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HERE'S THE TIME
PUZZ
HOW TIME HAS BECOME THE CRUCIAL
POINT IN THE TRIAL OF LEO M. FRANK
\ Mary leaves car at 12:07 by State's testimony n"d 1 *?:10 by
I witnesses for the defense.
THE RIDDLE OF THE CLOCK
IN THE PHAGAN MYSTERY
Jim Conley swears Mary Phagan went up the stairs of the
National Pencil factory and was murdered before Monteen
Stover arrived. He says he saw Miss Stover go up and leave.
Monteen Stover, State’s witness, swears she arrived at
12:05.
George Epps, State’s witness, swears he and Mary Phagan
arrived at Marietta and Forsyth streets at 12:07.
The car crew, defense’s witnesses, swear Mary arrived at
Broad and Marietta at 12:07% and at Broad and Hunter at
12:10.
If Mary Phagan was at Marietta and Forsyth at 12:07, as
the State says, or at Broad and Hunter at 12:10, as the defense
says, how could she have preceded Monteen Stover, as Jim
Conley says, up the factory stairs, when Miss Stover was in the
factory at 12:05?
What’s the answer?
By JAMES B. NEVIN.
Tirk-tork! Tirk-tork!
Hark to f he talc of the old hall clock!
Tick-tock! Tick-tock!
This the tale of the clock!
—Old English Ballad.
This is a tale of an office clock and
a motorman’s watch—an office clock
in the National Pencil Factory, the
first requisite of which, it being a
“time'’ clock, is accuracy, and a mo
torman’s watch.
And t.him is the story of a clock that
may or may not mean life and liberty
and a restored good name to Leo
Frank, or—a fate infinitely worse
than mere death itself!
Tt is a story involving a young busi
ness man of repute and high stand
ing. a college graduate and a husband,
a brave, womanly little girl, foully
murdered, a motorman known to
many Atlantans, a newsboy not
well known, a disinterested working
girl, a negro sweeper, a confeswd ac
cessory to murder, the dead girl’s
mother—and an office clock.
What does the story demonstrate 0
That shall be for the reader to say.
Here is the story: •
What the State Contends.
The State of Georgia is contending
that Leo Frank murdered on April
26. before the hour of 12:05 in the
afternoon. Mary Phagan. a 14-year-
old working girl, employed in the Na
tional Pencil Factory, of which Frank
was the superintendent.
Tt cites, among others, to bear out
its contention, James Conley, a negro
sweeper in the factory, and Monteen
Stover an employee of the factory.
Miss Stover is a disinterested wit
ness—Conley not only is the star
witness against Frank, but is inter
ested in fixing the murder upon
Frank.
Here is what the State, by Its own
witnesses, asserts:
Jim Conley swears that a few min
utes before Miss Monteen Stover cam
into the factory—Miss Stover herself
swearing that s»he entered at 12:05—
Mary Phagan entered and passed up
stairs and into Leo Frank’s office.
Miss Stover, asked how she was
positive as to the time she went in
and the time she came out, stated
that she looked at the time clock both
as she came in and as she went cut.
That fixes the time of her coming
and going definitely and exactly.
It was before Miss Stover came in
that Conley swears Mary Phagan
came in. Therefore, .Mary Phagan
must have arrived at the factory, ac
cording to Conley, at least before
12:05, the moment Miss Stover came
in.
Before Miss Stover Entered.
But after Mary came in, and before
Miss Stover came in. the murder,
still according to Conley, had been
effected.
For (a) after Mary went upstairs
and before Miss Stover came in, Con
ley (b) heard pattering footsteps
toward the rear of the building, where
(c) he says the body was found by
him later, and after that (d) a
scream, and then (e) a period of
silence.
All of this, according to Conley be
fore Monteen Stover entered the fac
tory—that is. before 12:05 certainly—
and, considering the things Conley
swears happened, several minutes be
fore 12:05. necessarily.
Mrs. Coleman. Mary’s mother,
swears that Mary left home “about
11:45” in the morning, and George
Epps swears he joined her on the car
at 11:50, for he looked at a clock at
home just before boarding the car.
and that he and Mar-' arrived at
Marietta and Forsyth streets at 12:07.
the latter hour not definitely fixed in
his mind.
Motorman Remembers Time.
The ijotorman on that car. how
ever, who swears he knew Mary Pha
gan. and had seen her board his car
frequently, and remembers seeing her
board that particular car on that par
ticular day, says that the car arrived
at Marietta and Forsyth at 12:7^, is
that is the time it is scheduled to ar
rive there, and he was running on
time that day.
