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CONLEY
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Explains in
GIVES NEW EVIDENCE
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Detail Pencil Factory Mysteries
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The SUNDAY
The Atlanta Georgian
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VOL. XI. NO. 259. ATLANTA, GA., MONDAY, JUNE 2,1913. By^S^oUnCo. 2 CENTS i more°
Convicts Her Insulter and Regains Husband
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Pretty Atlanta Matron Nips Scandal in Bud
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Important Developments Looked For,
• but Nothing Sensational Made
Public—Insists He Has Told All,
but Further Confession Is Expected.
For hours to-day James Conley, negro sweeper, whose sen
sational confession accuses Superintendent Leo M. Frank of the
murder of Mary Phagan, explained in detail to Solicitor General
Hugh M. Dorsey the dread mysteries of the National Pencil Fac
tory on April 26, explaining many things that had not been clear
to the officials, but sticking tenaciously to the story he told the
MISSOULA, MONT.. June 1.—That
he assassinated General Thomas
Francip Meagher, former Governor of
Montana Territory, soldier, author,
orator and statesman, whose death
.has always remained one of the mys
teries of Montana’ early history, was
the astounding confession of Pat Hil
ler. alias Frank Diamond, made on
whajt he believed was his deathbed at
Plains, Mont., 60 miles west of her^
The self-styled ^assassin declared
that he got $8,000 for the murder and
that the Vigilantes, Montana’s famous
volunteer law-enforcing organization,
were anxious “to get lid of Meagher.”
Diamond, as he has been known for
a number of years, was brought to
Missoula by Sheriff W. L. Kelley, who
feared violence for his prisoner In the
Plains jail. Two other murders, for
one of which another man was
hanged, Diamond lays at his own door.
For nearly 50 years the body of
General Meagher has lain in the Mis
soula River, and despite the general
belief that he stepped off a boat near
Fort Benton, in the darkness of the
night, there have ever since his death
teen frequent rumors of foul play.
Confesses Three Murders.
Diamond’s confession was made in
the presence of three citizens of
Plains, Jack Thompson, Dr. Colts and
Frank Hammum and was kept secret
because it was expected the man
would die within a few hours. Later
he showed signs of improvement and
the witnesses to the confession, fear
ing that he would not hesitate to
kill them, had him brought here. The
confession is as follows:
I killed Francis Meagher near
Cow Island on the Missouri River.
Meagher was Governor of Mon
tana and the Vigilantes had to get
rid of him and Alex Potter gave
me $8,000 for the job. I killed
him on a steamboat, threw him in
the river and swam ashore.
I also killed George Mitchell
in 1883 and threw him in the Wil
lamette River.
I also killed Bill Clarke near
The Dalles, Oregon, in about ’74;
shot him.
Big Nose George was hanged in
’82. I should have been hanged
instead for the crime, ’but George
was a murdering
and 'deserved to be hanged;
Thomas Irwin is the only man
that knows me, and he is a ranch
er and lives near Perma.
FRANK DIAMOND.
Diamond is 67 years of age, is well-
known throughout Western Montana
and has worked intermittently in the
woods and at odd jobs around Mis
soula.
Told Some of the Details.
Talking to some friends after he
signed the confession, he said he shot
the former Governor first and then
threw the bodjl in the river. Supple
menting his formal confession he
made a detailed statement of his al
leged crime, and judging from the
minuteness of the detail and his vivid
recollection of dates, places and in
cidents, his auditors are convinced
that he Is telling the truth.
His unexpected recovery has terri
fied the men to whom Diamond made
his confession. They frankly stated
they did not rest easy until he was
behind the bars.
He told them that nothing but the
presence of death would have
wrenched the story from his lips,
which have for almost half a century
been silent, and that he would have
no hesitancy in taking any man’s life
to save his own. The money Dia
mond received for murder of Meagh
er. he says, was given him by Alex
Potter a member of the Vigilantes.
TO HEAD KNOXVILLE SCHOOL.
KNOXVILLE. TEN N June 1 —
Professor W. F. Fleming, of Stone
Mountain, Ga., was to-day elected
principal of the Knoxville High
/School.
