Evening Star Newspaper, April 26, 1925, Page 72

b ¥ Befors the events this article, Francis Y had a varried and adventurous ex- perience in the World War. First gerving as a French interpreter in France, he was later with the In- dian Cavalry, and finally with the Royal Flying Corps in Mesopo- tamia. This service was followed | by the adventures, beginning to- ward the end of the war, narrated in this article and two succeeding ones. In his war service Maj. Yeats- Brown was twice “mentioned in dispatches” and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross. He is_now on a lecture tour of the United States and Canada. BY FRANCIS YEATS-BROWN, WOOPING down from the skies of Mesopotamia one November morning, 1 began a strange chapter of adventures, which ended in the underworld of Constantinople. g It was war time, but my part in the war, such as it was, ends at the beginning of this story, soon after 1 had settled myself in the observer's seat of a Maurice Farman airplane, witn a couple of pounds of guncot- ton wherewith to blow up the Turk- ish telegraph lines near Bagdad. Not the slightest idea had I when T went up at 6 o'clock that morning that I was destined to come down two hours later in an entirely differ- ent world—a world first of all of ter- ror, then of subterfuge, intrigue and conspiracy. But so it was Bagdad looked much the same as usual when we neared it, with the| golden domes of Kazimain gleaming amid the green of date palms. Then we swung westward and landed in the desert, near the ancient site of Nimrod's tomb. Click! The curtain had shut down on my old life. A crashing noise came from the splintering spars of my machine, which had collided with a telegraph post. The pilot cursed the rear wind which had caused the machine to get out of control. And I, of course, cursed the pilot. But it was no time for indulging in fu- tile recriminations. 1 blew up the telegraph line as quickly as I could, and even as I did so I caught sight of a host of mounted men sweeping up from the west. We tried to taxi away in the old bus, failed, were captured, looted, mauled by Arabs, rescued from them by a troop of Turks, and sent into Bagdad under escort almost before we had time to realize that our fly- ing days were over The population of the City of the Arabian Nights turned out several thousand strong to jeer at us, for they had been told—not quite accu- rately, as a matter of fact—that we were the airmen who had bombed Bagdad. Elderly merchants wagged their white beards and cursed us, children babbled and brandished knives, and Arab women pulled back their eils in scorn, put out their tongues and cried in a note of derision a great re- ception. * % ¥ % the ecity, we were taken to a hospital, to recover from the welcome the Arabs had us. And it was here in hospi began to realize what the prisoner's world is like—a long, long procession of wasted days. Seven hundred and thirty days passed by, and then I found myself in a_little camp for prisoners of war at Psamattia, a sea- side suburb of Constantinople. It was here that I regained a grip on things. A friend, Sir Robert Paul, was de- termined as I was to make a get-away. We decided to go together. We had stolen a Baedeker guide to the city of Constantinople and we had, by a sub- terfuge, obtained several fathoms of rope and a Turkish fez apiece. And one evening we looked over our re sources and decided we were ready to attempt to escape. The very next day we were allowed out with three sentries for a drive through Constantinople. After a turn in the Seraglio Gardens we stopped at a cafe and ordered beer and sand- wiches for five. I handed back the menu card to the Greek waiter I also handed him a note saying I would pay | him twe hundred dollars for a night's lodging for myself and friend if no questions were asked When the refreshments arrived and the sentries’ eyes were popping at the sight of the quart bottles, the waiter made a sign for me to look under my plate, I found a piece of paper there. Presently 1 made an excuse to wash my hands and was able to read it in privacy. It was an address in the Greek quarter. We drove back to| prison in high good humor. The house next to ours at Psamat tia was the Armenian Patriarchate. | Every evening one or two dead Arme- nians wege brought into the church and left lying there till the following morning, when they were taken away for burial. Our first idea was to ciimb the wall dividing the Patriarchate from our exercise yard and substitute ourselves for two corpses. The plan had much to commend it. It was simple, original, and seemed likely to succeed. We would have been car- ried out by the funeral party and then at the grave side we would have risen from the dead and walked aw But it failed. When we tried to climb the wall into the church a Once in jand sentry at the house saw us and yelled as if seven