Empire of Deception
Page 29
101 fully confident that everything “Back from Bayanoland,” Chicago Daily News, December 18, 1923.
101 some oil play in Panama William D. McCain, The United States and the Republic of Panama (New York: Russell and Russell, 1965), 102–3. Gulf and another big player, Sinclair Oil, had ceased their exploration efforts by 1929, McCain notes, “without apparent success.”
102 The chief articles of export James Langland, ed., Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year-Book for 1924 (Chicago: Chicago Daily News Company, 1923), 649.
102 SHOOT “Chicagoans Sent to Big Paying Jobs, Borrow Carfare,” Chicago Evening American, December 18, 1923.
102 Leo Kahnweiler, a diamond salesman Kahnweiler and Agatstein described the events that follow in Transcript of Record, December 10, 1924, pp. 2–3, 7–10, filed in Lewy Brothers Co. v. The Chicago Title and Trust Company. RG 276: Records of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit Court—Chicago, Records and Briefs, case no. 3523, NARA, Chicago.
103 a small fortune in jewels “Koretz Relatives to Give Up $300,000,” Chicago Daily News, December 13, 1923; and “Doris Keane Sought as Key in Koretz Hunt,” Chicago Daily News, December 22, 1923.
103 turned up at his brother’s Emil described his meeting with Leo in press interviews and court testimony. See, for instance, “Koretz Dupes Get $400,000,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 14, 1923.
103 dinner at a South Side hotel “Koretz Tells His Life Story,” Chicago Daily News, December 2, 1924; and “Koretz Tells How the ‘Suckers’ Bit,” New York Times, December 3, 1924.
104 Sarah Mandel was at home She described her meeting with Leo in several press accounts, including “Teacher, Her Brother Surrender $25,000 Koretz ‘Oil Dividend,’” Chicago Evening American, December 14, 1923.
105 Leo bid us good-by “Koretz in Texas, Is Latest Clue,” Chicago Evening American, December 22, 1923.
105 Leo accepted their invitation The job offer and the dinner with the Schoeners were widely reported in the Chicago papers and in “Say Koretz Planned Christmas ‘Clean-up,’” New York Times, December 17, 1923.
106 Julius Koretz was in New York Julius’s testimony describing his last night with Leo appeared in the following press accounts: “Woman Gives New Clew to Leo Koretz,” Chicago Daily News, December 20, 1923; “Charge Koretz Took Half of $200,000 Estate,” Chicago Evening Post, December 20, 1923; “Crowe on Hot Koretz Trail,” Chicago Daily Journal, December 20, 1923; “Koretz In-Laws under Quiz,” Chicago Evening American, December 21, 1923; and “Hunt Koretz ‘Conscience’ Fund,” Chicago Evening American, December 22, 1923.
107 We are in sight of land “Launch World-Wide Hunt for Koretz, Who Swindled Chicago Business Men Out of Millions,” Chicago Evening Post, December 13, 1923.
107 promoters and would be experts C. D. Mell, “A Report on the Timber Tract of the Bayano River Lumber Company in the Province of Panama, R.P.” (unpublished typescript, no date), New York Botanical Garden, LuEsther T. Mertz Library, Bronx, NY. While Mell’s report states the month but not the year of his inspection tour, Ellis Island passenger lists confirm he visited Panama in 1923 and returned to New York on December 27 aboard SS Cristobol.
108 we began to worry a bit “Koretz Panama Explorers Tell of Alligators,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 19, 1923.
108 We were staggered “Chicagoans Sent to Big Paying Jobs, Borrow Carfare,” Chicago Evening American, December 18, 1923.
108 The blueprint is a big fake Research notes labeled “True: Koretz, Leo,” p. 9 (Swanberg Papers) (see chap. 7 notes).
109 “Why,” they were told “Koretz Panama Explorers Tell of Alligators,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 19, 1923.
109 NO TRACE OF THE LAND The telegrams are quoted in “Launch World-Wide Hunt for Koretz, Who Swindled Chicago Business Men out of Millions,” Chicago Evening Post, December 13, 1923; “Oil Swindle Nets Millions,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 13, 1923; and “Cashed 40 Checks for $400,000,” Chicago Evening American, December 15, 1923.
109 we were convinced “Chicagoans Sent to Big Paying Jobs, Borrow Carfare,” Chicago Evening American, December 18, 1923. Klein described some of the events in Panama in his Affidavit in Aid of Extradition, sworn November 20, 1924, pp. 2–3. RG 59, State Department records, Central Decimal File, 1910–1929, file 242.11 K84: Leo Koretz—As Tabbed, Box 3383, NARA, College Park, MD.