Girl Shot in Her
Own Home Accuses
Wealthy Clubman
LOS ANGELES, CAL., June 1.—
Accused of shooting a young woman
under mysterious circumstances, Fred
B. Kolb, a wealthy young clubman,
is under arrest here to-day. The girl
is Miss Irene Nobel, 22 years old.
The girl was found by her brother
lying on the floor in her home. Kolb
was at the telephone summoning a
physician.
At a hospital Miss Nobel said Kolb
shot her. She probably will die. A
letter threatening suicide was found
in her clothing.
Kolb is son of a millionaire who
died recently.
Girl of 15 Ends Her
Life With Shotgun
ROYSTON, GA., June 1.—Miss Ora
Crider, 15-year-old daughter of J. A.
Crider, a farmer near here, commit
ted suicide by shooting herself with
a shotgun while alone at the house.
The gun was not loaded w hen her
parents left home. The girl put a
shell in the gun. shut herself in a
room, placed the gun barrel against
her stomach and with a small stick
pulled the trigger. Relatives heard
the shot and rushed to the house,
finding the girl’s dead body against
the door.
No cause for the suicide is known.
Divorcee Demands
Alimony of $50,000
NEW YORK, June 1.—Counsel repre
senting Mrs. Abigail Hancock Bishop,
who secured a divorce from her million
aire banker husband, James Cunning
ham Bishop, yesterday, held a confer
ence to-day to settle the terms of agree
ment. Mrs. Bishop demands $50,000 ali
mony annually and the custody of her
five children.
The suit was halted when Justice Goff
became convinced that the charges
against Mr. Bishop were true. He was
accused of stopping at the Hotel Astor
with Mrs. J. Temple Gwathmey, beauti
ful wife of a former president of the
New York Cotton Exchange.
Balkans Battle as
Envoys Talk Peace
Special Cable to The Atlanta Georgian.
ATHENS, GREECE, June 1.—
While Balkan peace envoys of the
states in the Balkan league were fra
ternizing in London and affixing their
signatures to a treaty with Turkey,
a three-hour artillery duel between
Bulgarians and Greeks was being
fought at Elevtheron.
Bulgarians are said to have opened
the conflict by firing on th' Greek
cruiser Spetsai. Other clashes are re
ported.
Millionaire Seeks
Thrill Killing Whale
SAN FRANCISCO. June 1.—John
Borden, young New York millionaire,
left San Francisco to-day on a pri
vate whaling expedition on his $56,000
new r whaler de luxe, the Adventuress,
built especially for this cruise.
Borden was accompanied by Roy C.
Andrews, a member of the National
History Museum, an American ex
pert on whales. The main quest of
the expedition is to secure a specimen
of the rare bowhead whale.
Five Hurt in Wreck
Of Veterans’ Train
FLORENCE. ALA., " ’ —Carrying
several extra cars of Confederate Vet
erans returning from the Chattanooga
reunion, a Southern Railway passenger
train crashed into a Northern Alabama
train two miles east of Sheffield Friday
afternoon. The injured are: Baggage
man R. Y. Darnell, perhaps fatally, and
Conductor N. W. Wallace, Engineer
Henry Gaut. Fireman Pendjeton Gaines
and News Agent Henry Allen slightly
hurt. All are Northern Alabama train
men. Conductor Short, of the Southern
train, is blamed for the wreck, as the
Northern had the right of way.
Thomasville Commencement.
THOMASVILLE.—The graduating
exercises of the Thomasville High
School were held last night in the
Young’s College auditorium. The ad
dress to the class was delivered by
Superintendent A. G. Miller, of the
Waycross public schools.
That The Georgian played a con
spicuous part in obtaining the latest
and most important confession from
Jim Conley, the negro sweeper, 1n
which he admitted his complicity in
the crime, was the declaration of
Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford.
Chief Lanford, in telling of the
cross-examination of Conley on
Thursday afternoon which resulted in
his confession, said that Conley for
a long time persisted in maintaining
that he knew no more of the crime
than that which he had related pre
viously.
After several hours of futile ques
tioning the chief showed him a copy
of The Georgian quoting officials of
the pencil factory to the effect that
they believed Conley the guilty man.
It was then that Conley made his
startling affidavit fixing the deed uppp
Ffafffc:’ - — —
AH Questions Failed.
