The Alaska daily empire., 1920-04-20

theme, as becomes biographer
Yet. must confess, that have
never intimately known him :-anC
| challenge anyone who maintains he
did Though, of course, while asso
ciated with him, it never entered mi
head to suspect him of the slightes
wrongdoing; still, | was forever con
scious of some abeyant mystery
connected with his person. All hi:
actions were forthcoming with a de
liberation that was often painful
to behold His speech exactly suited
his actions. With a voice low, anC
of even tenor, he seemed to weigh
every word before he gave it utter
ance, fearing (as | now believe) thai
some inadvertant syllable might be
tray his horrible secret. l believe
that one of the reasons why he
preferred my company was thai
with me he could talk and argue
without being asked any personal
questions.
He stands convicted of one muir
der-public opinion accuses him OF
half a dozen more-where the line
of evidence could be as clearly es
victed for. With these facts on hand
it is not hard for us to kindle our
imagination until we see a line OF
blood tracing his path through all
the eight years which he spent on
this coast-so eminently suited for
his CHASTITY purposes. At least i;
has been proven that his criminal
career began years before the strong
arm of the law descended upon his
shoulder, and there is little to make
us contend that from the time he
committed his first crime until he
got entangled in the meshes of the
law, he took vacation in his homi
cidal trade On the contrary, with
Krause in the role of evil genius
the mysterious disappearance from
this coast of many a man might be
explained.
How then, do we ask, was he
able to continue his criminal career
through all this time without being
even so much as suspected?. Surely
he must have been possessed of SUI
perior astuteness,
On this subject much has been
written in the local papers during
the time of his trial. Credit was
given him for his superior inte.li
gence and education After his
conviction, his craftiness and Gun
ming were made the subject of much
talk.
Yet, Eduard Krause deserves none
of these eulogies. His intelligence
was not a whit above the average;
in fact, his trial has shown that nc
was subject at times to lapses of I'M
belevable stupidity His education
was purely superficial. In any short
on scientific, sociologic
or religious subjects, he might hole
his own, but an earnest and pro
tracted argument invariably laid barr
the base talmy under the gilded
veneer He was attracted by met
aphysics and was forever lost in
it's tangled labyrinths. He had read
Haekel and Emerson and admired
them as far as he was able to follow;
at least they made him confirmed
atheist view extremely conve-
nient for one who would have to fear
Eternal Nemesis. In sociology he
was better versed, and Carl Marx S
theories suited him admirably. That
he had received a religious education
was evident by his knowledge
the subject, but in his
latter years this seemed to serve
him only to vindicate his athelstlc
OF art, in any or us
phases, he had none.
From the time Of his Incarceration
I did not see Krause again until
his trial was well advanced. The
first glimpse | got of him after that
period was in the court room
There he sat, apparently serenely
Indifferent to all that went on around
him. If he had changed any in
appearance. it was for the better
He seemed to me somewhat stouter
than at the time | had last seen
him. For the greater part of the
time his steel blue eyes dire2tcd
their penetrating gaze towards the
witness chair. He listened to the
most damaging testimony, appar
emily with supreme indifference-but
| could see his thumbs nervously
twirling around each other. Tie
lacked none of the pitiful VANITY
which almost every great criminal in
the dock, seems to derive from tie
attention he arouses.
After the court adjourned, / went
to visit Krause in his cell. He seem
ed genuinely glad to Sc me and
warmly gripped my hand. He always
had hearty grip and | have since
given up Judging people by the grip
of their hands as an unreliable sci
ence. He was content, he said,
except for not being at liberty
to walk in the open. He seemed to
have an absolute faith in the fell.
citous termination of his trial.
did not hear him protesting his
~ tbaf first Welt hpf