davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
SDOPEY BENNY" FEIN.
H. aOhose confession did
much to bre0k the poaUer of
the gangs

OF the hired thugs obtained licenses
as private detectives and extended
their work to include the supplying
Of strikebreakers.
BY the time that point was
reached, however, the unions had
discovered why their most fiery agi-
tators were being shot at and driven
from the city, and they began to
| cast about for gunmen themselves.
The strike industry was to, prove
just twice as profitable to the
gangster as the pioneers in the
project had imagined.
For presently there was employ
ment for boss gunmen on both sides.
and the unions dug into their treas
uries with no niggardly hand when
1t was question of putting "scab"
shop out of business. The warfare
that grew out of this business was
no less bitter and bloody than the
gamblers war of a few years be-
fore.
But in 1915, a year fateful to
gangsters, deep crimp was put in
the East Side strike industry. 1t
was in that year that "Dopey Ben
ny" Fein, one of the first of the
gangsters to seize the opportunity
offered by the strike situation, fell
afoul of the law and became in
extricably tangled in it's meshes.
"Dopey Benny" was not made of
the stern stuff of the earlier gen
GRAFTON of gangsters. He was bred
in the gunman school whose first
precept is self-preservation. So
"Dopey Benny" squealed, and as
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25

Another advantage of a water.
front job for a man with the inland
connections of a potential or actual
gangster is that it gives him a
pretty good line on valuable ship.
ments. Such information is worth
money, and few things readily con-
vertible into cash escape such con-
version once they are in possession
Of a longshoreman or freight han
dler who was shaped by environment
for a gunman.
1t is more than likely that the
garage or poolroom where he goes
on Sunday night to risk his earn.
lngs at craps is frequented by men
who make business of stealing mer.
chandise by the truckload. To such
one he imparts the information
concerning shipments that has come
Ihto MS possession. in return be
may get fiat cash payment or he
may be admitted as a principal in
the theft, entitled to a "split" In
the proceeds.
Nowadays about the only gang
that even approaches in organization
and leadership those of five years
ago is the group of kindred spirits
which some crook organizes for
single COB" or for definite series
of "jobs." Such was the opt6t that
held up trolley cars in Queens OF The
outskirts of Brooklyn a year or so
ago
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25

they would be if they started with
the formula Hands up"
Slouching over to the pier boss.
the union recruit announces that a
truck that has just arrived is driven
by "scab' and that the "boys" ara
pretty sore about it. The pier boss
registers polite regret and is likely
to send his informant to the Office
There he repeats his tale, with the
implication that he is not without
influence with "the boys" and prob.
ably could fix things up if he had
a little ready cash. Frequently he
emerges with the cash. none Of
which any of "the boys" ever is
likely to see unless he is handler
with the bones than the man who
obtained II
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
JACK ZELIG, shot down
at the door of the Grim
mol Courts Buildinq

which would have brought blush
to the cheek of Bowery boy.
The development of the gangster
as gunman brought another source
of revenue to the attention of the
gang leaders of the East Side. Gam
bling is business which normally
is subject to periods of dullness, cor
responding generally to revelations
OF grating or the advent of a new
administration.
There was an East Side activity.
however, which had no such draw
back. 1t f1ourished in season and
out. 1t occurred to gang leaders that
the industrial unrest which seethed
in the East Side in 1912 and 1918
offered opportunity for profitable
employment.
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
The Wall Street Gang

Similarly, though more elaborate
ly, the gang that got away with
millions of dollars worth of securi-
ties through the connivance Of Wall
Street messengers was built up.
The leaders drew on the potential
gangsters of the city to form a
highly specialized gang, whose aims
were strictly limited and whose
term of life would be Comparatively
short.
Such gang of specialists is at
work now, right under the white
lights of Broadway, and its day IS
so profitable that if the leader IS
clrcumspect and escapes the police 8
permanent organization may result
SO far as is generally known thH
precious organization has no name
Its principal purpose is the levy
ing of blackmail on taxicab drivers
an enterprise which requires no
little shrewdness, courage and fghF
ing ability. Notice was served Oh
drivers frequenting popular staho'
that they could ANTE" a certain SUE
each night to the gang leader or DE-
paymaster-or they had better keep
away from the stand.
At the beginning many drivers re-
fused to make the payments. lhe,,
tires were slashed and if they SUE
persisted in their obstinacy ths'
were lured to some lonely spot ~ :
false call and severely beaten. lnu''
who still held out or escaped ".
beating found that system v
espionage was evoked and thai -
formation was lodged against tns''
with the police for the slightes' -
fraction of traffic regulations.
1t was not long before the gay
was in control of the situation S@e
deriving a generous nightly 'hc0's.
from stands in front of pop''.'
cabarets and restaurants whose p,
prietors doubtless would be horfAN.
to learn of the situation existing
their very doors
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
A Private Affair

