Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. ATTACK PUTS DEFENSE TWO GIRL BRIDES WHO TESTIFIED IN DEFENSE OF FORMER EMPLOYER Mrs. Ida Miller. By JAMES B. NEVIN The public, that Is to say that sec tion of the public willing to be fair and wanting to be convinced accord ing to the facts, sihould remember, in seeking to steady itself in considering the Frank ca*s that as the story of Jim Conley was the climax of the Tcate's case, so the statement of Leo Frank was the climax of the defense's esse. It should remember that both statements are to be weighed care fully and analytically—that conclu sions are to be Jumped at from neither. The horror cf the Conley story, coupled with its unspeakable de tails, temporarily swept the public mind into a seeming solidity of opin ion hostile to Frank—it carried in stant conviction to hundreds of minds, through the sheer force of the sinister detail it contained. By and by, however, the public mind rebounded in a way. and it be gan taking counsel with itself. And then came a pause, followed by a swing back more or less to the nor mal. That is the way it is with the pub lic mind—always wanting to be Just, and always mire to be Just, if given time and opportunity, yet prone ever to be rushed along heedlessly in the beginning of terrible stories! It is the immediate horror of the crime that not infrequently distorts the public’s sense of proportion pri marily, and makes it unfair to itself no less than to other persons con cerned. But the public in the end is Just, and it is true to itself. All it asks —or all it needs—is a chance to re gain its balance, after having been knocked this way or that by a stun ning and unanticipated blow it was not able to ward off when delivered. Leo Frank’s remarkable statement to the Jury Monday, certainly one of the most convincing statements, so far an surface indications go, that ever fell from the lips of a defendant in Georgia, still is not sufficient, and should not be sufficient, within itself to warrant the nubile now’ in rushing to the conclusion that he is innocent. Pendulum Will Come to Rest. And so, as in the case of Conley, while the sentiment of the public swung heavily In the direction of the State following the Conley story, and then swung back in the direction of the defense following the Frank state ment, it eventually will right itself somewhere midway between the two, perhaps, and then look to the rest of the evidence as fitting the one or the other. A woman correspondent writes me: "I have read your articles daily. Tell me, truly, are you for Frank or against him? I can not tell from what you say.” Now. in a way, I consider that something of a compliment. Iam glad this correspondent does not know whether I am for or against Frank, for I am neither the one nor the other. I merely visit the courtroom daily, and “gather me a nosegay of other men's flowers; and naught but the string that binds them is mine own!” When the storm signals have seem ed fair for Frank, I have so set it down. When they have seemed ominous, I have so set that down. In all the ideas and conclusions f have transferred to paper in respect of the Frank trial, the wish never has been father to the thought—save iu that I always have preferred, and al ways shall prefer, to see a man prove himself a gentleman rather than a scoundrel, If he can. What I do hope to stand for, and . try to 5*tand for, and what none of us can afford NOT to stand for, is error and wrong, and you then will be as right as human ingenuity and philosophy can make you right. And after that, you should worry, I guess! Since the Frank statement was de livered, and notwithstanding the fine Justice and right, fair play and no special favors, decency and civiliza tion, and the supremacy of the law of the land! I assure my -correspondent that I am neither for nor against Frank, but that I am for truth and right, and in my own way and after my own fashion I undertake to stand by my ideals Justice the Real End. Frank Hooper promulgated a plat form all can afford to mount and fight upon, when he said, before this cafe came on for trial: •It is not so much a matter of finding and convicting Leo Frank, as it is a matter of finding and convicting the murderer of little Marv Phagan!” So long as you feel that way about it. you are on safe and solid ground; but once you get away from that standpoint, you begin groping and lis tening to tty* persuasive plea of your prejudices and your preconceived opinions, no matter what they may be. When a man is on trial for his life, you don’t have to be FOR or AGAINST him—but you DO have to be in favor of a fair trial for him! Then, when everything has been done in order and according to the