Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-05-17
New Interest in Booth Relics Keeps War Department Bus
BY GEORGE NJ. BaTTEy. JR.

snent?
This subject is pressing for a So
tution because of a constantly increas-
ing flood of letters from all over the
country, asking information and per-
mission to see the weapons used by
the plotters in the killing of Presi-
dent Lincoln at Fords Theater, and
also the serious wOunding of Secre-
tary of State William II. Seward, on
the night of April IA, 1865.
The requests have reached the
thousands of late. through the publ
cation of unauthenticated reports,
widely circulated in newspapers, pam
phlets and otherwise, that the wrong
man was killed May &c, 1865, at the
Garrett Farm. near Port Royal, Va,
and that the real John Wilkes Booth
lived to a ripe old age and finally,
in 1908, poisoned himself at Enid,
Okla. in the guise of David f. George.
SO persistent have visitors and cor
respondents become that the matter
e. a source of much embarrassment
to the War Department, and the relics
bro literally n white elephant or
considerable proportions.
There are only n few things that
Keep the War Department buster.
One is war itself. Another is current
court -martials and court-martial re-
Views. \ third is the pursuit of de-
eerters from the Army. Just what
ranks fourth is an item of speculation.
but officials admit that the john
Wilkes Booth issue and collateral cir
eumstanCes are spirited contender
10 the place.
This is seriously deplored by official
fom. because it noticeably interferes
with routine business of a construc-
Rive nature, for which regular appro-
3riations are made as legitimate
aevy on the taxpayers. Here is an
extra peacetime activity that Is not
felished by men of the Army, and
little more by civilian employees. who
thrive on bureaucratic grist. The
topic is interesting enough to the most
callous penpusher: but officers and
clerks are too studiously engaged with
Cotemporary duties to be bothered
about a man they are convinced was
buried 90 years ago. They assert
that John Wilkes Booth was properly
laid away at the old Arsenal Grounds,
the present site of the Washington
Barracks, and in 1859 removed to the
family lot in Greenmount Cemetery.
Baltimore, so why resurrect his BODY
nov?
This particular skeleton in the War
Department closet is one of the hVest
things on record. 1t keeps indus
triously stalking about, now and then
rattIing shinbones and ribs together
and smiling Wickedly through tightly
clenched teeth. Like Banquo's ghost
and the nemesis that 80 persistently
chased the fleeing Ichabod Crane. he
will not down. The reason is that,
while the identification of Booth was
Sufficient for all practical purposes in
1865. the authorities who handled the
conspiracy case neglected certain
clinching points which have since as
Srmed an exaggerated Importance in
yhe minds of numerous highly lmagi-
native historians and searchers after
fact. -. ----
THE keystone of the writer's creed
IL is to reveal the hidden and the
obscure. Since the burial of Booth
end many of the circumstances of the
f1-day chase were yelled in the mys.
Kerry which quite often characterizes
pfficialdom, a convenient spawning
ground for dragons teeth. born of
wild rumor and suspicion, was pro-
Sided, and the upshot is that thou
sa nds of people throughout the United
States are assiduously searching for
every scrap of information on this alb
SorbinG subject.
Hundreds have written books and
Pamphlets. or are engaged in writing
chem. The newspapers are carrying
more items and communications than
at any time since the distressing
series of tragedies was enacted. The
libraries report a heavier demand Tor
books on the chase and the trials of
the conspirators than for any class of
reading matter except fiction.
Exclusive of purely historical and
biogra phical works on Mr.. Lincoln.
the Library of Congress has approx
mately 100 books and pamphlets on
the subject; vet the visitor who ap-
pears as the doors swing open at .
O'Clock in the morning can seldom
find more than half the volumes he
wants, because others are browsing
busily through them after ever-elu-
SiVe facts.
1t is estimated that if the shortest
form answers possible were given to
queries directed to the War Depart
tnent, the entire time of several clerks
and stenographers would be required,
and if any attempt were made to en-
large the scope OF this work, so to
give the public all it wants. hundreds
pf employees and additional quarters
would become necessary. SO the War
Department replies CourteouSly to
everybody without encouraging any
body to continue the quest. 1t merely
refers to the printed records and let's
ft go at that. This would be very well,
ST the public could be satisfied in that
way but it never is. and that is why
the Judge Advocate Generals office
has had wished on il duties that are
normally foreign to its nature.
The reader is invited TO consider
Che ardous researches conducted by
Einis L. Bates, the Memphis lawyer,
who steadfastly and to the day of his
heath, in 1928. maintained that Booth
escaped lived in Texas as John st.
Helen. and died suicide as the house
painter, David E. George, at Enid,
Okla.
Bates Investigations covered ap-
broXimately so years. They were
more strenuous in some years than
Others. but they started in 1873 and
ended in 1923. Bates lived and died
convinced that Secretary of War Stan
Ton. the man of blood and iron of the
Lincoln cabinet, put over on the Amer
scan people the biggest hoax in his
tory. But while Bates erected this
s. Helen-George structure, and re-
Enforced it with the mummified body
OF the Enid craftsman, which was
exhibited as the real John Wilkes
Booth he never established that the
man who met his death at the Gar
sctt farm was anybody whose pres
ence was missed in the neighborhood.
The Bates theory, based on stories
Suld him and others by the Shake
epearian St Helen and George, was
that Booth lost some papers and
pocket and sent man named Ruddy
pr Roby back to Port Conway, across
Che Rappahannock from Port Royal.
So get them: that when Rudy re-
surncd to the Garrett farm Booth
WAS gone westward, having been
warned by friends of the approach of
9he cavalry; that Ruddy and Herold,