Newspaper Page Text
t. 7
GIVEN LIFE
■hidge Sentences Brothers Found
Guilty of Slaying Woman's Hus-
‘ band to Die, but She Is Given
Mercy Recommended by Jury.
Appeal Is Announced After Final
Judgment in Conspiracy Case
That Has Stirred Hall County.
Love Notes Read to Trial Jury.
GAINESVILLE, Aug. 2.—In the
past there have been several murder
trials in Hall County, but probably
none created greater interest than the
three this week of Mrs. Silva Haw
kins and Bartow and James Cantrell,
Jointly indicted for the murder of Ar
thur Hawkins, the woman’s husband.
May 28. The woman to-day re
ceived a life sentence and the Cantrell
brothers were sentenced to hang Sep
tember 26.
With the aid of Sheriff Spencer and
other county officers Solicitor Gener
al McMillan succeeded in obtaining
the evidence on which to convict the
murderers.
Prior to moving to Bellton in
March, Hawkins and his wife lived
in Gainesville. They decided to make
a crop this year, and with their four
children moved near the Cantrell
home. Jim Cantrell, a widower with
two children, was living with his
mother and sisters. Bartow Cantrell,
his 16-year-old-brother, was living
near by. Soon after the Hawkins
family moved in that neighborhood
Jim Cantrell was taken sick with
mumps. Mrs. Hawkins went to the
house and saw him.
Intimacy Develops Fast.
An intimacy developed. Within
two weeks after they met Cantrell
and Mrs. Hawkins had kissed, accord-
Jng to the evidence. They saw 7 each
other very nearly every day, and nu
merous letters passed between them—
le.ters in which she called him “sweet
boy,” in which she told him how-
much she thought of him; that she
had no pleasure except in his com
pany; that she loved him better than
any other man in the world; that she
had rather give up her baby than
give him up.
In these letters she told him that
she wanted him to kill her husband
“Arthur.” In one of them she said
he could kill “Arthur” and put the
body on the railroad track, and then
ehe would get a lot of money.
In another she said she would go
with him and they would follow “Ar
thur” out some place and kill him,
and that nobody would ever know it,
and then they would live together,
and she would take care of his chil
dren.
Mrs. Hawkins, according to the tes
timony, bought shells from a hard
ware store in Lula and with Cantrell’s
aid unloaded the shot, melted them
into a slug and loaded the shotgun
■with which Hawkins was killed.
Both Mrs. Hawkins and Cantrell, so
the evidence declared, asked Bartow
Cantrell, the 16-year-old boy, to kill
Hawkins. With shotgun and pistol,
he planted himself behind a barn.
When Hawkins came by a shot was
fired by Bartow Cantrell, the one shot
producing death.
Tries to Buy Strychnine.
The evidence further showed that
Jim Cantrell, at the instance of Mrs.
Hawkins, had tried to buy strychnine
in a Gainesville drug store, "presuma
bly to give to sick hogs.” The drug
gist would not let him have it. On his
return without it, Mrs. Hawkins said,
so it was testified, that it was well he
did not get it, for she was going to
give it to “Arthur” in the morning.
-While Mrs. Hawkins and the two
CAntrells were prisoners in the Hall
County jail a note was passed by Mrs.
Hawkins to Jim Cantrell in which she
said she would “stick to them,” and
that they would not hang if they
would “stick to her,” that while they
were in trouble and might get sen
tences they would not hang.
In their trials of the case both Jim
and Bartow Cantrell turned State’s
evidence against Mrs. Hawkins, and
their evidence corroborated that con
tained in the letters. The evidence of
Mrs. Cantrell, mother of the Cantrell
boys, and of their sister also bore
out their claims. •
Denies All Knowledge.
In her statement to the jury Mrs.
Hawkins said that she had nothing
whatever to do with the murder and
that the Cantrell boys had killed him
because he had threatened to report
them for making whisky.
The joint trials were taken up
Monday and continued throughout
the week. Though the weather was
sweltering, large crowds were in at
tendance each day. Jim Cantrell was
first placed on trial and was convict
ed of being an accessory before the
fact, without recommendation. Bartow
Cantrell was then tried and found
guiltv of doing the actual killing, and
a verdict of murder without recom
mendation was returned in his case.
