While no longer of the City, Diggs Foulworth is still remembered by those who can speak with clear heads of the final nights of the Yardies and the stockyards. For a time, Foulworth was Milligan's most important lieutenant, and perhaps the most influential kindred in Chicago- but those nights are long past.
Foulworth, always remembered with cigar in hand and dapper dress, was appointed in the 1890s as watchdog over the stockyards on the south side prior to the Ordo Dracul being given the southern regency. While many would have found the job an endless tedieum of covering for rambunctious yardies and brushing hog-shit off their boots, Foulworth had a way with the rabble. While never actually providing the yardies with anything of substance, he built up a reputation as a man who could change your life and see you moved into the city proper as a wealthy gentleman- and the only cost was loyalty to the Carthian Movement. Further, Foulworth understood the power of the mob- and rallied yardies to numerous causes that their unfocused fury assaulted.
With the yardies well played by him, Foulworth became an invaluable asset to Jim Milligan as someone who could organize loyal yet expendable muscle at a moment's notice- and in return Foulworth was well rewarded with money and the ear of Milligan.
However with the death of the stockyards in '71 also came the inevitable death of Foulworth's power. While it is unlikely Foulworth had any real influence in the stockyards closing, it was clear that as the seemingly endless resource dried up, the established citizens of Chicago were worried about what action the yardies would be prone to take in the nights to come. It is reasoned that either Milligan or Farragut himself approached Foulworth with a plan to establish caus-belli for the eviction of the yardies en-masse. As to what was to be delivered in return for such help nobody can be certain- but Foulworth's eventual emmigration from the city suggests it was never delivered.
On a cool October night of 1972, Foulworth addressed a gathering of yardies at the Blue Eagle Pub on the south-side. Mostly inebriated, the hoopleheads were fed a story about a plan Prince Farragut was proposing regarding the now empty stockyard domain; Farragut was supposedly set upon delivering the stockyards to the Ordo Dracul and Professor Anton East so as to consolidate the southern regency- and East's plans were to keep the yards from redeveloping into anything beyond a graveyard of old buildings and cattle pens. Seeing their home being left to rot and their chances of elevation into the city being cut from under them, the Yardies- led by one David Fields- marched to a gathering being held in the north-side loft of then-harpy Louis McKie. Fields, slicing cleaver in hand, demanded to have words with Farragut over his "fucking" of the yardies. McKie claimed Farragut was not in attendance and did not know of his location that night. In response, Fields is said to have proclaimed "Ain't that the way of government- to fuck you in the ass and not be kind enough to stay around so we can return the favor!", and then buried the slicing cleaver he was carrying deep into McKie's side. Farragut announced the eviction of the yardies shortly thereafter.
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.