Newspaper Page Text
-
’""•'■’•I
-
4 A
IIEARST'S SUNDAY AMERICAN, ATLANTA, 0A„ SUNDAY. AUGUST in, min.
INTEREST IN TRIAL
STORY OF MINCEY
NOW CENTERS
Question of Time Considered of Paramount Importance in Defense Theory of Trank Case
'“P’lIE diiurrnni
shows the
daily rou
tine of the
jurors
who are
trying the
case against Leo M.
Frank.
Their
days is
traecc
from llieii
rising at
1 he Kirnbf
11 House.
their
walk to
0he courtroom, their lunch
in Pryor
street, th
eir r*
turn to
court,
their stroll
after adjournment,,
and their
final
retiring
for lh
e night.
TT
O
H
/
x
T BA
MR
WTTsS
$3s> m v
JURY 071
— WAY X
^ TY OOl/JCT
'A
COUAYIy YYAEYY A
SPAY Sar ZUIZY
WAZJT
fjf:
!
0
S00 BBPBBBBF —
E JJJJj
CODAT
cm/sz «U<^ I
yzzfy' 1
peg s
I1I-O00 El
§J
0
Jr
YZZFA
Fayvcfi.
(Y7oo>r) __
'T-
rTg q g
/IP*
/ aoo
O/jn
rr
’BBS 3 0
h
\
ATPD FOQYT
Jprstr arT
r-YYT-
V J17FF *7
1 BAPAKE4S'j r
* k- .5vJSVFPTF
MV,
H
Phagan Trial Makes Eleven “Widows"
*»*•*!* •!•••!* vt4*
But Jurors’ Wives Are Peeresses Also
By L. F. WOODRUFF-
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 his as
sociate, Frank A. Hooper.
The time element, which figures so
vitally in the murder mystery, will be
this week bv the attorneys for la*' emphasized wlu-n the alibi witnesses
.. ~ , . are on the stand. The public will
‘ *' Tan • [learn then for the first time the tru<
Conley swore as glibly as though I strength of Frank’s defense. It is
he were telling of an inconsequential • possible that his case will stand or
Incident in one of his crap game
that Frank had confessed to him tn
As all interest centered in the dra
mafic story of Jim Conley while the
case of the prosecution in the Frank
trial wan being presented, so the
public now is awaiting with the keen
es*t expectancy th« tale that \V. II
Mincey. pedagogue and insurance so
licitor. will relate* when he is called
testimony of these very
I fall on tl
I witnesses.
j Members of his family will tell of
killing of Mary Phagan. Then the ne the # time he left home Saturday
pro went on in elaborate detail to ted ] morning. lie "ill be carried alone
■ almost minute by minute from this-
time until he reached the factory, did
work there, went to Montag
the horrible story of the disposal
the girl's body.
Mincey will tell a similar story. cx
cept that Conley will be named as th*>
man confessing the crime and then
will he none of the grewsome d* -
s riptions of carrying the limp body
from second floor to basement in •
piece of crocus bagging.
The coming week of the trial will
have other witness's galore Rome
of.them may he of much more impor
tance than Mincey. Some of them
may contribute in a much greater d< -
gne to the >nrength of the defens*
case. But the appearance on th*
r and of no person is being awaited
with higher interest than that of
Mey.
The defense has more than a hun-
rr.--.-i other witnesses on which it ina>
c ip during the remainder of the trial
p, v.. of them will be on the stand
f- r only a few minutes and others
will be questioned and cross-* xamin“ *
at cm ’hit rable length. It is regarded
t ' r when the end of the week arrives-
there will be still another w.*ek ahead
b Tore the ca«e is ended and the ver
dict returned
Many of the witnesses who have
be-n summoned are character wit-
nt r es. The defense is aware that
the Rtate has persons to call in re
buttal. It i‘> regarded as highly lik*
!y. ho'vvi r 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 100 McDonough
road, told readily when she was being
cross-examined by Luther Ross* r
that in the five years she had worked
at-the factory Frank had spoken r«>
her only three Cm • and then only «>i
business. She said -he 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 or
the part of Frank, and E. F. Hollo
way. day watchman, testified to the
same effect.
Other girls will be called during
i»n and Forsyth streets, and
the pencil factory at about
Bros.. Neb
returned t<
11 o'clock.
