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THE ATLAJNTA (iEUKUIAN AND NEWS.
CHAPTER 5 IN PHAGAN CASE
Geologist Has Just Completed
Survey—Declares Vast Latent
Wealth Is. There.
The Nepro Conley’s Confession That
He Was Frank’s Accomplice and
Events Leading Up to Trial.
Warren K. Hall, district engineer of
th« United States Geological Survey,
returned to Atlanta Friday from the
Florida Kverglades, where, In com
pany with E. T. Perkins, M. O. Leigh
ton and Lsham Randolph, he made a
survey to determine the feasibility of
draining the great 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
aet foot. I predict that Just as soon
as enough money can be appropriated
and Judiciously used this now useless
territory can be turned Into the most
fertile farm land.
Canal To Be Built.
“Ttio 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 be made navigable for the
largest ships and will reduce the
distance between these two points
105 miles.
"Florida some time ago made an
appropriation for drainage work. Sev
eral million dollars were spent. The
work wae done without due consid
eration. The men engaged Jumped at
conclusions, and as a consequence
the work done Is lost time and money
uselessly spent, for the water does not
run the right way.
"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 he appropriated at
once.
Beauties of OkecHobee.
“One place where the drainage
work previously done proved a suc
cess—Zona, Fla., about eight miles
west of Fort I^auderdale—a real es
tate company purchased 10,000 acres
of land for 11 an acre. This com
pany l8 9 selllng this land at $80 an
acre.
"The Everglades are shout 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 malaria is found in
the center of the Everglades at Lake
Okechobee—a beautiful lake about 30
miles square—a little Inland sea. one
might term It. There Is not a minute
in the day that huge black bass do
not Jump In the water. 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.
So far this summer the temperature
in the Everglades has been cool. I
think 92 degrees Is the warmest diy
we had.
"We traveled many of the rivers,
and, I tell you, I saw' many strange
and weird sights. We traveled in a
combination sail and power yacht.
1n the evening, when the moon shone
bright, we sat In our boat and
fished. I caught many bass as large
as seven pounds and shot a number
of alllgatora— one over twelve feet In
length escaped. His Jaws were large
enough to take a calf In h1s mouth.
"I enjoyed the trip every minute
and can positively say that golden
opportunity and fabulous wealth
await Investment In the Everglades
of Florida."
CHAPTER VI.
"He (Leo Frank) told me that he
had picked up a girl back there and
had let her fall, and that her head
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, ho weak
ened or became desperate toward the
lflfrt and came out with h!s 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 nil 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 bay, had, as a forlorn hope of
saving his own neck, concocted the
mr eloue tale to thrust the suspl-
c' .f guilt upon the Innocent 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 argu©
in Its favor with all the ability at
their command w r hen 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 were a
fabrication of the negro’s guilty mind,
it Was most cleverly and shrewdly
conceived. There was Just enough
detail to his narration of how he had
assisted Frank to dispose of the body
to give the statement the color of nat
uralness and verity, and not such m
overabundance as to lead to the sus
picion that the incidents were being
manufactured in the brain of the
narrator. J
Negro Sticks to Story.
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
tectives. factory attaches and news
paper men followed him closely about
the second floor, down the elevator,
Into the basement and back again,
listening, spellbound, to his every
W'ord, the negro reproduced, move
ment by movement, every detail of
the grewsome work In which he said
he had had only a part.
Unhesitatingly—almost unconcern
edly—he started from the point where
he said he came imon the body, In
the rear of the second floor near,the
metal department. Except for an oc
casional question from Chief Denvers
Chief Lanford or Harry Scott, he told
his story without prompting.
Re-enacts Ghastly March.
