Newspaper Page Text
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'1M MLAiM A WZiiOKWlAiN AN l) JNEW1S.
COUNSEL CONSIDER THAT FRANK IS HIS OWN BEST WITNES
Accused Looks Squarely at Jury as He Tells of Every Act on Day of Crim<
DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING FRANK’S ALIBI
•f • »"'OTv '■ ■ k-: ;
V&-:'
exactly like that which had been
found around the little girl’s neck.
Showed Where
Girl’s Hat Was Found.
“We then went baok and I
showed him where the officer said
the slipper had been found, the
hat had been found and the little
girl’s body was located. I showed
nim, in fact, everything that the
officers had showed us. Then I
opened the baok door and we
made a thorough search of the
alleyway and went up and down
that alleyway to Hunter street
and down Hunter to Forsyth and
up Forsyth in front of the Pencil
Factory.
n front of the Pencil Factory
I had quite a little talk with Mr.
Scott as to the rates of the Pin-
showed him the eame sample. He
looked at it and immediately
recognized it. He said he had a
shirt like that, but he didn’t re
member having worn it for two
years; if I remember correctly,
that is what he said. Detectives
Scott and Black then opened the
package they had and disclosed
the full shirt of that material that
had all the appearance of being
freshly stained with bloody and
had a very distinct odor. Newt
Lee was taken back to the ceil.
“After a time Chief Lanford
came over to me and began an
examination of mv face and of
my head and my hands and my
arms. I suppose he was trying to
hunt to see if he could find any
scatches. I stayed in there until
about 12 o’clock, when Mr. Rosser
came in and spoke to the detec
tives or to Chief Beavers.
“After talking with Chief Beav
ers he came over to me and said
to me that Chief Beavers thought
it better that I should stay down
there. He says: ‘He thinks it bet
ter that you be detained at head-
3 uarters, but if you desire, you
on’t need to be locked up in a
cell; you can engage a supernu-
a|| he know*. Tell him that you
are here and that he is her®, and
that he better open up and tell
all he knows about happenings at
the pencil factory that Saturday
night, or you will both go to hell.’
Those were the detective’s exact
words.
Tells of Questioning
Newt Lee Alone.
“I told Mr. Black I caught his
meaning, and in a few minutes
afterward Detective Starnes
brought up Newt Lee from the
cell room. They put Newt Lee
into a room and handcuffed him
to a chair. I spoke to him at
some length in there, but I
couldn’t get anything additional
out of him. He said he knew
nothing about couples coming in
there at night, ana, remembering
the instructions Mr. Black had
given me, I said: ‘Now, Newt,
you are here and I am here, and
you had better open up and tell
all you know, and tell the truth,
and tell the full truth, because
you will get us both into lots of
trouble if you don’t tell all you
know/
“He answered me like an old
negro: ‘Before God, Mr. Frank,
I am telling you the truth and I
have told you all I know.’ And
the conversation ended right
there.
“Within a minute or two after
wards the detectives came back
mto the room, that is. Detective
Scott and Detective Black, And
liance could be placed In either
the city detectives or our own
Pinkerton detectives, and I treat
ed such conduct with silence, and
it was for this reason, gentlemen,
that I didn’t see Conley, sur
rounded with a bevy of city de
tectives and Mr. Scott, because I
knew that there would not be an
action so trifling, that there was
not an action so natural, but that
they would distort and twist it to
be used against me, and that
there was not a word that I oould
utter that they would not deform
and twist and distort to be used
against me, but I told them even
then if thev got the permission—
I told them through my friend Mr.
Klein—that if they got the per
mission of Mr. Rosser to come, I
would speak to them, would
speak to Conley and face him or
anything they wanted—if they
got that permission or brought
Mr. Rosser. Mr. Rosser was on
that day up at Tallulah Falls try
ing a case.