devils had entered into his ! ®THE COLONEL'S ESPE- CIAL SLEUTH WAS RE- GARDING ME WITH THE GREATEST INTEREST. WAS HE FOND, OR SUS- PICIOUS?” burly body. Guards stood to arm bayonets clicked; we crept back to our blankets and were snoring placidly when a Turkish officer came round to see what was the matter. It was a July night, when a full moon rode over the sea behind our house that we decided to make our next attempt. We had determined to climb out of a window set in a blank wall some thirty feet above the street and in full view of four sentries. This wall, I had observed, was not as impassable as it looked. Two little ledges of molding ran along under the win- dow sill, giving us a foothold and a handhold until we reached the roof of the next house. And although we would be visible during the whole of our precarious transit of the wall fac we knew that people in a street rare look up above their own height and rarely look for things they don't ex- pect, We took off our shoes, coiled a rope round our waists, filled our pockets and knapsacks with escaping gear (consisting of a map, an automatic we had managed to buy a year before, our shoes, some chocolate, hard bis- cuit, sweaters, etc), and then blew out the light in our room as if we had gone to bed. From 8 o'clock in the evening until roll call at 7 the following morning we were us- uvally left undisturbed. If @ zealous officer made the rounds at midnight, our absence would be discovered, but we chanced that. * ok ok X CROCCHED under the window sill, we roped ourselves together Then we looked over the edge. The two sentries on the opposite side of the street were lolling against the door, chatting to each other, with their rifles slung over their shoulders, as casual and unconcerned as we could wish. The moon, rising behind our house, while still leaving the street in shadow, had just caught their faces, lighting up a pair of encourag- ingly bovine countenances. Directly below us, we knew, another pair of watchdogs were whiling away the Summer night in much the same w. Paul went first and I followed. Once the first step was iaken, anxiet vanished, leaving nothing but a thrill of pleasure. As we clambered slowly along the string-course of the wall, we were in full view of four armed sentries, not 10 yards aw: with large-bore old-fashioned rifles. We were mighty happy men when we had finished that part of our escape and lay flat and breathless be- hind the parapet of the next roof. After a few moments’ rest, we began | to wrigzgle and worm our way slowly along the gutter, until we had gone about 70 yards. Looking at my watch, T saw an hour had passed since get- ting out of the window. And now a new difficulty confror.ted us. Directly overlooking the pa:t of the roof from which we contemplated our descent and only separated from by the breadth of a’side street, sat an officer of the Psamattia fire brigade. He sat by an open win- dow, looking anxiously up and down the street we hoped to escape by We lay stock-still, watching him, it ‘became apparent, as time passed and he still stood disconsolate - the window, that he was expecting some one to keep an appointment Meanwhile the moon was creeping up. Soon she would flood us with her radiance, so that even a love-sick officer of the fire brigade could pot help noticing us, lit by the spotlight of the universe. For an hour this annoying Romeo kept watch. But at last, just as our protecting belt of shadow had nar- rowed to a yard and we had decided to let go the painter and have a run | > | as for our money anyway, he gave one | prodigious yawn and shut the win- | dow. That was our moment. We had al- re. uncoiled the rope from our waists. We made one end of the rope fast to the parapet and eautious- ly lowered away the other end. Then we stood up. There were no passers- by in the street, fortunately. The sentries were huddled in their long coats, for the night had turned chilly. Uptown a dog vapped; its voice seemed to stab the silence . I takes two seconds to slip down 30 feet of rope, but two seconds is a long time when your liberty, if not Jour life, s at stake. T half kicked: own the signboard of a store in my descent and expected to get a slug from a sentry's rifle. There came no sound or stir, however, save that of my descent. In the street, I waited for Paul and to my amazement I noticed that the two of the sentries were fast asleep, one was strolling away with his back to us, and the fourth, with a cigarette in his mouth and his rifle slung over his shoulder, had a_Persian cat in his arms, which he was fondling. | the THE “ELDERLY MERCHANTS CURSED US, THE CHILDREN BABBLED AND BRA SUNDAY STAR, VEILS IN WASHINGTON, D. ¢, APRIL 26, SCO! NDISHED KNIVES, AND ARAB WOMEN PULLED BACK THEIR . 