Category: TRANSCRIPTS: ATLANTA GEORGIAN

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 1st, 1913 By JAMES B. NEVIN. Has the State succeeded in thoroughly establishing the fact that little Mary Phagan's tragic death was effected on the second floor of the National Pencil Factory, in Forsyth street? It has not, of course—but it has set up by competent evidence a number of suspicious circumstances, which, if properly sustained later along, will prove damaging in the extreme to Leo Frank. Unless these circumstances, trivial in some aspects, are braced up and backed up, however, by other much stronger circumstances, they will give the jury, in all probability, little concern in arriving

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 1st, 1913 Up Against a Hard Proposition Youthful Solicitor Is Fighting Valiantly to Win Case. By L. F. WOODRUFF. Georgia's law's most supreme penalty faces Leo Frank. A reputation that they can not be beaten must be sustained by Luther Rosser and Reuben Arnold. Atlanta's detective department's future is swaying on the issue of the Frank trial. But there is a man with probably as much at stake as any of the hundreds who crowd Judge Roan's courtroom, with the exception of Frank, and he is accepting the ordeal, though he realizes it, as calmly as a person

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 1st, 1913 Was Mary Phagan killed at or very near the time she entered the National Pencil Factory April 26 to get her pay envelope or was she merely attacked at this time and murdered later? The line of questioning pursued by Luther Rosser in his cross-examination of two of the State's witnesses Thursday afternoon indicated this will be one of the questions the jurors will have to settle before they will be able to determine the innocence or guilt of Leo M. Frank. Rosser was most persistent in his interrogation both of William A. Gheesling embalmer, and

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 1st, 1913 There are enough "hists," "aha's" and those other exclamations that mark a true detective besides the badge on his left suspender to fill a whole volume of Gaborieau thrillers at the Frank trial. A stranger whirled from the Terminal Station to Judge Roan's courtroom would be convinced before he had been in that temple of justice five minutes that all Atlanta earns its living following clews, and that if Sherlock Holmes was made a material being he could beat Jim Woodward for Mayor by 8,000 votes. Ever since the body of Mary Phagan was found, practically

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 2nd, 1913 Newspaper on Judge's Desk Causes Protest DR. HURT UNDER FIRE OF DEFENSE, HITS A DR. HARRIS TESTIMONY A genuine sensation was sprung at the trial of Leo M. Frank Saturday morning when Luther Rosser and Reuben Arnold, attorneys for the defense, asked the State to consent to a new trial on the ground that Judge Roan had allowed the jury to catch a glimpse of a headline in the first extra of The Georgian. Judge Roan had laid the paper on the stand in front of him, and, according to the defense, the headline across the

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 2nd, 1913 O. B. Keeler. The juror's life is not unmixed with care. Look him over next time you attend the Frank trial. Size up his little job. Weigh his responsibility. Consider his problems. And then, if seeking employment, go out and sign a contract to make little ones out of big ones. It's a more satisfactory way of earning $2 a day. The juror's business is to collect evidence by the earful, sift the same, separate the true from the false, and make it into a verdict as between the Stat of Georgia and Leo Frank. On

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 2nd, 1913 By L. F. WOODRUFF. Emotion's entire gamut is daily run on the screen of faces watching the Frank trial. A student of facial expression can find anything he seeks by watching the throng of spectators a half hour. A glance at one man may show a sneer of hate as bitter as gall. His neighbor in the next seat will probably be smiling in amused content as if her were witnessing the antics of his favorite comedian. Looking to the left he may see fear as vividly depicted on a countenance as trapped felon has ever

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 2nd, 1913 By JAMES B. NEVIN. The testimony of Dr. Roy Harris, chairman of the State Board of Health, and one of the most learned and approved physicians in Georgia, was dramatic, both in its substance and in the manner of its delivery Friday. It was not calculated to help Leo Frank—and it did not. The exhibition of a portion of the contents of the dead girl's stomach, for the purpose of approximating the time of her death, held breathless the packed courthouse—and the fainting of the physician during the progress of his testimony gave a final touch

