Chapter 5
Police reporters copied, the blotters. The public wanted to hear about gangsters and their molls. There seemed to be a mixed reaction. Some wanted justice to overtake them, the mobsters, and some regarded the Capones as movie stars. The further away from mobsters, the more glamour they took on. Up close they were vicious.
Too often the newspaper accounts of gangsters were fictionalized and made to seem romantic. A crook with a tommy gun was Robin Hood. They forgot that the reason he had that tommy gun was because he wanted the public's money. That was the easiest way to get it in large hunks. Mobsters were not romantic. They were selfish and venomous.
Oleg Orchard was a police reporter and knew many mobsters personally. He was not one of the big names but his by-line was seen daily. He had his share of problems because he occasionally spoke his mind. He now says he wonders how he came out of those days alive. But the mob did not like to take on the press if it could find a way around. Sometimes the press was more trouble than the police.
Orchard did not have a high opinion of mobsters as human beings.
Unfortunately for him, they knew it. He was beaten a few times, and warned others. They were obviously careful not to kill him. It wasn't that he said anything wrong-he was absolutely honest about what he wrote. They didn't want it said. Mobsters often pictured themselves as benefactors.
If you find that strange, go back and read the pronouncements of some of the gang lords. Shirley Temple would melt in their mouths.
OLEG ORCHARD:
"I have to say, on looking back, that it was a hell of a period. There was violence and corruption galore. Money buys almost anything it needs. For a time.
Few newspapers, for a variety of reasons, printed things as they actually were. Some didn't know the truth and some avoided it rather than distort it. Some carried news stories without question or check-up. The one thing that was certain was: the bastards were in control.
Some newspapers were bombed, and other agencies blamed-not the mob. Personnel were threatened, acid thrown. It was safer to say nothing. Truth took a holiday in some large cities of our nation.
Not all the heat came from the mob. City Hall also put the screws on newsmen. Publicity was a weapon and politicians are notoriously shy when the white light is turned on them. The news guys knew who was taking and who was not-from their actions if nothing else. The politicians hated to have this information become public property. It affected votes.
Not that votes weren't bought. It might be better to say, the ballot boxes were bought. Why take a chance? Win the election at the source. One guy votes for everybody. That way it's nice and sure.
No mob can exist and do business without the knowledge and consent of police and civil authority.
"It was hard not to fall into the mob's clutches. They were velvet clutches and sticky with sugar. The mobsters knew how to wine and dine a prospect. The politicians learned from them. The hell with mouldy chicken and peas. The mob put out the best, with champagne and all the trimmings. Including broads.
The mob did the press favors, everything from a timely loan (that needn't be paid back) to girls. A lot of good men fell for the treatment.
Reporters are human, after all, despite what some people believe.
Like cops, they're not overpaid either. Certain guys were patted on the head and told what to write. In return they lived it up with fancy roadsters, trips to Florida and all the broads they could toast on a stick. A few of them got so big they had to be knocked down. With bullets.
Sometimes it was almost more than a stomach could stand, reading sob-stories in the press about the good deeds and public worries of mobsters. Capone said he worried about what the kiddies thought of him. Bullshit.
As I indicated, when the mob did the press favors, they wanted something in return. Good writeups. And suppression of certain news, not to mention slanting of news. The mob was also generous with donations. But with strings attached.
It is a fact that mobsters were often as stingy as they were greedy-and that's saying a lot.
I've been to a lot of stags, where naked girls popped out of cakes and such. Sometimes a reporter was 'honored' by a phony, mob-backed organization. He got dough and a plaque to put on his wall. Sometimes he had the decency to blush when he received it.
But when you're young, it's hard, as I saw, to turn down the food and the fun. Many times I was laid and relaid in some dingy hotel by mob-picked and paid-for broads. This is not a confession. Most of us had it happen at one time or another. You get suddenly taken drunk and when the girl shows up to help relieve the pains or the images, you don't have the strength to get up and toss her out the door. Besides, she is round and fully packed not to mention firm. Also, she has been told what to do and she goes right about doing it and pretty soon you don't struggle. Not if you're human.
I knew Luis Scalici, yes. He was a bag man, so they called him Boodles. He was a pleasant guy, as I remember. Not tough or pushy. He was soft-spoken and had hard brittle eyes.
The mob tagged him as a brain, and they gave him problems to solve. A guy named Kipper hung out at his elbow and did the dirty work if any needed doing. I doubt if Boodles could handle a rod. But then he didn't need to.
If I remember right, Boodles served a stretch for possession of narcotics. I met him about the time he came out. But I'm getting ahead. You asked about girls.
There was the tenderloin. It was a district where some of the high-priced houses were. A jumping spot. In those days the girls hung out in houses, not like they do today, relying on the telephone.
The madams were a colorful lot, most of them. You could get a drink and some good talk and a broad, all for a decent price. I' mnot a PTA expert so I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of legalized sin versus the free-form kind. Maybe permanent call houses is not the way.
We know that something is, whatever it may be. Because sin is here to stay, if the reports can be believed. Sin via whores has been around a hell of a long time and it'll be around for a time to come. I'm basing my argument on history, of course.
At any rate, with whorehouses, the take was easy to figure. The girls were in one place and lems except fixing the right people, the money went over the counter and no problems except fixing the right people.
I've seen a lot of cops in whorehouses. Sampling the wares. Politicians too.
I didn't mind that, but I knew all the madams. They told me the cops and the big shots got in free. Paid for by the mob. Naturally that was a few years ago. That doesn't happen anymore. Of course.