“All lines of questions had been
tried without avail." said the de
tective chief, in relating the incident.
“We had put Conley through a rigid
third degree, and still he declared
that he knew nothing more of the
crime. It seemed that all the theories
the detective force had so carefully
and painstakingly built up were about
to be shattered.
“I was racking my brain for some
thing else that might be of aid in
getting Conley to teii what we sus
pected he was withholding,’’ the chief
continued. “I happened to remember
that In last Wednesday’s Georgian 1
had seen interviews with various, fac
tory people who declared they thought
Conley guilty of the murder, and that
he was attempting to place the crime
on an innocent man.
Georgian’s Story Broke Him,
“Stepping into an adjoining room,
I secured a copy of The Georgian
containing the interviews. Carrying
it back into my office, where the
small group of detectives had been
for several hours interrogating the
man without result, I handed the pa
per to Conley, remarking: “You can
read this, Jim, and see what the peo
ple over at the factory think of you.”
“He took the paper and in silence
the detectives watched him slowly
and painfully decipher the statements
of Holloway and others at the factory
declaring that he, Conley, and not
Frank, was the guilty man.
“Finally he laid the paper aside,
and looked up with the most worried
expression on his face he has dis
played since his arrest. ‘Boss,’ he said,
‘dose people are short bound to hang
me if I don’t tell the truf, and I ain’t
goin’ to lie to you no longer.’ And
the confession as contained in his
latest affidavit followed.
Hat, Hose, Kerchiefs
Cause Bruin’s Death
Dan Carey, General Manager of
Parks to-day told of an autopsy
on the big Russian brown bear,
thought to have come to Its death
from eating two feet of rubber hose
and a straw hat.
The rubber hose had been removed
from bruin’s stomach before he ate
the hat, so most of the blame for his
death was placed on the hat. The
autopsy proved the hat had been di
gested, but in the stomach were found
two handkerchiefs and a solid rubber
ball about twice the size of an egg.
3 Suspects Held for
Hall County Slaying
GAINESVILLE, GA , - « '.—James
and Bartow Cantrell, brothers, and S. A.
Miller havf* been arrested as suspects
in the murder of Arthur Hawkins, near
Lula, in the northeastern part of Hall
County. They are in jail here. AM have
families.
Hawkins was shot from his mule while
returning home It Is said that there
is a woman in the case.
Bryan Gloating Over
Election Law Victory
WASHINGTON, June 1 .—Smiling in
his satisfaction over realizing a reform
for which he had fought for nearly a
quarter of a century, Secretary of State
Bryan to-day signed the proclamation
of the seventeenth amendment provid
ing for the direct election of United
States Senators.
Three earnest champions of the
amendment were at his side—Harry St.
George Tucker, of Virginia, who made
the first fight for it in the House 22
years ago; Representative Rucker, of
Missouri, who piloted the clause to its
final passage in the House about a year
ago; Senator Borah, of Idaho, who fa
thered the amendment in the Senate.
Rides Her Pony 30
Miles to Be Married
MILWAUKEE, June 1.—Elizabeth
Waukechon, a Menominee . Indian
maiden, 17 years old, has proved to
officials of the Menominee reserva
tion that although the Government's
laws may dominate the red man the
gentler sex is still able to defeat
“justice.” ,
When the Government attempted
to take her away from her parents’
fireside to the Indian school, she
rode thirty miles on a pony to find
and wed her lover, John Waupekau-
nee.
McReynolds Blocks
U.P.Dissolution Plan
WASHINGTON. June 1.—Attorne.v
General McReynolds to-day expressed
his disapproval of the latest plan for
the dissolution of the Southern Pa
cific merger.
He declared that in the near fu
ture he will file a suit to compel the
Southern Pacific Railroad to give up I
the control of the Central Pacific j
Railroad,
This ownership, he holds, is In di- '
rect violation of the law.
Mrs. Charles Kugler Wins Vindi
cation in Charges Against
Inspector Maddox.
Pretty Mrs. Charles Kugler was a
smiling and satisfied victor to-day
in her court fight which she had de
clared she would continue until she
had cleared her name and won back
her husband.
Inspector Henry H. Maddox, of the
city sanitary department, the tale of
whose insulting remarks to Mrs.
