by Bill Russo
“There’s going to be close to 600 men, many of them armed, in the building; so we have to discourage any heroes right off the bat,” he continued. “That means we have to be as brutal as possible. Before we take a single gold coin or ten dollar bill, we have to start spraying lead everywhere, killing as many citizens as possible. Each team of three men will enter their assigned room and get right down to business.
“The first thing to do is to grab bar girls to use as shields. Then one guy will empty his pistol into the crowd, killing four or five men. The other two will cover the pack to make sure they drop their weapons. If anybody is slow to disarm, just keep on killing people. Indiscriminate butchery will soon get everyone to comply.”
Brant knew that his plan was crude and not well thought out. But he had learned by experience that raw brutality trumps brains every time when it comes to the rapid submission of groups of people, even among the hard-cases that were found in the oil towns.
After emptying out all the cash registers, drop boxes, safes and other places where money might be kept, the unholy seven were to meet in front of the building where they would all pile into Brant’s large, seven passenger Packard and make their getaway towards Texas.
Divitt Brant dismissed his thugs and drained another glass of Rye Whiskey before trudging back to Big Red’s place for further surveillance. As previously mentioned, he wasn’t a very bright thug, but he was a thorough planner – an ingrained habit which had kept him alive longer than most of his associates.
Being early afternoon, the opening Vaudeville performance of the day was still an hour off, so he chose first to study the side venues. Starting with the East Room he made a mental note of the set-up.
There were two main entrances. One was from an interior wall of the Vaudeville Theater. This portal was closed and locked except during the performances. The other access point was from the street. The two major entries, one for each hall, were designed to funnel patrons through the piano bar before they could enter the main part of the wing.
A dozen tables were clustered around the area of the East Wing where Big Blake was noodling around on the ivories. Beyond the music lounge was the main dining area with seating for one hundred guests.
The meals were eaten in an egalitarian spirit that might find the owner of the Strickland Oil Company daintily sipping his ‘Bouillabaisse’ just one table away from one of his own roughnecks chomping down a side of mutton.
Adjacent to the dining hall and stretching all the way to the far wall, was the gambling den. Wild West games like Faro and poker were still popular – but people had of late had begun to favor the recently invented Liberty Bell Slot Machines.
Whiz Bangers of all ages would spend hours cranking the handles of the machines in hopes of getting ‘three bells’ and winning the biggest jackpot of all, four bits - fifty cents.
The machines were so trendy by 1922 that they were found in most of the saloons, general stores, cigar shops, bowling alleys, barber shops and brothels.
The Whiz Bang house had hundreds, scattered in the dining room, the piano lounges, along the walls of the Great Room and even in the private upstairs suites. The largest concentration of Liberty Bell Slot Machines naturally, was in the gambling dens of the East and West Rooms.
The thought of the many thousands of dollars tied up in the bellies of those grubby metal monsters excited and angered Divitt Brant.
He wanted the cash that they held, but the sheer weight of it and the time required to harvest it, made the idea of emptying the slots unworkable.
Folding money would be the target, not coins – unless they happened to be in piles of pre-bagged 20 dollar gold-pieces.
The best and most popular Slot Machine of the early 1900s - as shown in a photo from Wikipedia.
Dripping of polished mahogany, the Long Bar occupied the entire length of the rear wall. Padded stools of the finest saddle leather were queued up by the dozens in front of the gleaming brass rail at the foot of the sturdy bar.
Hundreds of twinkly lights illuminated the back-bar - a collection of mirrors, oil tool knick knacks, and shelves fully stocked with more than 100 brands of spirits of all types. The assortment included everything from ‘Coffin Varnish’ and ‘Tangle-leg’ to quarts of the finest Kentucky Bourbon - shipped direct to Big Red by the son of the late Jack Daniels at twelve dollars per case of a dozen, freight included.
Satisfied that he was completely familiar with the East Room, Divitt went to the opposite wing. A brief study led him to conclude that the West wing was a mirror twin to the East side.
