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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.
CHAPTER 5 IN PHAGAN CASE
Geologist Has Just Completed
Survey—Declares Vast Latent
Wealth Is There.
Warren E. Hall, district enslnecr «>f
the United Sfat.s Geological Survey,
returned to Atlanta Friday from th»
Florida Everglades, where, in corn
pany with E. T. Perkins, M. O. Leigh
ton and Isham Randolph, ho made n
survey to determine the feasibility of
draining the gnat swamps.
Mr. Hall is pleased with the result
of the investigation and declares it
will be possible to reclaim most of
the water-covered area.
"There are,” said Mr. Hall, "hun
dreds of square miles In the Ever
glades where no white man has ever
set foot. I predict that Just as soon
as enough money can be appropriated
and Judiciously used this now useless
territory can he turned into the most
fertile farm land.
Canal To Be Built.
"The first great task to be under
taken will be the construction of a
canal which will connect Miami and
Fort Meyers, thus uniting the east
and west coasts of Florida This
canal will he made navigable for the
largest ships and will reduce the
distance between these two points
165 miles.
"Florida some time ago made an
appropriation for drainage work. Sev
eral million dollars were spent. The
work was done without due consid
eration. The men engaged Jumped al
conclusions, and ns a consequence
the work done Is lost time and money
uselessly spent, for the water does not
run the right wav.
"An appropriation of $40 000 has
been made recently for investigation
alone to determine exactly what can
be done. Our report has gone in and
$0,000,000 will be appropriated at
once.
Beauties of Okechobee.
"One place where the drainage ,
work provloiudy done proved a suc
cess—Zona. Fla, about eight mIFs
west of Fort Lauderdale a real es
tate company purchased 10.000 acres
of land for $1 an acre. This com
pany is selling this land at $80 an
acre.
"The Everglade** are about 20 feet
above sea level and the water can be
made to run easily into the ocean.
Our scheme is to perfect a drainage
system in the wet season and an Ir
rigating system n the dry months.
The soil is rich and black and the cli
mate Is ideal. No malafia is found in
the center of the Everglades at Lake
Okechobee - a beautiful lake about JO
miles square a little inland sea. one
might term it. There is not a minute
in the day that htige black bass do
not Jump In the wafer. There are
hundreds of them, and as you travel
in a boat a continual splashing Is
heard.
Killed Some Alligators.
"There are very few mosquitoes.
Bo far this summer the temperature
In the Everglades has been cool. I
think 92 degrees is the warmest day
we had.
"We traveled many of the rivers,
and, 1 tell you. I saw many strang a
and weird sights We traveled in a
combination sail and power yacht,
in the evening, when the moon shone
bright, we Rat in our boat and
fished. I caught many bass as large
as seven pounds and shot a number
of alligators—one over twelve feet in
length escaped His Jaws were large
enough to take a calf in his mouth.
"I enjoyed the trip every minute
and can positively say that golden
opportunity and fabulous wealth
await investment in the Everglades
of Florida."
House Seems Sure
To Pass Drugs Bill
The Negro Conley’s Confession I hat
He Was Frank’s Accomplice and
Events Leading Up to Trial.
the lrange spell of bis acting had
passed away aroused the suspicion
that there was a possibility of this
third affidavit, too, being a perjury
end this wonderful acting being a
product of th*- black man’s vivid
Imagination, spurred on by the shad
ow of the gallows across his path.
Sipce this dramatic event at the
factory, the negro has not changed
I is story in any essential point, the
dete< tiv- s say. It Is possible that the
authorities are so - ure of the truth of
his tale that they are making no se
rious efforts to gain further admis
sions from him They deny that this
| is a fact They declare that when
! with the negro they have worked on
1 i he theory that h« may he the actual
! i riminal, and many times have put
| him through the third degree in an
; < ffort to get mother confession out of
him.
Many inconsistencies have been
; found in Conley's story. Many ap-
j parent deviitions from truth have
i been pointed out. A number of state.
| ments eonflit ting with the testimony
; of other witnesses were made. Hut it
! remained for William H. Mincey,
1 school teacher and insurance agent, to
! give the negro the lie direct and to
| charge him with the crime.
Mincey Affidavit a Bomb.
Next to the story of Jim Conley
! himself, the affidavit of Mincey, ac-
cusing the negro of the boast of
■ killing a girl, was the most sensa-
| tional of the entire i’hagan mystery.
I In the point of direct accusation, it
I even surpassed the tale of i’onley.
Events of importance have oc-
! ourred in the case through June and
July up to the present, hut the state-
1 ment of Mincey overshadowed them
| all.
