Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, August 08, 1913, Image 3
3
STATE IS FllSCtS 7
Must Stand By While Defense
Seeks Weak Link in the
Negro’s Story.
By JAMES B. NEVIN.
As the defense in the Frank ease
gets under way, it is evident enough,
as it has been from the beginning of i
this case, that there is but one big,
tremendously compelling task before
it—the annihilation of Conley’s ugly
story!
The State climaxed its case thrill -
ingly and with deadly effect in the
negro.
He came through the fire of cross-
examination, exhaustive and thorough,
in remarkably good shape, all things
considered. He unfolded a story even
more horrible than was anticipated.
Certainly, in every conceivable way,
he has sought to damage the defend
ant—even going to the extent of lodg
ing against him another crime than
murder!
Through the cross-examination,
however, there ran an evident vein
of deadly purpose upon the part of
the defense. Conley was given full
limit to go his length. He went it—
no disputing that!
The question is, did he go TOO
FAR?
Did he, in his last minute effort to
get in EVERYTHING that possibly
might work against the defendant,
tell things, or say things, that even
tually will rise to plague him to his
utter undoing?
That is the defense’s task—THE
UNDOING OF CONLEY.
Conley the State’s All.
Conley is the heart and soul of the
State’s case—without Conley, the
State is rendered helpless. He is the
Alpha and the Omega of the charge
against Leo Frank.
That great detective, William J.
Burns, says “they always—criminals
—leave something out of gear in the
stories they tell.”
Burns declares there never was a
lie told to shield a criminal that did
not have in it SOMEWHERE a fatal
weakness, that might be located if
patiently sought for. Th e more elab
orate the tale the criminal relates,
the more chance there is, no matter
how infinitely shrewd he may seem to
be, that he will be discovered.
To-day is the defense’s day in court
—during its progress, which may be
for a week or more, even as the
State’s day lasted 240 hours, Leo
Frank must break down the awful
story of Jim Conley, and prove him
self innocent, if he can, of all the va
rious charges brought against him.
Can he do it?
Well, maybe he can, and maybe he
can not—at least, in the name of jus
tice and decency and all that is right,
h e must have full and free OPPOR
TUNITY.
One Side of the Case.
During the progress of the State's
case, the defense was led far into the
gloom. People began to doubt Frank’s
Innocence—people of poise and fair
minds, desirous of seeing the truth
prevail though the heavens fall.
Even these people found themselves
staggering and groping as the
hideous and sinister charges fell from
the lips of the negro.
Could Leo Frank, of previous good
reputation, of fair name and unblem
ished integrity, college bred and stu
dious in habit, so far as the public
knew or suspected, be the monster
responsible for little Mary Pha^tan’s
death, and also—the other unspeak
able thing?
In a rather remarkable interview
Mrs. Leo Frank gave The Sunday
American some few weeks ago, she
said this of Frank and herself: “As
sweethearts, we went hand in hand,
and intruded ourselves upon no per-'
son; as man and wife we have gone
hand in hand, and we have intruded
ourselves upon no person!”
They still are ?oing "hand in
hand,” the man and the woman, the
husband and the wife—the one hold
ing up as best he can under the ter
rible charge of murder, the other
there ’beside him—“for better or
worse, in sickness and in health, for
richer or poorer”—until death, or
worse than death, shall sever the
tie that binds.
That is something steadying to
think about!
It is the defendant’s day in court—
and he is entitled to fair play and a
fair chance!
To some it may seem that the bur
den has shifted, that it Is up to the
defense now, notwithstanding the
more or less fictitious presumption
of innocence the law jealously has
established in his favor, to PROVE
his innoncence.
Be that as it may—even as the
gloom has closed about him and a:l
he holds most dear in this world—h9
still is a human being, in very dire
distress, as yet unconvicted; and It is
only right that the public should be
patient, as he sets forth HIS side of
this terrible affair.
And I give it as my opinion here
and now, for whatever it is worth,
that the case against Leo Frank yet
may be far from conclusive—and it
may never be made conclusive.
Conley’s Tale Impossible?
Suppose the defense is able to show,
by a sequence of logical, orderly and
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS
- — — .
