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BEST PLEA PRESENTED
IN RIS DEFENSE SO EAR
By JAMES B. NEVIN.
So far, unquestionably, to my way
of thinking Leo Frank himself has
made the best and most appealing
plea in behalf of Leo Frank.
His statement in the recital thereof
was as clean cut, as dignified, as dis
passionate and as convincing as any
statement I ever heard from the wit
ness stand, and I have heard hun
dreds.
Regardless of its merits—or, at
least, aside from that—the defend
ant acquitted himself with credit, and
that much may be said of him un
grudgingly and in the frankest fair
ness to all parties concerned.
Of course, had Frank been nerv
ous, hesitating, “fidgety,” or seeming
ly in any wise disconcerted, there
would be those, perhaps, who would
have seen in that great evidence of
his guilt—and by the same token,
in that he was calm, poised, self-pos
sessed, even smiling at intervals,
there will be those who see in that
evidence of a monstrous coldness and
unfeeling design.
The vast majority of those who
heard that remarkable statement,
however, must have been impressed
by, at least, the apparent sincerity
of it and the seeming inclination In
the defendant to hold back nothing.
In its recital the statement of Leo
Frank was wonderful—In its written
form, stripped of the man’s personal
ity, it still is a human document of
intense and absorbing Interest.
It impressed me, too. as being n
many ways characteristic of Frank
as I have come to know him of late—
and I never spoke one word to him in
all my life.
I have come to know him a* the
prisoner sitting over there between
the two women in the courtroom—
the slight spectacled party, a seat or
two beyond Luther Rosser and Reu
ben Arnold.
I have come to know him, in my
way of knowing persons charged with
grave crimes, not by way of personal
touch so much as by constant obser
vation of him under fire.
Repression Makes the Story.
All that was dramatic in Frank’s
statement was repressed—the dramat
ic touch was there, to be sure, but
the red fire and the usual accom
panying stage tricks were not.
If Frank should undertake to sell
me a gross of pencil*, I should ex
pect him to tell me the truth about
the pencils, and nothing but the truth
—but I should expect him neverthe
less to sell me the pencils at a profit.
His statement of Monday seemed
to me a recital much after the fashion
I should expect from him in the pen
cil transaction.
To me, It seemed that Frank was
undertaking to tell the truth and
nothing but the truth of the Mary
Phagan murder, as he knows the
truth—and to tell it at a profit to
himself.
That is the best and the worst
that I can say of Leo Frank’s state
ment, as It appealed to me.
True, in a transaction Involving a
mere gross of pencils, there would be
lacking all the great elements that
entered Into the statement Frank
made on Monday—and yet, at that,
neither subject matter Is, In Its final
analysis, anything more or less than
something about which the simple
truth should be told.
Frank looked the Jury fairly and
squarely in the eye when he waa mak
ing his statement—and not once did
he hesitate or falter in stating his
plea.
Contrast the statement of the de
fendant with the statement of the
negro—the star witness summoned
against him.
Frank’s Day In Court.
Now, Monday was Frank’s day in
court, and it is square and right that
Frank’s showing should, be criticised
freely and frankly—it is right that
his statement should be praised, if it
seemed to deserve praise, Just as it
should be condemned, if it seemed to
merit that melancholy fate.
Contrast it. therefore, with the
statement of Conley!
Argue the matter with yourself.
Certainly, Frank has behind him
a long period of decent life, good rep
utation, business integrity, and home
nappiness—and Conley has, what?
Take the two stories—and upon
;hese two stories the verdict in the
Frank case must turn eventually—
and weigh them, side by side, honest
ly, without prejudice, and in the light
•>f a clean conscience.
"That is your answer?
What will be the jury’s answer?
The field bt speculation thus opened
is most engaging, and It will, if one
but undertake to enter it seriously
and with open mind, be well worth
the entering.
In the matter of his character,
Frank said little. He entered simple
Jemals to some few things cited
against him.
He was willing to be cross-exam
ined on his statement. He himself
Insisted that his general character be
put in issue. He furnished the State
with the first information it ever
had that Conley could write.
All the way through, his statement
dare to the State to prove anything
vile In him whatever!
Now. then, people will differ as to
the EFFECT Frank’s statement will
and ought to have on the jury.
