East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1920-09-23

is classed by fellow workers as almost
uncanny. Dozens of men against
whom the thread of evidence was
slight never exercised the prerogative
of a not guilty plea. The sheriff was
able to convince them of their guilt
and to advise them against trying to
evade the fact. In saving the county
| the expense of costly jury trials alone
Sheriff Taylors service was of inesti-
rlable value. his friends point out.
Possessed Keen Eye
Confessions were not obtained by
brow beating methods of third degrees.
Sheriff Taylor was psychologist of a
nature peculiar to himself. He pos
sessed an eye as clear. as keen and as
gripping as a magic crystal. He looked
any man in the eye without a finch.
He talked coolly and evenly to his
men. He neither pleaded nor coerced.
II was friendly advice. sound counsel,
that he gave. A mans face, his ac-
tions. his responses. showed him
whether guilty or not guilty. Few ever
were held long who were not guilty.
This same trait that established in
his mind the guilt or innocence of the
prisoner led also to many captures OF
Tor to the hiding places of many whom
he sought. The habits of criminals
We're as second nature to him. Not a
few times he arrested men who were
cocksure of their safety from appre-
hension. He was a good SPORT to
their way of thinking and they gen
orally admired him for his superiority
of maneuvering.
The keen, sonvicing eye: the power
behind it. the analytical mind, the
gentleness. yet impenetrable firmness
of the man are qualities attributable to
the clean life he lived. An athlete
in his youth, Til Taylor spent much
of his life in the great outdoors,
lover of animals as well as his fellow
man. He never used tobacco nor an
excess of intoxicants. He used his
brain and his physical faculties con-
stantly.
Shot at One Man
The only man Til Taylor ever shot at
during his % years as a sheriff and
deputy was Frank Pilliseer, bank
robber A hot chase for the capture
of this bandit followed the robbery OF
the bank at Hermiston a few years
ago. Pilliseer opened fire on the sher-
iff and he returned the fire until his
scant stock of ammunition was ex-
hausted. Neither man was struck by
bullets. Pilliseer made good his
escape.
A short time later the bandit was
arrested and placed in the Multnomah
county jail. Sheriff Taylor went to
Portland to identify him. From pic
lures he had seen in the gallery MAIN
tanned in his office here he picked
Pilliseer outsof more than 5 0 prisoners
in the jail. The sheriff had9that face
stamped indelibly in his mind.
ANY other officer in this county
would have shot and killed Jim Owens
and Neil Hart during the chase that
resulted in their capture on Birch
creek" Deputy Sheriff Jacob C. Mar
in said 1T was wonder that they
did not shoot Til then. He did not use
his gun, however He never fired it
at any other captives.'
Thirty-four men have broken ont of (
the Umatilla county Jail in the ISL
years Til Taylor was sheriff, records T.
show. Two of them never were |.
brought back. OF these, one was Io-E
Gated in Michigan, but slipped through 4
the fingers of the men sent to take 4
him. The other was in Eeyenworth. II
Kas., prison and was not deemed
worth bringing back. The others were
to jail here. directly or in
directly, without ever a shot, having Il
,een fired by the sheriff the men
with him. il
Both as an officer and as citizen, II
Sheriff Taylor did his duty with thor Il
,uginess. AS an aid to his work he /
assembled and maintained one of the
zrgest galleries of criminal photo-4iI
-rapfs on the Pacific coast. He had /
niger prints and measurements made II
4 all important criminals and the I
and circulars filed in his
fnce number into thousands. Rec I=
rds Of captures, jail breaks, senten- IL
es, paroles and other data were also Il
ept up 10 date. fs
Til Taylor was a native Oregonian.
fearless. sturdy son Of the Pacific l=
-orthwest. He was born, September Iz
3. 1866. at Howell Prairie, nine miles Il
-on Salem. At the age of years Il
2 came, with his parents Mr.. and |.
rs. David Taylor, to Umatilla county. lie
hey settled at Centerville, now Athe- lz
4, where his mother still resides. f
avid Taylor died in March at the age
so years lie
Studied in Portland III
Schools in Athena and Walla Walla
rro.r