By the late 1950’s, 90% of the hauling firms in the Windy City were controlled by the Dutch population which became know as the “Dutch Mafia”. They were not some bloodthirsty criminal organization but the thing was that they kept the business among their own people. Some sources say that back in the old days the Dutchmen had the garbage business in their blood and they controlled it since the late 1920’s. During that period, the Dutch scavengers formed an association to regulate the whole business and also eliminate any possible competition, which was known as the West Side Garbage Association. The members decided not to compete with each other and traded accounts to concentrate their routes for greater efficiency and by the 1959, the association changed its name to Chicago and Suburban Refuse Disposal Association. Known Dutch families such as the Huizengas or the Van Tholens controlled 90% of the garbage business in Chicago and profited with over 20 million dollars a year. I believe that the Dutch control over the waste business was one of the reasons on which the Outfit never had the same satisfaction. But that didn’t last long because the lucrative idea lured the Outfit like a shark following the smell of blood, but in this case it was the smell of cash.


So it wasn’t all “milk and honey” for the Hollanders because they already had previous experience with some of the ancestors of the Outfit. Back in the late 1920’s when the Dutch formed their association, one the first gangs which tried to invade their business was the Capone gang. They faced many difficulties with union goons, mobsters, police harassment, and in later years, environmental regulations. The Dutch scavengers had problems with one corrupt teamster local known as the Excavators’ Union, which was headed by Daniel Tognotti, a member of the Capone gang. By defying Tognotti’s union, the Dutch took it rough. One day, one Dutchman saw his barn burning down to ashes, along with his horse and wagon. The “Caponites” also pulled many people out of their cars and kicked them right there on the street, on broad day light. But one night, reports of a shooting at Union hall, 220 South Ashland Avenue, brought five detective bureau squads to the meeting of business agents of various unions. The entrance was first denied to the two motorcycle policemen from the Warren avenue station with the threat "break down the door and we’ll shoot your heads off." When the cops managed to enter the hall, they found no evidence| of any shooting and explanation was made that an alleged fist fight had occurred between two members. But the police later learned, through an anonymous telephone call, that Tognotti had been shot in the fight, and was taken away immediately afterward.