Maybe it is a clever evasion of a
grave issue—maybe it is possible of
rebuttal, and maybe it will be broken
down.
Impressively Delivered.
The fact remains that it was most
impressively delivered, and carried
with it every emphasis of apparent
truth and straightforwardness!
It is my opinion now that the State
has in Frank’s statement the hard
est thing to get away from that yet
has been tendered to it.
It contradicts the State at points
that the defense has been able to for
tify abundantly with facts.
It makes more necessary than ever
before the complete success of the
State’s efforts to break down Frank’s
good name.
For I think it safe to predict that
unless the State DOES demolish
Frank utterly, the wonderful state-
MOTHER OF LEO FRANK
A
:<v
' .
ment he made on Monday more than
likely will serve In connection with
the other things set up—to clear him
of the charge of murdering Mary
Phagan!
Tt matters not, so Tar as this arti
cle Is concerned, moreover, whether
the statement ought to clear him—
the prospect la that It WILL clear
him unless the State can batter It
down and collapse it entirely!
The defendant touched upon every
phase of the State's case against him
—the happiness of his home, hts
nervousness on the morning of the
murder, his movements on the day
of the crime, and the day before, and
the day after, his family’s financial
resources, his disinclination to talk
to Conley, although he at first talked
freely to the police officers, his alleged
peeping Into the girls' dressing room,
his lack of knowled*"- of or acquaint
ance with the Impeached Dalton, his
non-association with loose characters,
male and female.
There was not a point he failed to
touch, even though he seemed to
touch points now and then with a
measure of fine scorn!
Is there a gap that Frank MIGHT
let down that he has FAILED to let
down?
Is there a point involved that Frank
has not invited Investigation of?
Hard to Find Gaps.
It Is rather hard to locate any such
gaps or points, If they are there.
And yet they may be there! That
Is for the State yet to demonstrate!
The State has the full right of re
buttal, as applied to Frank s state
ment, that It enjoys In respect of
other evidence. There may be weak
points In his story—Just as there
were weak noints In Conley s.
The point Is that they are not
nearly so apparent upon the surface
of things in the Frank statement.
For one thing, Conley made four
sworn statements, all contradictory,
before he got one finally landed, and
Conley admitted freely from the stand
that he had lied time and again.
On the other hand, Franks state
ment is the first and only sustained
and sequenced utterance as to the de
tails of his story yet falling from his
lips.
It must stand In Its entirety or fall
in Its entirety.
Whatever may be the effect of that
statement In the end, It will go down
in the criminal history of Georgia a?
one of the most remarkably clear and
apparently convincing statements ever
falling from a defendant's lips.
When the State gets through with
It, the statement may be shot to
pieces and rendered utterly ineffective.
As It stands to-day, however, 1
hardly think a dozen people who
heard It will deny the profound Im
pression It made, and the present
probability of its determining effect
upon the minds of the Jury.
The defense has played its best card
in Leo Frank's statement.
It remains yet to be seen, how-
Wife at Last Breaks Down,
Overcome by Frank’s Story
After having braved every trying
courtroom ordeal and faced every
horrible charge hurled at her hut-
band with a stoicism almost as un
flinching and Imperturbable as his,
Mrs. Leo Frank gave away complete
ly to her emotions and sobbed unre
strainedly as Frank said the last
words of his wonderful and most im
pressive address to the jury Monday.
It was the final dramatic touch to
a situation that had held a courtroom
full of spectators in an irresistible
thraJl through four long hours of the
afternoon.
The spell that had been cast over
the room by the quiet but earnest
words of the slight young factory
superintendent was broken by the
tones of the deputies, who shouted
the moment Frank rose to leave the
witness chair:
“Keep your seats, gentlemen, while
the Jury passes out.”
Frank Rushes to Wife.
In the confusion that followed some
did not notice that Frank rushed right
to the side of his wife, who had
thrown her head in her arms and
was shaking with pitiful sobs as she
moaned his name again and again.
The woman who had steeled herself
against the accusations and innuen
does of the Solicitor General during
the three long weeks of the trial col
lapsed when her husband himself
took the stand to declare his inno
cence.
