CAPONE IN PRISON: CHE, May 19–20, 1929; March 17, 1930. Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, June 4, 1929 (“a sinister figure,” “The stories that,” “the less I,” “You see, I”); June 6, 1929 (“I’ve got a”); June 26, 1929; June 29, 1929. CT, June 5, 1929; August 20, 1929 (“very comfortable,” “cheery and homelike,” “soft colors and,” “tasteful paintings”). Philadelphia Record, June 16, 1929 (“ ‘star’ pitcher”); June 27, 1929; August 21, 1929 (“I’m glad,” “It is by,” “This man, called,” “silver-rimmed spectacles,” “great little guy,” “That shouldn’t be,” “Why can’t I,” “That is funny”); September 22, 1929. Philadelphia Public Ledger, August 10, 1929. NYT, August 9, 1929 (“an atmosphere of,” “the threats and,” “Perhaps Capone will”); December 11, 1929. Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, November 25, 1929 (“Jail seems a,” “If it takes,” “The trouble with”). Pasley, Al Capone, pp. 332–336. Burns, One-Way Ride, p. 33 (“I’ll have to”). “Baked to Death,” New Masses, September 6, 1938, p. 14. Allsop, Bootleggers, p. 296. Kobler, Capone, pp. 269–270. Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, pp. 239–240, 243–244, 413. Dolan, Eastern State Penitentiary, pp. 21–23, 58 (“hardboiled”). Annie Anderson, “Al Capone: Approved Source for Tour Content,” May 2013, pp. 2–9. Mappen, Prohibition Gangsters, pp. 111–115. Bair, Al Capone, pp. 160–161. Matthew Christopher, “Holmesburg Prison,” Abandoned America, https://www.abandonedamerica.us/holmesburg-prison (accessed July 6, 2017). ABS visit to Eastern State Penitentiary, October 27, 2017.
STOCK MARKET CRASH: CT, October 25, 1929 (“If this goes”). NYT, October 25, 1929 (“The total losses”). Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, November 25, 1929 (“Listen, Ben, if”). Allen, Since Yesterday, pp. 22–26. Hynd, Giant Killers, p. 10 (“blue-sky, big”). Galbraith, Great Crash 1929, pp. 21–22 (21, “the growing tide,” “There are crimes”). Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, p. 245. Leuchtenberg, Herbert Hoover, p. 103. “Golder, Benjamin Martin (1891–1946),” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=g000259 (accessed October 28, 2017).
Chapter Fourteen
BURKE ON THE RUN: Michigan, p. 205. Helmer and Bilek, St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, pp. 130–136, 154–155, 177–181. Helmer, Al Capone and His American Boys, pp. 91, 98–100 (98, “Killer”), 103, 114 (“was a victim”), 118. Lyon, A Killing, pp. 22–28, 56–63, 97–100, 104–124, 132.
GODDARD TRACES BULLETS: CT, December 24, 1929. Goddard, “Valentine Day Massacre,” pp. 70, 77–78 (77, “The very presence,” “I made long”). Pasley, Al Capone, pp. 262–263. Helmer and Bilek, St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, pp. 179–180. Lyon, A Killing, pp. 176–178, 193 (“the turning point”). Helmer, Al Capone and His American Boys, pp. 91–92, 305.
BURKE ARREST AND CONVICTION: Helmer and Bilek, St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, pp. 188–190. Helmer, Al Capone and His American Boys, pp. 114 (“imbecilic,” “insipid”), 118–123. Lyon, A Killing, pp. 191–193, 210–212, 217–223 (221, “What are you”), 226 (“Get a spiritualist”), 230–233, 249–251, 255, 330–331.