Kugler caused her husband to leave
her in a rage, was fined $25.75 by
Recorder Broyles and was In addi
tion given a sound rating by the Re
corder.
“If you would look after the physi
cal cleanliness of the city only and
would leave the moral cleanliness in
the hands of Chief Beavers. I fancy
you and the city both would get along
better,’’ said Recorder Broyles. “In
the future I suggest that you do not
make derogatory remarks about
women, particularly when you are
speaking on hearsay and with such
a misty idea of the woman’s identity
as you were in this case.’’ .
Husband Also Scored.
The husband also came in for a
grilling through the indignant offices
of Detective “Bob” Waggoner, who
asked for permission to address the
court and then asserted emphatically
that a case ought to be made again?!
Kugler for his strange and cruel
treatment of his wife.
Waggoner said that Mrs. Kugler
had told him that her husband flew
into a fury and beat her when she
told him of the remark? that Maddox
had made to her and declared that h.
was going to quit her until she was
able to clear her name.
“There is no reason why you should
have suspected this woman of any
wrongdoing,” said Recorder Broyles
Mrs. Kugler was forgiving and
would not consent to any prosecution
of her husband. She went from the (
court room on his arm and was smil- ;
ing delightedly as she entered the of
fice of Chief Beavers, who proceeded
to give the husband a lecture on his
conduct. Kugler wap told that there
Continued on Page 2, Column 8.
Wall Holding Fill
On Ivy Gives Way
About 100 feet of the big stone wall
that holds the fill on the east side of
Ivy Street at the corner of Baker
Street is caving, and a number of
men are busy taking out the dirt of
the fill that the wall may be rebuilt.
The cost of repairing this fault will
be considerable, the fill being about
seven feet at this point.
The city engineers explain the
crumbling of the wall by a broken
water main. The wall was built on
a fill and when the water main broke
the foundation was washed away.
However, they assert, the completion
of the regrading of this street will
be little delayed.
Participants in Gun
Duel Badly Wounded
DALTON, GA., June 1.—In a duel
with pistols, Dr. L. C. Furr, of Cran
dall, and “Whack” Riorden were
both badly injured to-day near Cran
dall, Murray County.
Dr. Furr is reported seriously
wounded in the abdomen, and Riorden,
shot four times, is said to be dan
gerously hurt in the head and back.
It is alleged that the trouble arose
over Riorden’s sister.
Physicians from Dalton have gone
to the wounded men.
Senate Probers to
Visit Coal Fields
WASHINGTON, June 1.—Considera
tion of plans for the Senate probe of
conditions in the strike zone of the West
Virginia coal fields was begun to-day
by the Senate Committee on Education
and Labor.
It is expected that the investigation
will be begun by a sub-committee, which
will visit the strike district and take the
testimony of mine owners, strikers and
officers of the militia.
Waiters in Senate
Cafe Get No Tips
WASHINGTON, June 1.— Patrons
of the Senate Cafe do not have to
put on glasses to read on the bill of
fare this order made by Manager
Lofstrand:
“Waiters are forbidden to receive
tips."
city detectives.
Conley was taken to the So
licitor’s office at that official’s
request and put through a se
vere cross-examination. With
an elaborate diagram, drawn
for the Solicitor by Bert Green,
a Georgian staff artist, to guide
him, the negro traced the va
rious scenes in the factory after
the slaying of the girl.
He told just where he first claims to
have found her and how he and the
superintendent ht- accuses attempted
to dispose of the body. The drama
he enacted in the factory Friday for
the detectives he re-enacted for the
Solicitor in the little room at the
court house with the artist’s chart as
the stage and his finger as the tracer
of tragedy.
Dorsey Well Satisfied.
The Solicitor was well satisfied with
the results obtained in the secret con
ference behind closed doors and cer
tain points that had been vague to
him before were made clear.
At Conley’s own request, through
William Smith, his counsel, the negro
was later transferred to the police
station. The negro had been so be
sieged by questioners at the county
jail that he afiked to be put within
the shelter of polUco headquarters,
where he had been closely guarded
and where none but policemen had
been allowed to interrogate him.
