The Omaha guide., 1932-10-01

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man who, at twenty-three. had
made three million from the liquor
traffic alone. Young, handsome
debonaire, he was just a playful bad
boy who had gotten a break and
taken full advantage of it. No one
lever knew how many men had
fallen before his smoking guns;
when it came to pro3f, nobody, 1t
Seemed, had anything On him.
There was siways some ironclad
Ialibi to pull him through. Long
ago the police had given Up the task
of trying to convict him. Crooked
lawyers, hung juries, fixed judges,
Jail combined to pull him through
the many crises Of his life.
There was Big Joe Wilson, car
of Harlem's racketeering faction
who, as head of the Harlem Pro-
tective and Benevolent Association,
lexacted a heavy toll each month
from more than five thousand
places Of business in the metropOli-
tan area. Those businesses which
failed to pay off to Big Joe's or
ganization usually didn't last very
long. The organization maintained
Ia small army of experienced
wreckers to see that its mandates
were carried out.
Then there was the Ace himself,
whose control over theatrical book
ings out of New York City made
him a practical boss in the show
business. Scarcely an act was
booked in any part of the country
that the Ace didn't have some hand
in it. And from each he collected
a commission, a very sizeable COM
mission. You either paid it or you
didn't, and if you didn't you sud-
denly found yourself unable to OBJ
tain work on any circuit in the
country. The Ace also had a con-
TROLLING interest in nearly every night
lclub and cabaret in Harlem, and
the bad turn business had taken in
the past few weeks had turned him
lSour.
"All of you guys know what's
happening" he said now, bitterly.
l"If we let this evangelist guy go
on with what he's started, every
body,s going in the hole. Why. bust
mess in the Tom-Tom has dropped
forty per cent in the last two weeks
because the folks prefer to hang
out in that Gospel Tent and listen
Ito that mug preach to 'em about
their sins. He's even got Linda
| Allen and Al Collins, who used to
be my star come-ons at the Tom
Tom, over there drawing EN- in
for him. And that radio is spread
ling his stuff like wildfire. People
are actually staying home and re-
lpenting these days instead of going
out to the theatre. That can't go
lon!"
"It's the same with the numbers
game" Scar Short put In. I drop
ped five grand week before last and
Item last week because the folks amt
playing like they used to. I sort
of though it'd pass over, but it's
taking a mighty long time"
Rod johnson and Big Joe Will
lson added their testimony. They,
too, had been noticing a fall-off in
their pickings. Il give EN- beer at
ten cents a glass;" Rod stated, "and
still they don't appreciate it. Can
you beat that?"
"Well," said the Ace, "What're
we gonna do?"
Big Joe Wilson laughed gruffly.
The others looked at him. i
Thought you guys were men," he
said. Here I find you letting some
little southern black boy get you all
het up over nothing at all. I admit
he's got a pretty powerful line of
talk there, and I admit he's got a
crowd of Harlem Negroes backing
him up. But are you gonna let
little things like that worry you?
All you got to do is to get him outa
Itha NOV. than xrnIIsro oil cot With