Testify of His Movements.
Persons in the factory will testify
as to Frank's movements up until
tlie 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.
t rank says he does not know any
thing of w hat transpired then or after
of his own personal knowledge.
Conley admits that he does, but in
his admission he accuses Frank of
know ing all.
He tells a story of Frank directing
him to carry the body t«» the base
ment and then to write some notes
which later were found by the* body.
He narrates bis 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 ^dement 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 the State's wit
nesses. He was home slightly earlier
:>*•< Tding to the defense’s. Albert Mo-
Knight He would have bad to leave
ih. factory at 1:15 or very close to
that time to have walked to the street
ear arol arrived home by 1:30, pro
viding h- was abb to get a car w ithin
two * r three minutes. Frank and the
regi*. could n **ave 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
hi*dden in i closet in Frank's room
eight minutes of the time.
The statement of Frank's fa: her-in-
E LEVEN widows 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 hut 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 thei-
pictures to he 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
w hen (fit* pay envelope was brought
home with $10 missing and unac
counted for, just as all wives have
quest ioned.
They’ll Be Brides Again.
If there is any balm 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 the 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
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 when he
takes his oath of office. Of course.
In a criminal case he is usually
paid the doubtful compliment of
being termed the peer of a saf*
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 Sinnle Juror.
In the rapid selection of the
Frank jury, it was remarkable that
but one single man was selected \o
decide a myster> that has purzled
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 \yho
would sympathize with the wife of
the accused and his mother Sin
gle men are supposed to be as
lacking in the natural supply of the
milk of human kindness as a laugh
ing hyena. The single man on the
jury looks like he & married. Prob
ably that's why he was accepted by
both sides.
And when they held up their
right hands and swore to “well ani
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 (hem 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 pav
the butcher bill and have a derate
sheriff become thus acqua’ated
with the condition of the 'amily
larder and the connubial pu:se?
She may kiss the clean collar
w hen she sends it to him every Cay.
but what assurance has she that nc
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
hut there are eleven new peeresses.
The only trouble is. no one can
marry any of them for their titles.
the time Frank arrived home that aft-
i noon. H. J. Hinchey has told of
•ho time he sa*w him returning to the
factory on a Washington street car.
.1. C. Loeb will tell of riding to town
with him. Harry Denham will testify
*s to Frank’s arrival at the factory.
Newt Lee’s testimony will be taken as
• his departure. Members of bis
• mily will be witnesses to establish
iho time of his return home at night.
• nd the fact that he remained thert
until be was awakened by the officers
he next morning.
Dalton Sticks Firmly
To Story Told on Stand.
C. B. Dalton, prominent as a wit
ness in th<* Frank trial, stuck firmlv
to the story he told in court when he
was c onfronted Saturday by the letter
of Miss Laura Atkinson. No. 30 Eli i
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
witriess was true—that he met her.
as he had other girls of the pencil
factory, and walked home with he*
from a restaurant near the plant >n
Forsyth street.
Dalton was emphatic in his reitera
tion of every detail of the testimony
delivered by him from the witness
stand.
Here is Miss Atkinson's statement,
in full, denying Dalton’s testimony:
“Editor The Sunday American: Will
you please allow me space to correct
a statement made by Mr. C. B. Dalton
in his testimony at the Frank trial.
tory remarks about Mr. Dalton, but *n
justice to myself and my good nam \
1 certainly do feel it mv duty to say
that his statement concerning me is
false, and he had not the slightest
ground whatever for making it anl
no right to use my name in any way
in his testimony.
“I 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- j
tleman friend who was also a friend
of his and he walked with us fro a
the church to my hnipe. less than
three blocks, and one afternoon while
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 tour, mark the extent of my ac
quaintance with him. I worked at th
pencil factory exactly two d&ys th^»
second week in July (last month), and
did not even see Mr. Dalton on either
one of those dnvs. I had never
worked there before nor been there,
and have not since.
“Will you please stat. 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 1 feel has been cast on mv
good name by having him make such
a false statement where it would be
pub’ished broadcast over the country?
. will appreciate it and thank you
very much if you will correct the
statement. Sincerely.
“LAURA ATKINSON.
“No. 30 Ella Street.”
little girl who was po brutally killed
thinks of all this?”