110 nothing of importance “Torn Letter Clew to ‘Other’ Koretz Loves,” Chicago Daily News, December 15, 1923.
110 greatly upset “Koretz Writes Son to Be Honest Man,” Chicago Daily News, December 27, 1923.
CHAPTER 14
111 hurtled westward Details of the wreck of the Twentieth Century Limited, unless otherwise noted, are drawn from “9 Die, 39 Injured in Wreck,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 10, 1923, republished in 13 Bell-Ringers of 1923: News Stories Selected for Exceptional Merit from the Thousands Written by Chicago Tribune Reporters during the Past Year (Chicago: Chicago Tribune, 1923), 59–64; “15 Die in Century Wreck,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 9, 1923; “Engineer Admits He Speeded Past Caution Signals,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 12, 1923; and “No Century Wreck Inquest,” Chicago Daily News, December 12, 1923.
112 We thought he had been killed Emil’s quotations appeared in “Koretz Dupes Get $400,000,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 14, 1923; and “Woman in Koretz Case,” Chicago Daily Journal, December 14, 1923.
112 desperate to confront Leo George Murray, a former Hearst reporter in Chicago, told of Polachek’s trip to the station in search of Leo in his memoirs. Polachek, he wrote, invested $80,000 “in a Zionist scheme floated by the Ponzi of the time” and decided “to meet the man at the train and get his money back before the swindler got wind of the danger and tried to flee.” While Murray did not name the promoter, Polachek is listed in court documents as one of Leo’s creditors and filed a claim for $22,000. George Murray, The Madhouse on Madison Street (Chicago: Follett, 1965), 218–19, 222; List of claims filed and allowed … third and final dividend, October 30, 1926, p. 10, filed in In the Matter of Leo Koretz, Bankrupt (Chicago) (see chap. 1 notes).
112 Arrangements were made “Woman in Koretz Case,” Chicago Daily Journal, December 14, 1923.
113 a letter arrived for Milton Simon Descriptions of the arrival of Leo’s letter and the contents of the suitcase are based on the testimony of Simon and Klarkowski. Transcript of Record, December 10, 1924, pp. 8–9, 11–12, filed in Lewy Brothers Co. v. The Chicago Title and Trust Company (see chap. 13 notes).
113 she would never keep his tainted money Leo explained his motives at his bankruptcy hearing. See “10 Year Prison Term Confronts Koretz,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 3, 1924.
113 If you think my son “Koretz Writes Son to Be Honest Man,” Chicago Daily News, December 27, 1923.
113 Dear Son Mandel recited the letter, as he remembered it, at Leo’s bankruptcy hearing. This version appeared in “Don’t Follow My Example, Koretz Writes His Son,” Chicago Evening Post, December 27, 1923.
114 might put bad thoughts “Claims Koretz Gave Wife Cash,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 28, 1923.
114 I can’t touch that money Details of the family conference and the legal advice given the family are drawn from “Woman Gives New Clew to Leo Koretz,” Chicago Daily News, December 20, 1923.
115 personally led the raid Details of the searches of the Majestic Building office and the Drake suite are based on the following press reports: “Koretz Relatives to Give Up $300,000,” Chicago Daily News, December 13, 1923; “Oil Swindle Nets Millions,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 13, 1923; “Meteoric Rise to Wealth of ‘Self-Made’ Koretz,” Chicago Evening American, December 14, 1923; “Koretz Loot May Be $7,000,000,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 14, 1923; and “Koretz Dupes Get $400,000,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 14, 1923.
116 It looks like a serious case “See Million Oil Swindle,” Chicago Daily News, December 12, 1923.
116 There are a hundred other
“Oil Swindle Nets Millions,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 13, 1923.
CHAPTER 15
119 OIL SWINDLE NETS MILLIONS The headlines appeared in the December 12 edition of the Chicago Daily Journal and the December 13 editions of the Chicago Daily Tribune and the Chicago Evening Post.
119 Koretz worked almost exactly opposite “Koretz Dupes Get $400,000,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 14, 1923.
119 LAMBS SOUGHT OUT KORETZ Chicago Daily Journal, December 13, 1923.
119 DUPED BY SON Chicago Evening American, December 14, 1923.
120 World’s Greatest Newspaper The motto, first used in advertisements in 1909, was registered as a trademark and began appearing on page 1 in 1911. John Tebbel, An American Dynasty: The Story of the McCormicks, Medills and Pattersons (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1947), 82. Circulations of Chicago’s dailies are based on figures that appear in Lloyd Wendt, Chicago Tribune: The Rise of a Great American Newspaper (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1979), 458, 486, 491.