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 2nd, 1913 Are five and half ounces of cabbage to be the principal factor in sending a man to the gibbet? If the prosecution is warranted in its belief in the vital and incriminating importance of the testimony of Dr. H. F. Harris, director of the State Board of Health, this is exactly the outcome to be expected in the trial of Leo M. Frank, charged with the murder of little Mary Phagan. It remains, however, for the State to show explicitly just how the sensational statements made last Friday afternoon by medical expert any more clearly connect

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 3rd, 1913 Negro's Testimony Now Supremely Important Both Sides Stake Their All on His Evidence STATE FORGES CHAIN TO TAX ALL THE INGENUITY OF DEFENSES LEGAL ARRAY First Week of Battle Has Fixed the Time Almost Exactly According to Theory of the Solicitor—Doctors' Testimony His Important Bearing. BY AN OLD POLICE REPORTER. There are two tenable theories of the manner in which little Mary Phagan met her tragic death in the National Pencil Factory on Saturday, April 26. Either she was murdered by Leo Frank, as charged in the indictment, or she was murdered by James Conley, the

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 3rd, 1913 Solicitor Dorsey Indicates That Real Sensation Will Be Developed for State in Closing Days of Famous Mary Phagan Mystery Case. ANOTHER WEEK OF ORDEAL IN THE HEAT IS EXPECTED Routing of Detective Black and Surprise in the Testimony of Pinkerton Agent Gives the Defense Principal Points Scored—Newt Lee Hurts. Slow and tedious, almost without frills, full of bitter squabbles between lawyers, made memorable by oppressive heat, the first week of Leo Frank's trial on the charge that he killed Mary Phagan, the little factory girl, has drawn to an end. With the close of the week

Courtroom Studies of Leo Frank: Three typical poses of the defendant in the famous Phagan case are show, while in the upper left of the picture is a study of Luther Rosser, his leading counsel. Here is what a study of Frank's face reveals: His face is immovable, except, perhaps, for the eyes. But fixity of countenance does not always go with unconcern. In this case it is a part of the man's nature. Immobility is the essential part of his physiognomy. It is the immobility of the business man given to calculation, of the gambler, of the person given

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 4th, 1913 By JAMS B. NEVIN. When a prospective juryman is on his voir dire in a given criminal case, he is asked if his mind is perfectly impartial between the State and the accused. If he answers yes, he is competent to try the case, so far as that is concerned. If he answers no, he is rejected. How many people in Atlanta and Georgia, having heard part of the testimony in the Frank case, still feel themselves to be perfectly impartial between the State and the accused? How many people, having heard part of the evidence,

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 4th, 1913 There was a murmur of excitement following the calling of Jim Conley; there was a wait of several minutes, officers having just left the police station with the negro a minute or two before he was called. Judge Roan impatiently ordered the Sheriff to bring in the witness. A number of spectators who were crowded up too close to the jury box were moved back by the court deputies. "The Sheriff hasn't got Jim Conley," said Attorney Rosser, after a statement from Deputy Sheriff Plennie Miner. "Mr. Starnes will bring him in," returned Solicitor Dorsey. "See

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 4th, 1913 NEGRO SPRINGS NEW SENSATION, ADDING TO STORY.James Conley, the negro sweeper in the National Pencil Factory, was called to the stand in the trial of Leo M. Frank, whom he accuses of the murder of Mary Phagan, at 10:15 Monday; under the skillful questioning of Solicitor Dorsey began the recitation of his sensational story.The negro was taken to the court in Chief Beavers' automobile and was accompanied by his lawyer, W.M. Smith. It was learned for the first time Monday that Conley would swear that he saw Mary Phagan enter the factory just before Monteen Stover,

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 4th, 1913 L. O. Grice, a stenographer in the offices of the Atlanta and West Point Railroad, was the first witness called. He said that he saw Frank on Sunday morning after the murder and Frank attracted his attention by his undue nervousness. Grice said he was on the way to the Terminal Station when he bought an "extra" stating that a murder had been committed at the National Pencil Factory. He said he stopped by the pencil factory and saw eight men on the inside of the building. "Did any of these men attract your particular attention?"

