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Show STABBED BY BOOTH I Theatrical Man Recalls Struggle -M With Lincoln's Murderer on W Staye of Ford's. M SEATED before a crackling log M in a little bungalow A Rye Beach, overlooking Long JM Island Sound, an man toldl me of Ids regret that he does not hold M n greater In history, writes Pearl M l.oul Beck In the Illustrated Sundny V Magazine. He has bad this feeling of H regret ever since a certain fateful hour H on the evening of April 14, 180ft, when f H he found himself tint on his bnck In the wings of Ford's theater In Wash- Ington. and sat up tn hear the stum- H hllng footsteps of John Wilkes Booth ,M dying away In the distance. A William Withers was leader of the orchestra In Ford's theater on the H night of Lincoln's assassination. He H was acqunlntcd with the martyred H president, and with Booth, who killed MM him. bavlnc spent an hour with the U latter before the fatal performance. H A fe7 seconds after Booth had Jumped from the president's box to H the stage, he found Withers blocking UM his way. With the fury of a madman, WM he drew a dagger and rushed at the WM I ask ""H ! l P I t; JgawaSk. Bssasl ajafl ssW bbbbbI K i Q SBBJ sal snugs,. . .. 'i BKagX, SbI BBSW m BBBBs! tm p . Ml sam ' ' 1 BBBBBBBkgKgaB! 1 ' ' ""H BasjajH. gal I I I BBBBsl : sbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbssbI sbbbb! William Wlthere. - "" musician. The steel missed Its mark, H but It tore a ragged gash In Withers' left shoulder. H "The dagger fell to the floor." said MM Mr. Withers, In telling the story of H that historic night. "I remember look. H Ing at It In a dazed way and wonder Mm Ing why Booth should have attacked H mmm Mr. Withers Is an Invalid now, but H his mind Is wonderfully clear. He can MM in everything that happened A to htm, from the time he took his place m led the orchestra In playing "Hull m to the Chief" as entered, unl 'm thrilling meeting with Booth Uuuaf after the nssasslnatisit H He says I hen the port of a laterS upon the steppiS Into the wing to see what hr. happened. A woman screamed, there sssbM wus a stumbling rush, and a mun's mW voice broke Into bitter curses. I bur- rled through the wing to the stage, und H '" " -"' ' s "His Face Was Ashen." M came face to face with John Willie D Booth. Ills face was ashen, his eyes bulged, and his luilr seemed to stand Umm on MM "The memory of that face will re bbbH main with me until I die. It was the 1HI face of a iiiunluc. wBm "Before I could move he was upon l&U me with his dagger, which he tried to jfffll plunge into my heurt 1 caught hie vjnP urm, and the blude went luto my left Bw&i .shoulder. That wound left mo with at SSk six-Inch sear, which I curry to this duy $!! I call It the 'Booth barometer,' because vjf? every time the weather begins to fix iVyT Itself for a northeast storm that old v" . wound starts to acln. 1 was tuken before be-fore the poUot authorities Immediately after the ussasslnatlon, and gave the first evidence that led to the positive l'teiiMflcutlon of Booth as the murduxo Mm |