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Show ,v .-,b j. s i, c r ---.. - ) t ' A A;" 'tijfj I J.:i SJ' b m v t-' A- 3 iJ i V- J I G Theatrical Man Recalls Stride . Wit!) Lincoln's Murderer on : Stage of Ford's. SEATL-T. before a crackling log lire in a sturdy Utile bungalow at live l'.oach. overlooking Long Island Sound, an old man told j me of his regret that he floes not hold la greater place in history, wr.les Pearl j Louise Berk in the Illustrated Sunday Magazine. He has had this fording of regret ever since a certain fateful hour j on the evening of April 1-4, lSoo, when he found himself Hat on his back in j the wings of Ford's theater in Wash-j Wash-j ington, and sat up to hoar the stum-i stum-i Ming footsteps of John Wilkes Booth dying away in the distance. William Withers was leader of the orchestra iu I'ord's theater on the night of Lincoln's assassination. Pie was acquainted with the martyred j president, and with Booth, who killed ' him. having spent an hour with the ' latter before the fatal performance. A few seconds after Booth had j jumped from the president's box to the stage, he found Withers blocking his way. With the fury of a madman, he drew a dagger and rushed at the ;;-t '..t .tv-t':.':. . , ! I ' r: f;:: if .;:':'t:.-.-..t.::.!..t:;tt...t..o:o:;::,;:;tf K - - ' ' ' .: ' ' - ? V S: : tiiVi-' " !E ; tl '. -'..o., : Vn f J::W'':'''-'' ;a:; .:' -Iv I t:':t . V: ::" :: t , :,: o:.:tx. . ., . v,--- . - 5i ' -;;,;-t;j;i:. ; . .r .: i A?KSiiz-:y Ar A I It T ' 2 : ;t:'tT .;. J.,. t: ;. :: .:'AA'-'-"--. --'-' .".Sriii'' :5.f.'V i.: or.-s i I AlfAA:i A iSHf : AAiA;AiAi-j I -A-A':A----, ..;A-: :a -'.-v A I ;: ; '."'-Al, :"A,':v: - .- AV:-' "v 'V'A ;" :' ' ".' --A '. "-sCt A ;.iIAiIAAAA;& William Withers. musician. The steel missed its mark, but it tore a ragged gash in Withers' left shoulder. "The dagger fell to the floor," said j Mr. Withers, in telling the story of j that historic uight. "I remember look- j ing at it in a dazed way and wondering wonder-ing why Booth should have attacked me." i Mr. Withers is an invalid now, but I his mind is wonderfully clear. He can tell in detail everything that happened to him, from the time he took his place and ledrfhe orchestra iu playing "Hail ! to the Chief" as Lincoln entered, until i his thrilling meeting with Booth imme-1 diately after the assassination. i He says: "Suddenly I heard the report re-port of a pistol and a second later a great thud upon the- stage. I stepped back into the wing to see what had j happened. A woman screamed, there i was a stumbling rush, and a man's : voice 'broke into bitter curses. I luir-: luir-: ried through the wing to the stage, ar.d i i tw 4 ii'i Ad'H "His Face Was Ashen." came face to face with John Wilkes Booth. His face was ashen, his eyes bulged, and his hair seemed ttt stanl on end. "The memory of that face will remain re-main with n.e until I die. It was tle face of a maniac. "Bef ire I could move he was upon me with his dagger, which he tried to ; lunge into my heart. I caught his arm. and the blade went into my left sia adder. That wound left me v. ith a six-i::eh scar, which I carry to litis day. I call it the 'Booth barometer.' ! ;sie every time the weather begins to hx itself for a northeast storm that old wound starts to ache. I was taken before be-fore 'he police authorities imme-hately affer the assassination, and gave the lirst evidence thai led to the positive identification of Bootii as the murderer." murder-er." I 4 |