Newspaper Page Text
Jiir; An iAi^ .1 a \t ni^riwjriAJN r\ if r n n.
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LEO M. FRANK’S COMPLETE STORY AS TOLD TO THE JURY
Accused Makes Statement Remarkable for Clarity and Wealth of Detail
nothing was cn’ it. There was
somethino on it. It had been par-
tjally rubbed out. It could not be
rubbed out altorether without
rubbing out the printed lines. I
did write with a pencil across the
face of it, *8:26 a. m.' We noticed
a slip but overlooked any skips. I
folded the time slip as it is now
and handed it to Chief Lanford.
Now, gentlemen, I Have heard a
great deal during this trial about
nervousness.
“I wap nervous. I 'was com
pletely unstrung. Imagine your
self called from sound slumber in
the early hours of the morning,
whisked through the chill morn
ing air without breakfast, to go
into that undertaking establish
ment and ave the light suddenly
Chief Beavers asked me if I would
give him a statement.
“I heard Mr. Rosser say: “Why,
it’s preposterous. The man who
did that would have signs on His
body.” I jumped up and, open
ing my clothes, let the detectives
see for , themselves.
“I then gave them a statement,
willingly and freely and without
any reluctance. Then one of
them said something about ex
amining my linen at my home. I
knew that none of it had gone to
the laundry at that time and in
vited tho detectives to make a
search, which they did. Mr. Her
bert Schiff wont with them. They
were very well satisfied with the
search, or rather, they found
nothing.
Employed Pinkertons
To Aid the Police.
“That afternoon I telephoned
Mr. Schiff to get Mr. Montag's
permission to employ the Pin
kertons to aid the police. I told
him I would be down about 9
o'clock.
“I went around to Mr. Wolfs-
heimers. got into his automobile
and went down town. I saw Mr.
Qn from
izs/var mi/
jeiDiccj CAjeroM
a/ 3 .10 on ivay
orric£>
\
wanted me to go to the station
house. I went and I have tfeen
incarcerated' since then.
“I went down in an automo
bile. They took me to Chief Lan-
ford’s office. | answered all the
questions they asked. In a few
minutes Detectives Scott and
Black came in with a bundle.
“Thjy me showed me a piece
of material and isked me if I had
a shirt like that. I told them I
never had. They showed it to
Newt Lee and. thev said he ad
mitted . having a shirt like that
but declared he had never worn it.
“They then unfolded a bloody
shirt.
“About 10 o’clock Mr. Rosser
came down and said Chief Seav-
ers thought it best for me to re
main at the station, and they
thought I might employ a super
numerary to avoid being locked
up. I assented, because, of course,
I could not do anything olse.
“They wanted a sample of my
handwriting. I told them I was
willing. They dictated it word for
word, spelling the unuiuat words.
Detectives Starnes took me down
to the deek sergeant and search
ed me.
“I was locked up tn a cell while
my father-in-law was providing a
supernumerary.
“The detectives came to me and
said: ‘Mr. Frank, we would like
to talk to you a littto bit/ We
went into a little room and they
stressed the possibility of a cou
ple being let. in the pencil fao-
Now, perhaps'If you go to that
jeweler you may find some sort of
a receipt that Conley had to give
and be able to prove that Conley
can write.’
Pinkertons Found
Conley’s Contracts.
“Well, Gottheimer took that in
formation back to the Pinkertons.
They did just as I said; they got
the, contract with Conley’s name
on it. got back evidently to Scott,
and then he told the negro to
write. Gentlemen, the man who
found out or paved the way to
find out that Jim Conley could
write is sitting right here in this
ohair. That is the truth about it.
“Then that other insinuation,
an insinuation that is so das
tardly that it is beyond the ap
preciation of a human being, that
is, that my wife didn’t visit me.
Now the truth of the matter is
this, that on April 29, the date I
was taken in custody at police
headquarters, my wife was there
to see me. She was downstairs
on the firs$ floor. I was up on
the top floor. She was there al
most in hysterics, having been
brought there by her two broth
ers-in-law arid her father.
“Rabbi Marx was with me at
the time. I consulted with him
ae to the advisability of allowing
my dear wife to come up to the
top floor to see me in those sur
roundings with city detectives,
reporters and snap-shotters. I
thought I ’ would save her that
TO TALK IS NOW
HAVE TOLD YOU
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Continued from Page 2.
stairs to see Mr. White, I did not
stir out of my office. I went on
home.
