Newspaper Page Text
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STATE GETS INTO
cosmopolitan
LITIGATION
Intervention Petition to Take
Over Management of Insur
ance Company Is Filed.
State authorities toda.' decided to
take a hand in the affair.- of the Cos
mopolitan Lift Insurance Company,
and. if possible, obtain control of the
company's management in the interest ,
of policyholders under the provisions
of the new insurance act
At the instigation of Insurance Com
missioner W. A Wright, Attorney Gen
eral T. S. Felder, who has held the
possibility of state’s intervention under
advisement for several days, went be
fore Superior Judge Bell and asked for
a rule requiring the company’s attor- j
neys to show cause why the state
should not assume the management I
The formal intervention filed by the j
state’s attorney simplifies the litigation
over the aifalrs of the company now 1
under way in third division of superior
court. If Judge Bell sustains the
state’s demands and name- Insurance
Commissioner Wright us receiver for
the company under the new law, many j
of t >• Stockholder suits now pending'
will be withdrawn.
Test of New La w. I
Sm it an action on the pan of the
court pt a -ag< s a l< ngtliy fight over the
constitutionality of the insurance act,
so; officers of the Cosmopolitan were
authority today for the statement that
the company will fight state Interven
tion as consistently as it has fought the
stockholders’ suits.
“We arc all right." said Joel F Ar-1
ni.-.tead. general agent of the company!
and defendant In the numerous suits.
’and we expect to show the people of
Atlanta that «e are. Not only is the;
standing of the Cosmopolitan attacked |
In the.-, suits, but the majority of the
So Hie rn companies organized in the
same manner.”
Coincident with the stale’s interven
tion. and probably unknown to the
-.ate authol fries, directors of the Cos- ;
mopolitan met In the offices in the Third I
National Bank building last night and ■
ratified a new contiact between the*
company and Armlstead. which reiluCeo
by 30 per cent the latter’s commissions
of the sale of insurance as general
agent. It was the contract existing be
tween Armlstead and the company that
has played a conspicuous part in all the
litigation and finally caused the Aate
to take a hand in the company’s af
fairs.
Claim Contract 0. K.
Officers of the company said today
that both Insurance Commission
Wright and Deputy Commissioner
Copeland had said that such a contract
as ratified last night would bo accepta
ble to the state. Janies L. Anderson,
one of the attorneys for the company,
said at noon that he had not been no
tified that the state expected to inter
vene. and declined to state, how action
•in the part of the state would affect the
court cases now being tried
The original suit against the Cos
■mopolitan company was brought sev
eral months ago by Dan G. Sudderth,
a former stock salesman. Since the
tiling of the Sudderth suit and its be
ing placed on trial, numerous stock
holders. dissatisfied with the compa
ny’s affairs, have intervened on Sud
derth asking the court for a receiver.
It has been maintained that the com
pany was not properly organized, has
been lavish in its expenditures has a
contract with Armlstead that w ill even
tually wreck it if it is not now insolv
ent.
These charges the company’s attor
neys in answer and demurrer have de
nied in toto and have Introduced into
court evidence to show that the com
pany is solvent and that the contract
between Armlstead and the company Is
no different and dangerous to the com
pany’s-welfare than the contracts made
by other Insurance companies.
COMMITTEE TO PLAN
CIVIC IMPROVEMENT
WILL ORGANIZE SOON
ihe Xtlanta Improvement committee,
appointed to consider the “city plan.”
fostered by the Chainbei of Commerce >’
and the T't deration of Women’s Clubs, i
win be organized at an early date, if'
present plans are carried out.
