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Al Capone — Part 8
Page 28
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jittle Hymie” Weiss had got off to a flying start by
eliminating Johnny Torrio and he still had about nineteen
months left in which to besmear the town with blood, before
the “Big Fellow” Alphonse Capone, was to blast him into
eternity. Capone, however, who could always appreciate
@ good man had come to admire ferocious “Little Hymie”
despite all the nasty things he had said and done. and,
as one of his first royal acts, offered pardon to Weil
if he would promise to behave himself and return to the
fold. While “Littke Hymie” was considering the Big
Fellow’s proposals, the Big Fellow is having a tough
time of it right in his own home precincts.
A courageous editor of a Cicero newspaper had under-
taken the ambitious project of relieving his town of the
resence of King Capone and his numerous business activ-
ities. He used pitiless publicity which, true enough, is a
swell weapon. The editor, Mr. Arthur St. John, made one
‘Brave error however. He neglected to acquire the services
of a few platoons of infantry. For some time his paper
appeared regularly with fine attacks upon King Capone
farging the good people of Cicero to get behind the cam-
paign and push. Mr. St. John’s immediate rewards were
rather terrible. One fine afternoon early in March, some
tough gentlemen who had wamed him repeatedly to keep
his mouth shut, picked him up and went off with him.
When he returned to his friends a few days later, they
could hardly believe he was the same man, for Mr. St.
John had been severely beaten in all visible Places. This
treatment inspired another throaty yell from Mr. Robert
E. Crowe, but why go into it?” He ordered that King
Capone be haled before him forthwith which was done.
The king came down to the Criminal Courts Buildin;
in the style that befitted his exalted position. He apoecred
in a new automobile, the like of
which had never been seen before
on the streets and boulevards of
the fourth metropolis of the world.
It weighed about seven tons, four
tons more than your automobile,
its windows were fitted with bullet-
proof glass, and it was plastered
with large sheets of armor-plate.
Mr. Capone still uses this dis-
guised tank whenever he is in
Chicago. To those of us who did
not know at this time that King
Capone was offering peace to
Hymie Weiss, the big automobile
was taken as overt proof that Ca-
pone intended to stay on his
throne and to hel} with those who
didn’t like it.
King Capone's call on the
state’s attorney came to nothing.
So did his overtures for peace.
The peace proposal had been made
at a banquet held in a famous
restaurant just off Wacker Drive
which still operates under the
same Italian name, It was pro-
posed that Gangland should be
divided in half with Madison
Street the dividing line. For a
couple of months “Little Hymie”
who had certain definite misgiv-
ings as to the sincerity of King
Capone's peaceful impulses, be-
ra asee
G@enas, toughest of the Gennas, which is
saying o mouthfol. Mis lest act in this life was
‘to Kick an ambulance attendant in the face,
haved himself and
strictly observed the
terms of the pact,
He was busy sny-
way, with the gov-
ing trial in the Fed-
eral building on a
booze charge. With
him on the same
charge was Dapper
Dan McCarthy, a
member of his
During the process
of this trial “Little
Hymie” discovered
that the peace ban-
quet had been merely
an attempt to throw
him off his guard
and the discovery
brings us to ac-
quaintanceship with
two of the most sin-
ister figures who
have ever skidded
across blood-streaked Gangland. Signor John Scalice and
Signor Anselmi. Killers de luxe, these men had
been summoned from far off Sicily by Mike and Angelo
Genna shortly before the death of O'Banion, How long
they had been in town is not certain, but “Little Hymi
discovered them one day during the progress of his tri
up there in the Federal building. A member of “Little
Hymie'’s” gang—they were all in the courtroom—
noticed a stool pigeon for the Capone gang in earnest
conversation with two strangers—Scalice and Anselmi.
The stool pigeon was “fingering” every North Side
gangster in the courtroom. Why did these two strange
talians appear s0 interested in learning the iden-
tities of the Weiss henchmen? The observant North Side
gangster hurriedly dispatched another one of his com-
Ppanions down stairs and outside to determine whether or
not any of the Capone boys were about. Sure enough,
outside the gangster came upon Al's big armor-plated
Lincoln parked around the corner on Adams Street. He
examined the car quickly and found that it was well-
stocked with sawed-off shot-guns and other artillery. In a
few minutes Scalice and Anselmi,
together with a chauffeur who had
sprung up from somewhere, got
in Al’s car and drove away.
All this meant but one thing
to “Little Hymie”—-war. He soon
determined that Scalice and An-
selmi spent a great deal of their
time in Cicero, although they ap-
peared to be body guards for
Mike and Angelo Genna. “Little
Hymie” resumed his expeditions
into the Genna territory; he began
“absorbing” speakeasies which be-
longed to the arrogant brothers.
For several weeks Gangland was
comparatively quiet, except for an
unimportant and mysterious “ride”
murder here and there. The South
Side O’Donnells were still battling
Messrs. Saltis and MacEarlane on
occasions and there was much
muscling and double-crossing in
every quarter. “Spike” O’Don-
nell's greatest personal blow came
on April 17 when his foolhardy
brother, Walter, was mortally
wounded during’ an attempt to
terrorize and hold-up a roadhouse
in the Saltis country. Walter died
‘on May 9.
Every police official in Chicago
as well as those “in the know”
looked forward to an unprece-
_ ag
Angelo Genns, youngest of the Gen-
mas, and the first to be murdered by
the Worth Side gangsters,
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