Leo Frank TV

Thursday, 30th April 1914: $200 Bribe Induced Him To Swear To Confession Of Conley, Says Pastor, The Atlanta Constitution

The Atlanta Constitution,Thursday, 30th April 1914,PAGE 1, COLUMN 1.Rev. C. B. Ragsdale declared that necessity caused him to make a...
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Wednesday, 29th April 1914: Dorsey May Ask For Earlier Date, The Atlanta Constitution

The Atlanta Constitution,Wednesday, 29th April 1914,PAGE 1, COLUMN 3.Solicitor Will Insist That the Ragsdale and Barber Affidavits Remain a Part...
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Tuesday, 28th April 1914: Frank’s Lawyers Hear Confession Witnesses Now Repudiate Stories, The Atlanta Constitution

The Atlanta Constitution,Tuesday, 28th April 1914,PAGE 1, COLUMN 1.Attorneys issued a statement declaring their belief that Ragsdale and Barber were...
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Monday, 27th April 1914: Dorsey And Juror Hold Conference, The Atlanta Constitution

The Atlanta Constitution,Monday, 27th April 1914,PAGE 3, COLUMN 1.Marcellus Johenning and the Solicitor Refuse to Discuss What Passed at Their...
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Sunday, 26th April 1914: Says Love Letters Written By Conley Prove Him Guilty, The Atlanta Constitution

The Atlanta Constitution,Sunday, 26th April 1914,PAGE 1, COLUMN 2.Detective Burns Declares They Are Conclusive Evidence That He Was Author of...
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Thursday, 30th April 1914: Tale Of $200 Bribe Is Branded As A Lie By Detective Burns, The Atlanta Journal

The Atlanta Journal,Thursday, 30th April 1914,PAGE 1, COLUMN 1.Sleuth Leaves Train Going West and Returns to Atlanta to Refute Rev....
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Wednesday, 29th April 1914: Frank Hearing Will Be Resumed Friday, The Atlanta Journal

The Atlanta Journal,Wednesday, 29th April 1914,PAGE 1, COLUMN 5.The hearing of an extraordinary motion for a new trial for Leo...
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Tuesday, 28th April 1914: Bar Ragsdale-Barber Evidence For New Trial, The Atlanta Journal

  The Atlanta Journal, Tuesday, 28th April 1914, PAGE 1, COLUMN 3. Defense Strikes Amendment, Dorsey Promises Sensation, Frank Makes...
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Monday, 27th April 1914: Say Burns Has Twenty Agents On Frank Case, The Atlanta Journal

The Atlanta Journal,Monday, 27th April 1914,PAGE 18, COLUMN 3.Several women are among the agents working in Atlanta, including those who...
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Sunday, 26th April 1914: Leo Frank Pleads For A Fair Trial In Signed Card, The Atlanta Journal

The Atlanta Journal,Sunday, 26th April 1914,PAGE 1, COLUMN 4.Leo M. Frank's Plea for a Fair TrialLeo M. Frank issued a...
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Friday, 15th August 1913 Two More Character Witnesses Are Introduced by the Defense

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 15th, 1913 Another character witness was introduced by the defense in Harry E. Lewis, of Brooklyn, N. Y., former neighbor of Frank, and a former assistant to the district attorney. "Did you ever know Frank?" he was asked by Mr. Arnold. "Yes, for about twelve years." "How?""He was my neighbor." "Did you know him until he came south? What was his character?""Good." Cross-examination by Mr. Hooper. "Have you known him since he came south?""No." "You may come off."The second character witness of the Thursday session was Herbert Lasher, of Fleischman, N. Y., a former college mate of the

Friday, 15th August 1913 Wife and Mother of Frank Are Permitted to Remain in Court

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 15th, 1913 At the opening of the morning session yesterday Solicitor Dorsey motioned for the court to exclude the wife and mother of Leo M. Frank, Mrs. Lucille Frank and Mrs. Rae Frank, on account of the sensational outburst of the mother Wednesday afternoon, when she denounced the solicitor for attacking the character of her son. In reply to the solicitor's move to have the mother and wife of the defendant excluded from the court room, Attorney Arnold made a strong speech in their behalf, saying: "It is a new doctrine to me where a wife and mother

Friday, 15th August 1913 Sig Montag Tells of Employment Of Detectives and Two Lawyers

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 15th, 1913 Sig Montag, president of the National Pencil company and associate in Montag Brothers, was put on the stand at the close of the morning session. He testified that during part of the time named by Jim Conley in the dates at which he swears he watched for Frank on the first floor the Clark Woodenware offices occupied that portion of the factory building. He was examined by Mr. Rosser. "What was your connection with the pencil factory from May last?""First secretary and treasurer, then president." "How often did Frank come to your office?""Once a day except

Friday, 15th August 1913 Factory Mechanic Tells of Blood on Floor From Mans Wounded Hand

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 15th, 1913 Charley Lee, a mechanic in the pencil factory, who admitted on cross-examination that he had received a raise in salary within the past two weeks, was called to testify to a number of accidents on the second floor from which blood had been spilled in vicinity of the dressing rooms where blood spots were found after the tragedy. "Do you remember an accident in the metal room on October 4, 1912?""Yes, a man named Duffy was cut on the finger and bled freely." "Was his finger cut to the bone?""Yes." "Did he go to the ladies'

Friday, 15th August 1913 Women Tell of Seeing Frank On Way to and From Factory On Day That Girl Was Murdered

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 15th, 1913 The first of a chain of witnesses who were produced to prove Frank's movements during the time he left the pencil factory for dinner was Miss Helen K. Curran, a pretty stenographer, who stated that she met him at Jacobs' pharmacy on Whitehall street and Alabama. She was questioned by Mr. Arnold. "Where were you on April 26?""A little after 1 o'clock I was standing at Jacobs' drug store at Whitehall and Alabama streets. It was about 2:05 o'clock." "Did you see Frank?" "I had been standing for five minutes on the corner when I turned

Friday, 15th August 1913 Cars Often Ahead of Schedule Declares a Street Car Man

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 15th, 1913 Following Denham, J. R. Leach, a division superintendent for the Georgia Railway and Power company, took the stand. He was asked a number of questions by the defense about street car schedules, and on cross-examination proved a good witness for the prosecution by declaring that street cars frequently arrived in town some minutes ahead of their schedule and that the motorman and conductors were often punished for this. W. M. Mathews and W. T. Hollis who swore to bringing Mary Phagan to town on the day of the murder had declared that cars never reached town

Friday, 15th August 1913 Character of Frank Good, So Many Witnesses Declare

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 15th, 1913 R. A. Sohn, superintendent of the Jewish Orphans home, was called to testify on Frank's behalf. The witness said that his residence was at No. 408 Washington street. He said that he has known Frank a good many years and that his character was good. He was excused without undergoing cross-examination by Solicitor Dorsey. Alex Dittler, secretary of the Jewish Alliance and an officer of the Federation of Jewish societies, also testified to Frank's good character. The witness said that he has been a resident of Atlanta more than thirty-eight years. He was deputy city marshal

Friday, 15th August 1913 Miss Eva May Flowers Did Not See Any Blood on Factory Floor

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 15th, 1913 Miss Eula May Flowers, an employee of the National Pencil factory, was put on the stand following the two Cornell professors. "Were you at the factory on April 26?" asked Mr. Arnold. "Yes." "What department are you in?""The packing department." "Who got the data and when from you for the financial sheet made up on April 26?""Mr. Schiff got it from me about 6 o'clock Friday afternoon." "You say you always turned in your report on Friday afternoons?" asked Attorney Hooper, who took up the cross-examination. "Yes," the witness replied, "either on Friday afternoons or early

Friday, 15th August 1913 Frank Not Nervous on Night Of Murder Says Mrs. Ursenbach

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 15th, 1913 Mrs. Charles F. Ursenbach followed her husband on the stand. During the cross-examination by Attorney Hooper she was asked scores of detailer questions about the words and manner of Leo Frank on the Sunday that the body was found. "What is your relation to Mrs. Leo Frank?" asked Mr. Arnold. "I am her sister." "Did you hear about the message from Mr. Frank saying he could not go to the ball game with your husband that Saturday?""Yes, I got it from the servant." "At what time?" "At about 12:30." "Did you see Frank on Sunday?" "Yes."

Friday, 15th August 1913 Factory Forewoman Swears Conley Said He Was Drunk on April 26

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 15th, 1913 Miss Rebecca Carson, a forewoman in the pencil factory, who made the startling statement that Jim Conley had admitted to her that he was drunk on the Saturday of the murder was put on the stand. "Did you see Leo Frank at any time on April 26?" "Yes, I saw him on Whitehall street near Hunter between 2:20 o'clock and 2:25." "Did you speak to him?""Yes." "Did you come to the factory Monday morning following the murder?""Yes." "Did you see Frank?""Yes." "Jim Conley?""Yes." "Did you talk with Conley?""Yes." "What did he say?""I asked him where he

Friday, 15th August 1913 Sister of Mrs. Leo M. Frank Tells Jury About Card Game

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 15th, 1913 Mrs. A. Marcus, a sister of Mrs. Leo Frank, followed Mrs. C. F. Ursenbach, another sister. She was among those who played cards at the Selig home on April 26. "Did Frank and his wife play cards with the rest?" Mr. Arnold asked. "No." "Where were they?""Mr. Frank sat in the hall reading and his wife was in and out of the room." "What time did they go to bed?""Something after 10 o'clock." "Was Frank nervous?""No." "Anything unusual about him?""No." "You say Frank sat in the hall reading, did you?" asked Attorney Hooper on cross-examination. "Yes,"

Friday, 15th August 1913 Mother-in-Law of Frank Denies Charges in Cooks Affidavit

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  Atlanta Constitution August 15th, 1913 Following the testimony of those who claimed to have played poker at the Emil Selig home on the night of April 26, Mrs. Selig, Leo Frank's mother-in-law was placed on the stand and asked a number of questions about the happenings at her house on Sunday, April 27. To most of the questions from the state on cross-examination she replied that she had forgotten. When the witness took the stand, Attorney Arnold called on the state for the affidavit which Minola McKnight, the Selig's cook, signed at police station and later repudiated. "Mrs. Selig,"

Friday, 15th August 1913 Many Men Swear to Good Character of Superintendent of Pencil Factory

