The sun., 1919-08-03
Staying of Rosenthal Marked the Be-
ginning of the End for Gangs Whose
Crimes Had Been Covered by
Crooked Politicians of
Old Leaders Who Reformed

approaching the end Of his activities.
Besides these there were numerous
other fights.
The Rosenthal Murder.
The murder of Herman Rosenthal
by Gyp the Blood and other gangsters
marked the beginning of the end for
the gangsters as powerful forces. That
created such stir, and the need of re-
form became so pressing. that there
after the power of the gangs waned,
until to-day there are no gangs worthy
of the name. The Hudson Busters are
probably the best known of the present
day gangsters, but they have given
little or no trouble for some years, al
though they have had frequent fights
with the Marginals and used to be
bitter enemies Of the Tanner Smiths.
A remnant of the Gophers Is left, but
they too give little trouble. The police
have really had no gangs worthy OF
| the name to contend with since Com
missioner Woods started his crusade
in 1914 and sent almost 200 OF them
to prison.
1t Is largely, If not altogether, mat
! ter of individual opinion as to who was
1.-THE greatest gangster that New York
| ever saw. Having a special knowl-
edge of the viciousness and criminal
| ity of one particular gangster, one
naturally reaches the conclusion that
that gangster vas the greatest of thcm
all. yet in fact there may have been
other gangsters who were Drawer and
more dangerous. The opinion Of the
4 de- oh a cd hot
Paul Kelly and Monk eastman and
curiously enough both of these men
have reformed and are leading de-
cent lives. Certainly there have been
few gangsters who welded more power
than Kelly and Eastman did in the.r
palmy days. Kelly had the old Five
Points gang with more than 1900
members, and besides this he controlled
many smaller gangs whose activities
were more local. Perhaps Kelly had
at the height of his powers some 1000
men under his command. Eastman's
power was hardly less. with his gang
of 1000 men and many smaller gangs
which fiocked to his colors in the
event of gang war.
Kelly had a remarkable career,
which space prevents going into in
detail here. He was an East Side boy
and became a prize fighter by virtue
of having whipped the mascot of the
old Granite Athletic Club. After that
he became q professional fighting n
draw with Tommy Dixon, whipping
Bill Barrett and fighting good fights
with many others. Then he became
foreman for an italian contracting
company. saw the opening in militant
politics and organized the Paul A.
Kelly Association, which became one
OF the strongest organizations in the
United States and was a controlling
power In East Side politics for long
time. When the reform waves began
to appear Kelly saw the handwriting
on the wall and quit. He is now
making money and is estimated to be
worth a considerable fortune.
Monk Eastman began his gang
career as n bouncer in the New Irving
: Hall on the Bowery, and because Of
his warlike ambitions and his ability
as a rough and tumble fighter and
gangman he rose rapidly. 1t wasn't
: many years before he had his own
gang and was n power in the territory
, in which he operated. Eastman was
arrested IOT SfNtIdl snOOllHbS anu
finally he was sent to prison and the
. leadership OF his gang fell to Kid
, Twist. For several years the police
heard little or nothing OF Eastman,
but when the United States entered
the war the old gangster enlisted un-
der his real name with the Twenty
seventh Division, the old New York
National Guard, He served with
honor in all the battles in which that
division participated, and when he
came back Gov. Smith restored his cit
izenship on the recommendation of his
: commanding officers. Eastman now
has a good Job and is a decent citizen.
II is a fact that the war and the
= American army were responsible fol
] the regeneration OF many Of New
, York's old gang fighters. There were
a many of them In both the Seventy
\ seventh and the Twenty-seventh divi
I sions, and they made good soldiers
a Such gang fighters as "Puggy" Mckay
S Lefty" ONeill and RAT Face" Wilson
g Of the old CIR Barn gang entered tbs
a army and became sergeants and good
It soldiers