“I called up my brotl>er-in-law,
Mr. Ursenbach, to tell him I was
unable to keep the engagement to
go to the ball game. The cook
answered the phone.
“My wife and mother-in-law
were going to the opera, My fa
ther-in-law and I at? lunch. He
went into the backyard while I
lit a cigarette and lay down for a
moment. 7-
“I left and while passing the
home of Mrs. Wolfsheimer, saw
Mrs. Michael on the porch. I
went in to see her and saw Mrs.
Wolfsheimer, Mr. Loeb and oth
ers.
Watched Parade When
Street Cars Stopped.
“To catch, the next car I ran
down to Glenn street. On the car
I met my wife’s cousin, Mr. Loeb.
The car was b.ocked at the cor
ner of Washington and Hunter
streets. I walked up to Wfiite-
hall street and stood ther$ possi
bly for fifteen minutes watching
the Memorial Day parade.
“As I walked down Whitehall
street I met Miss Rebecca' Car-,
son. This was probably o:10 or
3:15 o’clock. I greeted her and
walked on. I stopped at Jacobs’
Pharmacy and walked on. I went
from there to the factory.
“When I reached there I went
upstairs and let the boys know I
had returned. A minute later, I
returned to my office and started
to work on the financial sheet.
“In a few minutes the clock bell
rang and Arthur White came into
the office to borrow two dollars.
It was while I was at work on
the sheet at probably 4 o'clock
that I went to the toilet.
“As i returned toward the of
fice, Inoticed Newt Lee coming
toward me from the head of the
stairs. I told him he oould go on
>ff but to be sure and be back at
> o’clock. I told him I was very
sorry I could r.ot let him know
about the half holiday but that
he was at liberty to enjoy himseif
as he saw fit, but that he must
not fail to return at 6 o’clock.
“The first night that Newt Lee
came to work at the factory, I
took him over the bui'dmg, and
stressed the fact that he must go
into the basement, especially the
just bin, every half hour.
“I toid him it would be part
of his duties to watch the back
door. He was to make a complete
tour every half hour and punch
the clock.
“Now, I will return to the work
of the financial sheet. This sheet
contains the cost of all the pencils
made that week. There are no
names but this sample case will
show you.”
Evidence Excluded
But Jury Sees It.
Frank unfolded a sample '*ase.
Dorsey.: “We object .to this being
used as evidence.”
Judge Roan: ”L sustain you.”
Frank placed the sample case to
one side.
“Well,” he said, “you got a suf
ficient glance at those pencils to
see there were a great many.”
“In making up this sheet it was
necessary to go through the list
of all that were packed. Specials,
of course, have to be figured sep
arately. .,
“For instance, there is a special
GO-60-x pencil known as ‘Crack-
crjack.’ Now I notice that the
two expert accountants reported
tvso errors. While they were un
important, I wish to explain that
those errors were not mine. They
were made by Mr. Schiff. I never
checked his figure#. I checked
over mine, but not his.
“Now the next j# ‘jobs.’ The
accountant found the only error
in my financial sheet there in the
item ‘job it was not an error,
* as I will show you. He did not
know my method of figuring.
“Twp Items here are tota's.
The total grpss amount is 791
gross, the total value amount
$396.75. In figuring the average
I obtained $50.01. In that .average
. he discovered an error. It was not
an error. I simply die not go as
far into the decimals as he did.
One tenth of a cent was close
enoi/gh for my purpose.
“Now-some of the items in here
art t*»lfser\ from the reports of the
foremen of the different depart
ments.”
Frank then exhibited a report
from the foreman or forewoman
of qach department and explain
ed it.
“Then there is the report of Mr.
Schiff, showing the gross of pen
cils shipped each d&y of that week
-»nthat w«ek was an exceptionally*
heavy oneL
“Now there is a little report
here that donstitutes one of the
most difficult calculations. It is
from the packing room. We have
a trick of the trade to put the
pencils that do not sell very fast
into fancy packages to make
them go.
“Now, very often these pencils
ane taken from the shelf, where
thfey have laid for more than a
year; and repacked in the fancy
cases. | made all the calculations
on Vhis that afternoon, despite
everything that has been said
here to the contrary.
