a rooky pathway and a subterranean staircaßO going down 30ft. He told tho marquis, who is oonnoct«d with the well-known antiquary, Signor Car.csia, that ho had been excavating in this grotto, and had brought to light an anciorit pistol in a gold and ivory ease. One morning recently tho marquis, accompanied by tho • policom.in, arrived at tho grotto. The cabman who had driven tho marquis to th'o gate of the orchard, waited many hours for his return, and at last drove hack to town. Ho alarmed Signor Cancssa, who immediately, with policemen and carabiniors' repaired to the grotto, the entrance of which, was firmly l closed and barred. : - . BRIGAND'S ESCAPE. . Forcing it open they found tho marquis gagged and bound, wounded, and nearly choked. On being conveyed to the city and revived, the marquis said : "Tho policeman left before,the grotto alone. Immediately I was seized from behind, and after a sharp struggle with my unseen assailant, I was carried down with horcnlean force and tightly hound. Then, liberating my right arm, tho brigand fetched a lamp and writing materials, covering his face with a hood liko those used in funeral processions. Threatening mo with instant death, ho forced me to wrifco to my landlady, telling her to give the bearer the moneys' I possessed. At the samo timo'lie took j'rom my person all my valuables, worth £45. Ho then left me, and it was night before I was released." . . So far ns can be ascertained, tho brigand, not boing able to read the address on the letter, handed it to his accomplice, the policeman, who took it to Signor Canessa, saying that ho must deliver it himself to the marquis's landlady. No sooner was ho gone than tho cabman arrived, and Signor Cnnessa's suspicions wero confirmed. He sent his clerk, Mr. Green, and two others to the marquis's house, while the cabman drove a Mr. Do Bernart to the grotto. Mr. Green, arriving at the house, found, not tho accomplice, but 1 the brigand himself knocking at the door. Following him into tho house, and entering a room on the first floor, Mr. Green was about to soizo him when ho jumped out of the window and escaped. Tho policeman accomplice named Guiscppo Rossi, gnTO himself'-up, saying tho brigand was ono Kttore Gangi, to whoso promises of rich reward he had yielded. j To force the marquis to eonsont to write the letter, the kidnappers, "l.c .Journal's" correspondent savf., tore out nil hie teeth, ono bv one. Still refusing, the marquis was held clown, and lights were hold to the soles of his naked foot'.