Newspaper Page Text
3
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWP
LEE
ROB
in
By L. F. WOODRUFF.
A page was ripped from a story of
Karris Dickson. “Old Reliable”* was
paraded In the life in as somber a
setting as was ever conceived, and the
temper of the audience that is follow
ing the fortunes of Leo Frank through
his struggle for life and liberty was
revealed.
Some sinister things have been said
of the spirit of Atlanta in reference to
the trial of Jhe pencil factory super
intendent as the slayer of Mary Pha-
gan. It was whispered once that the
law would not be allowed to take its
cou.se, but that those w T ho believe
Frank guilty would take vengeance
their own.
And. on the other hand, It has been
sa!d in sotto voce that the purses of
Frank’s friends would be opened tr>
the last penny to see that n£ receives
a. verdict of acquittal.
Laugh Gives Lie to Rumor.
But right at the start the whisper
ings were given the lie, just as hap
pens to most whisperings. A jury
was selected and sworn in record
time, and the story of a people torn
by factional feeling by the case was
crushed.
The first important witness looked
and spoke like “Old Reliable.” And
his hearers laughed.
People inflamed by a passion so
deadly that they are willing to defy
the law to obtain their vengeance do
not laugh when the issue ,1s being
fought.
People who are willing to spend
their last dollar l<*see a man freed do
not giggle when a witness relates cir
cumstances which, the opposition
maintains, adds a strand to the corl
of hemp which it is striving to weave
about his neck.
Frank Getting Fair Trial.
Newt Lee, black, ignorant, corn
field .pot-licker-fed darky, by the
homeliness of his words proved be
yond peradventure that Leo M. Frank
is getting a fair and impartial trial
as the law decrees, and that Atlanta
is willing to abide by the verdict
which the twelve men return when
toe historic casf shall have passed to
its final stage. •
Jt took just such a character as
Newt Lee to bring to light the true
nature of the people who are listening
to the trial, who* are following the
legal battle step by step, whose in
terest in the case is ^o intense that it
lias kept the slaying of Mary Phagan
the big thing in the public mind for
three long months.
Fortune favored both sides when
the prosecution decided to place him
on the stand among the first.- Wheth
er his story materially damaged
Frank or his cross-examination ma
terially aided the defense is of little
moment. The reception of his testi
mony indicated to each side just what
the public thought and enabled them
to know that the case will »>e tried in
the orderly manner which justice de
mands. *
Newt Enjoys His Fame.
Let's have a look at Newt Lee.
There’s a lot to be learned from this
homely negro. When his name was
called and he entered the courtroom,
he had a joyful realization of his own
i ip port n nee.' His face showed he, was
again enjoying the thrilling pleasure
of “cornin' thru” or going on a “sous-
sion."
He is typical of the type that Judg*
Dickson so vividly depicts. His head
is flat as a ballroom floor. His big
frame is slightly bent, not from weak
ness, <but from the natural laziness of
his type.
Sympathy that has been spent on
him for his months in jail, though -ad
mittedly innocent of any crime, has
epent in vain. Newt Lee has
been having the time of his life.
“Ain’t dat nigger had his picture
took and put in de white folks’ pa
pers? Don’t dem big lawyers pay
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him respecks? Ain’t he jest sot dere
in jail an’ not have to wuk?"
That’s the negro point of view and
that’s Newt Lee’s. He has tasted
ail the popularity of a negro about
to be hung and escaped the only
drawback to the Anal ceremony, the
actual hanging.
Sang-froid Never Shaken.
His sang-froid never left him even
during the cross-examination he un
derwent under the skillful questioning
of Luther Rosser.
He enjoyed every minute of the
experience.
Hp spoke in a dialect that Dock-
stader would pay thousands for and
he spoke with a directness and an
Intelligence that showed that he had
either been thoroughly rehearsed or
that he was possessed of one of those
quick, in-seeing mind, so rarely found
among negroes of his type, but so
typical of the class.
Lee is beyond doubt “a white man’s
nigger.” He spread a feeling of kind
liness over a courtroom where bit
terness was supposed to prevail.