“Now here is a little sheet that
deals with the grades'of the pen
cils. It shows th^ totals for each
class 6f 1 pencils shipped that
w6e*k. This data sheet—we have
had very few clerks at the For
syth street office capable of keep
ing it, because it requires rather
advanced mathematics to reach
the totals/’
*‘Ndto ) wi IF have to get all my
thoughts on this sheet. I isn’t a
hard job but It is a very tedious
©he and requires much care and
accuracy- Here is rubber—cheap
rubber and good rubber. Now it
Ha> been intimated th£t some of
these items-—this one in particu
lar, ,ifj am no\ mistakep—that J
could take two'that were already
figured and subtract- them from
the total and get the cost of the
third.
“That is not so. Some of the
pencils haven’t any rubber in
them at all. I have to go through
the same tedious operation on
each item. There are various
sorts of packing boxes used. Then
there, are the skeletons ip the
boxes. Some pencils don’t have
skeletons at all.
“All these items must be gone
through accurately to get correct
results of this sheet. Then there
is no section on this data sheet
showing the co6t of tips. You
can5t use rubbers without tips,
so, after figuring them, I just
added them to the rubbers.
“Some pencils take wrappers
and some don't. The very cheap
pencils are tied with a cord, so we
have the same tedious figuring
again.
“The slat item is not worked
out because I could not find the
data. I just put it off until Mon
day.
“Here are the jobs—the payroll
at Forsyth street and the payroll
at Bell street.
“Now the shipments were fig
ured for the week. I did part of
that work in the mi&rning and I
explained to you about the in
voices being wrong. Well, here
are the items on this financial
sheet. Then, as to the orders re
ceived. . Entering the orders re
ceived that day involved no more
work than transferring.
Has Own Method of
Figuring Cost Data.
"Here they are in comparison
to the amount shipped.
“One of the mo6t intricate
things in making out this financial
she^rt is figuring the cost data.
This sheet 1 may say is a child
of my own brain. The first one
gotten out was gotten out by my
self.
“This item here gives us the net
value and the net amount of mon
ey the pencil factory received for
its pencils. The burden that a
business hbs to' carry is its fixed
Charges—rent, insurance/ certain
salaries, etc.—thd Charges that
are' the same whether great or
few- pencils are made. f
“The machine shop is variable.
tea
m
We did make many machines at
first, but later the machine shop
was used solely for upkeep. The
slats are figured at 22 a gross.
That cost was simple multiplica
tion.
“The figuring of that price is
not done in making out the finan
cial sheet Saturday afternoon. Mr.
Montag and myself figure that in.
advance, making allowance for
profit, breakage, etc.
“I have here on the report of
April 26 ‘Slats, not complete;’ that
was because Schiff had not made
out the slat report, and I planned
to complete it Monday morning
before taking it to Montag.
“Now, beside the making this
large sheet here and the financial
sheet, there aer three other sheets
that I made out. Now, I want to
call your attention to this. I did
not typewrite it. I merely filled
in the blanks. I have several of
them typewritten and keep them
in my desk.
“In addition to that I make out
two condensed financial sheets,
showing the principal figures.
They are sufficient for a director
or stockholder to see what t,he
factory is doing.
Mailed Statements
To Stockholders.
“One of these statements I
mailed to my unefe, Mr. M. Frank,
who is president of the company,
and the other to Oscar Papen-
heimer, who was a director.
“I put one in an envelope and
addressed i tto Mr. OscAr Papen- !
heimer; the other I sent to my
unole along with a price list, and
I wrote him this letter.
“This price list is too long for
an ordinary envelope, hence the
large envelope.
“After finishing the financial
sheet, I folded the large sheet
and addressed it to Mr. Selig
Montag. I then took up the
checking up of the cash and bal
ancing of the cash book. I did
that work as near as I remember,
between 5:30 and 5 minutes to
6 o’clock. It did not take me an
hour and a half. I did it in about
25 minutes. There was $30.54.
There couldn’t have been any
more. It was mostly in small-
change. There was one loan to
Mr. White, ma ji[P9 *he total
amount of cash $28.56.
