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BIRMINGHAM
EDITION
VOL. 1. NO. 21.
Copyright, 1913, by
The Georgian Company.
★★★
ATLANTA, GA., SUNDAY, AUGUST 24, 1913.
j
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
Commission Fight in
Birmingham Is Hot
Wood and Ward File Petitions.
Former Keeps Up Denunciation
of Latter.
BIRMINGHAM, Aug. 23.—Clement
Wood, former Recorder of Birming
ham and a Socialist, to-day filed his
petition in the Probate Court as can
didate for President of the City Com
mission of Birmingham.
George Ward, former Mayor, filed
his petition last Monday. Vassar Al
len is expected to have his In by
Monday, the last day in which the
petition can be filed.
The commission race is becoming
exceedingly hot, as Wood and Allen
are firing hot shot into Ward.
U
calm under the
L EO M. FRANK as he appeared in court yesterday. The defendant was
terrific denunciation of the prosecutor and watched Mr. Dorsey intently through the many
hours that the Solicitor consumed in declaring the defendant one of the greatest of criminals.
He seemed scarcely more moved than the spectators.
Senator Smith of South Carolina!
Secures Government Expert’s
Figures on Total Estimated
Ravages During Last 17 Years. 1
Shows How $107,539,127 Yearly
Cost of Proposed Remedy Could
Be Counteracted by Diversified
Crops and United States Aid.
(The zone strip to which Renat or
Smith refers as a remedy for the
holt weevil, as proposed, would begin
in Tennessee and run down through
Alabama and part of Florida.)
By ELLISON D. SMITH.
(United States Senator From South
Carolina.)
WASHINGTON, Aug. 23.—A few
weeks ago I as»ked some of the offi
cials in the Department of Agricul
ture to give me an estimate of the
losses the farmers of the South have
suffered as the result of the boll
weevil. The figures furnished me are
startling. From the report I make
the following extract:
“The only adequate way of arriving
at the losses due to the boll weevil Is
by studying the average production
per acre by States, comparing years
of non-infestation with years of infes
tation. It is quite noticeable that every
State by the third year of infestation
has Bhown a decided reduction in
average yield per acre.
“This average production is used in
connection with the acreage planted
to obtain an estimate in money valuo
of the loss from the boll weevil to tho
producers. This Is only the primary
loss and is turned over and over again
as it reacts upon ginners, oil mill men,
merchants, bankers, property values,
manufacturers of the textile and the
final consumers.
“The total loss to producers ob
tained by this method from 1895
through 1912 is $841,521,135, or an
average during the 18 years of $46.-
751.174 per annum, with the loss now
reaching over $100,000,000 per annum.
These Only Obvious Losses.
“Only the more obvious losses from
the ravages of this pest can even be
estimated. These are the losses in
productivity suffered by the producers
and the losses in business of the first
processes in manufacture.
“Figures are presented to show the
losses to the planter, the ginner and
the oil mills as follows, for the period
from 1895 to 1912:
Loss to the planters ....$841,521,135
Loss to the ginners 17,446,295
Loss to the oil mills .... 72,270.421
8 Near Death From
Poisoned Ice Cream
EUFAULA, Aug. 23.—Eight persons
are critically ill at Abbeville as the
result of eating poisoned ice cream.
All the doctors in the town are work
ing with them to prevent fatal con
sequences, following a social affair in
connection with the Henry County
Teachers’ Institute at Abbeville. It
is thought that the metal of the
freezer affected the cream.
Those ill are Mr. and Mrs. Fred
Wood, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, Miss
Ann Crawford, daughter of Probate
Judge Henry Crawford; the Misses
Norton, of Clopton, and Miss Thomas.
Birmingham Scents
Postoffice Shake-Up
BIRMINGHAM, Aug. 23.—Report
that a sudden change had been made
in postmastership at Bessemer and
that Captain H. W. Crook w’ould
succeed J. H. McEniry, following a
visit of postoffice inspectors to the
district, has caused talk in the Fed
eral office force and apprehension is
now felt that the postmasters in
Birmingham, Ensley and several oth
er places in and around Birmingham
will be removed, though their terms
do not expire for two or three years
yet.
No criminal charges have been
made against anyone.
Dr, A. J. Dickinson, Found Guilty
of Violating Traffic Ordinance,
Is Assessed One Dollar.