“Now, that is the reason- gen
tlemen, that I have kept my si
lence—not because I didn’t want
to, but because I didn’t want to j
have things twisted.
“Then that other implication,
the one of knowing that Conley
could write and that I didn’t tell
the authorities.
Tells of Showing
Conley Could Write.
“Let’s look into that.
“On May 1 I was taken to the
Continued from Page 4.
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.
“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
minutes.
“I finished this work*l 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 artd let
me out.
“As I started out of the factory,
I saw Newt Lee talking to a man
named Gantt, who had been re
leased about two weeks 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 >fhe clock, I
called him over the phone to see
if everything was all right. I could
not get him. I called again at 7
o’clock and again at 7:30. At
that time I got him and he told
me everything was all right.
“That night my parents-in-law
had company at the home. Those
present were Mr .and Mrs. Mar
cus. Mrs. Goldstein. Mrs. M.
Marx, Mrs. A. B. Marx, Mr. Ike
Strauss—who came in at about
10 o’clock. I read a magazine un
til about 10:30 and then retired.”
Told Officer He
Did Not Know Girl.
At this juncture the jury retired
for fivp minutes.
Frank conferred with his attor
neys while the jury was out. Upon
its return he resumed:
“I believe I have taken in every
move Saturday night. I retired
Saturday night. Sunday morning
about 7 o’clock I was awakened
by the telephone ringing and a
man’s voice which 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
with the detectives, Black and
Starnes, about where the conver
sation took place. They say it
was after we were in the ma
chine. I 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
Phagan. I answered that I did
not. They asked me if I did not
pay off a little girl with long hair
down her back the afternoon be
fore. | said I did. They said
they wanted me to go to the un
dertaking establishment to see if I
could identify the boyd. They
made the trip to the undertaking
establishment very quickly. I
went in and stood in the door-
wav. The attendant removed the
sheet from the little girl’s face
and turned the head toward me.
His finger was right by the cut
cn the head. I noticed her nostrils
were filled with dirt and cinders
and there were several discolora
tions. I noticed 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 the day before.
They had already told me it was
Mary Phagan. We went to the
factory and by examining the
payroll I found that Mary Phagan
had drawn her pay the day before
and that the amount was $1.20.
*‘A- we went into the factory I
notN*v v Cr. Parley going in.
office and
We
I found
Newt 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 could not and I
told Mr. Darley to see if he 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 me 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 some nails and a hammer,
and Mr. Darley nailed up the back
door. Back upstairs Mr. Darley,
Chief Lanford ana 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 sli-' and a casual
note of this ship would indicate
nothing was on it. There was
something on it. It had been par
tially rubbed out. It could not be
rubbed qut altogether without
rubbing out the printed lines. I
did write with a pencil across the
face of it, ‘£f: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 was 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
flashed c . a scene 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, perhaps. Later Sun
day morning, I went to the home
of Mr. Sig Montag and told him
what had occurred. I got home
about 11 o’clock. My wife and I
went over to my sister-in-law’s,
Mrs. Ursenbach’s, and with a
number of friends we discussed
the tragedy.
"We went back home to dinner
and mentioned there the terri
ble crime. After dinner I read a
short time and about 10 minutes
to 3o’clock caught a car down
town.
“The conversation on the car
was about the little girl 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.
“On Monday I went to the po
lice station with Darley and he
said he would line to talk to Newt
Lee alone. We were shown the
two notes found by the side of
the slain girl.”
Frank' then described the notes.
“Now, on one of the notes
there 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 old serial
number.
“Returning to my home at 4:15
I met Mr. Haas and he asked m«
about the murder. Severay people
on the street also asked me.
“I remained at home until 5
o’clock, then I went to Mr. Mon
tag’s home and made a report of
the tragedy to him. From there
I went to the home of Mr. Mar
cus where ! had reecived 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
murder. After supper I read the
paper. I called up Mr. Marous
and asked him if he would come
down. He said he could not.
