The Purple Gang: Organized Crime in Detroit, 1910-1945 by Paul R. Kavieff Page B

Charles Bowles took office as new mayor in an administration
that would end in recall within six months. For the first time a
Purple gangster would be convicted of murder.
    The
manufacturing centers of the midwestern U.S. were feeling the effects
of the stock market crash. As demand for production decreased,
industrial workers found themselves without a job.
    The
City of Detroit was paying out almost two million dollars a month to
the growing army of the unemployed. The media reported that the worst
was over, while the working class feared the future. The city was in
the midst of the worst crime wave in it's history.
    The
Fish Market Murders of 1930, in which representatives of the Eastside
and Westside mobs were brutally slain, started a major underworld war
that moved out into the streets. Shoot-outs between rival gunmen
caught Detroit residents in the crossfire. Between May 31st and July
23rd, more than fourteen men died.
    At
least eleven were murdered in the first 12 days of the month. The
local newspapers began referring to the carnage as "Bloody
July."
    While
the Mafia war raged, the Purple Gang was tightening control over the
brewing business.
    The
Purples now controlled most of the plants in the city, as cutting
genuine whiskey proved much cheaper than producing bootleg hooch. By
1928, 150 large scale cutting plants were estimated to be operating
in Detroit. Many ran 24 hours a day to supply large and constant
demand.
    Once
the operation was perfected, one case could be turned into three or
four cases of cut product. By the late twenties the Prohibition
Director of Minnesota declared that out of 350,000 gallons of rye,
bourbon, and scotch confiscated by his agents over a two year period,
less than three gallons was genuine. With half the city out of work,
the watered down whiskey probably tasted just fine.
    The
cutting process was simple chemistry. Pure whiskey was poured into
vats and hot water added. After cooling down, alcohol was added to
boost the proof to between 85 and 100. Caramel was then mixed in to
give the liquid a whiskey color.
    Oil
of rye was often used for the flavor of real whiskey. As a finishing
touch, a little fusel oil or glycerin was added to give the whiskey a
'bead'—a thin layer of water on the surface of good whiskey.
Many thought beading could only be acquired through aging. The
location of cutting plants was a carefully guarded secret to prevent
hijacking, police shakedowns and federal raids. The accidental
discovery of a Purple
Gang cutting plant in July of 1930 resulted in the unnecessary
killing of a seventeen-year-old black youth and the first successful
murder prosecution of a Purple gangster.
    Arthur
Mixon was driving a horse-drawn wagon that hot July night in
Detroit's lower eastside, peddling ice off the back of the wagon with
friends. Suddenly Mixon stopped. He climbed down from the wagon and
peered underneath the doors of an old barn. According to one account,
his ball had rolled under the barn doors. He had no idea that the
building was a Purple Gang cutting plant. An associate of the gang
noticed Mixon looking into the barn, and informed Phil Keywell.
    In
the meantime, Mixon and his friends got back into the wagon and drove
to the corner of Hendrie and Hastings Streets. Mixon went into a
bakery while the others waited outside. While Mixon was inside, six
Purples approached the kids and demanded to know what business they
had at the barn.
    An
argument ensued just as Mixon walked out. When the Purples asked
Mixon what he was doing, he replied with a sarcastic remark. An
accompanying gangster turned to Phil Keywell and said, "Put him
on the spot."
    Keywell
pulled a revolver and shot Mixon. The youngster
staggered for about twenty-five feet before collapsing in the street.
The thugs ran back to the alley towards the cutting plant, but the
police had surrounded the block.
    Mixon
was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Officers had stopped
Phil Keywell but released him when