davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1945-02-11
BY John Clagett Proctor.

Tomorrow, the 136th anniversary of
the birth of Abraham Lincoln, brings
to mind not only the life of the Great
Emancipator but also his tragic ending,
and particularly the long mooted ques-
ton regarding the capture and identi-
fcation of the assassin, John Wilkes
Booth, who some would have us believe
was never captured and who under an
assumed name lived for many years
afterwar6.
OF course, it was the secrecy sur
rounding the bringing Ut the criminals
body to Washington and it's subsequent
mysterious burial that at first caused
the public to become skeptical. And as
is usual when once false impression
is Embedded in the mind it is hard to
rout 1t out, the facts in the case not
withstanding.
Col. Congers Statement
However. Col. E. j. Conger stated
after he had reached CARROTS farm.
near Port Roval on the Rappahannock,
'the first individual 1 saw when I got
there was said to have been named
Garrett. 1 said to him, Where are the
men who stopped at your house?' They
have gone Gone where? Gone to
the woods. 'Whereabout in the woods
have they gomez He then commenced
to tell me that they came there with
out his consent and that he did not
want them to stay. I said, I don't want
any long stories from you, Just want
to know where those men have gone
He commenced to tell me over again
the same thing, and I turned to one of
the men and told him to bring me
lariat, and threatened to hang the man
to a locust tree because he did not tell
me what he knew. One of his sons then
came in and said, Don't hurt the old
man. he is scared I will tell you where
these men are. I said, That is what
want He said, They are in the barn.
I went to the barn, and as soon as 1
got there I heard somebody walking
about on the hay. I stationed men
around the barn and 1t. Baker said to
one of the young CARROTS (two of them
had appeared by this time), You must
go in the barn and get the arms from
that man 1 think he made some OBJ
lection to going in and Baker then said,
They know you and you must 60 in
Baker then said to the men inside that
one of the men with whom he had
been stopping was coming in to get
their arms and they must deliver them
up.
Ordered Them to Come Out
Garrett went in. but came out very
soon and said. This man says damn
you, you have betrayed me-" and threat
ened to shoot me- I asked him how he
knew the man was going to shoot him;
he said, He reached down in the hay
and got the revolvers' I directed Baker
then to tell the men inside that they
we're to come out and deliver themselves
Evening star., 1945-02-11
Water Publication

to give your glass of water natural
balance.
There are plenty of problems faced
every day in the job and most of them
are posed by the changing nature OF
the Potomac. Industrial contamination
has increased in the last few years.
There has been more fluctuation be.
tween periods of drought and flood re-
Gently. Soil erosion also has had its
effect.
In the last Is years, more micro-or-
ganisns have been found in the raw
water AS the character of the raw
water has changed, it has invited more
forms of microscopic life. Under this
more favorable environment, the or
ganisms have grown faster. Part Of the
increase is blamed on the waters in
creased nitrogen content from treated
and untreated sewerage and industrial
pollution.
Washington Aqueduct officials say
fewer taste difficulties are encountered
in April, May and June, when the
river is high. Toughest time follows
snow thaws and sudden freshets and
during periods of drought. Reversal Of
water in mains also causes taste troubles.
Taste studies constantly are under
way The laboratory not only wants to
maintain water at high standard Of
purity, but to keep it as palatable as pos
sible.
AS the publication division does its
day-by -day job, the people of the Dis
trict and Arlington County can count
on the waters purity. 1t is not only
safe as 1t leaves the filtration plants.
but it is kept safe by periodic tests after
ward. As you quaff q clear, sparkling
glass Of it, remember that only few
days ago it was part Of the muddy Po-.
tomac. Thanks largely to handful Of
Washington Aqueduct scientists, 1t has
been transformed as If by magic to safe.
guard your health.
Evening star., 1945-02-11

