Los Angeles herald., 1907-06-13
Prosecutor Fiercely
Grills Fallen
Mayor
Ruef Condemns His
Old PO itical
Comrade
Former Boss Goes on Stand and
Swears He Divided Money Paid
by Cafes with City's Chief
Executive
BY Associated Press.

BY Associated Press.
SAN FRANCISCO, June 12.-This
was an ear-burning day for Mayor
Schmitz Seated at the counsel table
before the altar in the Jewish syna-
gogue on Bush street he heard Abra-
ham Ruef, his former political friend,
philosopher and guide, practically call
him a perjurer to the jury, and with
that same jury he listened to scath-
ing denunciation of himself from the
lips of Prosecutor Hiram Johnson
And If these was balm for scourged
feeling in the speech that closed the
day, the speech of his own attorney,
Barrett, he took no open need. IN
deed, during most of the two hours ana
twenty-five minutes MT. Barrett was
speaking the mayor was either glanc-
Ing over newspapers or buried deep IN
typewritten pages of testimony. But
no word of the prosecutors address
escaped his sensitive ears.
Ruef was of course the sensation OF
the day. To hear him do one of two
things. denounce the mayor as a sharer
of his French restaurant fees" and
therefore a perjurer, or fall down on"
the prosecution by refusing to testify
to ANYTHING of the sort, more than a
thousand people fiocked to the Bush
street temple morning and noon ana
found seats or standing room In the
auditorium that is Judge Dunne's tenn
porary court room. Not a few of them
were women. Among these was Mrs.
Francis J. Heney, wife of the >prosecu-
for She occupied a front row seat in
the gallery. Policemen were on guard
upstairs and downstairs to preserve
order and keep the aisles clear 1t
was their first appearance, too once
in the forenoon session and once again
in the afternoon Judge Dunno threat
ened to adjourn court to give the bailiff
a chance to drive all the spectators out
of the synagogue If disturbance by
laughter were repeated. That was
when Ruef, under cross-examination,
said he "had met" Elisor Btggy, his
months-long jailer, and again When
some other bit of drollery appealed to
the crowd. Little enough there was to
laugh at all day
Ruef Star Witness
Ruef. whose appearance on the stand
as a witness in rebuttal for the prose-
cution is now accredited to the tactical
error of the defense in letting the
mayor testify, for it was to refute the
mayor's denials under oath that he
had participated in Ruef's fee" that
the prisoner ex-boss was called. Ruef
told the jury that he went to Schmitz'
former residence, 2849 Fillmore street,
now used by Biggy as jail for Ruef,
and there handed to the mayor at
stated intervals one-half of the fees"
Of $4,000 and $4,000 paid him by the pro-
nrietors of the five foremost of the
French restaurants of San Francisco
before the fire.
at said substantially this: Mayor,
have received the $4,000 from the
French restaurant men and l would be
I,aI ho nd
him $4,000 in currency" is the way
Ruef put it to the jury. This was
after the defense had exhausted it's
hest efforts to shut both question and
answer out on the ground that the
former was not properly rebuttal be-
cause in his direct examination no
such matters had been broached to the
mayor. Judge Dunno decided that the
nertinency of the question could not be
doubted.
The opening address for the prosecu-
tion NV Hiram w. Johnson, son of
former Congressman Grove Il. Johnson
and one of the foremost criminal law
vers of the state, occupied one hour
and fifteen minutes. 1t was mastery
in argument and in eloquence.
Mr.. Johnson avoided anything like a., az
attemnted resume of the evidence in all
it's voluminous detail. He selecteu
rather the main peaks and steering by
them endeavored to pilot the jury over
q short course to conviction.
what threat did Ruef make? Ihat,
he said twas the burden of the entire
cross-exa mination by the defense. on
that they seemed to hang their fate, en-
trusting themselves to the el,os slender
thread of No technical threat proved.
Gentlemen, the most dangerous anu
most efficacious of all threats is often
the one unexpressed. And sometimes
for him who makes it that Is the ,d- SAL
est of all threats; perhaps mayor
schn,itz' co-defendant, Abraham Ruef,
considered it so. The holding up of
the French licenses was alike the best
threat and the best testimony OF threat;
IF 1t was done with Mayor Schmitz
consent and knowledge, that ends TINS
case and there can be only one verdict
rendered-guilty.
Artists at Extortion
"These men, gentlemen of the jury
were no common, clumsy extorters'