Ss Rex Casino
Antonio Cornero Stralla (August 18, 1899 - July 31, 1955) also known as 'the Admiral' and 'Tony the Hat', was a bootlegger and gambling entrepreneur in Southern California from the 1920s through the 1950s. During his varied career, he bootlegged liquor into Los Angeles, ran legal gambling ships in international waters, and legally operated casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The SS Rex was an Italian ocean liner launched in 1931. The Rex was the larger running mate of the Conte di Savoia. On September 28 1944 Rex was hit by 123 rockets by the RAF that set her ablaze for 4 days causing her to capsize and sink in shallow water. According to the Fuller Index: S.S. Rex Club (Tony Cornero, et al) March 3, 1945 – June 7, 1945. Club, as fronts for their mob bosses who didn't want to live in the desert but appreciated the value of the growing casino revenues. Sep 6, 2016 - Explore Frank LePera's board 'SS Rex', followed by 118 people on Pinterest. See more ideas about cruise ship, passenger ship, steamship. Clip of the Rex gambling ship anchored 3 miles off the Santa Monica coast in the early 1930s. Cornero deliberately and dramatically portrayed the Rex as free of the often rumored rigged games. He offered anyone an immediate $100,000 cash payout if they could find any game on his ship that was illegal or rigged. Despite efforts to frustrate public interest in the new gambling ship, the Rex was a success from the beginning.
Early life
Antonio Cornero was born in Lequio Tanaro, Province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. Cornero and his family immigrated to the United States after his father lost the farm in a card game and a fire destroyed their harvest. Cornero's father died a few years later and his mother married Luigi Stralla, a former suitor from Italy. After their arrival in San Francisco, Cornero used the aliases Tony Cornero and Tony Stralla as he signed on to merchant ships bound for the Far East.
Prohibition
In 1923, with Prohibition in effect, Cornero became a rum-runner. His clientele included many high-class customers and night clubs.
Using a shrimping business as a cover, Cornero started smuggling Canadian whiskey into Southern California with his small fleet of freighters. One of Cornero's ships, the SS Lily, could transport up to 4,000 cases of bootleg liquor in a single trip. Cornero would unload the liquor beyond the three-mile limit into his speedboats, which would bring it to the Southern California beaches. His fleet easily evaded the understaffed and ill-equipped U.S. Coast Guard. By the time Cornero turned 25, he had become a millionaire.
However, in 1926 the law caught up with Cornero. Returning from Guaymas, Mexico, with an estimated 1,000 cases of rum, he was intercepted and arrested. Sentenced to two years imprisonment, he jokingly told reporters he'd only purchased the illegal cargo 'to keep 120 million people from being poisoned to death'. While being transported by rail to prison, Cornero escaped from his guards and jumped off the train. Cornero boarded a ship for Vancouver, British Columbia and fled the U.S. Eventually reaching Europe, he spent several years there in hiding. In 1929, he returned to Los Angeles and turned himself in.
In 1931, shortly after his release from prison, Cornero established the Ken Tar Insulation Company. However, federal authorities soon discovered it was a cover for a large scale bootlegging operation and raided it. Cornero then moved his operations to a location in Culver City, California. Soon he was producing up to 5,000 gallons of alcohol a day. Federal authorities raided the Culver City site, but found no evidence of bootlegging; Cornero was probably warned ahead of time.
Las Vegas - The Meadows
With the repeal of Prohibition, Cornero moved into gaming. In 1931 when gambling was legalized, he and his brothers Louis and Frank moved to Las Vegas, and took an option to purchase a 30-acre (12 ha) piece of desert land outside the Las Vegas city limits. Cornero soon opened “The Green Meadows”, also known as The Meadows, one of the earliest major casinos in the Las Vegas area. It is considered the earliest roadside casino-hotel in Vegas, 10 years before El Rancho Vegas and 15 ahead of The Flamingo. As the Meadows started making big money, Cornero began investing in other Las Vegas casinos.
However, Cornero's success soon brought unwanted attention. Charles Luciano, boss of the New York Luciano crime family and his associates, casino owner Meyer Lansky, demanded a percentage of Cornero's gaming profits. Cornero refused to be extorted and the Meadows was eventually torched. Carnero sold his Las Vegas interests and moved back to Los Angeles.
Floating casinos
In 1938, Cornero decided to open a shipboard gaming operation off the Southern California coast. By sailing in international waters, Cornero hoped to legally run his gambling dens without interference from U.S. authorities.
Cornero purchased two large ships and converted them into luxury casinos at a cost of $300,000. He named the ships the SS Rex and the SS Tango. Cornero's premier cruise ship was the SS Rex, which could accommodate over 2,000 gamblers. It carried a crew of 350, including waiters and waitresses, gourmet chefs, a full orchestra, and a squad of gunmen. Its first class dining room served French cuisine exclusively.