1925—PART d as Woman, Officer in Turkish Capital Dodges Pursuers Story of a Dash From Prison; an Airplane Crash and Capture, and Experiences in the House of Refugees. Next Instant Paul was at my side and we fled up the street in our stockinged feet. After two and & half years as prisoners, we were free men ‘once more. Only once did we think we were likely to be recaught. At about 1| in the morning, as we were passing Fatik Mosque, we heard a rat- tle on the cobbles behind us. A car- | riage was being galloped in our di- rection. If the Psamattia garrison had learned of our escape and warned the police to watch the streets be- fore we had time to find the House of the Greek, things might go badly for us. We ran into some ruins near the | mosque and lay there. The rattle grew louder and presently an empty carriage swung into view, with a drunken driver, who sang and flogged his horse. Then we emerged and | continued our way through the silent | plcturesque_streets of old Stamboul, under the checkered shede of vines A policeman we met muttered | something in Turkish. By t time | we_were feeling fine and bade him a chee Guten Morgen!” One way- farer, seeing us, turned rapidly down a side street. We pursued him for a litte way, thinking we might “stick him up” for his passport, but it was beginning to grow light, so we had to give it up and push on to our_destination. When we reached the door of the House of the Greek, 1 knocked softly | W and then we flattened ourselves in the shadow, ready for & anything: | welcome, betrayal to the police, or— | thought very possible—an at- | tempt at blackmail.” So softly had I knocked that I was about to do it | 4gain, when the door opened about one inch. Very low down we saw a pair of eyes examining us { “May we come in?” | “You are the escaped prisoners?” | said a little voice, suspiciously. “We | were expecting you twa hours ago.” | “Better late than never. A The door opened qui¢kly and shut behind us. We were in the presence of two little girl twins, some § ears old, I judged. 'Athene, who | was the spokeswoman, looked up at | Paul in frank admi Maria- | Teresa remained coyly in the back- ground. Meanwhile a whole family of friendly people, all in night clothes, were tiptoeing down the stairs and welcoming us with smiles and nods Themistocle, the Greek waiter, in his horn-rimmed \spectacles, came| through the throng and shook hands. After a brief business talk with him, during which $200 changed hands, Athene and Maria-Teresa came for- ward again and led us upstairs. “The last escaped prisoner we had here was a forger,” sald Maria-Te- resa to me. He was a friend of father's,” cor- roborated Athene, “and he escaped from prison about six weeks ago. He was afraid the police would find his tools, 50 he threw them into our cis- tern.” They are there now. % ook % reached the top floor, going up- stairs very quietly 8o as to avoid waking the other lodgers, one of whom, to our astonishment, we heara was a Turkish officer, and were shown into a room containing a dou- ble bed, with a stuffy canopy of dam- ask, and an icon shrine in a corner by the window. ““This is the family bedroom,” they sald “And where are we to sleep asked “Right here!” said slapping the bed. My sister and I and the twins were using the bed until your arrival, but now we will sleep in the passage “But your sister can't sleep in the sage”” 1 said doubtfully Certainly she can. In fact, it safer, in case the police come.” “Were you all four sleeping on this bed;” 1 asked. “Why, yes AR Themistocle, pa is The other rooms are all full ‘of lodgers. But they won't disturb you. The Turkish officer is himself in hiding.” “I know all the police,” said littls Athene. “As long as I am on the watch nothing can happen. 1 can recognize them even when they are have inquired into the identity of any male friend he had visited. I had to disguise myself as a woman At that time Turkish stopped every able-bodied policemen man they | BY OLIVED P. NEWMAN. RESIDENT Coolids sider himself luc His | power to remove a Federal appointee is under attack, but | a capable solicitor general is | defending him before the calm, digni- fied Supreme Court of the United States. The rights of the Senate, on the other hand, are upheld in the same place by a member of that di tinguished body. President Andrew Johnson had a vastly different experi ence in the same sort of a contro versy, brought to a crisis by his cryp tic note to his War Minister, Id- win M. Stanton: “Sir: Public considerations of a high character constrain me to say that { vour resignation as Secretary of War | will be accepted. “ANDREW JOHNSON President of the United States.” | may con not in uniform, by their bdots.” ‘And we are always on the look out for them,” said her sister. “If the police come to search the house, vou will have to hide in the cistern, where the forger hid his tools.” Coffee and cigarettes were produced | and ointment for our lacerated hands. (We had cut our hands