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TTTE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.
FRANK, WIFE AND MOTHER CALM AS END OF TRIAL NEARS
Paint Used in Pencil Factory Made Blood-Like Stains, Employee Says
EVERYWHERE YOU GO
By Bert Green
Continued from Page 1.
be kept there until she is called to the witnesse stand. Chief Beavers
has issued orders that no one is to be allowed to se her but him-
8If and Mrs. Bohnefeld.
As the last witnesses were being called by the defense, Frank,
his wife and his mother viewed the proceedings with the same
calmness that has marked their demeanor since the trial began,
with the exception of the outburst of the mother two days before.
On Friday she looked steadfastly downward and slightly toward
the judge’s bench as though she might be having some difficulty
in maintaining her attitude of confidence and calmness.
Likely Not to Call Mincey.
As the defense neared the close of its case, the probability of
the calling of W. H. Mincey diminished. Mincey is the insurance
solicitor who swore that he talked to Conley the afternoon of the
murder of Mary Phagan, and that Conley boasted to him of kill
ing a girl. The attorneys for Frank would not announce definitely
their intentions in respect to Mincey or with what credence they
looked upon his story.
Solicitor Dorsey brought before the jury for the first time,
Friday the intubation that Frank might have sought to have dis
guised his handwriting when he was asked to write the test notes
by the police and detectives.
M. 0. Nix, a credit man at Montag Bros., was called to the,
stand to identify Frank s handwriting on the financial sheet.
When Dorsey took the witness over for cross-examination he
showed photographic copies of the notes Frank wrote and asked
Nix if it was Frank’s writing. The witness was unable to say.
The Solicitor did not suggest any motive in disguising his hand.
The Solicitor endeavored to get Joseph Stelker, one of the fac
tory foremen, to testify that Frank did not go in to view the body
of Mary Phagan when he was taken down to identify the girl.
Stelker testified for the defense that some of the red varnish used
in the factory made stains very much like the supposed blood
spots found on the factory floor.
The defense continued calling
character witnesses at intervals
throughout the forenoon. None
was cross-questioned yesterday
and all said Frank's character
was good.
When the case was resumed Friday
it was very problematical when the
defense would finish. According to
Luther Rosser, the defense may rest
befor^ evening with Leo Frank hav
ing told his story on the stand, but
Reuben Arnold was of the opinion
that the defense still would be put
ting in evidence to-morrow.
Frank’s statement on the stand un
questionably will be one of the strik
ing features of the trial. He has
studied the State’s case carefully, and
Jit Is said will not content himself
jwith merely denying his guilt and
explaining his movements on the fatal
day, but will go somewhat Into what
he believes are the weaknesses of the
State’s chain of circumstances.
According to Frank’s friends, the
prisoner has been anxious for his at
torneys to allow him to be cross-
questioned, but they have doubted the
wisdom of allowing him to go through
the ordeal after the strain of the last
few months.
Dr. J. E. Summerfleld. No. 300
WashingLm street, who said he had
lived In Atlanta for nineteen year>»
and F. Schiff, No. 38 Fair street, who
has lived here for fifty years, were
the first witnesses called Friday and
both responded favorably to the usu
al qunations about Frank’s character
put by Attorney Arnold.
No attempt at cross-examination
was made by Solicitor Dorsey. The
State had an equally Imposing army
of wimenses—most of them women—
ready to go on the stand In rebuttal
of the evidence upholding the pris
oner’s character.
A curious problem will arise when
they are summoned. The State can
only ask its witnesses as to the gen
eral character of the defendant, Just
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that’s saying more than we could tell in a
world of descriptions.
Any suit in the house up to $25, now
Carlton Shoe & Clothing Co.
36 Whitehall Street
as the defense has done, and it will be
up to the defense to ask about par
ticular incidents on the cross-exami
nation or rest content with allowing
the opinions of the State’s witnesses
to go unchallenged. In that event it
would be merely one group saying
Frank’s character Is good against an
other saying It Is bad, with the Jury
to decide which it prefers to believe.
Another Former
Office Boy Called.
B. J. Nix, of Marietta, an office boy
for the National Pencil Company
from April to October, 1912, was the
third witness of the morning.
Q. What days were you off?—A. I
was off nearly every Saturday until
September.
Q. What time did you leave on the
Saturdays you worked?—A. Usually
I worked until 4 or 6 o’clock.
Q. Do you retail missing any Sat
urdays when you were supposed to
work?—A. No.
Q. Did you ever know Frank to
have any women there drinking with
him?—A. No.
