Newspaper Page Text
k
4 A
nEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN, ATLANTA, GA., ST’NDAY, AUGUST 10, 1913.
INTEREST IN TRIAL NOW CENTERS IN STORY OF MINCEY
Question of Time Considered of Paramount Importance in Defense Theory of Frank Case
T HE diagram shows the daily routine of the jurors who are
trying the case against Leo M. Frank. Their days is
traced from their rising at the Kimball House, their walk to
the courtroom, their lunch in Pryor street, their return to
court, their stroll after adjournment, and their final retiring
for the night.
r
Z3
A
»
/
- r vr
s>;
iff
IQ tQl
JCf'sc «sr/^
7 jt&r-
JWZY ccn,
' wxy /f
^ aoi/jcr
/
COLES'S TdJCE&S' Jy
Sivcy' Sar Z2AZLY
;
i
ese'
es rbbbbb*-'-'j
' *
BB0
B BBE JJJJj /
I
U00
0 1 -
&
ea
B
COUFT
jrozrsx
jz&zt'
t-A—yV -
drA
S ft) %
Phagan Trial Makes Eleven “Widows”
+•+ +•+ +*+ +•+ •{•«•!• +•+ +••!• • +•+
But Jurors’ Wives Are Peeresses Also
E
EFFORT WILL
TO ACCOUNT
RIO MOVEMENTS
As all Interest centered In the dra
matlc story of Jim Conley while the
case of the prosecution In the Frank
trial was being presented, so the
public now Is awaiting with the keen
est expectancy the tale that W. H.
Mlncey, pedagogue and Insurance so
licitor, will relate when he Is called
this week by the attorneys for Leo
M. Frank.
Conley swore as glibly as though
he were telling of an Inconsequential
Incident in one of his crap games
that Frank had confessed to him the
killing of Mary Phagan Then the ne
gro went on In elaborate detail to tell
the horrible story of the disposal of
the girl’s body.
Mlncey will tell a similar story, ex
cept that Conley will be named as the
man confessing the crime and there
will be none of the grewsome de
scriptions of carrying the limp body
from second floor to basement In n
piece of crocus bagging.
The coming week of the trial will
have other witnesses galore Some
of them may be of much more Impor
tance than Mlncey. Some of them
may contribute in a much greater de
gree to the strength of the defense’s
case But the appearance on the
stand of no person is being awaited
with higher interest than that of
Mlncey.
The defense has more than a hun
dred other witnesses on which it may
call during the remainder of the trial.
Some of them will Vie on the stand
for only a few minutes and others
\vill be questioned,and cross-examined
at considerable length It is regarded
that when the end of the week arrives
there will be still another week ahead
before the case is ended and the ver
dict returned
Many of the witnesses who have
been summoned are character wit
nesses. The defense Is aware that
the State has persons to call In re
buttal. It if regarded as highly like
ly, however, that Frank’s lawyers will
go ahead and Introduce acquain
tances and relatives of the accused
man who will swear as to his good
character and morality
Had Never Seen Flirting
Miss Grace Hix, a pretty factory
girl, living at No. 10O McDonough
road, told readily when she was being
cross-examined by Luther Rosser
that In the five years she had worked
at the factory’ Frank had spoken to
her only three times and then only <>n
business. She said she never had
seen him trying to flirt with any of
the girls.
X. V. Darley, general manager of
the factory, denied that he ever had
known of any Improper conduct on
the part of Frank, and E. F. Hollo
way’, day w’atchroan, testified to the
came effect.
Other girls will be called during
this week. They will be questioned
them and their observation of his at
titude toward any of the other em
ployees. Then they will be turned
over for the searching cross-exami
nation of Solicitor Dorsey and bis as
sociate. Frank A. Hooper.
The time element, which figures so
vitally In the murder mystery, will be
emphasized when the alibi witnesses
are on the stand, The public will
learn then for the first time the true
strength of Frank's defense. It Is
possible that his case will stand or
fall on the testimony of these very
witnesses.
Members of his family will tell of
the time he left home Saturday
morning. He will be carried along
almost minute by minute from this
time until he reached the factory, did
some work there, went to Montag
Bros., Nelson and Forsyth streets, and
returned to the pencil factory at about
11 o’clock.
