The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1901-07-26
WHO HAS HE MuRDERED7
W. y. Lands Believed to Have Lured
Many Victims.

| NAA' Ah'Hhg AiAFb"l Ahilh HH'N hlhkHl hNH
promoter. II In believed mat many
murders can b. laid AZ hls door. I, II
SAID thai he made business of Turing
prospective timber land purchasers intc
the woods where he deliberately killed
them ana Appropriated the money p0s.
scgsed by hs victims on one murder
h. can b. convicted by direct evidence
N q hiif DOZEN cases Of mysterious dis
app araaceR circumstances point 10 him
~ the responsible party.
A reward Of 1900 has been offered
by the nfuHitel and indignant cu-
gems Tor his capture. Armed posses are
securing the woods near the scenes u
his rlmes-determined. ayenging man
hunters. The description Of Lands Il
80 yelrs old. height; feet. 10 inches
weight, $50 pounds whiskers faded san
dy color hair, ligh, sandy; walks
heavy body slightly leaned 70 the left
point chin. snllow complexion. gray
eyes. squints: II fluent talker on
GERS OF all counties In oregon and Cal
fornil have been furnished with ihs
above. and Il Il thought that his cap
,ur, will be effected before he can get
out II the country
Tn, specific crime for which Lands
Il wanted II the murder Of Jesse -.
Eudally. The two men weni into the
woods 20 look nt timber lands. and Eu-
,nily had f230O In cash with him. Two
boys saw Lands covering up 2 freshly
made mound IN the fores. They thought
h. had buried money there ana as soon
NJ Lands had gone they dug into what
proved to b. a grave Eudaily's corpse
was disclosed TO the now terrified boys;
H. throat had been cut ana his heart
had been punctured with a sharp In
s,rumen,. The lads reported their grue-
some find 70 the authorities and cor
o1er's jury was empaneled bur Lands
could not be found
His nlgi, increased the suspicious of
tho settlers and they took immediate
steps for hts apprehension. Within a
half hour the 1900 reward TAD been
subscribed and searching parties were
org ginIzei and sent out. Further invest
lgailons bv the officers disclosed facts
that would indicate a series of murders
and robbs-ies The strangers whom
Lands had dealings Win and who sub
seouen,lv disappeared always were wei.
provided with money. In every instance
Lands returned TO :own alone and re-
ported that he stranger had clugh, the
steamer FOR California. One man. name
unknown. went with lands 90 look al
timber lands on the lower Coqullle riy-
er. Lands returned alone, saying the
man had gone 20 California. one Far
ley from Portland, went into the Wild
eraess with Lands under similar cir
cums,aaces and disappeared in the same
way He was known to have several |
thousand dollars on his person al the
time
George Thompson also known as
"SkrIngle." a Norwegian from Mime |
sofa. i5 years old left his baggage at a
hotel In CoquIle City, saying he was
going with LAais to look a; timber
land He declared that he would be
hack In day or two. but has not since
been seen Lands returned alone AMI
told the usual tale. Among Thomr'5n's
effects was found letter from Ole Lar
sen of North Bend. Sine the dlsap-
pearlnce u Lands officers have conf
with Larsen. who replied .hlt
he received word from his friend
Thompson to the effect that the latter
was going To Portland on the steamer
Alliance. and from there 20 Gray's Har-
bor Larsen sen, to the police ihs le,-
ter which he had received. As ne
thought, from Thompson. II wls writ
Ten In Lands handwriting on some
paper used by lands for his letter
leads and bore a postmark dated sub
,equent to Thompson's disappearance
rom CoQullle City. Inquiry OF ths
steamer people brought out The fact
hat 10 such person as Thompson. or
my one answering his description md
aksn passage on the Alliance. The
heory is tha; Lands. knowing Thomp
ION was in correspondence with Lar
ZEN. wrote the letter, .lghing Thomp-
ons name, to head on inves CATION in
q Thompsons whereabouts.
In addition to the cases cited residents
4 Coquille City remember that on 9TH
r occasions Lands went into the woods
ccompln,td by strangers but invaria-
ly returned alone, Lands was las.
cen at Siuslaw A deputy sheriff has
ened there, but the fugitive nau pass
d through withou, stopping and there
vas no clue to The direction he had TAX
n. The crimes with which Lands IS
hlrCed resemble the murders Of the
sailor Butler who decoyei
ictlms into the bush in his native land
nd there murdered ANA robbed them.
.andls appeared at Crescent City, Call
en- mon hs ago as agent for the sale OF
patent range. He told tales Of be-
ig heir to a great fortune. Subsequent
, he went to the Coos bay country. 5
'here he has since been.