The Washington times., 1930-10-17
CHAPTER I

CHAPTER I
It was $3.50 at night in the
Big Burg.
The Rialto was ahlaze
the trite, monotonous pleasures
of Mr.. and Mrs. Average Citi-
zen were beginning thea
ter-gocrs settled back in stuffy,
perfumed atmosphere to learn
things about life which they al
ready knew jabbering, be-
jewelled matrons played bridge
and talked of everything else
the mayor was taking q
nap lovers whispered platt'
tudes in each others ears and
thrilled at innocuous lies
; coatless, collarless men sank into
chairs after q hard days work
: for Q harder night at poker
Polack Annie still sat and chated
In a cell policemen stepped
briskly from speakeasy doors
and then sauntered with leisure
" innocence down the street
linotype machines in news
paper plants were clicking and
clacking a sprtnkling OF
lights intagliated the sides Of
tall buildings-lightS from the
offices of boob husbands who ac'
tually worked and did not cheat
on their cheating wives
Fast moving, silent cars
streaked through the city's
streets. Sleek, luxurious cars
filled with hard-faced, murder
GUS men. The entire Goldie
Gorio gang was abroad - out
with full panoply of Sawed-off
shot guns, gats, typewriters,
pineapples and stencil bombs.
At the switchboard in the Cen
tral Police Station, the operator
who had come on at 8
o'clock plugged in now and then
beneath a winking little light.
After Better Description
"slattery and Doherty report
ing-Slattery speaking" came
from the police call box on the
East Side.
"WelI, what's doin'?" lazily
asked the operator. lingering
some police slips before him.
Muffin doin'," from the ccp.
''N0w listen" spoke the oper.
ator, smoothing out one of the
slips, "the Lieut.. wants you to
go to twothree-two-five Elman
Avenue and get a better descrip-
ton Of that Ryan girl what's
missin'. Find out II she's got
crooked teeth or fallen arches
or a mole under her left shoul-
der blade. This here description
you guys sent in would fita any
moll-'blue eyes, regular fea-
lures, brown hair. five feet five,
wore black stockings, black
pumps, turban hat. short, black
dress'-what the hell! Maybe
she's got a scar somewhere, or
wears o hunk O. jewelry-go to
it-get busy"
"Okay," cheerfully rejoined
Slattery.
The little light snapped out.
The operator yanked out the
Jack and turned to his detective
magazine.
Believe me. the guys in these
stories are some dicks" he NUT
tered.
Operator Works FranticalIy
At exactly S:45 the switch
board lit up like a Times Square
electric sign with the vertigo.
The operator tossed away his
magazine just at the point
where the detective had rounded
up the ten desperate gangsters,
and began frantically to plug in.
The Lafayette Avenue power
house has been stuck up. .
The main generator and the
auxiliary generator are jammed.
There amt no lights in
the midtown section. :"
All the coppers In the heart
Of town were pulling their boxes.
The operator frantically sig
nailed the chiefs home over the
police wires.
At least three Of the main
streets had been suddenly
thrown into darkness. Here
were most of the theaters and
movie houses. For time
after the theater went dark
the patrons remained in their
seats, believing that the incon.
venience was only temporary.
Everyone took the situation jo-
vially-ignorant of the sinister
motive behind it. The actors
were forced to abandon their
lines. The movie screens went
black.
Hours of Darkness
The only lights on the. streets
were those of automobile lamps
which punched holes like fun
nels into the night. The rays
of the cold,' silvery half-moon
disseminated weakly into the
darkened canyons. The word
came that it would be several
hours before q hook-up could
be effected to provide light.
Theater managers announced
to their audiences that per-
formances would be suspended.