Mlnola McK night, negro cook, grill-
1 ed in what Mrs. Frank, wife of the
accused factory superintendent, was
I pleased to term "the detectives’ tor-
■ ture chamber,’’ signed her name to
i an affidavit which told of incrim-
| inating incidents at the home of
Frank the night of the murder and
the next morning. Within a few'
hours after she had been liberated
CHAPTER VI.
"He (Leo Frank) told me that he
had picked up a girl hack there and
had let her fall, and that her heal
had hit against something—he didn’t
know what it was—and for me io
move her, and I hollered and told him
the girl was dead!"
With this startling accusation Jim
Conley Introduced his third confes
sion. Under the rack of a merciless
third degree, continued through the
long afternoon of May 29, he weak
ened or became desperate toward the
last and came out with his remark
able affidavit, which laid the respon
sibility for the killing of Mary Pha-
gan directly upon the shoulders of the
young factory superintendent
Either it was all true or all false.
If it were true, the negro simply had
wilted under the ceaseless fire of the
detectives’ questions and had decided
to own up to his share in the crime
and to seek to protect Frank no long
er. If it were false, Conley, driven
to hay, had, as a forlorn hope of
saving his own neck, concocted the
marvelous tale to thrust the suspi
cion of guilt upon the Jnnocent Frank
Defense Attacks Confession.
The latter is the theory of Frank’s
lawyers, and they will advance it and
bring evidence to support it and argue
In its favor with all the ability at
their command when the trial, set
for next Monday, is under way.
“Why. when the negro admittedly
has told a long series of falsehoods
and has perjured himself repeatedly
since his arrest should this last weird
tale of his be taken as the gospel
truth?" is the question they ask, and
apparently with some ‘degree of rea
son.
True or false, the negro’s story was
wonderfully impressive to the thou
sands who read his damning accusa
tions against the factory superintend
ent next day. If the affidavit wore a
fabrication of the negro’s guilty mind,
it was most cleverly and shrewdly
conceived There was Just enough from the police station she denied to
detail to his narration of how he had a Georgian reporter that she ever
assisted Frank to dispose of the body had made th«? statements accredited
to give the statement the color of nat- I to her in the so-called affidavit,
uralnes* and verity, and not anoh n Foi! ptan t0 Move Conley,
overabundance as to lead to the sus- |
plcion that the incidents were being
manufactured in the brain of the
others entered the building, the tale
of Mincey took on new importance.
He was taken to the office of Attor
ney Rosser and there his statement
was transcribed.
Story Causes Turmoil.
The publication of his accusations
created great excitement in detec
tive circles. Harry ricott, Pinkerton
detective, rushed to the police station,
where he made the declaration tha’
Mincey never told them a story of
that sort when he came there to iden
tify < ’onley. He added that Mince>
had appeared far from confident ihi-
day that Conley was the man he had
talked to Saturday afternoon, April
26.
t'hief Lanford scouted the story and
said he believed it to be a baseless
fabrication. H*» hardlv thought ‘Jo-
defense would call Mincey to tho wit-
ess stand when the trial actually be
gan. .Solicitor Dorsey get out at on e
to make an investigation of the story.
He looked up Mineey's history in
every place he had lived in Georgia.
He also was the recipient of many
letters concerning the insurance
gent-teaeher. At the end of a week
announced that he believed . le
would be able to discredit the affi
davit.
Subsequent developments arc re
cent history. June 30, the date orig
inally set for the lal, approached,
here were well-authenticated rumors
that a postponement would be grant
ed. Judge L. S. Roan, who will pre
side at the trial, was present at a
The Shuptrtne drug bill has been
made special order in the House for
Tuesday. Indications are it will be
passed. The bill provides for rigid
enforcement of the laws against the
*ale of narcotics, it allows a limited
supply of opium and cocaine to be
kept in stores. Inspectors are pro
vided for A spc< ini tax of $10 on
druggists will maintain the system.
Representative Shuptrine. who Is
head of a largo drug firm in Savan
nah and who has been president of
the Georgia Pharmaceutical Associa
tion. has worked hard for the passage
of the bill. He has the personal In
dorsement of more than half the
druggists in Georgia.
Do your eyes ache or blur when
reading? Accurately fitted glasses will
correct your troubles
Oculist service at opticians' prices.
L. N. Huff Optical To., two stores
narrator.
Negro Sticks to Story.
If Conley's storv of the alleged part
he had in the killing of the little fac
tory girl was dramatic, his re-en
actment next day in the old factory
building of every detail of his as
tounding story was infinitely more «o.
