Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-04-08
WAYS OF BASTIAN.
Evidence of Further Fiendish-
ness Comes to Light.
RUNS his OWE 0RENAroRIuM.

WAY Of Disposisg Of Hb Victims In
Which He Did Not Succeed A. to Lau.
derbsch. Although he Made the Prep
arasions- Other suspIcions.
Did Bastian dispose of the remain s
OF his victims by incineration?
A more horrible suggestion than
this has been mentioned as explain
ing the method of the Black Hawk
man-killer in destroying the evil
dence OF his crime For q day or
two the suspicion has been gaining
that fire played q more important
part in the deeds Of this demon than
in the mere firing OF ad Joining prem
ises, and which, by the way, is no t
now believed to be confined to the
Mclaughlin farm, for the destruction
of u barn on the farm of his father
in-law. NJ. A. johnson, and house
on the farm Of Mrs. Johnston, both
in Black Hawk, and both within a
comparatively short time. is now
numbered among the least of the
Outrages OF which Bastian is accused.
But there is now reasonable ground
for the theory that the unfortunate
men, other than Kuschmann and
Lauderbach. who fell by his hand,
were cremated, aod thus the last ves-
tige of them removed. The discovery
OF the watches of Lauderbach and
Kreinsen and of Lauderbach's revoI-
yer, all Of which had been through
fire, is one evidence of Bastian's
methods.
Laaderbsch Prepared for Cremation.
The rails and posts and other rub
bish which concealed Lauderbach's
body contribute also to the belief
that Bastian had intended TO burn the
body, but whether frustrated in his
design or what prevented his pur-
pose is, of course, not known. 1t
may not have been the purpose to
carry out the process OF incarceration
at the particular place where the
body was discovered, but the mater
ial was there. If the design existed.
and the execution was planned either
there or somewhere else around the
mysterious barn.
ReopeninE Of the Inquest.
The position of THE ARGUS in urg-
ing a reopening Of the inquest on Fred
Kuschmann and Henry Bastian with
the view to reaching a correct YER
dict as to the cause of death in each
instance has met with many express
sions Of approval on the part of the
public. That the verdict which now
stands conveys the wrong impress
sion in both cases, cannot be doubted.
The first jury in the Kuschmann case
had neither the proper theory nor the
proper evidence on which to act. and
hence the misguided verdict of acct
dental death. The jury in the Bas-
tian inquest was altogether too char.
itably disposed toward the suicide,
and thus attributed the deed to
financial troubles, whereas the SIM
pie facts were that the many sided
demon saw the coils Tightening so
closely about him that suicide was
his only escape.
The verdicts in both the Kusch.
mann and Bastian inquests are not in
accordance with the facts.
Late News of the Case.
A proposition has been made by
Mrs. Henry Bastian's family to Viii.
liam kuschmann to pay to him
$40. 35. the amount due him by Henry
Bastian, and this, while an admission
OF Importance bearing on the circum-
stances, reflects also q sense of honor
and justice.
Letters are coming to the authori.
ties from all over the country inq uir-
ing about missing people. whom anx'
ious parents and relatives in view o.
the numerous crimes attributed &c
Henry F. Bastian, think might bs
among the victims OF this arch fiend
But the names of none thus far cor
respond with the men known t.
have worked for Bastian and who
cannot be accounted for.
So far today, owing to the storm,
there has been no prosecution of the
investigation, but it will in al
probability be resumed in the morn