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EXTRA
The Atlanta Georgian
Read for Profit---GEORGIAN WAhT ADS---Use for Results
EXTRA
VOL. XI. NO. 251. ATLANTA, GA., SATURDAY, MAY 24, 1912. 2 CENTS EVERYWHERE p more°
MAYOR REPORTED BY DICTOGRAPH
GDLyAR CALLED
L
CONVICT ID
INSANE
CHARGE IS IN
INDICTMENTS
Records Show He Has Been Con
fined in Numerous Prisons and
Twice in Asylum.
True Bills Already Drawn
Solicitor Against Frank
and Lee.
by
SEEK INSIDE EVIDENCE OF POLICE
GRAFT IN PROTECTION OF VICE
Sensational dictograph conversations in which Mayor Jameg
(4. Woodward, Charles C. -lories, former Tenderloin proprietor and
present owner of the Rex saloon, E. 0. Miles, a private detective.
A. S. Colyar, accuser of Colonel T. 15. Felder, and Chief Lanford s
clerk, February, all figure are made public by The Atlanta Geor
gian to-day.
Colyar and Miles. The entire dictograph conversation in which hr
figured is given elsewhere.
Far more sensational is the conversation in which Jones, Miles
and Colyar took part. Jones viciously attacked the police de
partment, charging graft and crookedness, accused Marion Jack-
son, Men and Religion leader, of being the beneficiary of vice, and
said he had been double-crossed in the wiping out of the Ten-
A plot to assassinate Chief of Police J. L. Beavers is the
amazing charge made by A. 8. Colyar, Jr., the man who conceived
and accomplished the alleged dictographing of Colonel T. B.
Felder in connection with the $1,000 bribery accusations placed
against the attorney.
This sensational disclosure catne to light Saturday morning.
The charge was laid before Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford
h. Colyar. He declared that he would produce a man who
would make an affidavit to the effect that an attempt was made
to employ him to "get" Chief Beavers and also Chief Lanford-
Colyar declared that this man would swear that if it became nec
essary that h" had been instructed to “provoke a quarrel with
Chief Beavers and shoot him to death.” This man, Colyar
avowed, would swear that lie had been promised immunity from
punishment for his deed.
This report created an intense sensation in police circles,
and produced one of the greatest sensations of the Phagan mys
tery.
The name of this mysterious man has not been furnished
detectives, hut Colyar promised to take him Friday night to the
office of Chief Lanford in the police station, where the affidavit
was to be made. Up to a late hour Saturday morning, however,
neither he nor Colyar had put in an appearance.
According to the story told by Colyar, this man is not a resi
dent of Atlanta, but has been here several days. He is an old
friend of Colyar. He said this man would swear positively that
the murder plot proposition was made to him shortly after his
arrival here, and that he would give the name of the man who
engineered the deal.
Felder Charges Police
Plot to Shield Slayer
Colonel Thomas B. Felder entered
into an explicit and detailed denial to
The Geoigian of all the charges of
attempted bribery contained in the
affidavits signed by C. C. Febuary,
secretary to C’hief of Detectives Dan-
ford, and A. S. Colyar, a private de
tective with a spectacular career.
Colonel Felder declared the alleged
^ dictograph record of conversation he
is alleged to have had with Colyar
and Febuary in Williams House No.
2 a “frame-up" and a fabrication.
The report that he had offered $L-
000 for the Coleman affidavit in the
Phagan case and affidavits said to in-
i dirate graft in the Police Department
he branded as absolutely false.
The whole plot had been concocted,
he said, to discredit himself and W. J
Burns and drive them from the Pha
gan case so the guilty person might
be protected.
“Every move made by the police in
the Phagan case has been for the pro
tection of the real criminal,” said
Colonel Felder. “The police have kept
an innocent negro there in a cell for
three weeks in the hope that they
can crush a confession out of him and
let the real culprit go free.
“Guilty Person Protected.”
“If the desire were not to protect
the guilty person, why should they
desire to eliminate Burns and myself?