The two ships were anchored outside the 'three mile limit' off Santa Monica and Long Beach. The wealthy of Los Angeles would take water taxis out to the ships to enjoy the gambling, shows, and restaurants.
In October 1939, the Los Angeles Zoo was facing a financial crisis. Always the good citizen, Cornero offered the zoo a day's proceeds from the SS Rex. Considering that his ships were earning $300,000 a cruise, this was no idle gesture. Although zoo officials seriously considered the offer, pressure from state politicians forced them to decline it.
The end of the fleet
The success of Cornero's floating casinos brought outrage from California officials. State Attorney General Earl Warren ordered a series of raids against his gambling ships.
On May 4, 1946, after Warren became governor of California, he issued a public statement declaring his intentions to shut down gambling ships outside California waters; Warren said he intended, 'to call the Navy and Coast Guard if necessary.' During his address, Warren specifically denounced the newly built gambling ship owned by 'Admiral' Tony Cornero. Warren stated 'It's an outrage that lumber should be used for such a gambling ship, when veterans can't get lumber with which to build their homes.'
Despite battles with authorities over the legality of their entering international waters, the State of California found a way to circumvent the 'three mile limit'. The state refigured the starting point of the 'three mile limit' off the coastline and determined the ships were indeed in California waters. Without wasting any time, police boarded several U.S. Coast Guard craft and sailed out to Cornero's ships to close them down and arrest Cornero. However, when the police reached the ships, Cornero would not let them board. Reportedly, Cornero turned the ship's fire hoses on the police when they attempted to board and declared they were committing 'piracy on the high seas'. A standoff ensued for eight days before Cornero finally surrendered.
Cornero eventually closed his floating casinos. He later tried to reopen land-based illegal casinos in Los Angeles; however, he was thwarted by mobster Mickey Cohen. Instead, Cornero returned to Las Vegas.
Murder attempt
In Las Vegas, Cornero contacted his friend Orlando Silvagni, owner of the Apache Hotel. Cornero made a deal with Silvagni to lease the hotel casino and rename it the 'SS Rex' (after his former floating casino in California). The Las Vegas City Council, aware of Cornero's history with the Green Meadows casino and his floating casinos, voted 'no' on approving his gambling license. However, one councilman then changed his vote, the motion passed, and Cornero got his license. However, in a later vote, the Council revoked Cornero's gambling license, and he then closed the SS Rex.
Cornero and his wife left Las Vegas and moved back to Beverly Hills, California. Cornero made plans to invest in Baja California in Mexico. On February 9, 1948, two Mexican men came to Cornero's home in Beverly Hills. When Cornero answered the door, one man gave Cornero a carton and said 'Here, Cornero - this is for you' and shot him four times in the stomach. Gravely wounded, Cornero underwent surgery that night and managed to survive the shooting.
The Stardust Resort and Casino
As soon as Cornero recovered from his wounds, he returned to Vegas to build a new hotel and casino, the Stardust Resort & Casino. He bought a 40-acre (16 ha) piece of land on the Las Vegas Strip and filed an application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to sell stock in the hotel corporation. When the stock was issued, Cornero bought 65,000 shares for 10 cents apiece, giving him majority control of the corporation at 51% of all stock. Cornero then sold the remaining shares. Finally, he applied to the Nevada Gaming Commission for his gaming license and was turned down. The Commission rejected Cornero's application because of an old bootlegging conviction and the trouble that Cornero was having with the SEC. This rejection meant Cornero had invested his money in a half-built casino that he was not allowed to operate.
Not to be stopped, Cornero came up with a new plan. He asked his friend Milton B. 'Farmer' Page, another Las Vegas casino owner, to take over the project. Page agreed on the condition that he be able to run it. In 1955, Cornero made the first of several presentations seeking loans from Moe Dalitz, owner of the Desert Inn hotel and casino, and Dalitz' partner, New York mobster Meyer Lansky. Dalitz decided to initially loan Cornero $1.25 million. This loan was followed by a second and third loans, with Cornero using the unfinished Stardust Hotel as loan collateral. Loans with United Hotels were then nearly $4.3 million. Despite these cash infusions, Cornero ran out of money again as the hotel construction was finishing.
Ss Rex Casino
Suspicious death
On July 31, 1955, Cornero told an investors' meeting in Las Vegas, 'We need another $800,000 to stock the casino with cash and pay the liquor and food suppliers.' Later that day, Cornero was playing craps in the Desert Inn Casino. Suddenly, he fell to the floor and died.