The motorman swears Mary and a
companion got off at Hunter and
Broad about 12:10. that being a few
minutes’ farther run than Marietta
and Forsyth. The conductor corrob
orates the motorman in an additional
statement that the car was not run
ning ahead of schedule, the conduc
tors being particularly required by
the company not to run ahead of
time.
Mary Phagan left the street car at
12:10. still a block and a half from
the pencil factory.
If she walked directly to the fac
tory. she could not have reached
there before 12:12, in any event.
Tf the little victim of this tragedy.
Mary Phagan. therefore, DID NOT
REACH THE FACTORY UNTIL
MANY MINUTES AFTER COLLEY
SWEARS SHE DID GET THERE,
AND UNTIL AT LEAST TWO MIN
UTES AFTER MONTEEN STOVER
HAD DEPARTED. AND UNTIL
AFTER CONLEY SWEARS HE HAD
HEARD THE FOOTSTEPS AND
THE SCREAM. HOW CAN CON
LEY’S STORY BP: TRUE?
Slain Before She Arrived?
Tn other words, how could Mary
Phagan have been murdered before
she arrived at the factory?
Remember, too, that when Frank
was asked at the Coroner’s inquest as
to the time of Mary Phagan’s arrival,
he said that it was after 12, because
the noon whistle had blown some time
before—that she might have arrived
at 12:10 or, maybe later, perhaps as
late as 12:20 or 12:25.
Conley, also, in fixing the time of
Mary Phagan’s arrival at the factory,
said it was soon after the noon whis
tle blew, therefore, a little after 12
—thus placing Mary’s arrival between
12 and the time of Monteen Stover's
arrival, which was 12:06.
Now then, take your pencil and
paper, and figure this problem out for
yourself.
Can you reconcile Conley’s story
with the other things proved, in the
main, by the State’s own witnesses?
Poteat Suggests Jail
For Slit Skirt Girls
NEW HAVEN, CONN.. Aug. 10.—
President Edwin Poteat, of Furman
College, Greenville, S. C., says young
women who are parading in New Ha
ven with slit skirts should be put in
jail.
“Women w’ho indulge in such de
praved dress are a menac e morally to
the commonwealth,” said Poteat.
65,000,000 Pounds
Of Butter On Ice
CHICAGO, Aug. 10.—Although Chi-
cago^housewives have been paying
mid-winter prices for butter and a
further advance is expected, there are
more than 65.000,000 pounds in cold
storage, according to the Warehouse
men's Association. This is 10,000,000
more than the reserve a year ago.
Mary boards the Coop-
er street car at 11:50,
according to wit
nesses for
both State
and de
fense.
Monteen Stover enters
factory at 12:05 and;
leaves at 12:10.
Two Girls to Accuse
Diggs and Caminetti
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 10.—Marsha
Warrington and Ida Norris, the Sac
ramento high school girls alleged to
have been taken to Reno In November
by Maury I. Diggs and Drew' Caminetti
for immoral purposes, will take the
stand against Diggs when his trial is
resumed Tuesday. No session of the
1 >fggB trial was held to-day. Diggs
and* Caminetti will take the stand be
fore the trial Is concluded.
Judge Van Fleet dealt the defense
another hard biow yesterday when he j
announced that the jury would not con
sider the willingness or unwillingness of
two girls to accompany Diggs and
Caminetti.
SPOILS CLOSE OF GOOD
DAY FOR THE DEFENSE
Mary
Phagan
leaves her
home at 11:45,
according to her mother
Jim Con
ley swears he
saw Mary Pha
gan enter and
heard her scream
BEFORE Monteen Sto
ver came.
Absence of Alienists and
The Hypothetical Question
Distinguishes Frank Trial
By 0. B. KEELER.
HAZELHURST HOME BURNS.
L’ORIENT. FRANCE, Aug. 10.—
R. T. Williams burned this morning
at 2 o’clock, the family barely escap
ing. The loss- is *3,801 with $1,500
insurance. Tne fire originated about
the kitchen.
There are two things about the
Frank trial that entitle it to dis
tinguished consideration.
Thus far not a single alienist has
been called to bat, and only the com
mon or domesticated type of the
dread Hypothetical Question has ap
peared.
In most of our great murder trials,
the alienist is th e last resort, or one
of the latest reports. Usually he is in
troduced by the defense; anywhere
from four to eight of him.
The prosecution promptly counters
with an equal number of wheel in
spectors.
