Salt Lake Telegram | 1930-10-24 | Page 16 | Fleagle and Diamond Contrast

1 Fleagle and Diamond Contrast I j notorious bad men were overtaken F i by the traditional fate ate of bad had men rec recently recently re re- c and h. h a comparison of the men and their careers is exceedingly eloquent as a commentary on the trend of American civili civili- n. n One of these men was Jake Fleagle shot down in a small Missouri town after having been hunted for more than two years for a Colorado bank robbery Three of Fleagle's b buddies were hanged for the crime erime and Fleagle himself escaped hanging only by dying dying dy dy- dy- dy ing from the effect of his wound The other man was was' Jack Diamond known as Legs who was shot down in a New Ne York h hotel tel suite by some of his professional rivals D Diamond amond had one of the most extensive police records known to man He had been een suspected suspected sus sus- sus- sus p of too many crimes for any mortal to remember He was supposed to be a sort of king in iii New Yorks York's underworld r. r Fleagle gle can be said to represent the old type of American badman man Diamond the new Fleagle's career typified the career of the Jesse James outlaws Diamonds Diamond's was of the Dion bion OBanion Al Capone kind Fleagle was chased all over the country b by offic officers rs of half a dozen states aided by byU byU byU U S. S postal inspectors He was hounded re rel relentlessly re- re l by officers whose one idea was to tog tog g gt t him and bring him to the gallows In the end end- he was caught and killed Diamond was in a totally different situa situa- tion Although his record was long longhe he f feared ared the thc police not at all His comings and goings goings' w were re recorded in the daily papers No one one could pin anything on him Any officer who chased him had to chase discreetly lest he lie hea a actually catch him Diamond was supposed to be the heir of Arnold Rothstein who ruled New Yorks York's underworld un- un in a fabulous manner Rothstein was as s never bothered d by the polite police although il it it was open knowledge that he was a dope peddler ped ped- dier a r rum m runner a gunman a crooked gambler and half a dozen other oilier things thing When h he lie was vas killed tIe the police were positively embarrassed embarrassed embarrassed em em- in their inv investigation of his murder em Crid and his passing Right now they seem to be similarly embarrassed by their investigation of Diamonds Diamond's shooting T Thus we have an instructive contrast F eagle was as an outlaw in the literal sense o othe of the word He was outside the law Every Everyman's Everyn n mans nian's ans an's hand w was vas s against him The police harried har liar ned ried him until unfit they caught him He was o othe of the old type Diamond like Rothstein and Capone and ands scores s ores of other big city alley y rats was not an ai j outlaw at all H He wa was inside the law He Her r r had d connections FI He could laugh at th the thep p police lice He lie was of of the new type type the the type that flourishes today in every large American city In the contrast between these two gunmen there is a world of comment on the sort o of civilization we have in America today loday