The San Francisco call., 1898-05-29

 Il o'clock last Tuesday night. The presence of a San Francisco detective on the scene and the systematic sift ing by the county officials of all the details of the case has had the effect of engendering a bitter feeling in the minds of a majority of the citizens, who profess their willingness to stake their lives on the honesty and integrity of the young official against whom sus- picion has been directed.
 The intensity of this feeling was made manifest to-day at the meeting of the Democratic county convention. The friends of William Krohn, who is still confined to his bed from the eff fects of the beating administered by unknown men whom, he claims, as- saulted him and then footed the office vault of more than $7000 in gold coin, placed him in nomination for the of flee of Tax Collector. A whirlwind of cheers greeted the announcement of Krohns name and the nomination was carried by exclamation.
 The present Tax Collector Is Lew Krohn, though the business of the of flee has been for three or four years entirely under the charge of William Krohn his brother and official deputy. Both brothers have a host of friends in the county and for this reason 1t may be seen that the whisper of sus- picion that has gone out concerning the circumstances of the alleged rob- bery has not met a cordial reception.
 The story of the alleged robbery as told by Krohn, as well as the circum- stances immediately following 1t, may be briefly retold in order to make clear the facts upon which the county off cials have seen fit to base their act in ordering a rigid examination into the case, as well as the open assertion made by Detective Curtin, who is dl- recting the investigation at the ln- stance of District Attorney Larew, that he believes no robbery was com mitted, and that Krohn's wounds were either self-inf1icted or were inflicted by an accomplice for the prece ncerted pur- nose of making it apoear that the ofhce vault had been footed of money It dld not contain.
 Krohn's story is that he went to his office on Tuesday evening to work on the delinquent tax roll. At about 1o:5o o'clock two masked men entered the office by the rear door and ordered Krohn to throw up his hands. When he had complied one of the men took Krohn's keys, locked the front door ana then ordered him to open the vault Krohn protested that the time LOCK was on the safe where the cash Is Kept inside the big vault. The men replied that they knew that the time lock did not begin to work until II O'CLOCK ana threatend to kill him unless he open, ed the vault and the safe. He compiled with the demand, and while one man stood guard the other footed the vault of a bag containing $7500 in gold coin
 The robbers then tried to lock krohn in the vault, but struggle ensueo' during which the deputy threw an iron bar at the robbers. The missile missed ,,,Ir cIn RlaSS windows of the counter railing The robbers stabbed Krohn twice, slashed him across the palm of the left hand, beat him over the head with what he believes to have been a piece of lead pipe and left him unconscious on the floor of the inner office.
 It will be remarked that Krohn aS- serts that he was attacked at about 1O:30 o'clock. At 11:25 o'clock, fifty five minutes later, Night Watchman Tooker heard the crash of breaking glass and located the sound in the Tax Collectors office. He tried the door, but found it locked.
 The interior was brightly lighted, but no one was visible in the office As no reply was made to his repeated knockings Tooker concluded that It was a false alarm and went about his business.
 At midnight Tooker was accosted by Mrs. Krohn, who told him that her
 
 office and that she was afraid some thing had happened to him. They went together to the office, but found the lights were out, the electric cur rent having been shut off at the power house at midnight. They could hear some one moaning inside and presently discerned Krohn crawling along the floor toward the front door. He was repeating somewhat incoherently:
 eDon't beat me any more. Don't kill
 FT1- sl-1 Ony chs y171 up in there''
 The door was forced open. Krohn was dragged outside. He was apparently unconscious, but when some one said that it would be best to take him back into the office he exclaimed.
 "No, don't take me back in there.'
 Physicians were summoned and they pronounced Krohn to be unconscious from the effects of a concussion of the brain He remained in an apparently unconscious condition until o'clock the following morning, when he regainec control of his faculties.
 Dr. Hayden says all of Krohn's wounds are superficial that all coulc have been Inflicted; that he might have feigned unconsciousness. He die not consider the latter two surmises were probable. Dr. Reed was of the opinion that the patients unconscious ness was not feigned.
 An investigation of the premises dis closed the fact that the back door oi the office was open; that there were bloody finger prints on the railing O. the back porch and also on the roof O. a low shed over which the robbers art supposed to have escaped to a vacan lot in the rear.
 There was nothing in the inner offic, to indicate that a struggle had takeI place there, excert the broken glass O the counter rail. There was no blood in the inner office or the one adjoining 1t, but neal the ont door were blood. hand prints on the marble Tagging where krohn had craw1ed to the door There was also the print of a blood, hand on paper covered package in tn, l. terior of the vault Forty or fifty dol lars in silver coin was scattered ovel the floor of the vault.
 There were several gold pieces lyins