Mrs. Hawkins was the last to be
tidied. She was convicted as an ac
cessory before the fact, the jury rec
ommending mercy.
Notice of appeal was made in each
case.
PRIZEWINNERS IN THE
PONT CONTEST WILL BE
ANNOUNCED TO-MORROW
O N account of the vast num
ber of votes which poured
in upon the Contest Editor on
the closing day and night, it
has been absolutely impossible
to make the announcement of
the prize winners in the great
Georgian and Sunday Ameri
can Pony Contest in to-day’s is
sue.
An extra force of clerks has
been put to work counting
votes and subscriptions re
ceived, and the announcement
of the winners will be made in
Monday’s Atlanta Georgian.
WATCH FOR IT.
THOUGHT
TO BE TIT*
Chauncey Depew? Oh,
Yes! He Was Second
President of the U. S.
So French Doortender Admitted Him
and He Was Shown
Full Honors.
Special Cable to The American.
AIX-LES-BAINS, Aug. 2.—Mr.
Chauncey M. Depew was denied admis
sion to the Villa Des Fleures. for a few
minutes last night, but when finally he
was admitted an extraordinary honor
was paid to him.
Despite the evidence and the sacred
word of his friends, Mr. Depew was de
tained at the door with many Americans
looking on, indignant.
Indignation gave way to amusement
when an employee suddenly recognized
Mr. I)epew, nudged a colleague and ex
claimed:
“Mais laisse le done passer. C’est le
deuxieme ITesident Des Etats-Unls.”
(Why, let him pass. It is the second
President of the United States.)
Forthwith Mr. Depew was recognized
by all as the immediate successor of
George Washington and all doors were
opened.
Self-Defense in
Gamblers’ Feud Is
Plea of Ed Ellis
Hearing for Slayer of Pat Rooney
at Birmingham Is Set for
Next Thursday.
BIRMINGHAM. Aug. 2.—Judge Ab-
emethy, of the Court of Common
Pleas, to-day set Thursday afternoon
for the preliminary trial of Ed Ellis,
a gambler, charged with the murder
of Pat Rooney, of Montgomery, on a
prominent corner late Thursday night.
Self-defense will be the claim.
Rooney’s brother insists death was
the result of a gamblers’ feud which
has resulted in two or three killings
In Montgomery, heretofore. Ellis is
the business partner of Clyde Smith
at Asheville, and was here looking
after some business affairs, his home
being in this city. More than 100
friends have called at the county jail
to see him since he was locked up.
Two Moose Officers
To Give Testimony
Birmingham to Resume Investigation
Into Death of Young Men
in Lodgeroom.
BIRMINGHAM, Aug. 2.—John P
Abbott ar.d Dave Williams, president
and secretary, respectively, of the lo
cal lodge of the Loyal Order of Moose,
will be among the first witnesses put
on the stand by the Coroner’s Jury
Tuesday when the investigation into
the deaths of Donald Kenny and
Christopher Gustin, killed during an
initiation at the Moose lodge, is re
sumed.
WHITE BOY REARRESTED
FOR KILLING OF NEGRO
BIRMINGHAM. Aug. 2.—Joe
Smales, 14 years old, who shot and
killed a negro boy, Leander Gross,
this week at Pratt City, claiming self-
defense, was acquitted at a prelimi
nary trial before a justice of the
peace, will be rearrested on a war
rant sworn out to-day by parents ol
the negro boy.
WATERWORKS SUED FOR
LOW PRESSURE IN FIRE
| BIRMINGHAM. Aug 2.—Stella B.
| Hodges and C. H. Krauss to-day en-
I tered suit against the Birmingham
| Waterworks Company, each asking
for $10,00 damages. They claim th«*
waterworks neglected to furnish suf
ficient water to the fire department
July 4 when their home caught fire.
Captain of Vessel Reports Discov
ery of Derelict to United States
Hydrographic Office.
INVESTIGATION IS ORDERED
Remnant of Ship Believed To Be
Resting on Ledge of Rock
Off Grand Banks.
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 2.—Much
of the mystery surrounding the sink
ing of the White Star steamer Ti
tanic with 1,600 of her passengers
on April 14, 1912, may be dispelled by
the discovery of a wreck, believed to
be part of the hulk of the ill-starred
vessel, standing on end in the At
lantic Ocean off the Grand Banks of
Newfoundland, virtually on the spot
where the disaster occurred.
