Newspaper Page Text
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VOLUME XIII.
ATLANTA. GA. TUESDAY. OCTOBER 21, 1913.
NO. 8.
J. C. SHIRLEY, MARIETTA STREET FURNITURE DEALER, NAMED
BY I. W. FISHER IN PH AO AN CASE, LAUGHS AT ACCUSATIONS
FISHER IS A LI
HIS STORY IS A PIPE DREAM,
U
Informed by The Journal That He Is the Man Named by j
Fisher as Having Had an Engagement to Meet Mary Pha- '
gan on the Day of Her Deaf h ih National Pencil Factory, I
' l
Well Known Marietta Street Merchant Is Astonished and
Amused
s
4
T O. SHIRLEY, well known and highly respected furniture deal- j
• er, of 809 Marietta street, the man named according to Bir- j
miugham dispatches, by I. W. Fislier as the principal of his sen- '
national story about the Mary Phagan murder, treats the whole
matter as a huge joke.
Mr. Shirley learned Monday from The Journal that Fisher
had named him as the man, who talked to him the morning of the
murder, saying that he had an engagement with Mary Phagan
about noon of the day at the factory and who later told him he
had met Mary and played “hell.”
After an exclamation of surprise that he should be the prin
cipal of Fisher’s story, Mr. Shirley remarked: “Why the man is
crazy—a-fit subject for any lunatic asylum,”
Mr. Shirley declares that he knows Fisher quite well because
the mysterious “witness” at one time lived in the house at 811
Marietta street, next to his furniture store, of which he was a cus
tomer.
I can t understand why the man should have picked me out to name
as the principal of his story.
“So far as I know he has absolutely no reason to entertain any
malice against me. He must be just crazy.”
“So I am the prominent merchant in the case,” laughed the furni
ture dealer.
“Why, I don't remember having seen Fisher since he left the house
next door many months ago.
“Then he purchased quite a bit of furniture from me and was pay- .
ing for it on time. When they lived next door to the store Mrs. Fisher
. took in boarders, some of whom remained after she had her trouble with
her husband.
“Fisher was not meeting the payments on the furniture, so Mrs.
Fisher came to me and said that she would make the paymnts if I
transferred the title of the furniture to her, so that he could not come
and take it away from her. I did this and she paid the full price of
the furniture.
“This was my principal connection with the man, except that he
i used to loaf around the store . I certainly can’t see why he de
cided to name me.
Fisher said in his narration that he and Mr. Shirley delivered
furniture at the Coleman home and both met Mary Phagan that way.
Mr. Shirley states that he knows Mrs. Coleman, Mary’s mother,
having sold lier some small pieces of furniture, when both of them
lived in East Point, but he doesn’t remember the girl at all.
Frank Shirley, brother of the head of the furniture store, who also
works there, states that he knew Mary Phagan and Mrs. Coleman, too.
He never delivered a load of furniture to them, however, in com
pany with Fisher, he says.
THREATENS CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
While J. C. Shirley laughs at Fisher's accusations, his brother,
Frank, is highly indignant at the man, and intimates that he will urge
hs brother to bring criminal proceedings against Fisher on the ground
of malicious libel.
Frank Shirley states that he also knows Fisher, but not well.
According to Birmingham dispatches, Fisher declares that he for
merly worked for Mr. Shirley. The latter denies this most positively.
He doesn’t remember, he says, ever having given the man even
odd jobs about the place.
Frank Shirley called attention to the statement of Fisher that the
mysterious principal had been furnishing him money to keep away from
Atlanta. i.
“Well,” remarked Frank Shirley, “he must have envelopes or can
celled checks or something to show for that.”
.1. C. Shirley expressed confidently his belief that by Monday night
Fisher’s story will be completely exploded, and so, he declared, he was
not going to let. it worry him.
“I have not been connected with the man inany of the ways he
says,” said Mr. Shirley, “and I can account for his story in no way
except that he is a lunatic, any my name came to his head when he was
telling the- story.” /
The furniture man named by Fisher is doing a thriving business
on Marietta street, and enjoys the confidence and respect of the people
of the neighborhood as well as people generally over the city with whom
he has been associated.