Burns has a reputation for landing
every criminal he goes after. He has
a reputation for oeing absolutely mer
ciless in the manner he hunts down
his man. It is as certain as anything
can be in the detection of criminals
that he will be successful, once he
gets started on a case. He is known
to be unpurchaseable. Everybody
Knows that he could have accepted a
million dollars at any time during the
chase for the McNamara brothers if
he had been willing to say that he
( had not been able to find the dyna-
' miters.
“As for myself, my professional rep
utation. at least, is that if I have not
,1-V. i nVi T r%rn a intnroctoJ
any good, I certainly have not done it
any harm.
“So, I repeat, what other motive
could they have in trying to drive Mr.
Burns and myself from the Phagan
case except to protect the real cul
prit?
“That so-called dictograph conver
sation was a frame-up and a fabrica
tion from start to finish. In a longer
statement that I am preparing. I will
show this conclusively. I will demon
strate it by the very conversation that
is alleged to have been reproduced in
the other room by the dictograph. I
will show that things were written
that never would have been said by
persons in conversation.
“I will show its absolute absurdity
with such clearness that no room will
be left for doubt. It will be so plain
that he who runs may read. It won't
require any detective to show that it
is a frame-up. and one of the clum
siest and crudest that ever was at
tempted.
Says Coleman Approved.
“That Coleman affidavit, in which
the mother and stepfather of the
murdered Mary Phagan are made to
say that they never hired me or ap
proved of me as an attorney to prose
cute the Phagan slayer, was extorted,
In my opinion. As a matter of fact, I
never said 1 was employed by the
Colemans. I announced that 1 had
been engaged by residents of Bell-
wood who were friends of the be
reaved family. It is true, however,
that Mr. Coleman approved of my
.‘-'election. I never offered $1,000 for
the possession of this affidavit.
“Neither is it true that I went to
Mayor Woodward and told him that
there was lots of graft in the city, but
that it would take a good deal of
money to uncover it. I had only a
brief conversation with the Mayor,
and I told him at the time that 1 did
not wish to undertake anything or be
come interested in anything that
would take my time from the prose-
Continued on Page 2, Column 8.
Who is A. S. Colyar?
The records show that Colyar was
once confined in the Middle Tennes
see Insane Asylum, and that more
recently he was sent to Lyons View,
the East Tennessee Asylum. Infor
mation from Nashville is that he
served time in prisons all over the
State, as well as in Sing Sing. New
York, and a jail in Virginia. Tele
grams from Chattanooga paint him
as a wild adventurer who spends con
siderable time in prison and is al
ways in trouble.
In Prison Many Times.
NASHVILLE, TENN., May 24.—
A. S. Colyar is a son of the late A. S.
Colyar, of this city, one of the most
brilliant lawyers and statesmen Ten
nessee ever produced. When not vio
lently insane his mind works bril
liantly, but always to the wrong end.
He lias been in prison time after time,
but always evaded long sentences
through influence of his father’s
friends.
Young Colyar’s most noted exploit,
as it is understood here, consisted in
connection with the famous Mollineux
murder case in New York. He went
from Nashville to New* York, saw
General Mollineux and offered.to have
his son acquitted for $20,000.
"Your son is innocent,” Colyar i»
reported to have said. “One of my
clients, now in the Tennessee peni
tentiary, is guilty. He confessed to
me. For $20,000 1 can get him out of
the penitentiary, bring him here, in
duce him to confess and save your
son's life."
Next day, so the story here runs*.
General Mollineux advanced him half
the money. Colyar went back to
Nashville. engaged a well-known
pickpocket as a confederate, took him
to New York with half a dozen
guards and claimed the rest of the
$20,000. The ruse might have worked,
except for the fact that an assistant
district attorney secured information
about Colyar and blocked his plans.
Daniels ‘Afraid’ to
Umpire Ball Game
WASHINGTON, May 24.—As soon
as Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the
Navy, announced that he was going to
West Point to attend the Army-Navy
baseball game on May 31, he was in
vited to be one of the two umpires.
“No, thank you; it’s a bit too risky,”
declared Mr. Daniels. “I’ve gone tip
in aeroplanes and down to the bottom
of the sea in a submarine, but I am
not a brave enough man to attempt
the job as arbitrator in a college
baseball game. The job is too haz
ardous and too dangerous.”