Captain Remnant, of the British
steamship Luciline, which arrived at
Philadelphia from Bordeaux several
days ago, reported sighting the dere
lict, and the United States Hydro-
graphic Office has begun an investi
gation to learn more about the wreck.
Much Importance Attached.
Lieutenant Commander Lande-
burger, L T nited States Hydrographer
stationed in this city, attached much
importance to this report.
Should the vessel sighted by the Lu
ciline prove to be the remains of the
Titanic, the story of the memorable
wreck would be rewritten. The fact
that, after more than a year, the
hulk stands vertically in the waves,
protruding eight feet or more above
the surface, would indicate that a
submerged ledge of rock had pre
vented the wreck from going to the
bottom of the sea.
If such a ledge exists—and evi
dence^ of one was reported as long
ago as 1723—then it is probable that
the foundering of the Titanic was
caused by the hidden obstruction rip
ping open her hull as much as by
her collision with the iceberg.
Would Absolve Captain.
Should these theories prove to be
facts, Captain Smith, who was in
command of the Titanic and perished
when his vessel went down, would be
absolved of the charge of lack of
vigilance, and damage suits against
the International Mercantile Marine
based on the disaster wquM fail, lo
cal admiralty lawyers say, for the
same reason.
Captain Remnant, of the Luciline,
believes that what he saw was the
wreck of the Titanic or a part of it.
CONLEY TO BRING FRANK CASE CRISIS
»♦!• ^§v +•+
Leo M. Frank and his constant guardian. Sheriff Mangum. The Sheriff is with the accused
man at all times during the long-drawn-out trial.
r Negro’s Testimony Now Supremely Important
(J +•+ +•+ +•+ +•+ -i- • -!-••!- +•+ *!-•-}• +•+ •!-•* •!••+ +•+ +•+ +•+
Both Sides Stake Their All on His Evidence
STATE FORGES CHAIN 10
TAX ALE THE INGENUITY OF
OFFENSE’S LEGAL ARRAY
Birmingham Startled
At Mortality Table
Record Month for Violent Deaths
Shown by Coroner’s Uncom
pleted July Figures.
BIRMINGHAM. Aug. 2.—Coroner
Spain, of Jefferson County, working
on his report for the month of June,
was startled to-day at the enormous
figures shown. With one week of the
month yet to be counted, the report
shows there were five suicides, all
white; nineteen accidents, nine deaths
from natural causes, such as heart
failures, and eighteen homicides.
Among the accidents is placed the
deaths of Christopher Gustin and
Donald Kenny, who were killed at the
initiation of the local lodge of Moose.
Of the three suicides three men used
pistols, blowing out their brains; one
hanged himself and the other used
carbolic acid. Thirteen of the nine
teen accidental deaths involved white
people.
B, C. Forbes Sails
To Seek Safeguards
For U, S, Investors
Business Envoy of the Hearst News
papers to Investigate Methods
of Europe.
NEW YORK, Aug. 2.—B. C. Forbes,
business envoy of the Hearst newspa
pers, sails to-day for Europe, where he
will inquire into the laws In force in
different countries governing* the re
sponsibility of promoters, corporation
directors and officers, and also the
measure of publicity insisted npon for
the protection of investors.
American legislation on these impor
tant matters, it is*now recognized, is
utterly Inadequate to prevent fraud and
imposition costing the public several
hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
As the number of investors in this
country increases, the urgency of pro
viding safeguards against unscrupulous
and negligent promoters, directors and
officials becomes more and more pro
nounced.
The New York American and other
Hearst publications, which have consist
ently championed the fullest possible
corporate publicity, will take up the sub
ject vigorously next month.
CURRENCY BILL IS
CALLER PUB BAR
Senate Chairman Owen Asserts It
Will Actually Make Money
for Bankers.
Negroes Take Places
Of Mobile Strikers
Shipbuilders Want Eight-Hour Day.
Police Chief Refused to Fur
nish Special Guards.
