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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.
FRANK TIL INTO FI8HT
TO WORSE TUI DEATH
CONLEY'S STORY OF
SLAYING DIAGRAMED
over this proposition. Now the per- | if he knows anything’ about it he has
son who is hurt by this poisonous evi- j not told.” •
By JAMES B. NEVIN.
Black and sinister, depressing: in
its every aspect and horrible in its
gloom. the testimony of Jim Conley
in the Frank case was given to the
court and the jury under direct ex
amination Monday.
The shadow of the negro had
loomed like a frightful cloud over the
courtroom for days—the negro him
self came into the case Monday.
And he came into it in an awful and
unspeakably sensational way!
The public was prepared for most
that Conley said—it was not quite
prepared for all he said.
The State, in its direct examina
tion of Conley, climaxed its case
against Frank most thrillingly and
most abhorrently. If that climax is
not rendered impossible, ridiculous
and absurd by the defense, then the
young factory superintendent is
doomed.
It is, indeed, now a battle to the
death—and to worse than the death!
Hither it is Leo Frank’s life or Jim
Conley's life that must pay the for
feit of Mary I’hagan’s untimely and
tragically miserable end!
Can the negro’s story be broken
down ?
Either it is a pack of horrible and
monstrously grotesque lies, or it is a
horrible and monstrous recital of
truth.
Which is it?
That is the problem that Ml'ST be
solved—that is the puzzle that MUST
be unraveled, if it be so that “truth
is mighty and will prevail!”
Burden Falla on Rosser.
And into the hands of one man—
Luther Z. Rosser—has been intrust
ed the responsibility of breaking it
down so completely that Leo Frank
may go forth from that stuffy little
courtroom a free man, enjoying again
even a measure of the respect and
esteem of his fellow men
Within the massive head of Rosser
alone is the mental machinery mov
ing now to free Frank. Rosser is
conducting the cross-examindtion of
Conley. He Is a pastmaster in the
art of examining witnesses.
True, the keen intelligence of that
other remarkable lawyer, Reuben
Arnold, is aiding and abetting the
big man—but the result of the cross
ing of Conley, upon which this case
viuquestionably will turn, will be
either Rosser's victory or Rosser's
defeat.
He must feel to the full the weight
of .responsibility upon him.
Never before in all his long and
succesaful career at the bar, perhaps,
has so much depended upon his skill
and knowledge of the law, and his re
markable ability at making witnesses
tell not only all they wish to tell, but
much more thaivthat, if necessary!
Conley is NOT the same sort
witness Newt Lee was.
To begin with Conley is seeking to I
save his own neck, the while he seeks I
to place the noose about Frank's.
Gives His Evidence Glibly.
He is far too sharp a negro not to
know, despite his seeming ignorance
in some directions, that failure to
convict Frank likely would mean
Conley's subsequent conviction. He
knows that as a confessed accessory
after the fact. th e worst he faces is a
few years in the penitentiary, where-
|es as the principal to tne murder, he
of
hack them up they are worthless.
The purely circumstantial case
against Frank is not strong—the State
doubtless recognizes that It has wise
ly and consistently shaped it* «very
endeavor toward Conley as the cli- |
max of its story.
As the ugly story was falling from
Conley's thick lips, I watched Frank.
It will not do to say he was uncon
cerned. No person in all that crowd
ed courtroom was more concerned
than he.
More than once he wet his lips wltt
his tongue and gripped the arms of
his chair tightly. He kept his eye
glued to the negro most of the time,
moreover—and occasionally he reach
ed backward, gently and composedly
to gra-sp the hand of his wife—and
always her hand met his more than
halfway.
There he sat—flanked by the two
women in all the world most deeply
concerned in the outcome of this trial
—Lucile Frank, the wife, and the elder
woman, the mother. The one young
and beautiful, the other growing old,
hut still handsome after her type.
There is something infinitely be
wildering in the situation in that
courthouse to-day.
Is the awful story Jim Uonley rat
tled off as unconcernedly as he might
recite the details of a “crap” game
TRUE?