BIRMINGHAM, Aug. 23.—Dr. A. J.
Dickinson, pastor First Baptist
Church, w'as fined $1 in the Record
er’s Court this afternoon, charged
with violating traffic ordinance in
cutting corners in crossing the street.
A. M. Douglass, member of Dr.
Dickinson’s church, presided in
court. Dr. Dickinson served notice
of appeal and made $5 bond. Dr.
Dickinson pleaded his own case. De
murrers he presented were overruled.
The courtroom was crowded with
church members. Dr. Dickinson
made an argument and M. M. Ullman
represented the city, charging Dr.
Dickinson with seeking ‘notoriety.
After he had been tried a call was
issued by Dr. Dickinson for a mass
meeting Monday night in the City
Hall to memorialize the City Com
mission to abolish the ordinance.
Dr. Dickinson has declared his in
tention of carrying the matter to the
Supreme Court.
Democratic Leader
To Run for Senate
95 Dynamite Caps
Explode in His Hand
HUNTSVILLE, Aug. 23.—As Tom
Morris, an employee of the Madison
County road building squad near
Gladstone, was carrying €5 dynamite
caps in his hands they exploded and
six, fingers and both thumbs were
blown off, the little fineer on each
hand being all that was left.
Several of the caps w*ere shot into
Morris’ breast and these may cauje
death. The injured man was brought
to Huntsville and placed In the hos
pital.
L. & N. Rate Plea
Under Advisement
HUNTSVILLE, Aug. 23.—Judge
Shelby, of the United States Circuit
Court, and Judge Grubb, of the United
Stages District Court, have taken un
der advisement the application of the
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Company for a writ of supersedeas io
hold up the order of the Alabama
Railroad Commission for a reduction
of passenger fares while an appeal
to the Supreme Court is pending.
Judge Grubb has returned to Bir
mingham. The railroad company
claims that it is losing $400 a day
while observing the cheap fare order.
1
BIRMINGHAM, Aug. 23 — Semi-au-
thofitative announcement was made to
day that Jesse Stallings, formerly a
well known Democratic leader in Ala
bama, will be a candidate for United
States Senator in the election next year.
Congressman Henry D. Clayton and
Congresman Richmond Pearson Hobson
already have announced. John B. Knox,
of Anniston, and Captain Frank White,
of Birmingham, also may be in the lace.
It is now believed that Congressman
Underwood will not run.
MESSENGER BOYS In"
MOBILE GO ON STRIKE
-MOBILE, Aug. 23.—Almost the en
tire force of Western Union messenger
boys went on strike here to-day against
the order of Manager W. Bentley, who
refused to give them carfare to terri
tory remote from the downtown dis
trict. •
DORSEY DEMANDS DEATH
PENALTY FOR FRANK IN
:li
Solicitors Scathing Address Halted
by Adjournment—Had Spoken for
More Than Six Hours—Cheered by
Big Crowd Outside the Courthouse.
I .
PRISONER CALM, WIFE SOBS
AS STATE CHARGES MURDER
Slain Girl’s Mother Breaks Down, but
Defendant Faces Spectators With
Hint of Smile—Case May Go to
the Jury by Monday Noon.
Insisting upon the application of the Mosaic law of "an eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” Solicitor General Hugh M.
Dorsey demanded the life of Leo M. Frank yesterday in expiation
of the murder of Mary Phagan on April 26.
Nothing less than the death penalty would satisfy justice, de
clared the Solicitor in one of the most bitter and impassioned ad
dresses a Georgia courtroom audience ever has heard.
It was the closing argument of the State before the fate of
Frank is placed in the hands of the twelve jurors. It was inter
rupted by adjournment at 1:30 o'clock in the afternoon. The So
licitor had been speaking since 9 o’clock in the forenoon and was
exhausted by his efforts. His address had begun at 3:30 the aft
ernoon before and had consumed a total of six and a half hours.
Crowd Greets Him With Cheers.
When, weak with fatigue, he asked for a recess and court ad
journed until Monday morning at 9 o’clock, a great crowd awaited
him outside to cheer him and rend the air with their yells because
of the magnificent fight he has put up to send Frank to the gal
lows for the murder of the little factory girl.
The demonstration was spontaneous and was of greater mag
nitude than that of the night before. He had aroused to the high
est pitch the admiration of the populace for the earnest and de
termined battle he was conducting for the conviction of the man iis
deemed guilty of the murder.