By the time he wrapped up his research, the first of the six vaudeville acts had taken the stage. He sat in the fifth row from the stage in the nearly empty house. The opening act was usually, as on this day, a group of dancers or singers whose number really had no start or ending, but just plodded along as the seats began filling up.
When the house was nearly at capacity, a beautiful ‘card girl’ would run to a large signboard displaying the names of the acts and replace the label for the opening act with the names of the next performers.
On this particular day the second act was a husband and wife team performing their version of Fanny Brice’s hit song, “Second Hand Rose”. While his lady sang, ‘hubby’ pantomimed the male part.
(Author’s note Second Hand Rose – written by James F. Hanley and Clark Grant, was an immense success for Fanny Brice in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1921. The ditty was given a second life in 1965 by Barbra Streisand in her homage to Brice entitled ‘Funny Girl’.)
“Father has a business, strictly second hand
Everything from toothpicks to a baby grand
Stuff in our apartment came from Father’s store
Even things I’m wearing someone wore before
It’s no wonder that I feel abused
I never get a thing that isn’t used.
I’m wearing second hand hats, second hand clothes
That’s why they call me Second Hand Rose”
Even our piano in the parlor
Daddy bought for ten cents on the dollar
Second hand pearls, I’m wearing second hand curls
I never get a single thing that’s new, Even Jake the plumber
He’s the man I adore, had the nerve to tell me he’s been married before!
Everyone knows that I’m just second hand rose, from Second Aveneue
Second Hand Rose from Second Avenue, Second Avenue – New!
The singing couple was reasonably talented and their routine went over well. By the time the third act came on stage Divitt felt that he had seen enough and was ready to go to work. He decided to pull the job in three days time, Saturday, February 24, 1923.
Chapter Eleven: Planning the Job
Summoning his sinister band to a meeting the next day in Skeet’s Hot House, Divitt laid out his final instructions.
“Here’s how we’re going to take Big Red’s joint. The first thing we do is hit the till in the Vaudeville Theater, during the fourth act. By that time, all the admission money will have been added to the cash from meals and drinks. Last night I saw the way that show crowd spends. They think nothing of dropping two or three dollars each on booze and food while watching the acts. I figure our haul will be better than $2,000.”
Divitt said that he and Fingers Dugan would handle the theater segment of the job. Diamond Jim and Croaker Kelly were assigned to enter the East Room where they would later be joined by Fingers.
Dart Davis was put in charge of Kid Utica and Smoke Tarette, whose job would be to occupy the West Room.
“Fingers and me will get seats in the very back row of the theater because that’s where the money will be,” explained Divitt, his long, thick black eyebrows curving in the shape of a letter V.
“In the middle of the fourth act the dough from the box office will be brought to the serving area near where we will be sitting. I noticed yesterday that they take in money so fast that
they don’t even close the lock box under the cash register. When the waiters bring back the dollars from the drinks and food they serve in the theater, the just shovel the cash into the open box along with the customer receipts.”
“My job,” said Fingers, momentarily taking over the briefing “is to give a little butterfly kiss to the mug who’s in charge of the cash register. I’ll slit his throat like lightning. He’ll drop silently to the floor and Divitt and I will grab the sacks of cash and slip out the door before anyone is wise to what happened.”
“So that’s it boys,” beamed the leader. “We’ll have one third of this heist done before anybody even knows we’re on the job. When they see the stiff on the floor, they’ll be focusing on him, during which time we will start up our ruckus in the other two rooms.”
Looking over at Dart who was thoughtfully draining a glass of Rye, Divitt asked… “What’s your job Dart?”
“Me, Smoke, and Kid Utica will wait for a signal from you and then we’ll grab the girls we’ve been chatting up at our table and use them for shields. Since I’m the best shot, I’m going to be the gunner and blast four guys. I’ll take ‘em out with head shots at close range to get maximum effect. Kid and Smoke will keep their gats trained on the crowd to make sure everybody drops face down on the floor.
