Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1918-09-20
Kruegers Began Shooting

Kruegers Began Shooting
There was some more banter of this
sort between the deputy marshal and
the boys with the officer remaining
seated in the automobile. Suddenly
both the Kruegers whipped out pistols
and began to fire at the officers. The
shots whistled dangerously close to the
auto. The two officers and their driver
jumped out of the car and got behind
it and Deputy Marshal Giants opened
fire with his revolver when the Kruger
boys started running out of the corn
field and across the meadow toward
their house, the cornfield being almost
directly in front of the Water home.
1t was then that Deputy Gantz sent to
Withee and Owen for achievements.
Shoot Up Fine Farm Home
A few minutes after o'clock out
came the reinforcementS i'll autOmO-
biles. The first automobile was the An
derson car, driven by Mr.. Kidd. 1t
pulled up in front of the Water home
and the men i'll that car and others
closely following deployed through the
fields about 600 to 500 feet from the
Kruger home. Hardly had the autos
stopped when the Kruger boys opened
fire; the posses returned the fire,
shooting at the house, while some of
the holder fellows began to crawl
shots from the guns of the posse pelted
the house in regular fusillade, tearing
through the splendid farm home in
awful fashion. The Kruger boys
discovered that the house was no de-
Tense, for the high-pOwered steel nosed
bullets cut through the sides of the
wooden structure and tipped clean
through the house. The Kruger lads
could not approach a window or an
opening in the north side of the house
to shoot at the posse, accordingly they
ran from the house to the barn, which
is about $50 feet distant. Here they
would find strong fortress in the high
stone basement. They would also
draw the fire of the posse from the
house to the barn, thereby saving their
mother Mrs. Louisa Kruger, who re-
manned in the house during all the
shooting and miraculously escaped by
lying on the floor on the south side of
the living room, which kept her out of
range of the bullets owing to the angle
OF the fire of the posse.
Frank Kruger Shot i'm Legs
AS the lads ran from the house to
the barn the posse gave them a shower
OF bullets. All escaped save Frank
Kruger, who was shot through the
calves of both legs. Frank ran to a
threshing machine that stood in the
rear of the barn. Here the los of blood
weakened him and he dropped on the
ground III terrible pain. A pool of
blood marks the place where he lay
He ran to the big tractien engine to
take shots at the posse directly to the
north i'll front of the Water home The
traction engine would have given him
an admirable vantage point for sniping
the posse. If Frank Kruger had not
been shot by one of Withee's expert
deer hunters woe betide the posse. for
he would have killed or winged a num-
Der of the citizens, as the traction en-
CINE gave him a full view of most of
the men iii the posse. That Withee
deer hunter who got him in the ankle
as he ran is one of the best shots in
northern Wisconsin. He had crawled
up the road in the ditch and was the
nearest man to the Kruger home AS
he looked over the bank of the roadside
ditch he had a range of about 80 rods
to make his shot Frank Kruger
finally, becoming very sick, crawled
from the traction engine back to the
house in the dusk Of the evening and
through the Kitchen and upstairs to the
bathroom and there he lay in great
pain until he was later taken out.
Harry Jensen Fatally Shot
The shooting kept up for half an
hour. At the first exchange of shots
Harry Jensen. aged 26, 500 Line sta
ton agent at Withee, stood behind the
Anderson automobile and was shooting
toward the house He arose to get a
better shot when bullet came whining
through the top of the auto and struck
Jensen in the chest near the heart
slightly above, severing one of the large
arteries. He was hurriedly taken back
to Owen and lived 80 minutes. He is
survived by wife and two small chill
dren.
Matt Madison, of Owen, stood behind
tree down along the roadside. He
looked around the tree to take a shot
when bullet grazed his neck, struck
his left forearm, breaking one of the
bones.
Emil Leino was shot in five places
He was crawling across the fields up
to the house. A shot nearly took his
right arm off. Every time he rolled
over he would get hit by bullet. He
was shot three times in the right leg
and once in the left foot These shots
came from the barn. This happened
about five o'clock and he lay out in the
field till s 80 before he was discovered
by one of the posse hearing him call.
Leino was rescued and hurried to
Owen, where an engine and cabOoSe
was Communicated and he was rushed