True, "Tanner" Smith, once a re-
doubtable West Side gangster, was
shot down only a year ago. But
Tanner" was no longer a gangster
at the time of his death, nor was
he shot by a gangster in gang
feud. 1t was entirely private af-
fair.
According to the police, the long
shoremen's, the teamsters' and the
freight and beef handlers unions
have absorbed many of the gang
sters and potential gangsters on the
West Side and even drawn many a
wizened youth from the East Side
as we'll. The deep-chested, broad
shouldered, bull-necked husky, sub
sisting heartily and vociferously on
corned beef and cabbage and multi
gan and mixed ale, is giving way,
they say, to these slender youths, a
dozen of whom are required to tilt
a bale or packing case.
1t is the high wages and the pros
pect of trouble that have brought the
gangster into these occupations. lust
as it lured him five years ago into
the munition plants. Frequently he
works only three or four days a
week. Often his pay envelope con-
tains as much as $1OO for a week S
work, and there is opportunity for
the making of money "on the side"
as we'll.
He finds that his union button is
almost as potent as the knowledge
of his hardness with gun used to
be. With that in his cap he feels
that he may talk as arrogantly to
his boss as though he held the ia
miliar "gat" in his hand. Report
has it that he does, and that such
conversations are almost as profit
able to the originator of them as
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25

the same time the police were car
consists in breaking forcibly into the
CLUB" and ejecting-also forcibly-
both members and furniture. Club
members, club chairs, club card
tables, club crap tables, club ap-
purtenances of every sort are flung
as far and as hard as healthy pa
trolmen can throw them, regardless
of broken legs and arms.
In fact, if an inspection of the
debris after the Crash" shows any
piece of furniture that has survived
the attack, an ak is used on it. Cur
talns are torn down and ripped
across, upholstery and rugs are
slashed with knives. When "strong
arm squad has ''crashed" place
1t looks as though a .42-centimeter
shell had made a direct hit.
1t Is a practice that is absolutely
indefensible in law and utterly
brutal and Cossack-like. But, used
with discretion, it is the only method
of eradlcating or clipping the wings
of a murderous brood of thugs.
Other influences, too, were at
work in 1915 to weaken the organi-
cation of the gang. 1t was the wear
when American industries began to
wake up to the war, the year when
they enlarged their plants and be-
gan to hire men and women right
and left, regardless of their experi-
ence, regardless of their previous
means of livelihood and regardless
of the wages demanded.
The gangster never had worked.
1t was against his principles. The
dreary drudgery typified by the shop
whistle and the time clock was some
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
Grassland Murder Not Caused By Gang Feud; q
Warfare of Paid Killers Thing of the Past