We will kill any slackers on an ‘as needed’ basis. Walking over the dead bodies and dragging our shields along, we’ll head for the bar and grab all the cash. Next we’ll hit the gambling den and empty the currency boxes there. After that it’s out to the street where we hop into the Packard.”
“Perfect,” smiled Divitt, his shaggy uncut black hair giving a feral, ursine look to his face.
“How ‘bout you Croaker? What’s your job?”
“Diamond Jim and me are to go into the East Room and get a table in the gambling den. We sit there and wait for Fingers. When he joins us, I do the same thing as Dart. I’m the gunner on my side. I take out four hombres at close range and scare the eyeballs out of the rest of the galoots. Then we drag the dames along as shields while we skin the place. First the gambling den, then the bar and dining room. After that we run outside and get in the car.”
Chapter Twelve: The Heist
Their plans finalized, all that remained was the two day wait until ‘show time’. The hours dragged along at a snail's pace for the gang, being spent chiefly by playing – both with cards and the saloon girls at Skeet’s Hot House.
Saturday night at last arrived; accompanied by an oppressive sky that ignited perhaps the worst outbreak of twisters in Oklahoma history.
Touching down in nearly every Osage County oil town, there were 28 of them in a twelve hour period – 26 were ‘category four’ killers. By sunset the body count had reached 42 dead and over 400 injured. Hundreds of businesses and homes had been destroyed or damaged – though Whiz Bang had mostly been spared.
At seven o’clock when the evening’s Vaudeville was about to start, the gang got up from their table in Skeet’s place and prepared to leave.
“I’m thinking maybe we should do this next week instead of tonight,” offered Diamond Jimmy.
“No. We’ll do it tonight,” barked Divitt Brant.
“The tornadoes have pretty much stopped,” replied Diamond Jim, “but the rain’s pouring down heavier than a dry-gulch flood. There’s at least an even money chance that the roads might wash out and prevent us from getting away.”
“That ain’t a problem Jimmy. If the roads are bad for us, they will also be bad for anybody who tries to follow us. Besides, we’ll have a good head-start,” Divitt replied confidently.
The seven veteran masters of murder and mayhem went outside and began the short walk to the Whiz Bang House. The menacing cloud cover that had opened up was dumping close to a season’s worth of pounding rain in a single night.
The gang sloshed along the unpaved streets in ankle deep, muddy water. Pulling their soggy hats down close to their eyes, they strained to see ahead of them through the pelting downpour.
On the outskirts of town, dry riverbeds were filling up and sending the resulting overflow onwards to engulf roadways and drown the fields. By dawn the only place in the Osage that would escape flooding was Pistol Hill, the county’s highest spot and site of the hangings of the infamous hilltop robbers.
Undaunted by the torment, Divitt led Fingers toward the Vaudeville box office while the rest of the crew split into the two pre-arranged factions.
Dart led Kid Utica and Smoke Tarette to a table in the West gambling den. Croaker Kelly and Diamond Jimmy Tea went to the East Room and occupied seating near Big Blake Ivory’s piano – where they would wait for the arrival of Fingers Dugan.
When Divitt and Fingers slid into seats in the back of the theater, the house was nearly empty. The first Vaudeville act came on stage. The song and dance troupe was in the last night of their week-long engagement. Their job as customary was to provide a musical backdrop for late arriving patrons and to keep performing while the room was filling.
When the venue was nearly at capacity, a scantily dressed ‘card girl’ came to the billboard at the front of the stage and removed the painted sign saying “New York City Songsters”; replacing it with a new one that read “Myrt & Mike - Songs You Like”.
The husband and wife team performed their customary tune, “Second Hand Rose” to an enthusiastic reception from the spectators.
In the middle of the fourth act Divitt nudged Fingers and commanded quietly… “Go!”