Judge, jurors, spectators, all seemed
in sympathy witn him. and even Mr.
Rosser did not prod him in the merci
less manner that has made him one
of the most famous, one of the most
feared cross-examiners in the en
tire South.
Newt did not wish to let one sweet
moment of his self-aggrandizement
slip. Once during the testimony he
was askfd as to his faithfulness In
performing his duties as night watch
man.
“Light Jest Wuz Shinin’.”
He “swelled visibly,” as Sam Wel
ler remarked, before he answered.
"Folks say there never is been a nig
ger to punch that clock so prompt
as me.” and a stern objection from
Mr. Rosser kept him from going on
with his story of personal prow r ess,
though hi-- lips struggled to speak
the forbidden words.
And his illustrations were apt. They
■were not strained. They fitted like
a glove. He was asked to tell wheth
er a light was burning dimly or
brightly. Like a flash he replied:
"Has you ever seed a ligfitnifi’
bug? Has you ever seed one whui's
jest been hit with a stick? Well, you
knows how his light shines. Hit jest
do shine. Well, dat was dat light.
Hi$ just wuz shinin’ and dat’s all.”
Racial horror of being alone in the
presence of the dead was also dis
played.
Lee was in a dramatic period of his
story. He i>ad just told of his grim
discovery in the cellar of the pencil
factory.
“\Vhat did you do when you saw
the giri?” Solicitor Dorsey’s question
was spoken with rifle shot ring.
He “Went Right Back Up.”
“I went right back up dat ladder,.”
said Lee. as though he were repeat
ing a confession of faith.
“How did you get up the ladder?”
asked the Solicitor.
“I riunno how I got up dar. but 1
sho’ wuz up dar. 1 sho’ wuz,” the
negro replied fervently.
And on he went with his story,
practically each reply being greeted
by an outburst of laughter until a
bailiff had to threaten to clear the
courtroom.
He came down from the stand,
smiling still, his glory gone, but real
izing that for days he was sure to
be a power on Decatur street, a per
son sought for socially, a man among
men. And as he descended the audi
ence smiled an applause as gracious
as bowing prima donnar or stentorian
tragedian ever received.
PRISONER AND WIFE
SNAPPED IN COURT
FOR THE GEORGIAN
Leo M. Frank
and Mrs. Frank
as they
appear in
the courtroom.
Mrs. Frank
aided her
husband as he
defense’s
jurymen, and
assisted in the
selection of
appeared to
gaze scornfully
at her
husband's
prosecutors.
Mincey Adheres to
Published Statement
W. H. Mincey, the school teacher,
who says that Jim Conley, the negro
sweeper at the National Pencil Com
pany, confessed to him that he had
killed a girl, declared Tuesday that
he had conferred with attorneys for
Leo Frank, and that he was ready to
make his statement from the witness
stand.
Mincey said his statement would
be identical with the one recently
published in The Georgian. He claims
to have met Conley on the Saturday
afternoon on which Mary Phagan was
killed. He said that Conley was
drunk and that Conley threatened to
kill him, saying that he had already
killed a girl that afternoon.
Mincey came to Atlanta from Ring-
gold Monday afternoon. He is ac
companied by B. E. Neal, an attorney
of Ringgold.
Husband and
wife note
keenly every
move in
the trial.
Tragedy, Ages Old, Lurks in
Commonplace Court Setting
Outwardly Quiet and Singularly Lacking in Ex
ilement, Frank Trial Is Enactment
of Grim Drama.
By JAMES B. NEVIN.
One of the most commonplace
things in the world—crime—is rivet
ing the attention of Atlanta and Geor
gia to-day.
Crime is almost as commonplace as
death—and yet death, in a thousand
ways, never is commonplace at all.
If I were a stranger in Atlanta and
should walk into the courthouse where
Leo Frank is being tried for the mur
der of Mary Phagan. doubtless I
should be utterly abounded to dis
cover what I had walked into.
That pale-faced, slight, boyish-look
ing party over there—the one sitting
beside the massive frame of Luther Z.