best teachings of a thousand years of Anglo-Saxon civilization, even as im perfect as that yet is, the verdict finally recorded under the law will provide you a sheet anchor against Mrs. W. R. Johnson, who before her marriage was employed at the pencil factory. :*r -\v t . \ ^ ' "■ / • ■ -j / ■ ' 4 • , i v ’:‘ 'vs-?' •. l U: • / * • Impression it made upon the public, the State has succeeded in recovering a good deal of ground, nevertheless, and it probably is true to-day that it stands about as firm as it ever did, if not firmer. It is conceded that the State lost heavily from a legal standpoint when the presiding judge decided on Tues day not to admit any evidence tend ing to break down Frank’s character in specific instances not directly con nected with the murder of little Mary Phagan. When one comes to consider the matter of public opinion, however, it may be that the defense in this won nothing more than a Pyrrhic victory, at best, and that it might have been better to let the State go ahead and prove what it could, if it could prove anything. The Solicitor General has said all along that he was prepared to estab lish his allegations of gross immoral ity against Frank; and when Frank seemed to meet that challenge by in jecting his general character in is sue, the public was inclined to ap plaud and to say that was fair and square enough. If the State was “four-flushing’’—- which Dorsey solemnly affirmed it was not—and the defense appeared to call its hand, the public was honest enough to grant Frank's right to do that, and to approve his dar e to the State. Effect Is Disconcerting. When, however, the defense is per mitted to enter its call, and Dorsey is then shut off on the threshold of his attempt to make good on his position, the effect naturally is somewhat dis concerting, even 10 those who believe Frank not guilty. The State stands now in the posi tion of having said, unqualifiedly, that it COULD make good its charges, and then, after having been challenged to do so, of being estopped from proceed ing! In all fairness to the State—and to the defense, too, for that matter— this seems rather a hardship upon it. Frank made a brave showing of good character—he seemed to chal lenge the State to do its worst, if it could. And now the State is shut off, upon the defense’s own motion, from undertaking to do THE VERY THING THE DEFENSE HAS VE HEMENTLY PROTESTED IT COULD NOT DO! There is not much difference, as I see it, in having the impression spread that the State COULD make good, if given an opportunity, and that it DID make good, when given un op portunity! The vital thing and the necessary thing, so far as public opinion is con cerned, perhaps, is that the defense show that the State NEVER COULD MAKE GOOD. IN ANY EVENT! The court does not permit the in troduction of irrelevant evidence—and maybe that is right; it Is the law, anyway—but the public does, partic ularly when It can not see the irrele vancy of the evidence. The attitude of Frank personally has seemed to be that of inviting the closest and most searching investiga tion into every phase of the charge against blm—but it seems to me, as 1 said in another article, that the worst the defense can do for Frank is to let the impression become fixed that there are some things against which he sadly NEEDS protection! So far, Leo Frank himself has made the very best plea that has been en tered in behalf of Leo Frank! He has boldly thrown down the gauntlet—and he says he made up his statement in uis own way, after his own mind, and without even consult ing his lawyers. He delivered his defense from the stand in a most convincing manner— if it was the truth, it was given speed by being simply told, and in appar ent candor. If it was an untruth, it was deliv ered with consummate art. Only Frank and his God can know, for sure, whether it is the one or the other! Willing To Be Cross-examined. He was reported willing to be cross- examined on his statement, if that might be thought desirable upon the part of the State, but whether the of fer actually was made there is no outspoken evidence. Nevertheless. It probably will do Frank no good in the mind of the public to have it appear that he was professedly willing enough to let down the bars at every point, but that, for some reason, the bars were prevented from being let down—and by Frank’s own side! The defense can not hope to eat its cake and have it too—that is, it can not hope to have both those things unprotested. It can not well say Frank's character is above re proach and then head off the State In an attempt to prove otherwise. It can not do that in Justice to Frank, I think—and certainly not In justice to the State! Sometimes things