"Go to Hell"

In Chicago the Incredible, the approach of April primaries brought about a recrudescence of the sort of things that have made the city world-infamous. Politicians hurled Chicago language of stunning crudity. Gangsters hurled Chicago "pineapples." The Chicago press hurled its disgust in a manner suitable to mass circulations.

Bombings. In Chicagoese, "pineapple" is a euphemism for an ugly, black, egg-shaped object known elsewhere as a hand-grenade. Since the first of the year they have been utilized 21 times by racketeers angry for one reason or another with fellow racketeers, politicians, bootleggers, gamblers. Last week "pineapples" exploded on the doorsteps of U. S. Senator Charles S. Deneen and Judge John A. Swanson. The results were mild for Chicago; no one was killed; only the fronts of two houses were blown to splinters.

Then, four days later, a thing too big to be called a "pineapple" failed to explode in the South Water Street market when wet snow snuffed out its sputtering fuse. It contained 17 sticks of dynamite, enough to wipe out an entire city block.

Who did the above deeds and why remained a mystery—the usual Chicago bombing mystery. Posters were tacked on fences and poles throughout the city, advertising $65,000 in rewards for information concerning the Deneen and Swanson pineapplers. Mayor William Hale ("Big Bill") Thompson, State's Attorney Crowe and others were sponsors of the rewards. Meanwhile, Chief of Police Michael Hughes reported: "It is almost impossible to trace bombers. There are 50 places in the city where dynamite can be purchased just as a person buys a package of cigarets."*

Gang Angle. Bootleg gangsters hold Senator Deneen responsible for a recent attempt at Prohibition enforcement, in which raids were staged on eleven cabarets that considered themselves immune from such treatment. That may have inspired the bombing as well as the assassination of "Diamond Joe" Esposito, gangster, Deneen henchman of the 25th ward, flashy hero of Chicago's Little Italy. Fortnight ago, "Diamond Joe" stood on a corner, five doors from his home, when an automobile drove up to the curb. There was a rat-tat-tat and the automobile drove away, leaving 58 slugs in the body of "Diamond Joe." He had a fine funeral. His coffin cost $5,000. Senator Deneen came from Washington to walk in the rain in a procession that stretched for a mile and a half.