Monday, September 1st, 1913: Scent Phagan Case In Woman’s Cries Building Ransacked, The Atlanta Georgian

Reading Time: 8 minutes [1247 words]

 

A woman's screams reawakened memories of the [Mary Anne] Phagan case in the minds of pedestrians on Alabama street shortly after noon Monday and a crowd besieged the cafe run by J. E. Poulas and the adjacent building seeking to solve the mystery.

They hunted high and low through the building at No. 21 West Alabama scouring the place from basement to roof.

A crowd of three hundred persons assembled interfering with trade and jamming the street.

It was finally discovered by some unmasked Sherlock Holmes that the screams came from a woman to a negro dentist's office across the street.

No policeman was in evidence all during the jam and the search.

PAGE 4, COLUMN 1

FRANK LOOKS TO HEALTH FIRST IN ROUTINE;

TAKES GYM'

EXERCISE DAILY

Remarkable as was the crime of which he stands convicted remarkable as has been the fortitude with which he has borne his sentence to the gallows, remarkable as has been the tireless interest in the case, they are none more striking than the daily routine that Leo M. Frank goes through in his Tower cell.

It is hard to conjure interest in these narrow confines of steel and stone.

Life there would seem as dully monotonous as a lonesome existence on a desert isle.

But Frank's personality makes this routine as vividly interesting as though it were enacted in the throbbing heart of the city instead of the quiet monastery of the prison.

For as a prisoner under sentence of death, even as he was a prisoner under charge of crime or the manager of a business concern, Frank remains a business man.

Looks to His Health.

The same rules of life he followed when he was factory superintendent are followed by him each day as he awaits the decision of the question whether he is to be tried again or is to hang by the neck.

As a business man Frank knows that his health must be good, his mind must be vigorous, for him to win the battle ahead of him.

Accordingly, his health is his first interest.

A cell has never been considered a health resort, but Frank is trying in that cell to keep himself in the best physical and mental shape possible.

He insists on nine hours' sleep"and he gets it.

If his mind is perturbed by dreadful dreams through the night, the jailers have not found it.

They say he sleeps as soundly as a day laborer who has well earned his rest.

Keeps Up With News.

Promptly at 7 o'clock each morning he leaps from bed and his daily routine begins.

First, he takes deep breathing exercise at the grated window of his little room.

Then for 20 to 30 minutes he works with the dumbbells.

His watches say that he does this work with spirit and interest.

A shower bath adjoins his cell.

Under the water he goes, and then comes out for a brisk rub-down.

This done, he does his bath robe, and sitting on the side of the cot, reads the morning papers carefully, absorbing not only all the news in reference to his case, but everything of general interest.

Completing his toilet, he walks about the cell until 8:50 o'clock, when his father-in-law, Emile Selig, is his first visitor of the day.

Mr. Selig brings his breakfast from the Selig home.

It is always a light repat of cantaloupe or other fruit, coffee and rolls.

As he eats this with evident relish, Frank converses with his father-in-law, their conversation being largely of affairs of the Selig household, in which Frank resided before his imprisonment.

Gives Business Advice.

Other intimate friends follow.

Sigmund Montag, head of the National Pencil Company, and Herbert Schiff, the assistant superintendent, never miss an hour or so each day in the Tower.

When they come, the affairs of the pencil factory are the subject of the conversation.

[Leo] Frank's advice on all matters is eagerly sought and he keeps in almost as active touch with the concern as he did when he was a free man.

[Leo] Frank, in reality, is still superintendent of the National Pencil Company in fact as well as in name.

Other friends follow until 12:30 [pm], when [Leo] Frank is left to himself.

Then he takes up the work on his case, making notes of suggestions to his counsel, studying the testimony for weak places, reading the argument of counsel or the State to suggest points of attack.

His dinner arrives at 1:30 o'clock and after he has eaten, the prisoner usually lies on his cot, resting and thinking until the arrival of his wife at 4 o'clock.

Wife Remains Several Hours.

Mrs. Frank sits outside the cell and they converse through the barred door.

A s a rule, they are never disturbed during this period.

At 6:30 o'clock [pm] Leo Frank's supper arrives and his wife remains until he concludes this meal.

Then, with a farewell kiss, she leaves him to himself and his thoughts.

When she departs, he goes over the afternoon papers and magazines, which his friends send him.

From 8 until 9:30 o'clock he receives visits from friends and then is again left to his studies.

He invariably works on his case until a few minutes before 11 o'clock, when he retires.

This routine hardly varies five minutes from day to day.

It is as regular as that of a solider.

It is as carefully planned as the daily life of a boarding school miss.

It is simply in keeping with the remarkable nature of this remarkable prisoner.

PAGE 4, COLUMN 1

Dorsey Moves to Indict Conley as an Accessory Solicitor

Dorsey ordered a blank bill of indictment drawn against Jim Conley Monday, charging the negro with being an accessory after the fact in the killing of Mary Phagan April 26 in the National Pencil Factory on South Forsyth Street.

The new Grand Jury will hold its first session Tuesday morning, and it is probable the indictment of Conley will be one of the first matters brought to its attention.

The negro is a self-confessed accessory after the fact, and it is thought for this reason that an indictment will be decided upon quickly.

The Solicitor is going ahead as though he anticipated no change in the status of Leo Frank, who was convicted August 25 and the next day was sentenced to be hanged October 10.

A motion has been made for a new trial, and this will be argued October 4 before Judge L. S. Roan.

In the event the motion is denied, an appeal will be made to the Supreme Court by Frank's attorneys and a long legal battle undoubtedly will result.

If Frank finally is acquitted and Conley in the meantime is convicted of being accessory after the fact, the negro will be in the unique position of being an accessory in a crime for which the courts have decided there is no principal.

Solicitor Dorsey, however, is confident that there is no chance for Frank to escape the noose.

He believes it is extremely doubtful if a new trial will be granted.

Should the case be reopened, he feels that the outcome would be exactly the same as at the first trial when a verdict of guilty was found with no recommendation.