Testify of His Movements.
Persons in the factory will testify
ns to Frank’s movements up until
the time they left at or before noon
Mary Phagan was killed shortly aftei
noon. It is during these brief mo
ments* that Frank’s actions are not
known, except upon his own state
ments. The same is exactly as true
as to Jim Conley, who was on the
first floor, near the stairs.
Frank says he does not know any
thing of what transpired then or after
of his own personal knowledge.
Conley admits that he does, but in
his admission he accuses Frank of
knowing all.
He tells a story of Frank directing
him to carry the body to the base
ment and then to write some notes
which later were found by the body.
He narrates his story In elaborate de
tail. The defense is said to maintain
it would have taken three-quarters of
an hour or more to do all he describes.
This is one of the places where the
time element enters. Conley says that
it was four minutes before 1 o'clock
when he went after the cloth in which
he wrapped the girl's body to carry
her downstairs.
Question of Time Paramount.
Frank was at home by 1:30 o’clock,
according to one of tt^e State’s wit
nesses. He was home slightly* earlier
according to the defense’s. Albert Mo-
Knight. He would have had to leave
the factory at 1:15 or very close to
that time to have walked to the street
car and arrived home by* 1:30, pro
viding he was able to get a car within
two or three minutes. Frank and the
negro could not have had time to do
all Conley edscribed in the nineteen
minutes from 12:56 to 1:15, Frank’s
lawyers contend, particularly in view
of the negro’s statement that he was
hidden In a closet in Frank’s room
eight minutes of the time.
The statement of Frank's father-in-
law-. Emil Sellg; the servant, Mlnola
McKnight and her husband Albert
i LEVEN wddows were made In
Atlanta in a day without the
assistance of the Grim
Reaper, a trip to Reno, pallbearers
or affinity stories in the newspa
pers.
And there Is but one drop of
consolation in their cup. When
they were made widows they auto
matically became peeresses, for
which privilege many American
girls have caused* their fathers
large sums of good American money
and themselves heartache and their
pictures to be printed between the
story of the rabbit that chased the
boa constrictor and the life narra
tive of Sophie, the Shop Girl, who
in a night became a stage star.
They also had the satisfaction of
having their husbands officially
proclaimed good men and true,
which they may have questioned
when ttie pay envelope was brought
home with $10 missing and unac
counted for, just as ail wives have
questioned.
They’ll Be Brides Again.
If there Is any halm in it, the
widows know that it will not be
long before they* can doff their
weeds and once more don their
bridal gowns. Their husbands will
return to them just as soon as they
have decided whether or not Leo
Frank is guilty of the murder of
Mary Phagan.
For it Is due to the fact that their
husbands are jurors that Atlanta
had eleven widows made In a day,
that eleven peeresses were added to
Atlanta’s list and that eleven wives
had the glory of hearing their hus
bands called "good” without sus
pecting there was hidden meaning
In t^e compliment.
The peerage and the official com
pliment as to character and $2 a
day are the emoluments of a juror
of Georgia. A juror In the Frank
the time Frank arrived home that aft-
‘rnoon. H. J, Hinchey has told of
the time he saw him returning to the
factory’ on a Washington street car.
J. C. Loeb will tell of riding to town
with him. Harry Denham will testify
as to Frank’s arrival at the factory.
Newt Lee's testimony will be taken as
'to his departure. Members of his
family will be witnesses to establish
the time of his return home at night,
and the fact that he remained there
until he was awakened by the officers
the next morning.
Dalton Sticks Firmly
To Story Told on Stand.
C. B. Dalton, prominent as a wit
ness in the Frank trial, stuck firmly
to the story he told in court when he
was confronted Saturday by the letter
of Miss Laura Atkinson. No. 30 Ella
street, one of the young women men
tioned in his sensational testimony.
She branded his statement concerning
her as false.
He maintained that all he said as a
witness was true—that he met her.
as he had other girls of the pencil
factory, and walked home with her
from a restaurant near the plant on
Forsyth street.
Dalton was emphatic in hie reitera
tion of every detail of the testimony
delivered bv him from the witness
stand.
