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TITE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. MONDAY. APRIL 28,1012,.-
‘ I COULD TRUST MARY ANYWHERE
> HER WEEPING
MOTHER SAYS
This youth, formerly a street ear con
ductor, is held in eoimeetion with the
ARTHUR MULLINAX
investigation of the slaying of M ary Phagan in the basement of the National Pencil Factory in
South Forsyth Street. He stoutly denies any connection with the crime, mid declares his arrest
is a "horrible mistake. He has accounted for-himself, and likely will he released.
GIRL SLAIN IN STRANGLING MYSTERY £
Mary Phagan, I
y e ar - ol <1
daughter of Mrs. .1. W . Coleman, 1-Hi Lindsay Street, whose slain body was found in the basement of tin- National Pencil Factory,
H7-d!l South Forsyth Street. The girl left her home Saturday morning to go to the factory, where she had been employed, to draw
wages due her. She was seen on tin 1 streets at midnight Saturday with a strange man. She was not seen alive thereafter.
CIO'S DEATH
“No Working Girl Is Safe," She
Sobs, Overcome by Her
Sudden Sorrow,
Lying on the bed in her little home
on Lindsay Street, prostrated with
sorrow over the murder of her 14-
year-old daughter, Mary Phagan.
Mrs. W. J. Coleman sobbed out the
pitiful story of how sweet and fresh
her child had left home Saturday,
and issued a warning to all Atlanta
mothers to guard the welfare of their
own daughters forced to work for a
living.
“There are so many unscrupulous
men in the world,” she cried. "It’s
so dangerous for young girls working
out. Their every step should be
watched. Mothers should question
them and ask them about their work
and associates and surroundings.
They should continually tell them '
what they ought to do, and how they
ought to act under certain circum
stances.”
Girl Liked Work.
She declared that she never would
have permitted Mary to go out to
work at the age she did—12 years —if
it hadn't been that there were five
children in the family and it was
absolutely necessary for all of them
to earn something toward their sup
port. That was before she married
her present husband, Mr. Coleman.
“That was a year ago,” said Mrs.
Coleman, “and then it wouldn’t have
been necessary for Mary to work.
But she had got into the habit of
it and liked it, and I thought she
could take care of herself as she al
ways had.”
"Oh, 'he poor baby!” she sobbed.
"1 did talk to her! I did tell her
what to do! I was always telling
her! And she took my advice, I
know, because she was always so
sensible about everything. Besides,
she never was a child to flirt or act
silly. That’s why 1 know that when
she went away with this man who
j killed her she was either overpow-
HORRIBLE MISTAKE, PLEADS
MULLINAX, DENYING CRIME
Arthur Mullinax, identified as the
man who was with Mary Phagan at
midnight Saturday, a few short hours
before her dead body was found, and
now a prisoner in solitary confine
ment at police headquarters, declared
to a Georgian reporter that his ar
rest was a terrible mistake.
He declared that he had never seen
the girl except as "the sleeping beau
ty" in a church entertainment in which
both took part last Christmas. Here
is his complete story:
*T had absolutely no connection with
this affair and have been wrongfully
accused. Senteil is horribly mistaken
when he says he saw me in company
with Mary Phagan shortly‘after mid
night Sunday morning in Forsyth
Street. I did not even know the girl
—that is, never had been introduced
to her—and had never been anywhere
with her in my life.
Sleeping Beauty.”
"I had se^n her one time. Thai
was last Christmas at an entertain
ment given in the Western Heights
Baptist Church. We both took part
in that entertainment. She played
the part of 'the .sleeping beauty,’
and T did a black face act and also
sang fcn a quartet.
"But I was not even introduced to
the girl. During the entertainment
the girl remarked to me that I was
a good black face artist, but this was
all that passed between us. I have
never been with her at any time
since then, much less at midnight.
"As to my movements Saturday
night. I can easily explain them. Af
ter supper, I called on a girl friend,
t \liss Pearl Robinson, who lives in
Bellwood Avenue, and we came down
town on the English Avenue car. We
got off of the car at Marietta and
Forsyth Streets and walked directly
across to the Bijou Theater. We
saw part^of the first show and part
of the second, leaving before the per
formance had concluded. We then
boarded a car, and I took Miss Rob
inson directly to her home.
Slept Soundly.
“I talked with her there about
fifteen minutes, I should judge, and.
bidding her goodnight, returned to
my boarding house at 60 Poplar
Street, In Bellwood. On arrival there,
I gave Mrs. Emma Rutherford, my
landlady, a dollar, for some work
done on my clothes.
"Mrs. RutheTford slipped the bill
under her pillow, and I went on to
my room and went to bed. And I
slept soundly until late -Sunday morn
ing.
“The only time T was on Forsyth
Streqt Saturday night was when
Miss Robinson and I left the car at
Forsyth and Marietta Streets and
walked across to the Bilou.