A number of neighbors spoke highly of him, declaring that he
would be a wealthy man at this time had it not beeen for his kindness
in extending unlimited credit to unfortunates.
Mr. Shirley talked about Fisher freely when told by The Journal
that he had been named, and he said that he was willing to repeat his
statements to any one who care to talk to him, or to Fisher himself.
GETS NEWS FROM JOURNAL. ’
The first intimation that he had been named by Fisher as the prin
cipal of the story came to Mr. Shirley through The Journal.
At 1 o’clock Monday afternoon, when a Journal reporter called on
the furniture dealer, he had not been interviewed either by investigators
V in'the employ of the defense or by the city detectives., •
The city authorities were given Mr. Shirley’s name and address on
Sundax afternoon at the office of Attorney/tosser, but up to 1 o’clock
Monday they had made no effort to communicate with him nor was he
being “shadowed.” ^
THE JOURNAL’S REVELATIONS'.
Sweeping investigations by* The Journal have brought to light every
important fact in connection with I. W. Fisher and his sensational
story about the Phagan murder. - Through its Birmingham correspond*-
eht The Journal secured the name of the man mentioned by Fisher.
Through interviews with Mrs* Fisher, the wife, with airs. Alf Stallings,
his sister, who lives at 305 Houston street, and his brother, Marion
•Fisher, of Rome, Fisher’s life history was secured. Probation Officer
Coogler has added the man’s police record. The full story in all of its
varied features, is, given below.
WIFE SA YS MAN IS IRRESPONSIBLE;
SISTER DOES NOT BELIEVE HIM
Ira V# Fisher, who declares that Leo M. Frank is innocent of the
murder of Mary Phagan, Sunday night was labelled as an irresponsible
drunkard by his wife, Mrs. Annie Fisher, of 734 Marietta street, by his
sister, Mrs. Alf Stallings of 305 Houston street, and by his sister’s hus
band.
Mrs. Fisher told The Journal that she believes her husband either
is telling a false story with some deep-laid motive or is reciting the wild
dream of a drunkard or a “dope fiend.”
Fisher’s alleged statement that he left Atlanta immediately after
the murder is denied by his wife. He lived with her until August 12,
she said, when he left before papers that she filed the day before, ask
ing divorce and alimony, could be served. She does not know, she said,
whether she will push the divorce proceedings until after she has con
sulted her lawyer.
Her beliefs are shared by Mr. and Mrs. Stallings.
"I can’t believe a word my brother says,” declared Mrs. Stallings.
I would hardly believe him under oath.”
“He has told me some of the wildest tales I ever heard,” said Mr.
Stallings. “At the time I believed them, for he talked with a straight
face, but since I’ve found them untrue.”
Fisher, declared his wife, is a drunkard who at times is entirely ir-
( Continued on Page Two.)
m n
%
THOS. E. WATSON ON
TRIAL .AT AUGUSTA
BEFDREU.S, JUDGE
Georgia Editor Faces Indict
ment Charging That He Sent'
Obscene Matter Through the
Mails in His Paper
IT IS
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IT IS TO LAUGH!
COLD WAVE SENDS COTTON
UP NEARLY $2 A BALE
SHERMAN TRUST LAW TO
BE FOIMT BY PAGIFICS
9 (By Associated Press.)
NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 20—The cold
wave now' sweeting: the south put the
price of cotton up almost $2 a bale
soon after the market opened this
morning. It was t evident that many t
of the buying orders received by local
brokers had accumulated over Sunday.
On the first call there was a rush to
buy and, amid more excitement than
the market has seen for months, prices
mounted swiftly.
The opening was irregular, the trad
ing months showing a gain of 34 to 48
points over Saturday’s close. They soon
went to a level 36 to points up.
before profit-taking by longs became
heavy enough to cause a reaction.
This wild rise brought out selling
orders for both accounts, and the mar
ket reacted 13 to 15 points. The down
ward movement was not well main
tained. as the detailed reports from the
weather bureau made the situation over
the belt look worse than did the weath
er map. Fear that great damage would
result to the crop in the Atlantics as
the cold wave works eastward caused
renerwed buying and put prices up to
about the highest levels again.