Xt the meeting of the board of direc I
tors yesterday afternoon tie action of '
the city plan committee was approved
by the directors and the committee was 1
instructed to confer with City Attorney t
lames L. Mayson. with a view to draw - |
mg an ordinance for adoption by conned. ;
authorizing the mayor to appoint the \t- i
lanta improvement committee, which will!
include 100 representative citizens, the i
park board, the nark Committee of coun
cil and the county commissioners
A resolution of thanks to I »r. .1 Hor
ace McFarland, president of the Ameri
can CiVic association, who visited Atlanta '
and furthered the movement for M "cite ■
plan," was voted by ti e directors
SUES W. AND A. FOR
$lO DAMAGES; TRAIN
KILLED POSSUM DOG
DALTON, GA , Nov 8 Alleging n-g' |
gence on the part of an engineer . n the |
Western and Atlantic road as tl-.r .ajsei
of his ” 'possum and squirrel dog" being
killed by a train on the road. I ■ Clem I
ent, of Rocky Face, has brought suit I
against the road fur $lO damages In or
der to make his claim more forceful ti e
plaintiff concludes his petition with <
following
“Maid dog was the n.othet of u tarn i\ j
of progressive pups, wlik-h die.
wtrtll by reason of lack of nourishment
The suit tiled in ms' . i ■ ourt loe ■ •
< a using ll' th inlet c-
Graphic Unraveling of the McNaughton Poisoning Mystery
HIS LIFE OR DEATH IN WOMAN’S TRIAL
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1)1?.. w J. M NAUGHTON.
'I
, Fate of Doctor Sen
tenced to Hang For
' Slaying Best Friend
Depends on Guilt or
Innocence of Alleged
Victim’s Widow.
| Tor two and a half long, dreary years
j Dr. W. J. McNaughton has known no
home save a narrow i'll In the Jal! of
Chatham county, l or two years and a
half his only prospect has been that of
ending his days on the gallows. A jury
of his home county ha# declared him
guilty of the most revolting of all mur
ders—the poisoning of a friend. The
highest court of Georgia lias ruled that
the sentence of death must be executed.
The highest court of the tuition has re
fused to come to his succor.
Between McNaughton and the gal
lows stands only the figure of “Little
Joe" Brown, and Georgia's governor
will not wipe away the shadow of tile
i gibbet with pardon or commutation of
! sentence. But the governor will not let
McNaughton hang until he is convinced
that the whole truth in this remarkable
tragedy is known.
And he believes that this will not
come to pass until Mrs. F. s. Flanders,
widow of the man for whose death a
jury has said McNaughton must pay
with his life, is brought to trial on the
] charge w hich rests against her of be-
I ing an accessory in the crime.
Woman’s Trial Delayed.
Time and time again her ease has
■ been called In the Emanuel county
court Time and time again it has been
' postpone.”..
Until dir faces a jury, the death
doom will hang over McNaughton**
’ cell. Until be guilt or innocence has
’ been established, the governor is de-
I termined that the doctor shall not face
| the hangman. The courts refuse to
I move.
\nd in the meantime McNaughton
• must live, though every second of that
I life means only to him that the next
! may bring him news that the gallows
waits him or word that his good name
j as been cleared.
Georgia’s criminal history holds no
stranger case than that of the Swains
boro doctor. Few more bliarre are re
corded in the nation's record. The mo.
tiie for the crime if there was a
crime Is the old motive. The ancient
blood-stained triangle of two men and
a woman Is the only cause suggested
for Fred Flanders* death. But though
th, • ; arc is that the woman was un
faitbtT to the man to whom she had
I; < dgi ior life, her loyalty to the
, man .u us. <1 of robbing her of her
I '• i ■ has bet ii constant, unwaver
i inc Never in Dr. M Naughton's dark
st.. .. onion s ,igg, ■ - tetl his
| g' l ' So has continued strongly and i
- I ' C I ■ vi till! of a
.ms kTLAXTA GEORGIAN AND KEWS.FKIDAY, NOVEMBEK 8,19 i
chain of circumstance or a sinister
. plot.
Mvstery in Relations
The relations between the Flanders
couple and McNaughton have never
been explained. Fred Flanders was a
• prosperous farmer of Emanuel county.
His kin arc wealthy, numerous, prom
inent in polities. McNaughton was a
young, respected physician of Swains
boro, the county seat of Emanuel.
