The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1895-09-05
LYNCHERS KEPT BUSY
Four Murderers Strung Up
in California.
SYSTEMATIC WORK OF A MOB

SYSTEMATIC WORK OF A MOB
A Climax Supposed to Have Been
Reached i'm the Reign of Lawless-
ness In Siskiyou County.
Yreka, Cal, August 2S.-As a
CHASTITY climax of reign of lawless-
ness in Siskiyou county for many
months past, the bodies of four accused
murderers lie this morning on the floor
Of a fire engine-house in the old min
ing town Of Yreka. 1t was evident
that Judge Lynch and his jurors had
been at work during the night, and
their verdict was death by hanging"
to four miserable wretches in the coun-
ty Jail.
The victims are Lawrence johnson,
who, on July 90, stabbed his wife to
death in the town of Etna; William
Null, who shot Henry Hayter in the
back, near Galatians, April 81; Louis
Moreno and Garland Sender, who are
supposed to have killed George Sears
and Casper Meiererhans at Bailey
Hill, August 5. About 8 o'clock a
straggler now and then caught a
glimpse Of dark objects hanging around
the suburbs of the town, but nothing
was thought of it. Dark objects thick
ened until along toward midnight they
assumed the shape of silent and stern
men, either on horseback or afoot. At
midnight prearranged plan or signal
drew small army Of some $50 men in
the vicinity of the courthouse square,
while sentinels were placed throughout
the town to ward off the danger of dis
covery by officers. The fire bells were
tied up and the night watchmen were
sent to other parts of the town OH sham
errands, and stragglers were detained.
At o'clock the midnight avengers
of justice prepared to carry out their
plans. An old rail was taken from the
depot and stretched between two trees
in the courthouse park, and then they
began descent upon the Jail. A de-
mand was made upon Deputy Sheriff
Radford for the keys, but he did not
yield. Henry Bratlaucht, who was
sleeping in the Jail, heard commO-
ton and opened the door to see what
the trouble was, and he was at once
seized by the mob. The doors were
then forced open and johnson, Null,
Sender and Moreno were marched out
to the court yard. The condemned
men were stolid and took their fate
without murmur, with the exception
of young Senior, who begged piteously
for mercy. His age is 10. 1t is said
that the scene was heartrending one,
as young Sender broke forth in an
agonizing appeal and cried out: "Tell
my dear old mother l am innocent of
the crime"
Sheriff Hobbs had given strict Or
ders that in case any attempt at lynch
ing was made to ring the fire bells and
rouse the citizens, but the mob antici-
pated this and laid their plans well.
Every person about the streets in the
vicinity of the Jail was stopped. S. F.
Miles and Sam ROop were going to the
house of the latter's mother, and were
held at the scene Of the hanging.
Nearly every section of the country
was represented in the mob. In fact,
ever since Null's cold blooded murder
of Henry Hayter, lynching was freely
talked of in the western end of the
country, and when johnson killed his
wife the avenging sentiment kept on
fermenting. After the Bailey Hill
murder the feeling reached a dangerous
stage. During the lynching some one
awoke Sheriff Hobbs, who hurried
down town and as he was going
through the courthouse a Winchester
was stuck in his face and he was COM
PEELED to stand where he was. The
whole affair was carefully arranged
and well executed, and not over twen-
ty minutes elapsed from the time the
keys were surrendered until the mob
rode swiftly out of town.
The lynching can in no way reflect
upon the officers of the court. The in
formation in the Null case was filed
May 90, and under his plea of inno-
cence the law gave him right to send
wherever necessary to secure deposit
tions in support of his defense, which
could not be done in less time than al
lowed by the court. This is the only
one of the four cases which was at is
sue before the superior court. In the
case of johnson there was a demurrer
to the information, which was to be
argued this week. The other prisoners,
Sender and Moreno, were to have had
their preliminary examinations tomOr-
row, it having been necessary to post
pone them to that date, in order to al
low the attorney time to prepare the
defense.
All day the excitement throughout
Siskiyou county has been intense al
though not of condemnation ON the
part of the lynchers, for the general
impression is that Judge Lynch's SEN
tence was a severe though just one.
Especially in Yreka has excitement
run high, people hurrying from all Sec
lions of the country to veiw the CHASTITY
result of the midnight raid ON the
county Jail. kilograms of inquiry
from newspapers and invdiduals all
mp and down the coast have been pour
ing in all seeking particulars of the
most daring wholesale lynching in the
history Of the West.
The coroner's jury rendered ver-
dict that johnson, Null, Moreno and
Senior came to their death by strangu-
lation, at the hands of parties un-
known to the jury. The probabilities
are that none of the lynchers will be
apprehended.
A Victory for the p oOlroOms.
San Francisco, August &c. Pool