Newspaper Page Text
2
STATE GETS INTO
COSMOPOLITAN
LITIGATION
I
Intervention Petition to Take
Over Management of Insur
ance Company Is Filed.
v State authorities today decided to
take a hand in the affairs of the Cos
mopolitan Life Insurance Company,
and, if possible, obtain control of the
company’s management in the Interest
of policyholders under the provisions
>t the new insurance act.
At the instigation of Insurance Com
nissioner W. A. Wright. Attorney Gen
ital T. S. Felder, who has held the
i>os»ibllity of state’s intervention under
dvisement for several days, went be
>re Superior Judg. Bell and asked for
.■ rule requiring the company’s attor
i eys to show cause why the state
.siould not assume the management.
The formal intervention filed by the
- ate’s attorney simplifies the litigation
over the affairs of the company now
under way in third division of superior
court. If Judge Bell sustains the
slate’s demands and names Insurance
Commissioner Wright as receiver for
the company under the new taw, many
of tike stockholder suits now' ■pending
v ill be withdraw n
Test of New L■ w. t ,
Such an action on the "f the
court presages a lengthy fight a»vei the
constitutionality of the insurance act,
for 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 are all right," said Joel F. Ar
uiistead. general agent of the company
and defendant in the numerous suits,
’’and We expert to show the people of
Atlanta that we are. Not only is the
standing- of the Cosmopolitan attacked
in these suits, but the majority of the
Southern companies organized in tin
same manner."
Coincident with the state'.-, interven
tion. and probably unknown to thei
state authorities, directors of the Cos
mopolitan met In the offices In the Third
National Bank building last night and
ratified a new contract between the
company and Armistead. which reduceo
by 30 per vent the latter's commission
of the sale of Insurance is general
agent. It was the contract existing be
t ween Armistead and the company that
has played a conspicuous part in all the
litigation and finally caused the state
to take a hand in tlie company’s as- ,
fairs.
Claim Contract 0. K.
Officers of the company said today
that both Insurance Commission
Wt Ight and Deputy Commissiouei .
Copeland had said that such a contract '
as ratified last night would be accept:! - I
ble to the state James L. Anderson,
one of the attorneys for the company,
paid at noon that he had not been no
tified that the state expected to Inter
vene. and declined to state how action
on the part of the state would affect the
court tns-e 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
filing 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 Armistead that will 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 Armistead and the company ts
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 Atlanta Improvement committee,
appointed to consider the "city plan.”
fostered by the Chamber, of Commerce
and the Federation of Women's Clubs, |
will lie organized at an early date, if
present plans are carried out.
At the meeting of the board of direc
tors yesterday afternoon the action of
the city plan committee was approved
by the directors and the committee was
Instructed to confer with <’|tv Attorney I
James L. Mayion. with a view to draw- I
ing an ordinance for adoption by council, '
authorizing the mayor to appoint the At- ■
lanta Improvement committee, which will
include 100 representative citizens, the
park board, tire park committee of coun
cil and the county commissioners.
A resolution of thanks to Dr. J. Hor
ace McFarland, president <rf the Ameri
can Civic association, who visited Atlanta
and furthered the movement for a "city
plan," was voted by the directors
SUES W. AND A. FOR
$lO DAMAGES: TRAIN
KILLED POSSUM DOG
DALTON. GA , Nov 8 Alleging negli
gence on the part of an engineer on the
Western and Atlantic road as the cause
of his " 'possum and squirrel dog Iteing
killed by a train on the road. F c Clem
ent, of Rocky Face, has brought suit
against the road for $lO damages In or
der to make bls claim more forceful, the
plaintiff concludes his petition with the
following:
"Said dog was the mother of a family
•f progressive pups, which died after-
Wards by reason of luck of nourishment "
The suit filed in Justice court here •
no little Interest
Graphic Unraveling of the McNaughton Poisoning Mystery
HIS LIFE OR DEATH IN WOMAN'S TRIAL
# fa
% w. .- ; *■? . ? ' ''
*' ; -'A
■/•V Um
■ -y aQBMK JMaaEv
1 wHmI *
I wI
x.