McNaughton was tile family physi
cian of the Flanders couple, but he
was more than that. Tie was the closr
personal friend of Flanders. There is
( the charge that the relation was even
more intimate with the wife.
Tile doctor was a married man. Chll
’ dren had been born to the union. In
1908 Mrs. McNaughton died and then
came the strangest, weirdest feature of
the tragic story. Flanders and his wife
abandoned their home on the farm and
came to Swainsboro to live with the
physician.
For two years they occupied the same
house, they ate at the same table, they
| had the same friends. Firmer friends
j were never known than the farmer and
i the doctor.
There had been gossip, though, in
reference to McNaughton and Mrs.
Flanders. The husband either did not
hear it or refused to give it ear.
On June 4. 1910, Handers died sud
denly. Dr. McNaughton, his physician
declared that his end was due to acute
nephritis. Flanders was buried and
McNaughton was at the grave's side,
lie showed emotion which was taken
as a token of sincere grief for a de
parted and beloved friend.
Relatives Are Suspicious.
The story of acute nephritis was no'
I questioned— except by the Flanders
| family . They had heard the gossip
I connecting the name of McNaughton
with that of the dead man's wife.
Though the husband had refused to
listen, they had given heed.
When their kinsman died suddenly
their suspicions were aroused, and be
fore the flowers had withered on the
grave they had demanded an investiga
tion.
On June 7 the body was exhumed. An
expert medical examination was de
manded by the relatives. An autopsy
was performed and Flanders' stomach
was shipped to the state chemist for
’examination A coroner's jury had
been impaneled and tin «i men await
ed the verdict of the scientists
On July 13 the chemist reported. Dis
tinct traces of arsenic poison had been
found The Flanders family was not
slow to act. Warrants were sworn out
and officers sent to the McNaughton
home. Mrs. Flanders was found there
She was placed under arrest. Mc-
Naughton had disappearid. Hi had
heard of the investigation and had dt -
parted from Swainsboro. Filling was
high then against the dot to’ It wa
>penly stated that lie bad poisoned his
friend in older to make the way clear
f«> him to obtain lumpleti possession
jof his w ife
\ ilnntlii ’. wa » si.' i . o . < ni i
state and in a day it brought results.
Dr. McNaughton was traced to Augusta
and immediately placed under arrest
i and a subsequent report of the chemist
showed that enough arsenic had been
, discovered to kill several men.
Feeling High Against Accused,
Feeling against the physician' was
i running too high in Emanuel for his
safe return there. The. Flanders clan
was up in arms. His death was de
manded. Pending his trial in the supe
rior court of Emanuel county he was
held in the Chatham county jail. Mur
der was charged.
i The physician attempted to explain
his flight. He declared that he knew
the hatred the Flanders family bore
i him. He knew their influence in Entan
i uel. Mob violence, he believed, would
’ have imperilled him had he not fled
■ when he did.
I Under a joint indictment, the doctor
and Mrs. Handers were placed on trial
October 17 at Swainsboro. Then for
■ the first time and the only time there
seemed to be a difference between the
' pair accused of the poison..ig. Mrs.
I Flandrs' counsel asked for a severance
of the indictment. . They insisted on a
i separate trial.
Dr. McNaughton still feared the in
fluence of the Flanders family. He did
not believe he could get a fair trial in
Emanuel county. His counsel urged a
change of venue. His motion was de
' nied. He was forced to go to trial,
w hile Mrs. Flanders' case was .allowed
to wait, pending a verdict for or
against the principal.
At the trial, though he-made a spit
ited defense, the chain of circumstances
proved too strong. On October 19 he
was- found guilty and sentenced to hang
December 9.
Begins Great Legal Battle.
Then began his remarkable legal bat
tle Ho first entered a motion for new
trial. The motion was lost, but the ex
ecution of the sentence was stayed.
On December 15 ho learned that Mrs.
Flanders had been released on bail of
$2,000. “She should never have been
arrested." was his laconic remark.