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 15th, 1913 Classmates and Instructors at Cornell Come to Atlanta to Testify to His Clean Life While at College and to Show Their Loyalty to Old College Friend. DORSEY ASKS REMOVAL OF LEO FRANK'S MOTHER AND WIFE FROM COURT Judge Warns Them That Another Scene Like That of Wednesday, When Mrs. Rae Frank Denounced Solicitor, Will Result in Barring Them—Leach Proves Good Witness for the State Although Called to Testify by Defense More witnesses were examined Thursday than on any day since the trial of Leo M. Frank began. However, there was little adduced from the testimony that

Thursday, 14th August 1913 Bitter Fight at Morning Session Over Testimony of Dr. Wm. Owen

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  Atlanta Constitution August 14th, 1913 Dr. William Owen, physician and real estate man, followed Dr. W. S. Kendrick on the stand. By him the defense desired to show that to carry out the movements told of by Jim Conley from the time he alleges Leo Frank called upon him to help move the girl's body until he left the factory would take much longer than Conley declared he took. After establishing his identity, Mr. Arnold began the examination of Dr. Owen, which resulted in the argument. "Dr. Owen, at our request you went to the factory of the National

Thursday, 14th August 1913 Mrs. Rae Frank, Mother of Prisoner, Denounces Solicitor Hugh Dorsey

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 14th, 1913 Mrs. Rae Frank, the mother of the prisoner, startled the courtroom shortly before 4 o'clock, when she denounced Solicitor Dorsey, when he made an attack on the character of her son. J. Ashley Jones, a local insurance agent, was in the witness chair testifying to the moral character of the accused when the incident occurred. He was asked by Solicitor Dorsey if he had over heard of Frank taking little girls out to Druid Hills, sitting them on his lap and fondling them. Mrs. Frank glanced furiously at the prosecutor, and rising from her chair, she

Thursday, 14th August 1913 More Witnesses Are Called to Blacken Daltons Character

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  Atlanta Constitution August 14th, 1913 Following the putting off of the decision in regard to Dr. William Owen's testimony, seven Gwinett county citizens were introduced to add to the thick coat of lampblack already smeared over the character of C. Burgess Dalton, the man who accuses Frank of immoral conduct in the office of the National Pencil factory. All of the men swore that they would not believe the man on oath and only one or two of them were cross-examined by the state. The men introduced were O. A. Nix, attorney and former member of the legislature; Samuel

Thursday, 14th August 1913 Lemmie Quinn is Severely Grilled by Solicitor Dorsey

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 14th, 1913 Bending his efforts to break down the testimony of Lemmie Quinn, foreman of the metal room, Solicitor Dorsey subjected the witness to a severe grilling when court reconvened at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon. When Quinn resumed the stand he was still under direct examination by the defense. In answer to Attorney Arnold he declared that he was still an employee of the National Pencil factory. Solicitor Dorsey began cross-examination. "When was it these men bled on the floor of the metal room?" "About a year ago," Quinn replied. "What were their names?" "I remember that C.

Thursday, 14th August 1913 Financial Sheets Introduced At Frank Trial in Afternoon

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 14th, 1913 The financial sheets which experts declared required from three to three and a half hours to compile were introduced in evidence after Oscar Pappenheimer, a stockholder in the National Pencil factory was examined. Mr. Pappenheimer testified that he had been a stockholder in the company since 1910. "Have you been getting comparative sheets from Frank since 1910?" Attorney Arnold asked. "Yes, sir." "Where have you been in the habit of receiving them?""Before deliveries of mail stopped on Sunday I invariably found the report in my mail box on Sunday morning. After that I received it every

Thursday, 14th August 1913 Former Office Boy Saw No Women With Frank on Thanksgiving Day

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  Atlanta Constitution August 14th, 1913 Frank Paine, formerly an office boy for the National Pencil company and who claims to have been working there on Thanksgiving day of last year, was placed on the stand following the introduction of the three character witnesses. The lad stated that he and Herbert G. Schiff were at the factory on the morning of Thanksgiving day, and that Schiff sent him to the top floor to help Jim Conley straighten out some boxes, which were cluttered around there. He declared that Conley left about 10:20 and then he left at 11 o'clock or

Thursday, 14th August 1913 Quinn Intimates That Spots May Have Been on Floor for Months

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 14th, 1913 Lemmie Quinn, foreman of the metal department of the National Pencil factory, was put on the stand by the defense following the ex-office boy. "Aren't you foreman of the department Mary Phagan worked in?""Yes." "Do you recall the time R. P. Barrett found the spots on the floor?""Yes." "Did Barrett ever state to you about his hope of getting a reward?""Yes, he asked my opinion." "What statement has he made about getting a reward if Frank should be convicted?" "He asked me if I didn't think he was entitled to something." "Did anybody ever see that

Thursday, 14th August 1913 Lively Tilts Mark the Hearing Of Testimony of Dr. Kendrick

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 14th, 1913 Dr. William S. Kendrick, head of the chair of medicine of the new Atlanta Medical school and for the past thirty eight years a general practitioner of medicine, was the first witness put on the stand Wednesday morning. The physician on the stand declared the deductions of Dr. H. F. Harris, secretary of the state board of health, as to the time of Mary Phagan's death and the alleged violation as nothing more than guesswork. On cross-examination the solicitor forced Dr. Kendrick to admit that he was no expert on digestion and that he had not

Saturday, 16th August 1913 Girls Testify For and Against Frank

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 16th, 1913 ‘I'D DIE FOR HIM!' CRIES ONE, CONVULSING COURT CLUB AND ENVELOPE FOUND BY PINKERTON MAN PUT IN EVIDENCE Two factory girls, one of them defending Leo M. Frank with all the eloquence at her command, and the other admitting that she had known of the factory superintendent opening the door to the girls' dressing room on three different occasions and looking in, formed the center of interest among the score of witnesses who were called Saturday by the defense. They were Miss Irene Jackson and Miss Sarah Barnes. Miss Jackson, daughter of County Policeman Jackson, testified

Saturday, 16th August 1913 Mothers Love Gives Trial Its Great Scene

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 16th, 1913 By L. F. WOODRUFF. Every human emotion has been paraded during the long three weeks of the Frank trial. There has been pathos. Comedy has opposed tragedy. Science has met sympathy. Truth has been arrayed against fiction. Negro has conflicted with white. The erudite Arnold has matched wits with the thick-lipped, thick-skulled Conley. Luther Rosser, stern, determined and skillful, has had to try to meet the machinations of a brain of a cornfield negro, Newt Lee. Hugh Dorsey, young and determined, Frank Hooper, smiling and ambitious, have breast to breast encountered the battles of Rosser and

Saturday, 16th August 1913 Statement by Frank Will Be the Climactic Feature of the Trial

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 16th, 1913 By JAMES B. NEVIN. The defense is nearing its end in the Frank case. A few more character witnesses—there seems to have been no difficulty whatever in securing character witnesses by the score to testify in behalf of the defendant—the statement of Frank, and the defense will rest. The State will soon introduce its witnesses in rebuttal of the defense's character witnesses, and along other lines. Not improbably, the State will undertake to rebut in a measure the defendant's personal statement. The entire case should go to the jury Monday or Tuesday—meaning by that that the

Saturday, 16th August 1913 Many Testify to Franks Good Character

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 16th, 1913 Nearly half a hundred witnesses testified in behalf of Leo M. Frank Friday. As a climax to the day's proceedings in Judge Roan's court the defendant's mother, Mrs. Rae Frank, went on the stand to add her testimony to that which she hoped would save her son from the gallows. Virtually all who were called were character witnesses. Near the close of the day Reuben Arnold announced that he proposed to call every woman and girl employed on the fourth floor of the pencil factory, as well as many from the other floors, to testify to

Friday, 15th August 1913 What They Say Wont Hurt Leo Frank; State Must Prove Depravity

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 15th, 1913 By JAMES B. NEVIN. There is nothing apparently so plain to outside observation as character—just character—and there is, strange to say, nothing so difficult at times to prove. "They say" and "but" are the two most notorious scandalmongers in the universe—"they say" so and so' and he or she is all right, "but!" Character, upon which so much depends in this world, upon which civilization itself and decency and right is founded, is, nevertheless, the most elusive of all things when it comes right down to brass tacks of proving it beyond the shadow of a

Friday, 15th August 1913 Testimony of Girls Help to Leo M. Frank

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 15th, 1913 In the presentation of its alibi for Leo M. Frank, the defense probably accomplished more Thursday than it had in all of previous time since the prosecution rested its case. Frank's lawyers had promised that they would show where Frank was practically every minute on the day the murder of little Mary Phagan was committed and would demonstrate that it would have been impossible to carry out the disposal of the slain girl's body and the writing of the notes as the negro, Jim Conley, described them. If their alibi witnesses are to be believed, the

Friday, 15th August 1913 Frank Prepares to Take Stand

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  Atlanta Georgian August 15th, 1913 Defense's Attorneys Expect to Rest Case To-day CLIMAX NEAR IN GREAT COURT FIGHT; CROWDS AGAIN FLOCK TO TRIAL Interest in the trial of Leo M. Frank surged upward magically Friday when it was reported about the courtroom that the defense was nearing the close of its case, and that the defendant himself would be placed on the stand within a short time to make his only statement before his fate was placed in the hands of the twelve jurors. The rumor spread outside the court house mysteriously and an unusual number sought admittance early

Friday, 15th August 1913 Pittsburg Witness Tells of Franks Standing in School

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  Atlanta Constitution August 15th, 1913 John W. Todd, of Pittsburg, PA., purchasing agent for the Crucible Steel company, who was with Frank at Cornell university, followed Mrs. Emil Selig to the stand. He was asked if he knew the general character of Frank while at college and replied that he did and that it was good. He was let off with no cross-examination and went over and shook hands with the defendant and his wife and mother. He then passed by the press table and shook hands with a newspaper man who formerly worked in Pittsburg. After staying a

Saturday, 16th August 1913 Pencil Factory Model is Damaged in Fight

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  Atlanta Journal August 16th, 1913 Lamar Rucker and Max Swain, Reporter, "Scrap" Adjoining Court Room A fight between Lamar Rucker, an attorney from Athens, and Maxwell Swain, representative of the Atlanta Star, at the trial of Leo M. Frank, badly damaged the six-foot long model of the pencil factory introduced by the defense and scanned by numerous witnesses on the stand in illustrating their stories. The model had been stored in the press room, adjoining court. Mr. Rucker, who formerly lived in Atlanta, and Mr. Swain were total strangers to each other until the encounter introduced them. Mr. Swain

Sunday, 10th August 1913 One Glance at Conley Boosts Darwin Theory

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  Atlanta Georgian August 10th, 1913 Frank's Accuser Is Not the Type of Negro White Men Consider Their Friend. By TARLETON COLLIER. Jim Conley is a low-browed, thick-lipped, anthropoidal sort of negro. You look at him and your faith in Mr. Darwin's theory goes up like cotton after a boll-weevil scare. Here is a burly, short-necked black man. On his upper lip is a scanty mustache of the kind that most negroes fondle with the vain hope that it will grow into a bushy thickness. Conley is the most common African type as to physique. Never a flash of brightness,

Tuesday, 12th August 1913 Peoples Cry for Justice Is Proof Sentiment Still Lives

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 12th, 1913 By L. F. WOODRUFF. There is as much sentiment in the world to-day as there was in 1861 or 1776 or 1492 or 1066 or any other date that may come to your recollection. It's not fashionable to say so, but it's true. People to-day are too prone to accuse themselves and their neighbors of being worshippers Mammom and declaring that the money-grubbing instinct has crushed out sentiment, patriotism and honesty. But right now in Atlanta, there is a striking example of the goodness that is man's to-day, just as much as it has ever been.

