The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1903-06-03

He was very anxious for weeks re-
garding what be- had told me- says
Mrs. Harper. 81 answered him that he
had told me nothing Of Importance, al
though he seemed To know better. He
saw me looking at a picture of Lincoln
and asked me why ! was looking at it,
| told him | had always admired Lin
coin. He regarded me with fierce
look saying Is that the only reason
you have for looking at it?' A peculiar
expression came over his face. he turn
ed a little pale, his eyes fished he turn
ed around and walked away.
George told me he was IS years old
but we thought him older. He dyed
his hair and eyebrows a jet black. The
natural color Of his hair seemed to be
of a reddish tint; he said it was curly
when he was young; he had way of
raising one of his eyebrows higher than
the other. l noticed him limp frequent
ly, but he always laid it TO rheuma-
tism."
Later George" made a success of
the suicide and died.
That George had past was known
by all acquainted with him but the
secret of that past was not known.
After his dying statement became
known, an investigation was COM
menced. but without much success in
unraveling the mystery. The friends
who knew him best, state that so far
as they know he might have been
Booth, that he talked little of the past.
When the surgeons examined him
they found his leg broken in the same
manner and in the same place as was
Booths after the actor jumped from
the Presidents box in Fords Theater,
having murdered the nations head.
They also stated that George was prac-
tically the age that Booth would be at
this time, We're the latter living. The
entire surgical investigation backed up
the statement of the dying man.
A Washington dispatch of January
29th stated:
while it is believed here that the
body brought to Washington April %,
1865 as that of John Wilkes Booth, was
in fact the body of the assassin, state
ments have been heard from time to
time that it was that of another. Booth
was said to be alive more than once
during recent years.
1T is pointed out that the records in
lllc ease SHON SOIle strange lnCOnSlS-
tencies. Booth and HerOld were wan
dering together for more than a week
before the capture, with a reward of
100000 out for the former, and the
neighborhoOd of the Rappahannock
was being secured by the Federal
cavalry seeking him. From that time
until the body was brought to Wash
ington nobody personally acquainted
with Booth, except Herold, ever saw
him. Those who met the fugites did
not recognize Booth, but We're inform
ed of his identity either by himself OF
by Herold. Neither Captain Doherty
nor Boston Corbett nor any Of theil
company knew Booth by sight.
The claim has been made that the
necessity for quieting the country was
SO urgent at the time that another
mans body was palmed off as that OF
Booth. Herold had many reasons to
keep such a secret, and the others
involved were, it is said, interested
parties. The government distributed
100000 among those engaged in the
capture"
While this theory of a false Booth
IS an old one it has not, however, won
many adherents. The general opinion
is that the identity of the body was
established at the autopsy.