In January of 1911 ho appealed his
1 cas’’ to the supreme court, but on July
13 the highest Georgia tribunal sus
tained the McNaughton verdict of death
1 on the gallows.
Ho still struggled desperately. He
pleaded for a new hearing In the su
preme court on August 15. It was re
fused. Then he gave notice of appeal
to the highest court of the nation.
In January of this year his case sud
denly was withdrawn from the United
States supreme court tn order that he
might make an extraordinary motion
for new trial in the Emanuel superior
court.
The nature of this motion was anx
iously atiaited. and on April 9 the phy -
sician whs taken back to Swainsboro
and tesentcnced. The date of the
hanging was fixed for April 10. His ex
trao dinary motion was then heard. It
wn- ba-ed OJI affidavits made by Mis
I'l indi rs and others that Flanders had
II 'll till- hi* lill t•<L i D o IMA.It. in .
not prescribed by his physician and
that in this way he may have received
the arsenic.
Last Card of Defense.
The defense then made another re
markable proposition. The lawyers de
clared they were ready to stand by the
verdict if Mrs. brought
to trial and sentence should be stayed
until a verdict could be returned in this
lease. Tiie motion was taken unde -
I consideration.
The court finally denied both mo
tion and proposal, but counsel announc
ed another appeal to the supreme court
of Georgia. Once more the execution
was stayed. On July 11. the supreme
court sustained the judgment of the
lower court and McNaughton was re
manded to the Emanuel county tribunal
for resentence.
But the doctor did not. give up hope.
! While his friends fought for a commu
' tation of the sentence to life imprison
! ment, he calmly declared that he would
l never hang, and his counsel announced
| they would once more try the United
States supreme court.
j On October 22 he was once more ar
raigned in Swainsboro, and heard the
death sentence again passed. He had
grown accustomed to it. He did not
betray more emotion than would he on
having been instructed to eat eggs for
breakfast. November 22 was fixed as
the date of execution.
Widow Must Be Tried.
Then McNaughton’s friends began to
work on the governor and the prison
commission. They asked why the case
of Mrs. Flanders had never been tried.
They asserted that if this was done,
McNaughton would be cleared. They
insinuated that the political power of
the Flanders family in Emanuel was
blocking the trial. They declared they
wanted McNaughton, an innocent man,
to go to the gallows.
Governor Brown listened. He then
issued his pronunciamento that Mc-
Naughton never would hang until Mrs.
Flanders is tried.
And that trial still hangs fire. Wheth
er the executive order will force the
trial of the widow, whether McNaugh
ton is allowed to languish in jail for an
indeterminate sentence, awaiting her
hearing, whether a change of adminis
tration finally will write the concluding
chapter to the story remains to be seen.
The fact remains that McNaughton is
Supremely confident. He believes the
issue will be forced, that Mrs. Flanders
will be brought to trial, and when that
is done he once more will take his po
sition as a respected physician of Geor
gai
KANSAS PRODUCES
ENOUGH WHEAT TO
FEED GREAT NATION
; NEW YORK, Nov. B.—The state of
Kansas alone will this year produce
enough wheat to feed more than one
sixth of the population of the United
States for one year. The magnitude of
crop is illustrated again in the state
ment that it could be made to girdle the
earth at the equator thirty-two times
with beautiful one-pound loaves.
For their bumper crop the of
Kansas will receive the handsome total of
i $85,000,000, and were the wheat all made
into bread and sold at five cents a loaf
the bake shops would get for it $320,000,-
, 000. The building of the Panama canal
has been looked upon as a stupendous
’ undertaking for any nation, yet here is a
1 single crop in a single state which by the
timejt reaches the ultimate consumer will
be sold for considerably more than half
s the cost of digging the big ditch.
BURNED WITH COTTAGE.
. LAPORTE. IND., Nov. B.—Albert
' Geellr was burned to death today at
English Lake, Ind. His charred body
was found in the ruins of bis cottage.
I The cottage was burned to the ground.
