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c THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN ANT) NEWS. DEFENSE NOT HELPED BY WITNESSES ACCUSED OF ENTRAPPING THE STATE By JAMES B. NEVIN. Has the State succeeded in thoroughly establishing the fact that little Mary Phagan’s tragic death was effected on the second floor of the National Pencil Factory, in Forsyth street ? It has not, of course—but it has set up by competent evidence a number of suspicious circumstances, which, if properly sustained later along, will prove damaging in the extreme to Leo Frank. Unless these circumstances, trivial in some aspects, are braced up and backed up, however, by other much stronger circumstances, they will give the Jury, in all probability, little con cern in arriving at a verdict. Thursday was not a sensationally good day for the State, although it was much better than the day be fore. Twice Thursday the Solicitor Gen eral claimed that he had been “en trapped” by witnesses—and this, with the lamentable fall down of John Black the day before—served to give rise in the minds of some spectators to a faint suspicion that the State didn’t have its case very well in hand. No Help to Defense. There is something terribly sig nificant and actually sinister in that little word “entrapped,” however, when hurled at a witness in the pres ence of a Jury, and it would be a mis take to believe that a witness, ac tually convicted, even in the mere circumstances and admissions brought out in favor of the defense, under the merciless cross-examination of Lu ther Rosser. It is a good deal to say, neverthe less, that at this staae of the trial the defense apparently has scored heav iest, for such noint« as it has won necessarily have been wrung from th<> State’s own witnesses, and not the witnesses of the defense. In other words, wherever the State fails to score, the defense scores. How Points Have Been Scored. If the defense made little, if any thing, of Lee. it lost little, if anything, because of him. It almost, if not quite, broke even on Rogers—and It most certainly scored tremendously on Black. Scott, if damaging in a way, was also helpful In a way, in that he prac tically admitted suspicion of the ne gro Conley quite as strong as sus picion of Franl:. Monteen Stover swore that Frank was not In his office for, at least, a period of some five minutes imme diately after 12 o’clock on the dav of the murder; at least, if he was. he was where she could not -»r did not see him. Grace Hix undoubt edly helped Frank. Dr. Smith helped the State. R. P. Barrett swore he found a piece of a pay envelope under Mary Pha gan’s machine three or four days after the murder, and that he found blood spots near the dressing room door opinion of the jury, of having delib- three or four days after the murder. erately misled the prosecution there by helps the defense. The witness who entraps, or who is thrown under suspicion of having entrapped, frequently does the party he seems primarily to have hurt a wonderful amount of good. I believe, for instance, that Witness E. F. Holloway was speaking the truth when, on oath, he reversed his former affidavit to the Solicitor, and said that he left the elevator un locked on Saturday, whereas he be fore had sworn that he locked it Fri day and did not unlock it Saturday —the last inferentially, at least. This point will mean a good deal later, when it is reached in develop ing the defense’s case, and if Hollo way’s last story, apparently satisfac torily explained, holds together, well and good—but who can tell what the jury thinks about that contradiction upon the part of Holloway, particu larly when he has been so deliber ately accused by the Solicitor of en trapping him? Holloway is an employee of the pencil factory—was before and has been since the murder. If the jury gathers the impression that he has been tampered with since his first statement, and by friends of Frank, to clear up seemingly damaging cir- cjmstances against Frank, it likely will be an aggravating thing, when the jury comes to make up its find ings. Will Hurt ^rank's Case. <3ust as I thought, and still think, that Dorsey made a tactical mistake —for which he paid the full price, moreover—when on Wednesday he exclaimed “plant,” thereby accusing the defense of unfair and grossly in Mell Stanford swore that the spots near the dressing room were not the r a Friday, and were there Monday, but he could not swear the spots were blood. Holloway helped the defense, probably. There is nothing new in most of this testimony, however, save that of Barrett concc*..ing the piece of en velope. and the defense presumably is ready, therefore, to meet It. State Facer Hard Task. The mete finding of a piece of pay envelope somewhere even near Mary Phagan’s machine, is not, of itself highly