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JIM CONLEY. THE
OF
! S
Y
E, IS
PROSECUTOR DORSEY
SNAPPED IN ACTION
By JAMES B. NEVIN.
This shows
the Solicitor
in an argument
at the Frank
trial.
Now that James Conley has been
dismissed from the Frank trial, now
that he has stood safely the Are of
Mr. Rosser's most exhaustive grilling,
what of him?
If Frank is convicted, Conley sub
sequently will be convicted, no doubt,
of being an accessory after the fact of
Mary Phagan’s murder—and that will
mean three years, at most, In the
penitentiary.
After that—when the Frank trial,
more or less, has been forgotten—
Conley will be at liberty to come back
amongst the people of Atlanta.
Not far from Five Points, a little
due east along one of the big thor
oughfares meeting there, there is a
negro bootblack who now and then,
when he is on the Job, which fre
quently he isn’t, gives me a "shine”
so much to my liking that it brings
me back on other days.
He is a sort of Jim Conley negro—
at least, he has a smattering of edu
cation, an Ingratiating air, and is po
lite. particularly when it pays him to
be.
Quite without previous design, 1
stopped at this negro’s stand Wednes
day afternoon, and it was not long
before he mentioned the famous trial.
He having started the conversation, 1
asked him a few questions—and his
replifs, given herein in part, rather
set me to thinking.
“Complimented on All Sides.”
“George.” I said—not that I know
his name Is George, but that it so
happens 1 address* negroes unknown
of name that way—“what do your
friends down on Decatur street think
of Jim Conley’s story over yonder in
the big court? Rather clever, negro,
Jim, eh?” said I to this bootblack.
"Well, boss, dat Mr. Rosser ain’t
made nothing on Jim yit, is he?” re
plied George.
I ventured the opinion that Mr. Ros
ser failed, at least, to make Jim out
so many dffferent kinds of a liar that
his story might not stick in spots.
"Well, hosd,” continued my bureau
of information, “dem niggers down
on D< cutur .street, dey ain’t talking
of nothing but Jim Conley. He’s de
most talked about nigger anywhere, 1
guess. I hears him complimented on
all sides!”
'In other words, Jim's a sort of
hero along Decatur street nowadays?”
said I.
“Yassir, dat’s it—Jim’s a hero. Nig
gers all talking about him. He done
got de best of de smartest of ’um.
Nobody can’t fool er nigger like Jim!”
Hero Around “Butt In” Bar.
I presume, too, that something of
the same condition prevails over on
Peters street—particularly in the
neighborhood of the “Butt In” bar
over there.
You remember the “Butt In” boo-
zorium in Peters street is the one
wherein Conley filled up rather freely
on beer, the morning of the Phagan
murder, also on beer mixed with wine.
The “Butt In”, it also will be re
called, is where Conley obtained a
“double-header” beer—“double-head
ers” being the order of the day always
■— .i
in the “Butt In;” there being, per
haps, some subtly humorous connec
tion between “Butt In” and “double-
header!”
It Is Not Improbable.
It is not improbable that many a
foaming “double-header” has been
dumped Into dusky citizens along
the way of the “Butt In” of late—In
honor of Jim, and the way he “done
got de best of de smartest of um,
over dar in de big court!”
If Jim Conley ever gets back to De
catur street, and hereafter he be per
mitted to tread the primrose way of
the “Butt In” bar over on Peters, in
all probability the drinks will not
cost him anything for many days.
The proprietor of the "Butt In”
doubtless right now would scorn to
take Mr. Conley’s honest money—the
violent presumption being that Jim
ever had, or ever will have, that kind
of money—even for “double-headers.' 1
Jim has just passed through the
fire. And he got through, his reputa
tion more or less damaged for truth
fulness, to be sure, but not utterly
shattered beyond patching up in such
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wise that it might be worked one
more time, at least, if necessary.
True, Conley already had been in
jail seven times that he admits of,
and several times more that he can
not recall precisely, and that had
served to make him something of a
hero in darkest Darktown; but Jim’s
involuntary residence in durance vile
heretofore has been in police circles
and mere county chaingangs exclu
sively. So that didn’t make him a
particularly big hero—albeit it made
him a hero not altogether to be
sneezed at!
Now. however, Jim has been in “de
big court,” tangled all up in a mur
der case, suspected by some of being
a principal to the murder, indeed,
but cleverly side-stepping that too
deadly peril—and his name has been
in all the newspapers hundreds of
times, and his picture dozens of
times, and before he gets through with
it. he will be decorated by the State’s
majesty in stripes—but the latter not
so long that it will seriously incon
venience anybody, particularly J1m'
All In all, Jims’ a real hero in darken
Darktown, at last—a real ebony
chevalier of crime—and those breth
ren who frequent the “Butt Ins” and
the "Butt Outs,” and booze dispen
saries of like persuasion will bow
down and worship Jim—for, in their
philosophy, of such as Jim is the De
catur street "kingdom of heaven.” ,
Ruling Generally Approved.
