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TTTF. ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.
MARY PHAGAN AND WOMEN TO WHOM TRIAL IS PITIFUL ORDEALj
Miss Monteen Stover, friend of Mary Phagan
Mrs. J. W. Coleman, Mary’s mother.
Mary Phagan, victim of tragedy.
Mrs. Rea Prank, mother of accused.
Mrs. Leo Frank, wife of accused.
By TARLETON COLLIER.
That black-clad woman in the cor- i She hast announced for purposes of
ner of the courtroom—nobody has
noticed her much. Things have hap
pened <?*> swiftly in the Frank trial
that all eyes are on the rush of
events, waiting for a quiver on the
face of Leo Frank, watching with
morbid gaze the brave faces of
Frank’s wife and his mother, studying
the passing show that the numerous
witnesses present.
And the woman is so unobtrusive,
so plainly out of it all. The tears,
whose traces are evident on her face,
were not shed as a result of this trial.
The lines under her eyes are older
than two weeks. Her sorrow—and
it is plain that she has undergone
sorrow—came some time ago. Now.
the first poignant pain of it has passed
and only a dull ache remains.
All that is plain as she sits in the
courtroom in an attitude which be
speaks much of listlessness and resig
nation. The thoughts that pass in
her mind are revealed in that atti
tude and in her placid face v And the
sum of them is this:
No matter what happens, the dull
ache will always be there at her
heart.
Mary Phagan’s Mother.
Because, you see. it is her little
girl that all this is about. The black-
clad woman is Mrs. W. J. Coleman,
Mary Phagan’s mother, and Mary
Phagan is dead.
Mrs. Coleman has not been in the
courtroom during all the trial. Much
of the time she has been in the room
upstairs, kept there because she was
a witness. And witnesses must not
see nor hear what Is going on in the
courtroom before they are called, even
if the names of their own little girls
are bandied back and forth.
But now Mrs. Coleman has testified.
She has' looked upon the blood
stained. pitiful clothing of her daugh
ter the clothing that was publicly
shown, the intimate garments that
were upheld before hundreds of eyes.
Interest Unabated as Dramatic
Frank Trial Enters Third Week
Many Years’ Test of
Eckman’s Alterative;
For several years a large number of Tolun-
tarily written testimonials from peraons who
recovered front Lung Trouble have been re
ceived by the makers of Eckman’s Alterative,
a remedy for the treatment of Throat and
Lung Trouble. Surely plenty of time to dem
onstrate its lasting value. You can write to
any of them for confirmation. Here Is one:
5323 Girard Ave.. Phila.. Pa.
"Gentlemen: In the winter of 19w3 I had an
attack of Grippe, followed by Pneumonia and
later by Consumption. In the winter of 1904
I had cough, night sweata. fever and raised
quantities of awful looking stuff and later I
had many hemorrhages; at one time three In
three successive days. Milk and eggs became
so distasteful I could keep nothin* down.
Three physicians treated me. I wa* ordered to
the mountains, but did not go. Eckman’s
Alterative was recommended by a friend. After
taking a small quantity I had the first quiet
night’s sleep for weeks. My Improvement was
marked from the first. I gained strength and
weight and appetite. I never had another
hemorrhage and my cough gradually lcaaenad
until entirely gone. I am perfectly well.”
(Affidavit) ANNIE F. LOTTO HR AN.
(Above abbreviated: more on request.)
Eckman’s AlteraUve has been proven by many
years’ test to be most effica. lous in cases of
severe Throat and Lung Affections. Bronchitis,
Bronchial Asthma. Stubborn Colds and In up
building the system. Does not contain narrot'es,
noteors or liahit-forming drugs. For calc by
all of Jacot«’ l)ni| Stores and other leading
druggists Write the Eckinan Laboratory. Phil
adelphia. Pa., for booklet telling of reroverit* j
and additional evidence.
court record that they were Mary’s.
She has explained how she last saw
her daughter alive. She has told how
Mary Phagan ate her last hurried
meal of cabbage and bread and then
went out to a horrible death. Now.
she may come out of the witness
room and listen to all that other per
sons have to say about Mary, alive
and dead.
Now she may sit in a corner of the
courtroom and hear that her daugh
ter was beaten and choked and killed.
She may llsiten, perhaps with a pang
of jealousy, to other persons tell that
they saw Mary Phagan alive, happy
and serene, long after she kissed the
little girl good-by for the last time.