If It be true, who In all the wide,
wide world has been so outrageously
and so inhumanly wronged as those
two women sitting there beside the
defendant ?
Better for Mary Phagan that she
sleeps in her little grave, her mem
ory sweet and fragrant as the flow
ers blooming about her last resting
place, than Lucile Frank—and the
mother—If what Conley says is true!
Others Face Hell on Earth.
At least, to the dead girl has come
forgetfulness and if Frank is guilty,
never again to either of the other
two women shall peace come this side
of the grave.
If only little Mary Phagan might
speak; if only she might say Just ONE
little word directing each and all of
us to the TRUTH of this amaring,
terrible and strange story!
She could say—-and who can doubt
that she. purified of death and utterly
unafraid, would say—the one im
pregnable word of truth so neces
sary In the present moment?
It Is in crises of the present kind,
when ’•enson reels and staggers be
fore the sinister and deadly story
Jim Conley tells, that poor, weak
mortals grope and seek to seize upon
the friendly hand of some unseen and
Infallible Power, to ask, like a child
distress, for guidance and the
1. Frank opened the door and showed me how to
lock it.
dence is this defendant i\ere. In a
j criminal case you can’t try a man
for hut one crime. It is a simple
I question of law I sympathize with
that poor little girl and think the man
who throttled her life out should he
punished. We came here to try a
case of murder and this miserable
wretch on the stand comes here and
charges capital crime Arty white
man should be ashamed to believe it.
Now, we don’t want to.eome here and
try this other disgusting and vile
charge. It is absolutely irrelevant.
They put him on the stand and it is
up to them to bolster up his tale.
Why, we would have to stay trying
this case and investigating other
cases.”
Judge Roan intervened:
“The first of your motion was to
rule out what he said about watch
ing. The second about his conduct.”
Arnold answered in the affirmative.
Then he continued:
“If you don’t call it a crime on
those other occasions It would he a
distinct transaction. Hnw much harm
might it do? How much would it
confuse the jury? It w’ould he emi
nently unfair to this man. )\ T e could
cross-examine even to determining
Negro Say» He Told All.
"I rule that the idea of Mr. Dorsey
is correct, and that your question can
be put.” said Judge Roan. “Now 1
think that I have satisfied you both.’
The negro unswered: “I have told
all I know.”
JE--+- —Or: r— -5
~ i x f i.lTt"! 1 m 1
2. Frank went up to his office and I stayed on the
first floor.
Some members of the Jury' request
ed a soft drink, and Mr. Rosser said
hf* would consent if he was brought
one, too.
W Jim, when you called Mr. Frank
and told him the girl was dead, what
did he say?—A. He said, "S-sh,” and
told me to look back by the clock
box and get a cloth.
Q. He threw up the palm of his
hand, and said “Sh-h,” like shooirvg
chickens?—A. Yes, sir, something like
that.
Q. And you went and did It?—A. No.
sir, I didn’t hear him at first, so 1
went closer to him.
Q. How clos**?—A. I don’t know', sir.
Q. Then you went and did what he
said?—A. Yes, sir.
Mr. Rosser took up a piece of bur
lap similar to the one Conley declared
he had used to wrap the body up in.
TE IN'S LIFE
By L. F. WOODRUFF.
cloud, as rav°n as a 1 Harry Thaw accomplished in his en-
the illegality. If it is unfair to the started to have Conley go through
State to rule it out it is a thousand * ct of wrapping up the body, but
times more harmful to permit this ! t * ra ! 71 .^ w . as postponed for a mo-
creature to poison a jury’s mind
against this innocent man.”
Court Ruling Withheld.
Judge Roan: “Colonel Arnold, if the
evidence on the day he watched and
the murder occurred is admissible,
why isn't the w’atching on the other
days admissible?”
"Why isn’t any other murder ad
missible?” replied Arnold. “My friend,
Mr. Leonard Haas, has handed me
another authority.”