Thursday, 14th August 1913 Steel Workers Enthralled by Leo Frank Trial

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 14th, 1913 There is one class of men to whom death is supposed to hold no horrors. They can not think of it and earn their daily bread. Were the fear of loss of life to enter their brain for one single second during their daily task, they would be as useless as a motorless automobile. Their pay is high for scorning the grave. They can see one of their companions fall victim to the perils of their calling and go back to work on the same job a few minutes later without a tremor, and encounter those

Thursday, 14th August 1913 States Sole Aim is to Convict, Defenses to Clear in Modern Trial

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 14th, 1913 By O. B. KEELER. Right in the first jump, please understand that (1) this is merely the opinion of a layman, unlearned in the law; that (2) he may be the only layman in existence who feels this way about it; and (3) the Frank trial is not being singled out in the following comment, except as it is a fair example of the great criminal trials of this country. In following the trial of Leo Frank, two points keep prodding me with increasing fervor. These are the points: (1) That the prosecution's efforts are centered

Thursday, 14th August 1913 State Wants Wife and Mother Excluded

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 14th, 1913 Call New Witnesses to Complete Alibi WIFE AND MOTHER OF ACCUSED ARE WARNED AGAINST OUTBREAKS Nearly a score more of alibi witnesses were to be called by the defense in the Frank trial when court opened Thursday morning. Frank's attorneys thought that they would not be able to coincide before the early part of next week. A number of character witnesses also will be called before the defense ends its case in behalf of the factory superintendent. Solicitor Dorsey, before the jury was brought in, said he wanted to make a request that the mother and

Thursday, 14th August 1913 State Fights Franks Alibi

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 14th, 1913 CONLEY ADMITTED MIND WAS BLANK DAY OF CRIME, GIRL SAYS NEGRO DRUNK DAY OF CRIME, MISS CARSON SWEARS HE TOLD HER Miss Helen Curran, a pretty girl of 17 years, proved one of the strongest witnesses Thursday for the defense in establishing what will be claimed as an alibi for Leo M. Frank. She testified that she saw Frank at 1:10 o'clock the afternoon Mary Phagan was murdered standing by Jacobs' Drug Store, Whitehall and Alabama streets, apparently waiting for his car home. The State fought hard against the "alibi" witnesses. The defense devoted most of

Thursday, 14th August 1913 Defense Slips Load by Putting up Character of Leo Frank as Issue

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 14th, 1913 By JAMES B. NEVIN. The defense in the Frank case did the expected thing when it boldly and unequivocally put Frank's character in issue. It indicated its confidence in the justice of the defendant's cause in doing that, and it met thus a crisis that it hardly could have successfully overcome otherwise, if it so happen that it does overcome it eventually. Having taken the initiative in the matter of thrashing out Frank's character, the State will now be forced to make out an unmistakable case of bad character against Frank, or it is likely that

Wednesday, 13th August 1913 State Calls More Witnesses; Defense Builds Up an Alibi

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 13th, 1913 In anticipation of the close of the defense's case, the State Tuesday afternoon subpenaed a number of new witnesses to be called in the event that Frank's character was put in issue. It was said that Solicitor Dorsey had prepared against this move by the defense by getting affidavits from many persons who claimed to know the defendant. An effort by the State to obtain testimony reflecting on the morality of Frank was resisted strongly by the superintendent's attorneys Tuesday. Solicitor Dorsey failed to get the answers he desired from the witness, Philip Chambers, a 15-year-old

Wednesday, 13th August 1913 Franks Mother Stirs Courtroom

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 13th, 1913 Leaps to Defense of Son at Dorsey's Question FRANK'S CLASSMATES AT COLLEGE TELL OF HIS GOOD CHARACTER A sensation was created in the courtroom during the cross-examination of Ashley Jones by Solicitor Dorsey at the Frank trial when Mrs. Rea Frank, mother of the defendant, sprang to her feet with a denial of intimations made by the Solicitor reflecting on her son. "Mr. Jones, you never heard of Frank having girls on his lap in the office?" Dorsey had asked. "No; nor you neither!" cried Frank's mother. "Keep quiet, keep quiet; I am afraid you will

Wednesday, 13th August 1913 Both Sides Aim for Justice in the Trial of Frank

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 13th, 1913 With Judge, Jury and Councillors Performing Duty Well, Square Deal Is Assured. By Jas B. Nevin. In considering the Frank trial, particularly with respect to the length of it, and the thoroughgoing exhaustiveness of the hearing, it must be borne in mind that the establishing of justice is the main object of both sides, and that, therefore, patience and poise are absolutely necessary in those who would be fair—fair not only to Frank, but to the State also. With the average citizen, the home-loving and upright citizen, the Frank trial should be largely an abstract proposition.

Tuesday, 12th August 1913 State Charges Premeditated Crime

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 12th, 1913 Defense Forces Dalton to Admit Jail Record GIRL DENIES STATE'S VERSION OF FRANK'S WORK ON FATAL DAY Here are the important developments Tuesday in the trial of Leo M. Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan: State announces its theory that Frank planned a criminal attack upon Mary Phagan the day before she came to the factory for her money. The court and chaingang record of C. B. Dalton, the State's witness who testified that he had seen women in Frank's office, was shown up by the defense and admitted by Dalton. Four acquaintances of

Tuesday, 12th August 1913 Frank Trial Witness is Sure, At Least, of One Thinga Good Ragging

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 12th, 1913 By JAMES B. NEVIN. Reader, proverbially gentle, if not always so, be glad, be joyful, and be filled with exceeding thankfulness that you have not been summoned, no matter which way, as a witness in the Frank trial! Of course, there is a large, fat chance that you have been summoned—most everybody has—but be all those nice things aforesaid, if you haven't. And even at that, knock on wood. The trial is young yet—it is not quite three weeks old, three weeks, count ‘em—and there still is time for somebody or other to remember that you

Tuesday, 12th August 1913 Attacks on Dr. Harris Give Defense Good Day

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 12th, 1913 The defense had what was probably its best day on Monday. Medical experts were on the witness stand the larger part of the day. The purpose of their testimony was to knock down, one after another, the sensational statements of Dr. H. F. Harris, secretary of the State Board of Health. All of the witnesses joined in ridiculing every important theory or conclusion that was reached by the distinguished chemist and physician. Experts for Defense. These are the medical experts called by the defense to combat the testimony of Dr. Harris: Dr. Willis F. Westmoreland, first

Monday, 11th August 1913 Interest Unabated as Dramatic Frank Trial Enters Third Week

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 11th, 1913 By JAMES B. NEVIN. The third week of the most remarkable murder trial ever known in Georgia opened to-day with no apparent lessening of the acute interest and grim appeal heretofore attaching to it. The public has come to realize thoroughly and completely that the issue is a battle not only between the State and the defendant, Leo Frank, but between Leo Frank and the negro Jim Conley. Presumably, the defense will take the entire week rounding out its case and perfecting its undermining of Conley's story. If it does get through within the week, it

Monday, 11th August 1913 Grief-Stricken Mother Shows No Vengefulness

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August 11th, 1913Atlanta Georgian By TARLETON COLLIER. That black-clad woman in the corner of the courtroom—nobody has noticed her much. Things have happened so swiftly in the Frank trial that all eyes are on the rush of events, waiting for a quiver on the face of Leo Frank, watching with morbid gaze the brave faces of Frank's wife and his mother, studying the passing show that the numerous witnesses present. And the woman is so unobtrusive, so plainly out of it all. The tears, whose traces are evident on her face, were not shed as a result of this trial.

Monday, 11th August 1913 Deputy Hunting Scalp Of Juror-Ventiloquist

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 11th, 1913 Big Bob Deavors, Deputy Sheriff in charge of the Frank trial jury, marched to the courtroom Monday morning with an aching head and a grim determination to get even with Juror A. H. Henslee, whose elusive voice piloted him against a bedpost late Sunday evening. Henslee is a ventriloquist of no mean ability, and when the jury has been locked up Sunday his talent has afforded the principal pastime. Yesterday he worked on Deavors, the deputy. He had Bob's wife calling to him from the street, the hall door and finally from the door leading into

Monday, 11th August 1913 Defense Bitterly Attacks Harris

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 11th, 1913 Battle of Medical Experts Waged in Court EXPERTS TESTIMONY ON CABBAGE TESTS CALLED WILD GUESS A bitter arraignment of the professional ethics and fairness of Dr. H. F. Harris, secretary of the State Board of Health, and a through-going attack on his theories and conclusions marked the Frank trial Monday afternoon. Attorney Reuben Arnold make a scathing criticism of Dr. Harris' methods during his examination of Dr. Willis Westmoreland, a prominent Atlanta physician and surgeon. Arnold was asking the medical expert his opinion of the ethics of a chemist or physician who would take the organs

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Study of Frank Convicts, Then It Turns and Acquits

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 10th, 1913 Readers of Human Nature See Anything They Want, but Personal Equation Is Forgotten. By O. B. KEELER. Leo Frank sits in the prisoner's dock and all men may read his face. A great many of them do. Here are two of the things they read: (1) No innocent man could remain calm under such fearful charges. (2) No guilty man could remain calm under, etc. Leo Frank admittedly was nervous and agitated that morning the murder of Mary Phagan was discovered. There are two inferences drawn from that fact: (1) A guilty man naturally would be

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Phagan Trial Makes Eleven Widows But Jurors Wives Are Peeresses Also

