Bottlers, gangsters and Kingston, NJ

[KBbottles]

Thx Jerry,

Im around that day so will definitely stop by! Cant wait to see the Rue bottles in person as well. Thanks you very much for your time and for the Catellis!!

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Jerry,

Great Roaring Twenties tale, and some excellent research, sir. You've brought some delightful new bottles (love the Leo Salamanda), and perspective to the ole blue pages. I'm lookin forward to further show & tell. Thanks.

I missed two thirds of the Burns Prohibition double header, ya think there'll be re-runs. I dunno, having missed most of it, but thought Mr. Burns might have been a bit off his game. I learned about it first reading a RedGinger post in Chat while the first installment was nearly over. Did you see the whole magilla? Was it worthy?

 

[jerrypev]

Two articles were printed in the NY Times about the incident at Kingston, another in a local paper. The story didn't stop with the death of Leo Salamandra. An investigation uncovered an extensive bootlegger network in Newark which led to dozens of arrests. The gangster Salamandra shot through the eye turned out to be Frank Walsh leader of the gang.
There was some effort to cover up Salamandra's part in the affair but from what I can glean from the articles the Salamandra family was eager to sell off a large amount of liquor stored in their warehouse in Trenton. It had to be a setup robbery because the Newark gangsters knew too much about the local area.
The robbery started just as Salamandra's truck started up the hill into Kingston on the old Lincoln Highway (Route 27). Salamandra and his brother were following just behind in their car when the Cadillac approached them. Salamandra and his brother were taken to a remote area of Rocky Hill to be killed when the shooting started. Apparently Leo got in the first shot and killed Walsh before Walsh's associate shot Leo in the head.

 

[jerrypev]

Found an article from the NY Evening World of June 29, 1903 reporting the murder of Kingston, NJ bottler John Rosso Jr. Article titled "Died with Secret of His Shooting, Jerseyman Made his Will and was Conscious to the End but Refused to Give Police a Clue to His Slayer".
Gee, I never new that quiet little town was such a violent place?????

 

[jerrypev]

Article about murder of Kingston bottler John Rosso Jr, 1903.