ster with the gambler which devel-
oped the gunman, led to gamblers
wars" and to such murders as that
Of Herman Rosenthal. The "polit-
ical" gang, lineal descendant Of the
volunteer firemen who iran with the
machine" and were as eager to fight
rival company for possession Of
pump as to fight the fire, was
pretty tough proposition, handy with
it's fists or with blackjack or pistol
if necessity arose, but it believed in
"honest" thuggery. so to speak.
It's members would pounce upon q
timid-looking wayfarer and demand
the price of a "can Of beer" with
much the same eagerness evinced in
later years by the Growers Of
Tenth Avenue, and il the victim was
stingy they would administer beat
ing with right good will. They
staged moro elaborate hold-ups as
we'll and fought bloody battles
among themselves, sometimes stand
ing off the police, or even the militia.
But there was none Of the sneak
ing bushwhacking, the stealthy muir
der for hire that characterized the
advent Of the gunman when gam
blers instead Of politicians backed
the gangs. If a man was called to
the door and shot in the Tweed days
it was a reasonable surmlse that
gang feuds had nothing to do with
his decease.
When "Biff" Ellison decided that
it was time Bill Harrington was
put out Of the way, he didn't invite
Bill to come and see him, nor did
he send messenger boy to call him
to his door so that he could shoot
him from ambush. "Biff" marched
into Paul Kelly's place on Great
Jones Street, the stronghold Of his
foes, and killed the man he was
after.
Gunmen revolutionized the STRAIT
egy Of gang warfare. There were
still open encounters, but more and
more from about 1910 until 1915 the
"still hunt" for the marked man
came into fashion. The victim was
shot from doorway, as "Big Jack"
Zelig fell when he left the Criminal
Courts Building after giving bail on
a charge that his friends swore
stoutly was "frame-up"; or he was
shot in his own home, as Denny
Meehan died in Brooklyn a few
months ago without even a chance
to rise from his bed; or he was shot
when at his ease and off guard, as
Tanner" Smith died July 26, 1919,
while playing cards in the Marginal
Club on Hudson Street.
The gunman was in the business
for the money there was in 1t, and
he figured on collecting in person in
stead of leaving dubious litigation
for his heirs and assigns. The time
when there was honor among gang
sters passed with the arrival of the
professional gunman.
1t was with gunmen that "Big
Jack" Zelig and Jack Sirocco, once
partners in a Chinatown dive and
then bitter foes, conducted their
feud, and the use of gunner in gam
bling feuds reached it's height in
1912 when the Zelig- -Sirocco war was
on. That year saw three bombs
planted in gambling houses and in.
Vulnerable gun fights the tactics of
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
The Lure of Industry

Frontier conditions were dupli-
Gated. These new communities were
"roughneck burgs," in the argot of
the gangster. Crap games of i'm
posing proportions flourished with
out hindrance. Hold-ups and shoot
ings were the order of the night.
The private detective force main
tanned at every big plant gave a
pinch Of spice to the situation.
Gangsters began to drift away
from their old haunts and turned up
with calloused hands and broken and
grimy fingernails and diamonds
which were the envy of all behold
ers. Such missionaries were ire
sistible. Their fellows joined them
by the score.
1t was the long headed, adventur-
Gus, enterprising man who went first
and that generally left a gang with
out leader. Without leader a
gang disintegrates, little by little.
New York gangs began to disinte-
CRATE in 1915.
In the same year thirty-two
known gang leaders were indicted
for crimes which meant at least
three and half years in prison and,
in many cases, much longer terms.
A fair proportion Of them were duly
convicted and are still in prison.
Still others died in the last gang
battles.
1t has been a long time since
there has been real gang battle
IN New York. 1t has been a long
time since there has been gang
murder in New York, with its old
time concomitants of feud and III
valry, or even it's more recent char
acteristic of "blood money" Murder
brokers are much harder to find than
in the day when Herman Rosenthal
the gambler, was called to the door
of the Metropole to become a target
for the crew BALD Jack" Rose had
dispatched.
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
IA C. K ROSE
" aUhose gang killed
RosenthuL
THE gongmen of a feao gears 600
staged bloody battles amoao
themselves

thing which he scrupulously avoided.
But there was lure to these new
war industries, a lure aside from
The high wages paid, which began
to weaken his resolution. With the
enlargement Of plants and the erec-
tion of new factories villages
turned into cities overnight and
sprawling communities sprang up
where the COWS had fed.
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
MANY q former gongmam has become q 1Uatertront
N aoorker and derives his biggest means from crap
games aUith his felloa0 aUorkers

result the law reached out and
grabbed "Joe the Greaser," "Nigger
Benny" Snyder and other lesser
lights.
They added their testimony to
that of "Dopey Benny" and the
grand jury which heard them in
dicted eight of the leaders of the gar
ment makers union on charge of
murder in the first degree and
twenty-five others on charges of as
sault, extortion and similar offenses.
Then the union leaders under indict-
ment began to tell what they knew
OF the methods Of employers.
Counter charge followed charge in
swift succession, and presently the
whole foul mess was uncovered. 1t
was so involved that many of the
original indictments failed to be
pressed, and in the midst of the in
vestigation Charles A. Perkins, the
District Attorney, went out of office,
with the result that the cleanup
never was carried to it's conclusion.
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
BY Robert B. Peck


