◆ SpookStack

“Their importing buslness became a . blind through which the materials lor making mash could be pur ased. eos The pay’ (we find this over and in tracing the history of the prohibition era) was good. A betier grade cooker could earn $80 to $100 a week. The production ‘end outgrew the saies end of the Senna enterprise. Its leaders sold sore of the product to Capone and Torrico, but not enough. Hence they came to covet the territory of Moran and O'Ban- jon, which overlapped theirs in spots. A precarious peace had been maintained, however, through the efforts of Mike Merlo, head of the Unione Siciliano. Merlo was no bootlegger or gangster; he was the paternal arbiter of all the actions of his countrymen on the near north side. He had decreed that there should be no warfare between the Gennas and their rival bootleg: gers, In mid-November of 1924 Mike Merlo died. A magnificent funeral, with a statue of him worked in flowers to ride on a float behind the herse, was arranged. It was always a pleasant fiction of the gang jeaders that each had a legitimate business. O'Banion, a florid, roundfaced little fellow who sralked with a limp, was a florist ind had a shop at 738 North State dtreet, opposite the entrance to the Moly Name cathedral. The Merlo funeral meant much business there. O'Banion, who was not above making an honest dollar, was in that shop on Nov. 19 when three men of dark complexion entered, He dropped his rose trimming and went forward to meet the delegation. “Hello, boys,” he said, extending his right hand to the man in the center, “You from Mike Merlo’s?” “Yes,” replied the man, selzing the hand in both of his. While he held it in a visellke grip one of the other strangers deliber- ately fired six bullets into the body of O'Banion. He fell dead in a bower of flowers. The killers went away. The O'’Banion Killing and its aft- ermath gave the first inkling, to the general public, of the power that the gangs had achieved in darkness. The funeral of the bootlegger florist was one of the most magnificent ever held in the city. The coffin reputedly cost $15,000, But O'Banion did not go un- avenged. His associates were quite tough enough 1o handle the Gennas. It was only a little while’ until three of the brothers-Tony, Mike, and Angelo—were slain. The others followed Torrio into obscurity. Into thelr territory, without much trouble, stepped Capone, His genius for organizeabenmas fer beyond ~ahat of the Gennas, He established Dig distilleries that could turn out thousands .of gallons -of .alcobol daily. It wae impossible, of course, to-keep these hidden indefinitly, but arithmetic showed that one which stayed at work six weeka paid for itself and thereafter returned a handsome profit, Raids, then, were only annoying, not damaging to a great extent. He established breweries and made working agreements with the brewmakers already supplying the trade, He strengthened his sales or- ganization and gave it twin objec- tives; to deliver the goods and to see that rival wholesalers stayed away from the saloons. Also, Capone lifted the art of pro- tection to new heights. It became understood just how much tribute a truckload of beer or a five gallon can of alcohol should pay the po licemen and the politicians. Some times the police looked the other way), sometimes they convoyed the delivtry trucks to destination. as The rules of the game prescribed that the driver must follow his specified route. If he failed a po liceman not already “taken care of” would arrest him and take him to a station. Once it had reached that point and the capture had been reported In the newspapers, no one would dare turn the truck and its cargo back. Capone had able fixers. One was Joe Fusco, who had in the old days outranked Capone in the Torrio or- ganization, Another was Dennis Cooney, who acquired and still en- Joys a fortune estimated in the mil- lions, which he gathered in the con- duct of houses of prostitution. He had the ear of the higher ups of polities. Also, Capone had able allies out- side the Chicago . There was always a market here for better beverages than the home bathtub crews and the six-weeks stills could turn out. Through Frank Uale, a Brooklyn gangster, Capone was able to bring in cargoes of imported Scotch for the limousine trade. In another way the Uale alliance ‘was valuable. He and Capone could, at need, exchange crews of gunmen to handle each other's enforcement work. Obviously, it wat an advan- tage to have killings done by men who would not be recognized away from their home towns. Killers, guards, business men, fix- ers, allies, political friends, huge revenues—all these Capone had in plenty before the summer of 1926 ended. He had gathered them with & minimum of personal publicity. Still left to oppose him and his schemes was the north side gang, headed by Earl (Hymie) Weiss and George (Bugs) Moran. Its members were individualists, and consequently their setup ake from that of Capone, They orga: ted on tribal lines.- They migis. gather for a battle, but it was - cult to hold them -tegether for campaign, Capone was organized for the long pull. His men were as solidiy combined as a burocracy and coutd be trusted to carry on over & period of months, or even years. A desperate attempt to kill Ca- pone was attributed to the cockiness of the north siders, He was at- tacked Sept. 20, 1926, in his retreat at the Hawthorne hotel (this was before the metal shutters were put up). Eight carloads of gunmen drove slowly past this hotel, The first one Jet go « random blast of fire in the street. The supposition was that Capone and his men would hasten to the windows to see what was going on, and that the volleys from the succeeding cars would wipe them out. The tactics were carried out ex- actly. Into the first floor of the hotel more than a thousand bullets were poured. Yet no Capone gang- ster was scratched. That was be- cause Capone thought fast and gave a warning when the first shots were heard. “Down to the floor, everybody!” he cried, a ‘The bullets zipped through the windows, but the masonry saved tie men on the floor, When St was yll over Capone arose from his prone position. “That's the last we'll take from that mob,” he announced. On Oct. 5 a young man who said his name was Oscar Lundin rented a room at 740 North State street. Next door was the old O'Banion Place, still a flower shop and atill the headquarters of the north aide mob. On the same day & young woman rented a room in the rear of 6 West Superior street. It over- looked the rear of the florist shop, as the young man’s overlooked the front. In each of these rooms three men planted themselves. From behind . the curtains they watched the move. 7 ments of Moran, Weiss, and their cohorts. As they watched they fin .- gered their submachine guns. Their , orders were to make sure of their quarry—and they did not fail. On Oct, 11 a car belonging to ~ Weiss halted in front of the shop. In it were W. W. O'Brien, well + known as a criminal lawyer; Ben- * jamin Jacobs, a 20th ward politi £ clan; Patrick Murray, a beer ped- dier; Weiss, and his chauffer, Sam ¢ Peller. ” As they were getting out of thy car there was a burst of machin}- gun fire from the window next dooy. Weiss, struck ten times, died in- stantly, Murray also was slain on +" ; the spot, The others were seriously \ t®