CHICAGO’S REPUTATION THREATENED: Kansas City Star, November 1, 1931, in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. Riverside News, February 20, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 89. Robert Isham Randolph, “Chicago—Enough of Her History to Explain Her Reputation,” Chicago Commerce, February 22, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 92. Toronto Daily Star, April 10, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook II. Daily Mail, March 5, 1930 (“CHICAGO IS NOT,” “City of dreadful,” “To the law-abiding”). CT, April 15, 1930; May 21, 1930; July 14, 1930. Chicago American, July 14, 1930; CEP, July 14, 1930; Daily Mirror, October 9, 1930, all in RIR Scrapbook II. Robert Isham Randolph, “Secret Six,” The Clevelander, vol. 6, no. 12 (April 1932), p. 30, in RIR Scrapbook III. Dawes, Notes as Vice President, pp. 144–146, 165–166. Lyle, Dry and Lawless Years, pp. 85 (“A real Goddamned”), 122, 187–189, 192–194, 196. Allsop, Bootleggers, pp. 186, 188. Hoffman, Scarface Al, pp. 8–10, 31–32. Boehm, Popular Culture, pp. 75–76, 108–110 (109, “Unless gang rule”).
MEAGHER SHOOTING AND AFTERMATH: Robert Isham Randolph with Forrest Crissey, “Business Fights Crime in Chicago,” The Saturday Evening Post, August 16, 1930, p. 12, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 72. CT, February 6, 1930. Unlabeled clipping, February 13, 1930, RIR Scrapbook I. Kansas City Star, November 1, 1931, in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1. WP, August 21, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook III, pp. 120–121. Grant, Fight for A City, p. 234.
ROBERT ISHAM RANDOLPH: “Robert Isham Randolph Nominated to Head Association in 1930,” Chicago Commerce, January 11, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 39. “Engineer Heads Commercial Organization,” Professional Engineer, February 1930, p. 14, in RIR Scrapbook I. CDN, February 7, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 57 (“a war on crime”).”Business to Start War on Gangs Today,” CHE [?], February 7, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 64. CDN, February 10, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I. The Sun, February 10, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I. Unlabeled clipping, February 13, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I. Toronto Daily Star, April 10, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook II. Norman Paul Stoughton, “Chicagoans: Colonel Robert Isham Randolph—Challenger,” The Chicagoan, April 12, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 22. Lancaster Post, February 24, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 95. Yale Daily News, January 9, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 135. Buffalo Times, February 16, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 163. Robert I. Randolph, “The Secret Six,” Police “13–13,” December 1931, pp. 5, 13, in RIR Scrapbook III, p. 70 (“a real secret service”). Robert Isham Randolph, “Secret Six,” The Clevelander, vol. 6, no. 12 (April 1932), pp. 3–4. CT, October 27, 1932. WP, August 21, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook III, pp. 120–121 (“Bob,” “Colonel”). St. Louis Times Star, November 22, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook IV, p. 17. Daniels, Randolphs of Virginia, p. 327. Hoffman, Scarface Al, pp. 20–21.
BIRTH OF SECRET SIX / INSULL: Toronto Daily Star, April 10, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook II. Robert Isham Randolph, with Forrest Crissey, “Business Fights Crime in Chicago,” The Saturday Evening Post, August 16, 1930, p. 13, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 73. “Randolph Picks ‘Courageous 6’ to Study Gangs,” n.d., in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 64 (“If our information”). Yale Daily News, January 9, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 135. Kansas City Star, November 1, 1931, in ENPS, Roll 1, Scrapbook 1 (“Oh, the situation,” “There may be”). Randolph, “Secret Six,” pp. 3–4, in RIR Scrapbook III (3, “Citizens’ Committee for”; 4, “bad enough,” “you can put”). Allen, Since Yesterday, pp. 12–13, 75–76. Hynd, Giant Killers, p. 19. WPA Guide to Illinois, pp. 142, 190 (“tallest opera building”), 204, 219. Miami Daily News, January 29, 1940, in RIR Scrapbook V, p. 45. “ ‘Secret Six’ Described,” [Unclear] Tribune, March 16, 1943, in RIR Scrapbook V, p. 60. Lyle, Dry and Lawless Years, pp. 194, 197. Allsop, Bootleggers, pp. 240, 244–245. Kael, “Raising Kane,” p. 97. Bergreen, Capone, pp. 225–226, 367. Merriner, Grafters and Goo-Goos, pp. 125–126. Vickers, Panic in the Loop, pp. 1, 4–14, 47–61.