Our Mr. L. B. Joel, who has been in the East for >
the past week, has instructed us to sell all Summer
K Goods to make room for the big Fall and Winter stocks
1 he is now buying---so price is no object-—if they are
1 Summer Goods, THEY MUST GO. 1
Store Open Until 10 o’Clock Saturday Night.
| CJ Summer Dresses at One-Third {
^ We have just received another shipment of fine
dresses. In the lot are Embroidered Voiles, all-over Lace
dresses and some all-over Net dresses. Most all colors,
including pink and light blue. Choice
*3’j
1 All-Wool Skirts
1 300 Ladies’ and Misses’
1 all-wool Skirts, in black,
I navy, cream and striped
serges. Values up to $8.00.
Choice
$2.98
$7.50 Dresses $1.98
Handsome white all-over
embroidery Dresses, not a
one in the lot worth less than
$5. But to close, take your
choice
$1.98
Washable Skirts j
500 white corduroy, P K ;
and plain white Skirts. These 1
are the same kind you pay 8
$2 for elsewhere. Choice
98c |
S Ratine Hats, Milan Shapes, Etc.
ir-w ■ B* Beautiful Ratine Hats in plain white and i
H combination colors. Number one white Milan,
^ W W black, tan and white chips; not a one worth less *
8 ^ than $3. Choice ^
STJTF SEES BITS
CFiain as Strong as Its Weakest
Link, but Cord Must Be Cut
Thread by Thread.
By 0. B. KEELER.
They call it a chain that the State
has forged, or has tried to forge, to
hold Leo Frank to the murder of
Mary Phagan.
But isn’t it a rope?
A chain, you know, is as strong as
its weakest link. Take one link out,
and the chain comes apart.
With a rope, it’s different.
Strand after strand might be cut
or broken, and the rope still holds a
certain weight. Then might come a
time when the cutting of one more
strand would cause the rope to break.
The point Is, the finished rope will
sustain a weight that would instantly
snap any one of its several strands.
Bits of Evidence Threads.
And that is what the various bits
of circumstantial evidence might bet
ter be called—strands or threads.
Edgar Allen Poe, In “The Mystery
of Marie Roget,” has nearly exhausted
the philosophical phase of accumula
tive circumstance and its relation to
Other Ready-to-Wear Specials
Silk Shirt Waists at
Beautiful Silk Waists in rich
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also heavy black and white
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Worth $5. Saturday
Sale of New Blouses at
Saturday we offer the gen
uine Balkan Middy Blouses,
made of best quality white
Galatea, and neatly trimmed in
red and blue. Special
Ladies’ long Crepe Kimonos,
in all colors,-and worth up
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choice vOv
Ladies’ New House Dresses,
well made and neatly trim
med, all colors, worth up
’ 50c
Ladies’ Corset Covers and
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med, worth up to Q*
50c, Saturday I wC
300 Children’s Parasols, in
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Saturday
5c
1,000 Garments, Ladies ’
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Saturday wOw
Sale of Ladies’ Long
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Saturday wUv
Ladies’ Lisle Finish Under -
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Saturday WV
Ladies’ Short Kimonos, in
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1,000 Ladies' Fancy Para
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One lot Black Petticoats;
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Saturday
evidence.
Applying the system of the well-
known Dupin to the case in point—
and REGARDING IT, BE IT UN
DERSTOOD, STRICTLY FROM THE
STATE’S VIEWPOINT—an analysis
of part of the evidence against Leo
Frank follows:
First off, the isolated circumstance
of Conley’s ability to write would
seem as futile as a smoke wreath in
sustaining any weight of evidence,
except against Conley himself.
But to that fact is added the fact
that Frank knew* Conley could write.
Still, the thread is flimsy, and, even
connected with the case against
Frank, would appear worthless.
Six Deduction* Seen.
But w'hen it develops that Frank,
knowing Conley could write, and
knowing the police were trying to
find the author of the murder notes—
when Frank, well aware of these
things, did not inform the police that
Conley was lying when he said he
could not write, the following deduc
tions appear:
(1) That Frank did not want to
connect Conley with the murder notes,
which (2) would have been the
natural and prompt Inclination of a
suspected man who knew nothing of
the crime himself, so that (3) it ap
peared Frank knew' something of the
murder, and (4) knew that Conley
knew he knew* something of the mur-
Runs Through Open Switch
Shepherd Device Insures safety in railway travel.