tc the sinews, slipping down the ropes.) Long after daylight we stayed, talk ing of the war and how to get out o Constantinople Our friends clapped their hands with glee at the thought of the punishment the | Turks would get for baving allowed us to escape “They won't find the rope, either," said Themistocle acutely, certainly cut it down and hide it for | fear of being asked questions.” The family went down stairs, with subdued squeaks and giggles from Athene and Maria Teresa, who were delighted to have two honest-to-good- ness criminals to play with, while we threw ourselves on the bed, too ex- hausted to undress, and slept the sleep of free men. Next instant, it seemed to me, al- though in reality two hours had elapsed, we were awakened by the twins, who looked on us as their especial charges and bullied us ac- cordingly. All that morning we passed in the pantry, close to the cistern into which we were regdy to plunge should the police. come to see whether the lodgers were registered. By evening we felt we were safe and returned to our bedroom on the top floor to make our plans for getting out of the city. i i * ¥ ¥ x HEMISTOCLE came up to have a chat with us as soon as he had finished at the restaurant. veryone is starving here,” he said thoughtfully, “even the police- men go hungry for bribes. Only ves. terday a friend of mine, a poiice- man, said to me: ‘For the love of Allah, find somebody for me to ar- rest. Among all the wicked people in this town, surely you can find someone who should be arrested.” So that we would share the proceeds, you understand.” “What did you say to that?” I asked. “I sald,” he answered thoughttully, “that I would do my best.” “But what sort of men would you sort of man. A rich man, it possible.” “Rich men are apt to be dangerous,” T said meaningly. “But what can one do?" he asked, spreading out his hands. “One must live.” “And let live,” T answered. But I thought that the sooner we were out of that house the better. Paul planned to take a boat to Ro- dosto and make his way through to Bulgaria if possible. He left the next day disguised as an Arab beggar. He blackened his face, arms and chest, put @ battered fez on the back of his tousled head, and adopted a hang-dog slouch. The only trouble with him was that he looked too villainous. He might easily have been arrested for his ap- pearance alone. But a touch of genius put this right. In his hands he carried a bowl of curds and half a cucumber, which gave him the as- pect of a poor but peaceable citizen looking for a public seat in the park on which to eat his midday lunch. My own plan was more comfortable. 1 was to leave Constantinople as the servant of a Russian prince, who was also a colonel in the Russian army and who was being repatriated to his native town of Tiflis under a treaty the Turks had recently signed with the Russians. * k % ¥ N order to meet this colonel and make my arrangements with him, T had to adopt & somewhat strange disguise, for the colonel, although nominally et liberty, was comstantly hadowed, by, delectives,. .wha -would new-found | “‘because | the man over whose store it is will | | Stanton was equally crypt’ He re- | plied on the same day as follows: | “Sir: Your note this day has been received, stating that public consider- ations of a high character constrain | you to say-that my resignation as| Secretary of War will be accepted. | “In reply, I have the honor to say | that public considerations of a high haracter, which me to continue at the head department, constrain me not sign the office of Secretary before the next meeting of “EDWIN 3. STA “Secretary of Wa By the time this exchange occurred (August 5, 1867) Congress and Presi- | dent Johnson had thrown all pretense to the winds and were fighting with | bare knuckles. Spades were spades “He came into the presidenc through the door of assassination.’ declared Congressman James M. Ashley, “Dark suspicion has crept into the minds of men as to his com- plicity in the assassination plot.” In’ stridgyt voice Ashley called | upon the people of America “to de- | clare that no man hereafter elected | President or Vice President shall present himself at his_inauguration drunk: (a story about Johnson later | disproved); that no President shall be permitted to turn the White House into a den of thieves and pardon brokers; nor shall he be permitted to address in vulgar, seditious language a drunken, howling mob from the steps of the Executive Mansion.” Ashley further asserted that the nation ‘“‘cried out to Congress to de- of this to re- liver them from the shame and dis- grace the acting President has brought upon them; that the loathing incubus which has blotted our coun- | try's history with the foulest biot | shall be removed.” And Johnson fought back. He took the stump in the congressional cam- paign, to try to prevent the re-elec- tion of the