District Attorney Langdon was out of the city when Acting Mayor Gallagher announced his suspension from office. Langdon hurried back prepared to resist the executive’s action.[102] Even while Ruef and his associates were debating the advisability of taking possession of the District Attorney’s office that night, attorneys for the prosecution were at work on papers in injunction proceedings to restrain Acting Mayor Gallagher, the Supervisors and Ruef from interfering with the District Attorney in the discharge of his duties. The papers were not ready before 5 o’clock of the morning of the 26th. At that hour, Superior Judge Seawell signed an order temporarily restraining Ruef from installing himself as District Attorney, and from interfering with Langdon in the discharge of his duties as District Attorney. By eight o’clock that morning, Presiding Judge Graham of the Superior Court had assigned the case to Judge Seawell’s department; a police officer and two deputy sheriffs had been installed in the District Attorney’s office with instructions to enforce the restraining order. For the time, at least, District Attorney Langdon was secure in his office.
Ruef appeared two hours later. He was that morning to have represented the defendant in a murder trial, The People vs. Denike, but began the day by formally withdrawing from the case on the ground that as District Attorney he could not appear for the defense. He appeared in the police courts ready to prosecute a libel suit which he had brought against the proprietor of the San Francisco Bulletin, but the justice had been served with Judge Seawell’s restraining order and the libel-case hearing was postponed. In Judge Dunne’s department of the Superior Court, Ruef received something of a setback. The Court made a special order permitting one of Langdon’s deputies to prosecute in a criminal action then pending, regardless of who might be District Attorney. The restraining order kept Ruef and Woodworth out of the District Attorney’s office. By noon it was evident that at the big event of that eventful day, the impaneling of the Grand Jury, Langdon, and not Ruef, would, as District Attorney, represent The People.
CHAPTER VII.
Oliver Grand Jury Impaneled.
The hard fight of the morning of October 26th to prevent Ruef taking possession of the District Attorney’s office had been carried on practically without the general public being aware of the proceedings. Langdon had been suspended early in the evening of the previous day. The temporary order restraining Ruef from interfering with the District Attorney had been signed at 5 o’clock in the morning. The general public found by the morning papers that Ruef had attempted to seize the office, but of the steps taken to stay his hand the papers had nothing. The question on every man’s lip was: Will Judge Graham recognize Ruef or Langdon as District Attorney at the impaneling of the Grand Jury?
The court was to meet at 2 o’clock. Long before that hour arrived, the halls of Temple Israel, a Jewish synagogue in which several departments of the Superior Court met during the months following the great fire, were packed with citizens. The street in front of the building soon became jammed with a struggling mass of men demanding entrance. The crowd became so great that none could enter or leave the building.
Plain-clothes men were on all sides, and succeeded in clearing a space about the entrance. The work of clearing the building of all who could not show that they had business there, then began. In this work, deference was shown Ruef’s adherents. Notorious saloon-keepers, ex-prize fighters and strong-arm men friendly to Ruef were permitted to remain. Opponents of the administration who protested against removal were unceremoniously thrown out.
Although little groups of partisans of the administration appeared in the crowd, the citizens assembled were in the main clearly in sympathy with the prosecution.[103] The arrival of Langdon, Heney and Spreckels was signal for outbursts of applause. Ruef apparently appreciated the feeling against him. He appeared guarded by two detectives of the regular police department,[104] and a body-guard of partisans. The crowd began to press about him. Several of his followers made motions as though to draw revolvers. Ruef hurried into the building. To add to the confusion, there was, planned or without planning, misunderstanding as to the room in which the hearing was to be held. The representatives of District Attorney Langdon’s office finding themselves misinformed as to the meeting place, forced their way from hall to hall seeking reliable information. When the room was finally located, it was found to be packed with Ruef followers. The sheriff ordered the doors closed. The Court’s attention was called to this. District Attorney Langdon insisted that the doors be opened and the crowd permitted to enter to the capacity of the room. He pointed out that some had been admitted and others kept out, and insisted there should be no discrimination. This course was taken. The crowd poured in until every available foot of standing room was occupied.[105]
Eighteen of the nineteen citizens required under the California law for Grand Jury service had already been drawn at former sessions of the court. As soon as order had been secured, the name of the nineteenth was taken from the jury box.