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— T -.i. I..H —— * THE ATLANTA ©EORTTTAN AND NEWS STORY OF PHAGAN CASE BY CHAPTERS Slaying of Factory Girl, South’s Most Baffling Crime Mystery, Re viewed in Detail. CHAPTER I. Will the veil of mystery be lifted when the curtain ris*es next Monday on another .scene in Atlanta’s darkest tragedy? A vast audience, shocked by the fttfrror of Mary Phagan’s fate on a Saturday of last April and held through the succeeding weeks In the thrall of the baffling crime drama, in keen suspense awaits this ques tion’s answer. Will Fulton County’s Solicitor Gen eral be able to point his* Anger at Leo M. Frank and exclaim. “That is the man who strangled Mary Phagan!” . backing his damning accusation with such an abundance of evidence that there can remain no shadow of doubt? Or will Luther Rosser, certain to be a towering and masterful factor in the titanic struggle that is to be staged, unmask his strength, bring to bear the secret evidence that has been in his possession for weeks, beat down every bulwark of suspicion that the State has erected about its prisoner and. as a dramatic finale, assail the negro, Jim Conley, cowering in the ■witness stand, with a ‘raking volley of questions that will leave the negro man shaken and terrified, a confes sion of the crime upon his lipe? Whole State Stirred. All of Atlanta—most of the State— is hanging with the most intense in terest on the outcome. No other crime ever stirred Geor gia to its depths as has the slaying of the little factory girl. No murder ever has so gripped the hearts and aroused the sympathies 1 of the people throughout the Stat*>. Georgia’s criminal history reveals no other case in which the public’s interest has remained at fever heat through three months filled with other exciting events. From the time the extras first flamed the details of the brutal killing in the National Pen cil Factory until the present there has appeared to be no diminution in the desire to learn each day’s de velopments. There was in the early days of the tragedy a cry for summary vengeance upon the murderer, but time has tem pered this into a universal demand for justice, which is none the less de termined in that it is not so demon strative as the first hot wave of in dignation. The Phagan case has remained in the public mind partly, of course, be cause it has remained as baflling a mystery as the local detectives ever have encountered. With the mystery solved its appealing interest gradual ly would have died out, but a review of the tragic features of the drama so far as it has progressed and a consideration of those who have parts in it supplies an explanation of why the fate of Mary Phagan is still up permost in the people’s hearts. The revolting circumstances of the crime—the attack, the pitiful % gle of the helpless child in the hanfrA of her assailant, the blow and, finally, the garrote—all refuse to be erased from the memory. Two Principal Figures. But standing out in stronger prom inence than the remembrance of these abhorrent details are two of the principal figures in the tragedy. They are Mary Phagan. victim, and Leo M. Frank, charged by the Sta*e with her death. These two have made the appeal to the public imagination. The contrast in their positions in life Intensified it. Mary Phagan was only a little fac tory girl whose happy and innocent laughter was stilled by one of the blackest crimes in Quanta’s history. Leo Frank, a brilliant young man of position and family, was accused of this deed of a beast in human guise. Mary Phagan was not rich. She was giad to get the $3 or $4 a week that her work at the pencil factory "/on for her. ' .eo Frank's family had wealth. An was a reputed millionaire. - Phagan had hardly the edu- whlch her years entitled h» lines were not always easy m Ler iv-nily and she was driven to neg- PRESERVE BABYS SiflN With CUTICURA SOAP Assisted when necessary by Cuticura Ointment. They Seep the skin and sealpelean ■j^id clear, sweet and healthy, besides soothing irritations V'hich often prevent sleep and if neglected become chronic disfigurements. " Cuticura Soap and Ointment Bold throughout the world Sample of earh mailed free, with 32-p book. Address post-card “Cuticura.” Dept. 14<;, Boston. fiHT'Men who shave and shampoo with Cuticura Soap will And It beat for skin and scalp. LITTLE MARY PHAGAN AND HER CHUM Honk-Honk Drowns Kansas Church Bells lect her schoolbooks and work in the factory. Frank was a Cornell graduate. He had a high technical education. He had been sent abroad to select the machinery for the Atlanta plant. His business associates placed every con fidence in him. His friends knew him for an upright and moral young man. with a most promising career ahead of him. That he would descend to'the level of a criminal of the worst type was inconceivable to them. The possibili ty furnished to thousands of others a subject for daily conjecture. Life of Slain Girl. Mary Phagan’s life began 14 years ago in Marietta. She was the petted “baby” of the family. She had three older brothers and a sister, now 18. Even in the early years of childhood she is remembered as having the pret ty features and attractive ways that made her greatly liked by her girl friends later when she came to work in Atlanta. For a playmate