Born in San Francisco , Schmitz was the son of an Irish mother and a German father . He played the violin and conducted the orchestra at the Columbia Theatre on Powell Street in San Francisco , and was president of the Musicians ' Union when city boss Abe Ruef chose him to run for mayor of his hometown on the ticket of the Union Labor Party . Schmitz was elected in 1902 , giving protection to criminals including houses of prostitution for protection money while remaining popular with the working class , then , despite a reform candidate backed by a fusion party , reelected in 1905 . He was still mayor when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire destroyed a prodigious amount of the city . On the day of the earthquake , Wednesday , April 18 , 1906 , he invited a cross-section of the city 's most prominent businessmen , politicians and civic leaders , but none of the members of the Board of Supervisors , to form the Committee of Fifty to help him manage the crisis
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Eugene Schmitz