Rosser and the well-groomed person
of Reuben Arnold—I should be shock
ed, I am sure, to learn that he stands
charged with one of the blackest, most
inhuman and most un5*peakable
crimes in all Georgia's somewhat long
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Continued From Page 2. .
was open when you went back?—A.
No, sir.
Q. Did you tell the police it was a
white §irl or a white woman?—A. I
think I told them it was a white
woman.
Q. She was lying on her back, with
her face up?—A. Yes, sir; she was
lying on her side with her face up,
with blood on her head.
Q. Which side was the blood on?—
A. It was on the right side. It was
dry.
Q. Are you sure it was the right
side?—A. No, sir; her left side was
turned up to me. 4
Grill Grows More Severe.
Q. You swear she was on her back?
—A. Yes. sir: her face was turned up
kind of to one side.
Q. When you went up to the office
the first time, did Mr. Frank close his
office door?—A I don’t know. 1
couldn't see his office.
Q. I mean the outside door?—A. It
was open.
Mr. Rosser then read Lee’s testi
mony about the time slip before the
Coroner's jury.
Q. You helped him put the page in.
didn’t you, Newt? This is right, isn’t
it?—A. Read that again.
Mr. Rosser read it.
A. No. sir; you got rne wrong. He
didn’t come out of his office.
Q. You said yesterday that Mr.
Frank jumped back when he met Mr.
Gantt?—A. Yes. sir.
Dorsey Objects to Methods.
Mr. Rosser read Lee's testimony be
fore the Coroner's jury, which said
nothing about Frank jumping back.
Lee—"Well, the> got that wrong.”
Q. That was a bad stenographer
down 'there, wasn't he?
Solicitor Dorsey here objected to
this method of questioning bhe wit
ness. He declared the negro should
first be questioned and then an effort
i to impeach him made.
To this Mr. Rosser replied: “Of
! course, this gentleman on account of
his'age is entitled to lecture me!”
“I am addressing * his honor,” re
torted Dorsey.
“Are you through?” asked Rosser
of Dorsey.
“I have stated my objection," said
I Dorsey.
"He misunderstood what I am try
ing to show." said Rosser.
Court Sustains Dorsey.
“This witness can’t tell what his
I opinion is." said Judge Roan, for the
first time, speaking. "He can tell
what he swore to before the Coro-
I ner’s jury.”
i Following this ruling the cross-ex-
Not
FRANK LA WYERS FAIL
TO INCRIMINATE LEE
amination was resumed.
Rosser read from the stenographic
report of the Coroner’s inquest:
“Mr. Frank jumped when he met
Mr. Gantt and 1 taken it this way.”
Here Solicitor Dorsey interrupted:
“I object to what he taken,” the
Solicitor said. m
Judge Roan ruled that no opinion
of a witness w as admissible.
Assistant Prosecutor Hooper then
asked that Mr. Rosser state what
Coroner’s Inquest he was referring to.
Attorneys in Clash.
“I armalways glad to accommodate
these men whenever I can,” said Ros
ser.
“You have got to accommodate me,”
retorted Hooper.
“No. I haven’t. The man never was
born whom I have got to accommo
date.”
Judge Roan ruled that Mr. Rosser
must state what Coroner’s jury he
was referring to, as there were two,
one in April and one in May.
Rosser resumed his questioning.
Q. I asked you if you were before
the Coroner's Jury at the police sta
tion?—A. Yes, sir.
State's Objection Overruled.
.Q. Did you the first time say any
thing about Mr. Frank Jumping back
when he met Mr. Gantt?
Dorsey again objected, and was
overruled.
A. Yes, sir: I did.
Rosser read Lee’s testimony before
the Coroner's first hearing, saying he
was going to ask him if that was ail
he said. This testimony w as to th •
effect that Frank looked as though lie
was frightened. It did not mention,
however, that Frank jumped back
when he met Gantt.
Q. Is that all you said?—A. No, sir;
that wasn’t all I said.
Negro Answers Warily.
Q. Newt, I ask you if you didn't
leap right out of there and run and
call the police when you saw that
bo x dy?—A. Just as soon as I saw what
it was.
