D.C. SOCIETY WOMEN SENT DEATH THREATS BY BLACK HAND
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) In a report from the New York Tribune's Washington Bureau dated February 23, 1922, prominent society women here in the Nation's Capital have recently received letters from the Black Hand* containing death threats "unless they pay...$15,000 to $25,000."
The letters also include threats of blowing up their "palatial homes with dynamite" if they fail to comply with the demands. An investigation is underway by the Washington Police Department and the Department of Justice.
Chief of Police Daniel Sullivan** refused comment on the matter.
*Black Hand was a secret military society formed in Serbia in 1901 aiming to unite all territories with a South Slavic majority not then ruled by Serbia or Montenegro.
**Daniel Sullivan, an Irish immigrant, served in the USMC before joining the D.C. Metro Police Dept. in 1889. By 1922, DS rose to the rank of Assistant Superintendent (police chief). He retired in 1925 due to ill health.
SOURCES
"Daniel Sullivan," Metropolitan Police Department, www.mpdc.dc.gov/
"Death Threats Sent Capital Society Women," The New York Tribune, February 24, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
