Mafia in the USA. Black Hand in New Orleans and Chicago
Al Pacino as Cuban Gangster in the movie "Scarface" ("Scarface")
Article The "old" Sicilian mafia was told about stories the appearance of the mafia in Sicily and the traditions of this criminal community. We also talked about the struggle that he waged against the mafia Mussolini, and the revenge of the Duce mafia in the United States and during Operation Husky (the seizure of Sicily by allies). We also mentioned La Stidda, a group that broke away from the old mafia clans and now controls the south of the island of Sicily. In this one we will start a story about the mafia in the United States. And let's talk about the first Sicilian Black Hand gangs that appeared in New Orleans and Chicago (the appearance of Cosa Nostra will be discussed in the next article).
The Black Hand of New Orleans
Beginning in 1884, Italians began to settle in New Orleans in large numbers, whose number soon reached 300.
Many of them were from Sicily. We remember that it was sunset time on this island of the "lemon rush". Broken farmers, not finding work at home, went overseas. One of the districts of New Orleans even received then the unofficial name "Little Palermo".
It is not surprising that the first ethnic criminal group created by immigrants from Sicily in the United States appeared in New Orleans - in 1890. It was called simply and uncomplicated - La Mano Nera ("Black Hand").
The leaders of this gang were the brothers Antonio and Carlo Matranga, immigrants from Palermo. They started with selling vegetables: at first retail, and then they registered a company for the import of fruits.
Having engaged in wholesale trade, the brothers drew attention to the port of New Orleans, which employed many immigrants from Italy, whom the locals contemptuously called "dagami" (on behalf of Diego). Through threats and bribery, the Matrangas soon ensured that no ship in this harbor was unloaded until their owners paid them a certain amount.
They were also worried about the leisure of visiting sailors, opening a brothel and several taverns near the port. The "business" was so profitable that soon a rival criminal organization appeared in New Orleans - a gang of Prevenzano brothers, also Sicilians.
The Matrongs eventually won.
Police Commissioner David Hennessy did not like the order established in New Orleans by the Sicilians. He was a very strong and strong-willed person. While still a teenager, Hennessy detained two adult thieves, who were taken to the station without assistance. At the age of 20, he was already a police detective, and by 1888 he had risen to the position of chief of the New Orleans police.
David Hennessy
After examining the list of his subordinates, he was surprised to find that most of them are ethnic Italians. Moreover, many were relatives of people suspected of racketeering and banditry. There was every reason to believe that they were helping them to avoid arrest.
Hennessy's "excessive" zeal led to his murder on the street on November 16, 1890. Hot on the heels, 19 people were arrested, but only three of them were convicted.
The indignation of the New Orleans was so great that the jury had to leave the courtroom through the back door. The next morning (March 12, 1891), the local newspaper The Daily States published a proclamation:
“Rise people of New Orleans!
Outsiders have shed martyrdom on the civilization you extol!
Your laws have been trampled underfoot in the Temple of Justice itself, having bribed the people who swore allegiance to you.
Night killers cracked down on David C. Hennessy, whose premature death died the greatness of American law.
It was buried with him - a man who during his lifetime was the guardian of your peace and dignity. "
Outsiders have shed martyrdom on the civilization you extol!
Your laws have been trampled underfoot in the Temple of Justice itself, having bribed the people who swore allegiance to you.
Night killers cracked down on David C. Hennessy, whose premature death died the greatness of American law.
It was buried with him - a man who during his lifetime was the guardian of your peace and dignity. "
On March 13, 1891, New Orleans residents went to a rally, which ended with the storming of the prison, where the suspects were still present.
Storming a prison in New Orleans
Two Sicilians were hanged from street lamps. Nine people were taken to the prison wall and shot (a large number of volunteers, on command, fired at them with hunting rifles and revolvers). But eight of the accused managed to escape death.
Among them was the main boss of the gang - Carlo Matranga. He then quietly led his gang until the 1920s, when he handed over control to Silvestro Carollo, better known as "Silver Dollar Sam" (you probably already guessed that he was also a native of Sicily).
In the underworld of the United States, Carollo became especially famous in 1929 when he expelled Al Capone himself from New Orleans, who decided to "build local brothers" and take over this city.