Q. Didn’t you say this before the
Coroner's jury: “I thought some dev
ilish boys had put something there to
fool me. I got close enough to see it
| was a body and leaped right away?” —
A. No. sir; I’ll tell you what I said.
Mr. Rosser interrupted Lee.
Q. Mr Frank told you If anything
serious happened, to call the police,
and if anything trivial, to cai| him?—
A. Yes.
Q When Frank told you to go off
and have a good time, you lit right
out, didn’t you?—A. No. sir.’
O. Didn’t you Bay that after two or
three minutes you lit out?
exactly that way.
Says He Doesn’t Recall.
Q. You said yesterday that when
Frank put.on the lock tape that Sat
urday it took twice as long as It did
on the other times you saw him do it.
When they asked you how long it
took him to put it in before, did you
not tell them you did not pay much
attention to it?—A. I don’t recall.
Q. Why didn’t you tell the Coroner
it took twice as long the last time as it
did before?—A. I did tell them it too<
longer.
Q. Who asked you?—A. He looked
like a blind man.
Q. Then all this record hero is
wrong?—A. I can’t help about those
records.
Q. You never told »t until yoster-
day?—A. Yes; I told the Coroner it
took him longer.
Q. If you didn’t pay attention to
him the iirst time, how did you know
it took longer the second time?—A. 1
held the lever for him.
Q. You couldn’t say w hether it took
him a minute the first time?—A. Yes.
it took over a minute.
Questioned About Notes.
Q. You could not say whether it
took under a minute or over a min
ute?—A. No.
Q. Who did you live with?—A. No
one.
Q. Who lived with you?—A. A wo
man. She just stayed there and
cooked for me.
Q. You and her lived together?—A
No. she* Just cooked for me.
Q. Did you pay the rent for the
last on*?—A. Yes.
Q. How about the first one?—A. I
just paid bT.rd.
Q. Were you down in the basement
when the police found some notes?—
A. They said something about a book
Q. They read you something about
the night watch doipg ItV
Dorsev hera t>biect«d to anything
anybody else said.
Rosser replied that his object was
to get to the truth and show what
Newt Lee did at the time, Indicat
ing a ready interpretation of the
notes.
Mr. Arnold then addressed the
court.
He began an argument and Solici
tor Dorsey insisted that the Jury be
withdrawn.
“Of course, after lie has discussed
the case, he wants the jury with
drawn at our statements,'’ said Mr.
Rosser.
“I understood Mr. Rosser to say he
would not introduce the contents,
and I understand this ruling excludes
the contents of oiuj of the notes?”
asked Dorsey.
“No. I didn’t say we were not go
ing to present the contents of the
notes. I am going to introduce what
1 please,” answered Rosser.
Judge Roan again sustained the de
fense and ordered the jury brought
back. Attorney Rosser then resumed
his cross-examination.
Q When you were in the basement,
didn’t one of the policemen read a
note which said something about a
long. tall, black negro?
“I object,” said Dorsey. “I under
stood his honor to rule that the at
torneys for the defense could not go
into the contents of the notes."
“Are we going on with this argu
ment before the jury, after we just
h*<jfcm sent out?” asked Rosser.
the question be put,” said
Roan.
L_ee Denies Saying “That's Me.”
Q. When he said "the night witch,"
didn't you say “Boss, that’s rne?”—
A. No. sir; I said. “Boss, it looks like
they are trying to lay it on me."
Q. No. I want yes or no from this--
“The tail, black, long negro?”
Here Dorsey interrupted with an
objection.
“Now where did Lee swear that."
»
Continued 03 Paa* 4. Column 1.
and varied catalogue of crime.
Yet that is the truth—Leo Frank is
answering to the charge of the Grand
Jury, and he haa pleaded not guilty.
Crime and wrongdoing began, of
course, when Mother Eve. through no
motive other than curiosity, and with
out malice aforethought, either ex
pressed or implied, bit a small and
toothsome morsel from the first apple.
Cain performed the first murder not
so very long afterward.
There were no newvpapers in those
days, but a well-authenticated story
of those first Infractions of the law
have come down to us—and to-day
crime runs riot throughout all the
world!