David C. Herold, Uho took
refuge in the Garrett barn
Nth Booth and 1Uas later
executed as one OF the con-
spirators.
1 repeated the words to him and said
Is that what you would say?' He said,
Yes"
Body Brought to Washington
After Booths death the body was
placed in blanket and put in farm
wagon with a broken top and Negro
driver and thus conveyed to Belle Plain,
Va, put aboard the Ide and brought to
Washington where it was transferred
to the Monitor-identified by some as
the gunboat Saugatuck-then lying at
anchor in the Eastern Branch near the
Navy Yard.
OF the arrival of the body in WASH
ington, The Star of April 27, 1865, says:
The John S. Ide "a tugboaD reached
here about 2 o'clock last night with
Herold and two young men (John and
=" od1lCtCJ WIN 41NCO Oli GAlC pAdtC,
as well as the body of Booth. Herold
was Immediately placed in a safe place.
Booth and Heroid were dressed in Con-
federate gray new uniforms. Herold was
not otherwise disguised much. Booths
mustache had been cut off, apparently
with scissors, and his beard allowed to
grow, changing his appearance consider
ably. His hair had been cut somewhat
shorter than he usually wore it.
Booths body, which we have above
described, was at once laid out on a
bench and a guard placed over it. The
lips of the corpse are tightly COM
pressed and the blood had settled in
the lower part of the face and neck.
Otherwise the face is pale, wears a
wild haggard look, indicating exposure
to the elements and rough time gen.
orally in his skulking fight.
Evening star., 1945-02-11

ferent audience-Governmen workers,
men and women in uniform and long
time residents of the Capital who pack
Constitution Hall for the concerts of
the National Symphony Orchestra. At
26, he is concertmaster of the National
Symphony.
Since coming to this country, he has
done everything that Goering had
wanted him to do but he has done it
for his adopted country rather than
for the land Of his birth. Born in
Silesia when his grandfather was gov
ernor of the province, he refused to
follow in his fathers diplomatic foot
steps and at 10 was given cheap
violin and an expensive teacher.
Politically Unreliable
He played his first concert at 49, BY
16, he had seen enough of the rising
Naz culture" to avoid playing concerts
in the Reich. At the age American
boys are still playing sandlot baseball
young Gebauer was seriously referred
to in Nazi party newspaper as polite
ally unreliable
But Goering had his eye on the young
violinist who had already played for
five royal families of Europe and wore
the decorations of two countries.
The Nazis thought If they could
promise me lucrative position in the
cultural setup of the government, I
could be persuaded to confine my play
ing to Axis propaganda purposes" ex-
planned the young violinist with a grim
smile.
Gebauer said he found Goering very
jovial and extremely obliging." Goering
didn't know then that the violinist had
met Bruno Walter at the Salzburg festi-
val and that Walter and Toscanini were
already making arrangements to bring
Mr.. Gebauer to this country.
Time to Think
Il wanted to leave Germany. couldn't
condone association with people who
condemned for political reasons my best
friends" the violinist explained.
"But if a man like this offers you
position, you cannot pointblank refuse.
asked for time to think-which gave
me time to arrange my passage.
With the ostensible purpose of going
to Brussels to give a, concert, got per-
mission from the Wehrmacht to leave
the Reich. had only one bad moment.
just before we crossed the border, q huge
SIS man entered my compartment and
asked for my passport. When he saw
it, he saluted and said he had been sent
by the government to see was escorted
across the border. If he had searched
me. he would have found my American
quota VISA
OF the party where he made the boy
ish gesture of playing the work of q
forbidden Jewish composer to an audi
ence Of Nazis, including Goering. young
Gebauer recalled, Even II they didn't
admit It, / know there were lots Of people
there who were glad to hear It again"
The violinist came to America with
his violin and $40. He won fellowship
to the Julliard Graduate School Of
Evening star., 1945-02-11