Many who had rushed Into the in
closure to give their congratulations
ever, whether that card is sufficient
rang with confident challenge, and a to win the case!
Suffragettes Want
Baby Booth at Fairs
NEW, YORK, Aug. 19.—Among the
things that the suffragettes, headed
by Harriet Stanton Blatch. want Is a
pocket in chelr skirts and a place at
fairs where women can check their
babies.
Mrs. Blatch visited a number of
fairs throughout the State and de
clares It a crying shame that at not
one of them did she find a place
where mothers could leave their
babies while they rambled around the
park.
Moonshiner Slays
Man in Pistol Duel
Declares That Marsha Warrington
Would Not Let Him Leave
City Without Her.
to Frank paused as they observed the
piteous figure.
The jurors, already deeply Im
pressed by the talk of Frank, were
freshly touched by this exhibition of
emotion. They had arisen to file ovct
to the Kimball House. Juror Johen-
nlng, at the head of the line, stood
for several minutes with tears run
ning down his cheeks, oblivious of the
fact that he was blocking the rest of
the Jurors and that three deputies
were waiting to take them on their
way.
Deputy Sheriff Plennie Miner leaned
against the ratline of the inclosure.
There was a suspicious moisture In
his eyes, which have grown accus
tomed to many tragic and affecting
spectacles.
Troublesome Lump Rises.
Very few in the courtroom had
much to say until they had managed
to subdue that troublesome lump that
persisted in rising in their throats.
“Rube, that boy put it all over you
and me,” muttered massive Luther
Rosser, huskily, to Reuben Arnold,
his partner In the case.
For many minutes after the packed
courtroom had emptied itself a little
group of persons remained in front
of the Judge’s, bench. Mrs. Frank, th«»
wife of the man accused of the re
volting murder, and the elder Mrs.
Frank, his mother, were weeping hys
terically, overcome by the appeal that
had been made. Relatives surround
ed them. Frank talked comfortingly
to them for several minutes, and then,
feeling in danger of breaking down
himself, signaled Sheriff Mangum and
returned to his cell In the Tower.
LEXINGTON,- Aug. 19—In a pis
tol duel at Burnside, Kv„ between
Joshua Carter, a moonshiner, and
John Fitzgerald and Town Marshal
John Coorner, Fitzgerald was killed
and Coorner wounded by Carter. The
slayer forced a ferryman to row him
across a river when pursued by a
posse. Officers wounded him as he
escaped to the mountains. A posse
is in pursuit.
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 19. -Maury
I. Diggs, defendant in the white slav
ery action brought by the Govern
ment, took the stand in his own de
fense shortly after court was recon
vened to-day.
Diggs looked straight ahead as he
answered questions put by Attorney
Robert Delvin, for the defense. He
spoke his answers in a loud, firm
voice.
Diggs was attired in a fashionable
blue serge suit, and wore a black
tie. As he answered questions slow
ly, he glanced down at his‘clothes,
and sometimes let his eyes rest for
a few seconds on his recently-mani
cured nails. He leaned forward os
he talked, one elbow resting on his
knee.
H© told of meeting the Warrington
girl and informing her that he. was
compelled to leave Sacramento on
business and that he intended going
to Los Angeles.
“I told her, too,” he said, “that
I wanted to get away before there
was a scandal and things got em
barrassing for me. I thought it would
be best for me to go away. She said
she didn’t want me to leave. I told
her that I had my business and my
future to think of and also my fam
ily.
Says Girl Wept.
“She cried a little bit and said
that I must not go. I said to her
that I thought w-e had better break
off our relations. I V ft her that eve
ning, and she went a me. She thought
I was going away for two weeks, and
she was surprised the next day when
she rang up and found that I was
still in town. I told her that I had
stayed to arrange things in my of
fice.”
Miss Warrington had testified last
week that she did not tell Diggs she
wanted him to stay in Sacramento.
Diggs said that a Sacramento the
atrical man had warned him that his
escapades had attracted the atten
tion of juvenile court officers. He
said the theatrical man warned him
that if he continued his present hab
its he would be compelled to move
his office from the building which the
theatrical man controlled.
Questioned about an automobile
ride on week before the trip to Reno,
Diggs said: “Marsha and I were rid
ing in the front $eat of the machine
and Caminetti was on the running
board. We saw a machine behind us.
