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Al Capone — Part 8
Page 14
14 / 70
ALL fr AL and
LAL for ALL
The anthar
introduced you from time to time to their favorite
evil men of Gangland—John Scalice and Albert
Anselmi who, you will remember, were imported
to Chicago from Southern Italy in 1925 by the
Imperial Genna brothers. Scalice and Anselmi,
grim and mirthless fellows, were a perfect defini-
tion of the word sinister. You would have been
uncomfortable sitting in the same Yale bow! or
Soldiers’ Field with them—more uncomfortable
than walking down a dark alley at midnight with
“Little Hymie” Weiss or Schemer Drucci. On May
8, 1929, the sensational long run of the terrible
drama called Scalice and Anselmi came to an
abrupt end. Pumped full of bullets, burned and
beaten, their bodies were found in a lonely stretch
of country in the bleak Indiana state line district.
Scalice and Anselmi with one, John Ginta, a Ca-
pone gangster, had been taken for a terrible ride,
and one of the stories at the time had it that John
and Albert had plotted to over-throw the Big Fel-
low himself. A coup was planned. Capone was to
be seized at a given signal during a banquet held
somewhere in Chicago. You can easily imagine
what Scalice and Anselmi planned to do with
him. The banquet began. The signal was given.
All Capone henchmen arose but, instead of seiz-
ing the Big Fellow, they tock possession of
Scalice and Anselmi. Capone, it is said, did not
believe the story of the treachery of these men
until, sitting there behind the spaghetti, he wit-
nessed the signal,
Eight days after the long, long ride of Scalice
and Anselmi, the Chicago newspapers sizzled with
the story of the arrest of Al Capone and his
aide-de-camp, Frankie
Rio, in Philadelphia
charged with carrying
concealed weapons. The
arrests were made by
detectives who had met
Capone in Miami where,
by this time, he had
purchased and improved
to suit his own peculiar
needs, a vast estate.
There was more sizzling
when a day or so later,
Al and Frank, were
consigned to a county
jail cell for one year.
Along with the tidal
wave of economiums on
the efficiency of the
Philadalmhian noline and
PHUUGUCIPIa PCO at
courts, came the inter-
esting current of ru-
af thie nlsacan narrativa
2 €1LtS PERE OmIL Ls ALE fice
wes wep ous,
mor that King Capone had placed himself on
the spot for the Philadelphians in order that he
might have the comfort and security of a jail cell
until the Valentine Massacre probe, investigation,
“heat” or what have you had gone the way of
most Chicago probes and investigations of Gang-
land’s crimes. Public temperature was so high at
this time that Capone did not want to be foot-loose
anywhere, and he probably got the idea of going
to jail from his old master, Johnny Torrio. But
even in prison, whither he was consigned for one
year, Capone could not entirely escape from the
stench of the Valentine Massacre. Three months
after his conviction the prison authorities began
receiving letters from a garrulous and somewhat
foolish lady addressed to the Big Feliow. In the
course of prison routine these letters were opened
- and, beeause of the sensational nature of their
Belek Bannsne cldae beother of B21 Aenane a5 he nndeonme Md wrlé
Sager bal
his attorneys recently during his arial and conviction for an
income taz fraud. Balph was sentenced to threes years in the
penitentiary.
(55)
contents, sent to State’s Attorney John A. Swanson.
The letters were written by Mrs. Frank Beige, re-
eenthr wed Her hushand was scomoeotimes described
Lay WRU. BAW LEM RFEALLLA TF ERk) DOW EEE ee ee ,
correctly or incorrectly, as the Big Fellow’s per-
sonal executioner. Beige may have been expert
at handling a machine gun and jin putting an
enemy on the spot, but he was a terrible dub at
handling women, particularly Mrs. Beige. Any
way, without his knowledge, Mrs. Beige, rambled
on and on something after the following manner:
“You know what Frank has done for you. He’s got
to get out of town pronto for the other mob are wise.
His life isn’t safe here. So you got to get us $10,000 in
cash and do it quick.”
Of course the Big Fellow never saw the letter,
a fact which never occurred to the naive Mrs.
Beige. When no reply came to this one, she wasted
more paper and wrote on the following:
“I’m asking you for the last time to send that $10,000
and get it to us fast. Frank’s sick of you leaving him
to hold the bag. He can’t get out of town without the cash
and he can't stay here without being taken for a ride.
You kick across or Frank will go to the police and spill
what he knows. Remember: everything.”
In thus talking out of turn Mrs. Beige made
a great many wild and reckless statements about
what Frank thought
and would do. Frank,
as a matter of fact, did
not know how Iittle
wifey was trying to help
him along. When the
Big Fellow failed to kick
in the $10,000 she again
a > ree eee
BUULTESSeu GLb,
“All right. You're just
as good as putting Frank
on the spot, by leaving us
stranded here. Weill, how’ll
you like getting the finger
on yourself? Frank’s going
to tell everything he knows.
He remembers fifteen shoot-
ings he did because you
ordered him to do them.
He's going to tell just who
killed McSwiggin for a
starter. And he’s going to
tell about why you had him
bump Ben Newmark—be-
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