Late in March the ex-con chief of a large homo-extortion was killed in the Loop in a gun battle with 2 mufti-cops. Detectives Richard Cain (who posed as a homosexual to make an arrest) and Gerald Shallow, exchanged shots with "Uncle Harry' Fiegel, head of ring of 15 to 20 youths who extorted as high as $1,000 a day from homosexuals. Playing the part of a mark, Cain gave blackmail money to Fiegel, then showed his badge, whereupon Fiegel began shooting, but was himself gunned down. Cain said an unnamed member of the gang had helped arrange the trap, which followed the usual routine, in which a young gang member would start a conversation with a victim, whereupon Fiegel would appear, acting the part of an outraged uncle-or a Sex Bureau detective-and would threaten to beat up or arrest the victim unless he forked over $100 or so. Fiegel had a reputation as a sadist. He frequently beat up nonpaying victims, as well as members of his own gang.
More recently, State and Federal authorities joined in another, and ridiculously melodramatic, raid on Calumet's notorious street of sin -a major attraction for conventioneers in Chicago. This stemmed from failure of Calumet's city council to appoint a new police chief after the former one was dropped for alleged failure to enforce the law. State's Attorney investigators, carrying shotguns, sub-machineguns and tear gas-but no search or arrest warrants-swept into the area and loaded 54 women and 44 men (owners and employees) into busses and took them to the criminal court building, then to the U.S. Courthouse, where they were not booked, but held for publicity's sake. U.S. Dist. Atty. Robert Tieken, playing down the illegal aspects of the raid, said it was part of an
over-all war on organized crime, covering federal offenses.
From the east coast comes a letter signed "Bill" which says NYC gay bars are expecting a long, "hot" summer. Bill talks about a quiet vacation in Sausalito, which reminds me I forgot to report the fuss there. New Topcop Goerndt announced right off a drive on homosexuals, pulled in his horns a bit later to explain that he meant out-of-town homosexuals only. On one evening, a task force of 17 state, county and city vice officers descended on the small art-resort community north of San Francisco, and after hours of searching, started one riot in a beatnik place, and found one allegedly genuine homosexual. By the way, is it true that if a Sausalito police official flunks the civil service test, the test can be rigged two or three times so he can pass it?
A Coast Guard "instruction" of last Oct. 20th (since superseded, no doubt) for the New York district, listed 3 pages of bars and cafes, and a few auto dealerships (!) as "Out of Bounds (Off Limits)" for all military personnel. The Joint Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board had of that date put the nix on Arty's Restaurant, the Bagatella Restaurant, Seven Steps Cafe, Swing Rendezvous, Town Cafe and several others in NYC, the Entertainer's Club, the Jockey Club, Paddock Bar, et al in Jersey, The Allegro, Maxine's, the Pirate Ship, the Hideaway, et al, in Philly, etc. Couple of these have since been closed . .
Dear "Bill"-thanks for the clippings and the letter. I'd like to comment on a couple of points you raised. One, the "success" stories we've printed were not faked, even tho the interviews weren't necessarily verbatim. Second, if the editor of the letters column prints a lot of "I-wish-l-could-send-more-money-
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