Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-26

No. l." on the legal spot, there
will be at hand material for at least dozen
new thrillers. Getting the goods on AL Capone
was perhaps the greatest piece of detective
work in American criminal history.
1t was executed in the field by Frank Wilson,
ace of the Internal Revenue Intelligence Unit,
and corps of experienced income tax agents
whose operations reached from California to
New Orleans and Florida, and from Chicago
to Pittsburgh and New York to Sioux Falls,
S. Oak.
Supervising the entire project of building up
Capone's elusive income" the job of FL
mer L. Trey, chief Of the Internal Revenue In
telligence Unit He made "a round trips to
Chicago on the assignment between August,
1929, and June, 1881.
The Federal Government has long had
policy of withholding the names of special
agents who work on such cases, principally on
the grounds that every one contributed to the
achievement and that no man merits special
acclaim. So the many heroes of this detective
story must go unsung They have been heart
ened, however, by lavish praise from their
SuperiorS.
So vast and complex was Capone's system Of
ruthless racketeering, so ar-dung his various
enterprises, that the complete picture probably
will be pieced together. More than a
hundred Government operatives had part in
it, from Florida to California. from the City
of Washington to South Dakota. And not even
the smallest part of the job was venture for
an amateur Sleuth.
For more than six months in 1929 prelim-
mary work was carried on in Washington as
an absolutely "air-tight' job. Not more than
eight men knew of the project during this
phase of its development.
It is traditional that when Uncle Sam really
goes after his man, he gets him. But even
Uncle Sam seldom has had to deal with
customer so powerful, fearless and crafty as
the Scarface.
A LIS first rule of business was, when in
doubt, shoot" And his second rule was
never to keep money in a bank. His terms,
whether in beer alcohol races protection or
sheer middle -the-road piracy, were cash
now"
On the payof1, it was cash off the inside of
the pocket roll; on the collection cash was
added to the outside. When gambling debts
were settled, it was in cash. When Subordi-
nate operators Of beer joints paid tribute to
Capone, it was rendered in fives, tens or twen-
ties. Dollar bills were too bulky to handle
conveniently. And larger bills were likely to
be marked harbingers of the "Feds"-Govern-
ment operatives One pioneer Chicago rack
eteer, Umbrella Mike" OBrien, set the fashion
years ago by collecting all his graft in cash.
dropped into his closed umbrella as he chatted
with his "pay-of" men,
The record does not yet reveal just where the
idea to close in on Capone with the tax laws
originated But the roots of the job run to
high places in Washington, and it is known
that detailed master plan, co-ordinating the
activities of half dozen agencies of the Gov
eminent had been worked out in Washington
for months before single ever went into
the field to execute it.
This plan was modelled roughly after a gen.
erals scheme for a ajor offensive in war.
Instead of assigning artillery, air bombers in
fantry and other military units, however, it
assigned Internal Revenue investigators, Secret
Service operatives, prohibition squads and i'm
migration inspectors. Yet every sector of the
opo,ation was sVnchronized on the master plan.
Before the aeesnA field work began the