The Cordova daily times., 1921-05-14
ALASKAN HAD
 CLOSE CALL IN
 FATAL AFFRAY

Alex Hanot, we'll known oldtimer of Pedro creek, who has just returned from the outside, after an absence of two years, figured prominently in the fatal Seattle shooting affray for which John Schmidt was executed at Walla Walla recently. lIanCt was ill the thick of the &ffray, being within few feet of two nf the po- licement when they were shot down in cold blood by the band;t.murderer. And he has not yet figured out why Schmidt did not turn his gun on him also, says the Nenana News.
 Hanot was walking down the street on the fatal evening, just a short dis tance behind two policemen, who were trying the doors as they passed along the block. He saw man come across from the other side of the street, hesitate when about half way across, and then continue toward the policemen. He wore a cap and mack inaw and had the appearance of a suspicious character and, when close to the two officers he was accosted by them, whereupon he stopped to al most kneeling posture and began shooting at them. One of the police men fell in his tracks, while the other sought refuge behind a near by tree, but not quick enough to escape the accurate aim of Schmidt The first policeman received two bullets in his body and the second one four, and both died sometime later
 After the two men had been shot down, Schmidt took to his heels, and Hanot rushed to the prostrate men and, taking one of their guns, set off after the bandit He saw Schmidt dodge in between some automobiles in his flight and disap- peared and that Is the last that Hanot saw of him, but he heard two shots that were fired by the bandit as he ran down another street. Returning to the two dying officers, who still lay where they had fallen one flat on the sidewalk and the other in a crouching position, he called to woman in a doorway to phone to the police station and inside of few moments there was a small army of officers on the scene, and big crowd of spectators Hanot described Schmidt as best he could and search was started, re- sulting less than an hour later, in the discovery of the murderer in another part of the city. It appears that he had run down a side street, after disappearing among the autos, thence through a vacant. muddy lot to another street. where he boarded a street car, where and rode for some distance After he had left the car, he was spied by Detective O'Brion and another officer, his description tallying with the one Hanot had given. But when O'Brion reached out to put his hand on Schmidt shoulder, the bandit shot him in the head, killing him instantly. Then an other chase started, resulting finally in the capture of the bandit, and a speedy trial following which he was sentenced to death.
 Previous to the Seattle murders Schmidt killed man in Olympia and, as already recorded In the press dispatches, the bandit made al clean breast of all his misdeeds, after being taken into custody. He wasl an expert shot and as familiar with the various makes of revolvers as a hardware man.
 Hanot's name did not appear in : the early accounts of the shooting for the reason that he requested that it be not used. He thought per haps Schmidt might have a pal in the city and he did not care for any more experiences of the kind he had been through. In fact, he says he did not realize what risks he took until the thing was all over And then he almost had a nervous break down.
 Aside from the Schmidt experi- ence, and getting married, the old timer says that he did not have any excitement outside, and the city life and roaming around by auto had become wearisome when he started back for Pedro creek. It's all very nice for a time, he says, but in the end Alaska has the big appeal. And he says there are many in the states who feel just as he does about the north. He predicts that most of the oldtimers who can do so, will be coming back before the summer is over. and quite number of them