| Show JOHN WILKES BOOTH cincinnati Cincin naN enquirer july 31 when a second and mure more jerema peremptory message came directing MO me to appear before the commission I 1 deemed ll it prudent to obey on my way a third bird messenger was met on his bis way to my house who was waa no less laiss thao than the chief of the detective corpe the noted colonel baker he returned conducted me on board the abe steamer anu and ushered me into the cabin where the c ammis were in session and by w whom horn notwithstanding no my contumacy I 1 was very politely received I 1 was then ald t ld it bad been stated elated to them I 1 had removed a tumor from the neck of booth and a they wished to know it if I 1 could identity identify the body and to go on deck and examine it thoroughly and make my report the body was on deck completely concealed by a tarpaulin cover aud and surgeon iGe Leral barnes barnee end his assistants standing near it by his hie order the cover was removed and nd to my great astonishment reveal ed d a body in whose lineaments linea ments there was wag tome to me no resemblance of the mau man I 1 had known in life I 1 my so great I 1 at once said to gen barnes there othere is no resemblance in I 1 a that corpse to Booth nor can I 1 I 1 believe it to be that of him 12 after looking at it for a i few moments I 1 asked I 1 Is ile there a seat scat upon the back of its neck he replied there la is y I 1 then maid eaid if that to la the body of booth lot let we me describe the sear scar before it 16 is seen by melv me and did so 80 as to its position its size and its general appearance so EO accurately as caused h aim I 1 m to say I 1 I 1 you h have ave deschi described bed the soar r as an well as if you were looking at it and it looks as an you have described it more like the cicatrix of a burn than that made by a surgical opera tion VP the body being then turned the back u ol 01 the neck was examined rad aad my mark was unmistakably alund fi und by me upon it and it be ing afterward at my request nest placed in a sitting position standing and looking awn upon it was finally enabled to imperfectly recognize the features of booth but never in a aumau being had bad a greater change taken efrom the man whom I 1 nal seen in the vigor of life and health as in that of the haggard corpse which was belore me in its yellow and discolored skin its unkempt and matted bair and its facial ex pr easlon sunken and sharpened by the exposure and add starvation it had undergone the right lower limb was wag greatly contused confused cont used and perfectly black from a fracture tracts re of one of the long bones of the leg jag an autopsy was then made by the as assistants stants of uen gen barnes who proved that the bullet which killed him land bad pawed passed between two of the verte blea of the ibe neck causing their fracture and lesion of the spinal cord toe body was secretly and at night buried in the yard of the penitentiary which was not generally known for sometime afterward that great uncertainty was felt and that much doubt was expressed at the time of the death of booth and long afterward as a to the identity of his body to is notorious nor need this create surprise for although the cir connected with his capture all tended to corroborate the be lief i hat be bad been killed yet on the which was produced by his bis capton nearly every vestige ol of resemblance to the living man had disappeared but the mark made by the scalpel during life remained indelible in beath teath and settled nettled beyond all question at the time and all cavil in the future the identity of the man who haa bad assassinated the president JOHM MAY M D washington GION jan 10 1887 |