Attorney Arnold then read the au-
thirity. Judge Roan hesitated for a
moment, then said:
"There is no doubt in my mind
that it was inadmissible as an orig
inal proposition. I am inclined to
think it should all be'ruled out, ex-
3. Miss Mattie Smith came in with Mr. Parley and went out again.
ment while the jury went out to get
their drink.
Negro Describes Cloth.
Q. It was kind of in the shape of
that, wasn’t it (Rosser held up a
thick cloth)?—A. No, it wasn’t made
exactly like that.
Q. Did it have cotton in it?—A.
No, but it was mighty dirty.
Q. Didn’t you tell Mr. Dorsey it was
this?—A. I said it was kind of like
that.
Q. Was it a finer grade of cloth?—
A. I don't know about that.
Q. You don’t know whether It was
like that, or not?—A. No.
Q. Didn’t you sav Mr. FTank told
you to look by the metal box and get
that cloth?—A. No. I said by the cot
ton box.
Q. Jim, what did you do with that
cloth when you got through with it?
—A. I threw it down in front of 'the
furnace.
Q. Where you put the clipper?—A.
Yes.
Q. The cloth didn’t come in con
tact with her head at all?—A. I don’t
know*.
Q. You didn’t get that cloth on her
shoulder?—A. Yes. I got It up there.
Denies Contradictions.
Q. Didn't you say yesterday that
you didn't get it up there?—A. No,
sir. I don't think so.
Q. Didn’t you say this: “I tried to
get it up there, and it dropped?”—A.
I might have said it.
Q. How much did the girl weigh?—
A. 1 don't* know.
Q. Can you carry 110 pounds with
out any trouble?—A. No.
Q. You say you can't carry 110
■—+ p —e -
imih ■ .r <1 lll^ynv. »'■ . .
/ /j
4. Mary Phagan came in; then later I heard footsteps going back to the metal room.
Conley Admits Lying, but
Claims to Tell Truth Now
Continued From Page 3.
in
old face the gallows
Hmdelivered his testimony as glib
ly asNX he were a phonograph set
going foV the purpose.
He rattled it off so rapidly at times
that it was difficult to follow. Jle
remembered minute details of this,
that, and the other—he seemed to
have an almost superhuman memory
under direct examination, unwinding
his tale with few and far between
suggestions from the Solicitor.
His Memory Was Marvelous!
It was only when he got to the
cross-examination by Mr. Rosser,
^■however, that he recalled possessing,
■P^nBong his other mental assets, even a
lit^t bit of a forgettery!
Before the cross-examination had
proceeded very far, nevertheless.
Conley recalled that he could forget.
Rosser already has mixed him bad
ly in many ways.
If Conley is telling the truth—
which many people believe—even in
the main, Mr. Rosser will never shake
him to pieces, however much he may
shake him in spots.
If he is lying—which many people
strength to see the light!
Is the word of this negro Conley-
many times a confessed liar, many
times a “Jailbird,” many times a
loafer and a street vagabond—to
serve the purpose of crushing utterly
the young superintendent of the pen*
cil factory, heretofore of unblemish
ed character and reputation?
Is It to serve the frightful purpose
of stabbing the wife and mother to
the heart forever and forever, to
blacken and make unthinkable tho
memory of the husband and son?
Story It Not Impossible.
Can it be the TRUTH that Jim
Conley speaks?
Yes. it can be the truth.
It Is seemingly far beyond the
range of the probable, perhaps, but
it is not beyond the range of the
possible.
It is possible that Conley is telling
things ns they actually happened,
even though lying in parts—it is Pos
sible, if not probable.
It must be remembered that the
defense as yet has introduced no
swer my question.—A. Well, I was
trying to explain.
Q. I don't want you to go ofT an
an explaining excursion. You look
ed at the clock when you went to get
the cloth to move the body?—A. Yea,
sir.
Q. What time was it?—A. Four
minutes to 1 o’clock.
Q Jim. when you talked to the de
evidence a.« admissable as an origin a1
proposition.”
“That's the authority we want to
hear,” said Rosser.
“The defense rtas offered no au
thority and I daresay they won’t,” re
torted Dorsey.
