Fully Licensed Telephone 676 Commercial Hotel Harry E. Blackburn, Manager Hot and Cold Running Water in Every Room MAKE THIS HOTEL YOUR HOME Prince Rupert, British Columbia FIFTY ROOMS NEW wilted under the barrage of questions fired at him by Prosecutor Anderson. Then Chief Justice Mathers snapped an emphatic opinion that he didn’t believe a word he said. Exhausted after seven hours of cross- examination, Reid stumbled from the dock with an audible sigh of relief to be arrested by Detective Smith on a warrant charging him with complicity in the prisoner’s escape. Next morning Winnipeg was startled by a dual sensation. The rope down which Krefchenko had escaped had been deliberately sawed part way through, causing it to break and prect- pitate him upon the pavement. What reason, police wondered, could the party who'd smuggled in the rope have had for deliber- ately cutting it and thus endangering the life of the escapee? Hard on the heels of this came word that John H. Buxton, a reputable real estate man, had been arrested during the night in his apartment and confined at police headquarters. The city buzzed with excitement. What next—how many more surprises were to be sprung in this Kref- chenko affair? Hourly suspense grew more intense. Excited newsboys shrieked their extras on the street. Bars and hotels, homes and offices were keyed to the highest pitch of excitement. Witnesses, terrified by the report that Krefchenko was lurking in the city, demanded police protection. Then a rumour spread that Krefchenko had been traced to a storage warehouse where he was still in hiding, and police were preparing to arrest him. As dusk settled over the prairie city, squad cars filled with armed police swept west along Portage Avenue to where thou- sands of excited citizens, their collars about their ears, milled about the Security Ware- house. One car didn’t stop, but continued west towards Toronto Street. In the dark shadow of a three-storied building it came to a sud- den stop. From it spilled Chief Detective Smith, Boal and Eddy. Creeping up the darkened stairway they halted before the door of an apartment. “Open up!” demanded Smith. The sound of furtive movements came from within. “Open in the name of the law!” ordered the chief detective, keeping out of the range of possible bullets. But the door remained unopened. Leaving Smith and Eddy on guard, Boal and Headon ran down the stairs, drove through the crowds to the Security ware- house and hurried back with Chief Mac- Pherson. “Come on,” boomed the stentorian voice TWELFTH EDITION of the chief, “we know you're there, Jack. We've got you cornered—hetter open up!” As the door creaked cautiously open the ofhcers surged forward. On a narrow cot lay Jack Krefchenko, haggard and unshaven. It was evident that he was badly hurt. Some playing cards and a handful of silver lay on a small table in the light of a guttering candle. In a corner crouched John West- lake, the tenant. As Smith clicked the manacles on Krefchenko, Elliott caught Westlake by the arm. “Come on,” he said, “we want you too...” With Krefchenko again behind the bars the Royal Commission listened to John H. Buxton’s confession concerning his part in the escape. Const. Reid had been pointed out to him at the bar of the Clarendon Hotel as Krefchenko’s guard, and they'd become acquainted. Reid had expressed sympathy for Jack, adding he was going to help him make his escape. Somehow, he in- sisted, he’d been drawn into helping with the plans. Obtaining an automatic he'd passed it on to Reid who, in turn, had con- veyed it to the prisoner. Finally he’d pur- chased a clothes line which Reid, after some argument, had smuggled to Krefchenko in- side the leg of his trousers. On January 29th sentences were meted out to those concerned in the escape; seven years hard labour to Const. Reid, and dis- missal from the force; three years for John Westlake for secreting Krefchenko in his apartment, while Buxton was permitted to go free since he'd turned King’s evidence. A few weeks later Reid met an untimely death by falling from a scaffold at the penitentiary. With a white blizzard shrieking across the open prairie, Krefchenko’s trial opened before a packed courthouse in Morden, near Plum Coulee, on the morning of March 10th. Preserving a smiling front Krefchenko followed the case with amused detachment. As the trial proceeded it was discovered through secret channels that he had again succeeded in tampering with his guards. Thenceforth they were changed at irregular intervals and his feet were shackled during the full time he was in the dock. Despite evidence of an established alibi, and the fact that neither Lloyd Wagner nor the two commercial travellers would identify Krefchenko as the mysterious “man in black” they'd seen entering Gervertz’ auto, the evidence commenced to weigh against him. Thirteen-year old Mary Doerksen testified she’d seen him lurking in the vici- nity of the bank the night before the mur- der. A few minutes before the robbery the $5 HOT AND COLD WATER ROYAL HOTEL "RK HOME AWAY FROM HOME” LICENSED PREMISES Prince Rupert, British Columbia | STATIONERS, OFFICE SUPPLIES, | BOOKBINDERS BESNER BLOCK PRINCE RUPERT, B. C. THE REX CAFE AND HOME BAKERY CHINESE DISHES We Serve Nothing But The Best PRINCE RUPERT B. C. RUPERT BAKERY LTD. BREAD AND PASTRY MAKERS Prompt attention given to Steamboats Canneries and Restaurants e PRINCE RUPERT, B. C. ORMES, LIMITED PRESCRIPTION CHEMISTS Phones 81 and 82 e The Rexall Store, PRINCE RUPERT, B. C. De Luxe Cars—Heated and Radio Equipped AT YOUR SERVICE DAY AND NIGHT PHONE Jai Te. 9.6 II Ross Brothers TAXI - CIGAR STORE - BILLIARD HALL 2nd Ave. W. (Across from Prince Rupert Hotel) PRINCE RUPERT BRITISH COLUMBIA | Phone 470 P. ©. Box 192 | | QUALITY STORE | | Italian and Greek Imported Goods | Fresh Fruits aid Vegetables Complete Line of Groceries | 521 Fulton Street Prince Rupert, B. C. Page Thirty-seven