are done under the forms of law that are tactical and strategic mistakes, notwithstanding. There is no complaint as to their le gal righteousness, perhaps, but there may be some complaint as to their illuminating the subject matter in hand. Perhaps the initial mistake was made when the defence permitted Conley’s first unspeakable charge to go unchallenged—when it even cross- examined Conley upon it—but once that mistake was made, it may prove in the end to have been a far better policy to fight it out to the ultimate status along that line. Important testimony was given late Tuesday by George Kenley, a Krtel car motorman, and M. E. McCoy, a painter, of Bolton^ both of whom swore they knew Mary Phagan and saw her at about noon on the day of the tragedy. It is the contention of the defense that Mary Phagan did not leave her street car until 12:07 and could not, therefore, have pre ceded Monteen Stover, who went to Frank’s office at 12:05 o’clock, into the factory. Hadn’t Thought It Important. McCoy said that he saw the girl not more than three or four minutes after 12 as he was walking south on Forsyth street. He testified that it might have been a little earlier than this. He said he had looked at his watch only a short time before. He admitted on cross-examination that although he had had this Infor mation in hi» possession all of the three and a half months during which the authorities have been searching for some one who saw the girl just before she entered the factory hi had not revealed it until about a week and a half ago. He explained that he “hadn’t thought it of any account.” Kenley, the motorman, declared that he saw Mary Phagan just as she was coming off the viaduct on her way to the pencil factory. He testi fied that he was on a street car due at that point at about noon and that this was the way he determined the time it was when he saw her. He said on cross-examination that he was not positive that the car he was on was on schedule, but he thought it was. Attorney Rosser asked him what time Mary Phagan could have ar rived in town if she had taken a car at Lindsay street, on which she lived, at 11:50. Kenley estimated that it would be 12.10 or 12:05 at the earliest. It has been accepted by both the State and the defense that 11:45 is the approximate time that Mary Pha gan left home and 11:50 that she took the car. Rosser asked Kenley if it was not true that he had made himself a nuisance on his car by his continual vilification of Frank and if he had not on several occasions declared that in the event Frank was freed he would be one of the first to Join a lynching party. The witness denied this even though the names of per sons to whom he was said to have made his statements were read to him. Tell* of Frank and Mary Phagan. Will Turner,, a 16-year-old lad who formerly worked at the pencil far tory, testified that he saw Mary Pha gan "backing away” from Frank one day in March when he entered the metal room unexpectedly. He said that Frank appeared to be trying to force his attentions upon the Phagan girl, who was seeking to evade him and get back to work. Solicitor Dorsey interpreted this al leged circumstance as strongly in dicative of Frank’s attitude toward the murdered girl and almost conclu sive of his acquaintance with her, al though he has persistently declared he knew her only as one of the girls in his factory and not by name. The Solicitor in an address to the court on the admissibility of the boy’s evidence announced it as his opinion that Frank’s efforts on this occasion to talk to Mary Phagan were the be ginning of a series of events which culminated in the crime. Frank’s attorneys represented to the court that the testimony was im material as it indicated, if it were true—and they doubted it seriously— nothing more than that Frank was talking to her as he would to any of his employees. There was nothing in the boy's testimony, they said, which went to disprove Frank’s declaration that he did not know the girl by name. Judgo Roan, after a large amount of argument on both sides, let the testimony go in. Decisive Defeat for State. The day was marked by one of the most decisive and important defeats that the State has suffered since the beginning of the trial. Solicitor Dor sey started his threatened attack up on the character of Frank as soon as the defense rested early in the forenoon session, but he had barely asked ihe first question that gave promise of sensational testimony be fore he was estopped by a sharp ob jection by the defense and a few minutes later by the decision of Judge Roan that this sort of testimony should be excluded. Dorsey had a number of witnesses on hand who were to testify to par ticular acts of