"When one of the prosecution,”
said Rosser, "admits in the beginning
that it was inadmissible orgnally, I
thnk we at lea^t are enttled to an
authorty from hs assocate.”
Dorsey proceeded to read author-
tectives ihat time, you were telling | itles. The argument was that the
all that you knew You didn’t say
anything about getting that cloth? —
A. I intended to.
Q. What sort of a cloth was it?
Like that burlap you had up here the
other day?—A. No, sir, it wasn't like
that. It was striped.
Q. How wide was it?—A. I don’t
know exactlv.
Q. Was it two feet?—A. Yes. sir, I
gtoss it was two f 't.
Q. What is two feet?—A. Like
these. (Conley pointed to his fe*»t.)
Q What then did you do with the
body? A. 1 turned it on to the cloth
and wrapped it u
Q. Now. when you were talking to
Black and Scott, you didn’t say any
thing about coming un to Frank be
fore you went and got the cloth l >
wrap the little girl in?—A. No, sir,
1 don’t remember saying that.
At this time court adjourned until
2 o’clock.
Asks Ruling Out of Tsstimony.
When the court was resumed Reu
witnesses. Its case still i« to be made I b ’' n Arnold asked that the Jury bo
• excluded while he made a motion.
out. Whatever damage it has sus
tained and it has suffered heavily,
even at best. It must be admitted -
whatever damage it has sustained at
the hands of the State's witness
(and such advantages as it has gain
ed—and it has gained some advant
ages—it has gained at those same
hands.
WiB its own witnesses fare better
under cross-examination from the
other side than some of the States
witnesses have, and yet may, fare
under the pitless fire of Rosser?
When Conley's horrible story was
‘..nished under the direct examination,
the spectators had been shocked into
evidence established a course of
conduct and established intent and
motive.
Leo Frank kept his eyes fixed on
Dorsey during the argument. Hie
expression was the same enigma as
always.
Judge Ends Argument.
Dorsey said:
"I submit that as an original prop
osition this evidence is admissible.”
Judge Roan: “Well that endv the
argument."
Dorsey adde dthat there was aiso
the proposition of being too late. He
asked the defense to cite their author
ity
Rosser said: “I have too much re
spect for the court to trot out the
authorities.”
Dorsey retorted: “Run them out.
anvwav, Just so you get them out."
Rosser replied: “No matter how
I brought them out you wouldn’t un
derstand them.”
“Your honor.” raid Dorsey, “as a
commonsense proposition, it is not
also believe—Mr. Rosser will shake almost irresponsible indignation—
i
him to pieces before he turns him
loose—it hardly can be doubted
With Conley’s story sustained, de
spite the fire of Rosser’s cross-exami
nation. FTank is undone and lost for
ever, and every* damning circum
stance cited against him will loorr.
large and conclusive in the matter of
shaping the verdict and public opin
ion thereafter
With Conley’s story crushed and
flattened out as a tissue of lies re
lated to save his own neck, all the
circumstamr.« cited against Frans
iteb
will be ratea inconsequential and of
they were in no condition to Judge
.... . . , , , . , i fair for the defense to remain st-
W hen the jurors had left, he asked i . __ io . oiiK
, ... lent w hen this evidence was first sub-
out.
that aU the testimony . rel » t ' n *‘“im1tted.thencro«s-nue s tl 0n thlswtt-
*rank s alleged de*enerancy be ruled | for two rtHys ' Bnri Ket ftl , the
benefit they can possibly hope to get
and then to move to withdraw the
evidence.”
Fixed Trap for Stata
“We move to exclude all evidence
about this negro watching for Frank
on other occasions." said Arnold
“We propose to withdraw all cross-
examination on this subject. ....
•Your Honor, the stuff Is too vil*! the jury thst we are una’b'eGo
to be rouil before these women. I'll ,, ort this witness. I'll tell the
it to Your Honor and to the
show-
attorneys for the prosecution
“Our motion is to exclude this tes
timony on the ground that It is ir
relevant.”
