The San Francisco call., 1908-04-28
Heney Shows Bias of Juryn1an
TRACES LAST OF
STREETCAR BRIBE
Prosecution to Account for En-
tire S50,000 Alleged to Have
Been Paid Ruef by Ford

When Assistant District Attorney
John O'Gara closes his case for the
people against Tirey L. Ford he will
have succeeded in tracing from the
hands Of Abe Ruef practically the en-
tire $50,000 which, it is alleged, the
general counsel for the United Rail-
roads drew from the United States mint
May 25 and gave to Ruef as partial
payment for the privilege of erecting
and stringing trolley poles and wires
Ex-Supervisor Gallagher accounts for
$45,0o0 of this money, and yesterday,
for the first time in any of the graft
cases, O'Gara presented evidence to
show the uses to which $4,000 Of the
remaining $4,000 was put.
One of the most peculiar coincidents
in the entire history of the local graft
prosecution is the fact, which devel-
oped in yesterdays testimony, that, in
directly and through the Legitimate
channels of business, Rudolph Spreckels
received $4,000 Of this money. Spreck-
els connection with the later history of
this questionable currency came about
through his leasing a block of land In
Fillmore street to Supervisors Rea and
Reas business associates in the Fill
more street arcade company, in which
concern Ruef had a $500 interest. Mrs.
Sittenfeld, Ruefs sister, paid the cur
rency to Rea as the boss share, and
Rea in turn made a payment to Spreck-
els on account. The identity of the
money is established through the fact
that the package comprising the $500
contained many 81 and So bills.
Mrs. Henrietta Sittenfeld, Rea, Per-
cival C. Scales, private secretary for
Rudolph Spreckels. and officials of the
United States national bank and the
Western national bank were the new
faces in the Ford trial yesterday.
1t is possible that the United Rail-
roads counsel may depart in the pres
ent case from its policy of "nonresist-
ance" maintained at both of the pre-
vious Ford trials and put witnesses of
it's own on the stand. The most likely
candidate for the position of witness
Is at present Livingston jerks. the at
torney. jerks sat in court with Ford
the greater part of yesterday. When
William Adamy and John w. Baker,
former employees of the Cosmos club,
testified that Ford and Ruef had
lunched together in the clubhouse in
the latter part of May, 1906, both Were
asked by Stanley Moore if they had
noticed jerks at the table with the
others. Neither remembered seeing the
attorney When asked if jerks was to
be put on the witness stand Moore was
noncommittal-
The trial of Ford was resumed yes
terday morning with continuance OF
the reading of the testimony given by
Superintendent Frank A. Leach of the
United States mint at an earlier trial.
OGara did the reading and the attor-
neys for Ford strolled from the room,
leaving the defendant alone. When a
question concerning a stipulation came
up Ford had to enter into it himself.
Thrr r n "a r1h
treasury, was the first witness. He tes-
tilted concerning Ford receiving money
on telegraphic transfer from New York.
When Mrs Sittenfeld was called to
the stand Attorney Frank J. Murphy of
Ruefs counsel came into the courtroom
and entered an objection to her giving 6
testimony which might reflect on or
incriminate Ruef on the ground that
the witness was her brothers stenog-
rapher.
There is no wrong involved in any
thing ! know" declared Mrs. Sittenfeld
spiritedly.
She identified a deposit tag on the
United States national bank, dated July
2s, 1906, at which time $1,000 in cur
rency was deposited for Ruef. She tes-
titled also that at one time she gave
Rea $4,000 in currency. She was re-
called in the afternoon and produced
receipts and other papers concerning G
the Rea transaction. Frank N. Staley
paying teller of the United States ma
tional bank, acknowledged the receipt
of the $1,000 currency deposited at the
bank. O'Gara had to fight to get the
testimony before the court
Rea took the stand in the afternoon
and told his part of the transaction
with Ruef in the matter of the Fillmore
street arcade company and the Sulli-
van. Rea and Kehrlein company. He
testified that the $4,000 he received was
paid by Ruef's sister on July 2. He de-
clared that he was not bribed by Ruef
in the trolley or any other matter. The
$500 was in small denominations. p. C.
Scales, Spreckels' secretary, corrob-
Grated Rea in the particular point that
he paid for his lease with $4,000 in
small bills.
A chauffeur named Fox, who worked
for Ruef; Miss Celia McDermott, Ford s
stenographer, and George Francis and
Charles P Gale of Ford's Office all tes-
tilted as at previous trials that Ruef
visited Ford at Oak and Broderick
streets. James c. Sharp and T. C.
Hinsch of the Western national bank
testified that Ruef had three deposit
boxes there.
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