Rothstein (60 page)

Chapter 15: “1 Can’t Trust a Drunk”

219 Fencing: Thomson and Raymond, pp. 44, 56.

220 “No boy … the horses.”: NY American, 25 January 1929; page unknown. Goldman, p. 61.

220 Gondorf, Monte Carlo: NY Telegraph, 22 February 1920, p. 1; Goldman, pp. 61, 73-74. In the confidence-game movie, The Sting, Paul Newman portrayed a character not-coincidentally named Henry Gondorf.

220 “I knew … his life.” NY Graphic, 26 November 1928, p. 4.

220-21 “What an … a friend.”: NY Graphic, 27 November 1928, page unknown.

221 Fields, bond robberies: NY Telegraph, 24 February 1920, p. 1; NY Times, 24 February 1920, p. 16; Grossman, pp. 61, 114; Louvish, pp. 194-95. World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime CD-ROM; Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), p. 229. Not all bond messengers were so accommodating. One, Benjamin M. Binkowitz, met death at the robbers’ hands.

222 Arnstein flees: NY Telegraph, 24 February 1920, pp. 1,2; NY Telegraph, 25 February 1920, pp. 1,2; NY Tribune, 16 May 1920, pp. 1, 3; NY Times, 21 February 1920, p. 1; NY Times, 24 February 1920, p. 16; Goldman, p. 91; World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime CD-ROM. Nicky first used W. C. Fields as a conduit back to his wife, sending the comedian this oddly worded wire: “You remember the rides in your car with our friend. Tell her I’ve left the stage and am working in a brassiere shop on Second Avenue.” “Our friend” referred to the accomplice with whom Arnstein was in hiding. The accomplice’s sister owned the brassiere shop in question. Fanny understand she was to visit it to receive her husband’s messages.

223 “This hurts… this case!”: Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 168-81.

224 Fritz: Fowler (ibid), pp. 207-26. Fallon took no satisfaction from his victory, vowing it was his last murder case. “I was never so mad in my life,” he fumed to his law partner Eugene McGee. “We sat there and heard the verdict. The man went scot-free. Do you think he thanked me? Not on your life! Can you guess what he said?” McGee had no idea. “He turned to me,” Slippery Bill replied, “and in the most matter-of-fact way asked: `Do you think I can get that cab back?’ “

224 Milk, figs: NY Telegraph, 7 November 1928, p. 5; Clarke, p. 20; Katcher, p. 214.

225 “Aren’t you …” … “… should know”: Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 205-06.

225 “mouse eyes.” … “… false teeth.”: Carolyn Rothstein wrote of her husband’s false teeth: “Arnold, like most sporting men, was extremely vain. When I married him, and for some years afterwards, his upper teeth were unsound and unattractive. The fact that they weren’t white and even was a source of great annoyance to him, particularly as his nervous laugh was a revealing one. Finally, it was decided to have the teeth extracted. Arnold went to the dentist’s office very early in the morning, and had all the teeth drawn. The dentist then took the necessary impressions, and spent the rest of the day with his assistants, making the new set of teeth. Arnold didn’t stir out of the office. At his request, I took him his little black books at 10 A.M., and he worked over these until 6 P.M., at which hour the dentist and his aides had completed their labors. Arnold popped the new set of teeth into his mouth, and went out, as usual, to collect money that was due him.” (Rothstein, p. 130).

225 “Rothstein … his cheese.”: Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 204-06; Katcher. p. 8.

226 “I can’t trust a drunk,”: Katcher. p. 169.

226 Decision to surrender: NY Tribune, 22 February 1920, p. 4; NY Tribune, 6 March 1920, p. 20; NY Tribune, 7 March 1920, p. 3, NY Tribune, 10 March 1920, p. 7.

226 Bail: Ann Pennington, a featured dancer in George White’s Scandals (and George White’s girlfriend), stood by Brice, visiting her dressing room one day and flinging down a handkerchief containing $20,000 of her personal jewelry for Nicky’s bond collateral. Fanny didn’t accept Pennington’s offer, but it moved her greatly.

226-27”I’d be …” … “… the coupons.”: Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 243-44; Goldman, p. 99. The New Amsterdam Roof was a cabaret on the roof of 42nd Street’s New Amsterdam Theater. Brice’s show, The Frolics, costarred W. C. Fields, bandleader Ted Lewis, and comedian Chic Sale. Downstairs at the New Amsterdam, Ed Wynn’s Carnival featured William Randolph Hearst’s mistress, Marion Davies.

227 Police parade: NY Tribune, 16 May 1920, pp. 1, 3; NY Times, 16 May 1920, pp. 1, 16; NY Graphic, 24 November 1928, p. 3; NY JournalAmerican, 6 July 1959.

228-29 “Look here,”… “… say not.”: Clarke, pp. 1-6; Rothstein, pp. 167-68.

229 “To ensure … wedding ring.”: NY Times, 18 May 1920, p. 17; NY Tribune, 18 May 1920, p. 1.

229 Arndstein v. McCarthy: 254 U.S. 71; Arndstein v. McCarthy; 254 U.S. 379 Arndstein v. McCarthy; 262 U.S. 355 Arndstein v. McCarthy; 266 U.S. 34 Arndstein v. McCarthy; It’s contended occasionally that Fallon’s defense of Arnstein virtually created the right against self-incrimination. That is a gross misrepresentation. The case merely revolved around Fifth Amendment protections in bankruptcy cases.

230-31 “Look here.” … “… it imagines.”: NY Times, 5 May 1921, pp. 1, 4; NY Times, 10 May 1921, p. 19; NY Times, 25 June 1921, p. 4; NY Graphic, 28 November 1928, page unknown; Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 265-72; Clarke, pp. 279-81.

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://cyberboxingzone.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 married 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.