Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series

by David Pietrusza

  231 Almirall grand jury: Thomson and Raymond, pp. 147-48; NY Times, 20 May 1920, p. 9.

  Chapter 16: "1 Don't Bet On ... Boxing"

  232 "I don't ... boxing.": Katcher, p. 204.

  232 Tammany: In January 1898 local authorities stopped a bout because they hadn't yet decided who would receive the resultant graft. Longtime Brooklyn Democratic boss Hugh McLaughlin ended up controlling boxing in his borough, while Big Tim Sullivan received the rest of the state. Sullivan understood the profitability of scarcity, allowing a mere handful of boxing clubs to function and make hefty profits-reportedly $50,000 annual tribute from each. "If you don't fight in our clubs," a Sullivan henchman boasted, "you don't fight anywhere else in the State." (Harlow, p. 501; Katcher, p. 72)

  232 Dempsey, Wills: Boxing, politics, graft, and gambling intertwined. Gang leaders Paul Kelly and Monk Eastman had originally been boxers. Nicky Arnstein employed former boxer Sam "Cheats" Ginsburg to fleece suckers in fixed card games. Some said middleweight great Stanley "The Michigan Assassin" Ketchel owned a share of Rothstein and McGraw's Herald Square pool hall. Wilson Mizner briefly managed Ketchel. In October 1910, when the twenty four-year old Ketchel vacationed in rural Missouri, a jealous rival shot him in the back. Mizner expressed little sympathy. "Tell 'em to start counting ten over [Ketchel]," he quipped, "and he'll get up." Prohibition gangster Owney Madden controlled a string of fighters. Onetime Rothstein flunky (and former cabbie) Walter "Good Time Charley" Friedman owned part of heavyweight contender Primo "The Wild Bull of the Pampas" Camera. Bootlegger Big Bill Dwyer had the rest. Rothstein himself invested heavily in the sport fairly early in his career, bankrolling lightweight champion Willie Ritchie's 1914 twenty-round loss in London against Freddie "The Welsh Wizard" Welch.

  Boxing and gambling proved especially interconnected in the Beansy Rosenthal killing, starting with the murder vehicle: John L. Sullivan's 1909 gray Packard touring car. Metropole proprietor George Considine once managed heavyweight champion "Gentleman Jim" Corbett-as well as lightheavyweight "Kid" McCoy, the original "Real McCoy." Detective Billy File, on the scene at the Metropole, had once been Corbett's sparring partner. Rosenthal's murderers rendezvoused at former heavyweight Tom Sharkey's 14th Street saloon. A witness to the shooting, local barber John Reisler, later briefly managed Jack Dempsey. Bald Jack Rose also managed fighters. His attorney, James M. Sullivan, served as his boxing press agent. They met when Rose promoted a fight featuring Sullivan himself. Charles Becker and Jacob "The King of the Newsboys" Reich claimed to be ringside at Madison Square Garden when Rosenthal was gunned down. Rosenthal had managed Reich's brief welterweight career.

  The boxing connections of the Black Sox fix are not so numerous, but with ex-featherweight champ Abe Attell and former lightweight Billy Maharg at center stage, they are hardly less significant. (NY Times, 21 July 1912, p. 2; Klein, pp. 18, 23, 27, 28-29, 67, 87, 134; Logan, pp. 6, 20, 75-76, 86; Root, One Night in July, pp. 64, 69, 87, 97-98, 178; Kahn, A Flame of Pure Fire, pp. 17-9)

  233 Gibson, Leonard: Katcher, pp. 99-100. In 1925 Gibson and bookmaker Wellington Mara became partners in New York's new National Football League franchise, the Giants. NFL Commissioner Joe Carr gave Gibson first shot at the opportunity, but Gibson, who had been burned in a 1921 attempt at a franchise, wanted someone to share the $500 risk. (Izenberg, pp. 23-26)

  233 Leonard-Mitchell fight: http://letsgopens.com/pirates/Leonard_Benny_rec.htm. "My husband was fond of another great prizefighter, Benny Leonard," Carolyn Rothstein would write, "When Benny Leonard was fighting his way to the top, and while he was holding his position at the top of the lightweights, Arnold always won money on his fights too. He admired Benny Leonard." (Rothstein, p. 208)

  233-34"That bum . . ." ... ". . . last night.": http://www.harrygreb.com/magsfifty- tosixtys.html.