121 wily, bold and imaginative McPhaul, Deadlines and Monkeyshines, 113 (see chap. 1 notes).
121 coarseness and slang and a low tone Robert W. Jones, Journalism in the United States (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1947), 431, 450–53 (emphasis in original).
121 “plugged” crime and scandal W. A. Swanberg, Citizen Hearst: A Biography of William Randolph Hearst (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1961), 351.
121 A GOOD Newspaper Chicago Evening American, December 14, 1923.
121 A Paper for the Family Chicago Evening American, December 21, 1923.
121 KILLS MOTHER IN ROW Chicago Evening American, December 14, 1923.
121 Fist was her dentist Chicago Evening American, December 21, 1923.
121 a screaming woman running Swanberg, Citizen Hearst, 35; Ben Hecht, A Child of the Century (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954), 144.
121 cheap, trashy and senseless stuff H. L. Mencken. “Reflections on Journalism: From the Baltimore Evening Sun, Dec. 29, 1924,” in The American Journalism History Reader, ed. Bonnie Brennen and Hanno Hardt (New York: Routledge, 2011), 147.
121 to unearth, snatch or wangle Descriptions of newsgathering practices are drawn from the memoirs of McPhaul and Hecht. See McPhaul, Deadlines and Monkeyshines, 8, 12–13, 91–92, 123–24, 176–81 (see chap. 1 notes); and Hecht, A Child of the Century, 113, 123–24, 126.
122 critics dismissed the central characters Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, and George W. Hilton, The Front Page: From Theater to Reality (Hanover, NH: Smith and Kraus, 2002), 19, 40–41.
123 so that the family would get “Reveals Woman Spy in Koretz Swindle,” Chicago Daily News, December 14, 1923.
123 unusually honest “Koretz Dupes Get $400,000,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 14, 1923.
123 KORETZ KIN WHO SCORNED Chicago Evening American, December 15, 1923.
123 I thought I was rich “Koretz Reported to Be within Day’s Train Ride of City,” Chicago Evening Post, December 19, 1923.
123 Leo … is still our brother “‘Fox’ Seen in Loop Monday; Plane, Pilot Hunted,” Chicago Evening American, December 15, 1923.
123 This—this isn’t our shame “Old Mother of Koretz Collapses,” Chicago Evening American, December 14, 1923.
123 I was never so disappointed “Koretz’s Rise to Wealth Reads Like Dime Novel,” Chicago Evening Post, December 13, 1923.
124 I cannot understand “‘Ponzi’ Koretz Once Feted at De Luxe Feast,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 14, 1923.
124 That … tells the story “More Participators Tell Experiences with Koretz,” Chicago Evening American, December 15, 1923.
124 It is amazing “Woman in Koretz Case,” Chicago Daily Journal, December 14, 1923.
124 undoubtedly the cleverest “Koretz N.Y. Victims Found,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 17, 1923.
124 suffered from a sort “Friends Sorrow for Plight of Wife of Swindler; Aid Her,” Chicago Evening American, December 14, 1923.
124 I am having the will changed “More Participators Tell Experiences with Koretz,” Chicago Evening American, December 15, 1923.
124 It is like a nightmare “Koretz’s Rise to Wealth Reads Like Dime Novel,” Chicago Evening Post, December 13, 1923.
124 It seems astounding “Crowe on Hot Koretz Trail,” Chicago Daily Journal, December 20, 1923.
124 There are so many inexplicable “Girl Offers Koretz Clue,” Chicago Evening Post, December 14, 1923.
125 I am still unable “Wife’s Advice Keeps Judge from Quitting Bench for Koretz Job,” Chicago Evening American, December 15, 1923.
125 Everything is fine, just fine “Mrs. Koretz Is Heroic as Her World Crashes,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 14, 1923.
125 WIFE SUFFERS, TOO Chicago Evening American, December 15, 1923.
125 LEFT DESTITUTE BY KORETZ Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 14, 1923.
125 Why are they talking about “Mrs. Koretz Will Work,” Chicago Daily News, December 17, 1923.
125 She is a very sick “Wife of Koretz Seriously Ill in Collapse,” Chicago Evening American, December 15, 1923.
126 greatest rogue of modern times “Psychology of Leo Koretz,” Chicago Literary Times 1, no. 21 (January 1, 1924): 1–2. There is no byline on the piece, but Hecht described himself as the paper’s “chief and sometimes sole contributor” and noted that his friend and associate editor, Maxwell Bodenheim, “fitfully helped me fill the pages.” Hecht, A Child of the Century, 319–20, 338–39. Hecht parlayed his success as a playwright into a career as a Hollywood screenwriter. When he wrote the screenplay for 1939’s It’s a Wonderful World, starring James Stewart and Claudette Colbert, he offered a tip of the hat to Leo by giving one of the supporting characters, a policeman, the name Sergeant Koretz.