men who were combat- ing him. With his pugnacious un- der-lip stuek out farther than ever, his square, vigorous form tense, his eve flashing fire and his fists clenched he declared: | “I would ask you, with all the pains this Congress has taken to poison the minds of their constitu- | ents against me, what has this Con- gress done? Have they done any thing to restore the Union? No! On the contrary, they have done everything to prevent it.” “If my predecessor had lived,” he said in another speech, “the vials of wrath from a mendacious press and subsidized gang of hirelings would have been poured out upon him, as upon me.” Referring, on another occasion, to the leadership in Congress, he said: “I have been fighting traitors South. | They have been whipped and crushed and acknowledge their defeat. Now I am fighting traitors North. Some talk about traitors in the South when they had not the courage to go away from thelr homes and fight, but remained cowardly at home spec- ulating and committing frauds on the Gevernment.” kR, OINING with the Congressional leaders was “Parson” Bréwnlow of Johnson's own state of Tennessee, one of the President’s worst haters, telegraphing joyously the news of Tennessee’s ratification of the four- teenth amendment: “Hon. J. W, Forney, “Secretary United States Senate, ““Washington. “We have fought the battle and won Jt. ‘We have ratified the consti- tutional amendment in the House— 43 voting for it, 11 against it and two of Andrew Johnson's tools not voting. Give my respects to the dead dog in the White House.' “W. G. BROWNLOW.” Despite protest by the little hand- ful of Johnson's friends, this me: | to saw and demanded his vecika or paper of identity. If the vecika could not be produced, or a bribe mounting to was Women, however, were immune from being stopped in the streets of Constantinople, because over the po- lice were super police, who did not allow the ordinary upholders of the law to have any dealings with the op- posite sex. This mortality squad, an austere body of men who were en gaged in the Herculean task of sup- pressing wickedness in the wickedest city on earth, proved a very present help to me in time of trouble. I decided, therefore, that 1 must be a woman. And here the good angel of escaping prisoners of war—a lady who will be known 1o history as Edith Cavell of the East—came to my r ue and brought m some clothes belonging to a friend of hers, who had cscaped in the carly days of the war without waiting for her heavy bag- gage Thus it was that I became a Ger- man governess. After a little prac- tice T found that the disguise was 50 good that it defled detection Learning to sit and walk took me a few hours; as to the rest, some ex- perience in amateur theatricals stood me in good stead. German officers who still remained in Constantinople were enthralled at my appearance. One gay cavalier in top boots pursued me all the way up the long dark path among graves and ruins hehind the Pera Palace Hotel, and I onl shook him off by picking up m | skirts and bolting in a most unfem inine way into a maze of side streets. centric German govern who suf- fered from consumption and there- fore spoke low and huskily, I used to pass much of my time—accom- panied by the heroic lady aforesaid— in the fashionable tea garden called the Petit Champs. It was here that I used to meet the Russian colonel. He had already received a passport to the Caucasus, for himself and a servant. 1 a8 to be that servant Although he was overshadowed by a_detective, there was nothing at all suspicious in being seen in a pub- { lic place with a dazzling woman, who if not as young as she tried to pear, was at least as attractive a dozen other frauleins then liv. beside the Bosporus from one hundred to one thousand Turkish pounds, F “ANDY™ JOH? ‘In a fortnight's time we will be to the central jail to explain who he | frequently | As Madamoiselle Josephine, an ec- | |having tea iIn Tiflis” the Russiar colonel used to tell me over the te |table. “I will raise a regiment ot | cavalry and kill all the Bolsheviks, | Or two regiments, and you can have {one.” | “Much obliged, mon colonel, | please don't speak so loud.” | “Ah, that detective! He 1at you with more than profess interest! Now listen, Josephine have bought a soldier's u you.” But the I my spine | beer, at but, n ow was freezing | Over his glass of ginger nearby table, there no doubt that lonel’s espe: ith was reg me with test inter he fond, !