siano, an Italian Of festive
II proclivities and doubtful
vocation, stepped out of the
door of a Kenmare Street restau-
rant, where he was having mid
night supper with two women of the
cabarets, and fell dead with charge
of buckshot in his back.
Ten years ago, or even Ave, the
solution of the murder would have
been comparatively simple, though
the conviction Of the murderer
might have been impossible. The
answer? A gang feud, at once the
simplest and most puzzling solution
that ever vexed detectives.
1t was easy. enough In those days
to name the motive Of the murderer
and identify him as to his gang. If
it was a Hudson Duster who bit
the dust, Of course il was a Co
pher who killed him; if it was one
of the Sirocco Gang. 1t was be-
yond question that one Of "Big Jack"
Zelig's henchmen had a pistol to
clean. Picking out the guilty man
from among so many willing killers
and convicting him was quite an
other matter, however.
Belonged to Another Day
But those days are past The
gang is almost extinct In Manhat-
tan, where once it made the scrip
tural green bay tree look like q fire
escape rubber plant. Only local
gangs Of hoodlums, obscure little
coteries Of blackmailers and swiftly
dissolving associations of porch
climbers, stick-up men and the like
exist to-day.
No longer can the Headquarters
man take a look at the victim Of the
shooting, catalogue him forthwith
and dispatch his stool pigeons to
linger with open ears in the hang
outs Of "Kid" Twist, "Big Jack"
Zelig, Jack Sirocco, "Louis the
Lump" "Dopey Benny" Fein or "Joe
the Greaser."
AS the brief age Of "Big jack
Zelig end Louis Poggi, known as
"The hump" was a decadent revival
of the more glorious days of gang
dom, when "Bif" Ellison and
monk" Eastman held sway and be-
fore Paul Kelly reverted to his real
name and prosaic vocation, so the
gangs Of to-day have fallen from
the tawdry glory or the wars of
Zelig and Sirocco.
There is not in all New York to-
day a gangster with the prestige of
"Big Jack" Zelig, or even Of his sub
ordinate, "Louis the Lump" There
Is not in all the city a gang COM
ractly organized and submissive to
rude discipline as were the gangs of
eight or ten years ago. Then
pitched battles in the streets were
not uncommon; stroll along
Grand Street on Sunday afternoon
was not unlikely to be enlivened by
the cracking Of revolvers and the
snarl Of bullets overhead.
Every "full dress dance and re.
ception" in certain East Side and
West Side dance halls was a chal.
lenge to the rivals of the gang that
was running the racket" Not in.
frequently the challenge was &C.
cepted. 1t was so that Julie Mo
rell died as he entered Stuyvesant
Hall, revolver in hand, In the early
morning Of December 2, 1911, wher
the Boys Of Avenue A, "Big jack
Zelig's outfit, were having their
dance. Julie never got a chance
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
Strikes Made Work

1t did. Garment makers strikes
necktie makers strikes, fur workers
strikes and strikes in many other in
dustries constantly were agitatinp
the East Side. There was MANY a
man for whose sudden, complete
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25

place if he and his gunmen had been
on the job to protect the place. One
or two such incidents and the gang
ster was retained or the gambler
moved.
1t was the affiliation of the gang
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25

to pull the trigger of the weapon he
carried. Somewhere among the
weaving throng of dancers a revol-
yer spoke and Julie dropped dead
across the threshold.
SsaxnslN q Nav Yoxhax in those
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
Troublesome Henchmen

Gangsters always were trouble
some retainers to a politician who
had discerned his future, and as their
usefulness declined their protection
dwindled. Shouldered out of politics
by reform wave, they looked over
the situation and decided that more
could earn livings out of gambling
and other vicious business than were
doing so.
They proceeded to exploit vice.
Most Of the leaders already had
established connections which ena-
bled them without much difficulty to
persuade gambling house proprietors
to place them on their payrolls. If
the proprietor of a gambling house
objected, he was likely to be the VIC
tim Of a hold-up at the very moment
when his Golfers were richest, and
the next .aay the rebuffed gangster
would slon> h in to commiserate with
him and point out that such a shock
ing affair never could have taken
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
Business Broken Up