Tt is her Mary that they are talking
about, the little girl whom she held
in her arms as a baby, whom she
watched grow up to be a capable
worker, with a spirit unMpoiled. with
a laugh as free as in the baby days,
with a hundred dreams and hopes
there on the edge of > ^ang woman
hood.
Testimony Bewilders.
Mrs. Coleman wears a look of be
wilderment at times, as she tries hard
to follow the intricacies of the testi
mony. Sometimes they are not talk
ing about Mary Phagan at all, but
about expense accounts and balance
sheets and clocks. What has all that
to do with her little girl?
It is when the witnesses are talk
ing about these incidental bits in the
chain of circumstantial evidence that
the black-clad mother is most the list
less and passive figure of resignation.
It is then that she looks around, with
her \yide-open stare, as if in wonder
that her little girl could be the cause
of It all.
But even when the name of Mary
Phagan is mentioned, the mother is
not noticeably attentive. Her eyes
c«MB their wandering, but her body
changes nothing of its posture of list-
le.Msness, loses none of its air of being*
detached from the courtroom and Its
incidents.
She is there plainly without resent
ment toward any one in particular
There is no vengefulness in her soul
—you can read that in her face. It
is almost as if she. having suffered
so much, is unwilling that any others
suffer. She nits there and looks,
curiously, wonderingly, a little dully.
And sometimes they mention Mary
Phagan’s last meal of cabbage. It is
remarkable that a dish of homely
cabbage should become a great thing
There is something grimly ludicrous
in the situation. And there are some,
the irreverent and the unfeeling, who
have made it a subject of jest.
Glorified in Love.
But to Mrs. Coleman there munt b-^
something appealingly intimate in the
subject. She cooked the cabbage. She
chopped it and prepared it as her
little daughter liked. The simple meal
was glorified by the love that must
have gone into its making—house
wife love for those in her care, moth
er-love for the whims and desires of
her children. The cabbage subject
must be of tremendous interest to
Mm Coleman.
Whatever her interest, though, it
is never keenly shown. Apathy seems
to be the chief characteristic of her
in the courtroom—no. not apathy, hut
just a dull wonder.
You read plainly from her worn
face and her figure that she Is not
seeking vengeance. Sometimes you
might wonder why she Is there in the
courtroom. You establish curiosity as
the motive, curiosity and the natural,
jealous, mother-desire to hear directly
from the mouths of others something
about her little girl as she last was
seen.
It must be almost like awaiting a
message that she is there, nursing her
dull grief.
The third week of the most remark
able murder trial ever known In Geor
gia opened to-day with no apparent
lessening of the acute Interest and
grim appeal heretofore attaching to it.
The public has come to realize thor
oughly and completely that the issue
Is a battle not only between the State
and the defendant, Leo Frank, but
between Leo Frank and the negro
Jim Conley.
Presumably, the defense will take
the entire week rounding out its case
and perfecting its undermining of
Conley’s story.
•If it does get through within the
week, it will have employed approxi
mately the same amount of time in
telling its story that the State em
ployed in telling the other side.
The first powerful and bewildering
shock of Conley’s tale, unanticipated
in its full sinister detail, has passed
away in a measure, it seems.
It is but the simple truth to gay
that the day of and the day following
Conley's awful charge, in addition to
the one of murder, marked the climax
of the State’s case and the zenith of
feeling against Frank.
Then it was that the outlook for the
defense seemed to be the most dis
mal, and then it was that even
Frank’s most loyal friends and sym
pathizers began to grow apprehen
sive and sore afraid.
Doubt Begins to Grow.
Since the defense began its plead
ing, however, there has been some
thing of a revulsion of feeling—or, at
least, there appears to have been cre
ated a doubt in the minds of many
people as to the complete and con
vincing probability of Conley's reve
lations.
Not that the defense is out of the
woods yet, by any means—as a mat
ter of fact* the defense still is very
deep in the woods, and while there
may be those who think the defens?
likely sees daylight and sunshine
somewhere through the darkness. »t
generally is admitted that the dark-
ness still very much is there.
As the frightful charge of perver
sion was-the most prejudicial thing
injected by the State against Frank,
so, as a natural consequence, is the
seeming determination of the defense
to put his character frankly in issue
the thing seemingly most likely to re
move that prejudice, if possible.
To put Frank's character in issue,
in the face of the fact that the de
fense alone has that right, despite the
dramatically delivered and certainly
impressive testimony of Conley
against It, will seem in the mind of
many to argue that the defense is in
no way afraid to m^et that issue fair
ly and squarely—and it is not at all
illogical to conclude that the success
fully tendering of his cnaracter as an
issue will have the effect, in large
measure anyway, o. removing from
the mind of the Jury the horrible
charge of the negro.