What Is in a Name?
Gets Boy $2,000,000
SEATTLE, May 24 —Through the
action of the Superior Court here,
Henry Francis Shoemaker, aged five,
regained his name, and his father,
Henry' W. Shoemaker, of Altoona,
Pa..has promised that the boy shall in
herit 12,000,000. The boy’s mother, for
merly Mr. Shoemaker s wife, gave the
boy the name of Perry. Mr. Shoe
maker wanted him to have the name
given him before he and his wife sep
arated.
Cemetery Sexton
Dies Amid Tombs
COLUMBVS, GA„ May 24. T. D.
Bartlett, sexton of Riverdale (’eme-
tery. Columbus, was found dead in
he cemetery ’.ast night A coroner’s
jury tendered a verdict that death
was due to natural causes.
Bartlett was 57 years of ag- and
well known as a lodge man.
The Grand Jury resumed Saturday
morning the Phagan murder case with
indictments against Leo M. Frank
and Newt Lee charging strangulation.
While nothing definite could be
learned, it was confidently expected
at the office of the Solicitor Satur
day morning the case of Frank might
be completed during the day. Only
a few more witnesses were to be
called, it was learned, and these could
tell what they knew in a few hours.
The indictments are the first of the
kind to have been drawn in Fulton
County in the recollection of the old
est court officials, and for this ieason
the exact verbiage is being kept se
cret. Fearing that if the indictments
are not drawn in strict conformity
to law. there would of course be some
question of their validity, and there
being so little law on this particular
form of indictment, the Solicitor
would not make public the phrasing
of the bill until his assistant could
find some precedent in the Supreme
Court records.
It became known Saturday that
none of the “star" ‘witnesses for the
State would go before the Grand
Jury unless at the last moment the
Solicitor thought it would be neces
sary to introduce them to secure a
bill. Those who testified Friday were
the detectives who appeared before
the Coroner, and similar witnesses
are awaiting their turn to be called
upon Saturday.
The city detectives are the princi
pal witnesses. From their investiga
tion and examination of witnesses
they are telling the Grand Jury ev
erything they have found out. The
Solicitor was confident this form of
introducing evidence would not only
greatly expedite matters, but would
present the case in a more concise
form.
Chief of Detectives Lanford said
that be could prove Frank was not
at his home the evening of the mur
der at the hours he said he was.
“I can prove that Frank was not
at his home during the hours on Sat
urday night, the night of the murder,
that he said he was. 1 will have
witnesses to swear to this," was his
statement.
The chief added that he had a great
amount of other important evidence
that has been more carefully guarded
than some that had found its way
nto the papers.
Frank's statement at the Coroner s
inquest was that fie reached his home
shortly after 7 o'clock the evening of
Saturday. April 26. and did not leave
it until the following morning. The
testimony of his mother-in-law and
father-in-law substantiated his evi
dence. They said that while they were
engaged in a card game Frank was in
'he next room reading a magazine.
Huerta Threatens to
Assume Dictatorship
MEXICO CITY, May 24.—Provi
sional President Huerta has threat
ened to dissolve Congress and assume
dictatorship over the legislative
branch of the government unless the
deputies opposed to the $100,000,000
foreign loan cease filibustering
against it.
This clash between the executive
and legislative branch of the govern
ment has been expected for some
time.
If the opposition is successful and
the loan ip not secured, a crisis will
follow. ,
If you have anything to sell adver
tise in The Sunday American. Lar
gest circulation of any Sunday news
paper in the South.
The conversations, all reported l,v a dictograph installed in
ihe Williams House, in the same room and by the same man who
figured in the "trapping” of Felder, tend to throw new and
startling light on the alleged plot to “get" Chief of Police .James
L. Beavers, who wiped out the Tenderloin and Chief of Detectives
Lanford,
As reported by George M. Gentry, who took down the conver
sation as it trickled over the thin spun wires through the door be
tween Colyar’s room, No. 31, and Room No. 32, Mayor Woodward
seems to be supported in his assertion that he was merely after
evidence of graft in the police department.
