Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1878-06-26
p0OTH AND BOB LlNCOLN.

I'm eopk "
RoOrH AND BOB LINCOLN.
wilkes Booth and Robert Lin
!. rivals in Their Loye.makings.'-A
'..;ni.u's Story Of Booths Insane
.l.usy Of Young Lincoln.
,,,onder Hunter writes in the
.s sas a paper published at Ports.
~ Va, what purports to be a true
.,;ve Of the startling events in the
81 Wilkes Booth just previous t.
..sssssinstion of President Lincoln,
story is given as told to the author
Nn. Temple, one of the circle OF
.ds at the National hotel in Wash
a Dr during the last years of the war.
his circle were Senator Hale, his
land daughter, Bessie, and ]. Wilkes
sh Mrs. Temple was Booths
srd and confdante, and she insists
Rooth knew Lincoln we'll, and that
min knew Booth and often spoke OF
This is the story as Hunter puts
nto tbe mouth OF Mrs. Temple:
Among all of Bessie Hale's admir-
Booth was the most ardent and de-
ed distancing all competitors except
and that was the presidents eldest
Robert Lincoln, who was madly in
p with Bessie. He courted her again
again, and wouldn't take no for his
Eyer He had a heavy backing, for
n the senator and his wife, aware of
match, urged their daughter to
NV Robert Lincoln, and queen it at
White House, which in those days
like the palace of royalty itself.
would have given in l am confident
for Booth, who, with his charm of
nm, manner, and intellect, carried
day, and won her heart, but not her
nd; for her parents frowned down
dmost emphatically vetoed the in
nscy between their daughter and the
ur. Indeed, both father and mother
psidered it great piece of presump-
b for the player to make love off
scenic stage. John Wilkes Booth
BY considered divine in the princely
e Of Hamlet, or wearing tho slashed
ublet and habiliments of the half
nce, halt-peasant Melnotte; but as a
l.n.aw to the first senator in the
bd. there the charm ceased, and they
mmanded the daughter never to
ink Of him.
How much
lily cared for Booth. none of us knew:
pbaby not even he himself could tell.
one was aware of the absorbing,
pe, devoted Affection that Bessie had
him-a love great in its purity and
hgIenes, firm in its attachment, as
ue as death itself, and stronger than
e and death combined. Only in the
|arful trial, and the awful times of
ensce and Of peril, did this love
lne out in all its brightness, lighting
be lurid darkness with its beams. even
the rays of the lighthouse CLEAN out
rfoss the waste Of angry waters.
Bessie Hale was passionately fond
seeing Booth assume the character
Hamlet the Dane, and often would
axe ~, MN repeat the famous solioquy
the parlor.
Booths was the most jealous tenn
efament ever knew; he was insane,
pmellmes' it seemed to me, and when
esSle accepted any attention from any
'nsf man, Booth would act like "a pa
enl just out of Bedlam. One night
can never forget it-there was a large
" az our hotel, and the saloons were
oTaed with the wealth, the beauty,
bravery, and the talent of the land.
as oehch, the bar, trade, and the SOL
were al represented, and the scene
ae ballroom was one calculated to
I. ."e 'he imagination and dazzle the
T., we'll remember the night; it was
,ne nte winter Of go. 4 series of
[ ,a'p ;; sklrmlshes had taken place be.
r. n,cnmond with heavy loss to our
| Lta, ana there had been a hard battle
E' NJ ! Atlanta, and the telegraph told
q, u u, 'ne blood that had been poured
,bo IKE water. Though throughout the
waI length and breadth of the land
oci a, ol sorrow could be heard, vet
,.r'y never was more gay nor given
,ir,b more re utterly to the abandon of
!, ,. The means of the bereayed.
. s'9"ns OF the manned and wounded
90 " ~ tread of the funeral cor
,s,ot tue ilaintlve strains of the dead
nm ' ana the beat of the mutfied
,on r'' ~ we're st'tied and lost in the mad
car al revelry and the light laughter
sH T@,e'rSs hearts. Wars are terribly
rsd i'sa q q and we in Washingtos
Al ,S Ss Il there were no future, and
,j.r fns present was all there was to
,b .ofi T. ! really believe that not even
,- .I? french revolution, when men
era ! pped the Goddess of Reason. was
.ar r more mad rush after wild ex.
a ;o;na ana plunged into the vortex
/. iJSc eu the whirling throng.
CAME VERY EARLY TO THE
80 a,gh'' He never liked to attend