Dorsey took the witness on cross-
examination.
Q. When they were working on that
building on Forsyth street, what time
did you leave?—A. About 4 o’clock.
Q. You don’t know whether Frank
had those women there when you
were off or not, do you?—A. No.
The witness was excused and R. D.
Greenfield was called.
Q. Are you one of the owners of th*:
Venable Building In which the pencil
company has Its factory?—A. Yes.
Q. Who leased it?—A. Montag
Bros., for a period of ten years.
Q. Do you know where the metal
room is?—A. No.
Q. Where is the Clark Woodenware
Company?—A. They occupied part of
the building known as No. 37 For
syth street.
Q. Since Montags have had that
building has any new flooring been
put down?—A. No.
Q. Do you know Leo M.’Frank?—A.
Yes.
Q. Is his character good or bad?—A.
It is very good.
Hooper took the witness on cross-
examination.
Q. Are you closely connected with
the defendant?—A. As landlord and
tenant.
Q. Did you contribute to the fund
for Frank's defense?—A. No.
Arnold took the witness.
Q. Have you ever heard of any such
fund?—A. No.
Arnold, aside, said:
’I wish there was one.”
Montag’s Credit
Man on Stand.
The witness was excused and N. O.
Nix, credit man for Montag Brothers,
was called to the stand. Arnold
questioned him.
Q. Have you come in contact with
the handwriting of Leo Frank?—A.
Yes, I saw many of his reports to
Montag Brothers.
Q. Have you a fairly good acquaint
ance with him?—A. Yes. fairly good.
Mr. Arnold showed the witness a
number of financial sheets of the Na
tional Pencil Company, including the
one of April 26.
Q. Whose handwriting were these
made in?—A. All are in the hand
writing of Mr. Frank.
Q. Whose handwriting is that be
low those orders?—A. Miss Hattie
Hall, our stenographer.
Q. Did you employ her?—A. Yes.
Q. Do you know anything about
her getting a raise in salary recent
ly?—A. Yes, I gave her one August 1.
Q. Why?—A. Because I promised
it to her when she first came to work.
The witness identified Frank’s
handwriting on requisitions said to
have been made out April 26.
Dorsey took the witness.
Q. How do you know it was Frank’s
handwriting on those slips and re
ports?—A. By these reports coming
to me.
Q. You never did see him write one
of these, did you?—A. No.
Q. Did you ever see him write?—
A. Yes.
Q. Doesn't this order show that it
came in on April 22?—A. Yes.
Q. They would , not have waited
until April 26 to make a requisition
for it, would they?
Arnold objected and Judge Roan
sustained him.
Q. Are you the brother of the office
boy who has Just testified?—A. Yes.
Q. How long have you been with
Montag Brothers?—A. Seven or eight
years.
Q. Whose handwriting Is thi9 (the
witness was handed the phtograph of
a letter)?—A. I can not say. It looks
something like Mr. Frank’s.
Q- Won't you say whether It is »r
is not?—A. I can not say.
Q. Then how can you Identify that
other handwriting?—A. The other 1*
mostly figures. It is different from
this.
Unable to Identify
Frank s Writing.
Q. Will you say this is not Frank's
handwriting?—A. 1 can not identify
this writing.
Q. Give the jury some reason.—A.
The writing of Frank’s which 1 have
seen has been mostly figures.
The photograph which Dorsey
showed the witness was of the note
which Frank wrote to the police for
comparison with the murder notes
found beside the body of Mary Pha
gan.
On redirect examination the witness
said he was not familiar with Franks
style of letter writing. The witness
was excused and Joseph Stelker, in
charge of the polishing and varnisu-
ing department at the pencil factory
was called to the stand. Arnold ex
amined him
Q. Did you see the blood spots-
which Barrett found?—A. Yes.
Q. Did you see the white stuff over
these spots?—A. Yes; it looked like
it might have been a substance we
used on the machine, or face powder
Q. Is there any red varnish used in
the factory? If so. how would it com
pare with this?—A. oome varnijn
looks like blood.
Q. Do you know what that sub
stance was?—A. 1 di not.
Q. Would it have been possible for
the red varnish to have been splashed
out of a bottle to this point?—A. Yes.
Q. Did you ever s* “ these spots on
the floor?—A. Yes, all the time.
