On this night back in 1920, ex-boxer Willie Lewis was wounded in his cabaret in what is the earliest phone booth set up the DGIS staff has yet uncovered.
Credited as the man who introduced American boxing to France prior to WWI Willie climbed into the ring for the first time in 1900 at the age of sixteen. During the war he promoted boxing matches in Paris for U.S. troops on leave.
Since the war he and some others opened the Chateau Thierry Cafe. Word had it that somebody was mad at Willie over a falling out over either a diamond ring or a girl or both. Either way on the evening in question things were slow at the club and Willie was joking around with the musicians and dancing girls when the phone in a rear booth rang. It was a call for Willie.
Just as he entered the booth two men entered the cafe. One headed straight for the phone booth while the other strode to the center of the dance floor and looked the joint over. The bartender didn't like the looks of the fellow on the dance floor so left his post to confront him. Before he made it a few steps however shots were heard.
Willie dropped with three pills in his back as the guy on the dance floor ran to the door, pulled out a pistol and covered the room until his associate made it out. Then he followed.
Mourn not for Willie folks, he made a full recovery and continued in the boxing game for years to come.
"He must have done something. They don't kill you for nothing." - Chicago Gangster Ted Newberry. Rubbed out January 7, 1933
2 comments:
Sure he wasn't singing "who wants to buy this diamond ring? She took it off her finger now, it doesn't mean a thing. This diamond ring doesn't shine for me anymore and this diamond ring doesn't mean what it did before..."
Nice Gary Lewis & the Playboys reference Ms. Atterbury and appropriate to, however the unpublicised theme of the week was the Rolling Stones, so each entry had a Stones reference.
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