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 10th, 1913 By L. F. WOODRUFF Eleven widows were made in Atlanta in a day without the assistance of the Grim Reaper, a trip to Reno, pallbearers or affinity stories in the newspapers. And there is but one drop of consolation in their cup. When they were made widows they automatically became peeresses, for which privilege many American girls have caused their fathers large sums of good American money and themselves heartache and their pictures to be printed between the story of the rabbit that chased the boa constrictor and the life narrative of Sophie, the Shop Girl,

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Mary Phagans Mother to be Spared at Trial

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 10th, 1913 A spectator at the trial of Leo M. Frank for the murder of little Mary Phagan remarked: "I wonder what the mother of the little girl who was so brutally killed thinks of all this?"Mrs. J. W. Coleman, the mother, was the first witness called at the beginnig of the case, now two weeks gone. She was dressed in deep black with a heavy veil about her face. As she pulled back the veil to speak to the jury the expression was calm without a sign of bitterness. And she answered in even tones. When the

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Interest in Trial Now Centers in Story of Mincey

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 10th, 1913 Question of Time Considered of Paramount Importance in Defense Theory of Frank Case EVERY EFFORT WILL BE MADE TO ACCOUNT FOR ALL HIS MOVEMENTS As all interest centered in the dramatic story of Jim Conley while the case of the prosecution in the Frank trial was being presented, so the public now is awaiting with the keenest expectancy the tale that W. H. Mincey, pedagogue and insurance solicitor, will relate when he is called this week by the attorneys for Leo M. Frank. Conley swore as glibly as though he were telling of an inconsequential incident

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Frank Struggles to Prove His Conduct Was Blameless

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 10th, 1913 Co-Workers in the Factory Declare Stories of Factory Revelries Are Beyond Reason ASSISTANT TELLS HOW ACCUSED MAN MADE OUT COMPLEX ACCOUNTS Testimony of Newsboy Who Said He Accompanied Mary Phagan On Street Car On Day of the Killing Attacked by Defense's Counsel. With one set of lawyers fighting to send Leo Frank to the gallows and another struggling just as desperately not only to save him from this fate, but entirely to remove the stigma of the murder charge, the second week of the battle for the young factory superintendent's life ended shortly after noon yesterday.

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Frank or Conley? Still Question

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 10th, 1913 Issue Firmly Drawn Between Two Men Defense Starting to Mould Its Case Theory That Negro Attacked Mary Phagan With Motive of Robbing Her Will Be Shown; Two Charges Against Accused Must Be Refuted By AN OLD POLICE REPORTER. The second week of the trial of Leo Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan in the National Pencil Factory on the afternoon of April 26, came to a close Saturday noon. The State's case has been entirely made up in its primary aspects, and the defense has gone into its story of the great crime sufficiently

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Dalton Sticks Firmly To Story Told on Stand

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 10th, 1913 C. B. Dalton, prominent as a witness in the Frank trial, stuck firmly to the story he told in court when he was confronted Saturday by the letter of Miss Laura Atkinson, No. 30 Ella street, one of the young women mentioned in his sensational testimony. She branded his statement concerning her as false. He maintained that all he said as a witness was true—that he met her, as he had other girls of the pencil factory, and walked home with her from a restaurant near the plant on Forsyth street. Dalton was emphatic in his

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Conley, Unconcerned, Asks Nothing of Trial

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 10th, 1913 Despite the attacks of the defense in the trial of Leo Frank has made upon his story, Jim Conley—from whose lips fell the most damning and abhorrent testimony a Georgia jury has ever heard—sits calmly in his cell at the Tower, inscrutable and unconcerned. The negro, for weeks the greatest puzzle in the criminal annals of the State, has become an even greater puzzle since he told his story and was taken back to the gloominess of the jail. The fact that he is an admitted accessory after the fact in the murder of little Mary

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Case Never is Discussed by Frank Jurors

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 10th, 1913 Every Man on Panel Has Nickname and Formality Has Been Cast Out. No member of the jury that is to decide Leo M. Frank's guilt or innocence had expressed an opinion on the case or even one witness' testimony when the second week of the trial ended yesterday afternoon, according to the deputies who have them in charge. In the court it is an attentive jury. No bit of evidence gets by unnoticed, no wrangle occurs between the attorneys that is not given their undivided attention, and when a person testifies they catch every word—knowing the

Saturday, 9th August 1913 State Attacks Frank Report

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 9th, 1913 Intricacy of Figures Produced by Schiff Under Fire WOMEN NEVER CAME INTO FACTORY OFFICE, WITNESS TESTIFIES The second week of the Frank trial ended at 12:30 Saturday with a bitter battle in progress over the testimony of Herbert G. Schiff, assistant superintendent of the National Pencil Factory. Schiff was called soon after court opened in the forenoon and was on the stand when the adjournment was taken until Monday. Schiff, besides denying that Frank ever had women in his office, describes in elaborate detail the duties of superintendent, particularly his work on the afternoon the little

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Heres the Time Clock Puzzle in Frank Trial; Can You Figure It Out?

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 9th, 1913 THE RIDDLE OF THE CLOCK IN THE PHAGAN MYSTERYJim Conley swears Mary Phagan went up the stairs of the National Pencil factory and was murdered before Monteen Stover arrived. He says he saw Miss Stover go up and leave.Monteen Stover, State's witness, swears she arrived at 12:05.George Epps, State's witness, swears he and Mary Phagan arrived at Marietta and Forsyth streets at 12:07.The car crew, defense's witnesses, swear Mary arrived at Broad and Marietta at 12:071/2 and at Broad and Hunter at 12:10.If Mary Phagan was at Marietta and Forsyth at12:07, as the State says, or

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Exposure of Conley Story Time Flaws is Sought by Defense

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 9th, 1913 Hammering away to show alleged glaring discrepancies in time in the story told by Jim Conley, the defense of Leo Frank Saturday morning recalled George Epps, the newsboy who testified to riding into town with Mary Phagan on the fatal day, in an attempt to show that the boy on the Sunday after the crime made no mention whatever of having seen Mary the day before in a talk with a newspaperman. Epps was called to the stand after C. B. Dalton had failed to respond to a call from the defense. Reuben Arnold questioned the

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Daltons Testimony False, Girl Named on Stand Says

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 9th, 1913 The Georgian today received from Miss Laura Atkinson of No. 30 Ella Street, one of the young women mentioned in C. B. Dalton's testimony, a letter denying absolutely that she had ever walked home with Dalton from the restaurant near the pencil factory, as he swore. Here is Miss Atkinson's letter in full: Editor The Georgian: Will you please allow me space to correct a statement made by Mr. C. B. Dalton in his testimony at the Frank trail and published in your paper yesterday? In answer to a question from Mr. Rosser as to whether

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Confusion of Holloway Spoils Close of Good Day for the Defense

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 9th, 1913 What promised to be a very favorable day for the defense in the trial of Leo M. Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan, was partly spoiled at its close Friday by the bewilderment of E. F. Holloway, day watchman at the pencil factory, in a maze of conflicting statements. Holloway's confusion under the fire of the Solicitor General was more than offset by the importance of the testimony which had gone before, two of the witnesses giving testimony which was intended to establish that Mary Phagan did not enter the National Pencil Factory on

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Absence of Alienists and the Hypothetical Question Distinguishes Frank Trial

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 9th, 1913 By O. B. Keeler There are two things about the Frank trial that entitle it to distinguished consideration. Thus far not a single alienist has been called to bat, and only the common or domesticated type of the dread Hypothetical Question has appeared. In most of our great murder trials, the alienist is the last resort, or one of the latest resorts. Usually he is introduced by the defense; anywhere from four to eight of him. The prosecution promptly counters with an equal number of wheel inspectors. The defense (Vide Thaw case) generally proves to its

Friday, 8th August 1913 Witnesses Attack Conley Story

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 8th, 1913 Say Mary Phagan Did Not Reach Factory Before 12:10 FRANK TAKES ACTIVE INTEREST IN CASE AND ASSISTS HIS LAWYERS The vital time element which may serve alone to convict Leo Frank or set him free, entered largely into the evidence presented Friday by the defense at the trial of the factory superintendent. Two witnesses testified that Mary Phagan did not arrive at Broad and Marietta streets the day she was murdered until about 12:071/2 o'clock, the time the English Avenue car on which she rod from home was due there. One witness, W. M. Matthews, motorman

Friday, 8th August 1913 State, Tied by Conleys Story, Now Must Stand Still Under Hot Fire

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 8th, 1913 By JAMES B. NEVIN. As the defense in the Frank case gets under way, it is evident enough, as it has been from the beginning of this case, that there is but one big, tremendously compelling task before it—the annihilation of Conley's ugly story! The State climaxed its case thrillingly and with deadly effect in the negro. He came through the fire of cross-examination, exhaustive and thorough, in remarkably good shape, all things considered. He unfolded a story even more horrible than was anticipated. Certainly, in every conceivable way, he has sought to damage the defendant—even

Friday, 8th August 1913 Scott Put Conleys Story in Strange Light

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 8th, 1913 Harry Scott, of the Pinkerton agency, showed up the "confessions" of Conley in a peculiar light when he was called to the stand by the Frank defense Thursday afternoon. The detective, questioned by Luther Rosser, told the jury that Conley, when he "had told everything," when he had accused Frank of the killing and had made himself an accessory after the fact by declaring that he assisted in the disposal of the body; when every motive for holding anything back had been swept away by his third affidavit, still denied to him (Scott) many of the

Friday, 8th August 1913 Bits of Circumstantial Evidence, as Viewed by State, Strands in Rope

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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,

Thursday, 7th August 1913 Trial Experts Conflict on Time of Girls Death

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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

Thursday, 7th August 1913 Trial as Varied as Vaudeville Exhibition

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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

Thursday, 7th August 1913 State Ends Case Against Frank

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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

Thursday, 7th August 1913 Roans Ruling Heavy Blow to Defense

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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

Thursday, 7th August 1913 Jim Conley, the Ebony Chevalier of Crime, is Darktowns Own Hero

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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

Wednesday, 6th August 1913 Judge Will Rule on Evidence Attacked by Defense at 2 P.M.

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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

Wednesday, 6th August 1913 Dorsey Accomplishes Aim Despite Big Odds

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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

Wednesday, 6th August 1913 Crowd Set in Its Opinions

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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

Wednesday, 6th August 1913 Conley Swears Frank Hid Purse

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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

Wednesday, 6th August 1913 Can Jury Obey if Told to Forget Base Charge?