The Mayor was present at the conference with February,|
Jones Attacks Beavers and
Charges Police Crookedness
The following conversation occurred in room No. 31, at Williams
House No. 2, 34-36 N\ Forsyth Street. Atlanta, Ga„ Wednesday evening,,
between 8 and !t o'clock, between 0. C. Jones. K. t). Miles and A. S. Colyar: j
Col.var—It has been very warm to-day hasn't it’:
Miles—Tes, it has. I asked Mr. Felder if you mentioned Mr. Jones’ j
name to him and he said no.
Colyar—He told me Monday night that Mr. Jones was a friend of
his and he thought tt an outrage the way they had done him.
Miles—You know r asked you this afternoon why you wanted to see
Mr. Jones.
Colyar—If you don't want to talk, that's all right.
Jones—In what way?
Colyar—Tom told me they did you pretty dirty down here hi the
station house.
Jones—Yes. They closed up the houses I bod. I had a lot of prop
erty.
Col.var-—He told me they framed up on you.
Jones—There is no doubt but what it was a frame-up.
Colyar—Tom told me he would like to !fte the gang out of business.
Jones—The record now is (voice very indistinct just then I. They
never grafted me. Wouldn’t be any use for me to give them any money.
Miles—You told me you wanted to see Jones. It is not a question of
lack of confidence, as what I told you was true as far as I know, but If
he knows anything at all about it. I don't know just what It is.
Jones—I don't know anything. I just told them to go ahead and
build them houses and move them across the street. Even some of them
went and paid for them. Three or four days before they closed the houses,
the Chief of the City of Atlanta — that It would never
do to close this district and I was surprised one morning by a telephone
message from someone at N’o. 18, that the Chief had given five or six days
notice to get out, I don’t remember which, and 1 never even went to the
trouble to go out to this man to ask him what he meant, as I could not
figure it out to save my life what he meant. That is all that 1 know of.
I found out what he was doing. I understand that Jackson was holding
conversation with him anywhere from one to three times a day.
Colyar—Who is Jackson?
Jones Jackson is the man that owns the biggest house in
Atlanta now. and the Chief was there xml wanted to know what
he had done about the license of the hotel, and the Chief . The
people owe him $500 a mouth each. 1 understand lie opened.
Col.var—Who is John Eagan?
Jones- He is one of them Jackson crowd.
Colyar—They certainly must have some kind of a pull.
Jones—They got something, I don’t know what it is.
Colyar—What does Jackson do?
Jones—Jackson runs them religious bulletins I know them to be
the fact, for he owns this place and on one occasion after he told some
one 1 made a remark to a man that was very close to him. I told him
that he had better close his own mouth. TO BE EXACT, HE OWNS
THE EMPIRE HOTEL. The man that was running the hotel had an
engagement to introduce me to' this man. John Dawson told me that
he had just had the hotel for three or four months, and that he had
cleaned the hotel out, and I looked at him and said, “Yest, you cleaned
it out, no doubt of that, but run it different from what other people
run it. The man went to one room and the woman to the other, with
a door opening between it." So I will be frank with you, if I had any
thing that would convict Mr. Beavers I would teil it on the public
streets. I think he is everything in the world but a man. I will be
frank with you about that. If he takes my dollar and then goes to
the other fello'j and takes his dollar, he would tell me to go to hell,
but, of course. I used to be a gambler; I run the Rex, and everybody
knows it. I wouldn't trust Beavers as far as 1 could throw
Colyar—I want to talk to you about——
Jones—Well, we can make it. I will show you something.
Colyar—Well, we can make it. I will show you something
Jones—[ don’t think it is going to- As far as my own knowl
edge is concerned. I have never been able to well, T haven't tried to.
Well, as I haven't slept much lately I think I wilt go. Well, 1 will see
you to-morrow.
Miles—Well. 1 am much obliged to you for coming in.
