1915-04-01ww

 

“Mr. Ernest Taylor, the well-known Italian interpreter, stated this morning that, in his opinion, the police should search all houses of foreigners and remove any firearms they find in them.”

Hamilton Times.   April 1, 1915.

Ernest Taylor, fluent in Italian, was a frequenter attendee at the Hamilton Police Court and the Wentworth County Court House. His services were needed when those charged with crimes were unable to speak in any other language than Italian.

Referring to a recent murder case in which he had been in attendance to provide translation services, Taylor made the following statement:

“ ‘I do not believe that Ruffini would have shot Cataleno Milano had there been a strict watch kept on the foreigners for weapons,’ said Mr. Taylor. ‘Last Saturday a knife fight among two Italians placed one man in the hospital and another in jail. I believe that  the police should search all the houses in the east end and remove all weapons they find in them.’”¹

¹ “Search Them All : Weapons Too Common Among East End Foreigners”

Hamilton Times.   April 1, 1915.

The Times reporter on duty at the Police Court on April 1, 1915 found Taylor’s view and did some investigating :

“ A glance at the police court records would seem to substantiate this as in nearly every foreign case that comes before the Magistrate, it is shown that some kind of weapon has been drawn, whether it be a knife or revolver.

“In a case today, Rocco Vacco was accused of threatening his brother Vincenzo Vacca with a shot gun and had the case been more serious, another murder might have been the result.”¹