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TTTE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS
3
CHAPTER 4 IN PHAGAN MYSTERY
Inquest Into Slaying
of Factory Girl and
First Sensational
‘Confession’ of Negro
Sweeper Jim Conley.
CHAPTER IV.
Through all the interrogation of
witnesses by the Coroner’s jury and
through the ordeal of a half day’s in
quisition of Leo M. Frank, no bit of
direct and positive evidence was de
veloped against either Newt Lee or
Frank. When, however, at the close
of their session on Thursday, May 8,
the six jurors found that Mary Pha-
gan had come to her death by strang
ulation and ordered that Frank and
Lee be held to the Grand Jury, they
did the only thing left to them.
So far as they knew at that time
Frank and Lee were the only persons
who could have had the opportunity
to commit the crime. They knew that
they were unequal to the mystery, the
baffling elements of which mounted
in numbers and proportions as the
case progressed. They passed it on to
the Grand Jury.
Lee and Frank, as the two persons
who presumably would know the most
about the crime, were probably the
most important witnesses, but the
closest interrogation of the negro
failed to bring out any important tes
timony that he had not already given
the officers.
Frank Recalled to Stand.
Frank was recalled to the stand for
a few’ moments when the inquest re
sumed Thursday, May 8, but nothing
was developed. The spectators, how
ever, were sure that disclosures which
might fix the guilt for the crime would
be made during the testimony of Har
ry Scott, who had been working on the
case for the Pinkertons. Scott fol
lowed Frank upon the stand. He told
of his negotiations with Frank and
the other National Pencil Company
officials.
The little room was hushed await
ing the answer when Coroner Donehoo
shot at him just as his testimony was
concluding:
“Have you any definite clew a? to
w’ho committed this awful murder?'’
Scott’s reply was a disappointment
to those in the crowded inquest room.
“I would not care to commit myself
that far,” he said.
“Have you any' definite suspicion?”
persisted Coroner Donehoo.
Detectives Non-committal.
“We are working along a chain ol
evidence which I would not cato
give out,” the detective replied.
Detective Black’s testimony was
fully as non-committal. It was a
striking commentary on the fact that
the detectives had been working on
the case near two weeks and as yet
had n’o more idea of the identity of
the murderer of Mary Phagan than
they had at the end of the first three
days after the body was found.
They had a “chain of evidence”
which established that Leo Frank was
in the factory when Mary Phagan ar
rived and later was attacked, a cir
cumstance which Frank already had
freely' and promptly acknowledged
Beyond this they had nothing direct
or positive.
They had dropped all their suspi
cion of Gantt and Mullinax and th«
young men were released. After both
had been identified with a degree of
certainty that left little doubt that
they had been with Mary Phagan the
night that she was slain, it was proved
that neither had seen the little factory
girl for weeks.
Mullinax Freed by Girl.
The loyal defense of Mullinax by
Miss Pearl Robinson, his pretty 18-
year-old sweetheart, was one of the
bright spots in the sordid murder
mystery. When she heard of the
things of which the police were ac
cusing her lover she went with all
**peed to the station and there, indig
nant that anyone could make such a
blunder as to suspect “Arthur,” she
told the detectives what she thought
of them, declared that Mullinax was
with her at the time the crime then
was thought to have been committed,
and finally all but stormed his cell
and took him away with her.
With the work of the Coroner’s Jury
finished, conjecture at once arose as
to the probable action of the Grand
Jury.
The handling of the case passed at
this time largely out of the control of
the detectives and was assumed by
Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey.
Within a few days his announcement
came that he had engaged the “great
est detective in the world,” and it be
came the general hope that when the
Grand Jury met to consider the case,
some positive evidence would have
been developed to fasten the crime
definitely upon one person or another.
Burn* Man Investigates.
The “greatest detective” proved to
be Frank Pond, at one time a Pinker
ton operative. What evidence of value
he uncovered is still a secret closely
guarded by the Solicitor. About the
same time negotiations were started
to bring the world-famous W. J.
Burns to Atlanta. Burns, however,
was abroad, having just taken part in
the search for J. Wilberforce Martin,
the wealthy Memphian, and was un
able to come at once. C. W. Tobie,
one of the Burns superintendents,
FACTORY SUP ERI NT END ENT W H 0
IS CHARGED WITH SLAYING GIRL
His testimony
ft the inquest
was straight
forward and
convincing
of his
Mary Phagan by choking her to death
with a cord about her neck. The
jurors had barely gathered when over
at the police station Jim Conley,
practically ignored by the detectives
up to this time, made his first con
fession following an interview in The
Georgian with E. F. Holloway, day
watchman at the factory, in which
Holloway accused the negro of know
ing much more about the killing of
Mary Phagan than he had told.
Conley sent for Detective John
Black.
"Boss, I wrote them notes,” the
negro said, as soon as Black appeared.