SECRET SIX MEMBERSHIP, BUDGET, PREJUDICES: CT, May 21, 1918; April 16, 1930. Randolph, Randolphs of Virginia, pp. 5, 112, 222, 371. “Robert Isham Randolph Nominated to Head Association in 1930,” Chicago Commerce, January 11, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 39. Lancaster Post, February 24, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 95. “Business Men Act for War on Racketeers,” Journal of Commerce, February 21, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 86 (“If the needed”). Toronto Daily Star, April 10, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook II (“a little ‘Red’ wop”). “Al Capone’s Just a Dago Bootlegger, Club Hears,” n.d., in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 23 (“dago bootlegger”); Yale Daily News, January 9, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 135. New Orleans States, January 12, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook II, pp. 136, 139 (“dirty, vicious killer”). Philadelphia Public Ledger, May 28, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook III (“He doesn’t belong”). CDN, January 20, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook III, p. 73. LAT, January 21, 1932; NYT, January 21, 1932; and Pittsburgh Post Gazette, January 21, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook III. W. A. McSwain to J. Edgar Hoover, September 12, 1932, in FBI-RIR. Japan Advertiser, March 3, 1934, in RIR Scrapbook IV, p. 64. C. L. Rice to R. E. Wood, July 5, 1938,
in Alexander Jamie Treasury OPF. CT, November 18, 1938. NYT, April 27, 1939, in RIR Scrapbook V, p. 39. Memphis Press-Scimitar, n.d., in RIR Scrapbook IV, p. 94. Miami Daily News, January 29, 1940, in RIR Scrapbook V, p. 45. “ ‘Secret Six’ Described,” [Unclear] Tribune, March 16, 1943, in RIR Scrapbook V, p. 60. Grant, Fight for a City, p. 234. Fox, Blood and Power, pp. 133–134 (“The real Americans”). Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, p. 204 (“a xenophobic bigot”). Hoffman, Scarface Al, pp. 20–21, 164. Merriner, Grafters and Goo-Goos, p. 125.
SECRET SIX METHODS AND PRACTICES: Chicago American, February 8, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 65. Unlabeled clipping, February 13, 1930, RIR Scrapbook I. CDN, February 27, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 96. CT, March 4, 1930 (“We didn’t choose”); April 15, 1930. “Chicago Not Crime Hub, Randolph Says,” Journal of Commerce, March 4, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook I, p. 98. “Chicago Turns on the Gunman,” The Literary Digest, March 8, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 3. CT, April 4, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook II. Toronto Daily Star, April 10, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook II. Edwin Balmer, “The Chicago Battlefront,” The Register [?], June 16, 1930, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 46. New Orleans States, January 12, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook II, pp. 136, 139 (“Even now, it”). Detroit Free Press, January 31, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 157. Detroit News, January 31, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 157. Buffalo Times, February 16, 1931, in RIR Scrapbook II, p. 163. NYT, April 17, 1932 (“all sorts of,” “forced to fight”). St. Louis Times Star, November 22, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook IV, p. 17 (“We wasted a”). “Chicago Crusader Urges Pittsburgh ‘Secret Six,’ ” n.p., February 2, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook III. Randolph, “Secret Six,” p. 32, in RIR Scrapbook III (“Give us the”). WP, August 21, 1932, in RIR Scrapbook III, pp. 120–121. Japan Advertiser, March 3, 1934, in RIR Scrapbook IV, p. 64. Memphis Press-Scimitar, n.d., in RIR Scrapbook IV, p. 94. Alexander Jamie to Henry Morgenthau Jr., September 1, 1938, in Alexander Jamie OPF. NYT, April 27, 1939, in RIR Scrapbook V, p. 39. Miami Daily News, January 29, 1940, in RIR Scrapbook V, p. 45. “ ‘Secret Six’ Described,” [Unclear] Tribune, March 16, 1943, in RIR Scrapbook V, p. 60. Merriner, Grafters and Goo-Goos, p. 126.
RALPH CAPONE INVESTIGATION: CT, April 16, 1930; May 9, 1930; December 21, 1930 (“Take their money”). IRS-2, p. 26. “About Eliot Ness,” CN, September 23, 1947, in FBI-ENA. Kobler, Capone, pp. 145, 269. Schoenberg, Mr. Capone, pp. 198, 244. Calder, Origins and Development, p. 226n77. Bergreen, Capone, p. 340. Haller, Illegal Enterprise, pp. 230–231.
