City of Scoundrels: The 12 Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago (44 page)

  
4.
 Darrow’s quote is from an article he wrote for the
CDT
of March 23. “He disgraced Chicago” is from the
CDT
of March 6. Other denunciations of Thompson’s antiwar sentiments were cited in, for instance, the
CDT
of March 3, 22, 23, 26, and 27. “A guy was ashamed to acknowledge that he was from Chicago” was quoted in the
CDN
of March 1. “Honestly, I believe if that big fat Bolshevik crook” is from a letter, dated March 2, from First Sergeant Alfred B. Backer of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace to “Dear Folks” (unidentified photocopy in the research files of Douglas Bukowski).

  
5.
 For Lundin’s focus on the black, Irish, and German vote, see Leinwand,
Mackerels in the Moonlight
, p. 38, and Wendt and Kogan,
Big Bill of Chicago
, p. 168. “Damn him, we know he’s no good” is quoted in Davis, “Portrait of
an Elected Person,” p. 177. For Thompson’s campaigning on national issues, see Wendt and Kogan,
Big Bill of Chicago
, p. 170. For Thompson’s appearance before the “Old Eighth,” see the
CD
of February 22 (“You have come back decorated”); see also Ovington,
Walls Come Tumbling Down
, pp. 142–43; and Aylesworth and Aylesworth,
Chicago
, p. 11.

  
6.
 The background to the Illinois registration law is explained in the
CDT
of January 26.

  
7.
 Sweitzer’s advocacy of the emergency legislation was reported in the
CDT
of January 26. The passing of the Hughes bill 133–0 as reported in the
CDT
of March 21.

  
8.
 For the greatest sins in machine politics, see Allswang,
Bosses, Machines, and Urban Voters
, p. 23. See also George Washington Plunkitt’s dissertation on “Ingratitude in Politics” in Riordon,
Plunkitt of Tammany Hall
, pp. 33–36.

  
9.
 The details about Lowden’s life come principally from his authorized biography,
Lowden of Illinois
, a thorough, generally fair, but perhaps slightly too admiring account by William T. Hutchinson. Garland’s characterization of the governor (“the look of an English earl”) is cited in ibid., p. 75. Lowden’s willingness to accommodate machine politics, when necessary, is conceded in ibid., p. 260. For the colloquy at Eagle Lake, see ibid., p. 265.

10.
 On the intricacies of Chicago’s taxing and bonding limitations and the resulting structure of overlapping “governments,” see Merriam, Parratt, and Lepawsky,
Government of the Metropolitan Region of Chicago
, particularly pp. xv and 20.

11.
 For Lowden’s overhaul of the state government’s administrative structure, see Hutchinson,
Lowden of Illinois
, p. 314. “An endorsement from Thompson seemed almost equivalent to a blackball” is from ibid., p. 308.

12.
 “It was a hectic interview” and other quotes from that scene with Lundin come from Stuart,
20 Incredible Years
, p. 31.

13.
 Lowden’s flu was cited in his wife’s diary for 1919 in the Pullman-Miller Family Papers at the Chicago History Museum. Lowden’s signing of the Hughes bill was reported in the
CHE
of March 27 and the
CDT
of March 28.

14.
 The
CDN
of March 24 attributed the crime wave to “criminal politics” in city hall. “It is impossible to exaggerate the seriousness of the situation” was quoted in the
CDN
of March 24. The plot whose object was “the overthrow of the government of the United States” was reported in the
CHE
of March 11. For the Bolshevik squad, see Bukowski, “According to Image,” p. 146.

15.
 The election bettors “awaiting next week’s developments” as per the
CHE
of March 23. The
Tribune
plea (sometimes mistakenly described in the literature as a countersuit) is discussed in the
CDN
and
CDT
of March 26. The prediction that Sweitzer would run away with the election was reported in the
CDN
of
March 25. Ring Lardner’s column about dropping out of the race and running for king appeared in the
CDT
on April 5.

16.
 The scene at the Pekin Theatre, with quotations, was reported in the
CDT
of March 25.

17.
 “Never, on the eve of a Chicago mayoralty election” is from the
NYT
of March 30. “Downtown Chicago stood on its head” is from the
CDT
of March 30. The “hurling of stink bombs” was reported in the
CHE
of April 1. “Whenever [Mayor Thompson] drew up at the curb” is from the
CDT
of March 30.