Demonstration by train at Oakland City, 3 p. m., Saturday. Take
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Mission Oak Cos
tumer, made ex
tra strong, and
98c
BASS DRY GOODS CO.
Solid Oak Din
ing and Bedroom
Chairs; worth
$1 25, Sat- COn
urday u31 '
honorably sustained witnesses, that
the tale Jim Conley tells Is utterly
absurd—and IMPOSSIBLE?
What then?
Will you be prepared, if forced to
a conviction against your will. If it
be that way with you, to say to
Frank: “All right, you came through
the Are, at times seemingly sure to
consume you, unhurt and unscorched,
but you came through, and I am con
tent."
Conley’s story has not YET been
bioken down—no. But it MAY he
broken down.
In an article a few days ago, I said
this, and I feel like repeating it now:
In judging this Frank case,
purely from the State’s own
standpoint, there Is nothing so im
portant as the TIME ELEMENT
in which the State uncompro
misingly claims the crime was
committed.
In another article a few days there
after, I said this, and this I also
feel like repeating now:
If the Conley story Is a lie, if
it has been TOO CLEVERLY
“framed up”—if and a thousand
other “ifs"—what matters that?
It matters this: If It be a lie,
It MUST break down, somewhere,
sometime; if it be the truth, it
will stand against ALL the as
saults made upon it!
State Tied by Conley.
Remember, unless Conley’s story
holds together, the case against Frank
goes to pieces. Everybody who has
read the evidence and who still Is ca
pable of rendering just judgment will
admit that.
Suppose tt can be shown, and is
shown, that the story Conley told
CAN NOT be true?
The defense MUST show that, or
Frank is lost!
Can the defense do that?
The State has pinned itself down
to exact and definite propositions.
Remember, the defense has hardly
started its story yet—it may be able
to make absurd those very proposi
tions the State has set up.
The crime, according to the State’s
witnesses, MUST have been commit
ted thus and so, in exact order, and
GREAT BARGAINS ON MAIN
FLOOR SATURDAY
15e
39c
50 Pieces Silk Poplins, Rat
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Very special.
Yard
10 Pieces 50-inch Silk Bate
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Saturday
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500 yards 36-inch wide Rat
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Very special. Yard.fcvC
Rippletts, French Ginghams
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2,000 yards fine 36-ineh
French Percales, in neat
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yard
10 bolts of the new Pink
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50 pieces Dress Linen, in all
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Saturday
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39c
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Saturday £.0'-
Ladies’ 50c Black, White and
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in this sale only kWv
Ladies’ fine Silk Hose, in
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Children’s and Babies’
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Special
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Specials in Furniture Dept, for Saturday
6x9 Jap Matting Art Squares in Flo
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$1.39
designs, Saturday ....
100 6-foot, Bamboo Porch Screens,
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Climax Mosquito Bars, ready to hang,
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worth up to 50c yard, only. L
Good size, fine Feather Pillows in
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only
Good Linen Opaque Window Shades,
on good Spring Rollers, 1 Q-
only 1
4-foot polished Brass Extension Rods,
worth and sell for a
dime, only
Odds and ends, samples, etc., in fine
Lace Curtains. Some slightly/?Q
soiled. Pair .
just as stated—or Conley’s story falls
down.
The biggest element in the State’s
ca.se is the time element—mark that!
Upon it the State will stand or fall
eventually.
If Mary Phagan was NOT killed
before 12:05, then Leo Frank didn’t
kill her. If she was not killed at
that time, Conley’s story will not do.
Then is when the State says She
was killed—THEN and not at any
other time. Conley’s story ALL leads
up to and away from that.
Remember, too, that the only, wit
ness who sw’ears to knowledge or
suspicion of any unspeakable conduct
upon the part of Frank is—again—•
Conley.
Dalton a Tame Witness.
When It came to corroborating Con
ley, Dalton proved a tame corrobo
rator. The ugly, nasty charge of per
version and degeneracy, glibly drop
ped from the lips of Conley, rests
ENTIRELY AND ALTOGETHER on
Conley’s word.
If Conley’s story of the murder Is
shown to be IMPOSSIBLE AND AB
SURD, will you then reverse your
other opinion concerning Frank—if you
have accepted Conley’s word as to
that—and agree that Conley, having
lied to send Frank to the gallows,
would have lied as readily to besmirch
him with unmentionable scandal oth
erwise?