"Horrible Mistake.”
"This is absolutely all I know of
this affair. I had nothing to do wltn
it, knew nothing of it, and, being a
stranger to this dead girl, certain!}*
had no motive for wishing to get
her out of the way. It’s all a horrible
mistake. I’ll have no trouble prov
ing an alibi and showing myself in
nocent.”
When Mullinax was locked in a
cell at 10 o’clock last night, instruc
tions were given that he not be al
lowed to communicate with anyone.
GIRL S GRANDFATHER
VOWS VENGEANCE
Standing with bared head in the
doorway of his Marietta home, with
tears falling unheeded down his fur
rowed cheeks, W. J. Phagan cried to
heaven for vengeance for the mur
der of his granddaughter, fourteen-
year-old Mary Phagan. and vowed
that he would not rest until the mur
derer had been brought to justice.
In a silence unbroken save by the
sound of his own sobs and the noise
of the gently falling rain, the old
man lifted his quavering voice in a
passionate plea for the life of the
wretch who had lured the little girl
into the Darkness of a deserted build
ing and .strangled her to death. It
was an Infinite grief the grief of an
old and broken man that Mr. Pha
gan expressed when, with hands out
spread impi^pngiy. be invoked divine
aid in bringing the murderer of the
child to justice.
“By the power of the living (rod.”
prayed the old man. his voice rising
high and clear above the patter of
the rain and the roar of a passing
train, “1 hope the murderer will be
dealt with as he dealt with that in
nocent child. 1 hope his heart is torn
with remorse in the measure that his
victim suffered pain and shame; that'
ht* suffers as we who loved the child
are suffering. Xo punishment is too
great for the brute who foully •mur
dered the sweetest and purest tiling
on earth- a young giW. Hanging
cannot atone for the crime he has
committed and the suffering he has
caused.”
ered or he threatened her."
Mrs. Coleman said that girls ought
to look out for themselves, too, and
never permit any familiarity from
men.
“When a girl is pretty,” she de
clared, “naturally she is attractive to
men. Mary was pretty, too; and, be
sides that, she was always happy and
in a good humor. She had never
stayed out any night before in the
two years she had been at work. I
could trust her anywhere I knew be
cause she was always so straightfor
ward, and w'hat 1 thought when she
didn't come home was that she had
met up with her aunt from Marietta,
who was in town, and had gone home
with her and had no way to let me
know.”
Too Young to Know.
She covered her face with her
hands.
“And to think that at the time I
was thinking that she was in the
hands of a merciless brute! Oh. if
only Mr. Coleman had happened
along the street and found her! They
te.ll me she was crying on a corner
at 12 o'clock and this man she was
with was cursing her when a police
man came up and asked her what
was the matter. She just fold him
she had got dust in her eye. I guess
the reason she didn’t say anything
was because she was afraid the man
would kill her. and, In fact, just
didn’t know what to do. She was too
young.”
But with everything, Mrs. Cole
man said, it wasn’t possible for a
mother to be with a- child all the
time or to stave off all harm that
could come to her with advice.
"Even with the greatest care, it
looks like things will happen any
way we don’t know how or why,”
she declared, weeping. "Oh. it’s ter
rible to think of a young girl coming
to her death like that! And she had
already started home when this man
met her and made her come back to
town with him!”
So Young and Bright.
"Often 1 watched Mary on the car
when men would look at her,” Mrs.
Coleman said. “but. she never paid
any attention to them. 1 J.hink she
must have made the man who killed
her mad. and that's why he did It.”
She said that when Mary left the
house Saturday she had only intend
ed to go to the pencil factory to
draw the little salary that was com
ing to her- $1.60.
"If you could only have seen her.”
she told the reporter. "She looked so
beautiful and so young and so bright!
She said she was only going to see
the parade before she came home.
And look now! 1 am so sorry for all
other young girls working every
where! To think tbat they’re all open
to the sjyne things, and there is
nothing to protect them; it’s so hard
on mothers; it’s so hard on every
body. But there doesn’t seem to be
any help for it, and that’s 1he worst
part of it all.” /
GIRL AND HIS LANDLADY DEFEND MULLINAX
Declaring her belief in the absolute
innocence of her sweetheart, Arthur
Mullinax, in t lie murder of Marie Pha
gan, pretty 16-year-old Pearl Robin
son made a pathetic figure as she ap
peared before Chief of Detectives
Lanford this afternoon and accounted
Jor the whereabouts of Mullinax Sat
urday night up until about 10:30
o’clock.
With Miss Robinson were Mrs. Em
ma Rutherford, the landlady of AIul-
linax, and her tw r o sons, Thomas and
James, who took up the moves of
Mullinax from the time he left Miss
Robinson until the next morning, es
tablishing what appears to be a com
plete alibi. In order to establish the
alibi Mrs. Rutherford had to contra
dict entirely a statement she made
last night to th police in which she
had said that she knew nothing of
where Mullinax was from noon Sat
urday until Sunday morning.