important; but It might serve as a link in an otherwise strong chain forged to connect Frank di rectly with the killing. But if the iLcate has succeeded it* setting forth the fact that Frank may possibly have committed the crime, it yet has a long road to travel before It proves “beyond a reasonable doubt” that he DID do it. Indeed, Frank’s attorneys have never combated the idea that he way in the factory at » moment when t! killing of Mary Phagan MIGHT hav* been effected—and beyond that fact the State has been unable to proceed very far to date. It must be remembered, too. that while the State now Is engaged in weaving a web. real or imaginary, about Frank, the defense expects >o weave a much more terrible and sub stantial web about Conley. But even at that, mere suspicion alone will serve to convict neither. Much Depends on Conley. After all is said and done, and it generally gets back to this, the pre liminary chain of circumstances against Frank likely will hold to- decent methods of bolstering up its ffe ther tightly or fall apart hopeless cause, so I think the constant sug gestion of witnesses changed in opin ion and testimony, and in favor of Frank, will hurt Frank's case, rather than help It, if sustained. Mr. Dorsey failed utterly to bolster up his charge of “planted” evidence, but he didn’t fail, in anything like the same degree, to say the least of it, in attacking Holloway. Or, anyway, there is a grave prob ability that he didn’t fail in the minds of the jury. In short, my idea is this, as it has been all along: The public, and pre sumably even more the jury, will re sent anything that savors of unfair methods employed either by the State or the defense. Steadily, though slowly, the defense seems to be pulling away from the prosecution in the Frank trial, and the impression apparently is gaining ground gradually that the State like ly is fighting a losing battle. All of this may be changed in a moment—one witness on bdhalf of the State may serve to win back all the ground it may have lost. # Nothing More Uncertain Than Verdict And, of all things, there Is nothing to speculate upon quite so uncertain its the verdict a jury will hand in. The Jury Is sitting there, its atten tion confined to the development of the evidence. It reads no newspa pers; it converses with no outsiders. It can not get up, run across the street and swap ideas with somebody In the comer drug store. It took charge of the case, under Its deliberately assumed oath that it was “perfectly impartial between the State and the accused,” and it is see ing things in its own way—and that way may not be the way outsiders are •eeing it. So far. however, the States wit nesses alone have been Introduced. Whatever advantage the defense has gained of them has come in two ways —either in their failure to testify di rectly to the State’s benefit or througn FACTORY GIRL CALLED TO STAND BY STATE Miss Grace Hix, National Pencil plant employee. LEFT FACTDRY, BELIEVED TD BE DEFENSE THEORY Sherlocks* Lupins and Lecoqs See Frank Trial ly, according to the fate of James Conley on the witness stand. If Conley stands the test of ex haustive cross-examination, then the circumstances leading up to and away from Conley’s connection with the case will stand or 2a.Il. He is. and has been, at all times both the hope and the despair of the State, no less than the hope and de spair of the defense. He is the star witness about whom the entire Frank case revolves, about whom it has revolved for weeks, and about whom it must revolve to its end. Of course, there ever is the chance that the State has something sensa tional, new and significant up its sleeve—and there is the remoter chance that the defense has some big surprises in stofe. . As the fifth day of the trial drags on, however, the impression has deep ened almost into a conviction in tfie mind of the public that neither the State nor the defense ha„s much to let out that already hasn’t been let out. in whole or in substantial parts. Spirit of Fairness Everywhere. And the public is waiting for Con ley’s evidence before making up its mind. More and more I notice in the cas ual comment of people about town a spirit of fairness and an inclination to await the full developments of both the State and the defense. The public largely still is open- mind id. It is “from Missouri"—and, after all, that is the way the public- mind should be in this matter, for it is a very grave matter, and its final effect will be far-reaching and full of significance, no matter which way the verdict tomes finally. There is one point that Undertaker Gheesling cleared up, on oath, and the public should takh careful note of it. He swore that Mary Phagan’s body was NOT mutilated in the way street rumor and gossip had it mutilated, just after the crime was committed That ugly