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Authors: John Kobler
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Americans, they had never given the society any support, for they considered the Black Hand atrocities no concern of theirs as long as they were confined to Italians. By 1913 the White Hand had disbanded and the Black Handers extended their reign of terror.
What finally stopped the flow of extortion letters in the twenties was what reduced white slavery: federal intervention. For using the mails to defraud, the federal law set penalties of up to five years' prison and $1,000 fine. The game seemed too hazardous after several Black Handers drew the maximum sentence and were removed beyond reach of corrupt local officials to Leavenworth Penitentiary.
Extortion, however, far from languishing, expanded in new directions. Threats were conveyed by other means. The dread letter signed La Mano Nera was replaced by a voice on the telephone or a personal visit. The character of the victim changed, too. The supply of simpleminded, malleable cafoni began to dwindle after 1914, when new regulations restricted immigration. By then far richer opportunities were beckoning to the professional extortionists in the city which Lincoln Steffens described as "first in violence, deepest in dirt, loud, lawless, unlovely, ill-smelling, irreverent, new, an overgrown gawk of a village, the 'tough' among cities, a spectacle for the nation." The skill developed in three decades of bomb throwing and marksmanship with revolver and shotgun was not wasted. Many an ex Black Hander became a prized technician in the swelling ranks of gangdom.
Bombing as a business thrived. Contractors in the field were retained by labor and business racketeers to discipline tradesmen who declined to pay tribute. During the twenties some 700 bombs destroyed millions of dollars' worth of Chicago property. The contractors established a price list:
Black powder bombs-$100
Dynamite bombs-$500 to $1,000 (depending on the risk)
Guaranteed contracts-$1,000 and up
Joseph Sangerman, an officer of the Chicago Barbers' Union, directed one of the busiest bombing crews. His ace was George Matrisciano, alias Martini, a Neapolitan barber's son and a veteran of Little Italy terrorism, who manufactured his own black powder bombs. When a barbershop owner defied the union's dictates, Matrisciano and his four teammates would reduce the shop to rubble.
Colosimo knew what to expect. In his youth he had turned a Black Hand trick or two himself. At first he submitted. He met demands for as much as $5,000. But as the extortionists kept after him, raising the amount each time, he prepared to fight. He commanded plenty of muscle in such subalterns, who had sworn on his Bible to defend him, as his brother-in-law, Joe Moresco; Mac Fitzpatrick, alias W. E. Frazier, a gunman from San Francisco; Billy Leathers; "Chicken Harry" Gullet; Joe "Jew Kid" Grabiner. At the next attempted levy Colosimo wrapped up a bundle of blank paper, armed himself with a revolver, and, accompanied by a brace of his gorillas, concealing sawed-off shotguns, set out for the rendezvous under a South Side bridge well in advance of the appointed hour. After depositing the bundle as instructed, they fell back into the shadows across the street. At midnight three men approached the bundle. They had scant opportunity to verify its contents. The hidden foe opened fire, killing them all.
Colosimo enjoyed tranquillity for a while. Then he heard from still another Black Hand gang. He decided he needed an adjutant wilier than any available to him in Chicago. He thought of his sharp-witted, ruthless little nephew.
TORRIO was thirty-one when he came to Chicago in 1909. Not long after, three more of Colosimo's tormentors were ambushed under the Rock Island Railroad overpass on Archer Avenue and shot to death. Torrio, with his aversion to bloodshed, had taken no direct hand in the massacre. He had only arranged it. He arranged other killings in behalf of his beleaguered uncle. The time for treaties and coalitions was not yet.
The lesson
What finally stopped the flow of extortion letters in the twenties was what reduced white slavery: federal intervention. For using the mails to defraud, the federal law set penalties of up to five years' prison and $1,000 fine. The game seemed too hazardous after several Black Handers drew the maximum sentence and were removed beyond reach of corrupt local officials to Leavenworth Penitentiary.
Extortion, however, far from languishing, expanded in new directions. Threats were conveyed by other means. The dread letter signed La Mano Nera was replaced by a voice on the telephone or a personal visit. The character of the victim changed, too. The supply of simpleminded, malleable cafoni began to dwindle after 1914, when new regulations restricted immigration. By then far richer opportunities were beckoning to the professional extortionists in the city which Lincoln Steffens described as "first in violence, deepest in dirt, loud, lawless, unlovely, ill-smelling, irreverent, new, an overgrown gawk of a village, the 'tough' among cities, a spectacle for the nation." The skill developed in three decades of bomb throwing and marksmanship with revolver and shotgun was not wasted. Many an ex Black Hander became a prized technician in the swelling ranks of gangdom.
Bombing as a business thrived. Contractors in the field were retained by labor and business racketeers to discipline tradesmen who declined to pay tribute. During the twenties some 700 bombs destroyed millions of dollars' worth of Chicago property. The contractors established a price list:
Black powder bombs-$100
Dynamite bombs-$500 to $1,000 (depending on the risk)
Guaranteed contracts-$1,000 and up
Joseph Sangerman, an officer of the Chicago Barbers' Union, directed one of the busiest bombing crews. His ace was George Matrisciano, alias Martini, a Neapolitan barber's son and a veteran of Little Italy terrorism, who manufactured his own black powder bombs. When a barbershop owner defied the union's dictates, Matrisciano and his four teammates would reduce the shop to rubble.
Colosimo knew what to expect. In his youth he had turned a Black Hand trick or two himself. At first he submitted. He met demands for as much as $5,000. But as the extortionists kept after him, raising the amount each time, he prepared to fight. He commanded plenty of muscle in such subalterns, who had sworn on his Bible to defend him, as his brother-in-law, Joe Moresco; Mac Fitzpatrick, alias W. E. Frazier, a gunman from San Francisco; Billy Leathers; "Chicken Harry" Gullet; Joe "Jew Kid" Grabiner. At the next attempted levy Colosimo wrapped up a bundle of blank paper, armed himself with a revolver, and, accompanied by a brace of his gorillas, concealing sawed-off shotguns, set out for the rendezvous under a South Side bridge well in advance of the appointed hour. After depositing the bundle as instructed, they fell back into the shadows across the street. At midnight three men approached the bundle. They had scant opportunity to verify its contents. The hidden foe opened fire, killing them all.
Colosimo enjoyed tranquillity for a while. Then he heard from still another Black Hand gang. He decided he needed an adjutant wilier than any available to him in Chicago. He thought of his sharp-witted, ruthless little nephew.
TORRIO was thirty-one when he came to Chicago in 1909. Not long after, three more of Colosimo's tormentors were ambushed under the Rock Island Railroad overpass on Archer Avenue and shot to death. Torrio, with his aversion to bloodshed, had taken no direct hand in the massacre. He had only arranged it. He arranged other killings in behalf of his beleaguered uncle. The time for treaties and coalitions was not yet.
The lesson
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