Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders: Chicago's Private War Against Capone

210 Pages·2010·9.79 MB·English

by  Dennis E. Hoffman

Scarface AI and
the Crime Crusaders
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SCARFACE AL
AND THE CRIME
CRUSADERS
Chicago's Private War
Against Capone
Dennis E. Hoffman
Southern Illinois University Press
Carbondale and Edwardsville
Copyright © 1993 by the Board of Trustees,
Southern Illinois University
Paperback edition 2010
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
13 12 11 10 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hoffman, Dennis E.
Scarface Al and the crime crusaders: Chicago’s private war against
Capone / Dennis E. Hoffman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Organized crime—Illinois—Chicago—Prevention—Case studies.
2. Crime prevention—Illinois—Chicago—Citizen participation—Case
studies. 3. Capone, Al, 1899–1947. I. Title.
HV6452.I3C6 1993 93-16865
364.4’3’0977311—dc20 CIP
ISBN-13: 978-0-8093-3004-1 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-8093-3004-0 (pbk.)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8093-1925-1 (cloth)
ISBN-10 0-8093-1925-X (cloth)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8093-8596-6 (ebook)
ISBN-10: 0-8093-8596-1 (ebook)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
To my wife, Colleen
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Contents
Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
1 The Rest of the Al Capone Story 1
2 Who Were the Crime Crusaders? 10
3 Why the Feds Stepped In 24
4 Frank J. Loesch and the Quest for Free Elections 34
5 Chicago's Answer to the St. Valentine's Day Massacre 71
6 The Colonel, Jake, and Scarface Al 90
7 Labeling Capone 110
8 The Mystery of the Secret Six 141
9 Whatever Happened to the Crime Crusaders? 165
Notes 177
Index 189
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Illustrations
following page 60
Charles G. Dawes, whose lobbying of President Coolidge
proved to be the real reason that the federal government inter-
vened in the organized crime situation in Chicago 61
Frank J. Loesch in his office at 300 N. Adams, the headquar-
ters of the Chicago Crime Commission 62
Burt A. Massee, foreman of the coroner's jury that investi
gated the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, is the sixth person
from the right in this picture of the reenactment of the mas-
sacre 63
Calvin H. Goddard, premier ballistics expert, came to Chicago
from New York to solve the St. Valentine's Day Massacre 64
Henry Barrett Chamberlin, operating director of the Chicago
Crime Commission from 1919 to 1942, labeled Al Capone "Pub-
lic Enemy Number One" 64
Colonel Robert R. McCormick, owner of the Chicago Tribune,
on the day he testified before the grand jury investigating the
Jake Lingle murder in 1930 65
Robert Isham Randolph, president of the Association of Com
merce, led one of the strangest gangbusting outfits of all time
into combat against Al Capone in 1930 66
Samuel Insull, public utilities magnate, bankrolled the Secret
Six 67
Julius Rosenwald, philanthropist and merchant, belonged to
the Secret Six 68
Edward E. Gore, public accountant, held joint memberships in
the Secret Six and the Chicago Crime Commission 69
George A. Paddock, stockbrocker, held joint memberships in
the Secret Six and the Chicago Crime Commission 69
"Scarface AI" Capone, the most famous gangster in American
history, strikes a classic pose 70
ix