It kept right on our trail and I dis
covered that It was following us pur
posely. After we rot out of the city
a ways I turned to one side of the
road and put out the light. The car
passed without its occupants seeing
us. I said:
Wife Knew of Escapades.
“ ‘They are after me. I’m going to
get out of town for a few days. I’vo
got my family to think of.’
“Marsha said: ‘Well, I’m going, too.
You are not going to leave me be
hind.’
“Caminetti asked what we were go
ing to do about Lola, and Marsha
said: ‘She'11 go, too, and If she doesn't
want to go I’ll make her.’ ”
During a conversation with his un
cle, Diggs said he -old his relative
that he was going to “cut out all his
foolishness” and get out of Sacra
mento for a few days until the trou
ble on account of his association with
Marsha Warrington blew over. Lola
Morris* he said, was present at this
conversation and she agreed with him
that he should leave. At the same
time his uncte told him that Mrs.
Digrs knew of his relations with Miss
Warrington.
BAILIFF SHOT AS
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Officer’s Wounds Are Serious
Following Attempt to Close
Store in East Point,
Bailiff J. P. Gaddy is lying serious
ly wounded at his home in East Point
Tuesday morning, wijth bullet wounds
in his breast, shoulder and right arm,
following a pistol battle with J. J.
Willis, an East Point storekeeper,
late Monday afternoon.
Willis fired six shots at Gaddy
when the officer attempted to place
him under arrest on a warrant charg
ing contempt of court. A few min
utes after the shooting Willis was
arrested by Policeman Creel, of Col
lege Park, while trying to make his
escape Into topen country.
Gaddy was taken to his home at No.
4 Pine street, In East Point, and his
wounds dressed by Dr. E. C. Suggs.
Four of the shots fired by Willis
took efTect, the first entering the right
breast and ranging downward under
the left arm, th e second shattered the
bones of the right elbow, and the last
two striking the officer in the shoul
der. Dr. Suggs stated last night that
Gaddy will live.
The warrant for Willis’ arrest was
issued because he had opened his
store in violation of a writ of attach
ment served upon him several weeks
ago, after George Harris, a cotton
mill worker, had obtained a Judg
ment for $1,000 against Willis for
false imprisonment. Willis had pre
viously had Harris arrested * on a
charge of obtaining goods under false
pretenses, and had lost the case.
“When I went after Willis I was
accompanied by my brother-in-law,
John Wynn.” said Sheriff Gaddy In
telling of the shooting. “We found
Willis sitting on the steps of his
store. When he saw us he ran into
the building. When I got inside he
covered me with a gun. I told him
not to shoot and started for him.
He fired, the bullet strikng me in the
breast. 1 then drew my gun. but be
fore I could shoot another bullet
struck me in the elbow. I was help
less, and staggered out of the front
door. As I did so Willis fired four
times and two of the bullets struck
me in the back.”
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Special Session Idea
In Alabama Growing
BIRMINGHAM, Aug. 19.—That
Governor O’Neal may call a special
session of the Legislature In order
to straighten out the United States
Senatorial muddlt appears more like
ly to-day.
The anti-fee system advocates in
Jefferson County, the largest county
In the State, are working hard to
have included In the call for the spe
cial session the anti-fee system bill.
It is pointed out that the Sheriff of
Jefferson County gets In fees almost
ns much per annum as did the Pres
ident of the United States before the
last Increase In salary of the latter.
JAMES L. DICKEY. Jr., & CO.
INSURANCE
317 Equitable Building
Atlanta, Ga.
Gives Up Bad Cheeks,
Admitting Forgery
MOBJLE, Aug. 19.—When arrested
on the charge of passing forged
checks last night in a Royal street
restaurant and taken before Chief of
Police F. W. Crenshaw, J. A. Ball, a
bookkeeper claiming Laurel, Miss.,
where he says his mother resides, as
his home, admitted his guilt.
Ball, when seached at the police
station, had a total of $315 in forged
checks in his pockets.
Bulgar Plot to Slay
All Turks Reported
Special Cable to The Atlanta Georgian.