in the days at Ma rietta she had one who was to play a brief but sensational part in April’s tragedy. It was J. M. Gantt. Within a few hours after her cold body was found in the gloomy basement of the National Pencil Factory her child hood playmate was arrested as he left a car In Marietta, to which place there seemed at the time every indi cation that he was fleeing. Her childish prattle had changed to the happy conversation of young girl hood when the family moved to East Point. There bereavement visited the family in the death of Mary’s father. Hardship followed sorrow' and it be came necessary for little Mary to follow the example of her brothers and sisters and assist in providing a livelihood for the family. She could not do much, but she did her mite willingly and cheerfully. A year ago Mrs. Phagan married W. J. Coleman and the family moved to No. 146 Lindsay street, Atlanta. Mary obtained work in the National Pencil Factory and soon made friends with all the children about her home and with the girls she met at the factory. Although she never had many of the luxuries of life, Mary was reared carefully by her mother and enloyed the wise counsel that is sometimes denied the children of families in more pretentious circum stances. All Loved Little Mary. To the loving and painstaking home training, the attractive half- shy little maiden brought a natural ly sw’eet disposition. In the few' lei sure hours she had she often played about her home with the children of the neighbors. The little people of Bellwood, on the outskirts of Atlanta, all grew' to love the sweet-tempered, pretty little girl. When they return ed to their homes after a frolic their conversation was of what Mary had said and what Mary had done. The fathers and mothers began to take notice of her as she laughed and chattered among the other children. They came to w'atch for the time each morning when she boarded a car to go to work at the pencil fac tory- They took a sort of parental interest in the bright-eyed, light hearted little girl. The small community is a bit of a city in itself. Everyone know’s every one else and the neighborly spirit is exemplified in the manner in which the residents, most of them working people, struggle for each other and sympathize in each other’s afflictions. They joined in their near-worship of the little factory girl. She embodied in their minds pure and attractive young girlhood. They guarded her reputation almost as jealously as did her own mother. If anything should happen to her it would be a shock to every family in the little community. On a Thursday, the last In April, Mary was playing with two of her dearest girl chums. Vera Epps and Lillian Waignel. The back yards of the Phagan and Epps homes adjoined. The Waignel girl lived just across the street from Vera Epps at No. 249 Fox street. An expected shipment of met al at the pencil factory had not ar rived and a section of the plant was shut down • temporarily, throwing Mary out of work until the metal should arrive. A Strange Foreboding. The three little girls ran and played about the whole afternoon, laughing and talking in their childish happi ness. Tow'ard evening, tired from the frolic, they rested on the embank ment near their homes. In .the hard red clay thev dug out their initials as they rested. “M. P.” were the letters scratched out of the dirt by Mary. “Let’s keep them here always,” cried Vera, clapping her hands. “But if one of us should die?” sug gested Mary. “Then the other two of us would come back here and dig the initials out again w'hen it rained,” Vera re plied, but a shadow had fallen over the gayety of the little group. Two days later several of the house wives of Bellwood. looking from their windows, saw Mary Phagan get aboard a car for Atlanta, and they never saw her return. Vera Epps waved her a good-bye as Mary hur ried down the street without a thought that it was a last farewell. When Vera looked upon her play mate the next time, there was no answering smile. The pink cheeks that flushed with happiness and health w f ere ghastly white except where they were begrimed and piti fully bruised and swollen. The beau tiful young body', once full of life, was cold and inanimate and mutilated. Goes to the Factory. The Confederate veterans were pre paring to honor their dead when Mary came into town that day. It was a holiday and she had planned to go to the pencil factory to get the $1,20 due her for the s'hort time she had worked that w r eek and then to witness the parade of the boys in gray. She got a word of greeting from Conductor W. T. Hollis w’hen she boarded the car on its run into town. Motorman W. M. Matthew's, who many times before had brought the little girl from her home In Redwood to work in Atlanta, also noticed her as he slowed down to take her at the crossing. Conductor Hollis savg that the car arrived at Broad and Marietta streets at 12:07 o’clock. He wrap relieved there by another conductor and knows only that Mary stayed on the car. Motorman Matthews says that she left at Broad and Hunter and fHY dpii Iral MANHATTAN. KANS., July 22.