among the Army blankets and pillow
cases. When an officer came around.
put away my volin and picked up my
broom
But 1t was a wonderful experience.
Boys in this country, you know, 60 to
camp and they're used to being with
boys OF their own choosing. I was sort
OF reared in hothouse with people
carefully kept away from me.
Felt Like an American
When I slept in a barracks with
70 other men, when I stood in a chow
line with pugilist, farmland and a
lawyer, when somebody said Joe, pas
the ketchup' because everybody's name
is Joe-then felt like an American"
Gebauer went through officer candi-
date school and finally was DISCHARGED
for disability last summer with the
rank of first lieutenant He promptly
signed up for an overseas USO tour.
The three-month tour took him to
Greenland. Iceland. Labrador, Baffin-
land and Newfoundland
He sums it up this way: II broke an
ankle had my tonsils out and got the
hives. Oh, yes, and I also got lost
on an airplane ride with Marlene
Dietrich
The film star and the violinist were in
a plane that went off course above
the Arctic Circle. Gebauer said they
could hear the crew talking about it
as they sped over the ice caps and
glaciers. They finally made it-"coast-
ing in
Chance Meeting -
A chance meeting with Hans Kinder,
conductor of the National Symphony,
led to his present post. They started
chatting with each other to while away
the time on train to California and
here I am"
In addition to his duties as concert
master, Gebauer will be the soloist on
the $3.50" concert Thursday. Recently,
he broadcast an appeal for support Of
the National Symphony Orchestra's sus-
tanning fund campaign which is now in
progress
That's something else he feels strongly
about.
"One of the major outputs of great
CITY," he said, should be its music. 1t
is here that culture will have it's de-
velopment-in this sheltered atmosphere.
You have no idea how wonderful it is
to be able to play and to hear all
music-not just the music of composers
who have membership in political
party"
For that he gave up his title and set
about becoming an American citizen.
He has done such thorough job of it
that only trace remains of his con-
tinental accent and he always refers to
Americans as I'VE" and to Europeans as
they
Titles" he remarked with breezy
wave of his violinist's fingers, ARE a
dime a dozen in Europe. You can't buy
an American citizenship"
Evening star., 1945-02-11

up and that if they did not in five min
utes we would set the barn on fire.
Booth said, Who are you-what do
you want?' 1t. Baker answered, We
want you. We know who you are. Give
up your arms and come out Booth
replied, Give us little time to con-
sider' Baker said, Very WE'LL and some
10 or Is minutes elapsed, probably, be-
fore anything further was said, when
Booth again asked, Who are you-what
do you want?' I said to Baker, DO not,
bv any possible intimation or remark,
let him know who we are; if he chooses
to take us for rebels or friends, we will
take advantage of it; we will not lie to
him about it, but we will not answer
any questions on that subject, simply
insist on his coming out if he will
Begged for a Chance
Baker replied to Booth, Tt don't make
any difference who we are, we know who
you are and We want YOU Booth said,
This is hard, because it may be am
to be taken by my friends Sometime
during the conversation Booth said,
Captain, know you to be brave man,
and believe you to be honorable; have
got but one leg; I am a cripple; if you
will withdraw your men 100 yards from
the door will come out and fight you
1t. Baker replied, We did not come to
fight; We SIMPLY came to make you
prisoners Once afterward he said, II
you will take your men SO yards from
the door will come out and fight; give
me a chance for my nfe.' There was
the same reply, and with singularly
theatrical voice Booth called out, Well,
my brave boys. you may prepare
stretcner for me-
After while Booth said, There is
a man here who wants to come out.
1t Baker said, Very well, let him take
his arms and come out Some talk
passed between them in the barn. One
of the expressions I heard Booth use
to Herold was, You d. coward, will
you leave me now? But go, go, would
not have you stay with me- Herrold
put out his hands, and 1t. Baker took
hold of him and brought him out and
passed him to the rear.
Set Fire to the Barn
II then went around the barn, pulled
some straw out, twisted little rope as
= big as your finger, fired it, and stuck
1t back; it seemed to be loose, broken
hay that had been taken up from the
barn floor 1t blazed very rapidly, and
lit up the barn at once I looked through
one of the cracks, and just then heard
something drop on the floor. which I
j. supposed to be Booths crutch. When I
first noticed him his back was toward
me; he was looking toward the front
ooor. He then came back within feet
Evening star., 1945-02-11