* A^ Ss # t 1
DR. W J. M’NAUGHTON.
I Eate ol I )octor Sen
tenced to Hang For
Slaying Best Friend
Depends on Guilt or
Innocence of Alleged
Victi in ’ s Widow.
i For two and a half long, dreary years
Dr. W. J. McNaughton has known no
home save a narrow cell in the Jail of
Chatham county. For two years and a
half his only prospect has heen that of
ending his days on the gallows. A jury
of his home county has declared him
guilty of the most revolting of all mur
ders the poisoning of a friend. The
highest court of Georgia has ruled that
the sentence of death must be executed.
The highest court of the nation 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 the
gibbet with pardon or commutation of
“entence. Hut 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,
1 widow of the man for whose death a
jury has said .McNaughton must pay
■ with his life, is brought to trial on the
j charge which rests against her of be-
I ing an accessory in the crime.
Woman's Trial Delayed.
Time and time again her cai»e has
been called in the Emanuel county
court. Time and time again it has been
postponed.
' Until she faces a jury, the death
! doom w ill hang over McNaughton's
I cell. Until her guilt or Innocence has
J been established, the governor is de
termined that the doctor shall not face
the hangman. The courts refuse to
move.
And in the meantime McNaughton
must live, though every second of that
life means only to him that the next
may bring him news that the gallows
waits him or word that bis good name
has been cleared.
Georgia’s criminal history holds no
stranger case than that of the Swains
boro doctor. Few more bizarre are re
corded in the nation s record. The mo.
tlve for the crime if there was a
crime Is the old motive. The ancient
1 blood-stained triangle of two men and
1 a woman Is the only cause suggested
’ for Fred Flanders' death. But though
the charge Is that the woman was un
faithful to the man to whom she had
, pledged her life, het loyalty to the
■ man accused of obblng her of her
j helpmate has been constant, unwaver
| ing Neverin Dr. McNaughton's dark
est hours hag the woman suggested his
, I guilt. She has contended strongly and
I convincingly that h< is the victim of a
Hir A TLANTA (iELHUiIAA AM) NEWS. FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 8. 1912.
chain of circumstance or a sinister
plot.
Mystery 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 are wealthy, numerous, prom
inent in politics. McNaughton was n
young, respected physician of Swains
boro, the county seat of Emanuel.
McNaughton was the family physi
cian of the Flanders couple, but he
was more than that. Tie was the close
personal friend of Flanders. There is
the charge that the relation was even
more intimate with the wife.
The doctor was a married man. Chil
dren had been born to the union. In
1908 Mrs. Mc.N’augiiton 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 talde, they
had the same friends. Firmer friends
were never known than the farmer and
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, Flanders died sud
den’v. Dr. McNaughton, his physician
declared that his end was due to acute
nephritis. Flanders was buried and
McNaughton was at the grave's side.
He 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 not
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 herd
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 these men await-,
ed the verdict of the sfientfsts.
On July 13 the chemist reported. Dis- 1
tfnet 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 disappeared. He had
beard of the investigation and hud de
parted from Swainsboro. Feeling was
high then against the doctor, it was
openly stated that h<> had poisoned his
friend in order to make the way clear
i so hltn to obtain complete possession
lot his wife.
A dragnet aus spiritd irti, th.- entir
state and in a day' it brought results.
Dr. McNaughtoh was traced'to Augusta
and immediately placed under arrest
and a subsequent report of the chemist
showed that .enough arsenic had been
discovered to kill several men.
Fueling High Against Accused.
Feeling against the physician was
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.
The physician attempted to- explain
his flight. He declared that he knew
the hatred the Flanders family bore
him. He knew their influence in Eman
uel. Mob violence, he believed, would
have imperilled him had he not fled
when he did.
Under a joint indictment, the doctor
and Mrs. Flanders 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 poisoning. Mrs.
Flandrs’ counsel asked for a severance
of the indictment. They insisted on a
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,
while Mrs. Flanders' case was allowed
to wait. pending a verdict for or
against the principal.
At the trial, though he made a spir
ited defense, the chain of circumstances
moved too -trong. On October 19 he
was found guilty and sentenced to hajig
December 9.