Fear of Damage Causes
Big Rise in New York
(By Associated Press.)
NEW YORK, Oct. 20.—Apprehensions
of serious damage to the crop caused a
big advance in the cotton market this
morning. The opening was 27 to 38
points higher on an excited general buy
ing movement which carried December
contracts up to 13.79 or $4.50 per bale
above the low level of last week.
Reports of weather conditions caused
the rise. Heavy realizing checked the
advance around the opening -figures and
caused slight reactions, but the market
was very nervous.
Holds Body of Her
Husband Two Weeks
PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Oct. 20 —
Fearful of being buried alive. «Andrew
J. Turner, a wealthy cotton broker, ex
acted a promise from his wife that she
would not consign his body to the
ground after death until a period of two
weeks had elapsed. Mrs. Turner has
kept her promise, although the family!
doctor and the undertaker assured herj
that there could be no chance of life
lingering in her husband’s body.
(By Associated Press.)
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 20.—Julius
Kruttschnitt, chairman of the Southern
Pacific board of directors, intimated last
night that the retroattiveness of the
Sherman, anti-trust law will be tested
when tile government brings suit to
wrest the Central Pacific from the con
trol of the Southern Pacific railroad.
The test will be the objective feature
of the railroad's fight to retain its own
ership of the Central Pacific, according
to. Mr. Kruttschnitt, who arrived here
yesterday with President William
Sproule, Vice President E’ C. McCor
mick, all of whom have been on an in
spection trip over the Southern Pacific
lines.
“We are making no threats,” said Mr.
Kruttschnitt, “but we will fight to re
tain the Central Pacific if the govern
ment brings suit. We are violating
no law in holding the Central Pacific.”
He said that^ his road always has
been a big and important unit in the
Southern Pacific system and both roads
Were built by the same people. He de-
nieed that there is any trust or illegal
combination.
Citizen$ Egged Mayor;
Threaten to Ride Him
Out of Town on Rail
.J^ESPLAINES, fll., Oct. 20.—Enraged
at an article written by Mayor W. M.
Lawson, in which he attacked the
United States army, 300 citizens, armed
with sticks, bricks and stale eggs, broke
up the city council meeting and waited
for an hour outside the city hall, threat
ening to ride the mayor on a rail.
Two women, relatives of veterans of
the Civil and Spanish-American wars,
spat in the mayor’s face at the meet
ing and he was hit by several eggs.
In his article the mayor said: “A
good soldier is a blind, heartless, soul
less, murderous machine. No man can
fall lower than a soldier. Keep the boys
out of the army.”
17 SOLDIERS KILLED IN'
WRECK' OF TROOP TRAIN
MOBILE, Ala., Oct. 20.-*r-A total of
seventeen bodies killed in the wreck of
the special troop train on the Mobile
and Ohio railroad near Buckatunna,
Miss., Sunday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock,
when the engine’s tender* and express
car and three wooden passenger coaches
crashed through the Rube Burrows tres
tle, sixty-four miles from this city, had
arrived in Mobile up to 8:30 this morn
ing and several more are reported to be
still in the debris.
A total of seventy-one injured are in
the various Mobile hospitals and forty-
three of the less seriously injured have
been taken to the government hospital
at Fort Morgan, Ala., across Mobile
bay, on the steamer General Holabird,
leaving here at 7 o’clock this morning.
Of the seventeen bodies, twelve are
badly mangled. The body of V. A. Steb-
bens, attached to the band from Eighth
company, at Barrancas, Fla., was cut in
twain.
LOOKS LIKE BALTLE FIELD.
The scene at the morgue this morn
ing resembled more a battle field than
it did a death house, parts of the
bodies being strewn about on the floors
and stables.
The correct and full names of some
of the dead will not be obtainable until
they are properly prepared. Those dead
who are claimed by relatives will be
turner over to them by the govern
ment; and the others will be interred
here In the‘national cemetery with mili
tary honors.
