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Al Capone — Part 36
Page 46
46 / 62
for ransom
then threats of
torture and
‘death He de
elf a bodyguard
York for the puss
out 1910.
wk a 2yearold
anny Torrlo whom
: one of the elder
Five Points gang.
said that he was
jan... . Hehad
business sagacity,
imagination. He
2@ duplicity of poll
oficient in the elvili-
tongue and adroit
o had @ plausible
end
An heer and was @
was wuyil,
|
isiness and declared
said, “To hell with
achery.
fy and Doherty that
ron the north side
fy against Capone in
aported to get Capone.
‘whom Johnny Patton
t. Louis to kill Capone.
-eland to kill Capone.
pone beer and booze.
Al on election day.
en
wn gang in rivalry with
smber of Capone's body:
conceal his treachery by
se while serving as rum-
gang hangout on the St.
men executed their most
veir north side rivals.
f the Untone Sictlione, was
.way with Capone, assisted
of $250,000,
t stool pigeon for the police
ar
uviewrossed Capone,
“ve! gang leader and ally of
front.
. On Torrte'’s arrival in
Colostme’s petvecartion
Hyed ty
the gun. It was hia profession. *
When shortly after his errival three _
Biack Handers demanded that Cato-
simo meet them with 625,000 under
an Archer avenue viaduct, Torrie
sent four-men to the spot with
sawed-off shotguns, When the Black
Hand leader approached the dark
touring car, asking, “Where is our
package?” he muddenly found him:
self looking down a 12-gauge mut
zie, For the Black Handere It was
a rendezvous with death in the
shape of lead slugs at a range of six
feet. -
~~ As Torrio teit his power his ambi-
tion grew apace. Big Jim Colosimo
was prosperous, fat, nearly forty;
and growing contented with the
status quo. The boundary of his
ambition was the southern bor
der of the First ward. But not so
with Torrlo. Torrio had his eye on
the whole city and then some. He
was heard saying to @ procurer
friend one night on 22d street:
“Ym alck of the Firat ward
‘There's no money in it. I'm going
to start operating wherever I get a
chance aii over the city and in the
suburbs, too, even if Jim won't come
along. A monopoly of all Cook
county is the only way to handle
thia business 50 it'll really pay.”
And Johnny Torrio acted on his
iden.
Torrio towns sprang Up. Preirie
centers that had once gone to bed
at dusk and risen at cockcrow now
had to alt up to all hours with Tor-
trio's growing roadhouse industry.
‘The frat of these towns was Burn-
ham, eighteen milea southeast of
the loop and readily accessible 10
couples and parties driving from
southern Chicago, Gary, Hammond,
Calumet, and other places for an
evening’s entertainment. Dance
halls, gambling dens, and night
clubs of all descriptions arose end
ran wide open under the charge of
Johnny Patton, the famous “boy
mayor,” who considerately saw eye
to eye with Torrio, for reasons best
known to himself.
And then—on May 11, 1920—-Colo-
simo wae murdered. A mysterious
Jone assassin, who bas never beer
identified, secreted himeet? tn the
vestibple of Colosimo's café in the
early hours of the morning, waited
his chance to fire the fatal shot,
With Colosimo gone, Torrio was
released from the limitations of his
Jate bose,
Prohibition, coming along at about
this time, had caused the closing of
the 15,000 legalized oasea in Greater
Chicago, This gave Torrla’ some-
thing to think about. He was not
a little dazsied at the thirst-quench-
ing possibilities in addition to the
other business he aspired to control.
‘The two brewerler he had leased to
“1s astwate regorts soon were
ceased — at -
took on a measure of discipl .
under hia drill sergeant brand of
leadership. His remarkable fair
for organizing built up @ machine
admirably suited to the task set for
it. ‘The drivers, sharpshooters, spies,
watehmen, lawyers, end others on
the pay rol! knew what was expect-
ed of them, and they did it, Few
ever deserted or turned traitor,
‘They not only respected their bows
but they feared what he would do
to any man who crossed him. The
mind behind thet massive, heavy
Upped face was unfathomable. Ca-
pone did things as if by magic. One
day he ordered one of his own brew:
ery watchers to “Lay off gabtin’
with thet Joe Piszite. You know
he's mot with us.”