Depends on C°nley’s Word.
As the matter stands now, the at
tack on Frank’s character rests en
tirely upon Conley’s word—Conley has
been corroborated not at all on the
direct charge, and he has been cor
roborated, even indirectly, in the most
doubtful way.
It may be, on the other hand,
that the State, once given the right
to go after Frank’s character ham
mer and tongs, will be prepared to
attack it with heavy artillery, and
perhaps demolish it entirely. Cer
tainly the necessity of doing this, in
the circumstances then, will be ap
parent enough.
' The Supreme Court of Georgia
By JAMES B. NEVIN.
has held definitely that character
may be tendered as evidence of a
positive fact, and it asks signifi
cantly this question, through the
late Chief Justice Warner:
"Of what use is pood character,
which a man may have been years in
establishing. if it is to avail him
nothing in his hour of peril?'*
It is rather curious, In a way, that
practically every vitally effective
and controlling point in this case
should reduce itself eventually to a
question of truth between Frank
and Conley.
Nothing Fidgety About Frank.
The Leo Frank of this week of his
trial is not the Leo Frank of last
week and week before last.
If spectators were inclined for a
time to think the quiet, repressed,
spectacled young man sitting over
there beyond Luther Rosser and
Reuben Arnold, the slight person im
mediately between the only two
women in the entire courtroom, was
in any wise indifferent to or unmind
ful of the progress of the trial—his
own trial, and for a brutal murder,
at that—they have changed their
minds now.
They have changed their minds
as completely as Leo Frank has
changed his attitude.
If there is anything in external
appearances and surface indications,
I should say that Frank is, in prac
tically any and all circumstances, a
man of very marked patience. I
doubt that he ordinarily hurries, or
frets unduly, or grows especially
restless, any way.
He is brisk enough in his moye-
ments, getting up now and then,
with a quickness of action easily
enough to be seen, either to say a
word to one of his lawyers or to
leave the courtroom for a moment
—but there is nothing the least
“fidgety” about the man.
While the State was making out
its case—even when Conley was on
the stand, hurling his charge of im
morality against Frank—the defend
ant sat apparently unmoved.
Save for an occasional momentary
gripping of the arms of his chair, a
tightening of the lips, or a slight
wrinkling of the brows, the defend
ant gave no sign, either of the in
dignation he must have felt if inno
cent or the apprehension he must
have felt if guilty.
Apparent Stoic Under Fire.
While the State was making out Its
euse, Frank seemed the personifica
tion of patience—or whatever it i3
one should call it, according to the
state of his mind in respect of the de
fendant.
He sat ther«—just sat there—to
some an apparent stoic, to others a—
what?
Immediately the defense got well
under way directly, however, the Leo
Frank theretofore known to the pub
lic became another person—absolute
ly and entirely another person.
He seems to have realized that
now, at last, has come his day to
speak.
No longer must he, restrained by
wise and far-seeing counsel, hold bacK
in word of mouth or effort at defense.
At last, after all the long days of
waiting, of studying the charge lodged
against him, of repressing his emo
tions and standing aloof from a crit
ical and possibly hostile outside world.
Frank is saying the necessary word
to clear his good name, if it be suf
ficient to the undertaking.
Where once he sat unmoved and
calm, he now takes a noticeably di
recting part in his defens*. Time
and again, he arises, or leans over,
as the case may be. and whispers
words into his attorney’s ears.
On several occasions his whisper
ings have been responded to imme
diately by approving nods from his
counsel, and at once thereafter has
followed, particularly on the direct
examination, a line of questioning
evidently enough set in motion by
the defendant himself, and by other
persons.
Seems Sure of Himself.
Frank, I think, is rather sure of
himself—guilty or innocent, he is
there to do battle to the bitter end,
to meet his enemies in the gate, and
to vanquish them, if he find himself
powerful enough.
He is a very small man physically,
but I think he has the courage requi
site to the undertaking he has in
hand. Whether it is the courage of
righteousness and a sense of his in
nocence, or the courage of despera
tion and guilt, it is not, perhaps for
me to say.
It only seems that he is eager for
the fight, and confident of his strength
to win.
No spectator there can hope to read
his heart or read his mind. Great
reams of newspaper space and rep-
ortorial effort might be saved hence
forth if only one might do either of
those two things.