While a group of police officials, de
fectives, factory attaches and news-
j paper men followed him closely about
I the second floor, down the elevator,
into the basement and hack again,
listening, spellbound, to his every
word, the negro reproduced, move
ment by movement, every detail <>f
the grewsomo work in which he said
he had had only a part.
rnhesitattngiy—almost unconcern
edly—he started from the point where
he said he came u M on the body, in
the rear of the second floor near the
metal department. Except for an o 1 ’-
caslonal question from Chief Beavers
Chief Lanford or Harry Scott, he told
I his story without prompting.
Re-enacts Ghastly March.
"There’s where she laid," he said,
I pointing to a narrow passageway, and
he dropped down on the floor to show
| exactly the position of Mary Pha-
i gan’s body as he had said he found
| her. He lay partly on his face, with
i Ids right leg slightly drawn up.
"Why, this girl’s stone dead!” he
! declared he yelled to Frank in the
first fright of his discovery. "Mr.
Frank was standing in the doorway
right there. He told me to get a
sack and put her body in that."
Then the negro showed where he
found the crocus bagging in which his
affidavit said he carried the body. Ho
made as though he were carrying a
heavy weight on his shoulders, and
pointed out where the burden of the
dead girl’s body became too heavy for
him. He said he called on Frank to
help him. The superintendent, he said,
came, cursing him for his clumsiness.
But Frank was nervous. Conley as
serted, and himself dropped the feet
of the little girl when they had pro
ceeded but n few steps farther. The
negro proceeded to the elevator, where
he said he waited for Frank to get
j the key, described the trip to the
basement and his carrying of the body
to the trash heap at the rear while
Frank, he said, watched at the little
trapdoor to see that no one inter-
; rupted them.
Te|| 8 of Writing Notes.
Conley said that he ran the eleva
tor returning, and that Frank go on at
the first floor.
“Gee, that was a tiresome Job,"
Frank said, according to the negro.
"Then Mr. Frank hops off the ele-
; vatcr before it gets to the second
floor." he continued, "and he makes
a stumble and he hits the floor and
j catches with both hands, and he went
I around *o the sink to wash his hands,
I and 1 went and cut off the motor and
1 i
52 W. Mitchell. 70 Whitehall
idv.
I
SEASHORE
EXCURSION
AUGUST 7.
Jacksonville, Brunswick,
St. Simon, Cumberland, At
lantic Beach, $6.00 Limit
ed 6 days. Tampa, Fla,, $8
—Limited 8 days.
TWO SPECIAL TRAP/3.
10 p. m. solid Pullman train.
10:15 p. m. Coach train.
Make Reservations Now.
SOUTHERN RAILWAY.
tood and waited for Mr. Frank to
come from around there washing his
bands, and then we went into his of
flee, and Mr Frank he couldn’t hard
lv keep still.”
Conley then described the writing
of the note?, which he had maintained
from the time of his first affidavit
had been dictated to him by Frank.
Conley went through the grim dra
ma with a realism that was convinc
ing. llis readiness, his unfaltering
course from the second floor to the
has. inent and back again, his prompt
explanation of every puzzling point
that arose, his quotations of alleged
conversations that occurred between
Frank and himself all quite erased
from the memory the confessed fact
that he had just been guilty in his
two previous affidavits of the grosest
falsehood. For the moment everyone
was willing to believe the negro im-
! pllcltly.
Suspicion Again Aroused.
Rut a sober second thought after
INCINNATI
TWO FAST TRAINS
Lv. 7:12 A^M-a 5:10 PM.
An effort was made to get Conley
away from the detectives by having
him removed to the Tower. This at
tempt was frustrated in a proceed
ing characterized by Attorney Ros
ser as farcical in the extreme. Frank’s
counsel charged that the detectives
were afraid to let Conley talk.
Strength was added to the defense
in June by the addition of Reuben
Arnold, one of the city's noted crim
inal lawyers, to Frank’s counsel. Ar
nold Haid in making the announce
ment that he was to aid in the de-
tense declared that he had reviewed
the evidence carefully and had be-
cnme convinced that Frank could not
be guilty of the crime.
Habeas corpus proceedings to ob
tain the freedom of Newt Lee. held
in the Tower since his .commitment
soon after the murder, were brought
by the attorneys for the negro, but
failed, except in changing Lee's status
and procuring for him more priv
ileges.
Charges Death Boast.
On July 10 The Georgian published
the startling charges of Mincey which
were contained in an affidavit in pos
session of the defense. Four days
later The Georgian got from Mincey,
who was teaching school at Rising
Faun, Ala., his own story of
his conversation with Conley in
which he declared the negro on the
afternoon that Mary Pluigan was
slain had bragged of killing a girl.
