Rock Island daily Argus., 1891-02-27
LEFT TO STARVE.
The Fiendish Crime Committed
by Oscar BartelIs.
SEVEN MEN HIS INTENDED VICTIMS

He Abando ons Them on an Island in the
| Pacific Without Food, Water or Arms
| That He May Rob Them in Security
! Forced tn Eat Raw yuiture in Order to
Sustain Ife-Dreadful suherings of
/ the Meh-Their Final Rescue When
Nearly Per.hing.
| SAN Fra SCisCo, Feb. 27-For a number
/ OF months Oscar Bartells, Larry Tillison,
| William Anderson. William Smith, Fritz
Hartz, William Reddy, Charles Mccoy.
and JACK johnson have been in partnership
in securing and selling goat skins and tai
| low procured on Guadalupe island, which
I lies in the ocean about 149 miles south
/ west of Str Quentin, on the coast OF
| Lower California. The last-named seven
men were TO remain on the island kill the
| goats. and prepare the tallow for the mar
/ ket. Bartells was to furnish the vessel for
transportation, buy the supplies, and act
as business manager of the enterprise
| Guadalupe island is mountainous up
heaval from the ocean. 1t is about four
teen miles long and will average eight
miles in width. 1t is barren, except for
shaggy palm trees and dry, stubby under
brush. The native animal life is confined
to Mexican wolves, coyotes, and half
starved mountain goats
A Tale of yiIIainly UnfoIded.
Tillison, Anderson, Smith, Hartz, Red
| dy, Mccoy and johnson have Just reached
here, having been taken off the island by
the schooner Ellen, and they tell horri-
ble story Of Barteils' villainy The part
| nership business went we'll until Dec l.
| A few days prior to this Bartells' vessel
arrived at Guadalupe from San Pedro,
where Bart"lls had disposed of about
1,o00 goat skins and large quantity of
tallow. estimated in value at S7O0 The
vessel was again loaded with skins and
tallow and late in the afternoon of Nov.
80 the money for the last sale and previous
| sales was to have been divided according
| to the conditions of the contract Bar
! tells said he was sick, and proposed on
that account % put the settlement off un
! til the following morning. The men
! agreed and went ashore for the night.
Left on the Island to tarve.
On going to the beach the next day they
were Mortified to find that no vessel was
in sight Bsrtels had sped away during
the night ami taken with him not only
\
this time the men were ont of flour.
: sugar, coffee and salt They had but a
/ pound or so OF St biscu.ts left, and after
two days these were exhausted Having
no cartridges, powder or lead, they were
compelled TO resort to all kinds of primi-
tive means to capture goats for meat an
their bread for two months and five day.
consisted Of palm seeds pounded into
flour and baked without salt. For two
weeks they lived on the carcasses of goats
that had been skinned, but the meat be-
came 50 RANCID that no one could swallow
it without vomiting
No Water, and yuItures for Meat
Their supply of fresh water. which con-
sisted of two kegs only partially filled when
Bartells deserted them, now gave ont,
and the pain of terrible thirst was added
to that of hunger. The palm seeds pro-
duced diarrhea, and all the men were
soon so veal. .aned as to be unable to climb
| the mountain sides in search of game.
| Wolves and coyotes hovered over tle car
! casses of the goats, and the men fought
| them so fercely that they were driven
| upon the crags out of reach of even a gun.
! Tillison, Smith and Hartz recovered after
| few days so as to be able to walk
around, and with stones they succeeded in
| killing some vultures that were finishing
their feast of the dead goats. These car
rion birds were soaked in salt water and
| eaten with a relish by those who were
| well enough 10 eat at all.
A Terrible Struggle for Food.
| Beiug strengthened, Smith and Hartz
started out for meat and water good
| spring was discovered, but no goats could
be reached, Traps were set, and after be-
| ing without meats or other palata5le food
| tyVp Ia aprr
| 1t could be seen on the mountain side not
quarter of Il mile away, suspended by a
| snare, but the men were all so weak that
| for two hours none would make the effort
| to reach il. At last johnson, Anderson
and HartZ started, crawling and resting
johnson and Anderson gave out when 200
yards away Hartz gradually neared the
coyote, and finally, after four hours of
terrible suffering, Hartz reached the ami
| NAL.
Rescued by Chance.
| He was so weak that he went to sleer
with the coyote in his arms, the others
thinking him dead Awakening some
! what refreshed, he managed to roll and
| crawl back to camp with his guarantee of
| life in his arms All ate small portions Of
the raw coyote and afterward cooked anu
ate the rest For four or five weeks expe-
! rienceS almost terrible as these
were suffered. Finally the schooner
Ellen, returning from a shell-gath-
| ering cruise, was compelled to put
| iuto the ISLAND on account of
bad weather, and the half-starved men
managed to attract Capt. Porter's atten-
tion to their condition. They were taken
aboard and given the best of caIe. and
safely arrived n San Diego bay. When
rescued they were mere skeletons, and SO
weak were they that not one could walk
alone. Reddy had to be taken to the hos
| pital, and is not expected to recover, while
1t Will require weeks of recuperation to re-
store the others to their normal state of
health