The "Godfather" of Chicago and his people were met at the train station. After Capone's bodyguards broke their fingers, he chose not to continue the "disassembly", but to quickly go home. It was under Carollo's leadership that the patriarchal Black Hand became the typical clan of the new American Cosa Nostra.
In 1930, Carollo was arrested and charged with the murder of drug control agent Cecil Moore. But already in 1934 he was released. Allied with Frank Castello of New York, he set up a slot machine network in Louisiana. In 1938 he was arrested again. And in 1947, he was deported from the USA to Italy.
Once in Sicily, Carollo became a partner of the famous Lucky Luciano (who had been expelled from the United States a year earlier). In New Orleans, the former boss was replaced by Carlos Marcello, who was named by a US Senate committee in 1951
"One of the worst criminals in the country."
Carlos Marcello (Calogero Minacor), Sicilian born in French Tunisia. In this photograph, taken on March 23, 1953, he testifies before the Senate Racket Inquiry Committee. In 15 minutes, he refused to answer questions 35 times, referring to the fifth amendment to the US Constitution.
Marcello led the New Orleans mafia until the end of the 80s, when, after several strokes, he was forced to "retire."
The name "Black Hand" has become in the United States common to all gangs organized by the Sicilians. Only in St. Louis, Missouri, the mafiosi who settled here in 1915 chose the original name - "Greens". In addition to racketeering, they were actively involved in the livestock trade, achieving a monopoly position in the state's markets.
But in Chicago, the Sicilians did not bother. And they also called their organization "Black Hand".
Gangster City Chicago
This is not a still from a film, but a genuine photograph of a young American mobster in the 1930s.
Chicago, founded in 1850 by a small river (the Indian name of which he "appropriated" for himself) grew by leaps and bounds, becoming extremely rich in the trade in grain, livestock, meat and timber.
Within 25 years (in 1875) it became one of the largest cities in the United States.
There was Little Palermo in New Orleans. And in Chicago - "Little Italy". It is the area between West Taylor Street, Grand Avenue, Oak Street and Wentworth Avenue.
Old timers called him also
"Spaghetti zone".
In the 1920s, about 130 Italians lived in Chicago.
And these émigrés immediately began to "take care" of the clans of the Sicilian mafia.
Arrested at the beginning of the twentieth century, Joseph Janite, the police found in his pocket a letter with the following content:
“Dear Mr. Silvani!
Please give me $ 2, if, of course, your life is dear to you.
I hope that my request will not burden you too much.
I ask you to put money on your doorstep within four days.
Otherwise, I promise that in a week I will grind you and your entire family to dust.
In the hope of remaining your friend - Black Hand. "
Please give me $ 2, if, of course, your life is dear to you.
I hope that my request will not burden you too much.
I ask you to put money on your doorstep within four days.
Otherwise, I promise that in a week I will grind you and your entire family to dust.
In the hope of remaining your friend - Black Hand. "
The Black Hand in Chicago was led by Jim Colosimo (Big Jim). His deputy was his nephew Johnny Torrio, who previously (from 1911 to 1915) controlled the port of New York and received the nickname "Terrible John" in this city.
John torrio
Looking ahead, let's say that Torrio and Colosimo did not agree on the further development of the organization they lead (for some reason the old boss did not want to engage in bootlegging). Therefore, Torrio summoned Frankie Weil from New York, who on May 11, 1920, shot the "intractable uncle."
We'll talk a little more about Frank Whale in the article on the mafia clans of New York.
It was Torrio who invited another New Yorker, Alphonse Capone, to Chicago.
He began his criminal career as a member of a teenage gang. And in one of the fights, he received a wound on his left cheek, earning the nickname Scarface (literally - "Scarface").
The only "flaw" of this enterprising bandit was his Neapolitan origin. That is, he was a stranger to all the Sicilians of the clan.
Moreover, in Sicily, Naples was traditionally considered “the city of petty crooks”. And the "serious people" of the Chicago mafia did not trust Al Capone at first.
