Daily National Republican

Strange Affair—A Probable Accomplice
of Booth in New Haven—Suspicious
Papers Found—His Strange Disappearance.

The public will doubtless be surprised to
learn that there has been in this city a man
who there is good reason to believe was connected with the plot which resulted in the
assassination of the President. On the Sunday after the death of the President, a man,
whose name was afterward discovered to be
Lemos, stopped at the Central Hotel in this
city. He appeared to be about thirty years
of age, was about five feet seven inches in
height, of light complexion, had light, very
bushy hair, a hawk-shaped nose, gray eyes, a
heavy scar on the right side of his neck and
another on the face, supposed to have been
sabre cuts; was well dressed, and was taken
for a German Jew.

During the night he stole what change
there was in the money drawer and decamped. In the morning, the robbery being
discovered, he was chased and overtaken at
Milford by the proprietor of the hotel, and
the stolen money was recovered. The man
begged hard to be released, and produced
and offered as an inducement a gold watch,
worth $50, which was accepted, and he was
suffered to go at liberty. On being released,
he told the hotel proprietor he had left a
carpet-bag at the hotel, which he desired to
be sent to one Myers at Southport.

The carpet bag was given to the police,
who, on obtaining it, examined its contents
and found that it contained some very singular articles, which at once made further
acquaintance with the runaway seem highly
desirable. There was found, first, a carte de
visite of a lady, apparently about thirty-five
years of age, plain looking, rather fleshy,
and wearing a stylish dress. This photograph was contained in an envelope, and on
the back of the photograph was written
these words:

Meet me in Washington on the 14th
(Signed)
J. W. BOOTH

On comparing this signature with those
made by Booth on the books of the New
Haven House, it was found to be genuine.
There was also found in the carpet bag a
card of the Ogden Hotel, N. Y., with the
name of Jane Tipping on the back; also, a
card of the Morton Hotel, Liverpool, England, with the following written on the back:
“John Morton, care of John Merley,” underneath “J. W. Booth,” which also proves
to be the genuine signature of the assassin.
There was also a card of the Union Hotel,
N. Y., with the name of Jean Schliesner, D.
C., written on the back; also, a discharge of
Samuel Tierney from the British ship New
Brunswick; and last, but not least important, there were two passes signed by H. S.
Parsons, General Sheridan's Adjutant General, one of which bore date December 8,
1864, and was to permit M. Lemos, a scout,
to pass out of the lines and return; while the
other bore date December 9, and was to permit M. Lemos, a scout, to pass out of the
lines with two men and led horses, to go to
Charlottesville and return.

Upon finding these suspicious papers, the
police started in pursuit of the man, going
down on the New York Railroad as far as
Southport, but failed to find any traces of
him. Returning, they informed Capt. Clark,
Provost Marshal, of the facts, and he immediately went to New York and set the detectives to work. They found that the man had
hired out as a clerk to the proprietor of the
Albion House, and was to come on duty on
Saturday, the day on which he came up here.
Learning nothing else satisfactory, Captain
Clark returned, and set his force at work.
They succeeded in tracing him to Derby, and
from thence to Zoar Bridge, across the Housatonic.

On the opposite side are four roads, leading off in different directions, and no one
knew which road he took. All the roads
were thoroughly searched, all the local authorities about that whole region were set to
work, the inhabitants were roused to action by the rumor that the man was John
Surratt, for whom a large reward was offered;
the whole country was completely raked over,
so to speak, but, strange to say, not the least
trace of the man, after he crossed Zoar
bridge, has yet been found. Officers continued the search into New York, Massachusetts and Vermont, but without avail.

Six or seven different men were arrested,
one in Palatine, on the Harlem railroad, and
two or three were brought to this city, one
securely handcuffed; but none answered the
description, and some of them had no resemblance at all. After two weeks of unremitting search, all hopes of securing the fellow
were given up. But the sudden disappearance of the man is one of the most unaccountable things on record. There appears to be no
doubt among those acquainted with the
facts that the man was in some way connected with Booth in his terrible plot.

We believe that in another instance, as
the evidence shows, the back of a young
lady's photograph was used by Booth to
write a similar message. Possibly, a comparison of the two may cast further light
upon the matter. The signature, which is
pronounced to be unmistakably genuine; the
time, the lack of money, and the possession of a fine gold watch, together with
his anxiety to get away, the strange papers,
left behind, and his still more strange disappearance, all indicate that his capture would
have been highly desirable

About two weeks after the man left the
city, a soldier called at the Provost Marshal's office and asked for transportation
home, saying that he was a scout in Sheridan's army. On being asked if he knew a
scout by the name of Lemos, he replied that
he guessed he ought to, for he had spent two
months in prison with him in Richmond. He
then gave a correct description of the man.
It is thought, judging from the other facts,
that this man became a Union scout in order
more readily to accomplish a treacherous
purpose.

The facts in this strange affair were known
to us when the search first commenced, but
have been thus far withheld in the hope that
the suspicious person might be captured.
The papers left by him, with a full statement
of the case, will now be sent to Washington
—New Haven Journal, May 25.