Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1883-06-21
ruE O,NErL CASE.

.uO 4
IN the SENTINEL, present . subject Tor
very serious consideration.
We do not care to consider the cir
Of the act except in q gen.
.ral me 1t was an act OF lynching.
The cause that led to it was the be-
bayior Of the principal victim. In his
neiehborhood, as we have learned from
priyate sources, he was considered .
vicious and dangerous man. He vas
ouarrelsome and arbitrary. He travelled
always armed. He was arrested on ~
least. two occasions and tried for cattle
stealing, and though he was looked upon
by everybody as = guilty man. he WA
not convicted. He was ingenious, and
through familiarity with the abundant
law loop-holes he escaped. This Is the
way the story goes among the neighoors
in Spring Valley. The last and culmi'
mating offense, which led to his nrd
At Osceola, was his alleged waylaylng
and shooting one Bassett. a neighbor
farmer and stockman, from . place OF
c~oncealment behind . ledge OF rocks.
The inhabitants of Spring Valley, those
who were forced into neighborhood asso-
Citations with O'Neil to . greater or less
extent, believed him guilty OF this
heinous o~ffense, and gave no heed to his
denial in . public circular and his peti-
tion for . judicial investigation OF the
charge. For . time no one seems Will
ing to prosecute. and the principal wit
meas. the wounded man Bassett, declines
to take any action in the premises. Inc
matter seems to be dropped for . period
of something like ten days or two weeks
when O'Neil and his sons appear Tor
preliminary examination before Justice
Farnham at Osceola. Two regular law
officers. who held them in custody, go
off professedly to summon witnesses and
leave them in care Of two private cit
liens, who solicit the charge. The
prisoners are afterwards allowed the free
dom of the little camp on their own
recopnizance. The father and sons enjoy
the nominal projection of the law for a
day. At night a mob Of armed men, dis
puised with masks, fall upon them in
their sleeping apartment. The old man
is shot through the breast by . Henry
rife, held 30 near his person that his
clothes are set on fire. One Of his sons
il shot in the back and the other runs
away into the sagebrush, ~barefooted, to
escape being dubbed to death.
This is a story Of frightful facts. NO
body can fail to be interested in it. 1t
concerns every citizen OF the State, and
OF the United States.
The murder is extremely disgraceful.
The person who fred upon defenseiess
old man O'Neil is a coward, and if he has
a spark of conscience he will never be
easy sgain IS long as he lives; while
those who, without risk to themselves,
wounded and beat the helpless young
men would be buried beneath a load Of
contempt under which they could not
live in q manly community, if theiI
names were known, though they should
never have bodily harm to dread.
O'Neil and his boys may have been
bad. dangerous neighbors. cattle thieves
and assassins, but we seriously doubt il
they were viler at heart than the masked
dastards who attacked them in bed.
However much and however justly
they might have despised. hated and
dreaded the O'Neils. had they been mel
their souls would have sickened at thu
thought Of actual participation in such I
foul and unnatural deed. They would
have preferred to put up with any ex
tent Of annoyance, suffer any loss by
theft, and undergo any danger Of way
laying and death, trusting, if necessary
rather to encounter the common enemy
~ q dangerous beast Of prey under covsl
or in opsn field.
But the Osoeola tragedy, in its .imms
diats causes and effects. ID comparative
ly unimportsnt. II O,Neil was ~ b.
a. he was painted Spring Valley il bettel
off without him. II l. only . lynohinl
after al, il will be said. and some lynch
ings have doubtless been wholesome An,
unavoidable.
The point Of view from which tn
Oscsola outrage appears to thoughtfu
persons to be Of overshAdowing interes
and Importance 10 this, 1t is . com
msntary upon the administration Of jus
tioe in this State. To admit that lynch
ing 10 deisnsibls In Nevada ID to admit
that we are in the condition Of the Cali
fornia pioneers who had no competen'
Courts and had perforcs to take the Law
into their own hands.
To put ii plainly, the people Of thil
commonwealth despair Of obtaining jus.
tice in the eonrtA A. dastardly AND
a. contemplate a the murderers Of
O'Neil appear. we believe they had their
bedrock animus in this recognised fact.
They felt that they must rid the com
munity Of . bad man themselves, for
they had tried the law and had seen
Others try it uselessly until they were
sick at heart and ready for murder be-
hind masks and under the cover Of night.
Jury trials in this State are 81 present
: farce. and everybody knows IL.
This breeds murders and makes apollo
eists for felons.
NAHONE'O IDEA.
Gen. Malone says Of the Virginia