The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-04-14

"a "A litieal boss of San Francisco, 4 \ while still a prisoner in his sumptuous quarters at the Hotel St. Francis, remains the storm center of the present poodle investigation at the Golden Gate. Every day, with it's new indict- ments of bribers and bribe-takers and with its startling disclosures of worse yet to come, invariably focuses all the in terest anew OH the personality of Abe Ruef
 The life story of this most notorious of booulers since the day of Boss Tweed, is well known, of course, in San Francisco; but outside of California il may not be amiss to draw a full length portrait of this singular man.
 Born of French-Jewish ancestry in San Francisco, Abraham Ruef was reared in the city he has lived to disgrace. His parents. though not even well-to-do, gave him every educational advantage within their means. At the public school and in high school the boy distinguished him self by his quickness of mind. He also earned a name for himself, even at this early age, by traits of unusual greed and selfishness. For this reason Abes school mates called him Piggy" g. nickname which clung to him all through his col lege career.
 Young Ruef entered the University of California at Berkeley at an age when most boys enter high school. He was bright in his studies, but made no other mark in student life. When he was grad uated in 1884 he had scarcely a friend. After this he studied at the Hastings College of Law, taking his degree as Bachelor of Laws.
 Entering upon the practice of law in 1886, Ruef first hung out his shinge in Oakland, across the bay from San Fran cisco. His success as a practitioner at the bar was practically nil. If he had any clients he must have induced them to compromise their cases, for no Oakland lawyer of those days can recall ever seeing Ruef plead a case before jury.
 Though Ruef did not qualify bril- liant lawyer. he lost no time in proving himself politician. As soon as he was old enough to vote he became familiar figure in ward politics and at primaries and soon got to be known among the pol iticians of San Francisco Bay as Curly Ruef.'
 Now and then, at county conventions he was allowed to put some cut and dried motion or to "speechify'' little at the hustings. He attracted no general att tention until 1895, when he had become in- fiuential enough to procure the appoint ment of attorney for the public admin istrator
 In those days Ruef kept a little dingy office on the top floor of an old tumble down building on Montgomery street, where the Kohl building now stands. His only office assistants were his sister, act ing as stenographer and typewriter, and his father who was office boy and man of all work. While Ruef held public of flee these assistants were paid out of the public funds. The wits of San Fran cisco likened them to the famous law firm of Solomon and Sallie Brass in Dickens "old Curiosity shop
 During Ruef's term as attorney for the public administrator there were rumors ol crooked deals. but no public charges were brought against him until long afterward. when Dick Chretien, from his prison cell in San Quentin, laid the crime of perjury for which he had been con- victed, at Ruef's door.
 In those days Ruef professed to be a staunch republican. He rose to a posi- ton in the county central committee and in the state campaign for governor took a part in what was then called the Grand Hotel movement of the republican party in California.
 As politician Ruef sprang his first sensation before the municipal election of 1893 in San Francisco. when he organized a "Republican Primary League" and took out incorporation papers for it just as 4 it were a business enterprise, as in fact it was. Among Ruef's legal clients then was man who had had an interest in a small gas engine manufacturing con cern. This mans name was Eugene E.. Schmitz. He was something of ward politicians in union labor circles, having risen to the presidency of the Musicians union in San Francisco. Incidentally he wc5 fiddler, playing every night in one of the theatre orchestras. Ruef made Schmitz one of his directors in the polit- ical corporation As a director Schmtz could be depended on always to attend meetings, to vote as he was told and to take any other order from Ruef without baking or selling out to the other side.
 When the time came for the primaries Ruef put Sehmitz forward as his nominee for the district leadership. He was beaten. but held his organization to- gether until 1901 when he once more pushed Sehmitz forward as 'his man. Again they were beaten
 After Ruefs second defeat his political opponents within the republican party de- clared him down and out" He would have been had he played the game of politics according to the rules. He was n whipped dog. and by all the rules of the game should have slunk away into hid ing. Put Ruef has ever refused to be hampered by any rules of flair play" He played a trick in a manner never ex- pected by his opponents by organizing party of his own against his own party.
 This was in the days when the capital ists of San Francisco were arrayed to- gether in determined effort to down the labor unions. The unions retaliated with monster strike. In the midst of the