April 2011 Issue of Informer

April 2011 Issue Contents
"The shadowy organization known as 'the Men of Montedoro' played an important role in the development of the American Mafia, serving as an adhesive force between the New York City and Buffalo Mafia clans, leading organized crime into the lucrative field of labor racketeering and blurring the boundary between underworld rackets and legitimate enterprises..."
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August 1870 daylight robbery of a Scranton, Pennsylvania, bank. Reprinted article.
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Miners led by Rev. Antonio Cerruti battle Black Hand racketeers in turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century northeastern Pennsylvania.
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Capone family travels from its home in Italy to the "Promised Land" of Brooklyn, New York. Book excerpt from Uncle Al Capone by Deirdre Marie Capone.
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Warner Files: A writer can only be as good as his sources. A column by Richard N. Warner.
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Dead Guys in Suits: It's in the bag. A column by Patrick Downey.
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Book Reviews: Young Al Capone by William and John Balsamo; Lucky Luciano: The Real and the Fake Gangster by Tim Newark.
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Northeastern Pennsylvania Mafia Chart by Bill Feather.
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Sixty-four pages. Published April 1, 2011.

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Men of Montedoro

April 2011 Issue ContentsFeature Article
By Thomas Hunt and Michael A. Tona

Near the turn of the Twentieth Century, Pennsylvania's northeastern coal fields became home to numerous immigrants from the Sicilian sulfur mining regions. Their trip across the Atlantic resulted in modest lifestyle improvements, but the new Americans still were plagued by perilous working conditions, abusive management and a ruthless Mafia organization.

Men of Montedoro

By Thomas Hunt

and Michael A. Tona

Rosario "Russell" Bufalino

"About one hundred and thirty miles west of New York City, an underworld organization took root in the early-1900s Italian coal-mining communities of northeastern Pennsylvania. The shadowy organization known as 'the Men of Montedoro' played an important role in the development of the American Mafia, serving as an adhesive force between the New York City and Buffalo Mafia clans, leading organized crime into the lucrative field of labor racketeering and blurring the boundary between underworld rackets and legitimate enterprises..."

Thirty-two pages, including a one-page sidebar, twenty-one images, three maps, a family tree and four and a half pages of notes.

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1870 Scranton Bank Robbery

April 2011 Contents
Short Article

Reprinted from the August 2, 1870, issue of the Scranton Republican: "One of the boldest, most adroitly panned and successfully managed burglaries occurred in this city yesterday forenoon at the Merchants' and Mechanics' Bank..."

One page.

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Miners Battle Black Handers

April 2011 Issue Contents
Feature Article
By Thomas Hunt

Anti-Mafia crusader Rev.Cerruti

"Sicilian/Italian crime in the northeastern Pennsylvania region - the communities of Carbondale, Scranton, Pittston, Browntown, Old Forge, Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton - was documented as early as 1888, when immigrants, including about one hundred and fifty Italians, toiled nearby on Lehigh Valley Railroad construction. On October 19 of that year, Paymaster 'Barney' McClure and Foreman Hugh Flannigan took a horse-drawn buggy from their work camp near Plains Township into Pittston to pick up the payroll for the Charles McFadden railroad construction company..."

Six and a half pages with five photographs and one page of notes.

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Capones Reach the Promised Land

April 2011 Issue Contents
Book excerpt
By Deirdre Marie Capone

An excerpt from Uncle Al Capone by Deirdre Marie Capone: "On the southwestern coast of Italy, just above the toe of the boot, lies the province of Salerno in the Campania region. Salerno is a busy port region, and it was there that they Allies landed in 1943. If you visit today, you will still find much of the ruins and destruction left by World War II. The little town of Angri, where the parents of Al Capone were born, is nestled in the heart of Salerno at the foot of the still-active volcano, Mount Vesuvius..."

Three and a half pages, one photograph.

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The Warner Files: Sources

April 2011 Contents
Column
By Richard N. Warner

A writer can only be as
good as his sources
Informer columnist Richard Warner examines some of the myths readers will encounter in popular underworld histories.
Two pages
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Dead Guys in Suits: Sack Murders

April 2011 Contents
Column
By Patrick Downey

It's In The Bag
In his first column for Informer, true crime author Patrick Downey addresses the "Sack Job" - the disposal of a murdered underworld colleague within a cloth bag left in plain view.
Two pages.

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Book Reviews: Capone, Luciano

April 2011 Contents
Book Reviews
By Ryan Artis and Thomas Hunt

Young Al Capone by the Balsamo brothers purports to chronicle the notorious Chicago gang boss's formative years, 1899 to 1925, in Brooklyn and Chicago. The book promises previously unrevealed facts and insights into Capone's rise and an as yet untold story of how he received his famous facial scars. The book ventures away from the standard formula of previous investigative biographies address the subject of Al Capone and other organized crime figures. It makes no reference to any of the sources used to compile the facts within its covers...

In Lucky Luciano: The Real and the Fake Gangster, author Tim Newark set out to dispel myths and "tell the true story of the legendary gangster..." It was an enormous undertaking, and the author deserves our appreciation for tackling a historical record so contaminated by decades of misinterpretations, exaggerations and outright lies. Unfortunately, Newark's book fell significantly short of its goal and may have provided additional support for some inaccurate underworld legends...

Book reviews: Five and a half pages.

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Northeast Pennsylvania Mafia Chart

April 2011 Contents
Membership Charts
By Bill Feather

The April issue includes a Northeastern Pennsylvania Mafia Membership Chart by Bill Feather. The three and a half-page chart includes more than 70 documented and suspected Mafiosi along with birth, death, immigration, relationship, rank and other information.
Three and a half pages.

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