The two killers left their seats and walked casually to the food and drink serving area alongside the theater entrance. Several waiters and bar girls were transporting meals and beverages to the customers, whose seats were equipped with adjustable wooden snack trays.
Bus boys wandered in and out with dirty dishes. Waitresses and waiters returning with customer receipts and cash, handed them over to a well dressed manager who quickly thrust the money into a bulging lock box with a door that was kept wide open during most of the show.
While Divitt Brant stood about a dozen feet away from the cash area to steer away any workers who might approach, Fingers swiftly walked to the manager… “Big Red told me to take over for a while because you are going to be indisposed”
The puzzled manager turned his head and looked at Fingers, who withdrew his butterfly knife with the speed of a magician and slit the unfortunate man’s throat with the precision of a surgeon. Without uttering a sound, the manager thudded to the floor.
Divitt Brant blocked the view and continued to fend off approaching waiters and waitresses as Fingers deftly filled flour sacks with piles of currency. The pair dodged out the nearby front door before anyone realized there had been a murder and robbery.
Running through the flooded street, they reached the Packard and sat down for a moment to examine the take. There wasn’t time to count, but Divitt, hefting a few handfuls sensed that they had at least three thousand dollars.
With a will of its own, his hand finger-walked to the six shooter holstered on his cartridge belt. In the darkness, he involuntarily eased the gun from the comfort of its leather.
He could effortlessly plug Fingers Dugan and flee unfettered with money enough for a year or perhaps two.
The intense drumming of the rain beating out a steady rhythm on the roof of the Packard, reminded him of the many thousands more that still remained to be plucked.
Deciding that it would be easy enough to eliminate the others later, when there was a lot more cash, he relaxed his grip. The gun slid back into the holster.
“Okay Fingers. Great work in there. You go back now and join your crew. I’ll be along in a minute.”
Fingers Dugan went straightaway to the West Room to meet Croaker Kelly and Diamond Jimmy Tea.
Instead of proceeding to the Whiz Bang House, Divitt Brant fired the engine of the big Packard and drove off. He didn’t go far – only to an alley behind the main structure.
Af
ter parking the sedan, he sloshed his way around the side of the building and walked through the front door to join up with Dart and his crew.
As for Fingers, he had entered the lounge and quickly noted that Kelly and Tea had selected a table about midway between Big Blake Ivory the piano player, and the cashier. Three of Big Red’s bar girls were sitting with them - laughing and chatting mindlessly.
“Look girls, here’s the friend we have been waiting for. C’mon over and join us Fingers,” smiled Diamond Jimmy Tea. “Ladies, just as I promised you, the fun starts as soon as Fingers Dugan arrives.”
Without bothering to sit, Fingers grabbed the nearest girl by her hair with one hand and brutally dragged her to her feet while applying a choke hold with his other hand. Diamond Jimmy and the Croaker similarly manhandled the other two girls and held them in as shields in front of their bodies.
Croaker Kelly, using a 1905 Smith & Wesson 38 M & P, rapidly fired off six shots aimed at the heads of nearby patrons. As the bodies were falling, he pulled out a pocket 25 caliber and fired three more times.
“Listen up everybody. Get on the floor face down, and put your hands behind your back,” shouted Dugan. “We’ll kill anybody who doesn’t drop.”
The panicked customers did as told and soon the floor was carpeted with scores of terrified, splayed bodies.
Diamond Jimmy Tea headed for the lock box where the cash was kept and started to scoop it up, but never finished. A single shot fired from behind the piano found a home in Tea’s tiny brain.
The blast came from the one man in the room who didn’t obey the orders to hit the deck - Big Blake Ivory, who had his own S & W Military and Police 38 special.
Croaker Kelly and Fingers Dugan directed a rain of fire towards the large man crouching behind the piano. Outnumbered two guns to one, things looked dire for Big Blake. Of the nearly 200 other people in the room, not one dared to get up and face the killers.