Q. You never would have noticed
Girl’s Testimony Mainstay
Of Defense Alibi for Frank
IL
Continued on Page 3, Column 1.
i
In the presentation of its alibi for
Leo M. Frank, the defense probably
accomplished more Thursday than it
had In all of previous time since the
prosecution rested Its case. Frank's
lawyers had promised that they
would show where Frank was practi
cally every minute on the day the
murder of little Mary Phagan was
committed and would demonstrate
that it would have been Impossible
to carry out the disposal of the slain
girl’s body and the writing of the
notes as the negro, Jim Conley, de
scribed them.
If their alibi witnesses are to be
believed, the lawyers appear to have
fairly well accomplished this. On
the credibility of one young witness,
pretty Helen Curran, of No. 160 Ash
by street, the whole alibi may stand
or fall. She could, of course, be
proved mistaken in her statement
that she saw Frank at 1:10 o’clock
standing at Jacobs’ Pharmacy, White
hall and Alabama streets, awaiting a
car home from the factory on the aft
ernoon of the murder, and the re
mainder of the alibi witnesses remain
unimpfached, but it would serve to
weaken the alibi materially.
Apparently Disinterested.
She is at once the most Important
and the most disinterested of the
witnesses who have testified to seeing
Frank immediately after the State
says the crime was committed. If
Frank was at Whitehall and Alabama
streets at 1:10 o’clock, it would have
been almost beyond human possibil
ity for him to have taken part in
the disposal of the girl’s body, which
Conley said was undertaken at 12:56
and finished about 1:30, together
with the writing of the notes in
Frank's office.
Frank’s father-in-law and mother-
in-law testified that he arrived homo
that day about 1:20 o’clock, but their
testimony, because they are most vi
tally interested in the outcome of the
case from their ties of relationship,
will in all probability have far less
weight with the jurors than the ap
parently straightforward statement of
the girl.
The establishing of the alibi for
Frank, which was begun early in the
week through the testimony of Mr.
and Mrs. Emil Selig, was practically
completed Thursday, although there
were several more witnesses to be
called on Friday who had seen him
the day of the crime.
Times in the Alibi.
Thursday’s testimony began wfith
the time he went to Montag Bros.,
Nelson and Forsyth streets, Saturday
forenoon. Slg Montag, one of the
firm and also treasurer of the Nation
al Pencil Company, testified that
Frank came to his plant about 10
o’clock and left about 11.
Miss Corinthia Hall. Mrs. Emma
Freeman, Miss Hattie Hall, Alonzo
Mann and others had testified to see
ing him in the factory between 11
o’clock and noon. Lemmie Quinn,
metal department foreman, the day
before declared that he visited Frank
in his office at 12:20 o’clock. Mrs.
Arthur White, a witness for the State,
saw him in his office at 12:30. He
went to the fourth floor at 12:50. ac
cording to Mrs. White, Harry Den
ham and Arthur White.
This brought the defense down to
the time someone saw him after he
left the factory.
Miss Curran was called to the
stand and declared she saw the fac
tory superintendent at 1:10 at White
hall and Alabama streets apparently
waiting for a street car. This made
an interval of but eighteen minutes
from the time he was seen by the
three persons on the fourth floor of
the factory, allowing two minutes for
him to walk to his car. and an inter
val of but twelve minutes from the
time that Conley said they started to
carry the body to the basement.
Eight of the twelve minutes were
spent by Conley in a closet in Frank’s
office, according to the negro’s testi
mony. Of the remaining four, part
were occupied * in disposing of the
body and part in writing the notes.
Witness Who Helped Build Alibi.
Mrs. Albert P. Levy, No. 69 East
Georgia avenue, swore she saw Frank
get off a car at about 1:20 o’clock and
walk to the Selig home, No. 68 East
Georgia avenue.
Mr. and Mrs. Salig already had tes
tified he arrived home at 1:20 and
ate luncheon.
Mrs. M. G. Michael, of Athens. Ga.,
said she saw Frank at about 2 o’clock
at the home of Mrs. C. Wolfsheimer,
No. 387 Washington street, where she
was visiting. She said he w r alked on
to Glenn street and caught his car for
tow r n.
Jerome Michael, son of the former
witness, saw Frank at the sam e time.
Mrs. Wolfsheimer was another wit
ness who saw Frank just before he
caught his car. She said he was not
nervous and bore no scratches or
other marks.
Julian Loeb, No. 380 Washington
street, said that from across the street
he saw r Frank stop at No. 387 Wash
ington and then go on to his car.
J. C. Loeb. No. 445 Washington
street, testified that he caught the
Washington street car for towm at
Georgia avenue at about 2 o’clock.
Frank got on, he said, at Glenn
street. The car was stalled near the
Capitol, and Frank, according to Loeb,
got off the car and walked down Hun
ter street toward town.