story undoubtedly was accountable for some of the primary prejudice against Frank—but it was an untrue rumor, and in all fairness, now 'hat it has been exploded, it should be borne in m a ind. Th*»re are enough "hists,” aha’s” and those other exclamations that i iark a true detective besides the badge on his left suspender to fill a whole volume of Gaborieau thrillers at the Frank trial. A stranger whirled from the Ter minal Station to Judge Roan’s court room would be convinced before he had been in that temple of justice five minutes that all Atlanta earns its living following clews, and that if Sherlock Holmes was made a mate rial being he could heat Jim Wood ward for Mayor by 8.000 votes. Ever since the body of Mary Pha- gan was found, practically every man of voting age and a lot of those who just think they are, have evolved a theory as to the crime they regard as incontrovertible as two plus two makes four, and have a system of ratiocination (beg pardon. Mr. Poe), that either proves beyond the shadow' of a doubt that Leo M. Frank is guil ty, or that he is innocent, or that Jim Conley did it. or he didn’t, or that somebody did. hut theyTl he hanged if they know who. Theorists There for Vindication. The census of 191ft gave Atlanta a population of 154.839, and it is safe t»> say that 154.839 sure-fire theories have been evolved. And everyone of the theorists wants to go to the courtroom to see his the ory upheld and see the theory of the other fellow smashed to smithereens. Atlanta’s deductive and inductive powers were never even dimly real ized until this week. Chat with the throng around the courthouse. Mingle with the Lupins, the Anna Katherine the Lacoqs, Greens in th* room where the issue is being fought. Clerk Turns Detective. Your surprise will b@ suddenly con verted into admiration and then into awe. A person, whom you had mis taken for a clerk with a brain capa ble of knowing nothing more complex than a suit will sell for $19.99 quick er than it will for $20. you discover has a reasoning power as infallible as that of Socrates and a knowledge of things criminal that makes him the most deadly foe to crime sin.e Bertillon. He can take an envelope, locate it on a second lloor and in a flash con ceive just how a deed of murder was committed. He can watch a man’s hand trem ble and immediately conceive him a perjurer and a villain of the deepest dye, although he doesn’t ask him If he had taken on too much the night be fore. “Signs Air Hopeful,” Says Uncle Ben. He can point out the fatal weak ness in the attack of a lawyer who makes more money in a minute than he himself makes in a week. A man selected by a sovereign people to rep resent the majority of their law be comes a mere novice under his merci less criticism. •‘But the signs air hopeful,” re marked Uncle Ben Green, from out Hapeville wav, us he listened to the findings of the amateur sleu.hs and chewed tobacco. "The signs air hopeful.” he repeated. "I’ve been a-sittin’ here since the trial begun, and from what I hev seed of these deteckertive fellers we’ve got right now. it’s a pretty good thing that a new crop is a-comln' up.” Money Bill Blocks Midsummer V acation WASHINGTON, Aug. 1.—With th<. certainty that the Glass currency bii. cannot pass the House before Sep tember 10 and that the Senate will consume at least two months consid ering it if it be considered at all Congress faced the alternative to-day of remaining on the job h€*re contin uously or upsetting the President’s program by blocking the bili. CHARLESTON OFFICIAL DEAD. CHARLESTON. Aug. 1.—Clerk of Council R. G. O’Neale died to-day ot heart failure. He was the Mayor’s secretary 20 years and Council Clerk seven years He was president of the Fellowship Society and prominent in fraternal and club circles. Dr, O'Kelley Chosen As New Mercer Head MACON, Aug. 1.—It Is definitely announced that the presidency of Mercer University has been offered to Dr. T. W. O’Kelley, pastor of the Fin* Baptist Church, of Raleigh, N C. It is believed that he will ac cept. Dr. O’Kelley graduated at Mercer in 1890 with first honors, and sub sequently he taught Greek and Latin at Mercer. Afterward he became principal of Hiawaesee High School, in North Georgia. He ia 50 years of age and a man of family. He is re garded as one of the ablest Baptist ministers of the south. Dr. O’Kelley was* chosen from a list cf sixteen prominent clergymen and educator*. Was Mary Phagan killed at or v:y near the time she entered the Na tional Pencil Factory April 26 to .Tet her pay envelope or was she merely attacked at this time and murdered later? The line of questioning pursued toy Luther Rosser in his cross-examina tion of two of the State’s witnesses Thursday afternoon Indicated this will be one of the questions the juror s will have to sett before thev will no able