The general impression seems to be
that Judge Roan did the right thing
in permitting the Conley story to go
to the jury in its entirety, inasmuch
as it had gone in deadly part, any
way.
Perhaps the evidence fixing upon
Leo Frank another crime than the
one he etands charged with under
the present indictment was, primarily,
Inadmissible, but there was no way
to relieve the jury of the charge Con
ley made, and it would have been
hardly fair either to the jury, the
court and even to the defendant, *o
cut the story off there.
If the State is able to sustain its
terrible charge against Frank, it per
haps is common sense now to let it
proceed to tne corroborating of Con
ley, if It can corroborate him.
To have left Conley’s charge neither
contradicted nor corroborated—that
would merely have resulted in its
probable corroroboration in the minds
of the public, if not elsewhere.
The things Conley said to the
Frank Jury can not be said and then
forgotten.
It would have been folly to have
ASKED the jury to forget—it would
have been Imposing upon it an im
possible mental task.
Other Charge as Serious.
If it so be that error was com
mitted in not ruling out the story,
a new trial will be granted, on ap
peal, in the event of Frank’s convic
tion—and the trial next time un
doubtedly will proceed without this
particular evidence in.
The State can, if It fails to sustain
eventually Its charge of murder, still
move against Frank, if it so elects,
in the other direction—which crim
under the Code, Is quite as serious
as murder.
One may fee! the injustice of fling
ing at Frank, while on trial for mur
der, another capital charge—still,
since the additional charge was ad
mitted, with protest, as an original
proposition few’ people will contend
strenuously that the State should nut
be permitted to proceed to the con
clusion of a line of evidence begun
without protest.
I have heard Judge Roan’s ruling
discussed about town last night, and
to-day. and I heard few’ who find
fault in it.
Indeed, as matter of simple justice
to Frank, no less than to the State—
and 1‘ will not do to forget that the
State has large rights at stake in
this matter—it seems common sense
and elementary justice that the State,
having made its awful charge, be re
quired either to Corroborate it or not.
That apepars to he the public at
titude in the matter.
EXPERT LAST WITNESS
CALLED BY THE STATE
Judge Declined to Order Out of
Record Any of Jim Conley's
Testimony.
Judge Roan administered a severe
blow to the defense Wednesday when
he ruled that all of Conley’s story
should stand, although portions of it,
he acknowiedged. would have been
inadmissible had objection been
made at the time the testimony was
offered.
It was a particularly difficult alle
gation to combat. Unlike many alle
gations, it was exactly as hard to
fight in the event it w’as false as in
case it was founded on fact.
Judge Roan said in regard to the
testimony of Dalton that ho did not
know’ what it was to b e and that he
would allow it to be presented so that
he might rule on its admissibility as
it came up.
Solicitor Dorsey put the final rivet
in his case so far as it rested upon
the testimony of Conley when at the
close of his redirect examination of
the negro he brought to light the
State’s theory of the disposition that
had been made of the Phagan girl’s
mesh bag.
Practically no mention of the mesh
bag had been made during the w’eek
and a half of the trial. The only
reference made to it was in the ex
amination of Mrs. J. W. Coleman,
mother of the slain girl, and of the
officers w’ho visited the scene of the
crime immediately after police head
quarters w’as called by the negro
nightwatchman, Newt Lee.
Tells of Mesh Bag.
Mrs. Coleman testified that Mary
left home with the mesh bag in her
hand. The detectives and policemen
all testified that they w’ere able to
find no trace of it either the morning
after the crime or in the search that
had been conducted since then.
“Did you ever see the murdered
girl’s mesh hag?” Dorsey asked Con
ley, just as it appeared that he had
finished his questioning.
“Yes, sah, I see it,” Conley replied.
“Where was it?”
“It was right on Mr. Frank’s desk
w’hen I went in there to write the
notes.”
“Did you see what became of it?”
“YVs, sah; Mr. Frank w’ent and put
it in his safe.”
Conley left the stand at 11:10
o’clock still sticking to his charge
that Leo Frank killed the Phagan
girl and that, at Frank’s direction, he
(Conley) assisted in the disposal of
the body. He had been on the stand
fifteen and one-half hours and under
the grilling cross-examination of Lu
ther Rosser for more than thirteen
hours.
Practically the only addition he
made to his story as it appeared in
his direct examination was his decla
ration that while he was writing the
murder notes Frank took the pencil
out of his hand and then an instant
later made him rub out the “s” he
had written as he spelled out “ne-
gros. * Conley said he wrote the note
at first:
“A long tall black negros did this
by hisself.”