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 4th, 1913 By L. F. WOODRUFF. A policeman's life is not a merry one. The thought was expressed and event set to music in those dim days of the distant past when people heard the lyrics and listened to the charming lilts of Gilbert and Sullivan opera instead of centering their attentions on a winsome young woman with a record in the divorce courts and not much else in either ability or raiment. Gilbert and Sullivan, now being tradition, can be considered authorities. Wherefore the thought is repeated that a policeman's life is not a merry one. But

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 4th, 1913 During the long wait for Conley to appear, Frank, his loyal wife and his no less loyal mother gave no sign of fear. Accuser and accused were about to face each other, a dramatic situation which the authorities had sought to bring about since the negro made his third affidavit charging Frank with the terrible crime. If Frank at last were on the edge of a breakdown his calm, untroubled features were most deceiving at this time. He seemed no more concerned than when John Black, floundering and helpless on the stand, was making as good

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 4th, 1913 Deputy Sheriff W. W. ("Boots") Rogers, witness for the State in the Frank trial, is taking the Pasteur treatment at the State Capitol Monday after being bitten half a dozen times on the right ankle by a rabid dog that pulled him from his motorcycle at Henderson's crossing, on Capitol avenue, Sunday night about 11 o'clock. After a battle of more than fifteen minutes Rogers finally drove the dog away, and though his right leg was badly torn and lacerated, rode the two miles from the crossing to Grady Hospital. When he arrived at the hospital

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 4th, 1913 By O. B. Keeler. Jim Conley, hewer of wood and drawer of water. On the witness stand at the Frank trial this morning, Jim unfolded a tale whose lightest word—you know the rest. It was a story that flexed attention to the breaking point: a story that whitened knuckles and pressed finger nails into palms; a story that absorbed the usual courtroom stir and rustle, and froze the hearers into lines upon lines of straining faces. And Jim Conley told that story as he might have told the story of a day's work at well-digging, or

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 4th, 1913 Dramatic in its very glibness and unconcern, Conley's story, if it failed to shake or disturb Leo Frank, at least had a wonderful impression upon each member of the jury. Conley told of seeing Mary Phagan enter the factory. This was the first time he had admitted to this, so far as the public had known. Frank showed only a mild interest, but the jurors strained forward in their seats. Conley told of hearing the footsteps from his vantage point on the first floor of two persons coming out of Frank's office. Frank still exhibited no

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 4th, 1913 Wife and Mother of the Accused Pencil Factory Superintendent Sit Calmly Through Trial. By TARLETON COLLIER Women are brought into a court room, as all the world knows, for one of two purposes. Their presence may have a moral effect in softening the heart of a juror, particularly if they be young, pretty or wistful of countenance. Or they may be there on the affectionate mission of cheering and encouraging a beloved defendant. Two women sat with Leo Frank through all the hot, weary days of last week. Their object was the one or the other.

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 4th, 1913 A bitter, determined cross-examination of Jim Conley by Luther Rosser was marked by a prolonged battle between counsel for the defense and State over the method of questioning the negro. The defense won a complete victory, Judge Roan ruling that the accuser of Leo Frank could be cross-examined on any subject the prisoner's lawyers saw fit. In the course of this legal tilt Luther Rosser said: "I am going after him (referring to Conley) and I am going to jump on him with both feet." Turning to counsel for the State he added significantly: "And I

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 5th, 1913 By JAMES B. NEVIN. Black and sinister, depressing in its every aspect and horrible in its gloom, the testimony of Jim Conley in the Frank case was given to the court and the jury under direct examination Monday. The shadow of the negro had loomed like a frightful cloud over the courtroom for days—the negro himself came into the case Monday. And he came into it in an awful and unspeakably sensational way! The public was prepared for most that Conley said—it was not quite prepared for all he said. The State, in its direct examination