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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

Wednesday, 6th August 1913 Accuser of Conley is Ready to Testify

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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

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Traditions of the South Upset; White Mans Life Hangs on Negros Word

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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

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Rosser Goes Fiercely After Jim Conley

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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

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Mrs. Frank Breaks Down in Court

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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

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Many Discrepancies To Be Bridged in Conleys Stories

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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

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Conleys Charge Turns Frank Trial Into Fight To Worse Than Death

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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

Monday, 4th August 1913 Rosser’s Grilling of Negro Leads to Hot Clashes by Lawyers

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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

Monday, 4th August 1913 Ordeal is Borne with Reserve by Franks

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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.

Monday, 4th August 1913 Jurors Strain Forward to Catch Conley Story; Frank’s Interest Mild

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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

Monday, 4th August 1913 Jim Conley’s Story as Matter of Fact as if it Were of His Day’s Work

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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

Monday, 4th August 1913 Frank Witness Nearly Killed By a Mad Dog

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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

Monday, 4th August 1913 Envy Not the Juror! His Lot, Mostly, Is Monotony

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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

Monday, 4th August 1913 Dramatic Moment of Trial Comes as Negro Takes Stand

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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?"

Monday, 4th August 1913 Dorsey Tries to Prove Frank Had Chance to Kill Girl

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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,

Monday, 4th August 1913 Boiled Cabbage Brings Hypothetical Question Stage in Frank’s Trial

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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,

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Leo Frank’s Eyes Show Intense Interest in Every Phase of Case

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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

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 First Week of Frank Trial Ends With Both Sides Sure of Victory

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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

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Conley to Bring Frank Case Crisis

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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

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Will 5 Ounces of Cabbage Help Convict Leo M. Frank?

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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

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 State Hopes Dr. Harris Fixed Fact That Frank Had Chance to Kill Girl

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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

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Roan Holding Scales of Justice With Steady Hand

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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

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Frank Juror’s Life One Grand, Sweet SongNot

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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

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Defense Threatens a Mistrial

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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

Friday, 1st August 1913 Sherlocks, Lupins and Lecoqs See Frank Trial

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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

Friday, 1st August 1913 Girl Slain After Frank Left Factory, Believed to be Defense Theory

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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

Friday, 1st August 1913 Dorsey Unafraid as He Faces Champions of the Atlanta Bar

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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

Monday, 4th August 1913 Conley’s Story In Detail; Women Barred By Judge

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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

Thursday, 14th August 1913 Surprise Sprung by Introduction of Character Witnesses by Defense

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 14th, 1913 Alfred L. Lane, who stated that he lives in Brooklyn, and is a merchant of New York city, was the first witness to take the stand to swear to the good character of Leo Frank and so quietly was he introduced that not until the defense had asked him several questions did it become known what was about to take place. "You came here yesterday afternoon especially to testify about Mr. Frank, did you not?" asked Mr. Arnold after he had established the identity of the witness and drawn from him the statement that he had

Thursday, 14th August 1913 Mother of Frank Denounces Solicitor Dorsey in Court

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 14th, 1913 STIRS COURTROOM WHEN SHE RESENTS QUESTIONS ASKED FRANK'S WITNESS Solicitor Dorsey Was Cross-Examining Ashley Jones, a Witness Who Had Been Testifying to the Good Character of the Prisoner, and Had Just Asked Him if He Had Not Heard of Frank Taking Liberties With Little Girls Out at Druid Hills Some Time Ago. TEARS FILLING EYES, WOMAN LEAVES COURT WITH SON'S ATTORNEY Large Part of Wednesday's Testimony Was Consumed in an Effort on Part of the State to Break Down the Testimony Given by Lemmie Quinn—Dr. William K. Owen Takes the Stand in Afternoon to Tell How

Thursday, 14th August 1913 Dr. William Owen Tells How Conleys Story Was Re-enacted

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 14th, 1913 Dr. William D. Owens, a well-known physician and one of the timekeepers in the re-enaction of Conley's story in the pencil factory was recalled to the stand at the afternoon session. He was questioned by Mr. Arnold and cross-examined by Mr. Hooper. "How much time did it require you to go through this performance?" asked Mr. Arnold. "Eighteen and a half minutes." "How rapidly did you go through it?""Just as fast as the directions could be read." The cross-examination began. "Where did you start the performance?" "From the second floor to the basement." "Did you read

Wednesday, 13th August 1913 Many Witnesses Take the Stand to Refute Points of Prosecution

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 13th, 1913 Defense Calls Twenty-Two Men, Women and Boys to Give Evidence Favorable to Frank—Mr. and Mrs. Emil Selig, Parents of Frank's Wife, Declare That There Was Nothing Unusual in Conduct of the Prisoner on Day of Murder CHARACTER OF DALTON IS DECLARED TO BE BAD BY DEFENSE WITNESSES Called to Stand, He Admits Having Been Sent to Gang for Stealing Once and Having to Pay Fine on Another Occasion—Bitter Fight Is Waged Between Attorneys Over a Question Asked of Frank's Office Boy by Solicitor Dorsey, and Threat of Motion for Mistrial Is Made Calling upon a total

Tuesday, 12th August 1913 Schiff Admits He Kept Conley Knowing He Was Worthless

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 12th, 1913 H. G. Schiff, Leo Frank's assistant in the National Pencil factory, was put on the stand for a conclusion of the state's cross examination when court convened Monday morning. "How many books and papers were there that you say had not been worked on Friday night, and that you found completed Monday?" asked Solicitor Hugh Dorsey. "The financial sheet and those papers I showed you Saturday," Schiff replied. finished Friday?""Because when I left the office Friday I had not got up the data for them," the witness said. "If Frank had started to work at 8:30

Tuesday, 12th August 1913 Guesswork and Not Science Asserts Dr. J. C. Olmstead

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 12th, 1913 Dr. John C. Olmstead followed Dr. Westmoreland to the stand. He was questioned by Arnold. "What is your occupation?""I have been a physician for thirty-six years, and am a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of New York." "Would you characterize such an opinion as the one you have read of by Dr. Harris as being a guess or a scientific conclusion?""As wild a guess as I've ever heard." Corroborates Other Doctors. He was questioned extensively along the same line of questions as were put to Dr. Westmoreland and Dr. Hancock relative to

Tuesday, 12th August 1913 Franks Financial Sheet Would Take 3 Hours Work to Finish Joel Hunter

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 12th, 1913 Joel Hunter, an expert accountant, was put on the stand to testify to the amount of work required in the compilation of the financial sheet upon which the defense declares Leo Frank worked during the afternoon Mary Phagan was murdered. "What is your occupation?" he was asked by Mr. Arnold. "I am a public accountant." "Do you hold a position with the state board?" "Yes, I belong to the board of examiners." "Did you examine Leo Frank's financial sheet?""Yes." "Did his assistant, Schiff, acquaint you with the data contained in the report?" "Yes." "Did you go

Tuesday, 12th August 1913 Expert Flatly Contradicts The Testimony of Dr. Harris

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 12th, 1913 Professor George Bachman, professor of physiology in the Atlanta College of Physicians and Surgeons, and formerly a demonstrator of physiology in Jefferson Medical college, was put on the stand following Schiff. By him the defense made a further attack on the deductions of Dr. H. F. Harris. He declared that the statements made by Dr. Harris amounted to guess work, according to his knowledge of the subject. "What is your nationality, professor?" Mr. Arnold asked. "I'm a citizen of Atlanta," replied the witness. "I mean, where were you born?" "I was born a Frenchman," replied Dr.

Tuesday, 12th August 1913 Dr. Hancock Called by Defense, Assails Dr. Harris Testimony

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 12th, 1913 MADE CABBAGE DIGESTION EXPERIMENTS Dr. T. H. Hancock, a well known Atlanta physician, was the first of three medical experts to be presented in the afternoon in behalf of the defense. Dr. Hancock is official physician of the Georgia Railway and Electric company, and is a man of twenty-two years' experience. An astonishing feature of his testimony was the statement he made in answer to a question from Attorney Arnold to the effect that he had treated 14,000 surgery cases, a record hitherto unparelleled in Georgia history. He was examined directly by Mr. Arnold. "What is

Tuesday, 12th August 1913 Defense Has Best Day Since Trial of Frank Began

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 12th, 1913 AS WILD GUESSES PHYSICIANS TERM TESTIMONY GIVEN BY DR. ROY HARRIS Assert It Is Impossible to Tell Accurately Just How Long It Takes for the Digestion of Cabbage—One Doctor Tells of Experiments He Had Made on Several Patients to Settle This Point. Doubt Value of Testimony About Violence. OLD ROW OF DOCTORS BOBS UP IN TESTIMONY OF DR. WESTMORELAND Declares That He Accused Dr. Harris of Scientific Dishonesty and Then Resigned From Board When It Refused to Discharge the Secretary—Joel Hunter Goes on Stand to Testify as to the Amount of Time Necessary on Frank's Books.

Tuesday, 12th August 1913 As the Very Wildest of Guessing Dr. Westmoreland Characterizes Testimony Given by Dr. Harris

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 12th, 1913 Dr. Willis Westmoreland, former head of the state board of health, who resigned some time ago after the board gave a clean bill to Dr. H. F. Harris, the secretary, whom he had accused of "scientific dishonesty," followed Dr. Hancock on the stand. He also made an examination of Leo Frank, stating in answer to Mr. Arnold's question that he had found the accused man to be normal. He was questioned by Arnold. "What is your calling?" "I am a physician of twenty-right years' experience." "What is your main practice?""General medicine and surgery." "Have you occupied

Monday, 11th August 1913 Murder Evidence May Be Concluded by Next Saturday

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 11th, 1913 Trial May Have Reached the Point By End of This Week Where Lawyers Will Begin Their Argument. FIERCE ATTACK COMING ON HARRIS TESTIMONY The Defense Will Also Make Every Attempt to Break Down Story Told by Jim Conley, Negro Sweeper. The main points which the defense in the case of the state against Leo Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan, will place before the jury in rebuttal of the prosecution will be given this week and by Saturday it is expected that the trial will have reached the point where the lawyers will begin

Monday, 11th August 1913 Jurors Have a Great Time Playing Jokes on Deputies

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 11th, 1913 Coats off and collars and ties flung carelessly on bedposts and convenient chairs the twelve jurors in the Frank case and Deputies Foster Hunter and Bob Deavours, in charge of them, were taking a comfortable afternoon rest Sunday when suddenly a woman's voice in a plaintive key called loudly from the street, "Oh, Bob, Bob Deavours!" The deputy leaped to his feet. He was certain he had heard his wife's voice, and though the suite of rooms in the Kimball house where the jury is quartered three floors above the street, the voice came from a

