The Press., 1911-03-15
 Tragedy
 Oa President Lincoln and the Man Who Had Saved His Life
 By WILLARD MALTBIE
 Copyright by American Press Asso- ciation, 1911.


 war in which these events of which he was the central figure occurred. and only a very few of the rOmances ex- tracted from war have happy termina- tons. No one can look upon the DOT trait of Abraham Lincoln without see ing there the solemnity of those four years when the boys of 'B1 to '65 were being moved down Ike wheat. when every family in the north and in the south were mourners.
 There Is one event in the life of President Lincoln which, if certain efforts that were made had been un successful, would have left nonexist, ent his leadership in the great struggle and he would have gone down in history simply as the man whose elec- ton brought it on. True, 1t would have been adorned with the crown of martyrdom. but at the beginning in stead of the end of his career.
 This is the story of his escape from that earlier attempt to assasinate him which was a failure:
 It was in the spring of 1881. when secession sympathizers were plotting against the lines of communication leading from the national capital, that q man, middle aged. muscular and with a determined though tranquil face, appeared in Perrymansville Md. He was a Pinkerton detective and had been sent there to discover plots to damage railroad property.
 When MT. Lincoln went to Washing ton for his first inauguration. having passed through New York, he went Routhward on the Pennsylvania and Baltimore and Ohio railroads. Allan Pinkerton, chief of a Chicago detec tive bureau, learned through a master machinIst of the latter road that a number of secessionists had bound themselves by an oath to assassinate Mir. Lincoln while journeying to the capital. There was but little time to act, for the president elect was about to leave his home. When the assassi nation plan was conceived it was not known by the conspirators by what route MT. Lincoln would go to the cap ital. They were therefore obliged to arrange for an attack upon him at sev- eral different points. The Perrymans vile branch of the organization pre- tended to be a cavalry company. Web ster, who. though of a quiet exterior. knew how to sham very deep feeling against the Yankee government. at once enrolled himself in this cavalry company. ..-...s.-
 But getting into the company was far from getting it's plans. and unfor- tunately there was very little time to discover them. Webster relied on his pretended hatred of the government to secure his initiation into the inner cir cle. His ruse succeeded. He was in- vited to go to the house of the captain of the company. but not to say word about the invitation. In a room every window of which was protected against hearing and seeing from the outside he met men from the central point of the conspiracy, Baltimore. and was received as one of the planners of the work to be done.
 Seated about table, the party dis cussed different methods of assassi- mating the president elect. Webster. being a new man and of a reserved disposition, listened to the others. only occasionally pointing out some weak spot in a proposition or suggesting 8 way to obviate it. Before the confer ence broke up it had been decided to shoot MT. Lincoln at the depot as he was passing through Baltimore on the 23d of March.
 Webster now had the plans in his possession. Taking himself away from the so called cavalry company he went where he could safely commu nicate with his chief, Allan Pinkerton On the night of the Fist of February Pinkerton met Mir. Lincoln at the Con tinental hotel at Philadelphia and re- vealed the plot
 The question now arose how. having the plan, to defeat 1t A ruse was adopted. Instead of going on to Wash. ington direct. Mir Lincoln was taken northwest to Harrisburg. But if was no easy job to turn the gaze of mil Hons of people from the most promi- nent figure in the land with hosts of newspaper correspondents watching his every movement. The telegraph wires leading out of Harrisburg were secretly grounded. thus cutting or that city from the rest of the world.
 Mir. Lincoln now being able to travel without news of his passage being tel egraphed from every station, a private train was made up at Harrisburg. and the president elect-it Is said that he was disguised was taken back to Phil adelphia and at midnight of the 22d instead of the 2Sd. as had been ar ranged. was rushed through Baltimore and early the next morning arrived safe in Washington.
 This brief statement of the plan to the president elect and its defeat Is essential to the story-a story of Abraham Lincoln as the central fig ure and Timothy Webster. whose quick work was instrumental in say ing him for the great work he was to accomplish It would have been well had the president kept Webster by him until his task having been in. lshed. he should return to the less dan gerous field of private life. But Web ster could not have brOOked four years of comparative idlenesS. Be sides. there was d continued need for his services. The only railroad thor Oughfare between the northern Allan tic states and the capital was continu ally threatened. Indeed. there was no safety on any line connecting the capi, tai with the rest of the country. Even were not safe in transit. The first work done by Webster after foiling the intention of the Baltimore was to carry some impor- tant papers through to the president. Webster found the railroad bridges burned by the secessionlsts. Taking he route through Havre de Grace. where long bridge was destroyed. he was rowed across the river and hired ! wagon to take him onward. He was obliged to pass through Perrymans-