“Mr. and Mrs. Selia had a party
that night. About 10 o’clock, my
Kept in Ignorance of
Charge Against Huai.
“I went and on the way I asked
them what was tne trouble. They
said Chief Lanford would ten
me.
“I arrived at the police station
and sat in an outer office for
probably an hour without 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 me: ‘Come in here.’
“I went into his office. He
handed me —le time slips and if
I am not mistaken this same
time slip had the figures still un
erased: ‘8:26 a. m.’
“I took the slip and examined it
Josely, discovering the slips.
There seemed to be some alter
cation about Mr. Roarer getting
into the room with me. I heard
him say: ‘I am going into that
room. That man is my client.’
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 the detectives to make a
search, which they did. Mr. Her
bert Schiff went 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 3
o’clock.
“I went around to Mr. Wolfs-
heimers, got into his automobile
and went down town. I saw Mr.
Schiff, Mr. Darley and a number
of others, including Mr. Quinn.
“Mr. Quinn said he wanted to
take me back to the metal room
where it was claimed blood spots
had been discovered and where
the hair on the lathe was discov
ered by Mr. Earrett.
“I exanvned them closely, par
ticularly the spots. I did not ex
amine them standing up. I got
clown on my knees and examined
them with a strong electric flash
light and I arrived at certain con
clusions.
“Thpt floor is grease, soap and
dirt covered to «i thickness vary
ing from a quarter to half an
inch.
“To return to that spot. I don’t
claim it was not blood. The space
where these spots were adjoins
the ladies’ dressing room. There
have been ^accidents which may
not have beon 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 bottles in the hall, not
exactly at that point, but near
there. But the point about those
spots is that when I examined
tnem there was over them an ac
cumulation of dirt not of davs or
weeks, but of at least three
months.
Phoned to Prevent
Alarm of Family.
“The white stuff was not fresh.
It was dry . And another thing:
if that compound had been put
on the blood fresh, it would have
been pink and not the white that
it was.
“I returned aft«r making this
examination from which I no
ticed two or three or four chips
had been knocked up, the boys
told me, by the police that morn
ing. I returned to my office and
gathered up what papers I had to
take over to Montag Brothers,
and I took over the financial re
port which I had made out the
Saturday afternoon previous, and
I talked it over with Mr. Sig
Montag.
“I had a good long conversation
with Mr. Montag with reference
to the occurrences that morning,
and we decided that since the pa
pers had stated that I was being
detained at headquarters, it would
be best to tell mv uncle, who was
ill and who is an elderly man, be
ing over 70 years of age, and who
was on the point of taking a trip
to Europe, and whom I didn't
want unnecessarily alarmed by
seeing in the papers that I was
detained.
“So I wrote a telegram to Mr.
Adolph Montag informing him
that I was no longer in custody,
that I was all right and that he
could communicate that to my
uncle. That was so that m” un
cle should not get hold of an
Atlanta paper and see that I was
in custody arid be unnecessarily
alarmed.
“I returned from Montag Broth
ers' to the pencil factory, being
accompanied by one of the trav
eling men, Mr. Hines (Mr. Sol
Hines), and on my arrival at the
factory I went up into the office
and distributed the various pa
pers all over the factory to be
acted on the next dav. In a few
minutes Mr. Harry Scott, of the
Pinkerton detectives, came in
and I took him aside into my of
fice, my private office, and spoke
to him in the presence of Mr. M.
V. Darley and Mr. Herbert Schiff.
Told of Mrs. White
Seeing a Negro.
“I told him that I expected that
he had seen what had happened
at the pencil factory by readina
the newspapers and knew all the
details. He said he didn’t read
the newspapers and didn’t know
the details, so I sat down and
gave him all the details that I
could, and in audition I told him
something which Mr. Durley had
that afternoon communicated to
me. viz, that Mrs. White had told
him that on going into the fac
tory at about 12 o’clock noon on
Saturday, April 26, she had seen
some negro down by the elevator
shaft. Mr. Darle” had told me
this and I just told this to Mr.