Rumors soon arose that someone had poisoned Cornero's drink. The rumors gained credence when Cornero's body was removed from the casino floor before anyone contacted the Clark County Coroner or the Clark County Sheriff's Department. Cornero's drinking glass was taken and washed; sheriff's deputies never had the chance to examine it. No autopsy was performed and a coroner's jury in Los Angeles determined that he died of a heart attack.
Ss Rex Gambling
Aftermath
Cornero was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. In 1958, the Stardust Resort and Casino finally opened and became the largest hotel in the world. The Stardust would remain a huge success until its demolition by implosion in 2007. Cornero is also credited with the lucrative concept of putting slot machines in the hotel lobby to lure guests as they passed by.
The gambling ship Rex resists boarding by a California Fish & Game boat off Santa Monica. Los Angeles Daily News Negative at the UCLA Library.
1928 saw the appearance of the first of the gambling ships that floated off the Los Angeles County coastline. Although it was illegal to conduct a gambling operation in California, the state’s jurisdiction only extended three miles offshore. There was nothing in Federal law that forbid gambling, so operators of floating gambling casinos merely had to anchor just outside the three mile limit. The ships proved so profitable that, by 1930, a virtual small fleet of gambling ships lay anchored a few miles offshore from Long Beach and Santa Monica.
This did not sit well with local law enforcement and protectors of public morality who saw this as an affront to state laws. Numerous attempts were made to shut down or frustrate the operations of these ships, but gambling ship operators managed to fight off most such attempts in court.
In 1930, Tony Cornero Stralla was released from prison after serving time for Prohibition violations. He immediately saw the profit potential in gambling ships. After an unsuccessful partnership in one such ship, Cornero launched his own in 1938, the S.S. Rex. The Rex foreshadowed the approach that Las Vegas would later adapt. It focused, not on high rollers, but on the middle class. It offered clean, delightful places for gambling and entertainment, with free or subsidizing food and transportation to and from the ships. Cornero deliberately and dramatically portrayed the Rex as free of the often rumored rigged games. He offered anyone an immediate $100,000 cash payout if they could find any game on his ship that was illegal or rigged.
Despite efforts to frustrate public interest in the new gambling ship, the Rex was a success from the beginning. It operated 24 hours per day with normally between 1,000 to 3,000 gamblers aboard at any one time.
A 1939 crowd at the Santa Monica Pier boards the ferry Irene for one of the gambling barges. Los Angeles Times Photograph Archive at the UCLA Library.
It did not take long for anti-gambling ship forces to take notice. Just months after the Rex opened, Los Angeles District Attorney Buron Fitts attempted to shut down the ship. With Los Angeles County Sheriff Biscailuz and Santa Monica Police Chief Dice (no kidding) in tow, Fitts commandeered several of the water taxis servicing the Rex and sailed out to arrest Cornero. After a brief standoff, Cornero submitted to arrest so as to challenge the issue in court.
Ss Rex Gambling Ship
Fitts argued that Santa Monica Bay constituted an 'inland' body of water and therefore, the coastline was not the true coastline of the State of California. For a true state coastline, one had to draw an imaginary line between Point Vicente and Point Dume. Consequently, the Rex would have been required to anchor itself many miles out to sea, a proposition that would have required an inconvenient and unattractive seafaring trip to visit the ship. Cornero, for his part, countered that Santa Monica Bay was not in fact a bay. It was a bight, a large coastal indentation. Cornero proclaimed that Santa Monica Bay was more accurately called Santa Monica Bight. Although the court sided with the District Attorney, it was overturned upon appeal. Cornero returned to operating the Rex.
In 1939, State Attorney General Earl Warren proposed a new legal argument against offshore gambling ships. He called them 'a great nuisance' because they drew millions of dollars from legitimate purposes and would inevitably lead to the appearance of floating narcotics dens and houses of prostitution. He reasoned that states had the power to abate a nuisance even if it lies outside state jurisdiction.
After failing to comply with a state order to cease and desist, all but one of the gambling ships were seized by law enforcement. The Rex, however, gated off its landing platform and turned a fire hose on raiding law enforcement vessels. Thus began the siege of the Rex. Since the Rex had no engines of its own and thus could not sail off, Warren figured that the ship would eventually have to surrender or starve. After eight days, Cornero surrendered, he said, 'because I need a haircut.' Law enforcement officers swarmed the ship, tossing all of its gambling equipment into the water.
Although the seized gambling ship operators maintained that their operations were legal and, consequently, acts by law enforcement upon raiding their ships amounted to piracy, the courts upheld Warren’s legal arguments. The California Supreme Court finally agreed that Santa Monica Bight should once again be known as Santa Monica Bay. Cornero himself, however, escaped facing any charges.
The Rex ended up being put into war service in World War II. It was later captured by a German submarine and sunk off the coast of Africa.