Black was thunderstruck. The pos
sibility that Conley wrote the notes
had hardly entered the minds of the
detectives. They had centered on the
theory that Frank committed the
crime and readily adopted the belief
that he disguised his hand and
scrawled the almost illegible and un
intelligible notes that were found by
the body of the dead girl.
Black at once took Conley to the
office of Chief Lanford to obtain his
full statement. An affidavit was pre
pared and the negro swore to it. It
related that he had written the notes
at the direction of Frank and in
Frank s office. He said that he was
working in the factory Friday, the
day before the murder, and that
Frank came to him and told him to
come into the office. It was four
minutes of 1 o’clock.
Says Frank Dictated Notes.
Frank told him to write: “Dear
Mother, a long tall black negro did
this by himself,” according to Conley.
The negro said that Frank had him
write several times on a white
scratchpad single ruled and then on
a pad of brown paper. Frank then
took the pencil and copied it, said
Conley, muttering after a moment,
"Why should I hang?”
Conley’s remarkable story created
a turmoil in police circles and aroused
the public to a pitch of exoitement
that had not been equaled since the
first days following the slaying. It
pointed to the certainty that Conley
knew a great deal in regard to the
murder. It had, however, one puz
zling feature that robbed it in the
public mind of much of its credi
bility.
Conley asserted that the notes were
written on Friday. This statement,
on its face, was utterly ridiculous
and improbable. No one believed that
the murder was planned a day ahead
of time.
Frank, if he was guilty, did not
know that Mary Phagan was coming
in the factory at a certain time the
next day, and had he known, no one
held the conviction that be deliber
ately planned her slaying.
Suspicion Turns to Negro.
Conley’s story carries the assump
tion that Frank on Friday afternoon
was preparing to destroy Mary Pha-
gan’s life the next day. The first ef
fect of the weird tale was to direct
suspicion most strongly to the negro
himself. He had shown that he had
a knowledge of the crime.
A comparison of his writing with
that on the murder notes showed
them to be identical. It did not re
quire any handwriting expert to de
termine this. Half a dozen of the ex
perts had declared the writing to be
that of Lee. Others had said it was
Frank’s cleverly disguised. A few
thought that Mary Phagan herself
was the author.
By the next day the detectives had
decided that Conley’s story was
worthless so far as it accused Frank,
it must be changed if it were to be
regarded as incriminating in the least.
Conley was brought into Lanford’s
office the next Tuesday to be grilled
again. The “sweating" had its effect.
Conley's second “confession” was
given to the public. This time he
said that he wrote the notes on Satur
day Instead of Friday. He explained
that he had said Friday in the first
place because he was afraid he would
be connected with the crime if he ad
mitted he had been in the factory on
the day the girl was killed.
Says Frank Called Him.
In his, first confession he said that
Frank had called him from an aisle
where he was working into the of
fice. In the second he declared that
he met Frank at Nelson and Forsyth
Streets about 10 o’clock Saturday
morning, and that Frank had told him
to wait a few minutes while he went
into Montag Brothers’ plant.
The negro said that Frank was gone
about 20 minutes, and then the two
of them walked toward the pencil fac
tory. His story was that Frank told
him to sit on one of the boxes on the
first floor until he heard a whistle.
While sitting there he saw’ several
persons enter thfe factory and others
leave. He thought that he must have
fallen asleep, for he was aroused by
the sound of a whistle. Looking up,
he declared he saw Frank standing
at the head of the stairs leading to
the second floor. Frank beckoned to
him, he said. On reaching the second
floor, Conley related that Frank grip
ped him nervously by the arm and led
him into the office. Then followed
the tale of the note writing, which
was given in the first affidavit.
When Conley's signature had been
affixed to this second affidavit and he
had solemnly asserted, “I’m telling the
truth this time, white folks,” the de
tectives still were dissatisfied with his
story. They did not believe he had
told all he knew. His story as it
stood had several statements that con
flicted with the stories of other per
sons who had been in the factory
during the day.
Discrepancies in His Story.
He had told of seeing Miss Mattie
Smith and Foreman M. B. Darley
leave the building. He had repeated
their conversation and had described
Miss Smith’s apparel. But he had
said that he was not in the factory
until he came with Frank at 11
o’clock, and both Miss Smith and Dar
ley had testified that they left be
tween 9:30 and 10 o’clock and did not
return.
He was vague on several other
points that made his story suspicious.
He appeared to be holding something
Mother Stanislaus
Tells of Recovery
Any person who may doubt the merits of
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Convent of St Anne. 800 Oak Ave..
Sanford, Fla.
“Gentlemen: In February, 1911, four doctors
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(Signed) MOTHER M STANISLAU8.
(Above abbreviated; more on request.)