“Beginning that week, we had
$39.25 as a balance. We drew
two checks of $15 each—I mean
by that that we went to Mr.
Montag's office and had him draw
the checks. The total amount of
money we had to account for was
69.25. What it was spent for, of
course, is shown on the debit
side.”
Frank explained each of those
Items, Including drayage, parcel post,
etc. • v •
“I found at the end a shortage
of $4.34 coming about in payrolls
within the last three months.”
At this point Frank paused to
take a drink of water having
been talking for 2 hours and 30
min utes.
“I finished this work I have just
outlined,” he continued, “at 5
minutes to 6 o’clock. I took those
slips—I won’t show them to you—
stamped April 28: They were put
into the clock because no one was
coming into the office until Mon
day.
“Newt Lee’s punches on Mon
day night, would appear on the
strip placed on the clock Monday
night. Just before I left I put a
new tape in the clock and made
Newt Lee punch it. Then he went
on down stairs to wait and let
me out.
“As I started out of the factory,
I saw Newt Lee talk ng to a man
named Gantt, who had been re
leased about two wepks before. I
gave them permission to go into
the factory and get Gant’s shoes
which he said were left there and
I told Newt Lee to go with him.
“I reached home at about 6;25
o’clock and at 6:30, thinking Newt
Lee would be near the clock. I
called him over the phone to iee
if everything was all right. I could
not get him. I called aqain at 7
o’clock and again at 7:30. At
that time I got him and he tolej
me everything was aft right.
<4 “That night my parents-in-law
had company at the home Thrse
present were Mr .and Mis. Mar
cus, Mrs. Goldstein, .,rs- M.
Marx, Mrs. A. B. Marx, Mr. Ike
Strauss—who came in at about
10 o’clock. I read a maga^m*; un
til about 10:30 and then retired.”
Told Officer He
Did Not Know Girl.
At this juncture the jury retired
for five minutes.
Frank conferred with his attor
neys while the jury was out. Up n
its return he resumed:
“I believe I have taken in ever-'
move Saturday night. I ret re* 1
Saturday night. Sunday merning
about 7 o’clock I was awakened
by the telephone ringing and a
man’s voice whiich I afterwards
found out to be Detective Starnes,
said: “I want you to come down
to the factory/ ‘What is the trou- .
ble?’ I asked. ‘Has there been a
fire?' ‘No,’ he said. ‘A tragedy
has occurred.’ I said, ‘All right,’
and he said .he would send an
auto.
“They came before I finished
dressing." At this point I differ
wrth the detectives, Black and
Starnes, about .where the conver
sation took place. They say it
>fras after we were in the ma
chine. ! say it was before we left
the house, before my wife. At any
rate, here, is what was said:
“They asked me if I knew Mary
Ph agan. I answered that I did
ndt. Thev asked' me if I did not
pay off a-little girl with long hair
down, her back iji© afternoon be
fore, | said I did. Thev said
they wanted me to go to the un
dertaking establishment to see if L
could identify the boyd. Th#y
made the trip to the undertaking
establishment very auickiy. I
went in and st6bd in the dbbr-
way. The attendant removed the
sheet from the little girl’# faca
and turned the head/ toward me.
Hi# finger was right by the cdt^.
on the head. I noticed her nostrils
were filled with dirt and cinders
and there were several discolora
tions. I notioed a piece of cord
around her neck, the kind we used
in the pencil factory. I said it
looked like a little girl that came
to the factory th© day before.
They had already to ! d me It was
Mary Phegan. We went to the
factory and by examining the
payroll-1-found that Mary Phegan
had tfrawn her pay the day before
and that the amount was $1.20.
“As we went into the factory I
noticed Mr. Darley going ih. We
went to the office and I found
New» Lee in the custody of the
officers. They told me they wanted
to go down into the basement. I
got the elevator key, but when I
tried to start the elevator, ma
chinery I found I coujd not and I
told Mr. Darley to #ee if be could
start it.
Admits Nervousness
And Defends Himself.
“He started the car, and when
we got further down I found that
one of the chains had slipped.
They showed ms where the body
was found, where the shoe was
found and pointed out every thing
that was at that time known.