I j —im
The ATLANTA
Today, Frl., Sat. Mata. 3, Nights, B:15.
23c, 35c., 50c.
. Direct from Seven Months' Sensational
Kun at Lyceum Theater, New York
PAUL J. RAINEY’S AFRICAN HUNT
“Marvelous Motion Pictures”—New
York World.
Graphic and interesting descriptive
i l lectures.
SEATS SELLING TODAY.
| MONDAY AND TUESDAY.
Matinee Tuesday.
I 1
Miss Nobody From Starland
With OLIVE VAIL
■ Nights 25e to $1.50 —Matinee 25c to sl.
ICRANO VAUDEVILLE | HEXT |
Msthse Dai , 2:3*.
•EiT LESLIE f LAURA GUERITE „
TAa Wa* as Mam o>e Ar—Away Star fIAHEy
BERT FITZGIBBON E.
BEDFVM-WINCHf STEA FONT BALLET Di lay
«mMTMN6M«IHtY BEMBEYf*ABM
TO T% T FORSYTH 1 WATIN^ES* T ’ I
LITTLE EMMA BUNTING
AND HER EXCELLENT FLAYERS
••LEAH KLESHNA”
Next “Merely Nery 4nw”
LYRIC
The Giri Taxi
One Big Scream From Curtain tc
Curtain.
Next Week. THE WINNING WIDOW.
LYRIC WE^ C ;
Mats. Tues.. Thurs. and Saturday.
The Merry Girly Show
THE
WINNING Wl DOW
A Musical Comedy Worth While.
U. S. LOANS COTS
FOR CORN BOYS
Secretary of War Gives Cham
ber Permission to Use Bunks
During Maize Show.
In a telegram to Governor Brown,
Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson has
given his consent to the use of the 700
government cots in the Fifth Regiment
Armory, for the Georgia Corn club
boys who will be in Atlanta for the
corn show, December 3. 4, 5 and 6.
This completely solves what prom
ised for a time to be a distressing
problem to the Atlanta Chamber of
Commerce in the matter of providing
sleeping quarters for about 1,000 Corn
club boys who will be here for the
show.
Secretary Stimson's telegram was
sent in response to a telegram Gov
ernor Brown, making the request, sent
on November 5. Governor Brown’s ap
peal was supplemented by telegraphic
requests to the same end, sent the sec
retary of war by Senator Hoke Smith,
Congressman William Schley Howard,
who wrote it from his sick bed; Clark
Howell and Colonel Robert J. Lowry,
and all of these have received replies
in which the response to Governor
Brown’s request was set forth as fol
lows:
No authority of law exists for
loan to any organization or indi
vidual of military supplies issued to
a state as a charge against appro
priations. If, however, it is de
sired by the governor of Georgia to
use the cots and blankets referred
to, in the National Guard Armory
at Atlanta, and have them under
the control of the National Guard,
authorities, the war department
would interpose no objections.
STIMSON.
Secretary of War.
Governor Brown was much gratified
over the action of the secretary of war,
and he will, of course, authorize the
use of the cots and blankets for the
Corn club boys under the restrictions
indicated.
It has been determined by the corn
show committee to provide sleeping
quarters during the coni show for all
of the boys who will be here. Os 10,000
of these enrolled in the Georgia Corn
clubs, there are probably 2,500 who
have "come through”—who have com
pleted* their work and made their re
ports in accordance with the rules and
requirements of the organization.
It is estimated that at least 1,000 of
these will come to Atlanta for the corn
show, and the committee will endeavor
to provide sleeping quarters for any in
excess of the 700 tor whom cots will
be set up in the Regimental Armory.
AMERICAN EMBASSY
IN RUSSIA ASKED TO
FIND BALLOONISTS
ST. PETERSBURG, Nov. B.—An ap
peal was received by the American em
bassy here today to locate and aid John
Watts and A. T. Atherholt. the Ameri
can aeronauts who are reported to have
landed at Pskov, Russia, 170 miles from
this city, over a week ago.
