, 1885-03-17


johnson himself, not an hour before. startled
the man. He looked Mt ma and said:
"Oh, ] Recognize you now. You were with
the president when l handed him the order
Yea / replied, -and l can assure you
that he Is very much in earnest. Tho ado
made over pre- vious di~sinterments hero has
greatly offended ala
"Thare shall be none made over this, mis-
takenly rejoined the man. "Coms with me
yourself aud you viii be able 10 report T.
tho president that his directions have been
implicitly followed l accepted this kind
invitation and was not SURPRISED, though j
was silent, when tina undertaken told thu
officer in charge of the arsenal, up TO which
we drove from the entrance, that Il was one
OF the executive clerks who was there to see
that eyerythlng was done with privacy and
Dispatch
On the floor OF the old arsenal ON the
Island in Washington, we stood Tn floor
was Of tagging; tho tagging laid unovenly,
IN consequence Of having been displaced to
permit the disinterInent of other bodies.
The earth had boen put back, but had not
settled, Marines came In with spades. The
tagging above Booth was pried aside. Then
the men dug down TO the coffin, which wns
OF plain wood, and 1t was lifted to the sur
face At my suggestion and "for purposes
Of Identification. IL was opened. l made "A
mental inventory Of the appearances. Tc
one who had seen Booth on the stage there
could to no doubt Of the remains.
The dry, andy quality OF the soil
had preserved them wonderfully. There
was a three weeks growth Of beard
There was a uniform OF an infantry sol
der. There was a woman's laced shoe on
the injured foot, of OF which Dr.. Mudd had
cut the boot and ON which his kindly wife
had put ons OF her own shoes. The features
were "A very little sunken, and from them
tho flesh had not fallen. The expression twas
the calm one Of rest which l think comes 10
all the dead. On exposure TO the atmosphere
some OF tho clothes shriveled, as II shrinking
from the rude invasion, but the hands and
the face reposed in complete quietude, and
although Of the nine men present
seven wore the uniform Of the government
whose beloved chief that man had killed, all
barred their heads and talked In subdued tones
I'm unconsciously paying tribute to the finest
spectacle of manly beauty any OF them had
ever seen, and in yielding oven to that grave
and that corpse the respect death as a fact
always commands IN gentle minds
The coffin was reclosed. 1t was placed
within the box and that was placed within
the wagon. We drove TO the depot The
others vent on to Baltimore and delivered
the remains TO Edwin Booth and Junius
Rrutus Booth, who placed them beside their
father in the cemetery in that city.
The World had an exclusive account the
next day. It ought to be found In that paper
OF Feb. Is or IA, 1869.
Two days afterward, when 1 thought IT
safe to revisit President johnson, he met Hs
with a kind but grieved manner and said;
What made you do itF
told him all the matters which / have
here told you.
II a ANVIL ~--~.lI -.tlA- -. IAl
the reporting Of this than any one else. Il
Is perhaps az we'll that it came out as not
But ! can assure you, sir, that / have made
some people feel very unpleasant on your
account, and Mr.. Seward kinks your con-
duct objectionable
As u fact, however, Mr.. Seward afterward
congratulated me on the success OF tho affair,
and laughed heartily at the conjunction of
circumstances in the history.