After looking about the basement
we got eomfe nail# and a hammer,
and Mr. Darley nailed up the back
door. Back upstairs Mr. Darley,
Chief Lanford and myself went on
a tour of inspecticn of the three
upper floors. We went through
the metal room, the same metal
room that has figured so promi
nently in this trial, and neither
Mr. Darley nor myself noticed
anything oarticular on that floor.
Nor did Sergeant Lanford, chief
of the Atlanta detective force.
“We went to the time clock. I
took out the si* and a casual
note .of. this ship would indicate
Z-£FT
QFF7C£
6.00 P MT-
/hr jtclm:/.
flashed c a see le like that. To
see that little girl on the dawn of
womanhood'so cruelly murdered—
it was a scene that would have
melted stone. Is it any wonder I
was nervous?”
‘I got in an automobile and
sat on Mr. Darley’s knee. I was
trembling, perhap*. .. Later Sun
day morning, I went to tlje home
of Mr. Sig iVlontag and tola Ki’tfi
what had occurred. I got homo
about 11 o’clock. My wife and I
went over to my sister-ia-law's,
Mrs. Ur#enbaob’s, and with a
number of friends we discussed
the tragedy.
“We went back home to dinner
and mentioned there" the terri
ble crime. A.^r dinner I read a
short time and about/'10 minutes
to 3o’clock caught a car down
town.
“T ho conversation^ on thq, cap
was about the little girT that Had
been found dead in the factory.
At 3:10 o’clock I went back to
the undertaking establishment
and found Joe Stelka there.
“Oh Monday I went to the po
lice station with Darley and he
said he would li-xe to talk to Newt
Le« alone. We were shown the
two notes found by the side of
the slain girl.” >»■ -
Frank then described. tbe./uitps. .
. “Now, an one of the notes
thebe was an erasure, but the
tracing was still discernable. It
was January 11, 1912. The order
number was very indistinct, but
it was evidently an o.d serial
number.
“Returning to rVfcy heme at 4:15
I .met Mr. Haas and he asked me
about^tjhe murder. Severay people
on the street also masked me*
“I remained at •hoFfie^-tmtil 5
o’clook, then I went to .'Mr. • Mon-
tag’s home and made a report of
the tragedv to him. From there
I went to the home c/ Mr. Mar
cus where I had received a tele
phone message from my wife, and
I went by there to get her.
“At supper that night the con
versation was again about the
murden After supper I read the
paper. 1 called up Mr. Marcus
and .asked him if he would come
down. He said he could not.
“Mr. and Mrs. Selig had a party
that night. About 10 o’clock, my
wife and I wen*, up to bed. Next
morning before I had finished
dressing, the door bell rang, ft
was Detectives Elapk and Haze-
lett. They said they wanted me
to go to the police station with
them.
Kept in Ignorance of
Charge Against Hmi.
“I went and cn the way I asked
t'hem vl/hat was -:7ie trouble. They
said Chief Lanford would te>l
me.
. “I arrived at the police station
and sat in an outer office for
probably an hour w thout seeing
Chief Lanford. Near 9 o'clock,
Mr. Sel Montag and Mr. Herbert
Haas came down. Near 10 o’clock
I saw Mr. Rosser. He came in
and said, “Hello boys, what’s the
trouble.’
“Mr. Haas took him off to one
side. Chief Lanford came out and
said to m«: ‘Come in here.’
“? w®r»t into hi# office. He
hawed me «-.e time slips and if
I am not mistaken A his same
tine slip h’-* the figures still un
erased: *8:26 a. m/
“I took the sbp and examined it
’ .losely, discovering the slips.
There seemed to be some alter
cation about Mr. Rosser getting
into the reem with me. I heard
him says. ‘l*am going into that
room. Tha^lhsan is my client/
Schiff, Mr. Darley and a number
of others, including .4r. Quinn.
“Mr, Quinn said he wanted to
take me back to th# metal room
where it was claimed blood spots
had been discovered and where
* the hair on the lathe was discov
ered by Mr. Barrett.
“F bY'&mined them closely, par
ticularly the spots. | did not ex
amine them standing up. I got
dqvyn on my knees and examined
them with a strong electric flash
light and I arrived at certain oon-
clasiont.
“That floor ia grease, soap and
dirt covered to a thickness vary
ing from a qu irter to half an
ihch. *'
* “To return- to that spot. I don’t
claim Jt.was not blood. The space
where these spots were adjoins
the ladies’ dressing room. There
have been accidents which may
not,have be* n brought out in this
trial. We do not report every
time one of the employees cuts
his finger.