Here in Atlanta, thousands of years
after Cain committed the primary
murder in history. Leo Frank is an-
3wering to the charge of killing Mary
Phagan. some three months ago.
Frank Calm, Unagitated.
There sits the Judge, and over yon
der the jury. Pale of long confine
ment in jail. calm, unagitated, and
even smiling, sits Leo Frank, the de
fendant.
Beside him are his devoted wife and
his mother—his mother, who would as
soon believe the stars had ceased to
move in th*dr orbits as to beEeve
even to suspect—-that her boy was
ever so remotely concerned in the
death of Mary Phagan.
Over on the other side, however, sit
the relatives* of Mary Phagdn—those
who are not undf*r the rule and de
barred from the courtroom. They art-
grim and unsmiling—they are tnvok-
iv, the law’s stern* st displeasure upon
whoever It was that took the life of
their innocent little one!
•Vanv ard varied mu*: be the emo
tions surging wit’dn the hearts an^
souls of thes*» people, notwithstanding
their outward poise—but I. who am
♦beoreti cally n stranger in Atlanta's
courtroom for tb* moment, ‘•till am
Vkondfrrinu uhui It a.11 can about
Gradually I realize a tenseness
the atmosphere, perhaps—and there
may steal over me. as I grope mental
ly for something to fasten upon, a
feeling that, after all. tragedy is in the
air. and that its sinister shadow has
fallen athwart this courtroom, the
while I still cecall that outside the
sunshine is very bright, and is beam
ing upon the just and the unjoet, im
partially and alike.
One of the world’s truly great phy
sicians says “death is never uninter
esting," and that no really great phy
sician possibly can find it so.
He may become used to It, he may
grow to view the mere physical fact
of death itself as not a particularly
astounding phenomenon, but never
does he see in any one death the
same sequenced things he has ob
served in others.
It is much the same way with
crime, I think.
Murder is as old as the hills—as
old as laughter, love, and the hate of
hell—but it never loses its repugnant
appeal—and so, all Atlanta and all
Georgia to-day is watching the prog
ress of the Frank trial, because At
lanta and Georgia are made up of
human beings—that's all!
Few Women Present.
There are few women attending
thf trial of Frank. If there were
thousands, however, one alone and
above all other would stand forth
and challenge the attention of the
spectators. I mean, of course. Frank’s
wife.
There isn’t anything the least bit
“weepy” or downcast about her.
She’s a woman—the accused man’s
wife—but she plainly is a most ex
traordinary woman, nevertheless.
Whatever her thoughts, and what
ever she expects of this trial, she
gives no sign. Sh e counsels freely
with her husband's lawyers, but not
frequently. She leans over and
whispers something into Frank's ear
now and then, but not often. She
smiles upon him. and occasionally
s’ae runs her hand lightly along his
shoulder, and maybe her arin is
around his neck for the flitting frac
tion of a second, but if any of it Is
for effect or the least spectacular or
theatrical, she is a consummate artist
and surpassingly adroit.
Somehow she gave me the impres
sion of the wife affectionate, but not
demonstrative, of the wife unafraid
but not obtrusive, of the wife deeply
concerned, but too proud to let it be
seen any more than it must be.
Perhaps there is a subtle motive in
her quiet and repressed movements
in the courtroom now and then—if
so, I ('an but admire the complete
perfectness of her methods and the
dramatic excellence of her role as
she enacts it.
Looking there at Leo Frank’s wife
and th*y Leo Frank, one uncon
sciously ..nda himself .taking himself
this all-important question; What
could have been Frank's motive when
he killed Mary Phagan. if it be pos
sible that he could have performed
that monstrous deed?
Far and away the most frequent
thing encountered in the unraveling
of murder cases is the eternal trian
gle—the man, th e wife, and the other
woman!
That “other woman" may be an
angel, she may be a devil; she may
be a princess, she may be a pauper;
she may be an innocent child, she
may bp a faded courtesan; she may
be a willing third party, and she may
be the most unwilling—but too often
she is there, in some aspect, w’hen
murder has been done!