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 5th, 1913 The defense of Leo Frank will bring out vividly before the jury Tuesday that the striking feature of Jim Conley's dramatic recital on the stand Monday was that it differed not only from the first two affidavits signed by the negro, which he later repudiated in large part, but it also conflicted in several particulars with the last sensational affidavit in which he charged Leo Frank with the killing of the girl and related that he (Conley) disposed of the body and wrote the notes that were found at its side at Frank's direction. As a

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 5th, 1913 Judge, Favoring Defense, Reserves Decision as to Striking Out Testimony CONLEY CONTINUES TO WITHSTAND FIERCE ATTACKS OF ROSSER Reuben Arnold created a sensation at the opening of Tuesday afternoon's session of the Frank trial by making a motion that all of the revolting testimony concerning Leo Frank's alleged conduct before the day of Mary Phagan's murder be stricken out of the records. He also demanded that all of Jim Conley's testimony in reference to watching at the door at Frank's direction be expunged except the time he claims he watched on the day Mary Phagan was

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 5th, 1913 The determined onslaught against Jim Conley, his string of affidavits and the story he told before the Frank jury had its real beginning Monday afternoon. Luther Rosser, starting with the avowed purpose of breaking down the negro's story and forcing from the negro's lips a story more incriminating to himself than any he had uttered, went deeply into Conley's past history, his home life, his prison record and everything that directly or remotely might have a bearing on the solution of the murder mystery. Before taking up the events of the day that Mary Phagan was

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 5th, 1913 By L.F. WOODRUFF. Sinister as a cloud, as raven as a night unaided by moon, planet or satellite, Jim Conley is to-day the most talked-of man in Georgia. His black skin has not been whitened by the emancipation proclamation. The record of his race for regarding an oath as it regards a drink of gin, something to be swallowed, remains unattacked. But Georgia is to-day listening to the words of Jim Conley with breathless interest. His every syllable has ten thousand of eager interpreters. His facial expression is watched as keenly as he answers the questions

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 6th, 1913 Deplores Newspaper Publicity, but Poses Merrily for the Camera Brigade. W. H. Mincey, the school teacher and insurance solicitor who made an affidavit that Jim Conley confessed to him that he had already killed a girl that day and didn't want to kill anyone else, was the center of attention for the crowd on the outside of the courthouse Wednesday mornin. While deploring newspaper publicity, he readily agreed to pose for a group of newspaper photographers, assuming many poses, some of which were rather grotesque. He followed this with implicit instructions to the photographer that his

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 6th, 1913 By James B. Nevin. "Gentlemen of the jury, having heard from James Conley, the blackest, most damning story ever told in Atlanta by one human being against another, having sat there and listened as he smudged with unspeakable scandal the defendant in this case, Leo Frank, although it is irrelevant, immaterial, and has nothing to do with this case, you will kindly forget it, being on your oaths as jurymen to consider the evidence declared competent!" And the jury, being like most other juries, in one way or another, and having heard all the things as

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 6th, 1913 Sweeper's Grilling Ends After 151/2 Hours, His Main Story Unshaken MYSTERY OF GIRL'S MESH BAG EXPLAINED BY NEGRO ON STAND That Mary Phagan's silver-plated mesh bag, mysteriously missing since the girl's bruised and lifeless body was found the morning of April 27, was in Leo Frank's office a few minutes after the attack and later was placed in the safe in Frank's office was the startling statement made by the negro Conley Wednesday in the course of his re-direct examination by Solicitor Dorsey. At 11:10 the negro left the stand after being questioned for fifteen and

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 6th, 1913 By O. B. KEELER. The impression persists that courtroom crowds are made up in the main of two classes, as follows: (1) People who take it for granted that any person being tried on any charge in any court is guilty, and then some. (2) People who are constitutionally incapable of believing anybody is guilty of anything whatever. That is one powerful impression gained at the Frank trial. It is an impression sticking out pointedly in the wake of the Thaw trial, and the Nan Patterson trial, and the Beatty trial, and the Hyde trial. All