“Now, I want to bring to the at
tention of the court." continued Ar
nold. “that this was not brought out
on cross-examination. It was put In
for nothing in the world but to preju
dice the Jury against this man, and we
propose to rule out our cross-exam!
ness the truth or the falsity of it,
in any aspect of those things.
Rational men and women, honest
men and women, len and women
willing for the right to prevail, an 1
praying that only the right MAY pre
vail. still are stru^^’tnr to keep their
minds open and free of prejudice
and immature conclusion.
Why not, then, resolve In y > it
heart and mind this: WHATEVER
THE JURY SHALL SAY, THAT
SHALL SPJtAK THE TRUTH OF
no account—for without Oonley to j THIS TRIAL?
to rule out the fact that he watched
and what he claims he saw.”
Attorney Hoope r said that ^hon
the defense did not object when that
question was put and answered it
seemed to him they were too late.
“There is every reason why it
should be admitted.*' he said. "They
have had the full benefit of the cross-
examination. I am almost positive
"They would withdraw this evi
dence and make the impression on
sup
port this witness. I’ll tell the court
thal we expect to introduce witnesses
and back them up. When they see
how powerful It is after a vain effort
to derive a benefit from it for twe
days they would withdraw it all to
leave the State high and dry ”
Mrs. Frank, the prisoner’s wife, was
abevnt for the ftr«t tlm$ since the
trial opened. She left the room when
Dorsey started his accusations in the
cept his watching on the day of the
crime.”
Attorney Hooper interrupted: "Your
honor," he said, “will you withhold
your ruling until in the morning, in
qrder that we may cite you more au
thorities?”
“I would# reverse myself at any
time, if I found I was wrong,” Judge
Roan replied. "I will refrain from
saying anything to the jury until I
have received your Authority.”
The jury was then recalled.
Examination Continues.
Rosser then resumed his examina
tion of Conley;
Q. Jim, you took that girl and
wrapper her up in that sheet?—A.
Yes.
Q. Did It cover her whole body?—
A. No.
Q. Which part?—A. I don’t know.
Q. Was her head out?—A. Yes.
y. Her feet?—A. Yes.
Q. How much of her feet?—A. I
don’t know, Mr. Rosser.
Q. Did her head hang back?—A.
Yes.
Q. And her feet hang out?—A. Yes.
Q. You don't know how much?—A.
No.
y. And you put your arm through
it and lifted it up on yojir shoulder?—
A. Yes.
Q. You walked with her on your
back?—A. Yes.
Q. Then you came on up to the
dressing room and dropped her be
cause she was so heavy?—A. No, I
Just let her slip.
y. Didn't you tell the police you
told Frank she was too heavy for
you?—A. Yes.
Q Why did you tell him that if she
was not heavy?—A. I wanted to make
him help me because I was scared.
Q. Well, was she heavy or was she
light?—A. She was both ways; she
wasn’t hea\ v and she wasn’t light.
A laugh riopled over the court room
at the negro s reply, and when it be
came ripe the negro showed his white
teeth and laughed audibly.
Rosser Upbraids Conley.
Attorney Rosser was visibly wor
ried. He frowned, and shaking a fin
ger at Conley, said:
“You are a both ways negro, ain’t
you? What are you laughing at? Do
you s^e anything funny?"
The negro said:
“I was just laughing because the
others laughed.”
"Didn't you laugh first?” the law
yer shouted. *
“No, sir, I just laughed because It
was funny for me to say she was
both wavs,” the negro replied.
Q. How did she fall?—A. She fell
on her back.
y. She Just fell from your hold on
her? How far down?—A. I don’t
they forfeited the right to get thlt motion." said Dorsey.
course of his argument. The mother know, sir.
kept her seat by the side of her ao?i 'J- \ ou " ero ho.ding her about your
“The course of conduct sworn f>;kneea?—A. Yes, sir.
bv this witness will be amply corrob- Q. How far was Mr. I-rank when
orated. It is a powerful thing to you called him?—A. He was at the
show that thi* man killed little Mary head of the stairs.