Perhaps the most touching feature of
the relief train’s arrival was the dis
covery that one of the injured, Corporal
Frafik Chlewski, of the 170th company,
had died en route from the scene of the
accident. The corporal occupied a cot
on a freight car with a number of the
injured.
STEWARD A HERO.
Sergeant Beasley, hospital steward,
who was with the company, was the
hero of the occasion. Alone and unas
sisted he attended the wounded, giving
each one some attention before the ar
rival of the relief train, which did not
reach the scene before dark.
Dr. Harry T. Inge, surgeon for the
I Mobile ^.nd Ohio, said: “Every living
| soldier on this train is obligated to
, Beasley. He is a great and brave sol-
! dier.”
(By Associated Press.)
AUGUSTA, Ga.. Oct. 20.—Thomas E.
Watson, lawyer, publicist and one-time
presidential candidate of the People’s
party, today was placed on trial be-
i fore Fedreal Judge Rufus E. Foster,
j in the United States district court here,
on a charge of sending obscene matter
j through the mails.
Watson was arrested in the fall of
1912 on a federal warrant issued upon
complaint of the postal auhorities, and
was given a hearing at Augusta be
fore United States Commissioner W. H.
Goodwin. At the conclusion of this ex
amination the Georgia editor was bound
over to the federal grand jury, which
returned the indictment against him on
I November 12, 1912.
The specific charge aaginst Watson is
i that he published in th$ Jeffersonian, in
! July, 1911, and April and May of 1912,
; certain alleged questions which he
j claimed were asked by Roman Catholic
! priests to persons in confessional', which
questions, the indictment alleges, are
obscene and filthy. These questions ap
peared in a series of articles attacking
the Roman Catholic church and espe
cially the priesthood.
That the case against Mr. Watson
never would reach the jury was the pre
diction early today of Judge S. G. Mc
Lendon, leading, attorney for the de
fense. He added, however, that should
the government evince a desire to go
into trial, he was prepared to follow
a similar course.
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT IS DE
FENSE.
united States District Attorney Alex-
j ander Akerman, of Macon, conducting
the case for the government, apparently
was of the opinion that the trial would
end speedily, although he said that he
intended to press vigorously the charge
against Watson.
Watson himself did not arrive until a
few minutes before his case was called,
having motored here from Thomson,
Ga., where his home is. It was said by
his attorneys that Watson hud decided
to remain away until just before rthe
trial opened, in order to avoid any pub
lic demonstration, such as occurred at
his preliminary hearing.
In a statement early today Attorney
McLendon said that it was the desire
of the defense to avoid, if possible, any
thing resembling a religious contro
versy, and. to hold the case to its merits
as a question of constitutional fight. It
is the plan of the defenle to conduct its
fight upon the ground that the articles
published in Watson’s magazine, the
Jeffersonian, were written by him as
editor, and that his conviction on the
charges as set out in the indictment
woul^ be in violation of the provisions
for the freedom of the press as set forth
in the constitution of the United States.
English Militant’s Appeal to
Washington Wins Against
Refusal of Board of N, Y, to
Let Her Land
WASHINGTON. Oct. 20.—Mis. Em
meline Pankhurst, the militant British
suffragist, is free to enter the United
States. The Kills island board's order
of deposition was reversed after Presi
dent Wilson had conferred on the cele
brated case with Secretary Wilson and
a hearing had been concluded before
Immigration Commissioner Caminetti.
Secretary Wilson announced at the
conclusion of his conference with the'
president that Mrs. Pankhurst wuuld
be admitted upon her own recognisance, j
with the understanding that she would
depart at the end of her lecture engage
ments. No bond was exacted.
Mr. Reeves, her attorney, declared
Mrs. Pankhurst had engaged passage
back to England on the steamer Majes
tic, sailing from New York November
27.
Attorney Frank S. O’Neil referred' to
Mrs. Pankhurst’s pledge that she would:
conduct herself in a lawful manner
while in this country.
"She has made that pledge to the
American people, and she will keep it, ‘
declared the lawyer.
Commissioner Caminetti asked if Mrs.
