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Elliot Lyons, former deputy sheriff, ex-convict, horse thief, and all around desperado.

Last night, shot and fatally wounded William Wither, Sheriff of Lane County, while the latter was attempting to arrest him.

The sheriff was in the discharge of his duty when he received the fatal wound.

With a warrant for the arrest of Lyons for horse stealing,

Wethers entered the cabin where the man he was after resided.

Lyons concealed himself and as far as the

officer could see, there was in the room only the mother and the wife of the thief.

At the first appearance of the sheriff, the women rushed at him like she-wolves and

grappled with him and held his arms pinions so that he could not reach for his

revolver. Lyons then came forth from his place of concealment and drawing a 44 caliber pistol

from his belt deliberately shot the defenseless officer. The ball entered the throat and

probably lodged in the spine after ranging downward.

Although two guards stood outside the door at the time, there appears to have been no obstacle to the

escape of the desperado, who calmly walked out of the front door and made good his escape for the time being.

The fugitive outlaw is well known throughout this section of the country.

He was formerly a deputy sheriff.

He is an ex-convict, having served a sentence in the penitentiary for embezzling school funds. He was wanted in Douglas County

for stealing horses, and it was to serve the warrant on this charge that Sheriff Withers went to the

lion's cabin. The mother and wife of the desperado are under arrest, and will be taken to Eugene and

held to await the result of the

sheriff's wounds. It is almost certain that Withers will die, and in that event the women will

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