Phagan aa will be shown later on. Q How far was it?—A. I don’t
Your honor, we ask that you go slow 1 know.
before deciding to rule out this evi Q- Can you tell me anything more
dence. The courts are to show Jus- about this case, except that story you
tire and I defy the mto cite an au- told Mr Dorsey?
thorlty from the textbooks written in "I object,” said Dorsey. “That is
the last five years that sustains their ! argumentative He can’t ask a ques-
ruled out when they didn’t ask for It
at the ttme they were admitted.”
Before ruling, the Judge called t?r
authorities
"We appeal to your honor,” con
tinued the Solicitor, “that such a mo
tion is unfair and we submit this
i tion without specifying anything ”
When Solicitor Dorsey concluded “Why can’t I, your honor?” asked
and Reuben Arnold arose to speak Rosser.
Mrs. Frank returned to her seat be- I "It is a reneral question,” replied
side her husband, her eyes wet with Judge Roak.‘
tears. i Rosser; it come to the pass
Arnold said: j that I can’t a general question
“It is not any us e to get excited j of this witness? I want to ask him
pounds?—A. I said I couldn’t without
any trouble.
Q. You are 27 years* old. How much
do you weigh?—A. 150 pounds.
Q. Mr. Frank backed up, didn’t he?
—A. Yes.
Q. You were both excited and ner
vous?—A, Yes.
Q. You didn’t tell Scott or Black
about Frank backing that body up on
you?—A. I told one of them.
Q. You didn’t tell them about
Frank going for the key?—A. I think
I did.
Q. Did you tell that during that
heart-to-heart talk?—A. I don’t know.
Q. Did you tell it to Mr. Dorsey?—
A. Yes. I think so.,
Q. When you got there to the ele
vator. you took that cloth off didn’t
you?—A. No.
Q. When did you take it off?—A.
When I put her down.
How He Laid Girl Down.
Q. How did you leave the little
girl in the basement?—A. With her
head towards Alabama . street—her
feet towards Hunter, and her face
towards Forsyth street.
Q. Didn’t you tell the detectives
that you left her w’ith her face to
wards the elevator?—A. I don’t think
so.
Q. Are you sure?—A. I disremem-
ber what I said.
Q. What did you say to Mr. Frank?
A. I asked him what he wanted me
to do with these things.
Q Where were you standing?—A.
At the furnace.
Q. Wher e was Mr. Frank?—At the
elevator.
Q. That Is 150 feet from the fur
nace? A. I don’t know
Q. Didn’t she have any dirt on her
face when you found her?—A. Yes,
she had dirt on both sides of her
face.
Girl's Eye Was Bruised.
Q. Did she have any bruises on her
face?—A. One on the eye.
Q. Did you see any others?—A. Yes.
Q. Was Mr. Frank in your sight
when you asked him what he wanted
you to do with those things?—A. No.
sir, he was not; that is. he was not
where I could see him.
Q. Well, he was on the first floor,
then?—A. I don’t know.
Q. You found a pice of ribbon down
there, didn’t you?—A. Yes.
Q But when you talked to Scott
and Black you didn’t say anything
about the 5*hoes. hat and ribbon?—A.
I don’t know. sir. except .1 told him
I pitched them over there in front
of the boiler.
Q. Who ran the elevator up?—A. I
did. for Mr. Frank told me. I ran
it up and he got on at the first floor
before it stopped and said: “Gee,
bu* that was a hot Job," and hit me
kind of playful like.
Q. Isn't this the first time you have
ever told about Mr. Frank hitting
you when he ~ot on the elevator?—A.
I told somebody about it.
Elevator Was "Easy Like."
Q. There is a big wheel at the top
of the elevator, isn’t there?—A. Yes.
Q. When the elevator runs it just
makes a little buzzing, like a June-
bug?—A. It goes down easy.
Q. Doesn't it make much noise when
it stops at the bottom?—A. No, it
stops kind of easy like.
Q. That is a silent elevator, isn’t it?
—A. I don’t know. It don’t make
much noise.