  234 Walker-Shade fight: Katcher, pp. 303-04.

  236 "There is ... condition.": NY World, 30 November 1921; NY Herald, 21 May 1922; NY Times, 22 May 1922, NY American, 22 May 1922; NY American, 8 July 1922; NY Times, 1 January 1922, p. 1. Attell's ex-wife, now Mrs. Ethel Goodwin, followed a parallel path. In December 1921, Secret Service agents, local New York police, and even the bomb squad combined forces to arrest her and two men for stealing $1,477,000 in Liberty Bonds. The following May, Philadelphia police accused her of masterminding a burglary ring, characterized as consisting of "corrupted burglar alarm men."

  236 Tunney-Greb fight: Attell took exception to the New York World's reporting on these events, excoriating the reporter responsible: "I saw what you wrote in The Evening World, and though my name wasn't mentioned, of course, the drift of your story was plain. I don't think it is fair to take a kick at a dog just because he happened to get a bad name. I took the blame once for something I didn't deserve. And so far as Gene Tunney and I are concerned, I have been his friend for many years, and I have always been one of the hardest to work toward making him the champion." (Van Every, p. 134)

  237 Hoff loan to Tunney: To the general public, it appeared that Gentleman Jim Corbett had also predicted a Tunney win-but he hadn't. Corbett also picked Dempsey-in six-but he had an unblemished reputation for picking losers. Gene Fowler ghosted for Corbett and to "protect" his reputation cynically forecast a Tunney triumph. Corbett never read Fowler's material, and when Tunney won, Corbett looked like a genius.

  238 Dempsey-Sharkey fight: Dempsey hit Sharkey consistently below the belt. In the seventh round, Sharkey turned to the referee to complain, and Dempsey hit him when he wasn't looking, scoring a knockout. "What was I supposed to do-," Dempsey explained, "write him a letter?"

  239-40"the tool ..." ... "... bonus agreement.": NY Times, 19 September 1927, p. 20.

  240 "I will not ..." ... "... are actionable.": New York divorce attorney Dudley Field Malone served as Deputy Secretary of State under then-Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan and later (as part of the delegation from the American Civil Liberties Union) opposed Bryan during the Scopes "Monkey Trial." In 1920 he unsuccessfully sought the Farmer-Labor Party nomination for president. By 1927 Malone's practice was in decline, due to heavy drinking. He drifted into acting and portrayed Winston Churchill in the 1943 film Mission to Moscow.

  240-41 "An Open ... letter myself.": NY Times, 19 September 1927, p. 20; NY Daily Mirror, 5 November 1928, pp. 2-27; Kahn (A Flame of Pure Fire), pp. 403, 413-15, 419; Katcher, pp. 305-06; Clark, pp. 188-89; http://cyberbox- ingzone.com/boxi ng/wa i l l 100_booboo. htm.

  242 "In those ... Jews won!": Pacheco and Moskovitz, pp. 32-33.

  242 "Because I'm ..." ... "... card games.": Fowler (Beau James), pp. 208-209. Fowler claimed this conversation occurred on the twenty-second anniversary of the longest match fought under Marquess of Queensbury rules, the famed forty-two round Joe Gans-Bat Nelson bout-or September 2, 1928, almost a week before the infamous poker game at Jimmy Meehan's. Among the many dubious theories explaining Rothstein's murder, some have even alleged that A. R. actually tried to protect his life by losing that night and not paying.

  243 "William Gibson ... Fifth Avenue.": NY World, 28 November 1928, p. 2.

  Chapter 17: "I'm Not a Gambler"

  245 "You are . . . manipulated up.": http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/ barnsbury/215/stocks.html.

  245 "Rice was ... he chose.": Washburn and De Long, p. 17.

  246 "I remember ... burlap bags.": Rothstein, pp. 70-71.

  246 "Sell any ... MEAN IT.": Washburn and De Long, pp. 27-37.

