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A PARTNERSHIP MADE IN HELL
In November of 1911, after Inspector Cornelius Hayes led his
raid on Rosenthals WestForty-Fifth Street gambling house, Rosenthal
was basically broke and needed a partner to reopen
his gambling house. Since Becker was in the newspapers so often,
and was such a big shot whenit came to destroying, or allowing
gambling houses to prosper, Rosenthal thought Becker wouldbe a
perfect mate to partner with.
Rosenthal said in the July 14, 1912 edition of theNew York
World, The first time I metCharles Becker was at a ball given by
the Order of the Elks on Forty-Third Street near SixthAvenue, and
we had a very good evening, and drank freely, and became very good
friends. Ournext meeting was by appointment on New Years Eve, 1912,
at the Elks Club.
We drank a lot of champagne that night and later in the morning
we were all pretty
under the weather. Becker put his arms around me and kissed me.
He said, Anything in theworld for you Herman. Ill get up at three
oclock in the morning to do you a favor. You can
have anything Ive got.
Knowing Beckers reputation as a cad, its hard to believe Becker
used exactly thosewords. ButRosenthal was a well-known
bull-thrower, so its safe to presume they probably met for the
firsttime at the Elks Club and at their second meeting at the Elks
Clubs New Years Eve celebration,
they most likely came to an agreement as to how much Rosenthal
needed to cough up not to havehis joint raided on a regular basis
(Rosenthal said he had to give 20 percent of his profits
toBecker).
Rosenthal later also claimed, as one of the conditions for
taking in Becker as a partner,Becker had to loan Rosenthal $1,500
for operating expenses and to spruce up the gambling hall.Rosenthal
also said that to receive the $1,500, Rosenthal had to sign legal
papers putting upRosenthals house furniture, or chattel, as
collateral, in case Rosenthal reneged on the loan.
However, Becker denied he had any financial arrangement at all
with Rosenthal. On July13, 1912, Becker told theNew York Times, I
have never been connected with him in any way,either in business,
or friendship. He tried hard to make it seem I was by inviting me
to dinner inpublic places, but I always declined.
So its clear, one of them was lying; or they both were lying.
The latter seems most
likely.What we do know is this: Becker and Rosenthal came to
some sort of agreement that
either Rosenthal would pay Becker a flat sum per week to keep
his joint open, or a percentage ofthe profits (most likely a flat
sum, since Becker could not prevent Rosenthal from cooking
thebooks). That was all well and good for Becker; he was shaking
down so many gamblingestablishments in town, one more trophy in his
case could do him no harm.
Or could it?The problem was that Police Commissioner Waldo was
getting letters complaining about
Rosenthals establishment being allowed to operate. The rumor was
that old archenemy BridgeyWebber, whose gambling joint was just
down the block from Rosenthals, was the author ofthese letters. As
a result, Waldo put the pressure on Becker to raid Rosenthals
place, and Becker
told his partner Rosenthal that he hadno choice but to follow
the police commissionerscommands.
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Becker told Rosenthal something like, Whats the big deal? Ill
give you advance notice
of the raid so that you can hide all your valuable equipment.
Plus, you can make yourself scarceon the night of the raid so you
wont have to spend the night in jail. Then in a few days, youllput
your best stuff back in the joint and well be back in business like
before.
Rosenthal told Becker something like, Go spit in your hat! Youre
my partner and ifmy
joint gets axed, Ill make your life miserable!It was not such a
great idea for a little nobody like Rosenthal to dictate to big,
bad Lieut.Becker what he could do and what he could not do. So at
around 10 p.m., April 17, 1912, Beckerwith his Special (Strong Arm)
Squad plus a battalion of policemen, raided Rosenthals Forty-Fifth
street sporting club. As a favor, Becker did warn Rosenthal in
advance, so little Hermanhid in a hallway down the block and waited
for the raid to reach its conclusion.
Rosenthal said Becker contacted him the next day and told him
not to worry; that Beckerhimself would fork over the money caused
by his mens action.
Five hundred bucks should do the trick, Becker allegedly told
Rosenthal.There is no proof this money actually changed hands, but
what is known is that
Rosenthals club remained closed for weeks, and that one of the
people arrested in the raid was
Rosenthals favorite nephew, Herbert Hull, a 17-year-old with no
criminal record. WhenRosenthals nephew was indicted a few weeks
later, Rosenthal demanded and received a privatesummit with Becker.
The two men, acting like Russian spies, held a clandestine
meeting;reportedly in a New York City taxi cab. Nothing was
accomplished at this meeting, andaccording to Rosenthal, the two
men left on very bad terms.
