LEGENDARY HERO

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 124, 21 November 1929, Page 17

LEGENDARY HERO

MODERN ROBIN HOOD

PROTECTOR OF THE POOR

THE PEASANTS' IDEAL

(By Emery Deri.) . (Copyright.) .

To be.sure,-there'was no ,my.stery about the recent murder of Stephen Miatovitch, who once was known as the Robin Hood of Jugo-Slavia, but wjio through a curious twist of fortune 1 had become a taxicab driver in the city of Novisad. Twelve hours ■ after, his ...body, riddled with, bullets, was found on the highway the authorities arrested another taxiruan, who "promptly confessed that he had- slain Miatovitchin a quarrel. The case was, as the police said, open and shut.

Yet the peasants of the countryside retused to accept this version of the former robber's; death as truth, and to this day rune out of ten are convinced that the man once so well established as the chief ot the dread Green Leaf, the man who robbed the wealthy and helped the poor and humble, was actually put out of the way by paid hirelings of the" rich. That the murderer paid the penalty of- his crime lias made no difference. The peasants still talk of Joseph Miatovitch, though he was without doubt the leader of the largest and most powerful organisation of thieves the world has seen, as if he had been a great philanthropist and friend of mankind. To them he is a legendary liero.

A BORN LEADER.

Joseph Miatovitch originally was a peasant boy, the son of a poverty stricken Croatian farmer. When the war broke out lie dutifully enlisted and served with the Austro-Hungarian forces on both the Kussian and Italian fronts. That he served well and loyally there is no doubt. Time und again he was decorated for feats of valour, and in 1917 was made a sergeant. He was popular amoug the men from the beginning, proving himself a born leader. But curiously he did not care for promotion or power in that early day. He wanted, the record shows, to become a taximan. once the war was done, in Zagreb, the capital of the Province of Croatia. When the Austro-Hungarian army on the Italian front collapsed in- 1918 many of his fellows looked to Miatovitch for guidance. Discipline had gone by the board aud the officers were powerless. Regiment after regiment simply turned around and started home. : And in time Miatoviteh decided that he, too, would go. More than 100 of his comrades who came from the same province joined him. His going was enough for them. They were sure such was the confidence he inspired that he would' get ■■ -them.home somehow! The country through- which Miatovitch and his men marched was already teeming with disorganised soldiery.- Without food or funds, these men took ; to. theft; robbery, and, even murder. Soon great numbers of them became little better than outlaws, living in the. forests'and preying upon the people in the towns and such travellers as dared, freiiiient the-highways. Miatovitch, however, frowned on this sort of thing, and as he and his comrades made their way homeward they were joined'by-others until, at length he had under him about 2000 men. . He hit upon the idea, of "getting food from the larger towns by promising that if the supplies were given -peaceably and promptly he would take his men on their way without trouble. If the food was refused, why, he would not be;..responsible for whgt they might do, Several towns provided supplies without a^murmur, but finally one refused. "■':'_ ' ' :.■•-■•. ■ -.;■

Miatovitch ordered his men to storm the town. This was done, the word spread about the country, and for several days town after-town-met the advancing army with supplies • . Not so the City of Essek. mere the returning soldiers were met by gunfire from the police. A regular battle ensued in which scores were:killed and injured. Miatovitch that day proved himselU§p.metbing..o!. a.general. He captured and sacked the city," all the '"Knights of the Greeu Leaf, as his followers had taken to calling themselves, taking care on his orders to rob only the rich. After twenty-four hours of rioting . Miatovitch led his men to a nearby forest. Set down as a leader of outlaws and cutthroats, Miatovitch evidently did some serious-thinking. It was. the old choice • he and his men-were;marked and unless they stood by o.ne another they would in all probability be "arrested individually and punished. In the end "he. became a Kobm Hood,'with headquarters in the green forests near. Essek. Adopting a green leaf as the symbol whereby the members of his.,band, might know each other, he proceeded to conduct raids with businesslike precision, kept his nien under

an iron discipline, and still held their admn t ft and res Pect- Jf a poor man was robbed by any chance,' Miatovitch not'only listened to his plea and returned his property, but gave him food and money into the bargain. •.;.■' ■ - Soon similar organisations spread tnrough the country and each one acknowledged Miatoviteh as a kind of king Such was the force of hfe character and prestige that lesser, leaders came to him with disputes and problems and abided in most cases by his decisions. It was a - singularly loose organisation, but none the less powerful and.mobile. -In a short time, according.to the popular belief, there were at least 30,000 of these Knights of the Ureen Leaf and all-of them-were willine to fight and die, for:the chief, though many of them never had seen him.

TOWNS ATTACKED.

In : the forest near Essek,. Miatovitch maintained a unique information service, ieasants whom he had befriended or who naa a grudge against some particular rich man, were for ever sending him a word concerning the homes and habits of the wealthy, tips as it were, on good prospects for robbery. In turn, Miatovitch sent these reports to the leaders of his \anous bands, raids were carried out with aispatcn, often under cover of night, and 1» l-f°*i: V al tot, ed into the. forest to ■a d! st"but«d as Miatovitch saw fit. ■ButMiatoviteh had- still another strine to his>ow. .He continued to levy tribute \ T,° m . the various cities and towns under S'ftrf armed attack. The story goes that the City of Karlovac, one of the Principal communities of Croatia, refused to treat with .the: robbers ; and declared itZ,i T?i y t0 se md an- armed expedition against them In-'the.dead of night Miatovitch led'3ooo men.against the city, routeel the police and looted the business secpeaV tk* da M the, townsmeD sued for peace. l.be robber.; baron met them" in tifhnf they .agreed, to pay regular tubute in exchange for his word that & w£ uld'be spared further "attacks. " »V- y of Varasdin, on the other hand gave Miatovitch much more of a battle hulT S h/he Knights of the Green Leaf had invested the city the-.officials there retised ono day to.give in. ... Alarmed by then; show .of "resistance, tlfe "petty" robber ehiet sent lor Miatovitch: ■ Like the leader r.mt FCS ar arm X the- former sergeant kZ "}-- pcTP- fHe- -a.Jrnot. been there hal r 1 ?C? ICi dls, oovered that the city an a?i I l S"tt- a- argear me d, force that veVv hy h£ men-could not but prove blwi <■*•■■■■ ¥% commanded, that /there be what amounted to a siege. For weeks out^if CC ?s** /* Tich residents 0" the sack™?? t •t-e *?— .attacked-and sacked; trams entering and leaving the city were held up, robbed of thei? 1, gfei^ff ? liOW nd t0 V™™^-> and -traveltlio Ji f travelJ er., was waylaid.. Finally bers in 7 cs f declded to attack the robKmUf rfv, H est stronghold, but the and th *-he Gre€n Leaf slipped .away

■ -"-• --vv.-: A FRIEND TO ALL. stranS 0 hprfln?- °f 191 9 ihe Power-of this pnhS ii ch}e^m^reached' its noontide. He entrenched Well to the forests and set V,Ptf ™lltary organisation which was better than that of the Government Tn many towns he took over thl noHce now er _and m turn, for tribute keptborder and Put-down.ordinary.thieves aM cut-?hroa?s after tho, P n fnft hee!lC-eS.etviGe:modelled ™l vi ■°£ the ■.armies-in the late war ne was able to. concentrate thousands of men anywhere mv.the-.country; Am? there Wked to ln s c p ref! n S:™*ber of persons who tical dictator hlmassume the role of polimem ■pi