MOBILE. ALA., Aug. 2.—The re
quest of the employers of several hun
dred striking ship workers who went
out last night at the yards for guards
to protect their property was denied
to-ciay by Uhtef of Police F. W. Cren
shaw. The Chief stated that he did
not see any occasion for the police to
interfere, as the strikers at the ma
chine and boiler shops, who are out
for the eight-hour-day scale, have
been enrirely orderly and have not
even appeared within several blocks
of the places where they were former
ly employed.
Organization of the negro helpers
into a union has been effected and
the backbone of the Htrike is expected
to Ue broken by Monday.
Farmer Found Slain;
Stranger Suspected
Travis Miles. Wealthy Mississippian,
Last Seen in Buggy With
Missing Man.
MOBILE, Aug. 2.—The body of
Travis Miles, a wealthy farmer and
stock raiser, was found in the road
about eight miles from Wiggins,
Miss., near this city, with the neck
broken and marks of violence shown
about the throat.
Miles was last seen last night with
a stranger in a buggy. Later the
stranger was seen alone. Miles is said
to have had a large «um of money on
his person.
PERSIAN FARMER WEDS
MILLINER OF CHICAGO
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2.—With the
broad assertion that “panic will be
impossible if the Administration cur
rency reform bill is passed,” Senator
It. L. Owen, of Oklahoma, chairman
of the Senate Committee on Banking
j and Currency, to-day replied to bank-
J ers who demand to know what ad
vantages they will gain from the bill.
Owen asserts the bill will safeguard
banks against occasional runs, give
f the ordinary State bank peace of mind
j against possible artificial panics, and
I that while the banker loses 2 per cent
on a part of his reserve deposited with
: the Federal Reserve Bank, he actually
will make money by other advantages.
Senator Owen points out that a re
serve of 15 per cent will be‘sufficient
instead of the 25 per cent now car-
' ri^d. With the same money, he as
serts, a bank of $100,’000 capital wouli
make $2,750 each year more than un
der the present law.
In reply to the suggestion that
bankers should control the Federal
Reserve Board because they are “put
ting up all the money, he replied that
the banks are not putting up money,
but are merely lending credit, and
that the Government is really supply
ing the money which is not supplied
by depositors themselves.
Patient Dies; Nurse
Now Critically Ill
Body of T. L. Poss, of Anniston, Sent
to Atlanta for Inter
ment.
Negro Tries to Slay
Family of 7 With Ax
In Row Over Melon
Enters Home of Farmer at Night
and After Braining Him,
Attacks Children.
CAIRO, Aug. 2.—A negro entered
the home of George Bodiford, a re
spectable white farmer of Grady
County, living about six miles from
Cairo, and with an ax brained him.
his wife and five children late last
night. Some of the children have re
vived, but the father and mother arc
still unconscious and the chances for
their recovery are very slight.
The ax and a pair of shoes, left In
the yard, were identified to-day by the
wife of the suspected negro. One of
Bodlford’s daueht< re says that this
negro and her father nad some words
a few days ago about a watermelon
patch. This is the only motive that
can be given for the crime.
No Sunday ‘Lid’ for
Meridian, Says Mayor
After Conference With Ministers,
Executive Says City Will
Escape ’Blue Law.’
MERIDIAN, MISS.. Aug. 2.-—Follow
ing a conference with spmc of the
j preachers of Meridian. Mayor I’arker to-
: <lay announced that the “lid’’ will not be
put on this Sunday, nor any other Sun-
j day, but that conditions will remain
Just as they are.
| This decision has caused the whole of
Meridian to draw a sigh of relief as
there was bitter opposition to the en
forcement of the law prohibiting the
sale of newspapers, cigars, soda water,
etc.
MOBILE, Aug. 2.—Simson Ives, a
wealthy Persian farmer, and Miss
Nargis Iuilla, a milliner from Chi
cago, were quietly married here to
day by Judge Price Williams, Jr., of
the Probate Court.
ANNISTON, Aug. 2.—J. L. Ben
nett, who nursed T. I.. Poss, a Con
federate veteran, through a long ill
ness, is now himself critically ill at
his home here.
Mr. Poss died Friday and his body
has been sent to Atlanta for burial.
