THE CHINA MAIL, OCTOBER 12, 1939 TO-DAY'S STRANGE STORY OF REAL PEOPLE
TRAGEDY
OF MARY SURRATT
BY VINCENT TOWNE During the turmoil following the assassination of President Lincoln vast rewards offered by the authorities re- sulted in accusations against many innocent persons.
Into the maelstrom of that bloody period was drawn a woman whose name has since been entered by many upon the nation's blacklist of flends and by many others upon its honour roll of martyrs. To which category did she belong.
This famous woman, Mary E. Sur- ratt, had before the war been left a widow with a comfortable home in Washington, also a large plantation, with many slaves, at Upper Marl- borough, Md. During the war Union troops camping upon her plantation left it a barren waste, and her many slaves escaped to the North. As a result, Mrs. Surratt had to move into her Washington house and support herself by taking boarders,
one of whom was a young War Department clerk, named Weichman.
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A DESPERATE-LOOKING INDIVIDUAL BEARING
A PICK AND SHOVEL
murdered us all!"
The intruder was Lewis Payne, and he had upon his hands the blood of Secretary Seward, whom he had tried to murder that very night.
vainly In the
to intercede and that officer tried to move the President, dead of the night the condemned wo- man's attorney aroused a Federal juge, who granted a writ of habeas corpus for Mrs. Surratt, but the President, exercising his extreme authority, sus-
On the morning set for the execu- tion the provost marshal sent to the President a statement that Payne had. made Mrs. Surratt. To this statement that a confession entirely clearing officer added:
"belleve that Payne has told the truth in this matter."
Such was the Government's case against Mrs. Surratt. With the other The widow Surratt's pretty daughter conspirators she was subjected to apended the writ: received the attention of John Wilkes trial that lasted more than two months. Booth. Her elder son, John, who had Although it was held that her house | been a Confederate blockade runner,
had been a secret rendezous for the was also a friend of the brilliant actor.conspirators, no testimony to show Just before Lincoln's assassination that she had known their business Mrs. Surratt was greatly troubled there or that she participated in any about money matters, to arrange which of their meetings was ever presented. she made an appointment to meet a According to Mrs. Surratt's defence, man at Upper Marlborough Court- she was an innocent bearer of the house on the morning of Good Friday, package sent by Booth to the Mary during the evening of which day the land tavern-keeper and she did not President was shot. She sent Weich- know of its contents. Weichman, the man to borrow Booths' horse and the Government clerk who gave most of actor, after explaining that he had the testimony damaging to her, is al- just sold his team, gave the clerk $10 leged to have afterward broken down with which to hire one for Mrs. Sur- and confessed that he had sworn ratt.
against her falsely that he might coun→ teract the suspicious circumstances of his being an inmate of her house. Her counsel, endeavoured to put on the wit- ness stand the man claiming to have received this confession, but the mili- tary court refused to admit the evi- dence.
As Weichman was about to drive the widow from her house Booth appear- ed with a bundle, which he asked her to deliver to a tavern-keeper at Sur- rattsville, Md., through which she in- tended to pass. Stopping in front of the tavern, Mrs. Surratt called the keeper and without alighting handed him the bundle, which proved to con- tain pistols and a field glass.
When the famous trial came to a close some of the judges propossed to acquit Mrs. Surratt, but the judge ad-
of
and, with the three other condemned Still the President was unyielding
conspirators, the Maryland widow, so weak and prostrate from disease that she had to be half carried by two
2 A.M. ARRESTS IN SAICHOWAN
ÁT 2 A.M. TO-DAY A POLICE LAUNCH, WITH A PARTY OF CON- STABLES UNDER DETECTIVE-SER- GEANT C. POPE, STEAMED OUT OF HARBOUR TO A POINT OFF SAI CHO WAN IN THE NEW TER- RITORIES, AND AFTER LANDING THE POLICE ARRESTED FIVE CHINESE.
The men were taken into custody in connection with the discovery of a partly decomposed body at the rear of Sai Cho Village, following the report of a Chinese woman that her son had been beaten to death by the villagers. It is alleged that the young man, Wu Po, 24, was one of three men who attempted to steal chickens from the villagers' farmhouses on September
28.
soldiers, was sent to the scaffold. When ordered to ascend that grim structure she asked the attending priest:
"Can I not tell these people before Idle that I am innocent of the crime for which I have been condemned to death?"
"No, my child," answered the priest "The world and, all that le In It have receded forever. It would do no good and it might disturb the serenity of ' your last moments."
President Johnson averred upon his honour that he never saw the military commission's recommendation mercy made in Mrs. Surratt's behalf of
until two years after her execution, when, sending for the papers in the cases, he found it among them in a detached form.
Any soreness, bleeding or spongi-
ness of the gums means that they are unhealthy. You are urged to use
Most
After returning to Washington. Mrs. vocate suggested that she be adjudged Gibbs "S.R." without delay.
2
guilty with mercy to President Andrew Johnson.
recommendation
The recommendation for mercy was signed by a majority of the tribunal, but after the verdict President Johnson shut himself up in the White House and refused to see Mrs. Surratt's coun-
Surratt was arrested in her house, which was put under military guard. She rebuked her servants for weepnig, and would have gone to jail like a soldier had not sensational circums- tances occurred at the moment. Answering a knock at her door, her guests admitted # desperate-looking sel. individual bearing a plck and shovel, and who, when asked his business, stated that he had been ordered the day before to dig a ditch on the pre- mises. Protesting that she had never seen the man before and had no ditch to dig, Mrs. Surratt exclaimed to her servants:
"How fortunate, girl, that those officers are here. This man might have
YOU
ASKED
FOR IT!
8-31
(Kalncied by the Ball dyodiesta. Tak.)
You are no longer of the young. or generation If your chief occu- pation la finding fault with the world at large.
daughter begged the judge advocate. On bended knee her weeping
IT WAS AGONY TO STOOP
Backache Made Him Feel
An Old Man at 31
This man of 31 was prematurely aged by kidney trouble, when he should have been enjoying the best years of his life. Here he tells how Kruschen gave him back his health, after months of pain:--
"I was in hospital for ten weeks, owing to kidney trouble. When I was discharged I felt like an old man, al- though I am only 31. If I stooped to do anything it was agony to straighten up again. Several people advised me to try Kruschen Salts. I tried them and found they gave me relief from pain and I felt better in every way. I cycle 28 miles a day to and from work, and shall keep up the daily dose of Kruschen because I can now do the Journey to and from work and I night's work, and not feel any the worse för it.”—S.V.C..
Unless the kidneys function proper- ly, certain acid wastes, instead of being expelled, are allowed to pollute the blood-stream and produce troublesome symptoms: backache, rheumatism, and excessive fatigue. Kruschen Salts is one of the finest diuretics or kidney aperients available for assisting the kidneys to excrete acid Impurities.
Dentists now prescribe Gibbs "S.R."
both for the treatment and preven-
tion of bad gums.
Gibbs
S.R
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365
SPECIAL PREPARED FOR TREATMENT AND PREV
OF INFLAMED TENDER OR BUILDING CUMS IGINGIVITIS)
MD PYORRHOEA
"I came across a patient, to whom I had recommended Gibbs "S.R." six months ago. I thought once to advise complete extraction, but. there is absolutely no trace of pyorrhoea in his mouth now. For the first six weeks
I treated him
every few days with Gibbs "S.R."
This is not the only case I have come across with excellent results." (Ref. 20c).
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5APB16
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