Call Mullinax "Good Boy.”
“Arthur is a good boy,” said his
loyal little sweetheart.
"I know be would do nothing bad.
He was too good and true. He was
with me Saturday night from 8
o'clock until nearly II o’clock. We
went to the Bijou theater together
and left before it was over. We got
home about 10:30 o’clock.
“Arthur stayed for ten or fifteen
minutes, talking to me, and then he
started for his rooming house, which
is only a short distance from where 1
live.
"I stayed on the porch a few mo
ments and I could hear him whistling
as he went flown the street am!
turned into Poplar Street, where h •
lives. When the whistle died out, I
judged that he had reached home.
“1 have known Arthur for about five
months and have gone around to dif
ferent places with him. He always
has been kind and good, and a p* : -
feet gentleman. T never heard him
mention the name of the Phagan gi *».
except the time he was in an amateur
entertainment with her.
“I know he couldn't have commit
ted the crime about which he has
been questioned."
Landlady Changes Statement.
Veering directly from her form r
statements and, in conjunction wltn
Mips Robinson, establishing an ap
parently unshakable alibi for Mulli
nax. Mrs. Rutherford told the police
detectives that Mullinax had come to
her home, 60 Poplar Street, where lie
roomed. Saturday night shortly before
11 o'clock. She said that she was
asleep at the time, but that her 15-
year-old daughter heard Mullinax
come in and saw him !eavc^$l. for a
payment on some clothes he was pur
chasing.
He went to his room and a few
minutes later her son, James Ruther
ford, came in and found him asleep 1r.
the bed which they both occupied, ac
cording to Mrs. Rutherford.
Thomas Rutherford, another son,
went to Mullinax’s coat about 11:80
o’clock to get ea cigarette. Mullinax
aws asleep, he said, and he was still
asleep at 5 o'clock in the morning, ac
cording to Janies.
Mrs. Rutherford said that her ex
citement at the presence of the de
tectives was responsible for her otljer
.statement in which she declared she
had seen nothing of Mullinax from
noon Saturday until Sunday morn
ing.
"I was so confused that I didn't
know what I was talking about,” she
said. In her first statement to th:*
police she said that Mullinax paid her
the $1 Saturday noon and left the
house. From this time until Sunday
morning, she said, she knew nothing
of his whereabouts.
Bed Found 'n Factory Wall.
Another important discovery was
made this morning by detectives who
continued their search of the base
ment of the National Pencil Com
pany's building on Forsyth Street.
Built Into the wall on one side of
the basement, the police found a se
cret compartment, in which was a
cot. ; improvised from old boards and
a blanket. The footprints of a wom
an, found near the cot. is evidence
that some woman had been in the
small room recently. There were also
signso f a struggle, the earth in front
of the cot being disturbed. Several
large footprints, presumably those ofj
a man, were found near the cot.
The coroner’s jury was shown this
loom when it made an investigation
of the plant*this morning.
Based on the finding of the cot in |
the secret room, the police have. I
evolved a theory that the room lias
been used as a rendezvous, and that I
the negro janitor. Newt Lee, knew of|
any permitted its use.
Employees Severely Quizzed. j
J. A White. 59 Bonnie Brae Ave
nue, and Harry Denham, 660 East Fair
Street, were put through a severe
quiz to-day by the police detectives
in an effort to find out if they had any
knowledge of the circumstances lead
ing up to the murder.
Both are employees of the pencil
company and they were the only
workmen In the building Saturday, so
far as Is known. The others were off
bemuse of Memorial Day.
They said the, were working on
the fourth floor from about 9 o’clock
in the morning until about o’clock in
the afternoon, but that they saw no
girls about the factory while they
were there.
The police are investigating the
statement of White, w ho said he had
heard one of the girl employees suy
that the front doors of the building
were se n open at 8:30 o’clock Satur
day night. Newt Lee, the negro
watchman, who is supposed to keej
the doors barred and locked, will be
asked to explain this if it is true.
They said the / had talked with Leo
Frank, the superintendent, about l
o’clock in the afternoon and that he
had told them to go at 3 o’clock.
Man Forcing Girl Along.
Charles Hall, <>f 25 White Oak
Street, a ./chauffeur for the sanitary*
department, believes that he saw the
girl being led by a man toward the
pencil factory at about 12 o’clock Sat
urday night.
He said to-day that he drove, his
brother and a friend to Alabama and
Forsyth Streets at midnight, where
they took an East Poln street car. He
went into a Greek fruif stand nearby
and when he came out he was at
tracted by the sight of a man appar
ently having trouble in forcing the
girl to accompany’ him.
Hall declares that he would know
the man again if he saw him, and
will go to headquarters to look ac
Gant this afternoon.
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