The San Francisco call., 1907-03-19
Gallagher Ruef's
Carrier of Bribes
Acted as Man Friday in
Transactions With
Grafters

Judging from the strong evidence
now in the possession of. the Grand
Jury all the Supervisors who took
bribe money from the corporations,
with the exception of Rea. were hand
ed their share by Gallagher. He was
the orders and the coin direct from the
boss to his associates.
After carefully studying the evidence
and taking into consideration all the
testimony and confessions of the Su
pervisors, the Grand Jury knows that
Gallagher received in all $4,000. Cole
man and Wilson $4,000 each. Every
member of the board was handed $3.50
for his vote on the gas rate question
more than a year ago.
Though he is no longer connected
with the affairs of the municipal gov
ernment, Railroad Commissioner An
drew NJ Wilson, who was elected on
the labor party to the Board of Su-
pervisors, is on the anxious seat. That
Wilson is in deadly fear of being i'm
phcated in the present gigantic ex-
posures is attested by the worried look
he wears as well as by his constant
attendance at all the star chamber ses-
sions of the fallen board.
Wilson has been allowed to honor
each assemblage with his presence In
fact. he has been a sort Of ringleader
ana Oh IL the present
evidence which the Grand Jury has in
its possession be correct
From the way in which he has acted
during the last few days Heney, Burns
and the Grand Jury surmised that Will
son knew of the confession of Loner-
gan. 1t is stated that he did the best
he could to induce the latter to tell his
troubles to the other members of the
board when they were gathered to-
I tn flof Il,
up to the last Lonergan, out of fear of
Heney and his followers, or from some
other motive, has steadfastly refused
to unbosom himself. Instead, he has
acted in q churlish, dogged sort of
manner, while his fellow members.
frantic with fear at the approaching
exposures. moved heaven and earth in
their efforts to secure a straight state
ment of the facts from Lonergan.
1t was ascertained beyond doubt last
night that every member of the board
had come forward in turn and told to
the Grand Jury everything they knew
concerning the gigantic steals that have
been going on since they took office.
The prosecution firmly believes that
Rea did his business with the man be-
hind all of the crooked details, Abe
Ruef. Rea served as Ruefs man on the
old board and consequently was famil-
| lar with the inside workings of the
I Office. It is stated that Ruef trusted
him and that he used Rea In several
instances without taking the other
members of the board into his conf
dence.
Tveitmoe and O'Neill, the newly ap-
pointed members of the board, are said
to be entirely innocent of any wrong
doing and at this time IL is believed
that they will not be dragged into the
| scandal
Lonergan has completely broken
down. For some years he has been in
| i'll health and the exposures. coming
as they did with so much suddenness.
have completely unnerved him. His
/ confession, the first to be heard>by the
/ inquisitorial body, was as follows:
"I received $500 for my vote grant
/ ing fight permits to the fight trust.
/ This money was paid TO me by Super
visor James L. Gallagher.
Il received $3.50 for my vote in the
gas rate question over a year ago.
This money was paid to me by Super
visor James L Gallagher.
II received $4,000 for my vote in con-
nection with the Pacific States Tele-
phone and Telegraph Company's deal.
This money was paid to me by 7. v.
Halsey of that corporation.
Il received $4,000 for my vote grant
ing a franchise to the Home Telephone
| Company. This money was paid to me
by Supervisor James L. Gallagher.
Il received $4,000 for my vote grant
ing the United Railroads the overhead
trolley system. This money was paid
TO me by Supervisor James l. Gala
CHER"