His hair is disarranged and dirty,
and apparently has not been combed
since he took his fight. The head and
breast are alone exposed to view, the
lawer portion of the body, including
The hands and feet, being covered with
a tarpaulin thrown over it. The shot
which terminated his accursed life en-
tered on the left side at the back of
the neck, a point, curiously enough, not
far distant from that in which his
victim, our lamented President, was
shot,
"A Spencer carbine, which Booth had
with him in the barn at the time he
was shot by Sergt. Corbett, and large
knife, with blood on it, supposed to be
the one which Booth cut Maj. Rathbone
with in the theater box on the night
of the murder of President Lincoln,
and which was found on Booths body,
has been brought to the city,
Later, in the same account, The Star
corrects the statement of Booths cloth
ing being of Confederate gray, the mis-
take being due to the clothing being
faded and dusty. which gave it that
general appearance.
The Burial of Booth
The burial of Booths body was also
carried out with great secrecy by Col.
L. C. Baker, assisted by his cousin, 1t.
Baker. Later in the afternoon of the
second day, after the assassin's body
was brought to Washington, Col. Baker
received orders to dispose of the body
in the way that seemed best to him. He
at once went to the Navy Yard, stopping
on the way at the old penitentiary.
They reached the old ironclad just at
twilight. The body was sewed again in
a small rowboat.
After rowing some distance down the
river as ruse and as darkness came
on, the boat was turned back toward
the city. And at about midnight, when
the old Arsenal wall was reached again,
the body was lifted from the boat and
carried through hole in the wall into
a convicts cell in the penitentiary. Here
a huge stone was lifted up, and in
prepared grave beneath the body was
lowered, and for sometime afterward
none but the participants and two or
three other officers knew where the
body had been deposited.
Great stress has been placed upon the
errors made by DR.. John Frederick May
in his statements Of what occurred at
the time of the autopsy over the body
of the assassin; what Booth told him
at the time he removed fibroid tumor
from his neck, and which If not accu-
rate, were misstatements made by the
actor and not by DR.. May who was only
repeating what he was told. DR.. May
was certainly one of the most foremost
surgeons of his day, and his statement
that Il have no doubt that it is the
person from whom I took the tumor
and that it Is the body of J. Wilkes
Booth" should leave no doubt as to his
conclusions on the subject.
Others who identified the body at the
autopsy here were Charles Dawson,
head clerk in the Office of the National
Evening star., 1945-02-11

Massine, the ballet star and choreo-
grapher, promised to write the couple
ballet, "Aleco,' for wedding present
but before the ballet was finished, Mas
sine had left the Ballet Russo and the
violinist and his ballerina had parted.
Their paths have crossed many times
since then as both have toured the
country and Gebauer says he is still
most pleased to take her to night
clubs and see all the men crane their
necks at her because she is so beau
tiful"
Joined the Army
In 1943, Gebauer volunteered for the
Army because I felt rather strongly
about things over there" He was as
signed at first 10 kitchen police and
ditch digging" although he was fire.
quently called on for camp concerts.
Gebauer looked down at his short,
strong fingers.
Il saw my hands becoming heavy
as bricks" he recalled. Then I was
put on the supply detail. practiced
Evening star., 1945-02-11

Hotel, who recognized the body from its
general appearance and from the India
ink letters ~. w. B." tatooed on his
wrist and in other respects; Seaton
Munroe, Washington attorney; Charles
M. Collins. Acting Master William w.
Crowninshield, U. S. NJ, and by many
others Indeed, there Is abundance Of
testimony upon this subject, sufficient
to prove to any one who is willing to be
convinced that J. Wilkes Booth never
left CARROTS farm alive.
In The Star of January 5, 1907, refer
ence is made by James Croggon, who
was connected with that paper from
1859 to 1915, to a subsequent identifica-
ton of Booths body which took place in
this city, to which Mr.. Croggon was an
eyewitness.
Eyewitness Account
His story follows:
IN February, 1869, as the administra-
ton of President johnson was drawing
to close, Edwin Booth secured from
him an order for the body that it might
be inferred in the family lot at Green
mont Cemetery, Baltimore. That day
Star reporter was approached by Mr.. r.
F. Harvey of Harvey & Mari, under
takers. who remarked: Don't ask me
questions, but be at our place at 6
o'clock this evening as one of my assist
ants, and you will get good item -
An hour or so before Mr.. Edwin Booth
and Mr.. j H. Weaver, Baltimore under
taker, were consulting both Mr.. Harvey
and the latter told Mr.. Speare to 60 to
the Avenue and hire furniture wagon
to go to the arsenal to get something and
to meet them at the arsenal gate. :
The blanket being thrown aside re-
vealed what remained of the body and
clothing. The latter was in shreds from
decay, and the body was almost denuded
of flesh and skin, some of the bones
being bare.
THE fine suit of hair for what Booth
was noted was still on the head.
Mr. Weaver, who examined it with
interest, and dentist from Baltimore.
being called from the front office in
which Edwin Booth was awaiting de-
velopments, next examined it. After
looking at the teeth he said:
This is Wilkes Booth, for this Is
some of my work.
The boots were found with one leg
missing
Edwin Booth, having secured the re-
port Of the dentist as we'll as that of
Messrs Weaver and Harvey as to the
Identification left with the dentist"
This statement should be sufficient to
dispel all remaining doubts. Booth was
recognized at the time he fired the shot,
traced to the place of his capture, was
known personally by some of the cap
tors, and his body identified by several
as it lay at the Navy Yard. And though
a mystery surrounded the disposition Of
the body-and the current rumor was
that it was buried at sea-The Star, the
Monday following, announced the place
of burial; and when the body, 76 years
ago, was disinterred and delivered to the
family, the Identification was complete.
Evening star., 1945-02-11
Tricked Nazis Who Tried to Hold Him
ViOlinist Is Now Concert Favorite Here