to determine the innocence or guilt of Leo M. Frank. Rosser was most persistent in his interrogation both of William A. Gheesling embalmer. and Dr. Claude A. Smith, physician and bacteriolo gist. Gheesling went to the pencil factory at about 4 v’cL k the morn ing of the crime and took charge of the Phagan girl’s body. He told So licitor Dorsey in the direct examina tion Thursday that the girl had been dead ten or fifteen hours and that rigor mortis was well established. Gets Admission Before Jury. Rosser at once began an attempt to break down this portion of the em- balmer's testimony, and succeeded in getting before the jury the witness admission that rigor mortis is ex tremely variable in the time it takes to set in and become w'ell established In a body. Gheesling admitted that the surroundings in respect to damp ness and temperature had their ef fect, as did the cause of the person's death, and that the degree of rigor mortis could not be taken as an inva riable indication of the time that a person had been dead. Frank’s attorney made similar in quiries of Dr. Smith and from him obtained similar statements. The presumption is he will use the tes timony of the State’s witnesses to supplement that of the defense, com bining them to support the theory that the Phagan girl was attacked on the first floor by Conley and by him was thrown down the elevator shaft or carried down the ladder into the basement, but was not actually slain until after Frank had left the factory in the evening Two other points will be. estab lished by the defense before the State rests if Rosser is able to wring the information he wants from the wit nesses called by Dorsey. Says Frank Returned Alone. One of them Is that Jim Conley did net walk to the factory with or jusi behind Leo Frank Saturday morning. April 26. as Conley swore in his last affidavit that he did. E. F. Hollo way, one of the State’s witnesses, testified Thursday afternoon that no one was with Frank when he re turned from Montag Brothers that morning. Rosser also displayed an unmis takable intention of making the de tectives and officers admit that Frank was under virtual arrest when he was questioned Monday by the authorities, and that there was no reason why he should not have been aware of his status. He succeeded in getting B. B. Has- lett to make just this admission and undoubtedly will use it to explain the measures that were taken at once for the protection of Frank’s interests, measures on which the State has looked with suspicion because, the attorneys state. Frank was not placed under arrest until 11:30 the Thursday forenoon after the crime. State Fares Better Thursday. The State fared better Thursday than any other day during the trial. Harry Scott, Pinkerton detective, submitted considerable damaging ev idence in respect to Frank's appear ance and actions during the first daVs of the investigation, although nothing that was startling or direct or even new. He told that Frank was extremely nervous when the superintendent and Newt Lee were placed in the same room at the police station and that Frank squirmed about in his chair, rubbed his chin and lips in agitated manner, grew pale and trembling and in every way comported himself as one might who was guilty of a crime. Scott said that he and John Black entered the room as Frank and Lee were finishing their conversation and that he .overheard the latter part of Frank's remarks. Rosser immediately caught the de tective up on this statement, referimg him to his testimony before the Cor oner's Jury, where he testified that he had not entered the room until the conversation between Lee and Frank was completed and that he overheard nothing. Scott explained that he must have been mistaken when he testified before ’.he Coroner. Scott testified that Herbert Haas, one of Frank’s attorneys, early In the case had tried to persuade him to turn his evidence over to the defense before submitting it to the police, bu* this already had been aired at the in quest and was without particular ef fect, as Scott added, under the cross- examination of Rosser, that there was no attempt to have it suppressed or kept from the police authorities, but only to have it given first to the de fense. What had the appearance of being the most sensational testimony of the day was that given by R. P. Barrett, a y. machinist on the second floor of the factory, when he declared that he had found a pay envelope under the ma chine used by Mary Phagan. The pay envelope, however, when it wau shown to the jury, was discovered to have on It no date, no amount, no name, with the exception of a loop of one letter, no number nor any other mark to identify it as the pay en velope that the Phagan girl received Saturday, April 26. Nor was any ex planation suggested as to how she may have happened