Eckman's Alterative has been proven by many
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Philadelphia. Pa., for booklet telling of recov
eries and additional evidence.
came in his chief’s place and worked
on the case for several weeks, and
then left without making announce
ment of any important discoveries.
Along with these sleuths a half
dozen other experts were drawn into
the mystery. Among them were P.
A. Flak, the New York finger-print
expert: L. J. Fletcher, Bertillon ex
pert at the Federal prison, and a
number of physicians and bacteriol
ogists.
Lessening in significance much of
the work accomplished and the evi
dence found by these men was the
fact that they for the most part had
concluded their investigations and had
left the city before one of the most
important elements of the whole mys
tery was introduced which they had
not given consideration in their in
vestigations or in their theories.
This element was the fact that
there was another person, of whom I
they knew nothing, in the factory at i
the time the girl was attacked.
Pond’s Theory Shattered.
Frank Pond, “the greatest detec- .
tive,” is understood to have said that |
he could fix the guilt upon Frank by |
a process of elimination. He con
sidered one person after another, [
showing that it would have been im
possible for each one of them to com
mit the crime.
When he had finished, Leo Frank
was the only one to whom sufficient
opportunity had been afforded. But
he was unaware of the presence in
the building of a skulking negro, who
from his hiding place watched the
factory girls and other employees as
they entered and left the building.
As the day for the Grand Jury ses
sion approached, the Solicitor re
doubled his efforts to obtain some
definite evidence for presentation to
the jurors. A sensation was created
when the Solicitor, Dr. J. W. Hurt,
County Physician, and Dir. H. F.
Harris, Director of the State Board
of Health, made a secret trip to Ma
rietta and exhumed the body of Mary
Phagan in the little graveyard there.
It was rumored that the Solicitor
had come into possession of startling
evidence which he hoped to strength
en by a re-examination of the body.
The mystery was deepened when a
second trip was made to the cemetery
and the body again taken up. Dr.
Harris never revealed the results of
his analysis of the girl’s stomach,
which was made on the theory that
she had been drugged.
Factory Giris Questioned.
A succession of witnesses visited
Dorsey every day. He turned one
witness out only to admit another.
Scores of girls from the factory were
questioned in regard to Frank’s ac
tions toward them. It was supposed
that if any of these girls gave the
Solicitor ‘ the evidence for which he
FRECKLES
Don’t Hide Them With a Veil; Re‘
move Them With the Othlne
Preecrlptlon.
This prescription for the removal
of freckles was written by a prom
inent physician and is usually so ;
successful in removing freckles and
giving a clear, beautiful complexion
that it is sold by Jacobs’ Pharmacy
under an absolute guarantee to re
fund the money If it fails.
Don’t hide your freckles under a
veil; get an ounce of othlne and re
move them. Even the first few ap
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improvement, some of the lighter
freckles vanishing entirely.
Be sure to ask the druggist for
the double strength othine; It is this
that is sold on the money-back guar- \
antee.
ELECTING
SATISFACTORY
WANTS
is usually a difficult
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USE
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was looking they would be placed on
the stand at the trial in the event
that Frank’s character was put in
issue.
One of the startling stories that
came to the Solicitor’s ears was that
cries of anguish had been heard com
ing from the factory at 4:30 o’clock
the Saturday afternoon that Mary
Phagan was killed. Miss Willie M.
Ross, No. 259 Crew' street, is the young
woman who was said to have given
the Solicitor the information.
At 4:30 in the afternoon Frank was
alone in the factory, so far as is
known, except for the Phsgan girl.
Miss Ross is said to have told the
Solicitor that she heard piercing
screams as she was passing :he fac
tory Saturday afternoon. She said
that at first the cries were shrill and
distinct and then died away into
moans and became inaudible.
Two blank bills of indictment were
presented to the Grand gjury when it
met Friday, May 23. One was drawn
against Frank and the other against
Lee. Murder by strangulation was
charged in each of the bills. While
the jury was deliberating came the
sensational charges of attempted
bribery made Against Colonel Thomas
B. Felder by A. S. Colyer, Jr., work
ing in co-operation with the detective
department. Felder was accused of
trying to buy Phagan evidence in thq
possession of Chief of Detectives
Lanford by offering Lanford’s secre
tary, G. C. Febuary, $1,000.
New Sensations Sprung.
The next day, Saturday, was re
plete with sensations. An indictment
was brought against Leo Frank,
charging him with the murder of
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nR I n MIIHMFC; 0 PP oolt« Third National Bank
1SH. J. u. 16 1-2 North Broad Stroot, Atlanta, Oa.
Reduction Sale
Now Going On—-To Make Room For Our
New Hat Department
Where we will carry a complete line of high-
grade Hats, Caps, etc. Our first season in Men’s
Furnishings—Everything fresh and new. The
following substantial reductions are
on our entire stock of
Shirts and Neck
now in force
wear
SHIRTS
All $5.00 Shirts, now ....