The defense (vide Thaw case) gen
erally proves to Its own satisfaction
that the defendant was crazy when
he did it, but since has recovered his j
equilibrium, his alibi and all the rest
of his scattered personal effects.
The four to eight experts for the
State differ slightly with this find
ing.
They All Agree.
They report that to the best of
their several and collective knowl
edge and belief, which is consider
able, the defendant is the happy pos
sessor of one of the sanest little noo
dles they ever had the pleasure of
sitting on. They say there is prac
tically no chance that any such care
fully-geared aggregation of mental
sprockets ever slipped a cog.
But they add that, if the defense
insists on the accused having been
non compos at the time be did it, he
most assuredly Is In the same condi
tion at present, or more so.
In short, the State contends that
the defendant either should be hang
ed or remanded to the solitary uphol
stery for the rest of his'life, accord
ing to which is most highly objec
tionable to the defense.
Vide Thaw case ad lib.
One Notable Exception.
Thei> is only one case on record
where a corps of alienists employed
by one side agreed with those hired
by the opposition.
It seems that the accused person,
without any advice or suggestion from
his lawyers, broke out all over with
shockingly acute symptoms of demen
tia «oon after he was arrested.
The defense ordered out the alien
ists.
They reported that the accused un
questionably was insane—remarkably
insane.
Then the prosecution recruited its
experts to the full war strength an!!
ordered them to advance with cau
tion.
To the intense surprise of everyone,
including the defense, they reported
that the prisoner was crazy beyond
the shadow' of a peradventure. They
said he couldn’t be any crazier with
out coming apart.
Well, that just about settled it.
What prosecution could hold out
against the combined forces of two
sets of alienists? It was the first
time on record that the warring ex
perts heu agreed.
And this time they were both
wrong.
Inside of a year the record-holder
for craziness—sprints, middle dis
tance and Marathon—had got himself
out of the bat factory and war en
joying life in a more congenial 'ime
that had no extradition provisions In
the treaty, if any.
The Hypothetical Question.
The hypothetical question Is used
rather more frequently than the alien
ist. because it is less expensive and
embarrarsstng, w hile offering no more
than an even break to the other side
and confusing the jury fully as muon
as the most complicated alienistic
explosions.
When the h. q. is sprung by the
defense, an expert of considerable
pedigree is propped up in the wit
ness chair and compelled to listen,
with the jury and such of the auditors
as can stay awake, to a detailed rela
tion of Incidents beginning some time
before the birth of the accused and
extending to the date of the crimj,
with provisions and qualifications to
fill out four hours and a half and
eleven columns of “six point.”
Then the expert says:
“No.”
After which an expert for the other
side listens to the same recital, re
peated.
And he says:
“Yes.”
What the Jury says never gets into
print.
DIXIE COLLEGES ATLANTA GIRL IS
ESTANDARD DRQWNE
Report of Miss Elizabeth Avery Ethel Edmondson Overwhelmed
Coulton Shows 160 With High by Wrightsville Breakers—At-
Entrance Requirements.
French Tars Flee in Panic.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10—A record
Twenty sailors on board the French
battleship Courbet were scalded and
otherwise injured to-day when a tank
exploded on the ship. Thinking that
the magazine had let go the crew
rushed on the decks in a panic and
many leaped overboard.
WASHINGTON. Aug. 10.—A record
of great improvement in Southern
colleges is contained in a report by
Miss Elizabeth Avery Coulton, sec
retary of the Southern Association of
College Women, which is being dis
tributed by the United States Bureau
of Education.
In 1900 only three Southern col
leges had standard requirements for
entrance; this year year 160 an
nounced standard admission require
ments. The improvement is found
also in libraries, laboratories, build
ings and equipment of all kinds. In
1904 the A. B. of only two Southern
colleges represented four full years
of college w r ork, while by 1914 grad
uates of at least 25 colleges will have
completed four years of standard col
lege work.
Miss Coulton attributes the ad
vance chiefly to two agencies—the
Carnegie Foundation for the Ad
vancement of Teaching and the Gen
eral Education Board.
Much still remains to be done,
however, according to Miss Coulton.
“There remains the hope,” she says,
“that many sham colleges may with
in the next ten or twelve years be in
duced to stop conferring degrees and
become good preparatory or indus
trial schools; that others may die from
lack of patronage, and tn*t the Yight-
eous remnant’ may thus be encour
aged to continue to strive after ever
enlarging ideals of standard and of
service.”