Mincey for a short time was an
agent for thr American Insurance
Company, of No. 115 1-2 North Pryor
street. He was assigned a district
west of the Terminal Station. He
declared in bis affidavit that he work
ed in the office until noon on April
26, and in the afternoon went on
Peachtree street and saw the pa
rade. Later he said he went over be
vend Davis street on "back calls" and
to make an effort to close some pros*-
pects.
Mincey saw Conley, he asserted
sitting by the house situated on the
bluff at the junction of Electric ave
nue and Carter street. According to
Mincey. the negro appeared to be
asleep, but as the agent passed by
Conle\ raised his head and shouted:
"Who is that?”
"It’s a ‘policy man,’" said a negro
woman who was going by at the
time.
Says Conley Was Excited.
“I stopped and got into a conver
satlon with the negro about insur
ance,” said Mincey in his formal
statement to The Georgian.
"He told me his name was Jim
Conies lie told me that he lived at
No. 172 Rhodes street. I saw’ there
was something wrong with him He
was nervous and excited and tried to
put me off by telling me to come to
No. 172 Rhodes street next week and
he would take insurance.
“lie told me he was in trouble,
asked him it they had had him in
the jail or stockade. He said no, but
that he was expecting to be in jail
and that right away. I asked him
what for.
"He said: 'Murder; 1 killed a girl
to-day! ’
“I started down toward him.
“He said ’I tell you not to come
down here.’
“When he saw that I was coming
anyway, he jumped up, a*nd as he
went around the corner of the house
he said: ‘I have killed one to-day
and 1 don't want to kill another.’ ”
Believed It Idle Brag.
Mincey went on to relate that lie
had not attached much Importance to
the incident at the time, thinking tha
the negro was boasting of some negro
scrape in which he had been involv
When he read the papers the nex
Monday, however, he was struck with
the conviction that Conley was the
man w-ho committed the murder.
He said that he went to the fnotorv
the next day, but that every thing was
so confused and chaotic that no on®
would listen to his story, and he was
almost chased out of the building
along with a score of others who were
offering the detectives and factory of
ficials suggestions and clews.
Before lie left he gained the ear of
E. F. Holloway’, day watchman, but
Holloway told him that there were no
j negroes about the building before 4
j o’clock, so far as he knew, and Min-
j cey departed.
When Conley’ came out with his
admission that he not only was in the
j factory the day of the crime, but that
! lie was skulking in the shadow's of th^
I first fioor when Mary Phagan and
conference of the attorneys June 24.
and by agreement between counsel jet
the date for next Monday, July 28.
Conley Indictmept Urged.
With the publication of the sensa
tional charges of Mincey came a de
mand for an Investigation of Conley *
part in the crime by the Grand Jury.
The demand was made on the ground
that, if the negro were guilty, he
should not go into the trial with the
crediblyty of a free man, when it
would T>e a natural supposition that
the most natural thing for him to «'0
would be to testify againnt Frank in
order to shift the blame from his own
shoulders, where It belonged. It was
argued that Conley should have ex
actly the same status as Frank.
Solicitor Dorsey bitterly opposed a
movement of thic sort. He said that
ho would fight it to the last. He de
clared he had sufficient evidence to
convict the factory' superintendent
and that he was confident of his guilt.
Over the Solicitor’s head, Foreman
W. I> Beatie called a meeting of
the Grand Jury, on the request of
many of its members. The Solicitor
was asked to be present when the
jurors met ’July 21. No other wit
nesses were called. The Solicitor for
an hour and a half detailed his rea
sons for not desiring the indictment
of Conley. At the conclusion of the
session it was announced that no ac
tion would be taken on the negro’s
case at that time.
Dorsey Balks Postponement.
The next skirmish came on the pro
posal again to postpone the trial. The
Solicitor again set himself in opposi
tion to this plan, declaring that the
B-tate had been prepared to go ahead
since June 30 and that there was no
valid reason apparent why it could
not go on when called July 28.
Frank will go on trial for his life
next Monday if no motion for a con
tinuance is successful. The present
indications are that no effort will be
made for a postponement. Witnesses
are being summoned by both sides;
the Judge has expressed his opinion
that the trial will proceed, and the
venire has been drawn.
The young factory superintendent
will go before the tribunal expressing
confidence in his acquittal. Through
the three months that he has been
imprisoned in a cell at the Tower his
Optimism never has left him for a
moment. He is one of the most re
markable prisoners ever in the county
Jail. He has been assured and confi
dent. He has talked little of the crime,
even among his friends. He has read
the papers and magazines closely.