  246 Factor: Touhy, pp. 129-35.

  247 Nellie Black: NY Times, 13 June 1922, p. 14; NY Times, 14 June 1922, p. 2; NY Times, 16 June 1922, p. 11; NY Times, 28 June 1922, p. 5.

  247 E. M. Fuller & Co., Groody: The slender, free-spending Groody, a protegee of producer Charles Dillingham, starred in several top-drawer shows in the teens and twenties, including Jerome Kern's The Night Boat and Vincent Youmans' Hit the Deck. In 1925 she introduced Tea for Two in Youmans' No, No, Nanette, a show produced by former Red Sox owner Harry Frazee. Fuller also marrie
d an actress, the far-lesser-known Florence Ely.

  248 "Ed Fuller ... to them.": Hays, p. 110. Arthur Garfield Hays was one of the premier liberal activist attorneys of his time, serving as general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union and defending evolutionist John T. Scopes, anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti, and the railroaded Scottsboro Boys.

  249 E. M. Fuller collapse: NY Times, 28 June 1922, pp. 1, 5; NY Times, 30 June 1922, p. 1. Following E. M. Fuller's collapse, New York State passed the Martin Act, authorizing the attorney general's office to close bucketshops located in the state.

  249 Foley, Hearst: Ferber, p. 119.

  250 Pecora, $10,000 check: NY Times, 8 December 1971, p. 40; Ferber, pp. 121-31; Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 330-31.

  251 "What the ... bad bet.": NY Times, 13 December 1924, p. 32; Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), p. 337. Stoneham also pumped funds from the National Entertainment Corporation, the New York Giants' official corporate name, into the failing firm. It was later revealed that Stoneham was a partner in another spectacular bucketshop failure, that of E. P. Dire and Company, which cost investors $4 million. Reports indicated that A. R. was Stoneham's partner in that operation. (Pietrusza, judge and jury, p. 260)

  251 Fuller, McGee, Stoneham indicted: NY Times, 18 November 1924, p. 26; NY Times, 13 December 1924, p. 32; Hays, p. 112; Katcher, p. 196. Fuller and McGee even conferred with their attorneys, Arthur Garfield Hays and Bill Fallon, while hiding out at Rothstein's.

  251 $336,768 in checks: NY Times, 2 June 1926, p. 37; NY Times, 3 June 1926, p. 9; NY Times, 22 June 1926, p. 25; NY Times, 24 May 1927, p. 20. In 1921 Fuller and McGee lost another $15,000 on baseball gambling to Rothstein. This sum was not paid by check.

  251 License plate scams: Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 335-36; Ferber, p. 142; Katcher, p. 202.

  252-53 "In a ... his files.": Thomson and Raymond, p. 53.

  253 "Did Fuller or ..." ... "... a thing.": Boston Herald, 9 October 1923, p. 7; Clarke, pp. 114-21.

  259 "the most ... was illegal.": NY Times, 22 June 1926, p. 25; NY Times, 6 March 1946, p. 27.

  259 ibid. 1 June 1927, p. 29.

  259 Maroni: Ferber, pp. 167-70.

  260 Rendigs: NY Times, 29 July 1924, pp. 1, 5; NY Times, 30 July 1924, p. 15; NY Times, 31 July 1924, pp. 1, 5; NY Times, 1 August 1924, p. 1. Of the eighty-one bucketshops Ferber brought to ground, 30 percent ended up defended by Fallon, including the notorious firm of Dillon & Co. operated by "Dandy Phil" Kastel, another Rothstein associate. A. R. had arranged for Kastel to secure a seat on the Consolidated Exchange. Later, Dillon & Co. "loaned" Rothstein $407,000. He never repaid the loan.

  260 $2,500 bribe: NY Times, 30 July 1924, p. 15; Rosenblum, p. 130; Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), p. 340. One check for $1,000 was drawn on the account of Fallon's wife; when Fallon passed it on to Pani, they were at the Woodmansten Inn in the company of Peggy Hopkins Joyce, then the Countess Costa Morner thanks to her two-month fourth marriage to a Swedish nobleman.

