"Take Out" to 1939?

[Mark Mandel]

Barry  writes:

>>>>>
   Yesterday's New York Times (10-7-2001) cites OED for a 1939 "take out,"
as in "We're going to take out Osama bin Laden."
   Surely OED has better.
   A quick check of HarpWeek (without looking at the MOA) has:

1889-10-05, pg. 799:
   Beaton felt a sudden turn of his rage toward the men whose action would
now force him to walk five blocks and mount the stairs of the Elevated
station.  "If you'd take out eight or ten of those fellows," he said,
ferociously, "and set them up against a wall and shoot them, you'd save a
great deal of bother."

1910-05-21, pg. 14:
   Certainly the plan as operating in Staunton has been a distinct
financial advantage to the property-owners and taxpayers, even though it
has proved rough on professional politicians and aldermanic "take-out"
artists.
<<<<<

I don't see either of these as "take out" = 'assassinate, kill'.

The 1889 cite, shorn of the possibly confusing interpolated quotative, is
  "take out eight or ten of those fellows and set them up against a wall
and shoot them"
You could also say
  "take out eight or ten of those fellows and beat them black and blue"
in an exactly parallel construction. For my money, this "take out" is used
literally, = 'compel (them) to accompany (you) outside'.

The 1910 cite is short of context for unambiguous interpretation, but the
mention of "distinct financial advantage" strongly suggests financial
corruption rather than violence. Dollars to doughnuts this "take out" means
something close to
 (a) 'take a cut of, embezzle, misappropriate funds' -- flat theft
or
 (b) 'use the powers of public office to improperly enrich oneself', e.g.,
by directing town business to one's own company -- misfeasance, private
profit under the color of law.

-- Mark A. Mandel