"There’s where she laid," he said,
pointing to a narrow passageway, and
he dropped down on the floor to show
exactly the position of Mary Pha-
gan’s body as he had said he found
her. He lay partly on his face, with
his 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. He
made as though he w’ere 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 dropi>e<i the feet
The Shuptrlne drug bill has be*n j little girl when they had pro-
made special order in the House for ! needed but a few steps farther. The
Tuesday. Indications are It will be negro proceeded to the elevator, where
passed. The bill provides for rigid he said he waited for Frank to get
enforcement of the laws against the j the key, described the trip to the
sale of narcotics. It allows a limited j basement and his carrying of the body
the strange spell of bis acting had
passed away aroused the suspicion
that there w'fts a possibility of this
third affidavit, too, being a perjury
and this wonderful acting being a
firoduct of the black man’s vivid
imagination, spurred on by the shad
ow of the gallows across his path.
Hlnce this dramatic event at the
factory, the n**gro has not changed
his story in any essential point, the
detectives say. It Is possible that the
authorities are so sure 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
the theory that he may be the actual
criminal, and many times have put
him through the third degree in an
effort to get another confession out of
him.
Many inconsistencies have been
found In Conley’s storyA Many ap
parent deviations from truth have
been pointed out. A number of state
ments conflicting with the testimony
of other witnesses were made. But It
remained for William H. Mincey,
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 Phagan mystery.
In the point of direct accusation, It
even surpassed the tale of Conley.
Events of importance have oc
curred in the case through June and
July uj) to the present, but the state
ment of Mincey overshadowed them
all.
Mlnola McKnight, negro cook, grill
ed in what Mrs. Frank, wife of the
accused factory superintendent, was
pleased to term "the detectives’ tor
ture chamber," signed her name to
an affidavit which told of incrim
inating incidents at the home of
Frank the night of the murder and
th e next morning. Within a few
hours after she had been liberated
from the police station she denied to
a Georgian reporter that she ever
had made the statements accredited
to her in the so-called affidavit.
Foil Plan to Move Conley.
An effort was made to get Conley
away from the detectives by having
him removed to the Tow'er. This at-
WfcW , tempt was frustrated In a proceed-
If Conley’s storv of the alleged part ! characterized by Attorney Ros-
he had in the ldlHner of the little fan- | ser farcical in the extreme. Frank’s
House Seems Sure
To Pass Drugs Bill
supply of opium and cocaine to be
kept in stores. Inspectors are pro
vided for. A special tax of $10 on
druggists will maintain the system.
Representative Shuptrlne, who is
head of a large drug firm In Savan
nah and who has been president of
the Georgia Pharmaceutical Assoeia- |
tion. has worked hard for the passage j
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.
Ocullct service at opticians’ prices.
L. N. Huff Optical Co., two stores,
52 W. Mitchell, 70 Whitehall. adv.
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 TRAP7S.
10 p. m. solid Pullman train.
10:15 p. m. Coach train.
Make Reservations Now.
SOUTHERN RAILWAY.
to the trash heap at the rear W'hile
Frank, he said, watched at the little
trapdoor to see that no one Inter
rupted them.
Tells 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
vator before it gets to the second
floor.” he continued, "and he makes
a stumble and he hits the floor and
catches with both hands, and he went
around to the sink to wash his hands,
and I went and cut off the motor and
I stood and waited for Mr. Frank to
come from around there washing his
hands, and then we went Into his of
fice, and Mr. Frank he couldn’t hard
ly keep still.”
Conley then described the writing
of the notes, 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. His readiness, his unfaltering
course from the second floor to the
basement 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 lm
plicitly.
Suspicion Again Aroused.
But a sober second thought after
NCINNATI
TWO FAST TRAINS
Lv. 7; 12 AM., 5:10 PM.
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 said in making the announce
ment that h« was to aid in the de
fense declared that he had reviewed
the evidence carefully and had be
come convinced that Frank could not
be guilty of the crime.
Habeas corpus proceedings to ob
tain the freedom of Newt Lee, held
in the Tow r er 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. P'our days
later The Georgian got from Mincey,
who was teaching school at Rising
Faun, Ala., his own story of
his conversation w r ith Conley in
which he declared the negro on the
afternoon that Mary Phagan was
slain had bragged of killing a girl.
Mincey for a short time was an
agent for the American Insurance
Company, of No. 115 1-2 North Pryor
street. He w r as assigned a district
west of the Terminal Station. He
declared in his 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
yond 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
Conley 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
sation with the negro about insur
ance,” said Mincey in his formal
statement to The Georgian.