LAHART AND SEAGER: U.S. v. Joe Martino and John Giannoni, indictment, November 1928, in Box 607, “Criminal Case 18299” folder, CCF. Edward C. Wilcox, memorandum for the personnel file of Samuel M. Seager, April 16, 1928; Edward C. Wilcox, memorandum to Mr. Jackson, May 12, 1928; J. M. Doran to Samuel M. Seager, May 14, 1928; Samuel M. Seager to the Treasury Department, May 18, 1928; J. M. Doran to Samuel M. Seager, May 22, 1928; Alf Oftedal to Samuel M. Seager, May 28, 1928; Oath of Office, June 8, 1928; Personal History, June 8, 1928; George E. Golding to Commissioner of Prohibition, June 8, 1928; Harry M. Dengler, Report on Probationary Employee U.S. Prohibition Service, November 14, 1928; Alexander Jamie to Alf Oftedal, February 23, 1929; Alf Oftedal to Alexander Jamie, February 27, 1929; Personal History, March 4, 1929; A. J. Jamie, Efficiency Report, n.d.; Personal History, January 22, 1931; Personal History Statement, May 28, 1932; Elmer L. Irey to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, January 5, 1934, all in Samuel Seager OPF/ATF. Melvin Purvis to J. Edgar Hoover, November 28, 1933, in FBI-ENA. Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 30–31, 64–65, 145. Mackenzie, History of the 307th Field Artillery, pp. 27–31, 44–47, 221. Borroel, Story of the Untouchables, pp. 57–60, 189–194.
RALPH CAPONE’S CLUBS: Lawrence Journal-World, May 8, 1930. Pittsburgh Press, May 8, 1930. Spokane Daily Chronicle, May 8, 1930. DeKalb Daily Chronicle, May 9, 1930. CT, May 29, 1930. Bergreen, Capone, pp. 98–99 (99, “whoopee”), 244, 246, 248 (“Ralph was always”). Bruck, When Hollywood, p. 22 (“boys patrolling the,” “Is this a”). Capone, Uncle Al Capone, p. 23.
The Greyhound tap is specifically identified on the transcript dated April 12, 1930 (in “Wire Taps (1 of 12)” folder, RRPAC). The existence of a tap on the Cotton Club is conjectural but seems likely, given the taps on the other two and the later raids by Jamie and Ness.
WIRETAPPING: Willebrandt, Inside of Prohibition, pp. 231–237. Okrent, Last Call, pp. 274–286. McGirr, War on Alcohol, pp. 199–200.
MONTMARTRE CAFÉ WIRETAP: Ness MS., pp. 17–18, in ENPS, Roll 1, Folder 2 (Ness quotes). Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 107–125. Collins and Hagenauer, Chicago Mob Wars, no. 17 (“DINE” and “DANCE”). Tucker, Eliot Ness and the Untouchables, pp. 18–20. Date is conjectural, based on the dates of the transcripts in “Wire Taps (1 of 12)” folder, RRPAC.
The original source for the Montmartre Café wiretap incident is Ness’s first draft manuscript for The Untouchables (Ness MS., pp. 17–18, in ENPS, Roll 1, Folder 2). Ness’s account is light on details and doesn’t name the man who went up the pole to put in the tap. Nor does it give a clear date for the incident, merely inserting it, along with many of Ness’s other scattered memories, into the general timeline of the Untouchables investigation.
In the finished book (Ness and Fraley, The Untouchables, pp. 107–117), Fraley expands Ness’s anecdote into a lengthy sequence. Unlike in Ness’s manuscript, which describes an unnamed secretary placing a call to the Montmartre, Fraley’s version has two Untouchables (Lahart and Thomas Friel) infiltrate the café undercover and place a call to one of Ness’s other agents. Perhaps in an attempt at humor, Fraley has the agent making the call, Lahart, pretend to be speaking to his girlfriend, to the embarrassment of the agent on the receiving end. Fraley identifies the agent up the pole as Paul Robsky, who is described elsewhere in the book as “a telephone expert” from New Jersey (p. 34). Fraley dates the incident to mid- or late 1929, during Capone’s incarceration in Pennsylvania, and describes it as an Untouchables operation.