Soon Chicago became the leader not only in industrial growth, but also in the number of unsolved crimes. So, in 1910, 25 unsolved murders were registered. In 1911 - 40. In 1912 - 33. In 1913 - 42. But these were, as they say, “flowers”. Truly mafia
"Unfolded in the United States during the" dry law "
"No alcohol law"
The first section of the famous Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which entered into force on January 16, 1920, read:
"One year after the ratification of this article, the manufacture, sale, or transport of, and import or export of, intoxicating beverages for consumption is prohibited in the United States and in all territories under its jurisdiction."
On the same day, evangelical preacher Billy Sandy organized in the city of Norfolk, Virginia, a ceremony of the symbolic burial of the coffin with "John Barleyseed" (this name became a household name after the publication of the ballad of the same name by R. Burns).
In his farewell speech, he named "John"
"A true enemy of God and a friend of the devil."
But he and his supporters rejoiced early.
The amendment did not provide for any sanctions against violators. True, the US Senate supplemented it with the so-called "Act" or "Volstead Act" - this was the same "Prohibition".
The Volstead Act only prohibited the production, import and sale of alcohol. But the storage of alcoholic beverages and the use of alcohol were allowed.
Thus, a strange situation arose: the producers and sellers of liquor were "outlawed", and their customer base remained. Satisfying the demand for alcohol became dangerous, but extremely profitable: the mark-up on a bottle of whiskey reached $ 70-80, the purchasing power of which was then much higher than it is now.
The mafia clans of the United States immediately launched illegal delivery and sale of alcohol. New criminal "specialties" have also appeared. The most famous in our country are bootleggers who illegally imported alcohol into the United States. But there were also moonshiners, who were called moonshiners - because they made their products at night (by the light of the moon).
The illegal eateries were called speakeasy. There they ordered alcohol in a whisper with a wink at the bartender or waiter, receiving whiskey or brandy under the guise of tea.
Police officers who discovered an underground "workshop" for the production of moonshine
These are not bandits, but Chicago police officers standing by an armored car, photo from 1933
At the same time, both sellers and their customers switched from beer, cider, wine and other low-alcohol drinks to strong alcohol: it was more convenient to deliver it to the point of sale, and the state of intoxication was achieved faster. In addition, drug use has increased by about 45% during the Prohibition period in the United States.
Per capita alcohol consumption initially fell sharply - and positive consequences were noted: a decrease in the number of accidents and accidents, a decrease in the number of divorces and minor offenses. But very soon, alcohol consumption returned to the previous level and even increased.
The scale of the illegal trade in alcohol soon became such that the budget of the Federal Bureau of Enforcement of "Prohibition" grew from 4,4 to 13,4 million dollars a year. And the government spent $ 13 million a year on the maintenance of special units of the US Coast Guard, specializing in combating smuggling.
According to experts, in 1933, when the eighteenth amendment was canceled by President F. Roosevelt, the average per capita alcohol consumption exceeded the level of 1919 by 20%.
"Gangster Wars" in Chicago
In Chicago, the Sicilians faced rivals - ethnic gangs from other countries.
The Irish were especially strong, led by Dion O'Benion (after the entry into force of Prohibition, he was called the "beer king" of Chicago).
In 1920, Colosimo was killed. And John Torrio became the boss of the Chicago mafia. Under his leadership, the mafiosi managed to destroy O'Benion in 1924.
His successor, Haimi Weiss, retaliated by firing at Torrio's car. It was then that American gangsters first used the machine gun.
True, "the first pancake came out lumpy": the driver Torrio died, and the Chicago mafia boss was not injured.
A few days later, the Irish repeated the attack, firing 50 bullets at the leader of the competitors. Only three of them reached the goals. Torrio survived again, but the consequences of his injuries were so severe that he decided to retire. Gathering his "lieutenants" (kapi), he recommended Al Capone to them.
This was an unheard-of violation of tradition: until then, only Sicilians could hold the highest command positions in the mafia. However, Capone's authority was already high enough. And the "lieutenants" agreed to obey him.
Al Capone in his car
It was only then that the "gang wars" in Chicago acquired a special scope.
Some of their episodes were reproduced in many Hollywood films "about the mafia": sometimes with almost documentary accuracy, sometimes - in a "free interpretation."
In the next article we will continue the story of Al Capone and his fantastic career in the Black Hand of Chicago and Cosa Nostra.
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