  260 Missing papers: Ferber, pp. 153-7.

  261-62 "I wonder ..." ... "... the squealers.": Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), p. 352.

  262 "where are ..." ... "... that's that.": ibid. pp. 354-55.

  264 "Eidlitz said ... be destroyed.": NY Herald-Tribune, 2 August 1924, pp. 1, 2; NY Herald-Tribune, 6 August 1924, pp. 1, 5; NY Herald-Tribune, 7 August 1924, pp. 1, 3; NY Herald-Tribune, 8 August 1924, pp. 1, 4; NY Sun, 5 August 1924, pp. 1, 2; NY Sun, 6 August 1924, pp. 1, 2; NY Sun, 7 August 1924, pp. 1, 2; NY Sun, 8 August 1924, pp. 1, 2; NY Times, 23 July 1924, p. 17; NY Times, 2 August 1924, p. 17; NY Times, 2 August 1924, pp. 1, 6; NY Times, 8 August 1924, pp. 1, 4. Nasaw, p. 339. Incredibly, in the August 6, 1924 of the Times, an ad for Marion Davies' latest motion picture, Janice Meredith, read: "THEY CAME-THEY SAW-THEY MARVELED and TO-DAY THE WHOLE TOWN'S TALKING of MARION DAVIES."

  264 "Fallon: Was the ..." ... "... do that.": NY Sun, 4 August 1924, pp. 1, 2; NY Times, 5 August 1924, pp. 1, 18.

  265 "All that ..." ... "... another juror!": NY Herald-Tribune, 9 August 1924, pp. 1, 2; NY Sun, 9 August 1924, pp. 1, 2; NY Times, 9 August 1924, pp. 1, 2; NY World-Telegram & Sun, 22 September 1951, Sect. 2, p. 13; Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 360-84; Ferber, pp. 214-31; Nasaw, pp. 337-38.

  266 Dolan, Landis: NY Times, 22 October 1924, p. 24; NY Times, 23 October 1924, p. 24; NY Times, 29 October 1924, p. 25; Pietrusza (Judge and jury), pp. 262-83; Ginsburg, pp. 184-95; Allen (The National League Story), p. 222. Dolan had cajoled young Giants outfielder Jimmy O'Connell into approaching Phillies shortstop Heinie Sand to throw late-season games against the pennant-contending Giants. Implicated in the affair (but not proven guilty) were three Hall of Famers: second baseman Frankie Frisch, outfielder Ross Youngs, and first baseman George Kelly. Despite Fallon's effort, Landis banned Dolan from baseball for life.

  266 Acid attack: Clarke, p. 212; Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 392-33; Salwen, p. 4. Fallon wasn't alone in using the Belleclaire for romantic purposes. According to Ruth Gordon, the West 77th Street hostelry was a popular spot for Riverside Drive gentlemen to stash "actress" girlfriends.

  267 Fallon's death: NY Times, 30 April 1927, p. 19; Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 399-400. The Oxford was located at 205 West 88th Street.

  267 Fallon's funeral: NY Times, 3 May 1927, p. 27; Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 401-2.

  267 "God forgive ... I cannot. . ." NY Times, 7 November 1938, p. 19; Ferber, p. 229; Fowler (Skyline), pp. 174.

  Chapter 18: "I Will Be Alone"

  269 "It has ... his employer.": Rothstein, p. 44.

  269 "Much has ... stood alone.": Ferber, p. 195.

  269 "Invariably Arnold ... that matter.": Rothstein, pp. 44-45; Lacey, p. 49. Or as the Jewish Daily Forward put it: A. R. was a shtadlan, the Yiddish word for "fixer."

  270 "You cannot," " ... your place.": Rothstein, p. 249; Katcher, pp. 219-20.

  271 "Buy me ... the place.": NY Times, 18 September 1958, p. 31; Katcher, pp. 308-09. In April 1931 a disgruntled former Longchamps employee wrote J. Edgar Hoover: "There was undoubtedly a very strong link which A. R. held to the Longchamps organization because A. R. ['s] personal checks for Cash were practically daily honored in the various restaurant branches after the close of business-I have personally accepted and paid out hundreds of these checks."