— Pastors and teachers at the State conference here declare that automo biles are responsible for the lack of Interest in church work. One thousand churches have been abandoned in Kansas. SEABOARD NAMES LOW BALTIMORE RATE. ; $20.85 round trip, on sale Au- < gust 1-2-3. Through electric light- > ed steel trains, excellent Dining s Car service. Ticket Office, 88 f Peachtree. ■'****:, V ’X. started toward the factory. Some time between 12:10 and 12:15 Mary Pha gan entered the doors of the National Pencil- Factory and w’ent to the office of Lao TCrank, where she drew her pay. She never was seen alive after that moment except by the brute that attacked her, beat her cruelly and completed his demoniac crime by’ looping a cord about the tender flesh of her neck and strangling her tc death. No One Saw Her Alive Again. From the moment that the little factory girl entered th« office of Frank the mystery dated. Whether she never left the presence of the young superintendent alive, the public does* not know. Whether she started down the stairs and there was attacked by a negro fiend lurking in the darkness, later paying out the toll of her young life to the fury of his bestiality, also is shrouded in a mystery as yet un dispelled by the searching investiga tion of three months. Many pieces of evidence point to the latter surmise, but no one, so far as is known, is able to say wifh cer tainty that this is so, save possibly Jim Conley himself. Conley and Frank, by their own ad missions. w'ere in the factory when Mary' Phagan entered. Frank told freely of his presence there. Conley's confession was wrung from him after three weeks in a cell at the police sta tion. Upstairs on the fourth floor were Harry' Denham and Arthur White. Mrs. White visited the factory to see her husband. She left shortly' before 1 o’clock, when Frank came to the fourth floor to tell the men that if they w’ished to remain they would have to stay’ until about 3 o’clock, as he was going home for lunch and would lock them in. Frank Alone in Factory. They stayed in the factory and Frank departed within a few minutes. Shortly before 3 o’clock he returned and the men came downstairs and left, after White had gone into Frank’s office to borrow $2. Frank was alone in the factory from this time until 4 o’clock. No one has any information as to when Conley' left or how he left, except by his own statements. He says that he left shortly after 1 o’clock by the front door. If Frank’s story of the time be quit the building is true, it is fairer to presume that the negro left some time after 1 o’clock and through th«* basement’s rear door, which he forced open by pulling the staple. Newt Lee. the negro night watch man. came to the factory at 4 o’clock. He unlocked the outside door and the door leading up to the second floor. “All right, Mr. Frank,” he shout ed as he approached the superintend ent’s office. Sent Negro Lee Away. Frank appeared rubbing his hands and remarking that it was too bad Le e had come down at this time as he might as w’ell have stayed at home and got more sleep. He told Lee he might go and return at 6 o’clock, the regular hour for report ing. A few’ minutes after Lee came back to the factory. J. M. Gantt, a dis charged employee, walked across the street and said he would like to go into the factory and get a pair of shoes he had left there three weeks before. Frank gave him permission, but seemed a little doubtful of Gantt’s real purpose. After the fac tory superintendent had gone to his home, he (‘ailed Lee up on the. tele phone and asked if Gantt were gone and everything was all right at the factory. Lee replied that Gantt had left as soon as he had obtained the .shoes and called up a girl friend from the office. Lee made his regular rounds for several hours that night, shutting dow'n all the window's and making his trip over the different floors, as was his custom. He climbed down the ladder into the basement to see if everything was all right down there. He went no farther, however, than the flickering gas light at the bottom pf the lad der. Peering through the darkness, he saw' nothing out of the way. Second Trip to Basement, That night was no different than any' other night up until shortly be fore 3 o’clock in the morning, if the negro’s story' is to be credited. At this time he made another trip into the basement. Did he hear some sound that led him to go down the ladder and ven ture beyond the dim circle of light* from the gas jet? Was some other living being in the cellar when he clambered down the ladder? He says not. With his dirty, smoky lanterr. he descended through the scuttle hole. This time he did not stop at the little area of light made by the gas jet. Swinging his lan tern slowly back and forth in front of him, he made his way toward the rear of the basement. Near the boiler he stopped. After a few moments he looked about him. What was that ly'ing over there to his left on a pile of sawdust and oth er trash and dirt? Could It be that some of the rascally fellows in the plant were playing this ghoulish joke on him? Tremblingly he held the lantern in front of him. The black man’s eyes dilated with horror. There could be no mistake about it. Hit Impulse was to flee, but he pulled himwelf together. He started toward the dark, inert object lying there on the trash heap (To Be Continued To-morrow.) Motorcyclist Hurt In Auto Collision Dave Rudisall, of College Park. Is in Grady Hospital with a broken leg as a result of a collision between his motorcycle and an automobile near Fort McPherson Monday afternoon. The automobile was driven by Harry Manning, of East Point. His machine was uninjured and he car ried Rudisall to the hospital. 