Mrs. J. W. Coleman, the mother,
was t’ne 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
tfie jury the expression was calm
without a sign of bitterness. And she
answered in even tones.
'l#hen the Solicitor opened a little
suit case and placed before her the
clothes of her little girl.
There was a stiflled cry. Those who
looked lsiw* 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 of 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? I am mo tired. I want to go.”
He told her she could go. And il
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 w it, 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 Du!! Things.
Many people are given over to the
fond belief that negroes are hap
py-go-lucky anti 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 djvlne. It is this
belief that makes the unintelligent
negro a lovable pt rson. Jim Con
ley lacked it, and became repul
sive.
w Most negroes pave a simple fai’h
and an unorthodox theology. Their
immorality is ingenuous and child
like, and they err. when 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 newer
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 hit of humor, if his eyes had
only once seemed to , plead with
Luther Rosser to slacken the high
tension of the cross-examination,
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 elbovrs
or the arms of the big chair, his
Mary Phagan’s Mother
and published in your paper yester- To Be Spared at Trial.
dav? In answer to a question from A
Mr. Rosser as to whether he ever A spectator at the trial of Leo M.
went to the pencil factory with any ! f° r the murder of little Mar>
one except Miss Daisy Hopkins, he | Phagan remarked
said yes. he used to go to the Busy
wonder what the mother of the
IV, 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’ i
paper, impressed me as being intend-
ed to convey to ‘he minds of those j
who heard It (and. of course, all who
read it) the idea That I was working
at th*- factory at the time he says he
law . Emil S- Me th* s* rvant. Mimda | went there and that he was in th
A’cKnigl : . : •;* r husband Ail* •• ; hab’t of walking home with me. 1
this week. They will he questioned
n regard Frank’s attitude toward M« Knight, will be taken to establish * have no desire to make any deroga-
WRI&HTSVILLE
BEACH S6
It would he difficult to find
more conscientious, efficient
and painless dentists in Geor
gia than the gentlemen who
own and operate the
NEW YORK AND AMERICAN
DENIAL PAR.ORS
23 1-2 and 32 1-2 Pf*achtroo Street,
Over Bonita Theater
W. J. HARPER
Round trip Saturday. August
23. Special train, sleepers t^nd
coaches. Leave 6 p. m. Make
reservations early. SEABOARD.
No students. All experts in
their profession. Eight to twelve
years’ experience. They adver
tise that you may know where
to get the best work at reasona-
They solicit the most difficult cases and
P. E. COLEMAN
guarantee to fit
bte prices.
every case they take. If others have failed, try them. Good set of
teeth. $5. All work guaranteed. Lady attendant. References Third Na
tional Bank Phone Ivy 1817.
SOKTJf FJ?YOJ? ST.
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 w hether his
story is true or false. It may be
the one or the other. The majority
of men who 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 ver-- 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 man 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, ofc 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 easily
have been true or false. It was
sufficiently plausible to be tru^ 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 i* not
the playful kind of negro you like.
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 wmrd—unmoral.
Motor Races
Tuesday Night
8:30 P. M.
}JS2589S&9$S&.&SS&&££SS&SQSS&!Zl&3£Si
ATLANTA’S BUSIEST THEATER
FORSYTH
KEITH VAUDEVILLE
Week Aug. 11th
2:30
8:30
The Star of Musical Comedy
RALPH HERZ
In Character Songs
Vaudeville's Best Novelty
Will. A. WESTON & GO.
In “Attorneys"
Ringling's New York Feature
ABAS FAMILY
Sensational Aerialists
A Delighting Treat
WOOD & WYDE
In “Good Night"
A Laughing Surprise
MILO BELOON k CO.
"Oh Doctor’’
THE RANDALLS
Sharpshooters
BRANGAN k SAVILLE
Novelty
NEXT
WEEK
WILLIE WESTON
MIKE BERNARD
SEE THE
MOVIE
ALL SEATS Sc
ALL NEXT WEEK
AT THE MONTGOMERY
ill Allee
emu Qi.U HISOuil rOSt3
CHARACTER AMD HAHKCNY SINGERS
SPECIAL FOR Li Of J DAY
^‘TKE FLIGHT CF THE CROW”
COOLEST SPOT SW TOWN
iS t
Admission-10 A.
ShPIjsI >■* M In IP M *ir-
At Night—10c
I*
\ A }