Miss Rebecca Carson, a forelady on
the fourth floor at the pencil factory,
told the jury that she saw Frank in
front of Rich. Bros, between 2:20 and
2:25” and that she saw him going into
Jacobs' Pharmacy at about 2:50.
Harry Denham, who was in the fac
tory the day of the murder, testified
that Frank came to the fourth floor
about 3 o’clock and told him and Ar
thur White they could leave.
Emil Selig and Minola McKnight
had testified previously that Frank
came home Saturday night about
6:30.
Mrs. M. Marcus, Mrs. A. E. Marcus,
M. J. Goldstein and others told of
seeing Frank at home Saturday even
ing. They said thole was nothing un
usual in his demeanor and that he
bore no scratches or marks of any
sort. He was reading a magazine,
they said, and laughed heartily over a
story in regard to a baseball umpire.
They testified that he retired about
1:30 o’clock.
The defense also made good its
promise that It would not hesitate to
put Frank’s character in issue. Fol
lowing its action of the day before,
when the first of the character wit
nesses were put on the stand, nearly
a score of Frank’s acquaintances,
some of them his classmates and in
structors at Pratt Institute and Cor
nell University, were called to testify
to Frank's good character.
These witnesses for the most pan
were excused without cross-examina
tion. Prominent citizens of Atlanta
also declared Frank to be of good
character. Among these witneases
were Rabbi David Marx, V. H. Krieg-
shaber, Milton Klein and R. A. Sohn.
A peculiar situation arose through
the calling of Max F. Goldstein and
Arthur Heyman as character wit
nesses by the defense. Goldstein is a
law partner of Frank A. Hooper and
Heyman of Solicitor Dorsey, the two
attorneys who are prosecuting Frank.
Says Conley Told her He Was Drunk
One of the startling statements of
the day came from Miss Rebecca Car-
son. She declared Conley had sworn
to her that he was not in the factory
the day of the murder—in fact, that
he was so drunk he did not know
where he was or what he did.
Solicitor Dorsey obtained an admis
sion from J. R. Leach that cars fre
quently run ahead of time >n practi
cally all lines. This serves to less ;a
in value the testimony of the crew of
the car on which Mary Phagan came
to town. They swore they never ran
ahead of time and that the Phagan
girl could not have arrived in town
before 12:07 o’clock the day she was
slain.
Judge Roan threatened Thursday
afternoon to clear the courtroom if
disorder did not cease. V. H. Krieg-
ehaber was on the stand testifying ‘a
the character of Frank when laughter
at some of the testimonv disturbed
the courtroom.
Attorney Arnold protested
“This is not a side show,” he said.
"Must we put up with such disorder?"
"Find the man that laughed and put
him out. ordered the Judge. “If ther*
is any further disorder, no one will be
admitted to the trial to-morrow.”
$6 WRIGHTSVILLE
BEACH.
Round trip, Saturday, August 23.
Special train, sleepers and coaches.
Leave Old Depot 6 p. m. SEA
BOARD.
Wolfsheimer
114-116 WHITEHALL
Special For Gash
Only
Stew Meat 8c
Brisket 10c
Pot Roast 15c
Rib Roast 17V&C
Chuck Steak .... 15c
Round Steak .. 17*4c
Loin Steak 20c
Porterhouse Steak 20c
LAMB.
Lamb Stew . ...7%c
Lamb Shoulder .. 10c
Lamb Hind-
quarter 12y 2 to 15c
Lamb Chops ... 17^2°
Lamb Legs 20c
Hams, sugar-
cured Picnic .14}4c
Hams, Star 21c
Breakfast Bacon 21c
I ,
Fifteen Tons of Bad
Chicken Confiscated
CHICAGO, Aug. 15.—The Govern
ment to-day was holding 32,000
pounds of cold storage chicken and 66
bottles of imitation champagne. Li
bels ordering the seizure were issued
after the poultry was traced from
Kansas City to Philadelphia and back
to Chicago.
The report of a Government in
spector, said 95 per cent of the fowls
were diseased and unfit for food. The
imitation champagne was labeled
"Extra Dry Champain.”
Bankers Again Name
Maddox As Delegate
R. F. Maddox, vice president of
the American National Bank, who
represented the Atlanta Clearing
House at the conference of bankers
with Secretary McAdoo in Washing
ton, also will represent the Clearing
House at a conference of the Amer
ican Bankers’ Association in Chicago
August 22.
This conference of bankers from all
parts of the United States will dis
cuss the new currency bill.