. . $3.75
All $3.00 Shirts, now ....
. . $2.25
All $2.50 Shirts, now r ....
. . $1.75
All $2.00 Shirts, now' ....
. . $1.50
All $1.50 Shirts, now ....
. . $1.15
NECKWEAR
All 50c Ties, now 3 for . . . .
. . $1.00
Ail $1.00 Ties, now
. . 65c
All $1.50 Ties, now
. . $1.00
All $2.00 and $2.50 Ties, now . .
. . $1.25
All $3.00 and $4.00 Ties, now r . .
. . $2.00
back. The detective? and the public
became convinced that he had seen
Mary Phagan in the factory that
tragic Saturday. Conley was believed
to be on the verge of a full confes
sion. He had displayed so much
knowledge of the happenings that day
in the factory- that it seemed certain
he must know more.
When he was called into Chief Lan
ford’s room the afternoon of May 29,
it was recognized that it was to be a
test of strength between the detec
tives and the negro. It was a ques
tion of whether they would be able to
break down the negro’s story and
force him to give out a true state
ment of all he knew about the mys
tery.
He was taken into the office of
Chief Lanford shortly after noon. He
was not returned to his cell until after
6 o’clock in the evening. For six hours
questions were shot at him without
ceasing.
Grilling Is Terrific.
“You might as well tell us the truth
now,” he was told when the long in
quisition began.
Time after time he protested that
he had told everything he knew, and
that he had not seen Mary Phagan,
either alive or dead, on April 26.
Baffled temporarily, the detectives
each time returned to the attack.
Ranged In front of the negro. Chief
Lanford, Harry Scott and Detective
Pat Campbell took turns in question
ing their prisoner. His denials con
tinued, but as the ordeal weakened
him his protestations grew less vehe
ment.
Late In the afternoon Lanford’s
secretary. G. C. Febuary, was hur
riedly called into the room. Another
statement was being taken from the
negro.
When Conley, looking worn and ex
hausted, was led back to his cell that
night it was known that he had made
another confession.
Had he acknowledged having apart
in the crime or having actually killed
Mary Phagan?
(To Be Continued To-morrow.)
Bichloride Victim
Saved After 10 Days
ST. LOUIS, July 25.—Physicians at
the City Hospital to-day claimed the
first victory over bichloride of mer
cury after it had gained considerable
headway.
After ten days’ treatment, they say
Edward B. Fischer, victim of the poi
son, will recover.
Light Seismic Shocks
Felt at Georgetown
WASHINGTON, July 25.—A mod
erate earthquake shock was recorded
at Georj^efn«va University to-day. The
disturbance began at 7:44 o’clock anil
ended at 8:08 o'clock.
The shock was along the east and
west lines and Is estimated by Father
TorndorJf, in charge of the observa
tory, to have been about 3,000 miles
from Washington.
f
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In a year or less six of
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And the care that you give
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A few cents investedin a de
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care.iscommon senseinvesled
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Ybu too
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cocemES
RIBBON DENTOL CREAM
Davison-Paxon-Stokes Co.
HAYES BROS.
Tailors and Haberd ashers
9 Peachtree St.
Half Holiday Briefs
in the
Down-Stairs Section
Women’s Silk Dresses at $3.85—values to
$10.00.
Women’s House Dresses at 98c—values
to $2.00.
Women’s Linen Suits at $2.95—values to
$7.50.
Women’s Rain Coats at $1.95.
Women’s All Wool Serge Skirts at $2.00.
Women’s Net Waists at $1.39—value
$3.50.
Women’s Silk Petticoats at $1.19—value
$2.50.
Girls’ $1.00 Wash Dresses at 69c.
Boys’ $1.50 Wash Suits at 89c.
Children’s 50c Rompers at 25c.
Children’s fancy Socks at 10c pair.
Women’s $1.00 Silk Gloves at 25c pair—
small sizes only.
Men’s and Boys’ Balbriggan Underwear
at 25c garment.
Two cakes of genuine Spanish Cas
tile Soap for 5c—value 10c cake.
Remnant Sale
of
Wash Goods
Fine Zephyr Ginghams at 10c yard.
45-inch India Lawn at 10c yard.
36-inch Dress Percales 7 l-2c yard.
Linen-finish Suiting at 7 l-2c yard.
Unbleached Domestic, 27 inches wide, at 4c yard.
Figured Plisse in small floral designs at 11c yard.
Plain Voile in colors at 10c yard.
36-inch White Ratine at 19c yard.
36-inch White Pique at 15c yard.
27-inch White Pique at 10c yard.
Fine Shirting Madras in fast colors at 12 l-2o
yard.
Sheer White Waistings at 10c yard.
Fancy Voiles, Crepes and Suitings at 10c yard.
Imperial Chambray Ginghams at 11c yard.
*!