New-York tribune., 1919-12-01

! from Otto Land, in which he asKed
Delius to lend him 1000 pesos on thirty
boxes Of cyanide he had stored in Rosa
Morada Mr. Ferris in his statement
wrote that it had been signed by QUO
Land, but in "such poor hand that
it appeared he had tried to sign, but
something was the matter with ms
hand"
Fingers To BE Cut OF
In this letter Land said the bandits
proposed to cut off his fingers one at
time until the money was sent. lie
also pleaded to have all his small for
tune turned into cash and sent to the
bandit chief.
In desperation, Mr.. Ferris then con-
ceivcd scheme to aid Whiteford to
escape, that involved getting the SEN
tincls who guarded him to drink tequila,
a Mexican alcoholic beverage, that had
been drugged
With the assistance &C doctor three
bottles of tequia were drugged and
given to trusted native, with instruc
tions to give it to Whitefords guards.
The doctor told Ferris couple Of
drinks out of the bottle would put
man to sleep for at least eight
hours. The man was given an anti
[ dote, which he was to swallow in case
circumstances made it necessary for
| him to drink with his proposed vic
| Tins.
Ruse Ends in Murder
He returned about four days later
bringing news of the murder Of White
ford He had got the story from his
brother.
Whiteford and the Spaniard Allende
had tried to escape at a time when
! many of the bandits were away from
camp, and the few who remained were
for the most part drunk. That was
about May 27.
The American and the Spaniard had
decided to make the attempt. They
bribed with promises OF gold two Mexi-
cans to aid them.
For some reason Land did not accom-
pany them. The pair had travelled
through a thick woods for four hours.
They then reached the bank of the
Santiago River. 1t was a moonlight
night. The Mexicans, one of whom was
a Nillista captain. crossed the river
first. Then they signalled the prison
ers to follow. AS Whiteford and
Allende started across the stream
twelve bandits who, unknown to them,
were stationed nearby, opened FIRE with
pistols a few times. and fled. White
ford and Allende were compelled to
raise their hands o,rr their heads and
surrender.
1t was more than a month after
Whiteford's death that Mr.. Ferris
learned all the circumstances. Ferris
had gone to Rosa Morada About six
weeks earlier some of the men of Felix
Diaz of the West had sacked the
small town, and as they rode away each
of the bandit horsemen held strug-
Cling Mexican girl on the pommel Of
his saddle. They also took away as
prisoner a prominent man of the town.
Shot and Stabbed to Death
1t was he who told Mr.. Ferris about
Whitefords murder. He explained
that it was squad of mon of the COM
mand of Colonel Covarrubas that re
captured Whteford. They threw him
to the ground, put rope around his
arms and began to drag him back to
camp. They threatened him with guns,
and Whiteford, in despair. invited them
to shoot him One OF the drink-in-
famed men held 3O-calibre rifle
against the captive's stomach and
pulled the trigger. Then another
stabbed, twice, once under each breast
To finish him another rife bullet was
| fired into his body.
When these men returned to camp
they had to face the wrath of Felix
Diaz, who demanded to know why they
had shot the "grngo' from Minatas
! the place where the Cuyutlan mine
is tocatedD. He threatened TO shoot
some of them, but actually didn't pun
ish any of them.
Uses Dull Knife
This same man told Of the mutila-
ton Of the hands Of Land and White
/ ford. Possibly his account contains
a hint as to the reason Whiteford did
not seek Lands mpanionship when
he determined to escape.
The order came from Covarrubias to
cut finger from the hand of each OF
the men. The officer who received this
order sent back word that his men
would not commit such an act Covar-
rubias didN't argue the question. He
sent for Cuban, "Captain' Gil Montes
and this individual, after ordering some
of the men to hold the prisoners, cut
Off the index finger OF Whiteford' S
right hand and the little finger of
Lands left
1t was poor knife that the Cuban
employed and he had to saw savagely
| TO accomplish his purpose. Ferris was
tod that Whiteford never moved dur
ing this operation, but gritted his teeth
and kept silent. Land" Ferris was told
"yeled a great deal during the oper-
/ alton"
Before Whitnford's fnror was cut %