And whether all the rest of the
world be against him, it appears a
sure thing to say that, at least, his
wife there beside him and his* moth
er constantly in attendance upon him.
believe him utterly and altogether
innocent.
I suspect there is no question, more
over that both Luther Z. Rosser and
Reuben Arnold believe in the inno
cence of Frank.
Beyond these four and the jury and
the Judge, however, I doubt if Frank
concerns himself extensively nowa
days—unless, of course, he thinks
often of that stout-hearted and un
afraid bald-headed man, Simor.
Marks, and a band of friends who
never yet have forsaken him. no
matter how dark the gloom that has
seemed to clo.ee around him.
Picked Up State’s Gauntlet.
It may be that Frank in his de
fense of himself will disappoint these
expectant ones, it may be that he
never will come through the fire un-
scorched, it may be that and it may
j be a lot of things, but it will not be
denied, when this case is over, that
Frank picked up. full and free, the
gauntlet the State threw at his feet.
The State’s case was the State’s
business. Frank stood off and let it
go its limit. Of course, he hardly
could have kept it from going its
limit—but the point is, he didn’t try
particularly.
The defense, however—the defense
is Frank’s business, strictly!
And he is right there, on the job,
as he would be. I take it. had this
frightful murder never been commit
ted. and were it with him merely a
question of catching up with a smash
ing and record-breaking order for the
product of the factory over on For
syth street, where a few weeks ago
he was the universally respected su
perintendent.
Frank will make no half-way de
fence of himself—that much may be
anticipated confidently. I suspect. He
will meet every issue tendered—even
Including the attack other than the
charge of murder.
How will he fare eventually? Well,
that is another question—and it is
not yet has been approximately an
swered. ' •
SLATON urges DEFENSE’S FOOD EXPERT
TAX REFORMS
Cites the Deplorable Condition of
State's Treasury and Asks
Early Action
Continued From Page 1.
Committee, declared himself ready to
champion the bill to the last.
The bill provides, among other
things, for a state tax assessor, in
addition to county boards of tax
equalizers.
The Senate passed several meas
ures on the calendar several weeks.
The first rsolution to go through was
one by Senator Longino providing for
the appointment of a commission to
investigate and receive bids on the
proposed re-leasing of the Western
and Atlantic Railroad. Several
amendments were lost.
Another important bill passed was
that of Senator Huie, of the Thirty-
fifth, making it a misdemeanor to
present a check when there are not
sufficient funds in the bank to pay
it
Two hills by Senator McNeill were
passed—one permitting the operation
of through trains and trains carry
ing perishables on Sunday' and the
other allowing insurance companies
to inxest 10 per cent of their surplus
stock in bonds of any one ihstitution.
The Senate agreed to reconsider the
bill giving the custody of young chil
dren to the mother, which was de
feated last week. Senator Stark,
pleading that the adverse report of
the committee be upheld, charged
that the present bill was planned as
the result of the Zachry case, in
which Judge Hammond, of Augusta,
heM that he was forced to deliver the
children to the father.
Upon motion of Senator McGregor
ihe Senate order d that 100 copies ot
the Governor’s message, which was
read Monday morning, be printed and
furnished to the Senators by Monday
afternoon.
Gibbons Is Certain
Suffrage Will Come
CHICAGO, Aug. 11.—“I am weary,”
said Cardinal Gibbons, when inter-
vlewed here. “I am growing old and
these trips are trifle hard on me.
“Personally I do not believe in wom
en voting,” he answered in reply to
a question. “The Church has not
passed on the subject. 1 have the
old-fashioned idea about woman and
the home. 1 think women would bet
ter make good mothers than good
politicians. But suffrage is certain to
come to women.”
2-POUND BABY LIVES.
HUNTINGTON. IND.. Aug. 11.—A
two-pound baby girl, fuiiy developed,
was born to Mr. and Mrs. Frank C.
Smith, of this city. Doctors say it
has a fighting chance to live.
$9 WRIGHTSVILLE
BEACH
Round-trip, August 16th. Good
16 days. Through sleepers. Sea
board.
Continued from Page 2.
is It?—A. It is cabbage in formalde
hyde. The woman wfts asked not
to chew it at all. L was taken out
from 46 to 50 minutes after being
eaten.
Q. Does it show any change?—A.
None at all.