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Startling Testimony of Conley Feature of Trials Second Week

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 10th, 1913 IMPORTANT WITNESSES HEARD The resting by the state of the its case against Leo M. Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan, came on Thursday and the defense is at present setting forth its evidence in rebuttal. Since last Sunday much that is regarded as important has been introduced by both sides and a number of bitter fights have been waged over evidence. James Conley, the negro sweeper, who makes accusations that Frank told he had struck the girl too hard, and who also told of Frank's having women in his office for immoral purposes

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Schiff Testimony Contradicts That Given by Dalton and Negro Conley

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 10th, 1913 Saturday by Far the Best Day for the Defense Since Start of the Frank Trial Two Weeks Ago. SAYS WOMEN DID NOT VISIT FRANK'S OFFICE Lawyers for State and Defense in Frequent Clashes During the Testimony of Frank's Assistant at the Factory. By far the best day the defense in the Frank trial has had came to a close Saturday afternoon at 12:30 o'clock when a recess was taken until 9 o'clock Monday morning, at which time Herert Schiff, assistant to Leo M. Frank, will again be on the stand to undergo a thorough cross-examination at

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Schiff Put on Stand to Refute Conley and Dalton Testimony

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 10th, 1913 HIS STATEMENTS HELP DEFENSE Herbert G. Schiff, assistant to Leo M. Frank at the National Pencil factory, followed J. H. Minar on the stand Saturday. His testimony was used by the defense in an efort to refute the stories of Jim Conley and C. B. Dalton to the effect that Frank frequently had women in the office on Saturdays and holidays and he also went into great detail and testified to the complexity of the financial sheet and the large amount of work necessary to complete it. He was being cross-examined by the state when court

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Reporter Makes Denial of Charge That Reports Have Been Flavored

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 10th, 1913 J. M. Minar, a reporter, was put on the stand by the defense after the Epps boy left. By him the defense sought to prove that the boy had talked of Mary Phagan and had not mentioned seeing her on the car. Before he had finished cross-examining him Attorney F. A. Hooper sought to create the impression on the jury that The Georgian, for which Minar works, had instructed him to discover as much news favorable for Leo Frank as possible, and Mr. Arnold entered an objection at once. "Did you go to the Epps' home

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Is Defense Planning Telling Blow At Testimony Given by Jim Conley?

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 10th, 1913 Will the defense strive to show by witnesses that the pencil factory elevator was not run on April 26 as told by Jim Conley in his remarkable story? Since a question put to General Manager Darley by Luther Rosser when Darley was placed on the tand Friday, much speculation has been created in this regard. Although attorneys for the defense will not discuss the subject, it is the prevalent belief that an effort will be made to show by mechanicians that the elevator was not in operation at any time during that fateful afternoon. Darley was

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Introduction by Defense of Host Of Character Witnesses Probable

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 10th, 1913 The introduction of character testimony in behalf of Leo Frank at present seems very probable. It is not thought, however, that witnesses of this nature will be put on the stand until the middle of the week. Attorneys for the defense, as in the past, who have withhold their plans until the exact moment of performance, have refused to discuss whether or not character witnesses will be called. It is the general impression, however, that a wealth of this evidence will be presented—more, in fact, than has been produced in any trial in the state. At

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Frank A. Hooper Is Proving Big Aid to Solicitor Dorsey

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 10th, 1913 ROSSER CALLS HIM BEAU BRUMMEL OF BAR By Britt Craig. He has a kind and genial face that makes you feel he is the friend of everybody in the world, but in the midst of a big trial he might be compared with a Gatling gun, except for the fact that there doubtless are witnesses who would prefer facing the Gatling. There is a liberal sprinkling of gray in his hair, and Luther Rosser has often truthfully, although sarcastically, referred to him as the Beau Brummel of the bar. You would never suspect that he was

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Epps Boy Denies Trying to Avoid Being Called to the Stand Again

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 10th, 1913 C. B. Dalton, who was used by the state to corroborate some of Jim Conley's testimony against Leo Frank, was the first witness called by the defense Saturday morning. He did not respond and George Epps, the newsboy who claims to have ridden to town with Mary Phagan the day she met death, was next called. The lad, who could not be found Friday, was present and took the stand. State and defense clashed over the lad as Solicitor Hugh Dorsey stated that Attorney Reuben Arnold had tried to give the impression Friday that he had

Sunday, 10th August 1913 Defense Will Renew Attack Upon Dr. Harris Testimony

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 10th, 1913 That the defense in the trial of Leo M. Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan, will continue its attack upon the testimony of Dr. H. F. Harris, who made a postmortem examination of the body and declared the girl must have died at about 12:10 in the afternoon, was the information secured Saturday. Dr. Willie Westmoreland, Dr. J. N. Ellis and Dr. T. H. Hancok are expected to be the physicians placed upon the stand to refute this declaration made by Dr. Harris. The defense has already made an attack upon the state's claim

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Witness Admits Discrepancies in Model of Pencil Factory

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 T. H. Willet, a pattern maker, who built the model of the pencil factory, was next called by the defense. Under the cross-examination of Mr. Hooper he frequently admitted discrepancies in the pasteboard structure submitted by Frank's counsel. "What is your occupation?" he was asked by Mr. Arnold. "Pattern maker." "Did you make an inspection of the National Pencil factory?""Yes." "In making this model, as to its dimensions and proportions, you have followed exact figures of blue prints?""Yes." Under Cross-examination. He was then cross-examined by Mr. Hooper. "You do not know whether this is a correct

Saturday, 9th August 1913 N. V. Darley Denies Testimony Given by Conley and Dalton

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 N. V. Darley, general manager of the National Pencil factory, who has already been used as a witness for the prosecution, was called to the stand for the defense following the pattern maker's department. He was examined by Mr. Arnold. "You are the general manager of the pencil factory, aren't you?""Yes." "Looking from a point of ground plan, isn't this a correct model of the pencil plant?" "Yes." Darley then described various furniture and fixtures in the basement and two floors depicted in the model. Plain View of Stairway. "If a body fell down the chute

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Hopkins Woman Denies Charges Made By Dalton and Jim Conley; Is Forced to Admit Untruths

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 Daisy Hopkins, a resident of Redan, Georgia, and the woman who Jim Conley and C. B. Dalton declare frequently went to the National Pencil factory with Dalton while Leo Frank was there and was aware of her presence, was the first witness called by the defense Friday morning. The woman swore to a full and complete denial of every charge that the white man and the negro had made and declared that she only knew Frank by sight, as she had worked at the factory from October, 1912, until June 1912. When Solicitor Hugh Dorsey took

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Holloway, Witness for Defense, Riddled By Cross-Examination

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 E. F. Holloway, watchman and timekeeper at the pencil factory, whose testimony Solicitor Dorsey riddled on cross-examination, followed General Manager Darley to the stand. He gave his answers rapidly, making them frequently even before Attorney Arnold had finished propounding his questions. He is a man who looks older than 60, with cold gray eyes and thin lips. His general appearance causes the lover of Dickens to think that the aged witness had stepped from one of that author's novels. He became confused upon the cross-fire of the solicitor, and perspired profusely. Same Rule for All. He

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Hinchey Tells of Seeing Frank on Car on Day of the Murder

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 H. J. Hinchey, of 391 Peachtree street, a business acquaintance of Leo Frank, and manager of the South Atlantic Blow Pipe company, was put upon the stand by the defense. He stated having seen Frank on the murder date as the superintendent rode into town on a Washington street trolley car, meeting him at Washington and Hunter streets. He was questioned by Mr. Arnold. "Do you recollect April 26, Memorial day?" "Yes.""Did you see Leo Frank that day?""Yes." "Where?""Near the capitol." "Was he on foot or riding?""He was aboard a trolley car." "Were you on foot?""No,

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Harry Scott and Boots Rogers Recalled to Stand by the State

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 When court convened Friday morning Harry Scott, Pinkerton detective, engaged by the defense in the Phagan case, was recalled to the stand by the state and asked how long it took Jim Conley, the negro sweeper, to write a copy of one of the murder notes when it was read off to him and , dictated word for word. The detective declared that the negro had taken about three or four minutes for this. "Boots" Rogers was next called and asked one question about the condition of the basement. Rogers is the ex-county policeman in whose

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Epps Boy Not With Mary Phagan, Declares Street Car Motorman

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 W. M. Mathews, of 459 Lee street, car motorman who declares that Mary Phagan rode to town on his car on April 26, followed Daisy Hopkins on the stand. Mathews gave a new turn to the theory of the girl's actions of that day by declaring that she rode to Broad and Hunter streets before getting off with another girl who was with her, and also by saying that he did not see George Epps on the car with her. In answer to questions the motorman asserted that Mary Phagan got on his car at Lindsay

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Couldnt Locate Epps Boy When Wanted in Court

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 At the opening of the afternoon session the defense called for George Epps, the 14-year-old newsboy, who says he rode uptown with Mary Phagan on the day of her death. He did not answer. Mr. Arnold asked the assistance of Judge Roan in bringing the boy to court. The judge dispatched a bailiff in search of the newsie, armed with an attachment. He was not produced, however, at any time during the afternoon session. * * * Atlanta Constitution, August 9th 1913, "Couldn't Locate Epps Boy When Wanted in Court," Leo Frank case newspaper article series

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Conductor Also Swears Epps Boy Was Not on Car With Mary Phagan

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 W. T. Hollis, of 16 Western avenue, the conductor on the English avenue car on which Mary Phagan rode to town on the day she was murdered, followed the motorman on the stand. He also declared that the girl was not accompanied by a boy and that she did not get off at Forsyth and Marietta streets where he left the car. He also declared that she was not accompanied by any boy answering the description of George Epps, but that a little girl was with her. Hollis corroborated the testimony of the motorman in practically

Saturday, 9th August 1913 Civil Engineer and Photographer Tell of Making Plats and Photos

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 Ira U. Kauffman, civil engineer, who had been employed by the defense to make drawings of the Selig home at 68 East Georgia avenue, where Frank and his wife lived, and also of the National Pencil factory, followed the street car conductor on the stand. Kauffman testified that he made the plats of the Selig home on Tuesday of this week. The plats were shown to the jury. "Could you stand in the kitchen and see the mirror in the dining room?" asked Mr. Arnold. "It is impossible to see the mirror from the kitchen." "Why?"

Friday, 8th August 1913 Will Defense Put Character of Leo Frank Before Jury?