Pankhurst intended to pre&ch militancy
here.
'"Emphatically no,” responded O’Neil.
Secretary Wilson declared that he
and the president had discussed the
question briefly.
TWO WILSONS AGREED.
"We agreed," he said, "that Mrs.
Pankhurst should be admitted on her
own recognizance. My own reason is.
and the president feels likewise, that
there is naturally an element of doubt
as to whether her acts constituted
moral turpitude or were political in
character.
“Being admitted on her own recogniz
ance, of course, if she violates any of
cur laws, we have two remedies. Our
courts may pass o nher acts or we
may deport her. There being the ele
ment of doubt as to whether moral)
turpitude or political offense wap in
volved, we decided that we have suf
ficient safeguards and that there can
be no harm In admitting her."
The decision by the president and
Secretary Wilson was communicated to
Commissioner General Caminetti, who
issued the formal order of release.
President Wilson felt that the law
had a flexible interpretation, so that’
it was largely a question of policy.
Commissioner Camlnetti’s decision
was in strict accordance fcvith the views
of President Wilson and the secretary
of labor. Mr. Caminetti filed a brief
memorandum, recommending Mrs. Pank
hurst’s admission on her own recog
nizance.
There was no demonstration at the
immigration bureau when the decis
ion was announced. ■
Dog Saves Man From Millionaire Sends
Being Gored to Death Himself to Prison
Squaws Adopt
The Slit Skirt
Mating Easy for
Wildgoose Flock
NEW YORK. Oct. 20.—Robert Wild-
goos. the eleventh out of the flock of
fourteen raised by Mr. and Mrs. Jo
seph Wil'dgoos of New Brunswick, N.
J., has married Miss Margaret De Hart
of Franklin Park. There are three un
married children in the Wildgooos fam
ily but they are engaged to be mar
ried.
i« RINCON, Oct. 20.—Romance got an
lawful jolt here at a recent l*ain dance
| of the Mission Indians when the squaws
appeared in slit skirts and harem
gowns, and a late model talking ma
chine provided the music in place of the
war whbops of the bucks.
The Indians of Rincon reservation
seem to have become intoxicated with
the “tango* ’and the “turkey trot,* to
the huge disgust of the old bucks.
Thought Robbery
Schoolboy Lark
CHICO. Cal., Oct. 20.—Robbers who
held up their victim. A. L. Smith, a
motion picture operator, in broad day
light were enabled to escape because
a dozen persons who witnessed the rob.^
bory thought it was a school boys’
lark.
HOUSEHOLDERS PLY HOSE
UPON THEIR OWN ROOFS
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20.—Keen ■ in
terest is being taken in the forthcoming
reports of the government surgeons on
the reported vaccine specific for tuber
culosis discovered by Dr. Karl Von
Rueke, of North Carolina. Past Assist
ant Surgeon G. B. Crow, of the navy,
and Past Assistant Surgeon A. M.
Stimson. ot the public health service,
made the-investigation and began work
on their reports today. Their findings
are being carefully guarded.
Blind Cirl Telephone
Operators Make Experts
BALTIMORE, Md.. Oct. 20.—Having
learned w r hat the blind, when gifted in
other ways, may do, the Maryland
School for the Blind is specially train
ing pupils for work, on telephone
switchboards. Two y£ars ago'a girl
successfully passed the severe tests
and became an expert operator. .Now
the school ras turned out five other
well-trained girls, and the managers are
convinced that they will be able to open
this field of work to many others.
The six sightless operators who are
leading the way for other blind girls,
are working with the regulation switch
boards, but efforts are being made to
evolve a new kind of board.
With the present switchboards the
girls by the keenness of their ears are
almost able to detect at once ’ over
which wire the call may come by the
falling of the little drop. They aiway*
slide their fingers along the board to
locate the drop to be sure they have
the right one. They plug the trunk
wires in the right holes by a fine ac
quired sense of location, although
with this they can always make sure
of it by the quick use of their fin
gers.
ADAMS, Mass., Oct. 20.—Earnest
Schonfelder, a Cheshire farmer, was
saved by his shepherd defg from being
gored to death by an enraged bull.
