The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-06-26
BY ROBERT TALLEY
NEA Service Writer

Copyright. 1881. by NEA Service. Inc)
CHICAGO, June 25.-FIis gang
throne crumbling under him and
facing a long term in federal peni-
tertiary at Leavenworth, "Scarface
Az Capone. emperor of vice, today
has chance to sit back and look
over the mistakes which led to his
downfall and which enabled federal
authorities to gather the mass of
information before which he wilted
and pleaded guilty.
For one thing the depression
ruined Capones vast vice bust
nesses. It cut deeply into the
profits of his beer trade, his alky
cooking racket. his gambling houses,
and the hundreds of other illegiti-
mate business schemes into which
he had plunged his fabby fingers.
In his heyday OF easy sailing and
big profits, he learned to spend
money recklessly and with little
thought of the future. He garnbled
on the races on a big scale, squan-
dered lavishly.
Sought to Buy His
Precluded by the nature of things
from the popular and cultured as
sociates that others could enjoy
naturally, he sought to buy this
with his money.
He did this by entertaining on a
big-and eXpensive-scale and a
lavish display of wealth. At his
home in Florida. where he tried
vainly to get in with better class
of people in an apparent effort to
crafty some secret social ambi-
tions, he often entertained as many
as twenty-five or thirty dinner
guests.
He wore big diamonds himself
and loaded his wife down with
tewels( some of which, at least-as
already sta t d-he has since
pawnedO.
Lavished Money on Attire
A man of extravagant taste, he
lavished money on his own attire.
Once when the government agents
raided his apartments in q Cicero
hotel, and this was only one of the
several living establishments he
maintained, for safety's sake, they
found sixteen suits of cloths, all
made by a Chicago tailor whose
minimum price is $135 a suit.
Aside from his eXtravagances Ca
pone had unacceptable personal ex-
penses mounting to high figure.
He carried the burden of supr.-t-
ing his mother, his wife. his son
and putting another brother, who
never has been identified with gang
dom, by the way. through college.
For them he maintained his Prairie
avenue home.
Lived in Many Places
For safety's sake he himself lived
In various hotels in Chicago and
Cicero, the suburb where he organ
lied vice on a huge scale.
This was an expensive thing. For
example, at the Lexington hotel
where he lived in Room 430 at
times, he always engaged the rooms
directly above him, directly below
him and on each side for his body
guards. Even the joys and COM
forts that his money brought never
eased his constant fear of aSsas-
sination.
These bodyguards, usually about
seven in number, cost money, too.
They were reported to draw 500
week each. Their job was to pro-
[ tect their chief from the sudden
determination that had overtaken
so many of his predecessors. They
always were with him.
His Patronage Profitable
Lawyers found Capone's patron
age profitable, even if their ethics
were strained thereby.
The fact is that. because Of the
nature of things, they charged Ca
pone q fee approximately twice that
they would charge an ordinarily
client for similar service.
Moreover, as chief of the gang,
Capone was required to pay the
legal expenses and provide bond for
any of the gang members who got
into trouble.
And this expense was on the same
scale. too. OF course, this came out
OF the gangs treasury, as did the
huge bride payments for "protec-
ton
Events Move Swiftly
The events OF the years have
moved swiftly for this young Italian,
now only 80 or 81. He came out here
from Brooklyn in 1919 as a rough
neck bouncer in a cheap brawdy
house, and joinued up with the first
Chicago gangs when the liquor
racket began.
Amid a series Of shocking murders
that marked successive steps, he
rose to wealth and power A genius
for organization, though an evil
genius, he syndicated and marketed
vice on an elaborate scale where his
predecessors had merely peddled it
He made it pay. butt develops
now-he squandered his own part
as fast as he made it and some
times faster.
A TO Be Continued)
Next-The man who never has
lost an important case in court