Jones- 1 will try and ge there between 10 and 11. Will that suit
Continued on Page 2, Column 3.
ilerloiu. ,
Colonel Felder's name is mentioned time and again in the con
versation of the three and more than otic reference is made to the
alleged offer of $1,000 for evidence.
The entire sensation resolved itself into an apparent effort to
secure from within the police department itself, through Clerk
February, evidence of graft and crookedness. Jones directly
charges that there lias been protection extended to certain houses
now operating in Atlanta.
The conversations make clear that fact that the Phagan case
was merely a means to an end—that the men accused as conspire
tors were after graft evidence and not Phagan evidence.
Dictograph Conversations in
Which Mayor Took Part
Here is the entire dictograph conversation in which Mayor
•lames G. Woodward took a part as it was reported to the police.
A copy is in the police files today.
A. 8. Colyar, the matt who engineered the entire sensation,
of cotire takes a leading part. The conversation is first princi
pally between him and Chief Lanford's clerk, February and E.
O. Miles, a private investigator, and a friend of Charles C. Jones,
who comes later info the conversation.
Jones owned a number of houses in the restricted district
closed ii|i by Chief Beavers, which were conservatively estimated
to have given him an income of $40,000 a year. He is the owner
of the Rex saloon, and is by no means poverty stricken, despite
the huge dent Chief Beavers’ reform made in his roll.
Mayor James G. Woodward, who has never hesitated to let
it be known that he was not in sympathy with the Chief's vice
crusade, comes into the conversation later and is reported in
full.
The conversation took place on Wednesday afternoon in
Colyar’s room—the same room where Felder was trapped, and
was taken down by George M. Gentry, a nephew of the president
of the Southern Bell Telephone Company. Here is a copy of the
reord: ,
Thu following statements were overheard by me. hv using a dicto
graph located in room 32 of the Williams House No. 2, 34-36 North For
syth Street, Atlanta. Ua.. said dictograph being connected with room
No. 31 of the said hotel, and I saw Mr E. O. Miles, whom t am per
sonally acquainted with: Mr. G. C. February, whom I have known for
several years, and Mr. A. S. Colyar, with whom I have only been ac
quainted for a short time, enter room No. 31 of said hotel at about 4
o’clock on the afternoon of May 21, 1913.
On account of Mr. February having locked the door to room No. 32.
I was delayed In getting in. after having witnessed the three parties
above mentioned enter room No. 31 of said hotel. In the emergency, I
used the key to my front door, which, with a little difficulty, opened the
door. After closing the door and going to the instrument, I was unable
to hear what was being said very distinctly on account of the win
dows of the said room being open. This necessitated another delay to
close them, and after returning to mv instrument I was able to hear the
following. Several dashes indicate that the voice just at that point be
came inaudible:
t'olyar—I can tell you some things. 1 am executive secretary (noise
made sound Indistinct).
Miles—Now. just wait a minute I know (here noise made hearing
indistinct). I have got several cases (sound indistinct).
Colyar—(Question Incoherent).
Miles—I am satisfied you ought, but you know when they go into it
they are going to put up a howl.
Colyar—(Conversation too low to catch.)
Miles—The Mayor will give us absolute assurance that he will pro
tect us.
Colyar—Will you bring the Mayor up here—right now?
Miles—1 think I can bring the Mayor up here right away. The evi
dence is in the (sound indistinct).
Colyar—It looks like a frame-.ip on Felder, and they couldn t detect
(sound indistinct).
Colyar—You are not a Jew, are you?
Miles—No. 1 am not. I spell my name M-i-l-e-s.
Colyar—These sons of a gun down here can frame up anything on
Decatur Street. I told Felder I would get the goods and go outside of
the county and 1 wouid meet you and him at East i-ake
Mit^s—There is no occasion for your leaving town.
Colyar—But I mean afterwards. I am afraid to stay here.
February—if the Mayor and Felder will stay behind us like they
said they would
Colyar—I would like to have the Mayor's
Miles—But right now he ntay be busy. Felder can get Mr. Fe!-
rter is a good - Now, it wifi lake about ten minutes, in any case, but
he mav he busy, t will bring him if he can possibly get here.
(In a few minutes Miles returned.)