Scott.
“After I told Mr. Scott all that
I could, I took him around the
building, took him first back to
the metal room and showed him
the place where the hair had been
found, looked at the machinery
and at the lathe, looked at the ta
ble on which the lathe stands, and
the lathe bed and the floor under
neath the lathe, and there wasn’t
a spot, much less a blood spot
underneath. I showed him the
other spot in front of the dressing
room, and I took him to the
fourth floor and showed him
where I had seen White and Den
ham a little before 1 the first
time and about 3 the second time.
“Then*, I took him down into
the basement and made a thor
ough search of the basement, and
that included an examination of
the elevator well which was at
the bottom of the elevator shaft.
“I noticed Mr. Scott was forag
ing around down there and he
picked up two or three or maybe
four articles and put them in his
pocket and one of them I spe
cially noticed was a piece of cord
kerton Detective Agency. He told
me what they were and I had Mr.
Schiff to telephone to Mr. Montag
to find out if those rates were sat
isfactory. He phoned back the
answer that he would engage
them for a few days at any rate.
Mr. Scott then said: ‘Well, I don’t
need anything more,’ and he said:
‘The Pinkertons in this case, ac
cording to their usual custom in
ferreting out the perpetrator of
this crime, will work hand in hand
with the city officers.’ I said: ‘All
right, that suits me,’ and he went
on his way.
“About that time my father-in-
law joined the group over in
| front of the factory, and after
talking for some time my father-
in-law and I left and we arrived
home about 6:30. I should judge,
and found there my mother-in-
law and my wife and Minola Mc
knight, and we had supper. After
supper my two brothers-in - law
and their wives camo over to visit
with us and they staid until
about 10 o'clock, after which my
wife and I retired.
Tells of His
Arrest as Suspect.
“On Tuesday morning I arose
some time between seven and
seven-thirty, leisurely dressed
and took my breakfast and
caught the 8:10 car coming to
ward town, the Georgia avenue
car, and when I went to get on
the car I met a young man by the
name of Dickler, and I remember
paying the fare for both of us.
“When I arrived at the pencil
factory, about 8:30, I immediately
entered upon my routine work,
sending the various orders to the
various places in the factory
where they were due to go, and
about 9:30 I went on my usual
trip over to Montag Brothers to
see the general manager. After
staying over there a short while
I returned, in company with an
other one of their traveling men,
Mr. Jordan. At the corner of For
syth and Hunter street I met up
with a cousin of my wife’s, a Mr.
Selig, and we had a drink in
Cruickshank’s soda fount, at the
corner of Hunter and Forsyth.
“Then I went up into the fac
tory and separated the papers I
had brought back with me from
Montag Brothers, putting them in
the proper places, and sending
the proper papers to the different
places. I was working along in
the regular routine of my work,
in the factory and about the of
fice, and a little later Detectives
Scott and Black came up to the
factory and said: ‘Mr. Frank, we
want you to go down to head
quarters with us,’ and I went with
them.
“We went down to headquar
ters, and I have been incarcerated
ever since. W e went down to
headquarters in an automobile,
and they took me up to Chief
Lanford’s office.
“I sat up there and answered
any questions that he desired, and
I had been sitting there sometime
when Detective Scott and Deteo-
tive Black came back with a bun
dle under their arm. They show
ed me a little piece of material of
soma shirt, and asked me if I had
a shirt of that material. I looked
at it, and told them I didn’t think
I ever had a shirt of that descrip
tion.
Lee Said He Had
Had Shirt Like It.
“In the meantime they brought
in Newt Lee, the night watchman,
brought him up from a cell and
you and give you the freedom of
the building.’ I immediately ac-
3 uiesced, supposing that I couldn’t
o anything else, and Mr. Rosser
left.