The gangsters who really were re-
sponsible for the whole affair, how
ever, had been laid by the heels, and
most of them were sent to prison
for considerable terms, impressing
both upon their fellows and upon
their erstwhile employers that the
game had been overworked. Since
that time it has languished.
The indictments and arrests were
not the sole cause Of the dwindling
OF the East Side gang, however. At
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
0NE of the gamgman's
" faVorite postimes at
present Is blackmail of tari
chaufeurs

and 'inexplicable disappearance en-
ployers would pay handsomely.
To the employers the gunmen
went. Thereafter they were busy,
and more than one labor agitator
was killed or manned before the
huge, unwieldy East Side unions dis
covered what was going on. Many
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25
Once 1t Was Easy to Pick Out a
Slayer's Gang But Not
Always the Slayer

robust times but could recall with
out effort the names Of half a
dozen gang leaders. Their names
were connected with almost every
shooting affray, and such encounters
were even more numerous than now.
But how many persons can pro-
nounce the name of even one active
gang leader to-day? Mighty few
outside the Police Department..
Old Spirit Is Conc
The names Of some Of the old
gangs, particularly on the West Side,
survive, anG the Hudson Busters
and the Gophers of to-day more
closely approach the gangs that bore
the same names a few years ago
than any others. But the esprit de
corps, daredevil leadership and ut
ter recklessness which characterized
the waterfront gangs on the West
Side few years ago are largely
lacking.
A series Of circumstances hostile
to the perpetuation Of the gang is
responsible for its disappearance. 1t
was thriving and saw Its best days
when political methods were such
that gang leaders became regular re-
tainers Of district leaders. That was
the heyday Of the gang, and then
the Five Points Gang, the Dead
Rabbits, the Bowery Boys, the
Whyos and, still further back, the
Bobtail Gang Of Cherry Hill, saw to
1t at election time that the right
persons voted as often as possible
and the wrong persons never voted
at all.
In return they had the protection
Of the organization machine all the
year round and could conduct their
private affairs with reasonable i'm
munity from meddlesome policemen.
With the passing Of the Clan Sulli-
van and the practice of a new code
Of political ethics, the occupation of
the Election Day thug was gone, ex-
cept in few isolated districts, and
now there seldom is employment for
them anywhere.
New-York tribune., 1920-07-25

rying on vigorous war against
gangsters, using their locusts un-
sparingly in the streets that patrol
men had been wont to visit only in
pairs and crashing" ruthlessly the
social clubs" which had been gang
headquarters.
A word about the "crashing." 1t
The Weston leader. [volume] (Weston, Umatilla County, Or.) 189?-1946, 1920-06-11
SUMMONS

In the Circuit Court of the State OF
Oregon for umatiIla County.
Evelyn Hansford, Plaintiff, VI, George
Hansford, Defendant.
To George Hansford, the above named
defendant;
In the Name of the State of Oregon:
You are hereby summoned and required
to appear and answer the complaint on
file in the above entitled suit on or be-
fore six weeks from the date of tho
first publication of this summons. to-
wit: on or before the 23d day of July,
1920: and for want of such answer, the
plaintiff will apply TO the court for the
relief demanded in the said complaint,
to-wit, for decree that the bonds Of
matrimony and marriage contract here
tofore existing between the said plain
tiff and the said defendant be forever
dissolved and that the said plaintiff,
Evelyn Hansford, be granted an abso-
Lutte divorce from the SAID defendant,
George Hansford, and for such other
relief as it to the court seems equit-
able.
This summons Is served upon you by
publication in the Weston Leader, a
weekly newspaper Of general circula-
ton, for six consecutive weeks begin.
ming with the issue Of the llth day Of
June. 1920, to and including the issue
of the 23d day of July, 1920, pursuant
to order for said publication made,
dated and entered in the above entitled
court and cause on the 9th day Of June,
1920, by the Hon. Charles II. Marsh,
County Judge Of Umatilla County,
State of Oregon.
Dated at Pendleton, Oregon, this 9th
day of June, A. ID. 1920.
PETERSON, BISHOP & CLARK,
Attorneys for Plaintiff,
p. O. Address, Pendleton, Oregon.