18.
 The prediction of four hundred thousand total votes and the “general belief that party lines were [being] thrown to the wind” were in the
CDN
of April 1. Schmidt, in “
Chicago Daily News
and Illinois Politics,” p. 144, claims that the
CDN
cited Cook County’s ballot as the longest in the world. The account of Irma Frankenstein’s voting experience is from her diary (Irma Rosenthal Frankenstein Papers, box 3, folder 20).

19.
 Election figures are from Stuart,
20 Incredible Years
, pp. 16 and 73.

20.
 “Truth and justice have again prevailed” was quoted in the
CDJ
of April 1.

21.
 “Chicago’s Shame!” as reported in Wendt and Kogan,
Big Bill of Chicago
, p. 171. “It is difficult for outsiders to understand” and other quotes are from the
NYT
of April 3. “He becomes a minority mayor” is from the
CDN
of April 2. “Negroes Elect ‘Big Bill’ ” comes from the
CDJ
of April 1. For white resentment of black voting power as demonstrated in this election, see especially Rudwick,
Race Riot at East St. Louis
, p. 220.

22.
 “I have been maligned” is quoted in Wendt and Kogan,
Big Bill of Chicago
, p. 171. The lack of a congratulatory note from Lowden is described in Tuttle,
Race Riot
, p. 207.

CHAPTER SEVEN: ON THE WARPATH

  
1.
 “Re-Election Starts Mayor on Warpath” and subsequent quotes are from the
CDN
of April 2.

  
2.
 “Thompson Men Plan to Extend Rule in State” and the power over Lowden’s presidential hopes now held by Thompson are from the
CDT
of April 3. “Mayor Thompson let it be known” is from the
CHE
of April 3.

  
3.
 The Wheeler interview with Thompson and all quotes are reported in the
CDT
of April 2.

  
4.
 “A constructive program to boom Chicago” was quoted in the
CDT
of April 2. “Be a Chicago booster!” comes from Wendt and Kogan,
Big Bill of Chicago
, pp. 172–73. “A new spirit must control public officials” is from a speech text in the Frank O. Lowden Papers, series 3, box 36, folder 10. “Unless it is one absolutely necessary” was quoted in the
CHE
of April 28.

  
5.
 The text of Thompson’s address before the legislature was reprinted in the
anonymously published “Catechism: The Truth About Chicago’s Financial Condition,” pp. 16 and 22. For the success of Thompson’s plea and the reference to Lowden’s “delayed congratulations,” see the
CDJ
of April 29.

  
6.
 Baseball results are from the
CHE
of April 24 and 25. Lardner’s “I wished you could of [
sic
] seen” was in his column in the
CDT
of April 24. The opening of the White City Amusement Park was reported in the
CEP
of May 14. For the Wartime Prohibition Act, see Allen,
Only Yesterday
, pp. 14–15.

  
7.
 “My enemies have recently bored holes in the walls” is from an open letter “To the People of Chicago,” dated September 6, 1917, as quoted in Bukowski,
Big Bill Thompson
, p. 66. The actual transcript of an eavesdropped conversation between Thompson and Lundin is in the former’s Justice Department file, memo of May 2, 1921 (9–19–1206–3). (NB: Thanks to Douglas Bukowski for lending me his copy of this now-destroyed file.) “Big enough to blow out the entire side” quoted in Allen,
Only Yesterday
, p. 35. For the bomb plot, see also the
CDT
of May 1.

  
8.
 The rise in cost of living as per Bachin,
Building the South Side
, p. 290. The most thorough and useful work on Sandburg is Niven,
Carl Sandburg
. Also helpful to me were Helga Sandburg’s account of her parents’ marriage,
Great and Glorious Romance
, and Yanella,
Other Carl Sandburg
, which is especially good on the poet’s early political work. “I believe there are some big, live feature stories” is from a May 31 letter from Sandburg to Smith in the Carl Sandburg Papers at University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (Connemara Collection, 3–019–072).