Apart from the obvious dramatic embellishments (such as the undercover element), Fraley’s description of the incident is problematic, particularly his identification of Robsky as the lineman. Robsky was born in Illinois and served as a Prohibition agent in South Carolina; he would later do temporary duty in Newark, New Jersey, but not until 1935 (Paul W. Robsky, Personal History, December 1, 1928; Oath of Office, December 1, 1928; R. Q. Merrick to the Commissioner of Prohibition, April 15, 1929; Recommendation for Change in Designated Post of Duty, July 20, 1935, all in Paul W. Robsky OPF/ATF). His personnel file also reveals that he didn’t arrive in Chicago for Untouchables duty until April 1931 (J. L. Acuff to Paul W. Robsky, March 31, 1931; J. L. Acuff to Eliot Ness, March 31, 1931; Paul W. Robsky to M. L. Harney, April 26, 1932, all in Paul W. Robsky OPF/ATF).
Nor is there anything in Robsky’s personnel file to suggest he was the “telephone expert” Fraley describes. Two efficiency reports from 1935 describe Robsky as having no “electrical, telephone or radio experience” (Efficiency Report, March 25, 1935; Efficiency Report, September 11, 1935, both in Paul W. Robsky OPF/ATF). Other efficiency reports from 1935, 1936, and 1937 describe him as having “some telephone experience” (Efficiency Report, October 5, 1935; Efficiency Report, March 19, 1936; Efficiency Report, September 22, 1936; Efficiency Report, March 15, 1937, all in Paul W. Robsky OPF/ATF).
By contrast, the personnel file of Untouchable Joe Leeson, who became a wiretapping expert following the Capone investigation, is littered with references to his telephone skills (see, for example, Efficiency Report, September 26, 1935, in Joseph D. Leeson OPF/ATF). While absence of evidence does not equal evidence of absence, it’s difficult to explain Robsky’s file being silent on his wiretapping prowess if he was truly the “telephone expert” Fraley describes.
In 1962, Robsky published his own account of the Capone case, written primarily or exclusively by Fraley (Fraley and Robsky, Last of the Untouchables, pp. 59–67). Although Robsky provided some authentic details, the book is heavily fictionalized, even
more so than The Untouchables—a fact Robsky openly admitted (Miami News, March 27, 1966). The book presents its own version of the Montmartre wiretap incident, agreeing with The Untouchables in some basic details, but altering others to conform to Robsky’s actual biography. In this version, Robsky is no longer an expert wiretapper, but is trained on the fly—a risky and improbable move for such a high-stakes operation. As in The Untouchables, Fraley here has Lahart undercover in the café placing a call to someone on the outside. But this time it isn’t a fellow Untouchable but a woman referred to by the agents with the pseudonym “Edna.”
Perry (Eliot Ness, pp. 72–75, 305) attempts to make Fraley’s versions of the incident conform with the known facts by dating the wiretap to April 1931, after Robsky arrived in Chicago. Although Perry admits Robsky’s book “generally is not a reliable document,” he nevertheless uses it for Robsky’s perspective on the incident. He also cites “official Prohibition Bureau records” and “official memoranda” describing the wiretap, apparently from Robsky’s personnel file. We have been unable to locate these documents, despite having viewed the same copies of these files that he did.
Other evidence suggests Perry’s dating of the incident is incorrect. A letter written by Ness notes that his squad had already “secure[d] telephone taps covering the various headquarters’ [sic] spots of the Capone gang” by January 20, 1931 (Eliot Ness to the Director of Prohibition, January 20, 1931, in William J. Gardner OPF/ATF). By April, the Untouchables were already into the raiding phase of their investigation, and Ralph was already facing a prison term for tax evasion. Bringing Robsky in at that late date just to tap Ralph’s headquarters makes little sense. (Incidentally, Perry misidentifies the name of the street where the agents rented their listening post apartment as “Cermak Road,” a name it wouldn’t receive until after the death of Mayor Anton Cermak in 1933.)
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