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 Will Leo Frank's character be one of the issues in his trial for the murder of little Mary Phagan? That is the question which has been the subject of speculation since it was first known that he would be tried for the murder, and as the case has progressed the subject has been discussed frequently. Not one in a hundred defendants place their character in issue when on trial for murder, but a condition has arisen in the Frank case which may cause his attorneys to think it wise to take this step. It came when

Friday, 8th August 1913 Scott Called by Defense To Refute Conleys Story

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 SHOWS NEGRO LIED MANY TIMES The defense sprang a surprise during the afternoon session whey they called Detective Harry Scott to the stand to testify to the third-degree under which Jim Conley had been placed at police headquarters and which process had exacted his three conflicting confessions. Scott stated throughout his testimony that Conley had told conflicting stories on numerous occasions during his early imprisonment, and that had failed to tell the detectives much of the story which he related on the witness stand Tuesday and Wednesday. Scott's statement created a telling of fact and it

Friday, 8th August 1913 Rosser Swears Bludgeon Was Not In Factory Day After the Murder

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 City Detective Bass Rosser, who worked on the Phagan mystery, followed Dalton on the stand Thursday morning to tell that Mrs. Arthur White, whose husband, father and brother work for the National Pencil company, had not told him of seeing a strange negro in the factory on the day of the crime, although he questioned her about her knowledge of what went on there that day, and she had also told her brother, Wade Campbell, of seeing the negro. "Have you worked on this case?" asked Solicitor Hugh Dorsey. "Yes, sir," replied the detective. "Did you

Friday, 8th August 1913 Harris Sticks to Testimony As to Time of Girls Death

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 Dr. H.F. Harris, the state's final witness against Leo M. Frank, was put on the stand for cross examination shortly after 10 o'clock Thursday morning, and through a series of questions Attorney Reuben Arnold, for the defense, sought to make him less definite in regard to the time of Mary Phagan's death after eating the meal of cabbage and bread about 11:30 on the day she was killed. Dr. Harris was asked a number of questions about digestion, and while he admitted it to be a subject that is not thoroughly understood by scientists, he clung

Friday, 8th August 1913 Dr. Frank Eskridge Aiding Prosecution

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 Dr. R. T. Dorsey Also Comes to Assistance of Solicitor in the Frank Case Dr. Frank L. Eskridge, a well-known physician, is assisting Solicitor General Dorsey in the solicitor's examination of expert chemists and medical men and in cross-examinations of experts presented by the defense. Dr. Eskridge is widely versed in various branches of medicine, chemistry and surgery, and has proved an invaluable aid to the solicitor, especially in the examination of Dr. Roy Harris. In the cross-examination of Dr. Leroy Childs, in the afternoon session Thursday, the solicitor was valuably assisted by his brother, Dr.

Friday, 8th August 1913 Dr. Childs Differs with Harris As to Processes of Digestion

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 Following Dr. H. F. Harris, the final witness of the state, DR. L. W. Childs also an expert on matters pertaining to the various processes of digestion was placed on the stand by the defense to refute what Dr. Harris had said about the food in Mary Phagan's stomach showing that she had been killed in about half an hour after she ate. Dr. Childs took a decidedly opposite stand from that of his brother physician and declared that he would hazard no guess within two hours of the time that death occurred after eating and

Friday, 8th August 1913 Dorsey Forces Childs to Admit Certain Portions of His Testimony Could Not Be Considered Expert

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8, 1913 Dr. LeRoy W. Childs who was the first witness placed on the stand by the defense underwent a rigorous cross examination by Solicitor Dorsey. The solicitor showed a keen knowledge of medicine and chemistry in the volley of questions he fired at the medical expert, and, upon one occasion elicited the admission from the witness that he was not informed of a certain phase of laboratory work on which great stress had been laid by Dr. Roy Harris who preceded Dr. Childs to the stand. In concluding his testimony Dr. Childs when asked by the solicitor

Friday, 8th August 1913 Defense May Call for Character Witnesses Today

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 C. B. DALTON TELLS ABOUT VISITS HE PAID THE PENCIL FACTORY WITH MANY WOMEN Declares He Used Basement for Immoral Purposes at Same Time That Frank Was in Building, But Did Not Attempt to Say What the Superintendent's Relations With Women Were—Declares Conley Acted as Lookout for Him. DR. LEROY W. CHILDS CALLED BY DEFENSE TO REFUTE DR. HARRIS Harry Scott Is Also Put on Stand by Defense to Prove That Conley Lied on Many Occasions—Detective Was on the Stand When Court Adjourned for Day—Cross-Examination Fails to Shake Dr. Harris. Shortly after Dr. H. F. Harris

Friday, 8th August 1913 Dalton Corroborates Statements Contained in Conleys Testimony

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 C.B. Dalton a railroad carpenter who was heralded as one of the star witnesses for the defense was called to the stand by Solicitor Dorsey whe court convened Thursday morning. The most startling statement uttered by Dalton from the stand was that he used the basement of the National Pencil company factory for clandestine meetings with girls and women. Although not an employee of the factory and although his acquaintance with Frank was a Dalton testified that the factory superintendent knew of his visits to the basement with women. Dalton named three females with whom he

Thursday, 7th August 1913 While Murder Trial Goes on Witnesses While Away Time With Old Camp Meeting Songs

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 By Britt Craig. There is one woman with no connection whatever with the Frank case who sits undisturbed in an obscure corner of the courtroom. Throughout Jim Conley's testimony, she remained in her seat while court deputies removed women from all parts of the place and sent them outside at order of the judge. She is Mrs. Hattie Barnett, a detective, and a woman who has seen more of the world and knows more of its multivaried phases than many of Atlanta's most successful business men. She has seen and heard enough not to be touched

Thursday, 7th August 1913 Unable to Shake Conleys Story Rosser Ends Cross-Examination

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 On the opening of court Wednesday morning when Judge L. S. Roan announced that he would postpone his final decision in regard to the admissibility of Jim Conley's evidence in regard to Leo Frank's alleged misconduct and also to the negro's acting on previous occasions as his "lookout," Luther Rosser began his final effort to break the negro down. Conley stayed on the stand until 10 o'clock and was then excused. He had been testifying for fifteen hours in all and of this thirteen hours had been under the merciless grilling of Attorney Rosser. The negro

Thursday, 7th August 1913 Spontaneous Applause Greets Dorseys Victory

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 JUDGE ROAN DENIES MOTION OF DEFENSE TO STRIKE PART OF CONLEY TESTIMONY Reuben Arnold Threatens to Call for Mistrial if There Should Be Recurrence of Applause Which Marked Reception of the Decision. Judge Announces That the Court Room Would Be Cleared if There Was Any More Disorder. BAFFLED BY ATTITUDE OF CONLEY ON STAND, DEFENSE ENDS GRILL Dr. Roy Harris Testifies in Afternoon, Declaring That Death Was Caused by Strangulation—Tells of Experiments With Four Men in Digestion of Cabbage Cooked by Mrs. Coleman, Mother of Girl Who Was Murdered—C. B. Dalton Testifies Today. When, shortly after

Thursday, 7th August 1913 Mrs. Coleman Tells of Cooking Cabbage for Dr. H. F. Harris

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of Mary Phagan, followed Dr. Harris to the stand. She told of cooking an amount of cabbage at the chemists request for his experiments with the four men. She stated that it had been ground finely as she had prepared it on the day of Mary's last meal and had boiled it for an hour. She remained on the stand but for a few minutes and was asked but a few questions by either the state or defense. She was asked to describe Mary's pocketbook answering that she had already given

Thursday, 7th August 1913 Mary Phagan Was Strangled Declares Dr. H. F. Harris

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 Dr. Roy F. Harris, the pathologist, head of the state board of health, and the expert who exhumed and examined the body of Mary Phagan, went on the stand at the close of the argument over Judge Roan's reserved decision to continue the testimony from which he was interrupted Friday by a fainting spell in the courtroom. He still suffered from weakness and was allowed to sit in a heavily-upholstered armchair. He was questioned first by Solicitor Dorsey. "Dr. Harris, what is your particular branch of medicine?""My usual line is pathology, chemistry and chemical work, as

Thursday, 7th August 1913 Judges Decision Admits Conley Testimony in Full

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 At the continuation of the argument on the subject of Judge Roan's reserved decision, Solicitor Dorsey cited extracts from many legal volumes, many of which pertained to the untimeliness of objections in just such cases as the one which he argued. "It makes no difference if the act in question was a separate or distinct crime," he said, "just so it shows a course of conduct and has sufficient value to the case on trial. It is absolutely admissible. "We contend that the defense has stopped at this late hour, after examining extensively, and along the

Thursday, 7th August 1913 Hugh Dorsey Wins His Spurs; Crowd Recognizes Gameness

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 By Sidney Ormond When the spectators at the Frank trial Wednesday broke into a ripple of applause, after Judge Roan had announced his decision that the damaging evidence of Jim Conley that he had "watched out for Frank on several occasions prior to the murder and had encountered him in an attitude which set him apart from normal men would remain in the records—when this applause came—it was not that any man contributing to it necessarily thought Frank guilty. It was simply a spontaneous tribute to Solicitor Hugh Dorsey who has fought so doggedly against such

Thursday, 7th August 1913 Because He is Patriotic Mincey is Here for Trial

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 W. H. Mincey, witness for the defense in the Leo M. Frank trial whose substantial affidavit that Jim Conley had told him of killing a white girl on the day Mary Phagan was murdered was published some weeks ago was a conspicuous figure in front of the courthouse Wednesday. Mincey is a country school teacher and has been for twenty years. He is not used to city ways, he says, and the excitement of the crowd around the courthouse seemed to worry him. "I have great patriotism," said Mr. Mincey, "and that is the sole reason

Thursday, 7th August 1913 Applause Sweeps Courtroom When Dorsey Scores a Point

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 Following Conley's departure from the stand the jury was allowed a five minute recess and on their return Solicitor Dorsey tendered in evidence a picture of the pencil factory basement which was taken by Francis B. Price, The Constitution staff photographer on the morning that the body was found a of which appeared in The Constitution. He also tendered a scratch pad sample of one of those around the factory the murder notes and the pad found near the body. There were no objections from the defense. "Bring in C. B. Dalton," called out the solicitor.