alleged immorality on the part of Frank. By the Judge s ruling none of them will be permit ted to tell of the grossly improper conduct with which the young su perintendent is charged by the State. Every effort of the Solicitor along this line collapsed throughout the day. In the afternoon he called Miss Nel lie Wood, who testified at the Coro ner’s Inquest. She was expected to tell, said the Solicitor in his address to the court, of improper advances made to her by Frank. She was pre vented from testifying in this respect, the attitude of the court being that Frank was being tried on the charge of murder and not for any other act. The Solicitor was unable even to get from the witness the general as sertion that Frank’s character waa “bad.” She declared she did not know his general character, as she had been at the factory only two days. Dorsey claimed that he had been misled and trapped. George Gordon, who figured as the mysteriously silent attorney for Ml- nola McKnight, the negro cook at the Selig home, when she was locked up for the purpose o£ getting from her an affidavit against Frank, testified that he was not present when she pu« her signature to the documedt. lie said that Dorsey would not order her release for fear of “getting in bad with the detectives.” He charged that she was held illegally and without a war rant. Wounds of Milien Bride, Shot by Divorced Wife, Fatal—Pris oner Laughs Over Crime. MILLEN, Aug. 20. Ignorant of the fact that her husband had been fatally shot, Mrs. Florence R. Godbee, third wdfe of Judge VV. S. Godbee, is dead from wounds inflicted by Mrs. Edna Perkins Godbee divorced sec ond wife of the slain Jenkins Coun ty judge. Mrs. Godbee died in a hos pital here at 10:35 o’clock Tuesday night just a few hours after Judge Godbee’s body had been burled with Masonic honors t at Waynesboro, his former home. Mrs. Edna Perkins Godbee, who was arrested Monday just after she had shot down her former husband and his young wife, remains a prisoner in the Jenkins Count” jail to await trial in Jenkins Superior Court in September, when she will face two charges of murder. According to her attorneys she will waive preliminary hearing and. not seek bail. Laughs. Over Tragedy. Mrs. Godbee was arrested and Jailed within 3ft minutes after the tragedy. After the shooting she calmly walked by Judge Godbee’s dead body and started toward home. After she had walked a short dis tance she w’as overtaken by Sheriff M. G. Johnson, who took her to Jail. On the way to the Jail she laughed about the shooting. She said she had to kill both, but wanted to kill Mrs Florence Godbee first. She was shot three times in the back, one ball going through the right lung, one lodging in the left lung and the third piercing the low’er stomach through a hip. Back of this tragedy is a long list of marital troubles ending in Mrs. Ed na Godbee suing Judge Godbee for divorce. He was wealthy, and in her suit she asked for a large sum as ali mony. She gained her divorce, but lost the alimony, and w’as bitterly dis appointed. This was about five years ago. Married Th'-rd Time. Early this year Judge Godbee mar ried Miss Florence Boyer, of Wil liamsport, Pa. This was his third marriage. His first wife died years ago. The last marriage was another bit ter disappointment to Mrs. Edna God bee. She lived at her home here with her daughter, Mis*« Sarah Godbee, IS years old. There are two other chil dren—Frank Godbee, of Swainsboro, and King Godbee, of Augusta. Uses Wheel Chair In Fleeing Hospital STAMFORD, CONN., Aug 20.— Stanford Palmer, 70, a veteran of the Civil War, who is an invalid, w’heeled himself from the Soldiers’ Home Hospital here over a half mile to the railroad station, where he asked a railroad employee to buy him a ticket for New York, and then got that man and others to carry him aboard an express train bound for New York. When Palmer’s absence was noted, inquiry was made of the New York police, but tt)is didn't find the veteran. It Is believed he went to Brooklyn, where he has friends. 100,000 at Work on Roads in Missouri Dices s« Accused’s Story on Stand Con sidered Unfavorable to Him. Pleads He Feared Father. KANSAS CITY, Aug. 20.—Nearly 100,000 business men and fanners of Missouri took up their /picks and shovebi at daylight to-day and began two days of work on the roads of Missouri. In some places the heat was ter rific. Many of the volunteer laborers were not used to the violent exer cise. but they stuck to their work. The slogan of the good roads movement is “Pull Missouri out of the mud.” Chinese Rebel Chief In Search of Funds Special Cable to The Atlanta Georgian. TOKIO, Aug. 20— Dr. Sun Yat Sen. first President of China and one of the instigators of the present revolu tion in Southern China, who arrived at Yokohama yesterday, left to-day for Canada. It was said here that Dr. Sun will cross Canada and sail for England from the eastern coast. He expects to raise funds in England to further the cause of revolution in China. Buffalo Bill' Weeps As Pet Horse Is Sold DENVER. COLO., Aug. 2ft.