  271 "rotten bastard": Conversation with Dr. Eugene Schoenfeld (Arthur Vigdor's nephew), April 24, 2003; Dr. Eugene Schoenfeld to the author, May 16, 2003.

  271 "only time ... his life.": NY Daily News, 6 November 1928, p. 4; NY Times, September 13, 1907, p. 7; NY Times, September 16, 1907, p. 9; NY Times, 21 November 1917, p. 13; Rothstein, p. 248. Randolph Guggenheimer (1848-1907), a Tammany Hall sachem, played a major role in the development of New York City's educational system, won election to the presidency of the Common Council, and served as acting mayor in the absence of Mayor Robert A. Van Wyck. Samuel Utermyer (1858-1940) moved from major corporate attorney to Progressive era reformer, serving as counsel in 1912 to the Money Trust Inquiry of the Committee on Banking and Currency of the House of Representatives (the Pujo Committee). Utermyer later served as counsel to the suit against Henry Ford's anti-Semitic newspaper, The Dearborn Independent.

  271 Louis Marshall (1856-1929) served as president of Temple Emanu-El in New York, chairman of the board of directors of the Jewish Theological Seminary and head of the American Jewish Committee. In 1913 Marshall defended accused (and later lynched) murderer Leo Frank in Georgia. In 1920 he defended five Socialists expelled from the New York State Assembly.

  272 "You know ... usual junk.": Clarke, p. 89.

  272 Smith, Ward: NY Sun, 24 November 1928, p. 6. NY Sun, 28 November p. 2; Details of the Rothstein-Smith affair and the $100,000 were discovered in A. R.'s files after his death. The Rothstein-Gertie Ward affair was long over by the time of A. R.'s death, but police still interrogated her, being particularly interested in his narcotics activities. She denied knowing Rothstein.

  Rothstein may not have slept wi
th every woman he kept company with. True, he may been seen with such beauties as Lillian Lorraine or Peggy Hopkins Joyce, transacted business with them, and even-on occasion-presented them with expensive baubles. But he probably did not have sexual relations with them.

  272 Winthrop: Bobbie Winthrop's show business career is very difficult to trace at this late date. A Barbara Winthrop is known to have appeared in at least two films, The Crucible (1914) and Silent Strings (1918).

  272 "BROADWAY BEAUTY" ... "... enjoy being seen.": Rothstein, p. 59.

  273 "I never ... women more.": ibid. p. 59.

  274 Red Ritter: Rothstein, pp. 145-49; Katcher, pp. 215-7. Red certainly had his appeal. Slightly later, vaudeville and Broadway monologist Julius Tannen (1880-1965) also wished to adopt the boy, even though he already had two sons. Authorities would not allow the Jewish Tannens to adopt the gentile youngster.

  274-75 "Arnold! I've been ..." ... "... these years.": Clarke, pp. 32-33.

  275 "I'm a woman..." ... "... all right.": Katcher, pp. 316-17; Rothstein, pp. 241-42. In 1920 Johns Hopkins University fired Watson from its faculty after he was named in the divorce proceedings of a student (later his second wife). By the time A. R. asked Carolyn to consult Watson, Watson was no longer a working psychologist, but rather a vice president at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency.

  276 "I couldn't ... Mr. Rothstein": Rothstein, pp. 247-48.

  276 "Sweet ... " ... "... should go.": ibid. pp. 65-6 8, 247-48; Katcher, pp. 102-04.

  276 "When I ... taking dope.": Betts, p. 233.

  277 "He is too . . . the master mind.": NY Sun, 7 December 1928, p. 1; NY World, 10 November 1928, p. 18; Katcher, pp. 307-08; Rothstein, pp. 225-29. Although A. R. played a fair amount of golf with Inez Norton, the sport never much interested him. "Golf is too slow for me," he complained, "Besides, there's no way to gamble on it." When the Woodmere course held its grand opening, he forced himself to play three holes, then went home.

  278 1928 losses: Clarke, p. 103-04; Katcher, p. 318.

  278 roulette wheels: NY World, 8 November 1928, p. 19.