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Al Capone — Part 36

62 pages · May 23, 2026 · Broad topic: Organized Crime · Topic: Al Capone · 62 pages OCR'd
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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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