A long argument over the admissi
bility of Conley’s testimony in regard
to Frank’s alleged conduct with wom
en previous to the murder of Mary
Phagan took place after the Jury had
been sent from the courtroom at noon.
Court recessed before the arguments
were concluded, and the debate was
resumed in the afternoon.
Reuben Arnold cited opinions from
ourts in States from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, but his arguments were
unavailing and the decision w’ent
against the defense. There was
murmur of applause and a stamping
of feet.
Arnold instantly was on his feet
with a motion for a mistrial, but he
realized at once that the jury was not
present and withdrew the motion. He
threatened, however, to make a mo
tion that the courtroom be cleared if
such a demonstration occurred again.
Dr. Harris Recalled.
Dr. Harris was recalled to complete
the testimony which he was giving
when he collapsed on the stand the
Friday before. He repeated his asser
tion ns to the time Mary Phagan came
to her death after eating dinner at
her home in Bellwood Saturday short
ly before noon.
‘I can say with almost absolute
certainty,” he declared, “that this lit
tle girl was killed within 30 or 4C
minutes after she ate her meal that
day.”
He refused, under cross-examina
tion, to change his testimony in the
least in respect to the cause of death.
“It was easily apparent that stran
gulation was the cause,” he declared.
“An examination of the lungs was
unnecessary and even useless because
of the embalming preparation that
had been employed, it was plainly
evident that the rope had been placed
about the girl s neck before death
and the deep indentation showed that
was sufficient to choke off her
DR. II. F. HARRIS.
I
John Woolsey Suffers Broken Leg
When Blown Through the
Roof of House.
it
breath and cause death within a brief
time.”
Although Arnold was unable to
make the physician alter the state
ment of his opinion, he obtained ar.
admission that a blow on the heart
aufficiem to cause death might im-
CUMMINO, Aug. 7.—John Woolsey,
tho only negro in Forsyth County,
was blown out of bed through the
roof of his cabin, eight miles north
of Gumming, and suffered a broken
leg, w’hen dynamite was set off under
the house, according to information
that has reached Cumming. The dy
namiting took place on the farm of
Wyley Smith. The dynamiters cut
all telephone wires into that part of
the county, which prevented the new’s
reaching here sooner. Woolsey was
hurried out of the county to Gaines
ville by Smith.
The negro had moved to the Smith
place Just a few days ago. He wad
warned to leave the county and Smith
was warned to get rid of him. Neither
took heed. The dynamiting resulted.
The cabin occupied by Woolsey was
completely wrecked.
I. W. W. Leaders Plan
Great Lakes Strike
Senate and House Bodies in Joint
Meeting Agree to Favor the
Ellis Bill.
DULUTH, Aug. 7.—One of the most
widespread strikes ever attempted by
Great Lakes dock workers w’as in
prospect to-day. Plans were being
formed to extend the strike from all
the docks in Duluth to the ore ship
ping points in Wisconsin and Michi
gan.
Industrial Workers of the World
planning the strike, contemplated
calling out the dock workers at Two
Harbors, Mich.; Superior, Wis.; Ash
land, Wis.; Marquette, Mich., and Ew-
canaba, Mich.
mediately precede gajrroting and still
the same manifestations of strangu
lation exist.
Dr. Harris, however, did not be
lieve that the blow on Mary Phagan’s
head was enough to caus^ death. He
said that the blow was not severe and
that, aside from a little spot of blood
on the brain which could not have
a used any pressure, the brain was
entirely normal.
Attorney Arnold in the latter par*
of the afternoon session engaged ir.
an exhaustive and highly technica!
examination of the witness in regard
to the action of the digestive juices,
the percentages, that were present in
Mary Phagari's stomach am* the tests
that were made for poisons.
The bill introduced into the Hou
by Representative Ellis of Tift
County to remove the Georgia Ex
periment Station from Griffin, Ga., to
the Southern part of the State, will
he recommended for passage by both
the Senate Committee on Agriculture
and the House Committee No. 2 on
Agriculture.
The favorable report on the bill
was prepared at a joint meeting of
the committees Wednesday afternoon
The hill has been favorably consid
ered once by the Senate Committee,
which later voted to reconsider its
action when pressure was brought to
hear. The House Committee had nit
acted prior to the Wednesday meet
ing.
The report 1s expected to precipitate
fight in the House. It is regarded
as unlikely that any definite action
n the bill will be taken at this ses
sion of the Legislature. Members >f
the General Assembly who advocate
Griffin as the place for the station
have been active in their tight on the
bill.
The meeting Wednesday was at
tended by many adherents of Griffin,
and a number of those who w’ant th *
station removed to South Georgia, as
well as several who desire its re
moval to Athens.