Could the motive behind the murder
of Mary Phagan have been an un
righteous infatuation upon the part
of Frank toward the dead girl—an
unholy infatuation repelled to the px>
tent of bringing about murder itRelf?
Was It that? And if it wasn't that,
what was it?
Unless there was malicious motive
and intent behind the slaying of Mary
Phagan. there haa been no murder
done. The law says that malice is
as essential to murder as oxygen is to
the breath of life.
Frank? Of all the defendants T
ever saw arraign^ Leo Frank. I
think, looks the least the part of a
murderer!
Not that that means anything
whatever conclusively—but it is a
thought that must obtrude itself upon
all who view him there in the court
house, battling in his own way for
his life and liberty.
Frank never could be made to look
the part of a hero, no more than he
can be made to look the part of a vil
lain—and yet he might be either, and
deceive his looks no more than hun
dreds have done before his time and
will do hereafter.
If someone should have told that
Frank is a bookworm, or a collector
of postage stamps, or a person with a
fad for pottering around in the garden
at early morn, it never should have
occurred to me to doubt It.
But Frank a murdtrer, a thing lost
to every sense of decency and right,
a traitor to his dearest and nearest, a
—well, I should have asked explana
tions and enlightenment as to detail!
And yet, if Frank be the thing
charged in that bill of indictment, he
must be all of those sinister things
Combined.
Is he? Frankly. I have no fixed
opinion, and I am of open mind.
The sweetest-tempered play-fellow
otherwise I ever had when I was a
boy had a marked pas«ion fo sneak
ing off by himself and robbing birds'
nests, particularly when he young
birds were in the ne*ts!
On® Touch of the Dramatic.
There has been so far in the trial
of Leo Frank but one touch of the
genuinely dramatic—properly desig
nated melodramatic, perhaps—and
that n» when the clothing little
Mary Phagan wore when murdered
was exhibited to the jurv.
This, of course, was one of the
tricks of the trade, and it was in
dulged In entirely for the jury’s bene
fit.
It is* not unusual—the same thing
happens in all murder tr : a!s and I
have wondered \\ h' it could happe?
save for the doubtful effect of it de
sired.
To be sure, the sweet and innocent
cause of this trial—the pathetic vic
tim prerequisite to it—is. of all the
parties to it. save one. absent.
She may be there in spirit, com
forting and sustaining her grief-
*ilr..'Uon mnthftr hut War v4r\Ln« l« nnt
heard, and never will or can be heard.
She is not in the courtroom, and the
one other extreme of the tragedy—
omitting the yet undetermined status
of Frank—is over yonder in the Tow
er—Conley.
In the grewsome exhibition of Mary
Phagan’s clothing, just as it was re
moved from her dead body, there wa3
a power of appeal hardly to be de
scribed in words. The youthful gar
ments spoke eloquently, if inconclu
sively, of the deceased—the unoffend
ing. methodical, carefree little work
ing girl. so. suddenly and so fright
fully thrust into public notice, never
to know* what It all was about.
If within the person of Mary Pha
gan dwelt the awful propelling force
of motive that prompted Frank or
someone else to murder, her simple
clothing there in the courtroom sug
gested w onderfully clear the pathos of
it and the Inhumanity.
And there must have been a mo
tive! What was it about Mary Pha
gan that gave rise to It in the heart
and mind of—Frank?
The things that have happened so
far in the trial of Frank are relatively
inconsequential, as concerns the ver
dict.
Battle of Wits.
Two conclusions stand out unmis
takably—the trial Js to be a battle of
legal wits, and it is to rage most
fiercely about the negro Jim Conley—
the big. black and all-meaning factor
yet held jealously in the background.
Mr. Dorsey, the Solicitor General,
evidently feels the strain of his posi
tion. He is plainly nervous at times,
and unmistakably irritable now and
then. He snaps his points to the
court, and sometimes borders almost
upon the rough and querelous in his
language.
