Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-07-17
ALGERIAN BUTCHER.
The Greatest Murderer of the
Present Time.
A BASE IMITATOR OF ROBIN HOOD
Vowed to Slay a Man for Every Year OF
His Life and He Kept
tho Vow.

The most ferocious and successful
bripand and assassin that the world
has ever known has just been arrested
in his career of robbery, murder and
abduction in the rocky and densely
wooded def1les of the mountain country
that extends to the confines of the
great African desert, bordering on, and
to some extent included in the French
possessions in Algeria.
The country is called Kabylia and its
inhabitants ara the Berbera. an I'M
tamable, irascible. and bloodthirsty
race. descended from the aboriginal
denizens of Africa, called by the
Romans "Barbari, and claiming de-
scent from "Ber,'' the grandson, ac-
cording to their traditions, of Ham, the
son of Noah.
Areski ell Bachir (the butcher is
worthy descendant of such stock
He is now 40 years of age and by his
own confession has, in obedience to
vow. for he is a most pious Mussul-
man, slain man for every year OF his
life; how many more he has disposed
of in the way of business he declines
to say.
He is of middle stature, measuring
about five feet ten inches, well-made
and sinewy. His fingers are long and
tapering with marked resemblance to
the talons of bird of prey. His feet
are arched and small, his forehead
high but retreating and thickly scanned
with wrinkles; his eyes are bright and
piercing when aroused, but when at
lest, yelled and somnolent as those OF
most orientals.
In fact, his countenance has many
characteristics of the other wild crea-
lures Of the rocks and woods who have
lot yet developed into the full villainy
of the human tiger and added intellect
to the brute instinct of his fellow
carnivora. Ell Bachir is prosaic vii
lain, in brown burnous and dirty
turban, but none the less a master
villain, to whom such rosewater
ruffians as Claude Duval, Robin Hood
or Fra Diavolo must yield the palm.
They never marked their birthdays by
human sacrifices.
At the head of band of twenty five
robbers Ell Bachir has terrorized all
Kabylia, and set at defiance the forces
sent against them by the Colonial Gov
eminent. His men are like himself
In their wild, rocky haunts, amid
tangled brushwood and burning sands,
they show curious mixture of diverse
types. All but one are in the vigor OF
their age. from 20 to 40 years, secre-
tive, low toned and false in oounte-
nance, they agree in one type OF ap-
parent indifference and the apathy OF
a captive animal.
Wrapped in their burnous, silent
and immovable they await their prey.
They have slain, robbed and cheated,
but, strange to say, only their own
compatriots, for there is no record of
any white men having been molested
by them, and for this reason they look
upon the interference of strangers with
their pursuits as uncalled for and
unfair. They are of the opinion that
the Frenchmen ought to mind their
own business and leave them to murder
and rob their own people in peace.
Ell Bachir has been many times
caught and even sentenced, but until
now has contrived to escape and take
refuge in his rocky Businesses or else,
by the aid of false witnesses, who are
always to be had for money in Arabia,
has contrived to get his condemnation
reversed or committed to fines, to
which end the fact that he has made
war on the natives only has largely
but this time he must pay
the penalty. He has committed the
grave error of numbering man with
a pull"
Being tried and condemned to
death, Areski and his band displayed
all the impressive and british resigna-
ton that distinguishes the Berber at
his last gasp. The faith of Islam in
culcates as it's most fundamental doc
trine the belief that every mans
'Kismet" or destiny is written upon
his forehead by the finger of Allah,
and that no efforts of his own can
change it either for good or evil.
Consequently when his time comes the
wraps his head in his
mantle and awaits death impertaTba-
bly,, marmuring to himself the pro-
fession of faith.
His last victim was an Arab sheikh,
who held very friendly relations with
the Governor General of Algeria. Be-
ing a man of influence and Importance,
the Government could not afford to
wink at his disappearance. In fact,
the victim was carrying the tribute of
several villages to Algiers when he
was captured, robbed of the Govern
ment's money and put to death with
every ingenious torture the Berber mind
could conceive, for Ell Bachir could not
forgive the diversion of such large
'um of money from what he conceived
20 be this legitimate destination to his
,offers.
The unfortunate man, Abdul Reschid