Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, August 24, 1913, Image 15

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NOTICE I If you have any difficulty In buying Heart's ) Sunday American anywhere in the South notify ( Circulation Manager. Hearst’s Sunday Ameri* ) can, Atlanta. Ga. j 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