The Boss & the Gambler

Old (77), cane-thumping Boss Ed Crump of Memphis loves to play the horses, but he believes that gambling undermines the character of anyone else within his satrapy. Although he has lost some of his power in Tennessee, he still runs Memphis with an iron hand. When he heard that gamblers were operating in his city last month, Mistah Crump reached for his gilded telephone.

Shortly thereafter Crump's cops arrested a quiet little Memphis gasoline-station operator named James Edward ("Piggy") Moore. He was charged with vagrancy (although he had $300 in his pockets) and loitering (in his own gas station). Moore admitted that he had made extra money as a nighttime stickman at a casino across the Mississippi in Arkansas. But he always lived within the law in Memphis. When he was fined $26 and told to leave town, he decided to fight. He talked to the FBI, hired a lawyer, got backing from press and pulpit.

At that, Crump's police retreated, told Moore: "As long as you conduct yourself properly, you will not be arrested." It was an awful comedown, but Crump grandly ignored it. "Please stay cool," he told his cops, "and keep up the good work with searching and steady eyes."

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