Here is Miss Atkinson’s statement,
in full, denying Dalton's testimony:
"Editor The Sunday American: Will
In regard to Frank’s attitude toward McKnight, Will be taken to establish
By L. F. WOODRUFF—
case gets a little more. He gets
his keep, a place to sleep, and a
deputy sheriff to keep him out of
trouble, read his letters, inspect his
laundry and keep him company
during all his waking hours.
Scant Solace for Widows.
The emoluments are considerable,
but how- about the widows?
Men must work and women must
weep to the tuneful accompani
ment of the doleful mourning of the
harbor bar is the first thought.
But there is some solace In the
lot of the eleven Frank case
widows.
Not every woman can know the
thrill of widowhood and at the same
time have absolute assurance that
she is not going to remain in single
blessedness the rest of her life.
And then there’s no disputing the
fact that they are peeresses. A
juror is given his coronet w’hen he
takes hts oath of office. Of course,
In a criminal case he is usually
paid the doubtful compliment of
being termed the peer of a safe
cracker, a short change artist, a
blind tiger operator, or a gentle
man skilled In the art of getting
good money on bad paper, but
just the same the juror is a peer.
And just the same Mrs. Juror is a
peeress.
Only One Sinole Juror.
In the rapid selection of the
Frank jury, it was remarkable that
but one single man was selected to
decide a mystery that has puzzled
the master minds of the Atlanta
detective bureau for more than
three months. The State probably
wanted married men, who would
sympathize with the mother robbed
of a daughter’s life. The defense
probably wanted married men who
would sympathize with the wife of
the accused and his mother. Sin
gle men are supposed to be as
laoking in the natural supply of the
tory remarks about Mr. Dalton, but 5 n
justice to myself and my good name.
1 certainly do feel it my duty to say
that his statement concerning me is
false, and he had not the slightest
ground whatever for making it and
no right to use my name in any way
in his testimony.
‘T have known him only about six
months, and have never been in his
company but three tim''** On two oc
casions I was at church with a gen
tleman friend who was also a friend
of his and he walked with us from
the church to my home, less than
three blocks, and one afternoon wh - •
out walking - met him and he walked
with me a distance of about four
blocks. That, and a few conversa
tions over the telephone, probably three
or four, mark the extent of my ac
quaintance with him. I w’orked at tha
pencil factory’ exactlv two days the
second week in July (last month), and
did not even see Mr. Dalton on either
one of those davs. I had never
worked there before nor been ther3,
and have not since.
“Will you please state these facts
in your paper and clear up any false
Impression that may have been made
on people’s minds concerning me. and
the slur I feel has been cast on my
good name by having him make such
a false statement where it would be
published broadcast over the country?
1 will appreciate it and thank you
very much if you will correct the
statement. Sincerely,
“LAURA ATKINSON.
“No. 30 Ella Street.”
A spectator at the. trial of Leo M.
Frank for the murder of little Mary
Phagan remarked:
"I wonder what the mother of the
you please allow me space to correct i
a statement made t>y Mr. »\ TV Dalton JJai*V Phagfail’S Mother
in his testlmonv at the Frank trial. „ ° - _ . .
and published in your paper yester- TO Be Spared at Inal,
day? In answer to a question from
Mr. Rosser as to whether he ever
went to the pencil factory with any
one except Miss Daisy Hopkins, he
said yes, he used to go to the Busy
Bee and wait for the factory to close
to walk home with the girls, and gave
my name as one of the girls.
“His statement, as I read it in you r
paper, impressed me as being Intend
ed to convey to *he minds of those
who Jleard it (and. of course, all who
read it) the idea that I was working
at the factory at the time he says he
went there and that he was in the
habit of walking home with me. 1
have no desire to make any deroga-
WRIGHTSVILLE
BEACH $6
Round trip Saturday, August
23. Special train, sleepers and
coaches. Leave 6 p. m. Make
reservations early. SEABOARD.
milk of human kindness as a laugh
ing hyena. The single man on the
jury looks like he's married. Prob
ably that’s why he was accepted by
both sides.
And when they held up their
right hands and swore to "well and
truly try, etc." without objection to
the split Infinitive, the eleven
"good men and true" were as com
pletely divorced as If the judge had
ordered them to pay alimony and
had forbidden another marriage in
a year’s time.
The divorce pro tern, has been
absolute. The widows cannot
speak with their husbands. Nobody
else can for that matter except a
court attache.