Brand Whitlock May
Get Diplomatic Post
WASHINGTON. Aug. 10.—President
Wilson is seriously considering the
nomination of another distinguished
Author to an Important diplomatic
post, according to Information at the
Capitol. Mayor Brand Whitlock of
Toledo, Ohio, is the latest prospective
candidate for diplomatic honors, and
if McCombs declines the French am
bassadorship. he may get that, or he
may go to Belgium.
He had expre.^sed a desire for th*
Switzerland mission, but that was
promised before he got into the fight.
tempted Rescue Fails.
Miss Ethel Edmondsxm, 24, daugh
ter of Mrs S. P. Fincher, of No. 343
North Jackson street, was drowned at
Wrightsville Beach Friday afternoon.
She had been at the beach but a few
hours when she decided to enter the
surf. Scarcely had she reached the
water when a huge wave raced in and
knocked her down.
Roy Walraven. of Atlanta, who was
with Miss Edmondson, was stunned
for a moment by the force of the
wave, but recovered quickly and went
to her rescue. He had a terrific strug
gle and but for the timely arrival
of Life Saver W. E. Watson he prob
ably would have lost his life.
Miss Edmondson left Atlanta on
Thursday night with a party of seven
for a ten-day stay at the beach.
She was a member of Grace Meth
odist Church and was employed as a
stenographer by the Wester Music
Company.
News of her daughter’s sudden
death almost prostrated Mrs. Fincher.
The body is expected to arrive in At-
ltnata to-day. Funeral arrangements
will be announced later.
Slezak Is Rescued;
Sturmfeld Drowns,
Special Cable to The Atlanta Georgian.
TEGERNSEE, BAVARIA. Aug. 10.
A yacht in which Fritz Sturmfeld and
Leo Slezak, the operatic tenors. w r ere
sailing on the lake here, overturned
and Sturmfeld was drowned. Slezak
clung to the boat and was rescued.
Sturmfeld was a member of the
Royal Opera at Liepzic. He made a
concert tour in the United States in
1911. Slezak is well known in the
United States having sung at the
Metropolitan Opera House in New
York.
Titanic Lookout Who
Missed Iceberg Dies
Special Cable to The Atlanta Georgian.
LONDON. Aug. 10.—Reginald Lee,
one of the sailors in the lookout when
the White Star Liner Titanic struck
an iceberg on April 14, last year,
died at Southampton.
What promised to be a very favor
able day for the defense in the trial
of Leo M. Frank, charged with the
murder of Mary Phagan, was partly
sp )iled at its close Friday by the be
wilderment of E. F. Holloway, day
watchman at the pencil factory, in a
maze of conflicting statements.
Holloway’s confusion under the fire
of the Solicitor General was more
than offset by the importance of the
testimony which had gone before,
two of the witnesses giving testimony
which was intended to establish that
Mary Phagan did not enter the Na
tional Pencil Factory on the day of
her death until after Monteen Stover
had come and gone.
Besides giving the lie direct to Jim
Conley’s tale, this testimony. , if it
stands as the truth in the minds of
the Jurors upsets the State’s theory
that Monteen Stover visited the office
of Leo Frank while the superintend
ent was in the metal room with the
Phagan girl.
Conley said on the stand that he
saw Lernmie Quinn, then Mary Pha
gan and then Monteen Stover go up
to the second floor. The Stover girl
said that she entered the factory at
12:05 o’clock. It was 12:10 when she
left, she testified. She looked at the
time clock both times.
Street Car Men Testify.
W. M. Matthews and W. T. Hollis,
the motorman and conductor on the
car which brought Mary into town the
day that she met her death, testified
that she did not leave the car before
12:10 o’clock, the inference from this
testimony being that she could not
have entered the factory before Mon
teen Stover and entered and left
If the testimony of George Epps
the State’s witness, is accepted, the
defense declares Mary Phagan could
not have entered the plant before
Monteen Stover.
Matthews said that he knew the
girl by sight and frequently spoke to
her lvhen she boarded his oar. He
said that he was relieved at Broad
and Marietta streets at 12:07 o'clock
the day of the crime and that
went inside the car and nat back
of Mary Phagan and a girl compan
ion while they were riding to Broad
and Hunter streets. He said they
got off at about 12:10 and walked to
ward the pencil factory.
Matthew’s’ story contradicts that of
George Epps, who testified on the
stand that he rode to town wdth
Mary, got off the car with her at
Forsyth and Marietta streets and
walked as far as the viaduct with her
on her way to the pencil factory.
