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Abe Orpen obituary
TORONTO LANDMARK WAS MR. ABE ORPEN
Globe and Mail, September 23, 1937
(Excerpts)
A Salty Character
In recent years, Mr. Orpen or perhaps we should say his entourage, did not like to dwell on his earlier adventures. They preferred he should seem to all the benevolent, dignified citizen; rather than the lawbreaker who ran the poolroom in old Toronto Junction, and came within an inch of going to jail as the proprietor of a gambling club on Wellington Street. But that is all part of the story of this remarkable man. As a matter of fact, if there were nothing of him but his dignity and benevolences of later years we should not bother to write anything about him. The woods are full of elderly, benevolent, dignified gentlemen who never took a chance in their lives. It seems to us that the earlier Abe was a much saltier character than the venerable Mr. Orpen, though we are glad that the years were granted him to live a completer life and to enjoy every decade of it. Lately he has lived quietly and carefully, and once suggested to us half humorously that as he was not allowed to eat and drink what he wanted there wasn't much fun left.
. . .
Friendly Police
Mr. Orpen's relations with the police have been for many years a matter of speculation. He has told us, rather indiscreetly we thought at the time, of the large sums it has cost him to purchase police co-operation or immobility. On the other hand, we have been told by people in his organization that much of the helpfulness shown by the police at different times was the result of good nature. The police liked Mr. Orpen and would often give him a timely hint. We knew one of them who every now and then would go to Mr. Orpen with a $10 bill and ask him to bet it on some horse, it didn't matter which one, that was running at Long Branch or Dufferin. Needless to say; he collected on all these bets; and in the long run Mr. Orpen would not be out of pocket. There are handbookers in Toronto convinced that included in the protection Mr. Orpen thought himself entitled to was protection from too much competiton. We wouldn't know about that, but we do know that Mr. Orpen despite his great benevolences had a shrewd idea of the value of money.