The Alaska daily empire., 1920-04-20
Character Sketch of Notorious
Rv AnpuSf Ebprh0ydf

Whenever now, hear the curfeN
bell, as with pompous solemnity il
sends its nine measured strokes
across the somnolent city, | am re
minded of the one and only time
when l heard this same bell, appar
emily forgetful of its traditional
dignity, tolling a dangerous riot oil
discordant peals.. This happened in
the cleaning hour of April . the
twelfth-three years and eight days
| ago today
| We may forgive the bell this lapse
of ribald clamor, for the occasion
was one, which for the moment
| animated even the most sluggish
| nature in this city of Juneau Ed
uard Krause, convicted and sentenced
to the extreme penalty after the
| most sensational murder trial Alaska
has ever known, had sawed through
| the massive bars of his steel cell
and had once more gained his lib
erty. For that moment, hunted and
desperate, he became a potent men
ace to anyone standing in his path.
The same night, issued a procla
nation from the Governors office
setting a price of one thousand dol
lars on Krause's head. Even with
out this inducement, l believe, nc
law-abidng citizen of this country
would have hesitated to put period
to his insidious career, by means OF
lead bullet; for it was evident to
all, that one, who had shown so
little regarn for human life, when
he was free and unmolested, would
now, with teh hangmart's moose
dangling menacingly over his head,
show not the slightest compunc ton
to Stay man for the possession Of
crust of bread ~
Four days later he met the fate
that he had dealt out to his VIC
tims-whose number we can only
darkly surmise.
| who had known Krause as well
as his retiring character permitted,
have learned one thing through my
intercourse with him, namely: that
those nursery tales about the CON
science stricken murderer do not fit
every instance. They certainly do not
convince in the case of Krause
And yet in him | had known a muir
derer of the true type. The frenzied
fanatic, who kills in fit of pas
sion tho uybn indnc ion
Stays his prosecutor; the disap-
pointed lover, who seeks sanguinary
revenge; even he who, blinded by the
promise of fortune, has acquired it
by furtherong the demise of the quon-
dam possessor-they are all but
the victims of temptation and op-
portunity; as murderers they do
not run true to type.
Then again there are murderers
born and bred to the trade, who
in spite of their bloody and despi-
cable deeds, have managed through
their daring and recklessness with
which they venture their own life
to acquire quite circle of admirers.
But in Krause's career we find
nothing of the defiant bravado of
Jesse James. His medium is cold
blooded, not always wisely calculated
assassination. His tactics stand no
comparison with the bold holdup
of the wild woolly West and his
method is of the sneaking, under
ground procedure as befitted the en-
Df Of hn
Mountain" or the Hindu thugs of the
first half of the nineteenth Century.
The first time | met Krause, it
was here in juneau, in the spring of
1915. He had been described to me
as pronounced Socialist and some
thing of an eccentric These opinions
| found confirmed after a short con-
versation with him. His eccentricity
| recognized when l noted that he
would under no circumstances tie
his beautiful gasboat to any of the
wharves, but preferred to anchor it
in the Channel outside of town
Moreover, he persistently refused
to paint a name on the boat. In
the light of later explanations these
facts are not without significance.
Between July and November while
| worked at Petersburg, | saw KrauseI
almost daily. Our conversation cen
tered mostly on hunting, trapping and
wilderness life. subjects very dear
to us both The war and politics
came in for their share, of course
Yet he never mentioned to me that
he had been a soldier before and |
was surprised when his trial brought
to light the fact that he had served
in the Philippines. But for that mat
ter. he never spoke of his past to me.
His manners and morals seemed ex-
emplary. | never saw him take a
drop of intoxicants, but at the same
time he had no advice to offer to
those of his acquaintances who were
inclined. Our talk very
rarely drifted to the subject OF
momen and less trained observer
would have concluded from the Few
he made upon the subject
that Krause was a confirmed woman