Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, August 11, 1913, Image 3

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3 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 Nows tke time to ’plant your advertising!! —plan it, write It. got it shaped up, so that by September 1 or there abouts it will 1 >e In “full bloom” on our presses, blossoming in bright ness and attractiveness, ready to go forth on Its mission, heralding your message getting it READ, and PULLING IN THE ORDERS. Our GOOD PRINTING is the final solution of GOOD ADVERTISING. Ask us to demonstrate with plans and ideas. BYRD Phones M. 1560-26q$-2614. Printing Co. 46-43-50 W. Alabama, Atlanta.