—Colonel W. K. Cody, “Buffalo Bill,” wept when his famous horse, Isham, which he has ridden for nearly 25 years, was put on the auction block. The proceeds of the sale will be ap plied on liens against the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show and Pawnee Bill's Far fiast Show, which went Into bankruptcy recently. SAN FRANCISCO. Aug. 20.—The case of Maury I. Diggs, charged with violation of the Mann white slave law In transporting Marsha Warrington, a 19-year-old Sacramento girl, fronv one S^gte to another for immoral purposes, will be In the hands of the Jury before to-night. Arguments which were begun yes terday will be completed shortly aft er 4 o’clock this afternoon. Judge Van Fleet will deliver his charge to , the Jury and the twelve men will/ retire to deliberate. It was the belief of many who have followed closely the progress of the trial that Diggs, as a witness in hU own behalf, made a bad impression on the Jury His efforts to plac# entire responsibility for the flight to Reno at the door of the Warrington girl, his statements that he was half crazed with fear on account of tha reported anger of his wealthy father because of his numerous escapades, and the action of the attorneys for the defense In preventing Diggs tes tifying with reference to the move ment of the elopers after they left Sacramnto, appeared to Impress the Jurors unfavorably. Speaking of the wrath of his father, Diggs said he was afraid of what his father would do to him. He said he was so frightened that he was half crazy and did not know what he was doing. He told how he hid from his father in the Columbia Hotel and how he spent a day on the outskirts of the city to keep away from Diggs, Sr. Diggs admitted that after he had taken Marsha Warrington into his own apartment when his wife was away he arranged a dinner party to which he brought the girl to sit at his table with Mrs. Diggs. He ad mitted that he feared th e Juvenile Court officers, though he denied a charge that this fear was due to re lations with young girls of 15 and 17. Can You Imagine It? Cincinnati To Be‘Dry’ CINCINNATI. Aug. 20.—Gloom prevails here. The town Is to be “dry” on Supdays hereafter, in keep ing with the orders of Governor Cox. Saloonkeepers in Kentucky towns across the river are laying in large supplies in anticipation of prolonged visits on Sundays from thirsty Ohioans. Militants Destroy Theater With Torch Special Cable to The Atlanta Georgian. CHISWICK, ENG., Aug. 20.—Mili tant suffragettes caused $60,000 dam age here to-day by burning down a theater. The building was destroyed within less than an hour, as the interior had been soaked with oil and grease. Suffragist Signs Too Gandy for Hartford HARTFORD, CONN., Aug. 2ft.— There were three highly Indignant suffragists in this town to-day. They were Elizabeth Freeman, of New York, veteran of the hikers to Al bany and to Washington, and Mis^s Elsie Mackenzie and Verna Went worth, of England. They are conducting a campaign through New England. The jwilice gathered them In when they arrived here with a wagon generously daubeu with yellow painted pleas for suf frage. At police headquarters they were told that it was against the rules to display such signs within the city. Davison-Paxon-Stokes Co. New and Becoming Dresses For Girls Are Priced at 69c i Tn a few days the early fall school wardrobe must be looked into, and the needs of fresh, new wash dresses will be revealed. Here are new dresses that are intended for just this purpose. They are beautifully made, in eight different styles, of pretty striped lawns, light and dark shades, and effectively trimmed. Sizes 6 to 14 years— priced for to-morrow’s sale at 69c each. Pretty New Dresses for Little Tots at 39c Every one new—they have just come, and will be gladly wel comed bv mothers who are now finding their children’s wardrobes dilapidated from the hard summer’s wear. These dresses are made of sturdy percales, dotted and figured effects; about six styles—low square neck, short sleeves, long waist - ed, plaited'skirt, with belt; 2 to 6-year sizes. Priced at 39c. A Sale of New P. N. Corsets at Special Prices $1.50 for $2.00 Corsets $1.00 for $1.50 Corsets Every corset in both groups is new. Bought under special condi tions to sell for less. New models; extra boning; medium and low busts; extra long; six good supporters attached.