Conley Intimated that he had been
threatened at the jail, but little cred-
ance was put In his ramblings. It
was plain that he wanted rest. He
had told his story so often—each time,
It may be noted, In almost the same
words—that he was tired. The police
agreed that he had answered enough
questions from outsiders and he was
moved.
Police Urge New Test.
A determined effort is being made
by the police department to bring
Frank face to face with his accuser.
The detectives wish to learn how
Conley will go through the ordeal of
confronting the man he accuses of
directing the disposal of the body of
Mary Phagan, and dictating the notes
that were found by her body.
They desire also to give Frank an
opportunity to deny the negro’s story
as Conley Is repeating It. Frank has
been the man of silence In the Tower
He has had nothing to say In regard
to the crime to anyone who has
sought to talk with him on the sub
ject, unless it was to his most inti
mate friends who have visited him
in his cell.
He still refuses to have anything
to say or to have Conley brought
to his cell, except by the permission
of his attorney, Luther Z. Rosser,
and in Mr. Rosser’s presence.
Plan to Ask Rosser.
The detectives propose to take the
matter up with Attorney Rosser.
They will represent that the case
has reached a stage where it is nec
essary to give Conley’s statements
their final test. Conley went over
the scene of the crime step by-
step on Friday and never wavered in
his tale inyolving Frank deeply.
Now it is desired to have him ap
pear before the very man he so
strongly accuses and have him repeat
the terrible charges. Some believe
that if Conley is alone guilty of
the crime, this ordeal will be the final
.straw that will bring about his full
confession.
If Attorney Rosser agrees to the
plan, the negro will bo taken at once
to the cell of Frank. Conley Is still
In an unsettled state from his long
three-day grilling by the detectives,
and is thought to be just in the frame
of mind to break down and make a
full confession, if he knows any more
about the crime than he already has
told.
Silent Regarding the Ca*.
In the event that tho meeting is
arranged, it will be the first time that
Frank has broken his silence in re
gard to the case. He may have talked
of it to members of his own family',
hut his most intimate friends say
that he has played cards with their
and conversed freely on the topics of
the day as he has read of them in the
daily papers, but that he never has
discussed the Phagan mystery direct
ly and at length. Some of his friends
have been with him every hour of
every day since he has been»in<the cell
at the Tower. They have been most
loyal to the imprisoned man.
They declare that he never has
mentioned the subject to any of the
attaches of the jail, except occasion
ally to the Sheriff himself. And then
it was in an alrrost Impersonal man
ner.
I do not know who Is guilty," he
said, “but whoever he is, ho* should
hang.”
\
Conley Is Ready to Pay
Penalty as Accomplice.
“Ye*, sir, I guess .maybe It’s all over
with me. I suppose they’re going to
hang me or eend me to the peniten
tiary for life, but I done told the
truth.
"When the Sheriff puts the rope
around my neck, I’m going to say:
“ ' st “P: wait a minute. I know I
did wrong. I tried to hide that dead
girl’s body and I ought to be punished,
but before God I didn’t kill her.’ ”
Jim Conley, negro sweeper, whose
confession that he he’.ped Leo M.
Frank dispose of the body of Mary
Phagan after the superintendent had
killed her, created a profound sensa
tion, peered through the bars of his
cell in the Fulton Tower and pro
nounced his readiness to die for his
crime as an accomplice, and in ’he
same breath protested his innocence
of the actual murder.
Ready to Face Frank.
"I am ready right now." he said,
“to face Mr. Frank. I’ll look him right
In the eye and I’ll say, ’You know l
didn't kill that girl, Mr. Frank, and
you know I'm telling the truth to
these white folks.’ ”
Conley declared again that Frank
wrote one note himself. He said he
had written the “long, tall black negro
message” on "single-ruled, white pa
per from a tablet." He asserted that
Fran k wrote something ou paper not
white, but a shade of green or gray—
paper that he thought had the letter
head of the National Pencil Company
factory on It.
It -a always been taken for grant
ed tnat the two notes are the work of
one man. The paper of neither cor
responds to that described by Conley
as the kind Frank used. What does
Conley’s assertion signify?
Harassed by questioners, bombard
ed with hostile queries, importuned
and threatened in an effort to get at
the truth In the terrible pend! fac
tory mystery—In the minds of many