CONSTANTINOPLE, Aug. 10.-
Evldenoe of a conspiracy of Bulga
rians to rise up in Adrianople and
massacre all the Turks has been dis
covered, it was declared In a telegram
j received here to-day by the Grand
| Vizier. The contents of the message
were turned over to the foreign dlplo-
■ mats to support Turkey’s contention
that an army is necessary at Adrian
ople to protect the Turkish civilians
l from Bulgarian outrages.
AMERICA’S
CHAMPION
HUSBAND,
NAT GOODWIN
has come to the rescue of downtrodden
men who dare not speak their minds, and
reveals all the joys and heartaches of mat
rimony in
WHAT I THINK OF
MY FIVE WIVES”
a
Aged Fat Man in Furs
With Mercury at 100
BOSTON, Aug. 19.—While the
street thermometers registered 100
here, a man aged and fat, wearing a
heavy winter suit, a heavy ulster that
reached the ground, heavy shoes and
a fur cap, with the laps turned down
over the ears, was seen wandering
about the streets, seemingly cool.
3 Years in Prison
For Selling Liquor
MERIDIAN. MISS., Aug. 19.—Prob
ably the heaviest sentence .ever Im
posed for the illegal sale of liquor
In this State was given when Tray-
ant Johnson, a crinple, to-day was
given three years In the penitentiary.
The law makes the third sale of
liquor a penitentiary offense.
SEMI-ANNUAL STATEMENT
For the six months ending June 30, 1913, of the condition of the
COLUMBIA INSURANCE COMPANY
.. OF JERSEY CITY,
Organized under the laws of the State of New Jereev, made to the Gov
ernor of the State of Georgia, in purguance of the laws of said State.
Principal Office—15 Exchange Plax’e, Jersey City, N. J.
I. CAPITAL STOCK.
Whole amount of capital stock $400,000.00
Amount paid up In cash 400,000.00
II. ASSETS.
Total assets of the company, actual cash market value .... $973,013.46
III. LIABILITIES.
Total liabilities * $973,013.46
IV. INCOME DURING THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THE YEAR 1913.
Total Income actually received during the first six months In
cash $244 593.78
V. EXPENDITURES DURING THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THE
YEAR 1913.
Total expenditures during the first six months of the year
in cash $203,571.24
Greatest amount insured In any one risk $ 40,000.00
Total amount of Insurance outstanding 15.598,951.00
A copy of the act of Incorporation, duly certified, is of file in the of
fice of the Insurance Commissioner.
STATE OF GEORGIA—County of Fulton.
Personally appeared before the undersigned James I.. Dickey, Jr.,
who, being duly sworn, deposes and says that he is the agent of the
Columbia Insurance Company, and that the foregoing statement is cor
rect and true. J. L. DICKEY, JR.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 16th day of August, 1913. I
C. T BERGSTROM,
Notary Public, Fulton County. Georgia.
Name of Agents at Atlanta—JAMES L. DICKEY, JR., & CO. and COKE
DAVIS. |
E3
This daring actor in his new role ex
plains how he found wife No. 3 “Like a
Mother,” No. 2 “An Obligation,” Maxine
Elliott a “Roman Senator,” Edna Good
rich “An Error,” and No. 5 his “Life Pre
server.” This will all appear in
NEXT
SUNDAY’S AMERICAN
with the countless other features which
have made The American the leading
"newspaper of the South, as well as a posi-"
tive joy to the readers of Dixie. Lady
Duff Gordon, who, as Lucille of London,
is equally famous, will entertain her fol
lowers with a description of
MARRIAGE MARKET
GOWNS
with which far-seeing mothers enhance
the charms of their debutante daughters.
And coming down to the doings of fash
ionable Atlanta you will find that
POLLY PEACHTREE
was among those present at all the func
tions of the inner circle, and will tell
about them in her usual sprightly style.
Moreover, baseball fans, as well as those
who never see a game, will find a fascinat
ing story in
THE PIOT FOR
THE PENNANT
bv Hugh S. Fullerton, which begins in
this issue. So, why won,/ about your
Sunday reading when you know that in
addition to these great features and a
dozen others, you can have all the news
of the whole universe—sports, financial,
foreign, political and local—delivered at
your front door for 5 cents ? Better clinch
the bargain at once, and order from your
dealer or by phoning Main 100.
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