6,500-Pound Cheese Made in New York UTICA. N. Y., July 22.—The finish ing touches pn a cheese weighing 6.500 pounds, the largest cheese ever made In New York State, if not in the w'orld. were put on to-day' at the Gowdy factory in Martinsburg. Two days’ milk from two factories was required. The cheese will be exhibited at the State fair in Syra cuse. CfiST fie HOUSE Recess Taken Out of Respect to Speaker Burwell, Whose Sis ter Died Suddenly. A shadow was thrown over the House Tuesday morning by the death of Speaker W. H. Harwell's sister. Misy Ruth Burw'ell. Out of respect to the Speaker the House recessed for tw'o hours after adopting resolutions expressing sympathy for the bereaved member. Miss Burwell died Monday' after noon at 5 o’clock at the residence of Mrs. Brooks, in Griffin, where she was visiting. While .“he had not been w’ell for some time, her death was unex pected. Mr. Burwell spent Sunday with her and she appeared to be much improved. Miss Burwell was well known throughout the State, being a woman of unusual brilliance. Her home was in Albany, where she was dearly be loved. She was 35 y’ears of age. Second Among Members’ Family. Her death is the ►'econd to occur among the families of House members during this session. Chairman L. R. Akin, of the Ways and Means Com mittee. suffered the loss of a daugh ter tw’o weeks ago. Adjournment for the entire day would have been taken Tuesday hut for the fact that a joint meeting of the Senate and House had been ar ranged for the canvassing of the vote for United States Senator July 15, in which Senator Bacon was the only candidate. In future the House will get down to work early, adopting a resolution Tuesday morning petting the hour of convening at 9 o’clock for the remain ing 23 days of the session. The regu lar hour of adjournment, 1 o'clock, Will continue. House Faces Three Busy Weeks. With virtually every committee meeting daily, the members of the Houmg are facing three strenuous weeks. The local bills have been dis posed of in wholesale quantities knd but a small number remain before the House. The calendar is rapidly get ting down to a general bill basis and scant attention will be paid to local ones in the future. The recess prevented the taking up of the general appropriations bill which Chairman Wheatley, of the Ap propriations Committee, had an nounced he would call for to-day', and it probably will be taken up Wed nesday. The appropriation bill takes precedent over all other bills*. PICTURES THEY FELL IN LOVE WITH.—The surprising romances I that followed three paintings, for which Cupid mixed the colors, will be revealed in next Sunday's Ameri can. EJOLTED El GIVEN TRIPLE PENALTY. COLUMBUS.—Moss Gose, a negro, who tried to enter the home of W. A McCrany r , a w’hite man, and when prevented by McCrany’s wife, cursed in her presence, was fined $25, sen tenced to 30 days on the rock pile and placed under bond to appear in the City Court. Boarder Adores Landlady, but She Has Him Bound Over as a Firebug. Confessions of love requited were made and repudiated in Judge Broyles’ court Tuesday w'hen the trial of G. A. Vaughn on the charge of arson made by Mrs. A. C. Klapper following the burning of her home at No. 256 East Hunter street last Fri day was heard. Vaughn was bound over to a high er court under bond of $3,000, but not before he had emptied his heart of all its feeling for his accuser and de clared that his love had not been spurned by her. “Why she placed her arms about me and kissed me tenderly the morn ing of the fire,’’ Vaughn, who was a boarder at Mrs. Klapper’ home, de clared. “And now she charges me with arson. It can not be true." By this statement, Mrs. Klapper. w'ho is past middle age, was consid erably ruffled. “I never did kiss him," she exclaim ed. “On e time he gave me $30 when I w’as sick to pay doctors’ bills, and when I bought a coat with the money he got mad and said he would burn it up. And he did, and my house, i too.” The fir* was discovered in a closet in Vaughn's room on the top floor shortly after he had departed for downtown. Miss Bonnie Burns, an other boarder, testified at the trial that Vaughn, in leaving the house had looked up at the roof. Miss Burns' testimony proved the strong est against Vaughn. SNAKE BITE FATAL. BAXLEY.—Will Morris, 15 y’ears old, living near the Altamaha River. Appling County, who was bitten by a rattlesnake, died after twelve hours of agony. There is a piece of Real Estate adver tised in the “Want Ad” columns of The Georgian to day which will make the buyer rich. WILL IT BE YOU? % SPECIAL NOTICE! Wilton Jellico COAL WHY CRIME DOES NOT PAY.— Sophie Lyons, most famous criminal of modern times, tells of thrilling events which crowded one short week of her life, in next Sunday’s American. July Delivery Only Place Your Order at Once JELLICO COAL CO. 82 PEACHTREE ST. Ivy 158S Atlanta 3668 TO THE MECHANIC BANKER MERCHANT CLERK To you who love music & can not play piano. You need not deprive yourself of music, the greatest of all home enjoyment, another day. 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