\
HORSE SCARES AT AUTO;
JUMPS FROM BRIDGE
SELMA, Aug. 2. R. M. Godwin, a
prominent planter, and his wife fell
fifteen feet from the county bridge
here to-day when the horse they were
driving became frightened at an auto
driven by H. T. Shanks, a leading
wholesale grocer.
Godwin, his wife, the horse and
buggy fell to the water, but escaped
serious injury.
First Week of IFittle Has Fixed, the
l ime Almost Exactly According to
Theory of the Solicitor—Doctors’
Testimony Lias Important Bearing.
EY AN OLD POLICE REPORTER.
'T'HERE are two tenable theories of the manner in which little
t Mary Phagan met her tragic death in the National Pencil
Factory on Saturday, April 26.
Either she was murdered by Leo Frank, as charged in the in
dictment, or she was murdered by James Conley, the negro sweep
er, employed in the factory.
If there is another theory, it has not been advanced.
The theory that Frank killed the girl is the one set up by the
State; the theory that Conley killed her is the one to be set up by
I the defense.
Which, if either, is the true theory?
That is the all-absorbing puzzle engaging the attention of At-
j lanta and Georgia to-day.
MANY POINTS CLEARED UP.
The trial of Frank has progressed wearily as to detail, but
j it has gone far enough for many points to have been cleared up.
The State has sought to show this:
Mary Phag&-> left home at 11:45, and arrived at the fac
tory at or about 12 o’clock.
She went to Leo Frank’s office to draw her pay, after its de
livery to another person had been declined the afternoon before,
and, therefore, she must have been in his office not later than
12:05, if not a trifle earlier.
Here she appears in life for the last time, so far as any living
being will say.
According to the expert testimony of Dr. Roy Harris, the girl
was dead within from thirty minutes to three-quarters of an hour
after she ate her lunch of cabbage and bread—as disclosed by an
analysis of the contents of her stomach—and, therefore, must have
been killed between 11:45, when she concluded her lunch, and
12:30.
Monteen Stover testifies that Frank was not in his office from
12:05 to 12:10, after Mary Phagan arrived there, and still well
within the period of time in which she must, according to Dr.
Harris, have been killed.
Mrs. White testifies that she left the factory about 1 o’clock,
at which time she saw a negro loafing about the steps leading
up to Frank’s office. Presumably, this negro was Conley.
In addition to the foregoing, the State has endeavored to
show that part of Mary Phagan’s pay envelope was found, after
the crime, near her machine in the factory, that a strand of .her
hair was found on a lathing machine near where her body was
supposed to have fallen first, and that blood spots were found
i near a dressing room she sometimes used.
These are the big circumstances upon which the State pro
poses to base Conley’s story of how he was called upstairs by
Frank, after Frank presumably had murdered the girl, and hired
to help conceal her body in the basement.
MUCH DEPENDS ON CONLEY.
Conley’s story, on the stand and under cross-examination, will
i make these circumstances either highly important and damaging
to Frank, or of relatively small account.
The defense will contend that it is by no means conclusive
j that the girl died within the narrow limits of time set up hv Dr.
\ Harris, even though it might have been effected in that time—
J and if it was, that Conley still might have been the slayer and
not Frank.
It seems certain that Mary Phagan was killed early in the
afternoon of April 26, or fatally disabled then, if killed late.r, as
1 she never was seen to emerge from the factory after she. went in
j about noon.
The defense will claim failure upon the part of the State to
show conclusively a motive for the crime upon the part of Frank,
hut it will contend that the motive upon the part of Conley was
robbery.
It will say that Conley, although not known to have been in
the factory at all when Frank was indicted, since then has been
found to have been there as early as 10 o’clock in the morning,
I was there before 12 and after 1, had been drunk during the morn
ing, and was, when Mary Phagan came down the steps to emerge
; from the factory by way of the gloomy passage, still partially
! drunk, “broke,” and wanting both more whisky and some money
jto purchase it—that, in Jiiis condition, he saw Mary Piiagaa, with
NOTICE
If you have any difficulty In buying Hearet's ;
Sunday American anywhere in the South notify i
Circulation Manager. Hearst’a Sunday Amerf- }
can, Atlanta. Ga.
VOL. I. NO. 18.
Copyright. 1913, by
The Georgian Company
★★★★
ATLANTA, GA., SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 1913.
EDITION FOR
BIRMINGHAM