Begins Great Legal Battle.
Then began his remarkable legal bat
j tie He first entered a motion for new
trial. The motion was lost, but the ex
ecution erf the sentence was stayed.
<>n December 15 he learned that Mrs.
Flanders had been released on bail of
>2.900. “She should never have been
arrested." was his laconic remark.
In January of 1911 he appealed his
case to the supreme court, but on July
13 the highest Georgia tribunal sus
tained the McNaughton verdict of death
on the gallows.
H< still struggled desperately. He
Pleaded for a new hearing in the su
-1 preine court on August 15. It was re-
I fused. Then lie gave notice of appeal
to the highest f-ourt of the nation.
In January of this year his case sud
denly was withdrawn from the United
States supreme court in order that he
might make an extraordinary motion
for new trial in the Emanuel superior
court.
The nature of this motion was anx
iously awaited, and on April 9 the phy
sician was taken back t< Swainsboro
and leaentenced. The date of the
hanging was fixed for April 10, His ex
traordinary motion was then heard. It
wa« based on affidavits made by Mrs
Flanders and others that Flanders had
been In the habit of taking medicines
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. Flanders were brought
to trial and sentence should be stayed
until a verdict could be returned in this
case. The motion was taken unde'
< 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
i never hang, and his counsel announced
i they would once more try the United
; States supreme court.
On October 22 he was once more ar
. raigned in Swainsboro, and heard the
i 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.
I They asserted that if this was done,
i 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
i er the executive order will force the
I trial of the widow, whether McNaugh-
■ ton is allowed to languish in jail for an
I indeterminate .sentence, awaitihg her
■ hearing,, whether a change of adminis-
I tration finally will write the concluding
chapter to the story remains to be seen.
The fact remains that McNaughton is I
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
NKtt’ TT>RK. Novi 8 - ilie 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
the crop is illustrated again in the state-"
ment that it could be made to girdle the
earth at the equator thirty-two tihies
with beautiful one-pound loaves.
For'their bumper crop the farmers of
Kansas will receive the handsome total of
$*5,000,000, 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
single crop jn a single state which by the
time it reaches the ultimate consumer will
be sold for considerably more than half
the cost of digging the big ditch.
BURNED WITH COTTAGE.
LAPORTE. IND., Nov. B.—Albert
Geehr was burned to death today at
English Lake, Ind. His'charred body
was found in the ruins of his cottage.
The cottage was burned to the ground.
The ATLANTA
Today. Frl.. Sat. Mats. 3, Nights. 8:15.
25c. 35c., 50c.
Direct from Seven Months' Sensational
Run at Lyceum Theater. New York
PAUL J. RAINEY'S AFRICAN HUNT
“Marvelous Motion Pictures "—New
York World.
■ Graphic and interesting descriptive
lectures.
SEATS SELLING TODAY.
MONDAY AND TUESDAY.
Matinee Tuesday.
Miss Nobody From Starland
With OLIVE VAIL
Nights 25c to $1.50 —Matinee 25c to sl.
— i
GRAND vaMMvuE | NEXT I I
Mettsee Daly tmsisgi st fc3> WEEK
BEST LESLIE LAURA CUERITE „
TlwlUsgefSUsg like BrWwey Star Htnry
BERT FITZQIBBOM E.
■WORD WINCHESTER ROMY BALLET oIIBV
MUMTRONC MANLLV-BEN BEYEB A BXO •
FORSYTH ' MT*f£S* T I
LITTLE EMMA BUNTING
AND HER EXCELLENT PLAYERS
“LEAH KLESHNA 99
Next Week Mary linn"
I YPIF TH,S Mats Tues.,
L. IIX IL WEEK. Thurs., Sat.
The Girl THE Taxi
One B*g Scream From Curtain tc
Curtain.
I
Next Week. THE WINNING WIDOW. |
LYRIC
Mats. Tues Thurs. and Saturday.
The Merry Girly Show
THE
WINNING WIDOW
A Musical Comedy Worth While. i
U. S. LOINS COTS i
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 Com 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 telegrapi 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
Com club boys under the restrictions
indicated.
