The Washington times., 1930-10-18
CHAPTER 8

The mayor Of the big burg sal
ut his desk. There were purple
circles beneath his eyes. His
beefy cheeks were flushed. He
was nervous and anxious. Be
fore him lay q morning paper
and on the floor lay others
The city's shame shrieked
from the headlines. The gang
sters, tolerated too long as they
worked vengeance and black
mail among their own kind
and other lawbreakers, had
Jumped the fences and crippled
public works, destroyed private
property, endangered life and
put half the town out of com
mission.
Acrimonious editorials de-
manded State intervention. II
the despotisn Of gang-rule had
srown SO invjncible. that the
chief executive and his enl.
powered forces could not cope
with such q preposterous con
dition as had manifested itself
last night, then it was high
time for broader powers to
take hold. One paper suggested
that the citizens arm and pro.
tect their safety and their
community honor.
"Leo," began the mayor, "a
sweet mess has been wished on
U.S."
The chief Of police grunted.
There's only one thing we
can do,"' he sighed.
Eyes? And"
Spring Polack Annie. oh,
not this minute-but give our
word that she win walk
through the doors in q day OF
two. No tellin' where Goldie'll
stop II we don't. I'm sure
can call him off"
Getting chicken,livered. Ell?
The whole thing was your idea
in the first plate, and now"
Glared at Newspapers
~"Placin' the blame'll get us
nowhere. If it was a boner,
let's pick the bones out Of
It. I amt gettin' yellow-but
let's be practical: They can
turn the town upside down be-
fore we can stop emf we
can at ALL"
The mayor turned to his
desk He thumped it, Shared
at the newspapers, shuddered,
gathered them into bulky
lump and rammed them into
his waste basket.
1--WE. can't do a thing now"
he groaned: Any: minute a
committee of civic leaders Is
coming to call on me-with
the reporters. If I let this
girl out, after the way I
grand-standed her arrest, I'd be
laughed out of the city limits.
I'm at the mercy of those
yeggs on one hand and these
volunteers on the other. l
have to stall. After I get my
breath, Wen try something.
Right now"
The mayors secretary poked
his head in and nodded.
They're here" said His
Honor, with a helpless shrug.
Better stick. but say nothing
unless I ask you to-, and then
chime in with me Don't men
tion Annie. We deny that she
had anything to do with this
at all, see?. .. all right. Ches-
ter; bring the coroner's jury
in"
File Into the Office
They solemnly filed into the
mayors office-eight of them.
Three men Of affluence, four
men Of influence. and one
woman of prominence. She
was Mrs Guernsey Taylor,
whose husband was a power
on change. She headed the
Women's Civic League. She
represented the women at
large-or thought she did.
Close behind her was the
Rev. Chesley Nottingham, pas
tor of an exclusive silk-stock-
Ing church. He was a crusader
and critic whose sermons were
widely reported because he
''had something to say"-did-
Mt preach about the Bible, but
laid into vice and contempt of
the Constitution-one amend
Inent Of it, anyway.
A Strange Mixture
John Fox Wagner. banker.
tanned by the Florida sun and
flushed with excessive living.
looked stern. He had engi-
neered the biggest and rawest
bank merger Of the city after
having surreptitiously bought
up control of most of the small
banks. Next was Charles v.
Killers. editor of the daily with
the richest class of readers and
the poorest number of buyers.
A thin, dapper little fellow
with Q booming voice, he was
far Vesfad interest VaaaHA FSros.