The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-14
given az his. Nobody there ever heard Of

given az his. Nobody there. ever heard Of
him.
Mr.. Busse, in fact, does not exist. But at
$40 jackson street a double fsted thug col
lects about $3.50, 900 q year from as vile a
source as ever yielded profit $3.50 600 a year
on an investment Of SO, 900. Who gets il?
Nobody in San Francisco has any doubt
about that. Two names leap to every
body's tongue when you ask that question.
A new Grand Jury has been organized. and
Francis j.. Heney, who nailed the land
g~rsfters up north, will present evidence
upon which, he has declared. he hopes TO
obtain the indictment Of Abe Ruef and per-
haps Mayor schmitz as grsfter,. That the
operation of the municipal crib will fur
nish one OF the subjects OF the inquiry is
generally believed.
What evidence Heney has nobody knows,
excepting Heney and District Attorney
Langdon n Rudolph Spreckels. who lie
furnishing the money for gathering the
proof. Most people think Heney has a
much better chance Of catching Schmitz
than Ruef. Il is almost certain that ex-
Police Commissions Thomas Reagan will
be called to testify. Reagan fell out with
the Mayor and was bounced. He says it
was because he declined to join the Mayor
in some grating schemes and goes into
detail abou it,.
Among other charges he alleges that
Mayor Schmitz asked him to urge the virtues
Of a certain brand Of whiskey on the saloon
keepers of the city. In other words, the
saloon men were to be ordered to buy this
whiskey on penalty. of losing their licenses
il they refused. This penalty could DO
easily imposed, since all liquor licenses
must be renewed every three months.
Reagan declares that the Mayor told him
that in this scheme there Would he a weekly
profit Of $50 a barrel to divide between
them and that they could sell 100 barrels a
week. This, il will be observed, meant
the tidy sum Of 5000 a week, or SEQ 900
a year.
This fat charge has been made by Reagan
In al open letter 20 the Mayor. In this
same letter he says: The number OF
houses OF i'll fame now in the city Ia in your
possession. The list is a formidable one
Knowing that it is a part OF your duty to
make regulations for the same, ! do not
blame you for being angry IL any person
or clique should attempt to rob the chief
executive of his peculiar right to regulate
the Magdalenes Of this city. | have not
now, nor in the past. nor will l il the future
covet, take or carry one dollar belon ying
to an unfortunate. I would w think
OF defrauding your Honor"
Imagine such public charges as these
going unanswered in the East. Yet Mayor
Schmitz has never made n reply what
over to Reagan's attack.
=, The case Of the telephone franchise Is
another n that will doubtless be taken
up before the Grand Jury. The old tele-
phone compan was confident that there
would be no buttiny in on its premises.
Was not Abe Rue its counsel and had il
not paid Ruef a $50. 600 retaining fee-en-
tirely for legal services. Of course. But
a lawyer surely has the right to change
clients. and when an independent company
came along and desired to bid on a fran
ohise it hired Ruef to ook after it's legal"
business. The fee paid is generally believed
TO have been $500 900. But just az things
looked finally fixed, a third corporation.
the Home Telephone Company, bobbed up
and complained that thes specifications for
the franchise included a stipulation for
some device that they did not possess.
They could not bid unless the specifications
were altered. Did not Mr.. Ruef think this
manifestly unjust? Mr.. Ruef did. The
! specifications were altered and the Home
Telephone Company got its franchise for
$4,000. II is worth a million at least.
Legal fees" account for the difference.
Certain French restaurants. the famous
Poodle Dog. the Pup and others. were at
one time regarded by Mayor sohmitz as
such highly immoral resorts that he could not
see his way clear to granting them licenses.
But though thew we're never altered in any
material way. they must have become
! thoroughly moral for they got their licenses.
They we're all running when the earthquake
came. Some of them have already Resumed
business.
Schmitz was leader OF the Columbia Thea
tire orchestra when Ruef picked him out
to be mayor. He got perhaps $40 n week.
for he was a good fiddler. To-day he owns
a $40 600 house on Pacific Heights, drives
in his own automobile and lives on an ex-
travagant scale. When last heard from. a
few days ago. he was travelling about
Europe with his wife and a party OF friends
living at $40 a day hotels and rolling as
high as an insurance president. San Fran
cisco believes him TO be a millionaire several
times over.