The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1911-02-07

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president was living in a city where
numbers of the enemy's sympathizers
were plotting for the capture Of ths
capital
Webster. though he did not serve
Mr.. Lincoln personally, accomplished
great work for him as president. The
spy played double game. He would
go south as a southern man and enter
the service of the government for the
purpose of giving them information OF
the designs of the Federal govern
ment. There he pretended to be 8
Federal spy when he was really Con
federate spy. He was from the first q
Pinkerton detective. and when Pinker
ton organized the military secret serv-
ice bureau Of the United States gov
eminent Webster entered that service
and worked for the pay he received
In it. Ordinarily it is hard to tell
which side spy playing this double
game Is really working for. But
Webster in the beginning saved the
life of the president elect and con
tinued to take him important informa
ton. while he had only to give the
Confederacy information that was un
true or would not avail 1t.
This being a story of Mr.. Lincoln
rather than Webster. the many re-
markable romances in the life of the
be passed over without even cata.
iogue of them. Finally, though sui.
fering from rheumatism, he started
south In company with Miss Lewis
who was in his confidence The trip
was to be his last incursion into the
south. Unfortunately he was laid up
a long while in Richmond with rheu-
matism- Miss Lewis nursed him
During this time nothing was heard
from him at Washington. and the
president and others who knew of his
mission became anxious about him
1t was determined to send the mem.
bers of the secret service force south
to look for him.
The two men went to Richmond.
They learned that Webster was lying
III at hotel and blundered by going
directly to see him without communi-
eating with him. In his room they
found a Confederate and were rash
enough to hand him a letter from Al
Ian Pinkerton which. they said, came
from a friend of his in Baltimore.
They came again and unfortunately
met an officer from the provost mar
shaps Office This meeting led to their
examination. They were identified by
a person who knew them, and all was
lost
When the news came to General Nc
Clellan's headquarters that the two
men had been arrested as spies and
had implicated Webster, Allan Pinker-
ton hurried to Washington to see Mr..
Lincoln and discover If anything could
be done to save them. Singularly
enough. Webster had saved Lincoln's
life. and now Lincoln was called upon
to save Webster's life.
Mr.. Lincoln called a special meeting
of the cabinet to devise means to save
the spies lives. Nothing could be
done except to communicate through
the secretary of war calling the atten-
ton of the authorities at Richmond to
the fact that the United States gov
eminent had always been lenient to
Confederate spies and had never tried
or sentenced TO death any one caught
carrying information. The message
closed with a threat of inaugurating q
different code In future If the spies
were executed.
Neither the fact pointed out nor the
threat availed Webster was hanged.
Miss Lewis was imprisoned for a
year. and the two men who caused the
tragedy were imprisoned for twenty
two months. 1t is not probable that
they would have escaped had they not
Implicated Webster. But 1t must be
remembered that they had only indi-
rectly been spies.
The last event of similarity between
Mr.. Lincoln and Webster occurred
three years later. when Mr. lincoln
was again the object of the assassin's
bullet The double tragedy contains
two singular condolences. Both died
for the cause. though neither of them
as a soldier. and both died tragic
deaths, one being hanged for a spy,
the other murdered.