“Now, after this time—it was
about this time they took me
from upstairs down to the dis
trict sergeant’s desk and Detec
tives Starnes (John N. Starnes, I
think his name is) came in and
dictated from the original notes
that were found near the body—
dictated to me to get a sample of
my handwriting. Have you got
those photographs there? (Photo
graphs handed to the defendant).
I wrote this note at the dictation
of Mr. Starnes, which was given
to me word by word, and, of
course, I wrote it slowly. When
a word was spelled differently,
they usually stopped—take this
word ‘buy’ for , instance, the de
tective told me how that was
spelled so they could see my ex
act letters and compare with the
original note.
Photograph of
Note Is Shown.
“Now, I had no hesitation in
R iving him a specimen of my
andwriting. Now, this photo
graph is a reproduction of the
note. You see J. N. Starnes in
the corner here; that is Detective
Starnes, and then is dated here;
I put that there myself so I would
be able to recognize it again in
case they tried any erasures or
anything like that. It is a pho
tographic reproduction of some
thing that was written in pencil,
as near as one can judge—a pho
tographic reproduction of the
note that I wrote. Detective
Starnes then took me down to
the desk sergeant, where they
searched me and entered my
name on the book under a charge
of suspicion.
“Then they took me back into
a small room, and I *at there for
a while while my father-in-law
was arranging for a supernumer
ary policeman to guard me for the
night. They took me then to a
room on the top of the building,
and I sat in the room there and
either read magazines or news
papers and talked to my friends
who came to see me until I
was about to retire at midnight.
“I had the cover of my cot
turned back and I was going to
bed when Detective Scott and De
tective Black, at midnight, Tues
day, April 29 t , came in and said:
‘Mr. Frank, we would like to talk
to vou a little bit. Come in and
talk to us.’ I say*: ‘Sure, I will
be only too glad to.’ I went with
them to a little room on the top
floor of the headquarters. In
that room were Detective Scott,
Detective Black and myself. They
stressed the possibility of couple*
having been let into the factory
by the night watchman, Newt
Lee,
“I told them that I didn’t know
anything about it; that if I had, I
certainly would have put a stop
to it long ago. They said: ‘Mr.
Frank, you have never talked
alone with Newt Lee. You are
his boss and he respects you. See
what you can do with him. We
can’t aet anything more out of
him. See if you can.’ I says: ‘All
right; I understand what you
mean. I will do my be*t,’ because
I was only too willing to help.
“Black say*: ‘Now, put it strong
to him, put it up strong to him,
and tell nim to cough up and tell
then began questioning Newt Lee,
and then it was that I had my
initiation into the third degree of
the Atlanta Police Department.
“The way that fellow Black
cursed at that poor old negro,
Newt Lee, was something awful.
He shrieked at him, he hoHooed
at him, he cursed and did every
thing but beat him. Then they
took Newt Lee down to a cell
and I went to my cot in the outer
room.
“Now, before closing my state
ment, I wish to touch upon a
couple of insinuations and accu
sations other than the one on the
bill of indictment that have been
leveled against me so far during
the trial.
Why He Didn’t
Talk to Sleuths.
“The first is this, the fact that
I would not talk to the detectives;
that I would not see Jim Conley.
Well, let's look into the facts a
few minutes and see whether
there was any reason for that, or
if there be any truth in that
statement.
“On Sunday mornitig I was tak
en down to the undertakers’ es
tablishment, to the factory, and
I went to headquarters; I went to
headquarters the second time, go
ing there willingly without any
body coming for me. On each oc
casion I answered them frankly
and unreservedly, giving them the
benefit of the best of my knowl
edge. answering all and any of
their questions, and discussing the
matter generally with them.
“On Monday they came for me
again. I went down and answered
any and all of their questions and
gave them a statement which they
took down in writing, because I
thought it was right and I was
only too glad to do it. I an
swered them and told them all
that I knew, answering all ques
tions.
