The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1913-06-27

his excitability and bitterness toward
those who had crossed him in any
manner. He was free and careless
in his threats, and talked indiscrim-
inately of killing this man or that
seemingly holding life of little value.
He had often said that if he ever got
into trouble he would not be taken
alive. His tragic end demonstrates
that he was in earnest in his declar-
alton. A volume could be written of
the statements made as to his &C.
centricities, of his fearful exhibitions
of passion, in which even the members
of his family were not immune. of
his driving wOrkmen and others from
his premises with a gun. of his always
going armed and on the alert for
trouble, of his almost uncanny ex-
pertness with the revolver, a weapon
that he constantly practised with.
These are the things that a morbid
public always delights in bringing up
and expaciating upon after sensa-
tion of this noture, and they lose
none of the grewsomeness by repe-
tition.
The neighborhood feud in which
Ethel was one of the principal actors
was the source of much misery to
those chiefly implicated. Aside from
the constant mental strain caused by
constant expectation of serious per-
sonal collision, there was much dam
age done to property. Life and pro-
perty were not safe, and the shocking
ending of the unhappy state of affairs
was not unexpected. Hone, the op-
position mill owner was the greater
sufferer in the way of property loss.
His mills insisted on burning down
in the most unaccOuntable way, pieces
of machinery disappeared, explosions
occurred and other annoyances were
experienced. Hone always charged
these depredations up against Ethel
There was nc absolute proof that
Ethel was the guilty party, but sus-
picion was firmly planted in Homes
breast and every loss was laid to the
door Of his ancient enemy. Last sum
mer the boiler at Homes mill was
wrecked from a blast o. giant powder
Ethel was charged with the crime. a
warrant was sworn out and he was ar
rested. He was released on $1,000
bonds, Chas. Powell and c. e. John
ston, of OrOville, qualifying as bonds
men. There was not sufficient evil
dence, so far as can be ascertained
to convict, yet Ethel jumped the bond
and disappeared. This action would
tend to create the impression that he
was in fact guilty, and feared to stand
trial. At,the time of his disappearance.
the presumption was that Ethel had
gone to British Columbia.
Early last week information was
conveyed to the authorities at Con-
conully that Ethel was at home with
his family. Deputy Sheriff Clair Ward
was directed to proceed at once to
the Ethel home and make the arrest.
Thursday evening he arrived in Oro-
Vile en- his way to Ethel's home. He
summond c. Z. Johnston, d. B Gran
dell and Chas Gale to assist him in
making the arrest, and the men ,heavi
ly armed, left Oroville in a hack for
the Ethel place about midnight reach
.3tinatiOn between 3 and 4
o'clock Friday morning. The family
was aroused, and Mrs. Ethel and her
daughter dressed and came down
stairs. The posse was perfectly sat
isfied that Ethel was on the premises.
and went up stairs and searched the
rooms. He was called upon to come
out of his hiding place and surrender.
He refused the invitation and would
not respond by word of mouth. He
at first took refuge in
the attic, and from thence he was
smoked out and cancelled himself in
narrow space under the ewes and
between the outer and inner walls Of
the second story. The officers were
aware of this hiding place. but as
Ethel was in his stocking feet he
made no sound and it was impossible
to locate his exact position.
The more serious feature of this
man hunt was to follow after the
shooting in the house, and the news
OF the subsequent events was brought
in late in the afternoon by j. H.
Slagel, who is engaged to one of
Ethel's daughters, and who reached
Oroville late in the afternoon. The
story was issued in the shape of an
extra, gotten out by the junior member
OF the firm after working all night. 1t
covers the ground pretty thoroughly,
and is here reprinted for the benefit
OF those readers unable to secure Il
copy of the extra publication.
Intrenched in secret hiding place
between false partitions in his home,
set in the midst of clearing cut from
the heavy timber on the south slope
OI MI. T1ull, dUOuI IWclNc HHlCo SOuIH
and east of Oroville, j. II. Ethel, a
| fugitive from justice, desperate and
determined to sell his life dearly, died
frcm self-infiictcd wounds amid the
| flames of his fortress about sudown
Yesterday, after holding a numerous
and heavily armed posse at bay for
hours.
Twice during the day his pursuers
entered the house only to be repulsed
| by the cornered outlaw. Fully a
thousand shots were poured into the
building by the posse that surrounded
the place, but apparently none of them
took effect. Ethel refused to reply to
| either question or summons, and shot
whenever his pursuers pressed him
closely. or exposed themselves to-
temptingly. He was armed with 4
heavy calibre luger revolver and dis
played his deadly accuracy of aim by
wOunding Chas. Gale in the head early
in the day. Gale was stationed about
100 yards from the house behind I.
stump and incautiously peared above
his protection Ethel fired two shots
in quick succession, one entering tht
bridge of Gales nose, passing through
h;e r;ubt avo sOclyet and emerging