Music, made an American tour, broad
cast to Europe, toured for the USO and
in 1912 became concertmaster for the
Ballet Russo
He had never played for ballet before
and two weeks after he got there, he
was brought forcibly to the attention of
Premier Ballerina Nathalie Krassovska.
II threw her of when was playing
cadenza,' he grinned ruefully. She was
very angry. A month later we were
married.
Evening star., 1945-02-11
By Miriam Gutenberg

A slim, 19-year- volinist faced an
audience of high Nazi officials and
their wives and played a Mendelssohn
concerto.
That was the answer Baron Werner
Oswald Ludwig Won Gebauer flung back
at the party members who offered to
overlook the dark spot on his lineage"
his heritage from Mendelssohn-and
make him an honorary Aryan."
Today, the ex-baron plays to a diff
Evening star., 1945-02-11
By Jane EadS

Associated Press Stan Writer
The swindler has a new gleam in his
eye.
He's busy setting BOBBY traps for re-
turning servicemen. He's after their
families, too.
Whether the money is muster-out pay,
travel expenses, prisoner-of-war accu-
mulated savings or the sole boarding of
the old folks, the racketeer is aware Of
this:
There is some $4,000, 600 900 in saw
ings In this country-much in veterans
names-that could be spent after the
war. The Federal Reserve system says
this represents deposits, currency and
Government securities such as War
Bonds
Seven per cent of all members of the
armed forces say they expect to go into
business for themselves The United
States Department OF Commerce esti-
Detroit evening times., 1945-06-10

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Daddy knows an .ETlZKEZZAXN
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The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1945-08-16
A Difficult JOB WELL DONE

Most Americans prepared to join enthusiast
icoIIy now in seoondne the statement that the Wor
ems Army Corps hos made outstanding contrbu-
ton to the victory gained in the eIoboI war.
This attitude hos not oIwoys prevailed. More
than little skeptieism existed when the orgonzo-
ton in the formative stoges. More than few
people didn't like the ideo of trying to make soldiers
out Of women. RidcuIe wos not uncommon. The
WAC - or the WAAC, os officially designated orig
molly = definitely in the position Of having to
prove its value
Most people ore now ready to agree thot the
eonzotion hos done ust thot II hos proved itself very
much worthwhile Some Of the most lavish proise for
the organization hos come from "hordbitten' Army
men Who in many ooses, mode secret Of preju-
dice at the outset.
II the WAC hos proved itself - os we think it
hos - then no deny thot large share Of
the credit for whatever the Corps may be- and for
what it has done, must go to COL Oveto CuIp Hobby
who resigned recently os WAC director otter having
been in commend since the eorIiest oreonzotiono
stoees. Anyone prepared to soy-os nearly all Amer
icons do soy-thot the WAC hos done splendid iob
automatically says. at the same time thot Col. Hob
BY likewise hos discharged spIendidly the difficult
tosk assigned to her.