Q. Take No. 3—what is it?—A. It
w r as taken by a woman of 21. She
did not masticate it. It w r as in the
stomach 25 minutes. There was also
some tomato which she had eaten
for breakfast. It was awfully hard to
make her give it up. taking more than
two minutes to make her vomit at all.
y, Now, this last one?—A. That
was taken to-day. It was a break
fast of bread and cabbage. It was ta
ken out 2 1-2 hours later.
Q. Is it possible to say from a
chemical or any other kind of an ex
amination how long food has been
in the stomach?—A. No man on
earth could tell.
Never Hear “Om'dulin.”
Dr. Hancock, upon being question
ed, declared that from what he had
heard of the examination made of
Mary Phagan, that the evidences did
not indicate that an assault had
been attempted.
Solicitor Dorsey' took the witness.
Q. You are a surgeon rather than
a general practicloner, are you not?
—A. For the last few years I have
devoted myself exclusively to sur
gery.
Q. You are the surgeon for the
Georgia Railway and Electric Com
pany, are you not?—A. Yes.
Q. Doesn’t it require considerable
knowledge to testify with any accu
racy about the effect of digestive
processes on cabbage?—A. I have
that.
Q. Are you familiar with the word
"omidulin”?—A. 1 am not.
Q Is there such a word?—A. I
think so.
Mr. Arnold took the witness.
Q. It is a word that is rarely used,
isn’t it, Doctor?—A. I never heard it
before.
I>r. Hancock was excused and Dr.
Willis Westmoreland, former presi
dent of the State board of Health,
end president of the Atlanta Medical
College, was the next expert witness
called. Dr. Westmoreland’s testimony
was regarded as intensely interesting,
owing to the differences arising be
tween he and Dr. Harris, over State
Board matters last year. Attorney
Arnold examined him.
Q. What is your business?—A. Sur
geon.
Q. Where?—A. For a number of
years at the College of Physicians and
Surgeons.
Answers Usual Questions.
Q. Were you ever president of the
State Board of Health?—A. Yes.
Mr. Arnold propounded the same
hyj>othetical questions he asked Dr.
Hancock about the cut on the back of
Mary Phagan’s head. Dr. Westmore
land replied that a physician coull
only surmise or guess as to whether
the blow' caused unconsciousness,
death or what its effect might have
been.
Q. Could the blow' have been in
flicted bfor or after death?—A. You
could not t ♦•li.
Q. Would a cut of that kind bleed
after death?—A. So long as the blood
was liquid.
Q. Could anyone tell from which di
rection the blow' was Inflicted?—A.
Absolutely not.
Arnold here asked the doctor re
garding the length of time the cab
bage had been in te stomach and the
effect of the various digestive pro
cesses upon it. The answer was that
to make a positive statement would
only be the wildest guess.
Q. I will ask you If it Is ethical for
a physician to make an examination
of parts of the body and then destroy
them without bringing them into
court, or without giving the other side
an opportunity to make the same ex
amination?—A. It is a violation of
one of the unwritten laws of the pro
fession.
Judge Allows Question.
Solicitor Dorsey objected to this
question Attorney Arnold addressed
the court:
“Your Honor,” he said, “over yon
der in his little room this chemist, or
alleged chemist, made analysis all
alone. After he had finished he de
stroyed all his material on which he
had worked. I want to show that
such conduct was unethical, dishonest
and almost unbelievable. He would
try us and convict us without giving
us a chance.”
Dorsey: “He simply w'anta to Im
peach the ethical character of Dr.
Harris by Dr. Westmoreland, and I
object.”
Judge Roan ruled that Mr. Arnold
could bring out the rule of ethics ot*
doctors, but that he could not com
ment specifically on Dr. Harris.
Solicitor Dorsey tok the witness on
the cross-examination.
Q. Are you a specialist In surgery?
—A. Yes.
Q. You don’t do any stomach analy
sis work, do you?—A. I have an as
sistant who does the work in the
laboratory. It takes a long time.
Q. Physical Inverts often appear
physically normal, do they not?—A.
Sometimes.
Dorsey Goes Lnto Detail.
Mr. Dorsey propounded a hypo
thetical question describing the body
of Mary Phagan. and asked what he
thought would have caused the death.
”1 would say strangulation ” re
turned the physician.
Q. Would a blow on the eye that
caused swelling have been dealt be
fore or after death?—A. That would
depend. It might have been struck
after death and have produced practi
cally the same effect.
Q. Would the wound on the back of
the head bleed after death?—A. If
Continued on Page 4, Column 1.
2 P-R-I-N-T-O-R-I-A-L-S ■
No. 210
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