  
9.
 “I am with all rebels everywhere” is from an undated (late 1919) letter from Sandburg to Romain Rolland (Carl Sandburg Papers, Sandburgiana Collection, 11–1919). For the best account of the Finnish agent episode, see Yanella,
Other Carl Sandburg
, pp. 123–30. Also see ibid., p. 133, for Sandburg’s coverage of the AFL convention.

10.
 “A sorry world” is quoted in Smith,
Colonel
, p. 218. The protest of twenty-five thousand Jews was reported in the
CDT
of May 22. The June 8 gathering as per Bukowski,
Big Bill Thompson
, p. 96.

11.
 For the Frankensteins’ membership in the city’s long-established German-Jewish community, as well as the quotation “in literature, my schoolwork,” see Klapper,
Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America
, p. 40. For Emily’s visit to the Christian Science lecture and quotations (“So very, very few healthy, robust people”), see her diary for February 2 and 3 (Emily Frankenstein Papers).

12.
 All quotations in this section are from Emily Frankenstein’s diary entries for June 6, 1918; June 12, 1918; and an undated entry on page 198 of the diary (Emily Frankenstein Papers).

13.
 For the Ellis Avenue bomb, see the
CDT
of April 7. Other bombings are per a
document in the Carl Sandburg Papers, “Interracial Situation in Chicago.” For the Harrison bombing, see Giddings,
Ida
, p. 595.

14.
 “Well, Negroes, you must get guns” is from the
BA
of April 5.

15.
 For the Barnetts’ new home on Grand Boulevard, see Wells-Barnett,
Memphis Diary of Ida B. Wells
, p. 196. For the makeup of the committee and the incident at city hall, see Giddings,
Ida
, p. 595, and the
BA
of June 7. “He could not put all of the police in Chicago on the South Side” is quoted in Giddings,
Ida
, p. 595.

16.
 “No man is big enough” is from the
NYT
of April 11.

17.
 “Smiles, tears, hugs, [and] kisses” and “the greatest parade the old town ever saw” are from the
CHE
of May 28. Thompson’s absence from other homecoming parades was noted in the
CDT
of May 27.

18.
 The alleged incident with the boy at the parade (“Gee, he’s here!”) was reported in the
CDT
of May 28.

19.
 “I failed to see the Mayor’s stand” was quoted in ibid.

20.
 The Aurora incident and conversation was reported in ibid., June 28.

CHAPTER EIGHT: GOING DRY

  
1.
 Scenes from the June 30 debauch come principally from the
CEP
of July 1 (“bowing to the Board of Trade Building”). Garrity’s vow of “dire vengeance” on offending proprietors was reported in ibid., June 29. The incident of the stolen whiskey barrel is from ibid., July 1. (NB: Wartime Prohibition did allow consumption of near beer and other very low-alcohol beverages.)

  
2.
 “The biggest carnival night in the history of Chicago” was the opinion of the
CHE
of June 29. The $2 million estimate is from the
CEP
of July 1. The smaller crowds in the soft drink emporiums were reported in the
CHE
of July 7. “Slums will soon only be a memory” is quoted in Behr,
Prohibition
, p. 82.

  
3.
 The Colonel’s ample stash of whiskey as per Morgan and Veysey,
Poor Little Rich Boy
, p. 233. The fifteen thousand doctors and fifty-seven thousand retail druggists applying for licenses are cited in Nelli,
Business of Crime
, p. 151. Lardner’s recipe (“Take a glass of sweet cider”) is from the
CDT
of July 14. Alternative sources of alcohol as cited in Behr,
Prohibition
, p. 85.

  
4.
 The June 17 attack is discussed in Spear,
Black Chicago
, p. 213. The assault on the white principal is from Diamond, “Hoodlums, Rebels, and Vice Lords,” pp. 39–40. The fatality report is from the
CHE
of June 23. The Charles W. Jackson incident was reported in the
CEP
of July 1.

  
5.
 The Garfield Boulevard signs and the warning to “prepare for the worst” were mentioned in
TNIC
, p. 57. The July 4 upset in the Polish neighborhoods is discussed in Bukowski,
Big Bill Thompson
, p. 96, and in Leinwand,
Mackerels in the Moonlight
, p. 33.

  
6.
 Sandburg “interviewing shopkeepers, housewives” is from Niven,
Carl Sandburg
, p. 336. “We made the supreme sacrifice” is quoted in ibid., p. 337.