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 6th, 1913 By L. F. WOODRUFF. Practically the entire case on which the State of Georgia bases its claim on the life of Leo Frank to pay for that life taken from Mary Phagan is before the jury. Most of the remaining evidence of importance, which the Solicitor General may introduce merely will be rebuttal to testimony, presented by Frank's counsel. Whether the evidence presented is strong enough to convict is a question for the jury to decide. Whether the testimony introduced by the defense will be convincing enough to cause the reasonable doubt which the law says

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 6th, 1913 As soon as court opened Mr. Rosser asked the judge if he was ready to hear argument on the proposition to eliminate parts of Conley testimony. He said he was prepared to support his motion with authorities. Judge Roan replied that he would postpone this decision until 2 o'clock. Solicitor Dorsey declared that he had witnesses he expects to put on the stand Wednesday morning to substantiate the part of the negro's testimony in dispute. He said: "I just want the court to understand that I am going to do this." Judge Roan replied: "I'll give

This shows the Solicitor in an argument at the Frank trial. Atlanta GeorgianAugust 7th, 1913 By James B. Nevin Now that James Conley has been dismissed from the Frank trial, now that he has stood safely the fire of Mr. Rosser's most exhaustive grilling, what of him? If Frank is convicted, Conley subsequently will be convicted, no doubt, of being an accessory after the fact of Mary Phagan's murder—and that will mean three years, at most, in the penitentiary. After that—when the Frank trial, more or less, has been forgotten—Conley will be a liberty to come back amongst the people

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 7th, 1913 Judge Roan administered a severe blow to the defense Wednesday when he ruled that all of Conley's story should stand, although portions of it, he acknowledged, would have been inadmissible had objection been made at the time the testimony was offered. Judge to Rule as Case Proceeds. It was a particularly difficult allegation to combat. Unlike many allegations, it was exactly as hard to fight in the event it was false as in case it was founded on fact. Judge Roan said in regard to the testimony of Dalton that he did not know what it

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 7th, 1913 Dalton Corroborates Jim Conley's Story DR. CHILDS IS CALLED BY DEFENSE TO REBUT DR. HARRIS' EVIDENCE With the cross-examination of Dr. H. F. Harris, the State Thursday afternoon rested its case against Leo M. Frank accused of the murder of Mary Phagan. Dr. L. W. Childs was called by the defense as its first witness to rebut the testimony of Dr. Harris. The mysterious C. B. Dalton, who was expected to make sensational revelations of incidents in which Leo Frank was alleged to have participated in the National Pencil Factory, proved a very tame and commonplace

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 7th, 1913 Every Change in Chromatic Scale Rung—All Georgia Types Seen in Court. By L. F. Woodruff. Every change in the chromatic scale has been rung in the Frank trial. With the single exception of the skyrocket oratory that will mark the last stage of the trial, everything that has ever been done in the trial of a criminal case has been enacted in the fight to fix on the superintendent of the National Pencil Factory the guilt of the murder of Mary Phagan. There has been comedy. There has been tragedy. There has been periods as dull

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 7th, 1913 Here is a sample of the testimony of Dr. Harris, for the State, given Wednesday afternoon, and conflicting evidence given for the defense by Dr. Childs on Thursday: Dr. Harris said: "I want to state that the amount of secretive juice in this stomach was considerably less than would have collected in an hour. The hydrochloride acid had not been in long enough to become free. The amount of confined hydrochloric was 32 degrees. In a normal stomach, the amount would have been 55 or 60 degrees. It was just about the amount one would have

Atlanta GeorgianAugust 8th, 1913 By O. B. KEELER. They call it a chain that the State has forged, or has tried to forge, to hold Leo Frank to the murder of Mary Phagan. But isn't it a rope? A chain, you know, is as strong as its weakest link. Take one link out, and the chain comes apart. With a rope, it's different. Strand after strand might be cut or broken, and the rope still holds a certain weight. Then might come a time when the cutting of one more strand would cause the rope to break. The point is,