Shall not Frank have the right, un
challenged and fair, to clear himself
of every charge lodged against him?
To-day is his day in court—will any
living person begrudge him, sore
pressed, one moment of it?
Will, in the end, he be able to read
and take to himself, happily and se
renely, Tennyson’s beautiful poem
ending—-
“And now it is daylight every
where/”
Will he?
We shall see.
At least, he is entitled to his day in
,jourt—and it is at hand!
c-1
Holiness Meeting at
Indian Springs Opens
JACKSON, Aug. 8.—With visitors
from all parts of the South present
and with every indication pointing to
the largest and most successful meet
ing in its history, the annual ten
days’ session of the Indian Springs
Holiness Camp Meeting opening
Thursday night.
The railroads have offered reduced
rates for the occasion, the cottages
already are filled and the hotels it
Indian Springs have capacity crowds.
Charlie Tillman, of Atlanta, will con
duct the singing.
3 Japanese Killed
In Riot in Oregon
SALEM, OREG., Aug. 8.—Fear of
further trouble to-day led the police
to guard the section of the city where
last night three Japanese were killed
In a riot.
A man, woman and child were kill
ed outright and another Japanese
man was reported dying to-day.
Savant to Kill, Not
Cure, by Violet Ray
Special Cable to The Atlanta Georgian.
HAVRE, FRANCE, Aug. 8.—The
violet rays, which have come to be
an agency In medicine, may take their
place in war.
Signor Vlivi, an Italian scientist,
to-day began experimenting with the
object of perfecting a device by which
explosives may be set off with infra
violet rays.
der, which (5) justified the conclusion
on the part of the State that Frank
feared to implicate Conley, lest (6)
Conley, in turn, tell something that
would implicate him.
Of course, this strand may be
broken entirely by the defense, show
ing FTank never knew the police were
Ignorant of Conley’s ability to write
before the police learned it them
selves.
But there is one pretty substantial
strand of evidence, as the State sees
it—and all having its genesis in the
simple fact that Conley knew how to
write, arid at first denied it.
But that strand of itself surely
would fail to carry the burden of the
case. There mus«t be others.
Even Conley’s story is strong only
by reason of many strands that sur
round and support It. Presented to
a jury, round and unvarnished—
tainted by the reek of false alfidavits
and weakened by the dry-rot of self-
interest, Conley’s story never would
win a verdict against Leo Frank.
But there is the shred of the mur
der notes—Conley’s story draws sup
port from that. There is the time
factor brought out by the expert tes
timony—Conley’s story twines itself
about the prop of science. There is
the agitation of Frank noticed by
Newt Lee in the middle of the after
noon—Conley’s story provfdes for
that. There is the visit of Monteen
Stover, a tiny circumstance of Itself
—but of vast importance just so far
as it strengthens Conley’s recollec
tion of exact time.
And it is by reason of the rope
already well along in the twisting
that a hundred other little circum
stances become significant that of
themselves would bo lighter than the
air-drawn dagger that troubled the
dreams of Macbeth.
They fit In with the twisting of the
rope.
Will the Rope Hold?
There is Frank’s agitation at home
and at the factory. There is the ugly
story of habitual “chats” at the fac
tory, guarded by Conley as watch
man. And the sending away of Nev\t
Lee that afternoon. And the seeing
of Conley by Mrs. White, '‘loitering”
fit the place he fixes for himself as
watchman, and at the time. And the
alleged reluctance of Frank to con
front Conley at the jail.
And all the rest of It.
So many little incidents, and most
of them small to triviality in them
selves.
The point Is each strengthens the
other, until the fragile threads be
come a rope.
Will It hold after Frank’s lawyers
have presented their side of the case?
The jury must decide.
$9 WRIGHTSVILLE
BEACH
and return—Saturday, August
16th—good 15 days. Seaboard.
W. H. Mincey,
the country
school-teacher
on whom the
Frank defense
depends, in a
measure, to
turn the sus
picion of guilt
of the Phagan
slaying to Jim
Conley.
Mincey says
the negro, on
the day of the
slaying, told
him he had
killed a girl.
This sketch
from life of
Mincey is by
P. A. Carter,
Georgian artist.
MAN WHO SAYS NEGRO JIM CONLEY
CONFESSED SLAYING OF LITTLE GIRL