Evening star., 1951-07-20

spanked by the mob'S wire out
let, mysterious outfit know as
"R&H."
A less stubborn man might have
let the Capone mob take over the
Nation wide bookie racket. Pos
sibly, if he had, Ragen would have
been alive today. But he kept on
lighting until, on June "a, 1916,
Just as he had predicted, he was
ambushed and moved down with
shotgun blasts on a Chicago street.
Ragen's murder is one of Chi
cago's many unsolved gang slay-
ingS, just as is the more recent
murder of former Police Lieu
tenant William Drury. Drury was
shot to death the evening before
he was to have talked to an in
veStigator about appearing as a
witness before the committee. E
After Ragen's murder there was
a period of nearly a year in which
the two services fought each other
Iintensively, and neither made any
money.
Then suddenly in May, 1947,
Mickey Mcbride came back into
the picture. He bought Contin-
'ental back from the Ragen inter-
ests. The price was $4,000,
payable over a period of 10 years,
and the business was to be the
sole and exclusive property of
young Eddie.
With the Ragens gone, Trans
American folded the very next
month, and peace was restored.
All the bitterness apparently was
forgotten and many of the old
observation-disclosures crowd
came right in with Continental.
Mickey Mcbride and all the
Continental crowd vigorously and
emphatically deny the existence
of any deals or connections what
soever with the Capone-Chicago
syndicate. but evidence before the
committee indicates otherwise.
The rawest bit was the case of
the syndicate dominated R&H
outfit in Chicago. Although it
had been the driving force in at
tempting to run Continental out
Iof business. R&H was able to
obtain news from the Mcbride
outfit.
Charged $3.50 a Week.
R&H even fixed its own rate
for such service at $3.50 a week.
which, by comparison with
amounts charged other non-mob
outfits for similar service, was a
Iridiculously low figure.
Mickey Mcbride today says he
has no connection with Cont
mental Press. He insists that the
"sole owner" is his son, Edward
j. Mcbride, age %.
But finally Mcbride agreed
that "the seniors did all the talk
ing" and that young Eddie, at
least, didn't open his mouth at
any time"
The committee reported to the
Senate:
From the preponderance of
evidence a conclusion is
warranted that the Continental
Press servicebis controlled not by
Edward Mcbride but by the
gangsters who constitute the Ca
pone syndicate that Arthur
Mcbride is deliberately making
a gift to the Mafia- affiliated Ca
pone mob in Chicago of about
$4,000 week, which represents
the difference in price paid by
the Capone controlled R&H serv-
ice and the price paid by their
competitors in the same city"
In my opinion. the way to cope
with the problem would be a bill
placing a legal straitjacket on
Continental and on any other
wire services that might spring UP.
Whatever type of law is passed
will require vigilant and iron
fisted enforcement. California
banned use of communications
facilities for unlawful purposes,
which had the effect of knocking
out the use of Continental's wire.
After a while, the authorities
found a couple of horse parlors
operating just as if they had the
old service. The gamblers had
tapped Continental's wire, which
still ran through the State, and
were stealing the information. In
doing SO, they short-circuiteo
the signal system for Santa Fe
trains.
In 1912 when California fearec
air attack by the japanese, 6
vital telegraph circuit which
served an air force field wa.
knocked out by a plane crash
Continental Press managed to gel
its wire service for the gambler.
resumed in something like Il
minutes. It took the 4th Army
responsible for the defense of tn,
entire West coast. something lik,
three hours.
Tomlorro1U-Chicago: The Heri
tGge OF Al Capone.
Condensed from book Crime in Amer
lea, by Estes Kefauver. Cpr. 1851. Pub
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