"He told me his name w r as Jim
Conley. He told me that he lived at
No. 172 Rhodes street. I saw there
was something wrong w’ith him. He
w’os 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.
"He told me he was in trouble. I
asked him if 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; I killed a girl
to-day!’
"I started down toward him.
"Hfe said: *1 tell you not to come
dow r n here.’
"When he saw that I was coming
anyway, he jumped up, and as he
went around the corner of the house
he said: *1 have killed one to-day
and 1 don’t want to kill another.'"
Believed It Idle Brag.
Mincey went on to relate that he
had not attached much importance to
the incident at the time, thinking that
the negro was boasting of some negro
scrape in which he had been involved.
When he read the papers the ne*t
Monday, however, he was struck with
the conviction that Conley was the
man who committed the murder.
He said that he went to the factory
the next day, but that everything was
so confused and chaotic that no one
would listen to his story, and he was
almost chased out of the building
along w ith a score of others who were
offering the detectives and factory of
ficials suggestions and clews.
Before he left he gained the ear of
E. F. Holloway, day watchman, but
Holloway told him that there were no
negroes about the building before 4
o’clock, eo far as he knew, and Min
cey departed.
When Conley came out with his
admission that he not only was in the
factory the day of the crime, but that
he was skulking in the shadow’s of the
first floor when Mary Phagan and
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 puollcation of his accusations
created great excitement in detec
tive circles. Harry ricott, Pinkerton
detective, rushed to the police station,
where he made the declaration that
Mincey never told them a story of
that sort when he came there to iden
tify Conley. He added that Mincey
had appeared far from confident that
day that Conley was the man he had
talked to Saturday afternoon, April
26.
Chief Lanford scouted the story nnd
said he believed it to be a baselesa
fabrication. He hardly thought the
defense would call Mincey to the wit
ness stand when the trial actually be
gan. Solicitor Dorsey set out at on~o
to make an Investigation of the story.
He looked un Mincey’s history In
every place he had lived In Georgia.
He also was the recipient of many
letters concerning the insurance
agent-teacher. At the end of a week
he announced that he believed le
would be able to discredit the affi
davit.
Subsequent developments are re
cent history. June 30, the date orig
inally' set for the dal, approached,
there were w’ell-authentlcated rumors
that a postponement would be grant
ed. Judge L. S. Roan, who will pre
side nt the trial, was present at a
conference of the attorneys June 24.
and by agreement between counsel set
the date for next Monday, July 28.
Conley Indictment Urged.
With the publication of the sensa
tional charges of Mincey came a de
mand for an investigation of Conley’s
part In the crime by the Grand Jury.
The demand waa made on the ground
that, if the negro were guilty, he
should not go into the trial with the
credibility of a free man, when It
would be a natural supposition that
the most natural thing for him to ’’o'
w'ould be to testify agali.st Frank in
order to shift the blame from his o*n
shoulders, where it belonged. It wis
argued that Conley should have ex
actly the same status as Frank.
Solicitor Dorsey bitterly opposed a
movement of thi* sort. He said that
he 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.
OveT the Solicitor’s head, Foreman
W. D. Beatle 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
State 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 opiniop
that the trial will proceed, and the
venire haff been drawn.
The young factory superintendent
wlf! 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 fhe 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 refused 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 Sunday
GEORGIAN 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 Act of August 24, 1912. Editor,
Keats Speed, Atlanta, Ga. Managing Editor, H. M.
Schraudenbach, Atlanta, Ga. Business Manager, H. E.
Murray, Atlanta, Ga. Publisher, Ther Georgian Com
pany, Atlanta, Ga. Owner The Georgian Company,
W. Ii. Hearst, 137 Riverside Drive, New York, N. Y.
Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security
holders, lidding 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 Com
pany of Georgia, Atlanta, Ga., Trustee. Average num
ber of copies 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. II. 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 dav of July,
1913. H. C. CROSTHWAIT;
N otary Public, Fulton County, Ga. My Commission Expires
1915.
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