“How did the big feller know I'd
been talkin’ with Joe lately?” the
man asked his wetch partner that
night. -
“O, Al's got spies everywhere,”
came the reply.
‘When it became necessary to do
away with the various rival gangs
who contested the Torrio-Capone
monopoly over all Cook county's
liquor and vice business Capone did
not hesitate to send his army out to
meet the enemy, His orders were:
“Wait till they get where you want
‘em, then let ‘em have it.”
‘The headquarters of the Capose-
Torrio organization in these earty |<
days was an unobtrustive four-story
a
structure at 2222 South Wabash av> iq
enue known as the Four Deuces. It 9;
looked tike a rooming house from the
outelde, but {t actually was a den of
iniquity of the first order, On the
ground floor were the Torrlo-Ca-
pone general offices and & saloon
and café. The second and third |
floors were devoted to gambling and
the fourth to the demi-monde. The”
place wes widely known to have 1
been the scene of twelve murders, ‘Ue
r
all unsolved.
Having proved the efficacy of his we
ALI
adopted ruthlessness as a basic pal- mS
jey In eliminating business compe ‘ag
The following September. 242
1923, In the process of expanding his eg
methods in the Joe Howard casa,
tition,
south side territory, he encountered q
the opposition of gang known aa seg
the south side O'Donnells. Spike
oo eee
jae
yey
10
ber automatic. His
was:
“John killed my brother Mike,
and I thought the jury was going to
free him.”
Dever’s control. In the fall of 1923
Capone had no fewer than 700 men
on his pay roll, and there was a ger
eral stampede of criminal opportu-
nists to his camp, He soon formed
an alllance with the surviving south
aide ODonneils. The wholesale liquor
industry was flourishing. Money,
which last year had been measured
in C’e ($100 billay, now wi
discussed in terms of the
($1,000). And the impecuntous young
pimp, whe had been delighted with
an annual salary of $25,000 a couple
of years before, now handed out in
the booze trac. plone spon ane nnn
cneysat yesanas JO Jaume Ou!
‘surg
syayoqoudes 3u3
Jo Jaalsp Se Got ¥ paulE|go UoOs
yy MOw
Auwoy 21a Buy 3ys hed
soger 2uz 3ujand
ep SOM NE AOH AD
au
tysog seas oy aay AyUNUIOD WHET
emo] ayy tuouz sasrOy jo yuaurdiys
B YIM saniD UWIMy ony Uy Supe
40778 Koq a1qurs & Sw Jaaz¥o STY Sur
suySog “Suet WI sHodvauuny Uy weUr
-soyod wsaajan @ SBA TTPSUNIE,
"2038 SI) JO WUT
“Uy 482g 27 Uy Pjoy Sea ‘s7ZNOO TeUL
uD au; up Amt w Aq pioudn pur
ays up qed Sip
ayy snooy or uvBaq azayt
subjmjod <q ueuund pur
s1ays3uwg Jo uoTDa}01d 3ut
O'Donnell, the lender, had for part-4L INAWM Ad
nera his brothers, Steve, Walter. and
“Toramy, #8 well ag three thick. ©
sqodpennpy 9] soRiod Qe
Ayes puvyysyg aut dy passeyo
Fe ‘pURpANG “G@ anuy “Aow eur
jo Surseis pue Nujdeupyy ayy Jo aswo
raoyod Jo jaya
sem yjysUNIg AUBLZ Iwas WUT UT
“geet Wy K[swa AWD IBUT
oda 45am aypplMr ayy Jo VoNUaHE
puw sep scare, JAI
skinned henchmen named Jerry #1272 Jo Hepes © jo pucces ou aT er
O'Connor, George “Spot” Bucher,
and Georgia Meeghan. The O'Don- pue uauruNny)
nell method of expanding thelr
wholesale territory was to invade a
speakeasy which had not been buy: ¢ °
seatcay which had nt been wer CY EY PAOTT MOL
see their artillery dangling in beit
holsters, and put the question.
“Who you buying fram?”
After listening to the answer,
which they knew already, they
-1A tactfully suggest, “Well, how
Intal
hr?
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