This Week in History: 1959: The notorious gambler Buddy White cashes in his chips (original) (raw)

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This Week in History: 1959: The notorious gambler Buddy White cashes in his chips

The American expat was a fixture in local gambling and bootlegging for five decades

Published Jan 08, 2021 • Last updated Jan 08, 2021 • 3 minute read

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Hogan's Alley, in the 1930s. Province files

Hogan's Alley, in the 1930s. Province files Photo by DR /PROVINCE

Few people today have heard of Buddy White. But in his day, he was one of the baddest badasses in town.

On July 19, 1933, he got into a beef with his friend Alfred Alexander at Hastings Park racetrack.

White attacked Alexander with a rock and a knife, and Alexander needed 75 stitches to close his wounds. Alexander’s brother also suffered a “slash on the thigh.”

White was sentenced to 15 months in jail “for wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.” The Province gave his occupation as “race track follower.”

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After he got out of jail, he ran a gambling joint/speakeasy out of houses at 229 Prior and 238 Union, in the heart of the notorious Hogan’s Alley.

“In my time, he pretty well ran that alley,” said the late Ramon Benedetti, who grew up nearby in the Strathcona neighbourhood. “He used to hold the odd poker game there. He ran a little gambling, a little prostitution.”

Not traits that will win you Citizen of the Year honours. But over time, White’s stature in the demi-monde made him something of a local legend. When he died of cirrhosis of the liver on Jan. 5, 1959, both The Sun and Province ran obituaries that read like tributes.

“Buddy was No. 1 in the after hours set because he outlasted all the rest,” wrote The Sun’s Jack Wasserman. “Back in the ’20s and ’30s when Vancouver was wide open and cops sat down to take a drink while the pay-off money was counted, it was easy to be a character.

“Then the town closed down and most of the characters slipped away to the semi-respectability of small-time bookmaking or bootlegging. Buddy continued to flourish. He and ‘Brother Emmett.’

“‘Brother Emmett’ was Buddy’s .38 revolver and it was always beside him whenever he presided over the high stake poker game at his house. If ever Buddy suspected that someone wasn’t playing the game according to Hoyle, he’d pick up ‘Brother Emmett’ and wave him in the direction of the defender.”

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Vancouver Province story about Buddy White’s attack on Alfred Alexander. The attack was on July 18, 1933 this story ran Sept. 26, 1933.

Vancouver Province story about Buddy White’s attack on Alfred Alexander. The attack was on July 18, 1933 this story ran Sept. 26, 1933. PNG

Brother Emmett got Buddy into trouble in 1930, when his gun was used by a friend in a murder in a “whoopee palace” at 440 East Pender. White testified he had “given the death gun to the accused” because White had a “squabble” with his wife “and didn’t want her to beat me to it.”

On Sept. 13, 1941, he was manager of the Log Cabin Inn at 544 Main. When the cops busted in at 4:15 a.m. to investigate a “disturbance,” they spotted Buddy’s girlfriend (who was a Mrs., but not Mrs. White) pulling a revolver out of his pocket to try and hide it. It was loaded, and he was sentenced to three months in jail.

He went back to work at the Log Cabin when he got out of the hoosegow. But trouble just seemed to follow him around. On Halloween night, 1942, a “gay Halloween party” at the restaurant ended with a man’s death after he was stabbed in the heart.

The dead man was white and the murderer was Black, a fact the papers played up. White was Black as well, and was usually identified as a Negro when he got into trouble with the law.

He was a cool customer. When he was asked in court what his duties were at the Log Cabin, he said, “Look after the floor, stop all fights, and see the bottles are out of sight.”

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Buddy was born Walter Jeane White in Springfield, Ill. on Jan. 23, 1888. His Province obit said he left home when he was 14 and that he came to Vancouver when he was 20.

Buddy White’s local rap sheet began on Aug. 26, 1923, when he was charged as the “keeper of a gaming house” after a raid on “a private Negro club” at 1236 Granville St.

But his name doesn’t prop up in local directories at the time, perhaps because he lived in hotels. On May 16, 1928, he was charged with stabbing and wounding a man at the Cobalt Hotel on Main Street. He got off, but was given a $50 fine for “having unsealed liquor.”

It’s unclear when he moved into Hogan’s Alley. A couple of women are listed at 229 Prior when he gave it as his address after attacking the Alexander brothers in 1933 — he probably lived with one of them.

jmackie@postmedia.com

May 16, 1928 Vancouver Sun story about Buddy White being charged with “wounding with intent” after a “stabbing affray” at the Cobalt Hotel on Main Street.

May 16, 1928 Vancouver Sun story about Buddy White being charged with “wounding with intent” after a “stabbing affray” at the Cobalt Hotel on Main Street. PNG

Sept. 13, 1941 Vancouver Province story about Buddy White being charged with having “an offensive weapon” at the Log Cabin Inn at 544 Main Street. He received a three month sentence.

Sept. 13, 1941 Vancouver Province story about Buddy White being charged with having “an offensive weapon” at the Log Cabin Inn at 544 Main Street. He received a three month sentence. PNG

Buddy White’s first appearance in a Vancouver newspaper was on Aug. 27, 1923, when the Vancouver Sun had a story about five “alleged gambling dens” being raided, resulting in 50 arrests.

Buddy White’s first appearance in a Vancouver newspaper was on Aug. 27, 1923, when the Vancouver Sun had a story about five “alleged gambling dens” being raided, resulting in 50 arrests. PNG

Jack Wasserman column on Buddy White in the Jan. 7, 1959 Vancouver Sun.

Jack Wasserman column on Buddy White in the Jan. 7, 1959 Vancouver Sun.

Buddy White’s death certificate.

Buddy White’s death certificate.

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