The aeronauts were on the balloon
Duesseldorf 11, which started as an un
official entry in the international bal
loon race from Stuttgart, Germany, two
weeks ago. Watts and Atherholt sfcnt
word that they had landed, but as
nothing else was heard it was feared
that they had been arrested or had
b?en hurt.
>' r JFsX
□nbiiD
—l!
Fashionable Fall
Furnishings
“SIMPLEX” SHIRTS in the newest fall patterns.
I'he short bosom combines negligee comfort with the
dressy appearance $1.50
•‘GOTHAM” NEGLIGEE and PLEATED SHIRTS;
all the newest patterns $1 to $2.50
"LION COLLARS in the newest shapes ..2 for 25c
, BALBRIGGAN I NDERWEAR; medium and heavy
weights, per garment 50c and $1
M OOL and MORSI ED GARMENTS; medium and
heavy weights sl, $1,50 an d $2.50
"\ASSAR INION SUITS; medium and .heavy
weight balbriggan $1.50 and $2
OUTING NIGHT SHIRTS AND PAJAMAS
CARLTON
Shoe and Clothing Co.
36 Whitehall Street
JOHNSON FAGINC
TERM IN PRISON
Jack Johnson, Indicted in Chi
cago for White Slavery, Is
Held in $30,000 Bond.
CHICAGO, Nov. B.—Jack Johnsor
negro fighter, accused of violation ol
the Mann act, appeared before Federal
Judge K. M. Landis today and gave
bond in the sum of $30,000. Johnson,
without his attorney, asked the judge
to reduce the bond. Judge Landis eyed
the negro sharply.
‘Where is your attorney?” he asked.
“I thought it was only a matter of
bond and I would need no lawyer,"
Jack replied.
"I told you over the telephone last
night that the hearing would be held
today.” said Judge Landis.
"Yes; but I didn’t know there was
■any law in the matter,” said the pugi
list.
“I dislike to refuse reduction of your
bond without your attorney present.’’
snapped the judge.
Johnson telephoned for Attorney Ed
ward S. Day, his counsel.
District Attorney Wilkerson insisted
that the surety furnished be unincum
bered property covering the sum of
$30,000. He refused to accept cash bone,
on the ground that it might be for
feited. He added also that care would
be taken to ward against indemnifying
the property owners against loss.
Johnson was indicted on four counts
by the grand jury yesterday and ar
rested. Tiie penalty for the offense,
with which he is charged is from one to
ten years in the penitentiary.
TRIAL OF DYNAMITE
CASES TO CONSUME
FIVE MONTHS TIME
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., Nov. B.—Th,'
government, in the trial of 45 union
men for dynamite conspiracy, already
has taken up six weeks of time in
Federal court here in presenting less
than half of its case.
At last six weeks more will be used
by the government in presenting tin
balance of its case. This will make
three months for the piesentation of
one-half of this case.
The presentation oi' the defense and
the summing up of the case on both
sides will take two months more, thus
turning the case over to the jury about
March 1, 1913.
Practically all of the defendants ex
pect to take the witness stand in thei:
own defense.
Thomas Burke, engineer, told of tiie
dynamiting of a car of steel belonging
to the Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Com
pany at Green Bay, Wis., Not ember 21.
1909. He told also of seeing Defendant
William E. Reddin hanging around
some non-union work he (Burke) wa--
doing for Heyl & Patterson at Milwau
kee in 1910. He said the job wa: "pick
eted” by the union men.
BOOKING AGENT ACCUSED
BY ACTORS IS DISCHARGED
Producing a big bundle of contracts and
other papers. Sam Massell. bead of the
Massell Theatrical Booking agency, in
the Austell building, showed to the sat
isfaction of Recorder Broyles that his
business is legitimate, and the case
brought against him by "The Musical
Sparks.” Charlie and Nettle Sparks, was
dismissed.
The two performers were in court arri
explained how they had been booked by
Massell and brought here from I'hila
delphia to play small towns, but there
was no evidence to show wrongdoing
on the part of the booking agent.