Deputy Reads All Mail.
Writing them Is practically pro
hibited. Every letter mailed a
juror has to be read by a deputy
sheriff and properly censored by
him before it reaches the eyes of
the trial man.
And what wife would like to call
her beloved “snooky” and have a
deputy sheriff first assimilate the
tenderness of the term? What wife
would like to write for $8.67 to pay
the butcher bill and have a deputy
sheriff become thus acqua'/ited
with the condition of the family
larder and the connubial putse?
She may kiss the clean collar
when she sends it to him every day,
but what assurance has she that he
will not think that the Chinaman
has bungled in his work? ’
She may send him a pair of
freshly darned socks, but how does
she know that the deputy will not
see a mysterious message In the
needle work and appropriate the
hosiery to his own pedal purposes?
No, there are eleven new widows
in Atlanta, but there is no doubt
but there are eleven new peeresses.
The only trouble Is, no one can
marry any of them for their titles.
little girl who was so brutally killed
thinks of all this?”
Mrs. J. W. Coleman, the mother,
was the first witness called at the
beginnig of the case, now two weeks
gone. She was dressed In deep black
with a heavy veil about her face. As
she pulled back the veil to speak to
the jury the expression was calm
without a sign of bitterness. And she
answered In even tones.
Then the Solicitor opened a little
suit case and placed before her the
clothes of her little girl.
There was a stifiled cry. Those who
looked saw a face covered with a
handkerchief. That was enough. So
licitor Dorsey put no more ques
tions.
For ten days the grind of the court
went on. The mother was forgotten
for more immediate things.
Friday she was recalled In the
midst of expert testimony on the ef
fect cvf digestion on cabbage. She
came and indifferently told how she
had cooked the cabbage that made
the last meal of little Mary Phagan.
Then she said:
“Mr. Dorsey, will you need me any
more? Iam .«o tired. I want to go.”
He told her she could go. And It
Is very probable she will not appear
at this trial again.
Frank's Accuser Is Not the Type
of Negro White Men Con
sider Their Friend.
By TARLETON COLLIER.
Jim Conley is a low-browed,
thick-lipped, anthropoidal sort of
negro. You look at him and your
faith in Mr. Darwin’s theory goes
up like cotton after a boll-weevil
scare.
Here is a burly, short-necked
black man. On his upper lip is a
scanty mustache of the kind that
most negroes fondle with the vain
hope that It will grow into a bushy
thickness. Conley is the most
common African type as to phy
sique.
Never a flash of brightness, nev
er a gleam of wit, never the spar
kle of unconscious humor came
during the three days Conley was
on the stand. Newt Lee made the
courtroom laugh. Conley didn’t.
He was always deadly earnest.
This earnestness Is common to the
most Ignorant and illiterate mem
bers of the race always, particu
larly to the negro without a moral
sense, without the inkling of a con
science, without scruples.
Delights in Dull Things.
Many people are given over to the
fond belief that negroes are hap-
py-go-lucky and irresponsible. Not
negroes like Jim Conley. His kind
find no pleasure In the simple
things. Their recreations are sor
did. They find their delight in
things that are dull and drab, much
as an animal would.
You can well believe that Jim
Conley watched at the door while
white men and women met secretly.
Jim Conley probably has no con
victions concerning a God, nor be
lief in anything divine. It is this
belief that makes the unintelligent
negro a lovable person. Jim Con
ley lacked it, and became repul
sive.
Most negroes have a simple faith
and an unorthodox theology. Their
immorality is ingenuous and child
like, and they err, w’hen they do,
through weakness or forgetfulness.
Not Jim Conley.
Every Southerner knows Jim
Conley’s type.
The negro did not laugh in the
three days of his ordeal. He never
smiled. And it was not because he
was afraid; it is just that his type
is not given to smiling.
If he had squirmed in his seat
or seemed uneasy, if he had revealed
the slightest impertinence or the
least bit of humor, if his eyes had
only*once seemed to plead with
Luther Rosser to slacken the high
tension of the cross-* xumination,
then Jim Conley would have be
come the kind of negro that white
men consider their friend, a human
person.
Instead he sat there, his elbows
on the arms of the big chair, his
hands crossed in his lap, his eyes
fixed on the eyes of the man who
questioned him, and he answered
glibly.
