Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-09
sCHMITzA UNIQUE MAN
REMARKABLE CAREER OF SAN
FRANcIsCo's MAYOR.

Eugene E. Schmitx, the fiddler mayor Of
San Francisco, 1.-The man who made good"
when San Francisco was shaken and partly
burned to the ground, occupies q unique
distinction in the municipal history Of that
city. He is the first labor-union mayor that
| San Francisco has ever had, and he is also
| the first mayor Of San Francisco that has
ever been indicted for malfeasance in Of
| fee. Schmitz was born in San Francisco
| of German parents. His father had come
across the plains In the early days to find
| fortune. He did not find 1t. Instead he
/, became the father of large family OF
boys. and was sorely pressed to give them
| a common school education. Gene"
| Schmitz, as he is called, set himself to be-
| come a doctor. Ill health forced him to
| give that up, and he followed bent for
music
The career of Schmitz has been a spec
| tacular one, and many elements of the BIZ
zarre in the record Of his officeholding have
served to raise him beyond a purely local
| fame. When, in the fall of 1901, Schmitz
| became a local figure in politics by APP
pearing as the candi e for mayor of the
city on the newly born labor union ticket
he was first violin and leader Of an Or
chestra in the Columbia Theater. He was
| not good musician, but he was good
union labor man. The theater orchestra
leader rode into power on thes froth of one
of the most bitter fights between union
labor and it's employers that San Francisco
had ever experienced. Against the oppo-
sition of all the newspapers save Hearsts
Examiner, and to the great confusion of
the iron-welded republican and democratic
machines this big fiddler from the Column
bia Theater orchestra won hands down
and took Office before the amazed politi-
clans had recovered their breath.
A Schmitz Machine.
The new mayor had not been long in Of
flee when the name of Abe Ruef began
to be whispered about. Ruef was lawyer
who had the wisdom never to run for mu
nicipal office, and was credited with max
ing lots of money through handling estates.
Soon the wise ones around the city hall
learned that it was not Gene who was
mayor, but Abe and Gene" and "Abe's"
name was always spoken first Abe set
out to establish a Schmitz machine which
should be strong enough to insure his re-
election to Office.
Mayor Schmitz was eXecrated by the
merchants and influential men of the COM
munity. The strikes that had come under
his regime had hurt their pockets. The
fragrant grating that is alleged to have
held sway with unparalleled impudence
disguised them. The mayor was snubbed
by them. banquet was given by the
chamber of commerce in honor of a dis
tlHSulSneu NlS.tOT IL WHICH tne mayor was
not invited.
In the first hours after the earthquake on
April Is. when the flames had commenced
to eat into the vitais of the city, the mayor
sent messages to many prominent citizens
, asking If they would serve emer-
gency committee for the preservation of law
and order. 1t was in the selection of the
men to compose this emergency board that
Mayor SchmitZ first showed that the immi-
nence of anarchy as result of the ap-
palling disaster had Jared him out of his
rut into the measure of a man. He asked
more of his political enemies than of his
who had been the chief protestants against
the alleged reign of graft that had -four
ished under his terms of Office largely dom
mated the emergency committee of fifty.
Schmitz Acted the Man.
In the three days of the fire and through
the dreary days of threatening starvation
and impending epidemic that followed
Mayor Schmitz acted the man. He was the
backbone Of the committee of fifty. He
was chief in the direction of succor, the
prime mover in the restoration Of the ma
chinery of police regulation, leader in the
councils for the rehabilitation of the smok-
ing ruins. Schmitz and the men on his
committee worked in harmony. Ex-Mayor
James D. Phelan, who had been one of
schmitzs bitterest political enemies, was
made his right-hand man and financial di-
rector. Indeed, Schmitzs name was in
every mouth. Men would stop each other
in the streets to marvel at the change
which had come over the mayor. He had
at last "nade good"
But a change soon came, and Schmitz
found that he could not put aside the his
tory of his early official days. The strong
men of the weary days after the fire watch
ed him slip back into the grip of the
..curly boss" even as they themselves Slip
ped back to the normal of good business
The papers which had SO joyfuly proclaim
ed Schmitzs emancipation from Ruef began
to hammer again harder than ever. Eugene
Schmitz, the fiddler mayor, who was Jared
out of bed by opportunity on the morning
of the great earthquake, April Is, and who
for time found himself a man at the
forefront of epic events, had not strength
to saddle opportunity firmly. In six months
he slipped from his pedestal to the bar of
justice.