When he ha^ been visited by his wife
and other relatives, the conversation
invariably has been on cheerful sub
jects. He has refuse J to be drawn
into a discussion of the mystery with
the reporters.
“The guilty man should hang,” the
remark he made when told of Con
ley’s third confession, is practically
his sole comment on Atlanta’s great
est murder mystery.
HEARST’S
Daily
GEORGIAN
Sunday
AMERICAN
Now Leads Them All
Statement Filed by Atlanta Georgian With
the Postoffice Department
STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MAN
AGEMENT, CIRCULATION, ETC., of THE AT
LANTA GEORGIAN, published daily at Atlanta, Geor
gia, required by the Art of August 24, 1912. Editor,
Keats Speed, Atlanta, Ga. Managing Editor, H. M.
Schraudenbaeh, Atlanta, Ga. Business Manager, H. E.
Murray, Atlanta, Ga. Publisher, The Georgian Com
pany, Atlanta, Ga. Owner The Georgian Company,
W. R. Hearst, 137 Riverside Drive, New York, N. Y.
Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security
holders, holding one per cent or more of total amount
of bonds, mortgages or other securities: W. R. Hearst,
137 Riverside Drive, New York, N. Y. The Trust Corn-
pan j 7 of Georgia, Atlanta, Ga., Trustee. Average num
ber of eopies of each issue of this publication sold or dis
tributed through the mails or otherwise, to paid sub
scribers during the six months preceding April 1, 1913,
43,236; free to advertisers, employees, exchanges, serv
ice, etc., 3,112; total circulation, 46,348. H. E. Murray,
Business Manager. Sworn to and subscribed before me
this 24th day of July, 1913. (Seal) H. C. Crosthwait,
Notary Public. My commission expires March, 1915.
SWORN CIRCULATION STATEMENT
June 1st to June 30th
CITY CIRCULATION
By Carrier 19,144
Street Sales and News Stands 7,891
Suburban Agents (20-Mile Zone) ..... 11,007
Total 38,042
COUNTRY CIRCULATION
Country Agents 20,933
Mail 6.859
Total 27,792
DAILY AVERAGE CIRCULATION.... 65,834
SUNDAY CIRCULATION 87,589
The above figures are true and correct to the best of my
information and belief. (Signed) ALBERT ELLIS,
Circulation Manager.
Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 9th day of July,
1913. H. C. CROSTHWAIT,
Notary Public, Fulton County, Ga. My Commission Expires
1915.
You Can’t Afford io
Miss To-morrow’s Great
1 SUNDAY
American
It is supreme in the Southern Newspaper
field and contains more live, up-to-date features
than all the others combined.
HERE ARE SOME OF
THE FEATURES
Great Comic Section
Funny cartoons by world famous artists. Young
and old alike are put in good humor for the entire
day after reading it.
Sociely and Society’s Doings
Polly Peachtree’s gossip has all Atlanta talking.
Her entertaining chatter is unsurpassed in lively
interest and is reinforced by pages of beautiful pic
tures and newsy gossip.
The World of Sport
The greatest experts in the world write for the
Sunday American and every brand of sport is ex
haustively covered and finely illustrated.
Fiction and Humor
Cosmo Hamilton’s great sex story “Adam’s Clay’’
appears in the Sunday American. It is a story of
gripping interest. The City Life Section is chock
full of humor and contains the famous Powers and
Mutt and Jeff cartoons.
Fall in Love Wifh Piclures?
A page feature of famous portraits wdiich brought
about surprising romances. Cupid surely mixed the
colors for these pictures.
Atlanta’s
Poet-Philosopher-Polieeman
Did you know that Atlanta has the most extraor
dinary policeman? He writes poetry—has been a
member of the force for twenty-three years and
madg only three arrests in two years.
J. Pierponf Morgan’s
Granddaughter
Richest of debutantes, bnt the least known, the
loneliest and the most unhappy. She is guarded
more jealously than any royal princess.
Why Crime Does Not Pay
Number 17 of a series of Remarkable Revelations,
by Sophie Lyons, Queen of the Burglars.
The Long Arm of the Czar
An absorbing story of how a Noble Russian
beauty sought to evade the Imperial Spies and es
cape the “golden cage,” prepared for her by a dis
solute grand duke.
The World’s Meanest Husband
How Duke Ludwig of Bavaria, treated his pretty
chorus girl bride as a horse, a dog and a goat and
stole her pin money.
The Latest Fashions
Lady Duff Gordon, the famous “Lucile,” writes
about and illustrates the prevailing modes.
ALL THESE AND MANY OTHERS WILL
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A SUNDAY
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