The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-10-07

and those who had been executed for
participation with him and the conspir-
acy payne, Atkerott, Harold and Mrs.
Surratt) and Of Wirz, who was convicted
of atrocities at Andersonville, secured
permission to remove the bodies. There
was no reason to doubt the identity of
the bodies, but still there were hundreds
who were skeptical as to the body
claimed to be that of Booth. In order
that there should be ito mistake the
family of the young tragedian, when the
necessary order had been obtained. in
structed Mr.. Weaver of Baltimore to be
certain as to the identity before he trans
ferredsa. the body to Baltimore. Mr.. Weav-
er therefore found dentist who had
done some work on Booths teeth, which
he could recognize, and he consented to
come over to this city. Mr.. Weaver called
on Mr.. r. f. Harvey, with whom Mr.. w.
f. Speare now Occupying the same place
as an undertaker) was engaged, and ar
ranged with him to bring the body to his
establishment. A reporter OF the Star
was apprized that the wagon with the
evening, and if he desired he could by
acting as undertaker's assistant see the
body, but must be quiet about it.
AT that hour the Star reporter was
seated with the undertaker's assistants
in Mr.. Harvey's shop. But few min
utes elapsed when the sound of q moving
wagon was heard in the alley from
whence Booth had furiously ridden
nearly four years before, and the assis-
tants left..the shop and took from the
wagon square pine box and bore it into
stable on the south side of the alley.
Here it was deposited on the floor and
pened. The gray blanket into which the
body had been sewed before 1t was re-
moved from. the Monitor..at the navy yard
Il ~ i,,fn NJ IN, haJ1a
opened the clothing was found to have
rotted almost completely away and there
was little flesh remaining on the bones.
Mr. Weaver examined the bones carefully
and took up the head, which was loose,
as the section of the vertebrae through
which the ball of Boston Corbett had
passed had been removed when the body
was on the monitor. The teeth were
carefully examined by the dentist and
as to the identity of the body. There
was also found in the box one boot and
part of boot, the leg of which had
been cut off and a slit made to convert
it into sort of a shoe so as not to inter-
fere with the leg, the small bone of
which had been broken by the leap OF
the ssassin on the stage.
This confirmed the testimony OF some
of the.witnesses before the military COM
mission The hair had evidently grown
after death, and was long and glossy,
with some white mold in it !. The re-
mains were removed from the box to the
coffin, and before 8 o'clock were taken
to the Baltimore and Ohio depot and
thence to Baltimore where they were
placed in the Booth burial lot at Green
mount cemetery. While of course UNI
intentional on the part of those in charge
the coincidence was quite remarkb BILE
that Booth IS body was transferred from
the box in (Which the military authori-
ties had buried it toy the coffin within
few yards of the door of the building
whence he escaped and mounted the
horse Spangler had held for him. The
section of the vertebrae and portion
of his spinal column are kept aomng the
specimens in the Army Medical Museum,
which was located in this building until
a few years ago when it was removed to
the new building at 9TH and B streets
southwest
The body of Guitau, who killed Presi-
dent Garfield, in July, 1881, although
buried at the Jail in this city, found it's
way to the same museum. A wagon
from Mr.. Speare' S, esta blishmentw was used,
The day following the execution the body
was buried in the jail, but few nights
afterward the removal was made.
The falling of the floors in the old thea
tire building in June last, by which SO
many were killed, will serve to keep the
building before the public as noted
one, and should the effort being made
to convert it into library be successful,
it is hoped that in it's future use no
more scenes like those of the past will be
enacted within its walls. -Washington
Star.