When Weiss Went to the Lord in front of Holy Name Cathedral, my granddad went to Medicine Hat, Alberta for two years, "for his health." Didn't come back until Capone went to Atlanta.
Side note: My father remembered when he was small helping to make Bathtub Booze in the basement. Caramelized sugar for color, half tap water, iodine for bourbon, drops of kerosene for bottled in bond scotch. My dad wouldn't have scotch in the house...
That War on Demon Rum really worked...
The REAL secret of the Chicago Outfit:
Capone was a front guy, the visible face of the Outfit, for Frankie LaPorte, in Chicago Heights. Laporte ran the Mob, and told Capone what to do. He never spent a day in jail, never got his picture taken.
Yeah, that prohibition stuff really worked, didn’t it. That FIL I mentioned (from my first wife). We’d go to their house for a visit on the weekends. They’d still have stuff brewing and this was back in the 70’s. Mostly wine at that time, but old habits die hard. He was a heck of a guy, that FIL, too bad he had the daughter he did. I miss him, but not her.
He later became a master carpenter and taught me what I know about remodeling. Nothing near approaching his knowledge, but I can do stuff if I have to. He had one index finger almost gone, but when making a point he’d point that stub at you, with his shot glass on the bar in front of him, . HA! What a guy.
::: used to make weekly trips to Detroit :::
I’m betting he made a stop-over in my home town, Albion, MI. The Purple Gang had a warehouse there. The last of the Gang was still around until just after I graduated from college.
He’d do nothing but walk the streets downtown and eat at the Colonial Cafe. Always with the black fedora with a purple band.