New Britain herald., 1926-10-23
CHICAGO BOOTLEG
 WAR FATALITIES
Fully 200 Victims Have Been
 Killed to Date

'IOulIu ~ leN uOuTS aIJeF truce
 had been signed between the Scar
 face Al" Capones gang and their principal rivals, whose two big
 chiefs, Dion O'Banion and Hymie
 Weiss, have been assassinated.
 This latest murder brings the to- tai number of killings resulting from bootleg fouds this year up to 45 in Chicago and 57 in Cook county. The total for the last four years is well
 over 200. And most of the victims
 were invited 10 take a ride" Just what means are employed to
 make the prospective victim accept the sinister invitation is unknown to the authorities, When the victim is
 next seen his lips invariably are sealed forever, and all that remains to be done is to bury the body.
 The gangsters themselves remain silent. The most relentless third de- gree has proved futile. Witnesses of the shootings, if they show any signs | of breaking down, are taken for a ride" They never tell.
 Adopt Pirates Slogan
 The old pirates slogan, Dead men tell no tales" has been adopted by IChicagos underworld which experts say, has a population of more than l. I3O,O00.
 The following is a typical example | of how this is done: A truck loaded with beer and with | two men on the drivers seat was | speeding along the deserted Sag Road, south of Chicago, at about | midnight some time ago, when it | was overtaken by an open touring | ear carrying four men. At the point | of four revolvers the two beer run ners were forced to dismount and get into the car. Two of the gun men climbed aboard the truck and drove off.
 One of the hiiackers sat at the wheel of the touring car. The other, kneeling beside him, held the cap tives at bay on the back seat with a sawed off shotgun.
 Bodies Kicked Out of Car
 AS the car was passing between some thickets the man with the gun NOlNt bAOOhNNlS lplltu OIlG UdIItl ] into the chest and neck of one of the prisoners. He dropped dead on the floor. Then the slayer turned on the trembling survivor and pulled the trigger of the second barrel. He collapsed on top of his com- panion.
 The murderer then climbed over the seat into the back of the car, opened one of the doors and kicked ! the bodies out while the car plung- ed along at full speed.
 While the first man was dead the second had escaped fatal injuries and was able to crawl to farm house. The farmer, after putting him to bed, notified the police. The detectives arrived and questioned him as to who had shot him, the survivor shook his head
 Co to -" he told them. Beat 1t. I ain't saying nothing"
 And neither threats nor promises , were able to induce him to break his 7. silence.
 At present there are five powerful ' gangs in Chicago and 12 of second- lry standing. It is when the invis- T ble border lines are encroached on ' oy members of other gangs that they T become headlines"
 Caponi Gang Strongest
 The five big gangs have the Chi ago district. which includes the t notorious suburb, Cicero. on the vest side, and the industrial towns south of the Indiana state line, di- | ,ided up among them.
 The "Scarface AT Caponi and Torrio gang, which virtually ,ules Cicero, a community of 6O,000, : is the strongest gang, U Cor more than year now it has U ,een the center of acts of extreme V 'iolence and outrages calculated to !. !. ntimidate not only other gangs but ' .lso the police and the county au- IS horities. T
 It was while driving through Ci- IF ,ero that Assistant States Attorney William H. McSwiggin was moved e town by machine-gun bullets last a' Jay. u Bordering on the Caponi-Torrio e eld of operations is the territory Of M he Frank McErlane and "Polack' tr c, Salts gang, which lies within fe he city limits of Chicago on the pI outhwest side. SaItis was recently e' ut on trial, but the case was ad- Il burned.
 Tipped off About Warrants I
 The northwest side is held by the - mob" headed by Myles and "Klon- ike" ODonnell, brothers, who have ,een constantly at war wit1 their m .eighbors to the south. Last spring, w ftor a particularly large number of nc filings, warrants were issued for w he O'Donnell brothers. But they of ot wind of their impending arrest m ong before detectives reached their us eadquarters, and they disappeared.
 The district around the Maxwell liI treet police station was in the G' and of O'Banion and. after he was lie filed, of Hymie Weiss. Weiss was ht hot down and killed on Oct. II ru 'hile standing near the spot where tn is predecessor met his death. w. SC Y O'Rrien. a foroler assistant dis Gr rict attorney. was seriously injured he t the same time by bullets from the that was used to finish N Weiss.
 Gangs Sign Truce
 This gang is now headed by ieorge Moran and MaXie Eisen. nc oth of whom signed the truce" wi ,hich is said to be in effect now in In hicagos bad lands. Two or three Is ears ago this district belonged" } the Gcnna brothers. But they and 1eir followers were defeated by 'Banion's mob" three of the six A enna brothers being killed. Ct The last of the "big five" gangs Br
 !