Men in front of the courthouse cheered with all their might as
Dorsey came in sight from out the courtroom doors. Men from,
across the street took up the cheer and the little Solicitor was given
the demonstration of a governor or some other popular hero as he
quickly tucked his books and records under his arms and escaped
through the crowd into his law offices in the Kiser building.
Hurls Charge Directly at Frank.
If his tongue was tipped with venom and bitterness, it can
hardly be said that the Solicitor was not sincere and in earnest*
Every word and every pharse that he uttered during his long speech
—the longest of the trial—carried with it the conviction that the
speaker was in deadly earnest.
Much of the time he was talking directly at the prisoner and
was accusing him of murder and other crimes unmentionable. He
looked Frank right in the eye. He leveled his finger at the defen
dant sitting calmly between his mother and his beautiful wife. He
called him a ‘‘red-handed murderer” and a pervert. Frank did
not flinch.
During a brief intermission, Frank even walked in front of
the spectators with the suggestion of a smile on his face. If there
was any fear of the verdict in his heart, it was kept buried there,
far out of sight of human eyes.
Likens Frank to Oscar Wilde.
Dorsey compared the defendant with that prince of per
verts, Oscor Wilde, and there was never a flicker of Frank’s eye nor
j a change in his quiet, speculative expression. Dorsey told of other
j men who had possessed good reputations and yet had been guilty
j of the most heinous offenses—Theodore Durant, of San Francisco;
’Pastor Richeson, of Boston; Mayor McCue, of Charlottsville, Va.;
Henry C. Beattie, of Richmond; Dr. Crippen, and others. In the
same connection he mentioned the name of Judas Iscariot and Ben
edict Arnold, both of whom, he said, were supposed to be of good
character until they had become traitors and betrayers.
“Character isn't worth a cent when you’ve got the evidence
before you,” shouted the Solicitor after he had compared Frank
with some of the most infamous persons he could call to mind.
Prisoner Encourages His Wife.
His denunciation at times was so unsparing and his words so
like a physical blow that it seemed that the prisoner must quail be
fore him. But Frank maintained his composure. In fact, during a
lull in the storm of invective he occasionally would lean toward,
his wife or his mother and whisper a few words, accompanying
them with a smile. For all that his manner betokened, he might
be talking of some amusing incident that had just occured to him.
If the Solicitor's words failed to affect Frank, he was prob
ably the only person in the courtroom who did not feel the inten
sity and the grim determination behind each sentence and each ac
cusation that came from the lips of the State’s representative.
So overcome at Dorsey’s blunt and grewsome description of
the torturous manner in which the pretty little factory girl had
Continued on Page 6, Column 4.
Total $931,237,852
“To these must be added losses in
business suffered by cotton buyers and
brokers, merchants, bankers and cot
ton mills, the loss in property values
the ultimate effects upon the con
sumer.’’
* In other words, officials of the De
partment of Agriculture estimate that
the loss to the South from the boll
weevil between 1895 and 1912 has been
considerably more than $1,000,000,000
This is staggering.
The Government has spent hundreds
of thousands of dollars to stamp out
the boll weevil, but without avail. The
Government experts, entomologists,
farm demonstration agents and others
have done splendid work in teaching
the farmers better methods of culti
vation rotation of crops, etc., but so
far as checkmating the boll weevil is
concerned they themselves admit that
their work has been a failure.
Moves Eastward Steadily.
The weevil continues its march
eastward at a steady pace each year,
and in no section where it has made
its appearance has any method been
discovered of minimizing the damage
done by it.
Unless something is done it will
not be very long until the entire cot
ton area cf the South is infested.
Of course, some cotton can be
grown in the area infested by the
boll weevil, but the yield per acre
and per farm is greatly reduced, while
the cost of production is greatly in
creased. I am told by a member of
Congress w r ho owns a large plantation
in an infested section that U costs just
about twice as much to produce a bale
of cotton now as it cost before the
boll weevil came. Many others have
given me testimony to the same ef
fect.
When one undertakes to estimate
the loss to the South during recent
years because of this little insect, and
then tries to estimate the probable
loss in the future, the result must
^ be appalling.
' I have been deeply interested in the
boll weevil for a number of years. I
have watched its spread from the
time it made its first appearance in