Even when he lied he gave back
gaze for gaze, and answered glibly.
This little sketch of Jim Conley
has nothing to do with whether his
story is true or false. It may be
the one or the other. The majority
of men w’ho have followed the case
are of the opinion that a large part
of it is true. Be that as as may.
| This is an attempted picture of the
negro who has become the most no
torious negro of Georgia, and it is
altogether outside his story.
This is a picture of the negro
who watched at the door, who lied,
and lied even when he was under
oath. His life has been pitched in
sordid lines, and he probably for
got long ago that there is such a
thing as a conscience or a judg
ment.
It is just because of this that
Conley’s story has been the remark
able production it was—a com
pound of admitted fabrication and
probable truth. The negro has no
scruples against falsehood. Little
of his life, It is likely, has been
true, and he could ven* easily sit
unperturbed and tell a story that
was false.
Jim Conley is not clever. He was
merely running true to form, main
taining his type, when he told his
story.
A white mqn with a similar lack
of conscience, and in a similar po
sition could not have been more
glib and plausible than Conley. But
he would have seemed more clever,
and probably would have injured
his story because of that clever
ness. He would have smiled at
times, or appeared careless. Or, if
he lacked the temperamental basis
of falsehood that Jim Conley un
doubtedly has, he would have suc
cumbed and his story would have
fallen under the merciless fire of
the cross-examination.
Conley Just Unmoral.
Jim Conley was calm, unmoved,
unsmiling, even grim—If a negro can
be grim. And his story could easOy
have been true or false. It was
sufficiently plausible to be true. It
was sufficiently typical of the con
scienceless Conley kind of a negro
to be false. But however that is,
you get the Impression that he Is not
the playful kind of negro you ’ike.
Not clever, not to be coaxed or
wheedled or browbeaten Into either
friendliness or resentment, not to be
shamed by a show of his falsehoods,
not to be frightened by threat of
punishment, Jim Conley with his
lies and his placid, unemotional nar
rative of how he dragged dead
Mary Phagan as he would a bundle
of rags, gives you to know that the
entire sketch of his character may
be summed in one word—unmoral.
iS5&Saa99a5SCt9S666SiaSt39
Motor Racee
Tuesday Nigh.
8:30 P. M.
ATLANTA’S BUSIEST THEATER
FORSYTH
KEITH VAUDEVILLE
Week Aug. 11th 8fg
Ths Star wf Mualoal Comedy
RALPH HERZ
In Character Songs
Vaudeville's Beet Novelty
Wm. A. WESTON & CO.
In “Attorn eye"
Ringllng’e New York Feature
ADAS FAMILY
Sensational Aerlallata
A Delighting Treat
WOOD & WYDE
In “Good Night”
A Laughing Surprise
MILO BELOON & GO.
In “Oh Doctor**
THE RANDALLS
Sharpshooters
BRANGAN & SAVILLE
Novelty
NEXT
WEEK
WILLIE WESTON
MIKE BERNARD
SEE THE
i
MOVIES
AT THF
i
1
A1 1 fill.
GRAND
1
ALL SEATS 5c
It would be difficult to find
more conscientious, efficient
and painless dentists In Geor
gia than the gentlemen who
own and operate the
NEW YORK AND AMERICAN
DENTAL PARLORS
28 1-2 end 12 1-2 Peachtree Street,
Over Bonita Theater
No students. ATI experts In
their profession. Eight to twelve
years' experience. They adver
tise that you may know where
to get the beat work at reasona
ble prices. They edTIolt the moet difficult cases and guarantee to fit
every case they take. If other* have failed, try them. Good set of
teeth. $&. Ail work guaranteed. Lady attendant. Refereix:©* Third Na
tional Bank Phone Ivy 1S17.
W. J. HARPER
ALL NEXT WEEK
AT THE MONTGOMERY
Guy Terrill anil Alleen Foster
CHARACTER AND KARIWONY SINGERS
SPECIAL FOR 1VSOMDAY
“THE FLIGHT OF THE CROW”
COOLEST SPOT IN TOWN
Admission--10 A.
M. to 7 P.M.—5c;
At Night—10c
3£*i2
i jrv I 11* I ur
Tiie Montgomery