Schonfelder was chasing the bull out
of a cornfield when the animal turned
on him. The farmer was tossed fifteen
feet and several of his ribs were bro
ken. One of the horns pierced his left
side.
Schonfelder lay on the ground un
conscious. The bull backed away from
the body and bellowed loudly. Then it
ran at the prostrate farmer, and the
sharp horns were but a couple of feet
from his body when “Taffy,” Schon-
felder’s shepherd dog. dashed at the
bull and sank his teeth into the bull’s
nose.
The dog hung on with a death grip
until Schonfelder regained conscious
ness and dragged himself under a barb
ed wire fence to safety. The dog bit
the bull so savagely that the bovine,
bleeding freely, broke through the wire
fence and escaped.
AUBURN, N. Y., Oct. 20.—Thomas M.
Osborne, a millionaire manufacturer,
member of the farm implement “trust,”
and president of the State* Prison Re
form Commission, voluntarily becaipe
a -“convict” in Auburn prison this w*eek
for an indefinite term.
By mingling among the convicts, eat
ing their food, wearing their uniforms,
marching in their ranks and submit
ting to their discipline, Osborne wjll
endeavor to gain a true insight of the
“psychology of prisons.”
Burglar Laughs
At Modest Man
Bridge Strangely
Stopped in Fall
MORAVIAN FALLS, N. C,. Cut. 20.—
A big baptizing ceremony was in prog
ress at Brown’s Ford, on the Yankin
river, near here, and with the banks
of the stream lined with spectators it
was difficult for late arrivals to see
what was going on. Nearly 100 young
j people crowded onto the suspension
; foot bridge. All at once there was a
crashing sound and the bridge floor
dropped a distance of ten feet, then
caught on the abutments and stopped
1 as suddenly as it had started, while
j panic stricken occupants scrambled to
jthe ends for safety.
That the bridge stopped on its down*
j ward plunge is regarded as little less
I than a miracle. Dozens of children
would probably have been drowned.
SAN FRANCISCO. Cal., Oct. 20.—
Modesty prevented A. L. Herron from
chasing the thief of his trousers
through the streets In his pajamas.
Herron saw a burglar leap through tha
window with his, Herron’s nether gar-:
ments, snatched from a. chair beside
the bed. The burglar refused a polite
invitation to come back. Loss $38, be-
: side—the pants.
Hog Dies From Old
Age; Law Suit Ends
JONESBORO, Ark., Oct. 20.—After a.
jury in the circuit court had driven
twenty-five miles to determine the
marks on a hog's ear and settle 'a suit
j between Dan Keller and Joe Simmons,
j it found the animal dead. The court
i made the farmers shake hands and
agree to be friends. They had quar-
■ reled five years over the ownership of
J the hog, which finally died from old
age.
Man Battles Hawk
In Speeding Auto
NEW ORLEANS, La., Oct. 20.—At
tracted, by the bright headlights of an
automobile in which I>r. C. Bohne and
Thomas L. Ross were riding, a big hawk
swooped down on the car. It missed the
lights and fell upon Ross, fastening its
talons in his arms. #
Dr. Bohne increased the speed of the
car, hoping to shafle the bird off. Ross
fought the bird, which was pecking furi
ously at his face, until at last it was
torn from its grip and dropped into the
road. It rose and made again for the
automobile, but missed it and flew
away.
Forty Heirs Seek
$7,000,000 Estate
BOSTON. Mass., Oct. 20.—Forty New
i England relatives of Abel Stearns, a
pioneer of California, who died forty
years ago. are making claim to the $7,-!
000,000 estate left by his widow. Mrs.
Arcadia Stearns Baker, when she died;
at Los Angeles, Cal., last week. The
property consists of thousands of acres
of land outside of Los Angeles.
ULTIMATUM HURLED AT
SERVIANS BY AUSTRIANS
YIENNA, Oct. 20.—Austria today sent*
cn ultimatum to Servia, demanding the
immediate and complete evacuation of
the points in Albania occupied by Ser
vian troops after the recent conflict*
between them and the Albanian*