“There are all sorts of paints
around the factor I have seen
girls drop bottlee in the hall, not
exactly dt that point, but near
there. But the point about thosd
spots is that when I examined
them there was over them an ac-
cumulatidU of dirt not of days'oi*
weeks, but of at least three
months.
Phoned to Prevent
Alarm of Family.
“The white stuff was not fresh.
IF.was dry . And another ttying^
if that Compound had been put
ort the blood fresh, it would h£V6
been pink and not the white that
it- was.
‘Now, when the Atlanta pa
pers containing the statement
that I was detained were pub
lished, I telegraphed Mr. A. R.
Montag to communicate with my
uncle that I was no longer; that
I had been released. I did this
because I knew they would be
alarmed if they saw the sensa
tional stories in the papers.
“Harry Scott of the Pirlkertons
came in and spoke to me in the
presence of Mr. Darley. He said
he had not reacj the newspapers.
I told him all tHat had been pub
lished and in addition the state :
ment that Mrs. White had seen
a neoro about 1 o’clock on the
first floor.
“After I had told him all I
knew, I took him over the fac
tory. On the second floor, I no
ticed him put several articles in
his pocket. One Inoticed was
a piece of cord such as I learned
had been found around Mary
F'hagan’s neck. I asked him as to
the rates of th© Pinkertons. He
told me and I informed Mr. Mon-
tag, who approved them.
“Mr. Scott said that at it waa
the usual custom of the Pinker
tons, he would work hand in hand
with the police. I went home and
found my family there and sat up
until about 10 o’clock, when I
went to bad.
Gave Officers All
Information Wanted.
“Tuesday a. m. I arose between
7 and 7:30 and caught the 8:10
oar. I remember f got to the fac
tory at 8:30. I went right into
mv routine work and at 9:30
o'clock went on my regu'ar trip
to Montag’s. I then went back
to *he factory and to work again.
“After a ^hrle Detectives Black
and Scott came and told me they
tory at night. Then they said:
‘You talk to Lee. You are his
boss. He will talk to you/
“The detectives told me to go
after him strong and tell him we
would both go to hell. Detective
Black said that.
“1 went in and talked to Lee.
I tried to got him to talk. I said:
‘Newt, you had better tell every
thing you know or ou will get ua
both into trouble.’ He stuck to
his statement that he had told th#
whole truth.
“Then the detectives came in
and f waa initiated to the Atlanta
police department third degree for
the first time. Detective Black
went after that poor negro. He
called him every vile name he
could think of. He fairly streamed
with profanity.
“I want to touch upon a few
accusations that have been level
ed against me, besides this crime.
The first ia that I would not talk
to the detectives. Let us look into
that and ae© if there is any truth
in that. I went there Sunday,
Monday and Tuesday and dis
cussed the matter freely and
openly. I gave them a written
statement. I talked to them at
enidnetiht. I talked to Newt Lee
at their instance. What did they
do? They grilled him. They
twisted my words. They put
words into his mouth he never
hoard. After that I said I washed
my hands of them. They came
to me again—Soott and Black.
Black said: ‘We are suspicious
of that man Darley. Now, open
up and toll us all you know about
him/* , • J!
■“Vsaidr ‘He is the soul of
honor/
“‘Come on, Scott: nothing do
ing,’ said Black.
“Then I knew I couldn’t trust
even our own Pinkerton detec
tives. After that I treated them
with siience. That is why 1
would not see Conley surrounded
by a bevy of city detectives. Thoy
would distort; they would falsify.
j'That is the reason I kept my si
lence.
“Now this second charge that I
knew Conley could write.
Tells of Showing
Conley Could Write.
“Let’s look into that.
“On M«y 1 l was taken to the
Tower. On the same date, as I
understand it, the negro Conley
was arrested. I didn^t know any
body had kfty suspicions about
him. His name was not in the
papers. He was an unknown
quantity. The police were not
looking out for him; th«y were
looking out for me. They didn’t
want him, and I Had no inkling
that he ever said he couldn’t
write.
