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sO | erterok 6 PUBLISHER C a November 25, 1939 ~ ‘Jt was mid-morning Nov..16 when i i Gepone Wait in Vath,- abies. gives brought formal annals Gavin oin Washington of Capone's Scribes Hold ‘Inquest’ release at Lewisburg. nt statement Pee Ber 8a cesses & censed 2 came m sames ¥. mnett, ‘en~ te Le. oo Rcials of Fe ov ‘e ; tor of Federal Prisons. i Mir : ater Prisons use of “the ot : UneMiclal Bealal | Mr. Head*o 2... whj ‘they surrounded the releane of Warden Hill's office said Hill was Mr. Meintie 0... Al €apone, the press—represented by “out of town.” Informed of Bennett's Mr. Piuale a acore of metropolitan and smal{-| ammouncement from Washington, his Me Roce toun reporters and news photogs—| seoTetary replied: It’s all news to ae Meso eee conducted a mock inquest in the| 7: We haven't seen Capone around str. Guitia Tests... hangar at Municipal Airport her here, but whatever Mr. Bennett an- Mp tracy Nov. 16, and returned with a verdict ‘ounces is authoritative: ; j holding the Federal Government guil’=. Newsmen at the gates were tipped Wins Guudly of negligence in its duty to the read- and renewed their demand for a state- Tour Heom ........- ing public. ment. It was @ useless gesture, for Warden. Hill couldn't be contacted coven fl Just; back from nearby Lewishurg | and mie not a spokesman to Feder] Penitentiary with not a word of coimment from an official source concerning: the liberation of the once fabulous gang overlord of Chicago, these men who ferret out the news of the day were smarting from the told shoulder they received. 1. + _ Certain that Capone was gone, the _ staff men. pulled stakes and returned ' to Sunbury. They transformed the. ‘ airport hangar into a den of smoke, | : cofiducted a post mortem and then | busied themselves at the pleasant task of hokling an inquest. | i v, described as: the “dean” of the news photographers, | ligent in dissemination of news ingi- : * dent_{o the release of Al Capone,” , said: “I've been on the New York! and recommended that steps bee nfair an - ee when Daily News stall since 1921, an : : lie is tired of to establish a better relationship as you th ; ub Lhe a means of préventing a recurrence newspaper con of these misunderstandings. “You would think they were na- Reporters Facioue tional celebrities, and that gach pro- No punches were pulled in the fury tection was needed for the public wel- that engulfed these men who had fare. Capone was the nation’s most failed in their assignment. notorious gang leader during prohi- For 24 hours before the story bition days, accused of every crime in “broke,” the Sunbury Daily Ttem’s the calendar. There is no reason why news room had scouted reports that he shofld have been given this fro- Capone was either at Lawiehura, or tection. ® : on his way. i moe Nevertheless the advance guard of — A Wathington photog said the le newsmen from news services and result of his trip was a “smi a metropolitan papers, traveling by air- +camera.” He declared it was struck by plane and automobile, went to Lewis- | # federal officer at the penitentiary. burg, unsuccessfully attempted to — It was 3 p.m. more than two hours verify Capone’s presence there, and fter the metropolitan staff men left then formed a watch at the main gate the airport, that the final threads of of the penitentiary. , the story were pieced together hy the Even then Capone was speeding | Daily Item in the frst official an- east from St. Louis on a fast érain, | Downeement from Warden Hill. reportedly disguised to shield his-iden- He explained that Capone was re- tity. The “grape vine!’ passed word | ceived at the penitentiary about 5 that he would be taken from a train yam and that he was treated like arriving at Harrisburg, Pa, at 354 1/ @>y of the other 1,600 prisoners | dur- am., and the tip came in time for | ing his two-hour stay. At 7 o'clock hews services to have men at the sta- Hill said he ordered Capone brought tion. They scanned every person who | ‘9 his office. Handed the official pa- stepped from the train, and reported © Pet° Mi TEMG, ee od eta back to their offices that it was a smiled a yard wide" and offered a “bed steer.” . polite “Thank you. - it was. later reported that he left At that very moment the newsmen the train at the station and was taker werg at the front gate, but Hill lor to a waiting automobile which sped thy wes where they made their ,. 60 miles to the prison. The boys were fe—for Capone was released ro sh doing, “lobster” duty when, Federal rear gate at the other end 6 ok officials say, Capone efitered the peni- reservation, jumped into a “big, bla tentiafy shortly after 5 am. Hdw he #¥tornobile” and disappeared. ae got by is a mystery, for it was as ¢liffi- rs cuit er anybody to get past the cor- o don of newspapermen as the guards “ at the prison gates. ~ , v ? ‘ ae? % te