Connecticut western news., 1875-06-11
MISTAKEN IDENTITY.
.- r--r -.-sr- .E....tHs Eal The, Story. of. the, Two RIen who we Y PA Supposed to be Assussins.

The Story of the Two AIen who were '4h4s- Supposed to be Assussins. 1
 q In 'Scribner for June we find some in. teresting Tecoliections of Charles Sum,
 ner, by hiss former Secretary, MT. A. B.
 Johnson. The following extract is an
 account (and explanation) of the plot to
 assassipate MT. Sumner in 1865 :. 2.
 Simultaneously with the murder of
 President Lincoln, two rough, stalwart
 men had gone twice to MT. Sumner $
 rooms, and their suspicious demeanor
 had So frightened the women servants who saw them, that no concurrent story
 had been obtained from them as to the
 appearance of the ihtruders.3 The ser
 wants had been carefully examined and
 their. every word had been photographed
 drawings of the suspicious visitors had
 been made by artists from the descrip- tion shown to themy and altered again and again until they could no longer
 suggest any change in form or feature.
 Photographs of these had been placed in the hands of the detectives, but up to this time no Mdiiigs had been gained as to .the persons sought They might
 have come up from Hades and then gone
 back there, for all, he eorlld learn, the
 secretary said. But so long as they were
 undiscovered, or at least so long as their
 identity was not Il Known, MT. Stanton
 thought it absolutely necessary that some care should e,takens of Mir! Sum
 her, so notoriously eapelhss was he of
 his own safety. On 1earing these de-
 tails, Midsummer ceasedito demand the
 removal, of the guard, though he jocose-
 Ixf &g%l
 than of those they were | to defend him againstH Perhaps he had reaseti,I for the
 soldiers had refreshfnef efits each night at his expense, a1ld ltTiet Kind of refresh r1ent was left to TtheP selection of the sergeant. II. But when when 9 the lady of the house permitted, her cook to give the kitchen at, midnight, instead of having the refre refreshmnents ? served from neigh
 boring rlestauqEapt, q the guards were less, dangerous to their friends. ga gsol -,, - |, Who the two men were that so fright iened the servants iat Mr. Su1nher's lodg- mgs and by their osingular actions gave point, tothe suspicious of the ,secretary of war, was often 0 subjeotlof converse tion among the very few of the Senator's friends to whom theineid ent was known; They naturally watclfedh the develop ments made during the tfial of the con. spirators, but nd conc cldsion was reached. It remained as one, Of the unriaalvveled tang1es of affairs until after, the Senator's death, when I accid entally, came upon the. trail which led to .the, discovery of the ideHtity of the suspicious characters, and l received from theiE own lips, they, having little idea of the eommotion their course had caused, an account of their visit to MT. Sumner's rooms onI that eyentful night. They were members of the Massachusetts delegation to Con- gress-one the late chairman of the committee of ways and means,l now Mr. Summers successor in the Senate, Henry IL. hDawes;h and the other his friend MT. Goochs haI Ga 1@t s'gi"sog iau
 The facts were thus detailed: MT. Dawes and Mir. Gooch, had been to Richmond, and returning to, Washing ton, had made a tour ,ofa the. battlefelds about Manassas, reaching Washington on. the night of the fourteenth of April, 1865, about sunset After supper they started out for @ walk, joking each other as to their appearance. Q And we'll they might. Their clothing was rough, travel worns dusty, and Aeyen sn1ud-stained. Their hands, faces and necks were much sun burned, in spite of the wide brimmed hats they wore. Each carried a stick or, rather, a cudgef, cut as a sou venir on some battlefield, and the hair and beard of each werO longer than usual. r .. ..-. t-
 Thus accoutered, they concluded to call on MT. Sumner. He then had cham bers at the corner of F and Thirteenth streets; they knew the house we'll; so, without ringing, they mounted the stairs and rapped at his door, using their sticks. When it appeared that the Sena tor was out they left his house, and, passing on, concluded to call on the President. There again they were dis for it appeared, when they rung at the White House, that MT. Lin coin had gone with some friends to the theater, On their way back to. their hotel, they stopped again at MT. Sum ner's lodgings, and again went up to his rooms, and rapped at his door. T he noise they made brought aservant to the foot of the stairs. They leaned over he and questioned her. When did the Senator go out3 Did he say when he should return Would 1t, they queried between themselves, be worth while to wait? And then they laughed at tic evident fear the servant had of two such rough-leoking customers. As they were quite fatigued, they went back to, their hotel, aud in the morning woke to learn that while they were last at MT. Summers lodgings, the shot had been fred that took the life of MT. Lin coin. ga.. -e- @," p.V 3.
 .'' The Two Men and the Bear.