The sun., 1919-08-03

expressed great Indignation tnat /
crime had been committed Pioggi
stayed in hiding for a few days while
tho politicians who controlled the cleo
ton services of the Five Points ar
ranged certain matters, and then he
surrendered. OF course he pleaded |
,self-defence.
'Biff" Ellison, who was sent to Sing |
Sing for his part in the killing of
Bill Harrington in Paul Kelly's New |
Brighton dive, came to the Bowery |
from Maryland when he was in his
early twenties. He got a job as
bouncer in Pat F1ynn's saloon in 81
Bond street, and advanced rapidly In
the estimation Of gangland, because he
was young and husky and when he
hit a man that man went down and
stayed down. That was how he got
his nickname-he used to be always
threatening to diff" someone. And
usually he did as he threatened. FL
lison was a dandy, too, so careful of
his physical appearance that he did
not always deign to fight with his
fists and take q chance on messing
up his manly beauty. The blackjack
and the beer bottle were his favorite
! had he put away with them. After
that 1t was his custom to kick them
while they were down, and IL the
fancy seized him. to gouge out an eye
! or perhaps chew off an ear.
Ellison was of great value around
election time. and Tammany Hall pol.
iticians recognized 1t. Consequently
he became person of some impor-
lance. and SO was able to give a
racket once year under the auspices
OF the "Bin Ellison Association" which
was Bin Ellison and nobody else, and
which netted him usually around 81. 500
or $4,000. At one time he and another
gangster got together and established
Paresis Hall, near Cooper Union, burt
he quit that finally because il in
volved work and responsibility, and
spent most OF his time between Chick
Tricker's saloon in 1913 Park Row, and
Niger Mike Salter's place in Pell
street. When he went into the New
Brighton and killed Bill Harrington,
he was really after Paul Kelly, al
though the reason has never appeared.
Possibly 1t was merely because he
felt the thirst for blood, and was
jealous of Kelly and the Kelly power
and influence.
Razor Riley, n gangster who was
small but vicious, was with him in the
Job that finished Harrington. Riley
and Kelly had been enemies for a long
time. and when he and Ellison entered
the New Brighton the night of the
murder Harrington saw trouble in the
air. He Immediately yelled to Paul
Kelly to get his gun, which was a dis
tinct violation OF gangland's prin-
ciples and beliefs. which are that every
man must fight his own battles and
must not be warned when his murder
Is imminent. Riley Immediately turned
and shot Harrington through the head
and then he and Ellison opened fire on
everybody in the place. but particu-
larly on Paul Kelly. Half an hour later
the police entered the place and found
not a soul, nothing but the lifeless body
of Harrington on the floor. A few days
later. however. Kelly sent word from
Harlem for the police to come and get
him. He had been shot. and seriously,
and great many others had been
shot, but the police found only the
} dead. Riley died before he could be
tried. but Ellison was sent to prison for
! his share in the affair. He is there
now.
The Beginning OF the End.
All of these things happened during
, tho first few years OF the present CEN
fury. at a time when the power of the
, gangs was at its height, when Tam
many controlled the politics of the
city but when uneasy warnings Of re-
| &c.
cry and Chinatown and the other IA
vorite haunts OF the gangsters In
, those days there were innumerable
. gangs. The entire city was infested
|, with them, and notable gangsters. men
: who were vicious criminals and had
committed more murders than they
: had fingers and toes. were as numer-
: GUS as they are scarce now. But the
principal gangs Of that time were Pau
Kelly's Five Points. which had some
1900 members and was supreme IT
the territory between Broadway and
the Bowery, City Hall Park and Four
y teenth street; the Eastmans, with loo
! fighting men. controlling the territory
d between Monroe street and the Bow
{ cry and the East River; the Gas House
: Gang. with about 200 members, hold
g ing forth in Third avenue between
I Eleventh and Eighteenth streets, anC
d the Gophers with 500 members an'
d the terrors Of that district in Seventh
]. and Tenth avenues between -Four
r teenth and Forty-second streets.
Q Some of the other prominent gang
L OF the period were the Battery Gang
o only a shadow of its former self be
e, cause It was cut Off from the other
d by the financial district, and the gam
% Of Humpty Jackson, that little bunch
% back who became one Of the mos
n doughty gangsters of the city in spit
d of his physical deformity and VIII
i