The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-03-20

well KNOWS tnat Sucn summing ex-
petitions as that in which the New
York preacher came into prominence
frequently are inspired by prurient
curiosity instead Of high moral pur-
pose. This is another reason why
this sort Of Summing should be dis
courased but even hwithout \ IT. the
other three are enough Ohio Sun.
wooLY STORIES ABOUT BOOTH.
Whiting to- the. Army and Navy
Journal, over his own signature.
Col. Frank Fl. phipps. of the Unit
ed States army. tells the particulars
of the disposal of Booths body, of
its identification, etc. and there can
be on doubt but he writes the truth.
His article first relates the circum-
stances in the story of the burial of
the body in the Potomac river, and
then continues:
How such story could have or
iginated | fail to understand, and
that 1t may not be accepted without
dispute, let me state the follow
ing: After the assassination OF
President Lincoln and the arrest of
the conspirators, the latter were
tried in the old Washington Peniten-
tiary building; and after their exc
cption, they were buried just out
side the walls of the building. When
ties buildings-with the exception OF
the warden's and deputy warden's
quarters-as well as the surround
ing walls were torn down, these
bodies were taken up and buried In
one of the old storehouses at the
Washington Arsenal, in locked
room and underneath stone flag
ging, and by their sides were placed
the bodies of Wirtz, the Confederate
jailer, and also the body of Booth,
the latter having been delivered at
the arsenal in gunny sack al the
little boathouse of the Washington
Arsenal grounds. The place of bur-
ial was marked so as to identify
where the bodies were placed.
Just before Andrew Johnson's
term as President expired, Edwin
Booth applied to him for permis-
SION TO have Wilkes Booths body
exhumed and turned over to him
for burial at Baltimore. The pres
ident gave instructions through the
Secretary of War, to Gen. George
d. Ramsey, the commanding officer
OF Washington Arsenal, to exhume
this body and satisfy himself--thcre
having been several stories about
that Booth had never been killed
and had been seen here there and
elsewhere-that the remains turned
over were those of j. Wilkes Booth.
The commanding officer of the ar
senal directed me to personally sup
erintend the transfer OF these re-
mains. With a party of enlisted
men, the remains were taken up in
my presence, the lid of the box re-
moved, and the remains of Booth
positively identified beyond any
question. The black hair, the shape
or the skull, the riding boots, and
the remains of the boot cut off at the
ankle all indicated without doubt
that the body was that of Booth.
In addition to this Identification. a
dentist in Baltimore had previously
stated that he could identify Booth
anywhere by tooth, the cavity of
which he had filed and built up.
il being 50 unusual that. he could
identify Booth anywhere by this
tooth. This Identification, ! under
stand, was subsequently made.
Later on, the friends of the 9TH
e. conspirators-AIrs Surratt. Paine,
Harold, Atzerott, and also of Wirtz.
the Confederate jailer, applied for
and received similar permis,.ion.
the bodies being removed under INV
personal supervision, the lids of the
boXes being removed in each case,
The Piqua Daily Call.