Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-18
KITCHENER COFFIN
TR|CKERY. CHARGED
Power Says Authorities
Spirited Away Casket Con-
tanning Body He Found.
IN HAYDEN CHURCH.
, London Cor,espordem Of The Star and
North American Newspaper Attian"ei

l0tlllOn COrteen0f,0em on NV StAf Si"'
North Amerrcan Newspaper Alhen"el
LONDON, August IS. definitely
rharginS the authorities with having
spirited away the coffin containing
the body of I.ord Kitchener In reply
~ a question put to him last night
E'ran nix Power asked why the govern
ment had removed the case con
tanning the coffin from the m"'f"arH
under the cover Of night.
Power. returned TO London yester-
day and Immediately denied that ne
had made any false declaration or
had hoa xed anybody. In support vi
his assertion that the comm had con
tanned the remains Of LORD k"cn'
ener, he quoted the undertake'
sta emer, that the weight ana dis
tribution NJ the weight Of the pack
ir1 case On is arrival In England In
d,csted tina, il contained a body.
Wired Scotland Yard.
In a statement given exclusively
10 the North American Newspaper
Alliance representative after leaving
a sevep.hour session with Scotland
ara OIIlCldlS. VNC' SWIM
"tmmediately after reading the re
port that the coffin had brought
from NORWAY was found empty yes,er
day. y 1eleSra Pied Scotland Yard au-
thorities from Portsmouth. where
had gone on private business. that |
would he with them AT noon today.
II arrived A. the appointed time
and asked Al once that ! he allowed
70 see the comm. This was permitted
and examined II and packing CO Sc
cortainer for about half an hour.
II readily identified the outer pack
ing case by certain cracked knot In
the wood. I noted. however. that il
apparently bad heen opened many
tines. as the nails were very loose
and there were numerous chlsel
marks where the. lid had been pried
off
''Inside this. I saw polished elm
coffin with only two roundheaded
screws in it. although there were holes
for IL. The others were missing. ana.
the authorities admitted. had been
missing when thye opened the CONN
YESTERDAY. When I saw the coffin last
! can swear that a dozen screws were
in place.
e, Dec,arrS Mark Missing.
"The copper "a sket was one that
had bought and have NO remarks to
make about i, now. hi, when this
web was retnoved and the inner shell
exposed. I am prepared to swear on
oath that | had never set eyes on II
before. a closer inspection corroburat-
ed my belief, for ,pught tria ngular
mark | had made on it's foot with 4
fnsernail cleaner 7 have carried for
vear6 was missing
Il ann absolutely sure. without cast
ing any reflection on anybody. that
the case has been tempered with. and
il Is clear that some substitution ha"
taken, place. obviously there were
aside from the fact that
the case was in the possession "f the
authorities for AZ hours.
Il will mention only one signih-
cant event now. When was daily
expecting the arrival of the case in
london ] was asked by " we'll known
Journalist whether'T was sure ihe rt 80
vas under my control. repli"d most
empha ticaly that it was He ar-
peared surprised aud said that he
knew large and heavy CONN had
heen taken irtns the admiralty offices
that week.
Has Piece 81 Clothing.
Il must nov mention rhat nave
TN my possession the piece fof fabric
took from the remains. 1T is easily
seen to he a piece Of khaki Soiled by
contact with the earth. and j am
sure careful examination will show
traces: Of salt These would. Of course
he a result Of the drifting 81 the body
Of Lord Kitchener across the North
Sea. -
I'm. conclusion. say that ar.
rived in Scotland Yard AT noon and
didn't leave until after : o'clock. ]
was questioned by Inspector Bnrmhy
and Detective Lount. They did their
best to shake my previous assertions.
hut did moi succeed. =.
NY task now is to establish the
truth of my foregoing statements and
to convince the world that ] am An
honest man and not trickster.
DOWNRIGHT 1928 by North American News
paper Alliance.