\m,,u lous Was Paling under my rouge, T smile to my lips and tur | halr tilted evebr and ar |glance as it I were | whether he od and dance at the his look frankly | blushed—act | fumbling with | 1ooking away ove | wasn't gotng to be himself with his After that this sleuth kground and left | his lady friend | But Constantinople | thousand peopl ready to sell their Turkey, wa | live in than to | little experience |a great city was soc | ey . ok To my delight, ished—and be mustache the Bosporus he an and beer a kept in the Colonel ain the, ger where twenty hiding. ail (Cop: | Poisoned Locusts as Feed | [N South Africa, where locusts are often fc arsenic, it has been fou insects, even though they cumbed to deadly poisc used safely for cattl {to Science. Expe | ment of Agricuit | South Africa have | in order to obtain a fatal poison, cattle, sheep or horses | have to consume 2 the locusts, indicatin | these animals is in dan poisoned insects Ip however, | wide marg that these food acco B the D re of the 1 determine SON IN CHARACTERISTIC POSE. (and most pugnacious) men who ever sat in the Executive Mansion, John- son fought Congress with every weapon at his command. To prevent the Presidept using the military forces of the country in aid of the South or in ald of his own re-election, Congress passed the “tenure-of-office” bill, under which Secretary Stanton defied his chief—a situation difficult understand now. The law pro- vided that every person holding any civil office to which he had been pointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate should hold such office until a successor should have been appointed in like manner. It was specified further that, during a recess of Congress, the President might suspend any officer until the next meeting of the Senate, but that within 20 days thereafter he - must submit in writing his reasons for the suspension. If his action was approved the officer was discharged and a successor might be nominated If his action was disapproved the suspended officer was automatically reinstated. Stanton was in open league with the anti-Johnson leaders of Congress and the President considered it ridicu- lous to have him at the cabinet table, the head of an important depart- ment. When Stanton refused to re- sign, therefore, Johnson suspended him under the tenure-of-office act and appointed General Grant, then the “General of the Army," acting Secretary. Stanton grudgingly yield- ed the office to Grant, but when Con- gress met in the Fall the leaders in- stantly seized the incident as a rea son for renewed attack on the Presi- dent. His action in suspending Stan- ton was disapproved, whereupon Grant instantly and without protest or consultation with his chief, turned the office back to the former Secre- tary. * k% x HEN began one of the strangest and most dramatic contests ever waged about the head of an occupant of the White House. At times it was marked by humorous incidents that would have been uproariously funny if all concerned had not been so tragically serious. Official notice of the action of the Senate in disapprov- ing Stanton’s removal was received by Johnson, Grant and Stanton at 9 o'clock at night, Monday, January 13, 1868. Early the next morning Stan- ton entered the War Department and took possession of the Secretary's office, without holding any communi- cation with the President. He never attended a cabinet meeting and ig- nored -Johnson as completely as if the latter had been an unknown pri- vate citizen instead of Commander-in- Chief of the Army. This impossible situation continued for over a month, but on Friday, February 21, President Johnson summoned the adjutant gen- eral, Lorenzo Thomas, to the White House and handed him two papers. One was addressed to Thomas, mak- ing him Acting Secretary of War, and the other was addressed to Stanton, removing him from office and direct- sage was read aloud and entered in the rd. " -©ne oL the.- most courageous ing that _he turn his official affairs “hubom Mt Stantonfoes. ot eat asked the prospective Secre- 'Oh, there is no need to consider that,” replied President Johnson: ‘“you present the order and he will v g0 away. I know him better rou do; he is cowardly.” Thomas was 63 years old, convivial in his habits and of a trusting pa- ture. He called on Stanton pre- sented the paper. “Do you wish me to vacate the office at once or will you give me time to remove my private property?’ Stanton asked. *“At your pleasure,” courteously re plied Thomas. When asked for a copy of the document ousting Stan- it. Stanton immediately barricaded himself in his office and sent out Vio lent SOS calls to Congress. When the extremists on Caplitol Hill learned Johnson had done excitement through both houses. The held an executive session ept Senate sent word to Stanton to hang onto his job. Sumner sent him a single scrap of paper on which was written “Stick.” A score of members of the House- repaired to Stanton’s office post haste to help him repel in vaders. Thev kept an all-night vigil, while the Capitol teemed with excitement and with furiously peated demands for Johnson's peachment. his action on his constitutional au thority, but his enemies declared he was llable to impeachment because the “tenure-of-office act” specifically made