to be at her ma chine when there was no work beinjg done that day and the machines were not in operation. Barrett testified to the finding of the alleged blood spots on the second floor near the women's dressing room and the strajids of hair on the lath ing machine. No more was developed out of the testimony then was al ready known to the public when Bar rett anounced his discovery a few days after the murder. Barrett also declared that a white substance had been used with the apparent intention of removing the splotches of red. Sweeper Tells of Splotches. Mel Stanford, a factory sweeper, corroborated Barrett in his story of the finding of the spots and the white substance that was spread over them. He said the spots were not there when he swept the factory Friday and that the flr.-'t time he noticed them was when they were pointed out *to him the Monday morning after the mur der. Mrs. Geprge W. Jefferson, who works In the polishing room, gave testimony of the same sort. She aleo testified that cords like the one found around the neck of Mary Phagan hung on a post in the polishing room She said that this was the only plac. on the second floor where they weri kept, but admitted that they migln drop on the floor and be swept to any part of the factory. She said thal three shades of red paint were used in the polishing room, but that all of them were distinguishable from blood and that the spots she saw near lh« women’s dressing room were none of the paints she had described. Monteen Stover, the 14-year-old factory girl, gave exactly the testi mony that had been expected. She said she 1 ad entered the factory at 12:05 the day of tK tragedy, and that Frank was not in his office. She said that she locked about in his office for him and on failing to find him left the building. She testified that she looked at the clock as she depart ed. and it was 12; 10. Her story con tradicts the statement of Frank that he was in his office all the time after he came from Montag Brothers at about 11 o’clock until he went to the fourth floor to see Harry Denham and Arthur White at about 12:50. Dr. Claude A. Smith, city bacteriolo gist, testified that he found four or five blood corpuscles on one of the chips of wood that were brought to him. He could not tell whether or not it was human blood. These chips were the ones taken from the floor where the alleged spots were found. He said that in his opinion the blood stained shirt found at the home of Newt Lee. the negro night watch man, never had been worn and that the blood on it was put on the inside of the garment and seeped through to the outside. Man Suffragette Jailed for Threat Special Cable to The American. LONDON, Aug. 1.—For threatening to kill Home Secretary McKenna if Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst. the mili tant suffragette leader, died from the effects of her terms of imprisonment, Alien Clarke, a male suffragette, was to-day ordered to furnish a $2.*)0u bond to keep the peace or spend two months in prison. BRIGHT COSTUMES, BEAUTY SHOW GIRLS AT THE NEW BOHEMIA With bright new costumes, a bunch of beautiful showgirls, fun ny comedians, tuneful songs and catchy lines, the Bohemia Stock Company is presenting a show that should pack the Bohemia to ca pacity. Manager Glenn has reno vated and remodeled the old Amer ican and it is clean and comfort able. Shake the Glooms by a visit to the Bohemia, 100 Whitehall street. 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 TRAINS. 10 p. m. solid Pullman train. 10:15 p. m. Coach train. Make Reservations Now. SOUTHERN RAILWAY. Whole Day of Adventure AND* Reams •* Romance That’s what you can get delivered right at your front door, for your hours of Sab bath enjoyment. For NEXT Sunday’s American in addition to the dozens of regular feat ures which have made it Dixie’s best read newspaper will include the Free Fiction Magazine This wonderful periodical teems with the good things of summer reading and carries, as w r ell, the continuation of , JACK LONDON’S Great Story a' 99 THE SCARLET PLAGUE which already has a grip on those who have started it. And all this is free with this issue of The Sunday Ameri can, which in itself surpasses all that has gone before. There’s a Thrilling Color Page ENTITLED WHEN WOMEN GO TO WAR Inspired by the brilliant achievements of warring women of all ages, a French woman has organized a fighting female brigade. Of course Lady Dull Gordon the famous Lucille of London, has aft ar ticle in which she tells how Paris solves the problem of keeping cool in gowns of chiffon trimmed with fur. Moreover, there are many other queer tales from the ea rth’s four corners which no one who can read can afford to miss. So insure your self a pleasant day by ordering your SUNDAY AMERICAN NOW From Your Dealer or By Phoning to MAIN 100 f *