Among those who addressed the
meeting were Dr. A. C. True, of the
Agricultural Department of Washing
ton. w’ho has supervision over all
State experiment stations, and Com
missioner or Agriculture J. D. Price
Dr. True said the removal of the
station would not affect the Federal
appropriation. Mr. Price advocated
the present location.
Battlefield of 1763
To Be Memorial Park
GREEN8BURG, PA., Aug. 7—At
the celebration of the one hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of the battle
of Bushy Run, one of the principal
engagements of the French and Indian
war here, a movement was started to
obtain L'o acres of the famous battle
field for a memorial park, and to
erect a bronze statue with a large
bronze tablet to Colonel Henry Bo-
quet.
The historical and patriotic so-
cltles of Pennsylvania are behind the
movement.
IS VAUDEVILLE
Every Change in Chromatic Scale
Rung — All Georgia Types
Seen in Court.
By L. F. WOODRUFF.
Every change In the chromatic
scale has been rung In the F.anlc
trial. With the single exception of
the skyrocket oratory that will mark
the last stage of the trial, everything
that has ever been done in the trial
of a criminal case has been enacted
in the fight to fix on the superintend
ent of the National Pencil Factory the
guilt of the murder of Mary Phagan.
There has been comedy. There has
been tragedy. There has been periods
as dull as a hookworm victim. There
have been occasions as startling ae
the feat of a circus daredevil. There
have been pathos and performances
worthy of a clown. The somber has
been mixed with the gay until the
entire trial seems the work of a fu
turist artist who has had a hard night
with the drinking cups before he
started the painting.
Jim Conley was on the stand some
thing like sixteen hours. His story
was a ragtime composition, with the
weirdest syncopations, and then came
Dr. Harris right on his heels and
gave evidence full of soundness and
learnedness. To the spectators it
seemed that they had Just heard
'Alexander's Ragtime Band” played
and then a Bach fugue for an encore.
One Simple, Other Complex,
Conley's story was as simple In
words as ' Old Black Joe,” while Dr.
Harris' was as complex as a Wag
nerian overture.
Jim Conley spoke In terms of the
street, of the near-beer saloon, of the
blind allev cran game. Dr. Harris
spoke In the language of the labora
tory and the library.
Jim Conley could not enunciate a
word of more than one syllable. Dr.
Harris was as polysyllabic as the
word "heterogeneous." And the spec
tators had to gasp after the shift.
Conley’s story, while it was as full
of contradictions as a hive Is of bees,
was as easy to understand as a baby's
"da-da" is to a fond parent. Dr. Har
ris evidence W'as as loaded with med
ical lore as a physician’s library.
And, although It seems impossible,
there Is more still to come. Before
the trial has ended practically eveTy
type that Georgia knows will have
been paraded in the courtroom.
Types Seen in Court.
Right now, the spectators have seen
the scholarly defendant whose court
attitude Is still an enigma—as unsolv-
able as the crime with which he Is
charged. There are his loving mother
and his devoted wife.
Here Is the massive figure of Lu
ther Rosser, attacking every oppo
nent with a battleax ferocity. Here
Is the erudite Arnold, with rapier
thrusts to send in the death blow
when the enemy is beaten down by
the more direct assault of his ally.
Here Is the young Solicitor, strug
gling against tremendous odds, up
setting tradition by fighting Rosser
with his own weapons, burning Ar
nold with his own fire.
Here Is his learned associate, quick
to grasp a point as a drowning man
Is a straw.
Here are factory girls and business
men. Here are the comical figure of
Newt Lee and the sinister figure of
Jim Conley. Here are the learned
scientist and the sleuth hound.
It seems that everything has been
shown, but still there will be more.
It Is Impossible that Rosser and Ar
nold will not show something Just as
novel and bizarre as the State has
presented.
Color for a Dickens,
There Is Mlncey to come with Ms
startling story—Mlncey, as typical of
the red clay soil of the Cracker coun
try ns peanuts and watermelons:
Mlncey, so typically the country
chool teacher that he will have to
carry a rod of hickory and a blue-
back speller to the stand to feel at
home while he is giving his evidence.
And there will be a lot more.
Tragic as is the trial, it has been
Atlanta's greatest vaudeville show.
Dickens could have spent one week In
Judge Roan's courtroom and written
four novels around the types he saw
listening to and playing parts In the
drama that hovers around the life and
death of a little girl of the factory.
G. U. 0. 0. F.
CONVENTION
Savannah, Ga.,
August 12-16, 1913.
$9.05 Round Trip.
Two trains daily throuj
without change. Leave A
lanta 8 a. m. and 9:35 p. r
CENTRAL OF GEORGI
RAILWAY.
The man that lost roll
bills on Central ot Georg
Pullman can get the mon
by applying to
FRANK WTL3Y,
929 GraSt Bid