The San Francisco call., 1907-01-27
RUFF SENT LETTER
TO BUTTERF|ELD
Made Proposal to the Rival
Telephone Concern as to
Granting of a Franchise
HENEY HAS EVIDENCE

Abe Rucf endeavOred to destroy one
of the most interesting bits of evil
dence in connection with the Home
contained in a letter written by Ruef
and addressed to DR.. Butterficld, who
has represented the Kellogg Switch
board Company on the coast. The tell
tale letter has been destroyed. but its
contents are fresh in the memory of
DIR. ButterfieId. and when called upon
to do so he will reveal it's nature to
the Grand Jury. The letter was deliv-
cred to DR.. ButterfieId by special
messenger, who at once recovered 1t
and returned 1t to Ruef.
The letter was written by Ruef be-
fore the April disaster, at time when
the big electrical companies were pre-
pairing to bid for the telephone fran
chise which the city had offered for
sale
The Kellogg Switchboard Company
and the Home Telephone Company
were in the field for the franchise
The franchise was worth up to $780,
600. II was sold to the Home company
for $4,000. the company turning
$4,000 additional over to the relief
fund. The Kellogg Switchboa Com
pany made no bid for the franchise,
its representative, DR.. Butterfield. un-
derstanding that the sale would not
he made on the date advertised. as 1t
was only a couple of days after the
fire, when the mind of every one. Ruef
and the Supervisors excepted, was on
relief work and not franchises.
just why and what Ruef would write
to a prospective bidder for city fran
chise may be surmised. 1t was of such
u1sRf hwNUa fnI tn ffne
malls. 1t was sent by a special mes
senger who had orders to recover and
return IL. The details viii be revealed
TO the Grand Jury in the near future.
DENS OF VICE REoPENED
The existence Of dens of vice in
lower Jackson and Pacific streets.
opened with the consent of Abe Ruef
and hourishing through the co-opera-
tion of Chief Dinan, have called forth
an investigation on the part Of
the Grand Jury. when the Grand jury
meets on Tuesday it will have before
1t facts sufficient TO warrant summary
action.
With a boldness equaled only by it's
infemy. Ruef has again swung wide
the gates OF the CITY of the Golden
Screens" Dens OF vice, suppressed
since the revolving exposures brought
about by the Grand Jury, have been
allowed to reopen. end again the
stream Of golden coin flows steadily
from lower Jackson street TO the Of
fee in Bush street. For morality must
die that Ruef may live.
Before the Grand Jury had taken up
the work Of cleaning the city. Ruef
had completed several deals by which
houses of vice were to open in Pacific
and Jackson streets. In many cases
Ruef had received large fees in ad-
vance. When the Grand Jury became
active Ruef asked his clients at the
lower end of the city to Hold off for
time. They complied, but days have
become weeks and weeks have become
months. Tired of delay, these clients
have demanded that they be allowed
to proceed with their nefarious enter
prises. Ruef has passed out the word
to go ahead, the chief has closed his
eyes and the vile resorts have resumed.
The Police Commission as well as the
Grand Jury has taken notice and it is
understood that the matter will come
up for consideration at the meeting
of the board on Tuesday evening.
LONG BRIEFS PREPARED
Briefs were prepared yesterday by
Attorneys Campbell, Ietson and Drew
on behalf of Mayor Scnmftz in his pc
tition TO the Supreme Court for q writ
of 200 pages of typewriter copy. in
which 1t is alleged that the indictment
does not state a public offense. In the
brief much space is devoted to an ar
gument to the effect that habeas corpus
proceedings were the proper step for
the Mayor in order to bring the mat
ter before the Supreme Court This
contention was advanced in reply to
the point made by the prosecution that
~ .
surrender to the Sheriff on the part of
the Mayor. were not wrought in good
faith.
The brief will come up for consid-
Grafton before the Justices tomorrow
While agreement is general among the
legal fraternity that the petition will
be denied, it is believed that a COM
plete decision will be written on the
subject which will establish a prece-
dent in the courts of California.
WILL SEEK MORE DELAY
While the matter is before the Su-
preme Court the grafters and their at
Dunno in the Superior Court on Mon
day morning. At that time argument
is TO be heard on the demurrers filed
by both Ruef and Schmitz. Complying
with the order Of Judge Dunno, the
demurrers of the Mayor and the boss
have been made to cover all five in
dictments.
When Judge Dunno calls court to
order on Monday morning the attor-
neys for the defense will at once re-
quest further delay on the ground that
the matters under consideration are
before the Supreme Court. They will
suggest that Judge Dunno postpone
the hearing until the points at issue
shall have been determined by the
higher tribunal. From the remarks
made by Judge Dunno from the bench
on Tuesday, the inference may be drawn
that he will brook no further delay
A lively clash is likely to ensue.
Should the demurrers be argued and
denied the prosecution would make
formal announcement that to Ruef
would be accorded the honor of prior
trial. A time would then be set for
the beginning of the trial and the way
cleared for a speedy adjudication of
the case.