It has been determined by the corn
show committee to provide sleeping
quarters during the corn 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 for whom cots will
be set up in the Regimental Armory.
AMERICAN EMBASSY
IN RUSSIA ASKED TO
FIND BALLOONISTS
ST. PETERSBURG. Nov. 8. 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 sent
word that they had landed, but as
nothing else was heard it was feared
that they had been arrested or had
been hurt.
tl
Fashionable Fall
Furnishings
‘‘SIMPLEX” SHIRTS in the newest fall patterns. r
The short bosom combines negligee comfort with the
dressy appearance $1.50
“GOTHAM” NEGLIGEE ami PLEATED SHIRTS;
all the newest patterns $1 to $2.50
"LION” COLLARS in the newest shapes ..2 for 25c
BALBRIGGAN UNDERWEAR; medium and heavy
weights, per garment 50c and $1
WOOL and WORSTED GARMENTS; medium and
heavy weights sl, $1.50 and $2.50
“\ASSAR UNION SUITS; medium and .heavy I
weight balbriggan $1.50 and $2
OUTING NIGHT SHIRTS AND PAJAMAS.
CARLTON
Shoe and Clothing Co.
36 Whitehall Street
* ’
I 1
MASKED BANDITS
RIFLE W
Booty Secured in L. & N.J
Hold-Up in Alabama Said To
Be Near $40,000.
MONTGOMERY, ALA.. Nov. g.-South
bound Louisville and Nashville passenger
train No. 7 was held up and the mall car
robbed by two masked bandits at Blount
Springs, Ala., today, according to reports
made to Postoffice Inspector Brannon
when the mall clerks, James M. Chamber,
lain and C. A. Hoover, of Nashville
reached hero today.
The robbers, it is reported, secured 4
between $30,000 and $40,000 from regis
tered pouches.
After rifling the pouches and securfna
a gold watch from Clerk Hoover and
about $5 in cash from Clerk Chamberlair
the robbers left the train at Boyles six
miles north of Birmingham. They refused
to accept an Ingersoll watch worn bv 1
Chamberlain. i
According to the clerks the bandits
were evidently amateurs as they over
looked many valuable articles, apparently ■
looking only for money. It Is- not known
exactly how much they secured. Thev I
ripped open a registered pouch and a reg 4
istered package jacket, scattering the '
contents on the floor. They left lying in
the floor several thousand dollars worth
of railroad stock coupons and seemed dis
gusted in finding no more cash
The robbers are believed to have board- \
e<l the train secretly at Blount Springs.
They made their presence known In the I
mail car immediately after the train pulled
out of the station. They at first asked
for something to eat, but quickly de
manded money and covered the clerks
with revolvers. Before leaving the tral,-,
they tied the clerks to a table in the cai
Authorities at Birmingham and Mont
gomery are at work on the case. J
TRIAL OF DYNAMITE
CASES TO CONSUME
FIVE MONTHS TIME
INDIANAPOLIS. IND.. Nov. B.—The
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 tlnw
balance of its case. This will mak*
three months for the presentation of
one-half of this case.
The presentation of the defense and ■
the summing up of the ease on bo ?,
sides will take two months more, thus
turning the case over to the jury aboui
March 1. 1913.
Practically all of the defendants ex
pect to take the witness stand in then 1
own defense.
Thomas Burke, engineer, told of the
dynamiting of a* car of steel belonging
to the Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Com
pany, at Green Bay, Win., November 21.
1909. He told also of seeing Defendant
William E. Reddin hanging around
some non-union work he (Burke) was
doing lor Ileyl & Patterson at Milwau
kee in 1910, He said the job was "pick- 1
J eted" by the union men.
BOOKING AGENT ACCUSED
BY ACTORSJS DISCHARGED
Producing a big bundle of contracts and
other papers. Sam 'Massed, head 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 ease
brought against him by "The Musical
Sparks,” Charlie and Nettie Sparks, was
dismissed..
The two performers were in court and
explained how they had been booked by
Massell and brought here from Phiia
delphia to play small towns, but there
was no evidence to show wrongdoing
on the part of the booking agent.
1