violation thereof a demeanor” punishable by ment. Johnson held this to be un constitutional. im. adjourned, official notice was sent to new acting Secreta: Thomas, appris- ing them that the Senate had passed a resolution declaring the Constitution and laws of the United States the President has no power to remove the Secretary of War and designate any other person to perform the duties of that office ad interim.” * ok ok X ‘HE intensity of the situation was ported back to the Senate that Thomas could not be found. Rumors had been flying about the city all the evening and this caused added specu- lation. Late in the night, however, Gen. Thomas was located at a mas- querade ball, but in the meantime he had indulged In free conversation about his plans. i “Suppose Stanton resists? asked. “I expect to meet force by force,” he replied. 'Suppose he bars the doors?” T will break them down.” These threats were instant car- ried to Stanton, in exaggerated form, violence, rioted a complacent judge out of bed and swore out a warrant for Thomas' arrest. The marshal of the District was also routed out at 3 am., and at 7 into k; ton he went to his own office to make | lasting seven hours and the leaders | ‘The President had based | “high mis- | impeach- | Late in the night, when the Senate | President Johnson, Stanton and the| “that under ; increased when messengers re-| he was and at midnight his garrisen, fearing | for acquittal Andrew Johnson Had Hard Fight Trying to Remove War Of fice Head | masquerade part official insisted dent befo: shal consented prisoner would Acc Iy Thoma both went to the Whi the President riser, and th the two ou Thomas arr: on or¢ s | across the lawn | they excla | The defende front of Stant geney. Thoma: {and with no th into the buildi followed is through the of Congress pr | ward made into Jrers | Thomas, adjutant | the Secretary of \ | ‘Good mornin |ing, ‘Good m | 1ooked around anc | to disturb these g | wait.” Stanton sai ~omes selves in ¥ emer notes of wh sent h wer | stanton the surrender |tary of War office it fo him and ordered h own office as adjutant | Thomas refused to go. I office of Secretary of War, ‘and demand it by order of t dent.’ | “Stanton—I deny your authorit: [ar‘( and I ordered you back | own office. | “Thomas—I will stand want no unpleasantness in en of these gentleme “Stanton—You can stand th vou please, but you cannot Secretary of War. I am Secretary of | War. 1 ordered you out of this and to your own | “Thomas—I refuse stand here. “Stanton—How session” Will you use for “Thomas—I do not care to { force, but my mind is made up as to | what I shall do. 1 want no unpleas. though. 1 will stay here and act as Se v of War “Stanton—You shall not order you, as your superior your office |~ Thomas departed and Stanton bar- ricaded himself in his office. No f ther effort made to r ve him. He continued to act as & tary of War until after Johnson's impeach- ment trial, when he resigned, but he never saw or commun President or attend ings and the President municated with him * OHNSON'S ordering Stanton's removal in spite of the tenure of office act was just the amu- nition needed by the extremists in Congress, led in the House by aged but vigorous, embittered er: ple, Thaddeus of Penns | vania, and in the Senate by the mer. ciless Charles Sumner of Massa- chusetts. Angered bevond the point of rationality by Johnson's antag- onism to their rigid reconstruction” policies, they rushed a resolution through the House declaring that 'Andrew Johnson, President of the | Unitea States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors.” On * day, the thirteenth” of March, 1868, Chief J Imon P. Chase of the United s Supreme Court strode into the Senate chamber and the 54 members of that body took oath as a jury to try the President, the first and only time such a proceed- ings was ever undertaken. The man- agers, or prosecutors, for the House, Representatives Thaddeus Stevens, George S. Boutwell, James F. Wil- son, Benjamin F. Butler, George F. Miller, John A. Bingham, William Lawrence, William Willlams ana John A. Logan, filed in and formally read their charges against the Pre dent, who, when presence w called for in a loud tone, appeared by counsel. Intense dramatic interest the month's trial, which ended In | breath-taking suspense when the | vote on the first article of impeach- | ment was taken, ‘May 16, and re- | sulted in for conviction and 19 leaving the President's | enemies one’ vote short of the 1wa- | thirds _necessary for conviction Thirty-five Senators had voted guilty land 19 not guilty. The latter genera claim e Presi- here the pres ere it to go and will will you get p and I back to never * action in the Stevens marked 3 con- a.m. he took Thomas | sisted of 12 Democrats and 7 Repube custody, just he was about to Preakiist. afier hia sllnight licans. ACopyright. 1925 y