Q. But don’t it just slide up and
down, easy like without making any
Sinister as
night 1 unaided by moon, planet or
satellite, Jim ^Conley is to-day the
most talked-of man in Georgia.
His black skin has not b?en whit
ened by the emancipation proclama
tion. The record of his race for re
garding an oath as it regards a drink
of gin, something to be swallowed,
remains unattacked.
But Georgia is* to-day listening to
the words of Jim Conley with breath
less interest. His every syllable has
ten thousand of eager interpreters.
His facial expression is watched as
keenly as he answers the queKions of
Luther Rosser as would be the physi
ognomy of the President of the United
States be watched as he signed a
declaration of war against Japan.
Jim Conley has upset traditions of
the South, even as the Phagan case
ha« upset traditions that have lived
for years through the length and
breadth of the country.
The South Listens.
A white man is on trial. His life
hangs on the words of a negro. And
the South listens to the negro’s words.
Had Jim Conley happened to be
a negro of the new type, now so fre
quently seen in Dixie, a negro with
education enough to halt his racial
tendency to lying under fire; had he
happened to be a negro of the old
type, the type the South best loves
and venerates, the Id slave that is
faithful to the family he belonged to
as a dog Is to his master, tradition
would still exist.
But Conley has wrecked tradition.
He is a negro of the type that the
South has been trying since recon
struction to destroy, the meagerly
educated, shiftless, gin-guzzling, half
anthropoid black that any nation
could well be rid of.
But they are listening to Conley.
The South has not thus suddenly for
gotten the fact that negro evidence
is as slight as tissue paper. The
South has not forgotten that when
white man’s word is brought in com
bat against negro’s word, there is no
question as to the winner.
Topsy Turvy Case.
Here’s the answer. The entire Pha
gan case has been as topsy turvy as
the greatest creation of a Coney
Island artist.
“White people believing a negro!”
you say and laugh.
Why shouldn’t they, when a little
factory girl can go into the innermost
circles of the life of Peachtree street
or Pace’s Ferry Road?
She’s there. Mary Phagan alive
could have approached these mansions
of Atlanta’s aristocracy an hundred
times in her plain little calico dress,
and each time she would have been
told to go to the back door.
But Mary Phagan, dead, is to-day
in every home in Atlanta where lares
et penates are set up, be those
household gods, simply a family Bible
or the gem-encrusted w’edding crown
which the wife of the household wore
when society fought to witness her
wedding and hoi polloi struggled to
catch a glimpse of her beauty as she
walked through the church chancel.
A Thom© for a Sermon.
Mary Phagan in her lifetime never
made much more than $5 a week. The
laws of labor made that amount her
portion. Twenty-five cents taken
from her salary would have probably
caused the absence from the family
table of the cabbage and biscuit that
are playing such an important part
in these cases.
Now* the State of Georgia is paying
out hundreds, yes, thousands of dol
lars to discover and punish her slay
er. The Frank family is expending
as much or more to prove to the
world that he is guiltless of the
crime.
A sermon could be written on the
subject.
Mary Phagan. alive, was a pro
toplasm in the life of Atlanta; dead,
she stands out in a bas relief that is
a» striking as the great torch which
the Goddess of Liberty holds aloft in
New York Harbor.
Her name will always be remem
bered.
In noted criminal cases, it has al
ways been the defendant for whom
the trial was named. The word
“Thaw” will be remembered w'hen the
name of Stanford White has passed
into oblivion, and Stanford White did
more with one stroke of a pen than
tire life.
There are few' people who can re
call to-day the name of Caesar Young,
but there are few that forget the
name of Nan Patterson.
Caleb Powers was charged with
killing a Governor of Kentucky. The
average man would have to seek ref
erences to remember his name.
But Mary Phagan died, and the
case remains the Phagan case.
Frank’s name will be carried with It
a few years, and then will be for
gotten.
The little factory girl will b© re
membered as long as law exists in
Atlanta.
It is an awful shaft to erect. But
It is more enduring than marble; ft
means more than man’s words have
ever exoressed.
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Continued on Pag# 7.
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