Everything is Hotsy-Totsy Now

As the sun was preparing to rise over Manhattan on July 13, 1929, the Hotsy-Totsy Club was still jumping. The band was playing, people were dancing, drinking and carrying on in true Roaring Twenties fashion. 

On the premises were the clubs part owners Jack Legs Diamond and a confederate of his, Charles Entratta. At some point in the wee hours West Side bootlegger William "Red" Cassidy, who owned his own club and was part owner of a brewery with Owney Madden, stopped in with his brother Peter and a Sing Sing alumnus who went by Simon Walker.

To make a long blog entry short, after awhile and argument broke out. The words flew followed by bullets. In a matter of seconds Red Cassidy and Simon Walker were dead on the floor. Peter was wounded and Diamond and Entratta disappeared for months.

Though Cassidy and Walker were the only victims that night, a number of employees who witnessed the murders were also dispatched. Two Hotsy-Totsy employees, the entertainment manager Hymie Cohen and laborer Tommy Ribler simply disappeared. A few days later the perforated body of waiter/bartender William Wolgast popped up in Jersey, forever silenced.

Detectives caught up with Entratta first in Chicago. He was brought back to New York City for trial and beat the rap. After that Diamond surrendered and the charges against him were dropped. 

Simon Walker

To learn more about the Legs Diamond and the Hotsy-Totsy club check out Legs Diamond: Gangster.

Louis Loses

Thirty-four year old Louis Candia had made a small fortune bootlegging in Detroit. With his profits he bought the Tremont hotel and was part owner of a speakeasy called the Ocean View Yacht Club (an odd name considering Detroit is about 700 miles away from the nearest ocean). Due to his mis-management, and the fact that he was dealing in prostitution, he lost his hotel and was facing deportation.

Only July 9, 1930, Candia entered the Ocean View Yacht Club at the same time as another guy. They sat close to each other and soon and argument broke out and both men stood up and drew their weapons. Candia was late on the draw and was hit by three bullets. As he fell he fired off a shot but only succeeded in hitting the bar manager's hand, who was trying to prevent the gunfight. Candia was dead when he hit the floor and his killer escaped.

Initially, police thought that he may have been killed by a former associate for some old bootlegging grudge, but it was determined that the fight was over a woman.

Louis Candia and the Ocean View Yacht Club

 

The Last Delivery

Frank De Laurentis, a nephew of Chicago politician Diamond Joe Esposito, and John Tucillo, whose family was also well acquainted with the Espositos, were, according to a report, former members of the defunct Genna brothers gang who were now pushing booze for Ralph Sheldon's gang. 

Roman Duchovitz, who ran a saloon in the territory controlled by the Saltis-McErlane gang started buying his product from De Laurentis and Tucillo.

Not one to sit idle while his customers were poached, Joe Saltis paid a visit to Duchovitz and demanded to know when the two Sheldon men made their deliveries. On this date in 1926,  De Laurentis and Tucillo showed up at Duchovitz's saloon with some alcohol. Moments later a Lincoln sedan pulled up and four armed men entered the speakeasy. De Laurentis and Tucillo were marched out back to their own car and forced inside with three of the gunmen. The fourth followed in the Lincoln.

Later that night, with the curtains in the rear windows pulled close, a man pulled up in front of Sheldon's home in the De Laurentis and Tucillo auto. A neighbor stated that the man went to the front door and knocked but received no answer. Not surprising, because Sheldon, since his troubles with the Saltis-McErlane gang, was seldom seen at his house. With no answer at the door the man left in another car.

The De Laurentis- Tucillo car sat undisturbed in front of Sheldon's hose for nearly a week before the police were called to investigate. Thinking that it may have been stolen, officers looked inside and found the two alky peddlers in the back seat covered with a blanket.

L-R Frank De Laurentis and John Tucillo

Your dirty rat, you killed my brother...and me.

Alexander "Red" Applequist and his brother, Ernie, were  tending bar in their Chicago speakeasy.  Adorning the walls of their establishment were posters supporting the Republican candidates of an upcoming election. Red had a history of political activism having been arrested for killing a guy during some election day terrorism back in the teens. He got off on plea of self-defense. Ernie was said to have had close ties with North Side gangsters Dean O'Banion and George Bugs Moran. In addition to co-owning the speakeasy, Ernie was also the head of the City Chauffeur's union.

In recent weeks, Red confided to a friend that Capone henchman, Lawrance "Dago" Mangano had stopped by and told him to stop selling beer. Red told the friend that he did stop, but was hoping that if the politician he was promoting won the election, he'd be able to operate without worrying about the Capone forces.

On this night back in 1932, a couple of guys stopped in the Applequist speakeasy. Moments later both Applequist' lay behind the bar, each with a shotgun blast to the head. Police found four glasses of beer on the counter. Apparently Red didn't actually stop selling.

Two theories given for the double murder- Bumped off for defying Mangano or possibly troubles within the Chauffeur's union.

L: Alexander Red Applequist R: Ernie Applequist

Sullivan's final travel

Ninety-one years ago as this morning, around 9:00am,three shots rang out in the rear room of a speakeasy. This was followed by about eight guys vacating the parlor in speedy fashion. Other fellers who were enjoying their morning hooch hopped off their bar stools and ventured to the back  room where they found Mike Sullivan unconscious on the floor. They sent him to the hospital but he died.

Mike was an interesting guy. A good athlete who had done stunt work for D.W. Griffith, managed boxers and owned a semi pro baseball team. He also owned a speakeasy himself and a cigar store. Past achievements also included getting the vote out with some huskies from the Bronx.

Sports, movies, bootlegging, strong arm work...wonder which one caused his demise?

Beware the Ides of December

T'was just about 6:00a.m., in New York City, on this date back in 1927 when Richard Lubey crossed the threshold into his apartment after a long night of managing his speakeasy. At the ripe old age of six and twenty years, Lubey had many a crime attributed to him, crimes like gun possession, robbery and counterfeiting.

Anywho-ville, his wife who slumbered in the next room, heard him enter and begin to disrobe. First his coat and then his vest. But before anymore articles of clothing could be removed there was a rapping, some might say a gentle tapping, a tapping at the apartment door. "Tis some gangster," Lubey muttered, "tapping at my apartment door. Only this and nothing more."

Mrs. Lubey heard him answer the door but paid no attention to the conversation he had with the early morning visitor.
Ah, but she would henceforth remember/what happened next in that bleak December/ when from the underworld came forth a member/ come to settle a bootlegging score.
A bullet lodged above her bed/ which first passed through her husband's head/ her husband who now lay dead, dead upon the foyer floor.