GUARDS OUTWITTED

Taranaki Daily News, 8 October 1929, Page 6

GUARDS OUTWITTED

LONELY ISLAND ESCAPE. Professor Carlo Roselli, who, with the two anti-Faseists, Signor Emilio Lussu and Signor Francesco Nitti, nephew of the former Italian escaped from Lipari Island, off the north; coast of Sicily, and reached Paris, has now told the story of the flight' (states the London Daily Telegraph); The escape was ■ planned eighteen months ago, and was carried out dramatically. Every movement of'the"prisoners was watched. There was a guard of 400 men to watch 500 prisoners. . The exiles managed to gain the confidence of the policemen by leading regulaf lives, and they were consequently allowed a little latitude. ' / The escape was planned for the' night of July 27. The men were supposed to be-in their quarters at 9 o’clock, and a guard ar<-, rived to inspect the quarters between 9.30 p.m. and 10.30 p.m. At the hour fixed three men set out disguised as natives of Lipari. A guard appeared,' but Professor Roselli; concealed himself in a narrow street,, while Signor Lussu, who found himself face ,to face with a policeman, escaped detection by blowing his nose furiously. The fugitives were protected by the darkness when they reached the beach. Wearing all their clothes they immediately entered the water and swam half a mile to a deserted spot on the coast, where a small boat, which had been brought there by two . foreign friends, awaited them. The sea was calm, and, after sailing for a day and a night, tliey reached the Tunisian coast, and thence came to Paris. . . , . Describing the life led on the island of Lipari, Professor Roselli said .that he and his companions had to mingle with drug takers, members of the Mafia, and Communists and anarchists. There are, however, he says, .many prisoners belonging to the highest classes on the island. They were allowed only ten lire a day for living expenses, and consequently they had to live in the cheapest lodgings and eat bad food. . , Signor Roselli, who was formerly Professor of Political Economy at the Genoa. Institute, had aided Signor Turati, the leader of the Reformed Socialists, to escape from Italy. When he returned there he was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment, and afterwards deported to Lipari for five ears. Signor Lussu, who was four times decorated during the war, had his home invaded in 1926, and killed a Fascist in self-defence. He was sentenced to a year's imprisonment, and'deprived ,oi his position of deputy.