126 There was no other woman “Launch World-Wide Hunt for Koretz, Who Swindled Chicago Business Men out of Millions,” Chicago Evening Post, December 13, 1923.
CHAPTER 16
127 Koretz? Where do they get Davidson’s comments and his description of Bronson have been compiled from reports in the Chicago papers.
128 a tremendous shock Auerbach’s comments were reported in “Koretz Liked the Ladies, but Liked ’Em Safely Married,” Chicago Evening American, December 15, 1923; and “2 True Bills in $7,000,000 Fraud, Report,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 15, 1923.
129 He was a Don Juan “Seek 2 Chicago Women Friends of Oil Juggler,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 16, 1923.
129 You can do well McPhaul, Deadlines and Monkeyshines, 172 (see chap. 1 notes).
129 She lives in a fashionable “Police Guard Hotel Room of Mrs. Auerbach to Serve Subpoena in Koretz case,” Chicago Evening Post, December 15, 1923.
129 I don’t want to cast odium Chicago Daily Tribune, December 15, 1923.
130 BARE KORETZ’S DOUBLE LIFE Ibid.
130 Here … he passed his afternoons “Torn Letter Clew to ‘Other’ Koretz Loves,” Chicago Daily News, December 15, 1923.
130 She was not the woman “Police Guard Hotel Room of Mrs. Auerbach to Serve Subpoena in Koretz Case,” Chicago Evening Post, December 15, 1923.
130 I wasn’t the only woman “Torn Letter Clew to ‘Other’ Koretz Loves,” Chicago Daily News, December 15, 1923.
130 I have absolute faith “Cite Wife of Auerbach in Koretz Case,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 16, 1923.
132 TORN LETTER CLEW Chicago Daily News, December 15, 1923. The contents of the letter and Leo’s links to Fraser and Schoener were the subject of numerous reports in the Chicago press and the New York Times.
132 not unattractive little woman “Koretz Mystery Woman Found,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 17, 1923.
132 I shudder now to think “Arrest Mrs. Auerbach, Is Police Order,” Chicago Daily News, December 17, 1923.
132 Koretz’ complicated affairs “Torn Letter Clew to ‘Other’ Koretz Loves,” Chicago Daily News, December 15, 1923.
132 I drove a great part “N.Y. Woman Tells of Tip on Flight of Prom
oter,” Chicago Evening American, December 17, 1923; and “Arrest Mrs. Auerbach—Order,” Chicago Daily Journal, December 17, 1923.
133 series of “love nests” “Koretz Knew Women in Many Cities,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 17, 1923; and “Say Koretz Planned Christmas ‘Clean-up,’” New York Times, December 17, 1923.
133 For four days “Seek 2 Chicago Women Friends of Oil Juggler,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 16, 1923.
133 the ancient triumvirate Ibid.
133 real cause of the swindler’s flight “Bare Koretz’s Double Life,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 15, 1923.
133 several times against her will “Order ‘Koretz Plane’ Stopped,” Chicago Daily Journal, December 13, 1923.
133 I want action “Question Mrs. Auerbach on Flight of Koretz,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 18, 1923.
134 My only acquaintance with him Auerbach’s statement and Sbarbaro’s comments are drawn from two press reports: “Question Mrs. Auerbach on Flight of Koretz,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 18, 1923; and “Koretz Indicted; U.S. Warrant for Arrest Issued,” Chicago Evening Post, December 18, 1923.
134 I knew and know nothing “Call Kin before Grand Jury,” Chicago Evening American, December 17, 1923.
134 We have no desire “Question Mrs. Auerbach on Flight of Koretz,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 18, 1923.
134 concerned itself as much with inquiring “Koretz Reported to Be within Day’s Train Ride of City,” Chicago Evening Post, December 19, 1923.
134 We find that a grave injustice These quotations appeared in “Locate Koretz, Expect Arrest in a Few Days,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 20, 1923; and “Woman Gives New Clew to Leo Koretz,” Chicago Daily News, December 20, 1923.
CHAPTER 17
137 Yes, it was a terrible surprise Klein was quoted in “Mrs. Koretz Will Work,” Chicago Daily News, December 17, 1923; “Mrs. Koretz Left Penniless,” Chicago Daily Journal, December 17, 1923; and “Mrs. Koretz to Go to Work,” Chicago Evening American, December 18, 1923.