◆ SpookStack

Gangster Rule arse Seay oor symbol of all the crime the prohibl- tion era produced; of a man abovir the iaw; a man who feared nothinir | by Bribery —except publicity. . d Gun ws an ‘The Capone power had ripened in obscurity. - ting too prominent for _ Already Jt has been related how nee codon Capone, Dec. ie he came to be the partner of John the “Torrio in a business which in 1924 ‘ controled bootlegging on the south “I am not in any rackets; I” ide, owned a chain of brothels in am an honest real estate dealer.’ 9 crescent of west and southwest T wish the newspapers would leave’ suburbs, and operated dozens of me alone.”—Al Capone, Jan. 24, 1927. gambling hells. . Early in 1924 in front of his home EHOLD Alphonse Capone at at 7104 Clyde avenue a spray of the height of his arrogant pullets was directed at Torrio. One power; any time between jeaden pellet passed through his i late 1926 and mid-May of Jower jaw. It shattered his courage teas. as well as the jawbone, When he | A grose man, fat, with thick lip? rycovered he wanted no more of they tind a scar on one cheek. A pow, game, He retired and his mantle értul man, Immune to the penalties, geit upon Capone. i of the law that applied to lessey | That rising young executive als¢ mortals. bar the target of the men whi When he went abroad It was in eliminated Tortlo. They poured a an armored car that weighed seven withering rain of bullets upon his tons. Picture this strong man in his automobile as it stood in the street, fortresses—the Hawthorne hotel in and Capone escaped only because Cicero, with the metal shutters im- fortune had decreed that he should Pervious to bullets; the Metropole | be at the moment in a restaurant or the Lexington hotel in Chicago, | nearby. Promptly he bought the where he and his followers held | bulletproof car and strengthened whole floors at a time; or on his | his force of guards. measide estate outside Miami, He obtained the absolute Joyaity No policemen ever raided these of those guards by making it more Places. They knew that raids would profitable for them to be his men be futile gestures. The courts would | than to be anybody else's, The sal not hold Alphonse Capone to ac- count. Picture Capone the politician, shaking hands with judges, call- qing assistant state's attorneys his ‘friends, telling representatives ithe state capitol and aidermeh Jin the city council (whom he het ‘set In their places) how he wanted them to vote. ary'was $100 — week.’ Also Capone clothed them, fed them, and gave parties for their amusement. He asserted that St cost him $3,500 a week for his personal protection. Ea In 1924 the Torrio-Capone organi- | zation dominated only the south" jelde and the suburbs it had taken over. North side bootlegging was ‘fn the hands of a ang of tough ymen headed by George (Bugs) ‘Moran and Dean O'Banion. On the swest side was another gang, of ‘cilian orlgin, headed by the ‘Genne brothers. \ These Gennas were important ple. They invented a new tect nique in the manufacture of alcy hol. They put it in the home, Hundreds of thelr fellow count men, each in his own little house, cooked alky. The Genna organiza- ton collected each cooker’s output daily and paid cash for the work. pone in a bathing suit in Flory one of his alibi costumes. if Lb BE 2