The Mafia During the 1920s :: Al Capone

Alphonse Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York, January 17, 1899. Al, as most people knew him as, was perhaps the most famous of all American mobsters. Growing up in Brooklyn, Al acquired "an education in petty crime and the name of "Scarface Al" because of a razor slash across his face."(Grolier, Capone) Capone later moved to Chicago and survived the gang wars of the 1920's by having his rivals killed. In 1929 Capone's gang dreesed as policemen, and executed seven members of the "Bugs" Morgan gang; this was later known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. By the end of the 1920's he dominated the bootlegging of liquior, which brought him an inncome of more than $20 million a year.(Grolier, Capone) The federal authorities finally suceeded in capturing Capone where the Chicago police had failed. Capone was so good at covering his tracks that the federal authorities could only get him on income-tax evasion. In October 1931, Capone was fined $80,000 and sentanced to 11 years in prision. (Grolier, Capone) Al Capones life has been portrayed on film several times due to his popularitym as a mobster. When he was released in November 1939 he was terminaly ill with syphillis, and died on his Flordia estate January 25, 1947. St. Valentine Massacre At 10:20 a.m. on Saint Valentine's Day in 1929, Chicago was brimming with sunshine. Even the George ("Bugs") Moran booze-peddling depot on North Clark Street was peaceful. This depot was marked as a garage for the S.M.C. Cartage Co. On this morning, six underworld figures presided, waiting for coffee. Another man, wearing overalls, tinkered with a beer vat on a truck, completing the total to seven men. Just ten minutes later, the men glanced at each other, alarmed. A fast blue car eased into the curb outside the depot. The car produced four men. Two, dressed as police, held sub-machine guns. The other two, shabbily dressed, carried shotguns. All the gangsters raised their hands over their heads. The four visitors marched them to the back of the garage and lined them up against the far wall. They were frisked for weapons. One of the men inquired as to what was happening, and one of the four new men shouted, "give it to 'em!" From the four guns streamed 100 bullets, of which only eight reached the wall behind the victims. One man tried to escape, but a bullet shot at nearly point blank range ripped through his head.