Matthews and Hollis both said that
they had no recollection of Epps be
ing on the car. Hollis .said that Mary
was sitting alone when he took her
fare just after the car got onto Eng
lish avenue. Matthew’s said another
young girl was sitting with her when
the center of town was reached.
Attacks Conley’s Story.
The significance of the story of the
two street car men !s that It seems
to add another falsehood to the many
that Jim Conley already has told atid
freely admitted telling.
He did not see Mary Phagan go up
stairs to Frank’s office, hear the
sounds of footsteps going to the metal
room, then a girl's scream, and after
this witness the entrance and depar
ture of Monteen Stover. On the con
trary, the Stover girl was In the fac
tory and gone before Mary Phagan
came inside the doors.
Holloway, the day watchman, was
called back to the stand by the de
fense to testify In rebuttal of Con
ley’s testimony in regard to the al
leged visits of women to Frank’s of
fice. Holloway said that no Incidents
of this sort over took place. Coniry
would have had no opportunity of
watching at the door without hii
(Holloway’s) knowing It, he declared.
He denied that Daisy Hopkins ever
visited the factory with a man w'hlle
he was on duty or that immorality of
any sort was practiced in the build
ing to Mb knowledge. He said that
Herbert Schiff and Frank were gener
ally in the office together on Satur
days and that neither of them ever
had women in the office.
Solicitor Dorsey began cross-exam
ining Hollow'ay in savage fashion and
soon had the watchman badly rattled.
At one time Holloway refused to com
mit himself as to what he had testi
fied only a moment before.
“Was that negro drayman there
Saturday—you wild so awhile ago,
didn’t you?” asked the Solicitor.
Holloway floundered w'hlle Dorsey
was insisting on an answer He
could not remember what he had tes
tified. Finally he blurted out:
“If I said he was there, he was.
If I said he wasn’t there, he wasn’t,”
Refers to Reward Claim.
“But what is the truth?” persisted
Dorsey.
Holloway continued to return the
same answer until Judge Roan forced
him to make a definite reply. Then
he took refuge in the old reliable an
swer: “I don’t, remember.”
The Solicitor called Hollow'ay’s at
tention to a remark that tlje watchman
was said to have made about Conley
being “my nigger” when a reference
was made to the rew’ard* offered. Ho
also showed an affidavit signed by
Holloway saying that Darley had left
<he factory the Saturday of the killing
at 10:45 in the forenoon. Darley had
testified that he left at about 9:30
and Holloway had said only a few
minutes before that Darley left about
9:20 or 9:30.
“What did you say 10:45 for in the
affidavit you signed for me shortly
after the murder?” shouted the So
licitor.
“That was mostly guesswork.” ex
plained the wutness.
“Did you tell Mr. Arnold that you
left the factory every day about 5:30
o’clock V
“Yes.”
Said 3, but Meant 4 o’Clock.
"Didn’t you tell me that you left
sometimes at 3 o’clock?”
“If I said 3, I meant 4.”
"What did you mean by 4:30 just
now?”
“That just slipped out.”
N. V. Darley, general manager of
the factory; H. J. Hinehey, of No. 391
Peachtree street; Harry Scott,
“Boots" Rogers, I. IT. Kauffman, T. H.
Willett and J. Q. Adams were the
other witnesses of the day.
Kauffman identified blueprints and
drawings he had made of the Selig
home and of the pencil factory. Wil
lett explained the pasteboard model
of the factory that he had mad* from
the blueprints. Adams identified
photographs he had made at the Se
lig home and the factory.
Hinehey told of seeing Frank com
ing from home on a Washington
street oar the afternoon of the crime.
This was intended to discredit Al
bert MoKnight, one of the State's
witnesses, w’ho said that he saw'
Frank board a Georgia avenue car
when he left home.
Darley was recalled largely to tes
tify to the possibility of various
methods which Conley might have
employed In disposing of the girl's
body in the event he was the mur
derer of the girl.
New Theory Is Suggested.
The most startling sugestion came
from Dariey’s testimony that a door
leading from the entrvway on the
first floor into the rear of the build
ing was found broken open right
after the crime. Two trap doors open
into the basement from this rear
room. One of them Is over a chute.
Reuben Arnold, bv his line of ques
tioning, showed that the defense se
riously had considered the theiry that
the girl’s murderer had dragged her
through this door on the first floor
and had dropped her body down the
ohute.
The Solicitor brought out that the
door might have been opened by the
detectives in their search of tho
building and that tf the body over
had been dropped down the chute it
most probably would have been left
there, as it would have been perfectly
hidden.
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