“Tuesday I was down at police
station again, and answered ev
ery question and discussed the
matter freely and openly with
them, not only with the police,
but with the reporters who were
around there; talked to anybody
who wanted to talk with me about
it, and i have even talked with
them at midnight when I was
just about to go to bed. Midnight
was the time they chose to talk
to me. but even at such an out
landish hour I was still willing to
help them, and at their instigation
I spoke to Newt Leo alone, but
what was the result? They com
menced and they grilled that poor
negro and put words into his
mouth that I never said, and
twisted not alone the Ennlish, but
distorted mv mean'nq.
“I just decided then and there
that if that was the line of con
duct they were going to pursue
I would wash my hands of them.
I didn’t want to have anything
to do with them. On the after
noon of May 1 I was taken to the
Fulton County Tower.
How Detectives
Drove Him to Silence.
“On May 3 Detectives Black
and Scott came up to my cell
in the Tower and wanted to
speak to me alone without any of
my friends around. I said all
right, I wanted to hear what they
had to say that time. Then Black
tore off something like this: ‘Mr.
Frank, we are suspicious of that
man Darley. We are watching
him; we have been shadowing
him. Now, open up and tell us
what you know about him.’ I
said: ‘Gentlemen, you have come
to the wrong man, because Mr.
Darley is the soul of honor and is
as true as steel. He would not
do a crime like that; he couldn’t
do it.’ And Black chirped up:
‘Come on, Scott, nothing doing/
and off they go.
“That showed me how much re-
Ide-
Tower. On the same date, as I
understand it, the negro Conley
was arrested. I didn’t know any
body had any suspicions about
him. His name was not In the
papers. He was an unknown
quantity. The police were not
looking out for him; they were
looking out for me. They didn’t
want him, and I had no inkling
that he ever said he ceuldn’t
write.
“I was sitting in that cell; In
the Fulton County Jail—it
along about April 12, April 13
April 14 that Mr. Leo Gottheh]
a salesman for the National
cil Company, came running
any says: ‘Leo, the Pinkertonf
tectives have suspicions of
ley. He keeps saying he
write; these fellows oyer
factory know well enough
can write, can’t he 7*
“I said: ‘Sure he can write.|
“We can’t prove it. The
ger says he can't write and l
feel that he can write/
“I said, ‘I know he can wr^
I have received many notes fn
him asking me to loan him md
ey. I have received too mq
notes from him not to know th|
he can not write. In other won
I have received notes signed wl
his name, purporting to hal
been written by him, though!
have never seen him to this dq
use a pencil/
“I thought a while and then
said: ‘Now, I tell you. If yl
will look into a drawer in the i
you will find the card of a jevl
eler from whom Conley bought)
watch on the installment pla
Now, perhaps if you go to thl
jeweler you may find some sort f
a receipt that Conley had to gis
and be able to prove that Conl^
can write/
Pinkertons Found
Conley’s Contracts.
“Well, Gotthelmer took that ir^
formation back to the Pinkerton!
They did just as I said; they goT
the contract with Conley’s naml
on it, got back evidently to Scott/
and then ho told the negro to
write. Gentlemen, the man who
found out or paved the w*y to
find out that Jim Conley could
write is sitting right here in this
chair. That is the truth about iL
“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 first 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 and her father.
“Rabbi Marx was with me at
the time. I consulted with him
as to the advisability of allowing
my dear wife to come up to the
top floor to see me in those ad
roundings with city deteotivo
reporters and snap-shotters. ’
thought I would save her the
humiliation and that harsh sightj
because I expected any day to f
turned loose and be returned
once more -fto her side at home.
“Gentlemen, we did all v
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 Krows
Nothing of Crime.
“Gentlemen, I know nothing
whatever of tlje death of little
Mary Phagan. I had no part in
causing her death nor do I know
how she came to her death after
she 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 as 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
(Continued on Rage Six.)