Undoubtedly Mr. Rosser disconcerts
and irritates the Solicitor continu
ously. At timep Mr. Dorsey’s objec
tions have seemed more like com
plaints—and when Mr. Rosser turns
his massive head around and stage-
whispers additional words not to Dor
sey’s liking, he resents it In every
entence and gesture he offers by way
of comment or reply.
Reuben Arnold has had little to say
so far, but he is forever whispering
something into Rosser's ear—Rosser
frowning like a thundercloud the
while he listens.
Mr. Rosser is fighting his way along
cautiously and carefully. He 5*eemed
upon the point almost of browbeating
Newt Lee more than once, as that
darky’s examination proceeded, but
generally he quit just short of actual
performance.
Lee. too. was unconsciously out
spoken in his resentment of the Ros
ser treatment, and more than once
scored well and powerful in reply to
Mr. Rosser’s questions—particularly
when couching his replies in quaint
and curious negro illustrations and
phrases.
If at times Lee became more or less
confused and contradictory, he proved
in the main to be something of a Tar
tar under cross-examination, and
while his testimony as a whole could
not amount to much as an isolated
proposition and is valuable only as
one link in a long chain yet to be
forged about Frank, it nevertheless
went to the jury in pretty good shape,
and Jvill be hard to discount, what
ever fit may be worth.
Hooper Singularly Calm.
But if Dorsey is agitated and Irri
table. and if Rosser is imposing and
pugnacious, and if Arnold is keyed to
a high pitch and continuously
prompting his associate counsel, the
other big figure among the attorneys.
Frank Hooper, is as calm as a May
morning, smiling, dispassionate and
altogether at his ease.
Hooper looks as if he had Just step
ped out of a cold-storage bandbox.
Handsome, as he certainly Is. if
not of particularly commanding pres
ence, and well dressed, he moves
about with all the unconscious grace
and ease of a—panther?
Hardly that, and yet—Frank Hoop
er may loom larger than any attor
ney in this case before the final word
is written in respect of it.
There is no doubt that the trial Is
to be long drawn out. Every inch Is
being disputed pro and con, and ev
ery' possible point is being raised to
keep the case strictly within its legal
bounds.
The Jury apparently is much above
the average—it was plain enough all
along that the defense was seeking a
jury of high intelligence, and a city
jury- moreover.
I think the jury trying Leo Frank
may be expected to record the truth
of the trial—it appears to be com
posed of level-headed, clean cut, sen
sible men, as it should be. if it is to
give a fair play to all parties con
cerned.
The climax of the fight, of course,
will be entirely within Jim Conley.
The State will make every possible
effort to sustain him. and the de
fense will make every possible effort
to break him down.
Luther Rosser will exhaust his re
markable resourcefulness in this
mighty effort, aided and abetted to
the very limit by the subtle and in
cisive art of Reuben Arnold.
Frank Hooper will strive as he nev
er before has striven to hold Conley
together—and Hugh Dorsey will back
him with all the experience of his
career at the criminal bar.
A happy and reassuring circum
stance Is that over and above all
these contending forces sits Judge
Roan—unruffled, unafraid, of un
blemished and unquestioned integ
rity, upright and just—to hold all the
stormy elements eventually in order
and within the rules of the law.
The real trial of Leo Frank hardly
yet has begun!
Kills His Sister by
Mistake for Burglar
ELBERTON, July 29.—Mack Guest
ehot and instantly killed his 17-year-
old sister last night, mistaking her for
a burglar. She was visiting from the
country.
Guest told his sister to leave a win
dow open when she retired. About
10:30 o'clock Miss Guest decided 10
close the Window Mrs. Guest awoke,
telling her husband someone was
breaking into his sister’s room. Guest
secured a shotgun and shot his sister
in the hack. No arrest has been made.
Guest Is prostrated.
Bees Usurp Bed and
Couple Can’t Sleep
BUCK GROVE, IOWA. July 29.—
A swarm of bees does not form as
easy as a resting place as a feather
' bed. as Mr. and Mrs. Nels Wingrove
discovered. Going to bed in an up
stairs room in the dark, as was thgir
custom, they heard the buzzing of
bees. It was discovered that a swarm
of bnat hoii eottlad in tHoir lorf.