“I wa# sitting in that cell in
the Fulton County Jail—it was
along about April 12, April 13 or
April 14 that Mr. Leo Gottheimer,
a salesman for the National Pen
cil Company, came running over,
any says: ‘Leo, the Pinkerton de
tectives have suspicions of Con
ley. He keeps saying h© can’t
write; these fellows over at the
factory know well enough that he
can write, can’t he?**
“I said: ‘Sure he can write/
“We can’t prove it. The nig
ger says he can’t write and we
feel that he can write.’
“I said; ‘I know he can write.
I have reoeived many notes from
him asking me to loan him mon
ey. I have received too many
notes from him not to know that
he c«n not write. In other words,
I have received notes signed with
his name, purporting to have
been written by him, though I
have never seen him to this date
use a pencil.’
“I thought a while and then I
said: Now, I tell you. If y6u
will look into a drawer in the safe
you will find the card cf a jew
eler from whom Conley thought a
watch on the installment plan.
humiliation and that harsh sight,
because I expected any day to be
turned loose and be returned
once more to her tide at home.
“Gentlemen, we did all we
could do to restrain her in the
first days when I was down at
the jail from coming on alone
down to the jail, but she was per
fectly willing even to be locked
up with me and share my incar*
ceration.
Says He Knows
Nothing of Crime.
“Gentlemen, I know nothing
whatever of the death of littie
Mary Phagan. I had no part in
causing her death nor do I know
how she came to her death after
eh© took her money and left my
office. I never even saw Conley
in the factory or anywhere else
on that date, April 26, 1913.
“The statement of the witness
Dalton is utterly false ae far as
. coming to my office and being in
troduced to me by the woman,
Daisy Hopkins, is concerned. If
Dalton was ever in the factory
building with any woman, I didn’t
know it. I never saw Dalton in
my life to know him until this
crime.
“In reply to the statement of
Miss Irene Jackson, she is wholly
mistaken in supposing that I
ever went to a ladies’ dressing
room for the purpose of making
improper gaze into the girls’
room. I have no recollection of
occasions of which she speaks,
but I do know that that ladies 1
dressing room on the fourth floor
is a mere room.in which the girls
change their oqte^ clothing.
“There was no bath or toilet in
that room/ and it had windows
opening onto the street. There
was no lock on the door, and I
know I never went into fhat room
at any hour when the girls were
dressing. These girls were sup
posed to be at their work at 7
o’clock. Occasionally I have had
reports that the girls were flirt
ing from this dressing room
through the windows with men.
“It is also true that sometime*
the grls would loiter in this room
when they ought to have been
doing their work. It is possible
that on some occasions I looked
into this room to see if the girle
were doing their duty and were
not using this room as a place
for loitering and for flirting.
Says Negro’s Story
Is Tissue of Lies.
“These girls were not supposed
to be dressing in that room after 7
o’clock, and I know that I never
looked into that room at any hour
when I had any reason to suppose
that there were girls dressing
therein.
“The statement of the negro
Conley is a tissue of iles from
first to la*t. I know nothing
whatever of the c*use of the
death of Mary Phagan, and Con
ley’s statem®nt as to his coming
up and helDing me dispose of the
body, or that I had anything to
do with her or to do with him
that day, i$ a monstrous lie.
“The story as to women com
ing into the factory with me for
immoral purposes is a bas# lie,
and the few occasions that he
claims to have sepn me in inde
cent positions with women is a
lie so vile that I have no language
with which fitly to denounc# it.
“I have no rich relatives in
Brooklyn, N. Y. My father is an
invalid. My father and mother
together are people of very lim
ited means, who have barely
enough upon which to live. My
father is not able to work. I have
no relative who has any means at
all, except Mr. M. Frank, who
fives in Atlanta. Nobody has
raised a fund to p«y the fees of
my attorneys. The*« fees Have
been paid bv the sacrifice in part
of th© small property which my
parents possess.
“Gentlemen, some newspaper
men have called me ‘the silent
man in the tower/ I kept my si
lence and my counsel advisadly
until the proper time and place.
The time is now, the place is here,
and I have told you the truth, the
whole truth.”
Frank bowed s’ightly to the
twelve men to whom he had ad
dressed this remarkable states
ment and th/n stepped down from
the 6tand. Court adjourned until
9 o’clock Tuesday mornirrej