National Affairs: It's the Ticker, Doc

It was enough to baffle an electrocardiograph; a strange outbreak of heart and circulatory diseases seemed to be sweeping through the oddest levels of the St. Louis social structure. Police Commissioner John T. English, of East St. Louis, just across the Mississippi in Illinois, announced that he had a heart condition. Leo Dougherty, the Democratic boss of East St. Louis, checked into a Chicago hospital with "a coronary." Then Charles J. ("Kewpie") Rich, a big bookie, discovered that his ticker was acting up.

Even James J. Carroll—a big-league gambler whose operation is so smooth that St. Louis newspapers long referred to him...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!