Wednesday, 6th August 1913 Mincey Affidavit Is Denied By Conley During Afternoon

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 6th, 1913 SMITH ALLOWED ACCESS TO CLIENT After Judge Roan had ruled out the Conley testimony relating to alleged previous actions of Frank, the jury was returned to the courtroom, and Attorney Rosser resumed his cross-examination of Conley. "Jim, you took the body of that girl, you say, and wrapped her in a cloth, didn't you?""Yes, sir." "Was the cloth all around her?""No, sir, it didn't go over her whole body." "Did it cover her head?""No, sir." "Her feet?""No, sir." "How much of her body was projecting out of the cloth?""I don't know, sir." "You tied the cloth

Wednesday, 6th August 1913 Ignorance of Negro Witnesses Helps Them When on the Stand

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 6th, 1913 By Britt Craig. Sometimes it is lucky to be ignorant. Most people don't believe this, but it has been proven true in the cases of Newt Lee and Jim Conley in facing the nerve-racking cross-examination of Luther Rosser. The average white man in Jim's fix would last just several minutes it is likely - perhaps even less. And if he were a cigarette fiend– There have been many interesting features to the Frank trial but chief of them all is the manner in which these two negroes have stood grilling of attorneys for the defense proving

Wednesday, 6th August 1913 Defense Asks Judge Roan to Strike From Records Part of Conley Testimony

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 6th, 1913 At the opening of the afternoon session, Attorney Reuben Arnold arose, asking that the jury be sent from the room. When the twelve men had passed into their rom, he made a motion asking the court to exclude from Conley's statement that testimony pertaining to Conley having watched previously for Frank and to an unprintable scene the negro said he had witnessed between the superintendent and a young girl in Frank's office. The motion was made on grounds of irrelevancy. "First," said Mr. Arnold, "I desire to ask the court to rule out that testimony of

Wednesday, 6th August 1913 Conleys Main Story Still Remains Unshaken

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 6th, 1913 GRILLED 12 HOURS BY LUTHER ROSSER JIM CONLEY INSISTS FRANK GUILTY MAN Declaring That "I Don't Remember," or, "No, Sir; I Didn't Say That," or Simply Affirming Blandly That He Had Lied on a Previous Occasion, Negro Sweeper Sticks to Story Told on the Witness Stand on Monday Morning Despite Most Rigid Cross-Examination of Trial. AFFIDAVIT BY MINCEY OF CONLEY CONFESSION IS DENIED BY WITNESS Apparently Despairing of Breaking the Negro, Attorneys for Defense Appeal to Judge Roan to Strike All Evidence Relating to Alleged Previous Conduct of Frank Before Day of Murder on Ground of

Wednesday, 6th August 1913 Conley Remains Calm Under Grilling Cross-Examination

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 6th, 1913 ROSSER ADOPTS NEW TONE MONDAY Jim Conley, upon whose story practically the entire result of the Frank case is believed to rest, went on the stand at 9:03 o'clock and when court adjourned for lunch at 12:30 he was still being cross-examined by Luther Rosser for the defense. The lawyer had reached that point in his cross-fire of questions where he had begun to hector the witness and to take him up whenever he made a mistake, but it appeared that he was only about half through with his work. When the adjournment was taken Conley

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Women of Every Class and Age Listen With Morbid Curiosity To Testimony of Negro Conley

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 By Britt Craig. There was a chorus girl who sat next to an aged and withered woman who is undoubtedly a grandmother—a great-grandmother, maybe; there was a painted-cheeked girl with hollow eyes who bore the unmistakable stain of crimson, who sat between a mother who held in her lap an eager 13-year-old. There was a wrinkled and worn old woman with the lines of care stamped indelibly, who hobbled into the room on a crutch and sat beside a man who chewed tobacco and whispered profanity. Over in a corner there was a graceful young woman

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Witnesses in Franks Trial In Role of Marriage Witnesses

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 While T. Y. Brent, notary public and ex-officio justice of the peace, was waiting in the witness room of the Frank murder trial yesterday, the "big and little of it" came to him to pronounce the magic words which would make them forever man and wife, one and inseparable. Cleve Ware, weighing at the most 120 pounds, and Mattie Turner, who could easily muster 250 pounds, if required, were the parties, being from the swell section of Darktown. The judge performed the ceremony in the most approved style, and Frank murder trial witnesses acting as the

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Stanford Recalled By Solicitor Dorsey

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 Declares There Were Bars Across Door on Second Floor on Day Before Murder. Following Sergeant Dobbs, Mell Stanford, a factory employee, who had previously testified, was recalled for a few minutes. "Was the door on the second floor back locked or unlocked on Friday, April 25?" asked Mr. Dorsey. "There were bars across it," said Stanford. "Was there any way to get down back there?" "Only by the fire escape.""Was the area of the metal room cleaned up after the murder?" "Yes, sir, during the following week." "Did you clean it up?" asked Mr. Rosser, who

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Handsome Woman Seeks in Vain For Witness at Franks Trial

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 Shortly after the courtroom had been cleared of women during the trial of Leo M. Frank Monday, Detective Harper entered the room with a handsome woman and the two took a leisurely survey of those in the courtroom. It was learned that the woman is a waitress at a well-known restaurant, and that shortly after the murder she is supposed to have overheard a conversation with two men who were discussing the killing. It is said they were friends of Frank and that they made admissions which would prove important to the state. The two men

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Frank Very Nervous, Testifies L. O. Grice

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 Witness Had Gone to the Pencil Factory After Reading The Constitution Extra L. O. Grice was the first witness put on the stand when court convened Monday morning. He was kept there but a few minutes. He stated that he is employed by W. H. Smith, auditor of the Atlanta and West Point railroad, and that he lives at 270 Houston street. "Where were you on Sunday, April 27, about 8 o'clock?" Mr. Dorsey started out. "I was in front of The Constitution building and I saw one of their extras and went on down to

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Flashlight in The Constitution Introduced in Trial of Frank

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 Police Sergeant L. S. Dobbs was the witness who followed Grice. The officer had already testified on the first day of the trial and was brought back for only a few minutes. "Did you find a handkerchief that Sunday morning in the factory?" "Yes, sir, in the basement near a trash pile." "That's all," said the solicitor. Mr. Rosser then asked the officer several questions in regard to the detail of the basement and said he was through. Mr. Dorsey then showed the officer a flashlight photograph of the spot in the basement where the girl's

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Conley Is Mercilessly Grilled At Afternoon Session of Court

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 ARRESTED 7 TIMES, HE ADMITS Jim Conley remained on the stand throughout the afternoon session. Attorney Rosser continuting his cross-examination after the noon recess. "Who saw you, Jim, at police headquarters?" "Chief Beavers." "Who else?""Mr. Smith, my lawyer." "Was anybody else present?""Yes, Tawney." "Did he hear what was said?""I guess so. He could have heard." "You talked to no one else?""No, sir." Conley Doesn't Remember. "Did you watch for Mr. Frank since the time in January?""I think not." "What did you do the Saturday afternoon you watched for him?""I don't remember." "What did you do the

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Conley Grilled Five Hours By Luther Rosser

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 REMARKABLE STORY IS TOLD BY NEGRO IN ACCUSING FRANK OF PHAGAN MURDER Chief Witness for State Admits, Under Cross-Examination, That He Has Been Under Arrest Seven or Eight Times, and That Many Statements Made in His Three Affidavits Are False. Hangs His Head and "Fools With His Fingers" When He Lies, He Says. LOOPS MURDER NOOSE AROUND HIS OWN NECK TO ILLUSTRATE STORY By Order of Judge the Court Is Cleared of Women and Children at Afternoon Session Owing to Revolting Testimony Given by Conley—Dr. Roy Harris, It Is Understood, Will Be Closing Witness Summoned by

Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Amazing Testimony of Conley Marks Crucial Point of Trial; Says Frank Admitted Crime

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 The crucial point of the entire case of the state versus Leo M. Frank, charged with the murder of little Mary Phagan, an employee in the National Pencil factory, of which he was superintendent, came Monday morning when after putting one or two witnesses back on the stand to bring out minor points, Solicitor Hugh Dorsey called out, "Bring in Jim Conley." The state had been gradually paving the way for the testimony of the negro sweeper who declares that Frank called on him to hide the body of the dead girl and told him that

Monday, 4th August 1913 Leo Franks Trial Is Attracting Universal Interest in Georgia

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 4th, 1913 By Britt Craig. There has never been a trial in Georgia's records rivaling the Frank case in general interest throughout the state even the Grace case being a poor second. The Myers trial—the famous Will Myers murder case which is yet to receive its final chapter—created considerable interest both locally and throughout the state but was a mere shadow beside the present case. The Appelbaum case was a short one, was put through the courts more as a matter of routine than anything else. Mrs. Appelbaum is still in Atlanta and attending the Frank trial. Will

Monday, 4th August 1913 Frank on Stand Wednesday Week

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 4th, 1913 Defense Intimates Trial Will Run Into Middle of Third Week With Defendant Final Witness. It will probably be Wednesday or Thursday of next week before Leo Frank takes the stand to explain his actions on the day Mary Phagan was slain. This was intimated last night by attorneys associated with the defense, who stated that the trial very likely would run into the middle of the third week, and that, from present plans, the defendant would be the final witness. It is understood that the defense will introduce much expert testimony, and that it will be

Monday, 4th August 1913 Every Man on Franks Jury Gets Nickname for Trial

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 4th, 1913 Quiet Sunday for Twelve Jurors By Vernon Stiles. As completely cut off from knowledge of the happenings of the outside world as though they were marooned in an island of the South seas, and yet tantalized by the swirling life around them, twelve men have lived for the past week in the heart of Atlanta. Their days has been spent in a crowded courtroom, where they listened to the wrangle of lawyers and the more or less conflicting statements of the witnesses, and their nights have passed in three crowded rooms behind locked doors, where the

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Resume of Week’s Evidence Shows Little Progress Made

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 3rd, 1913 Place and Time of the Murder Only Big Facts Brought Out in the Mass of Evidence. One week of the battle Leo M. Frank, accused of the murder of Mary Phagan in the factory of the National Pencil company, for his life has elapsed, and his fate is yet a question for future developments to decide. The first week of the trial has been markedly free from sensations. The two big facts that the week's evidence would seem to show are that Mary Phagan was murdered in the second floor of the pencil factory, and that

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Mistrial Near When Jury Saw a Newspaper in Judge’s Hands

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 3rd, 1913 Inadvertent Action of Judge Roan Caused Quick Conference Between Attorneys for the Defense in Frank Case. PRACTICALLY NOTHING NEW WAS INTRODUCED IN SATURDAY TESTIMONY Dr. J. W. Hurt, County Physician, Takes Stand to Tell of Examination of the Dead Body of Girl—Testimony Conflicts With Harris' at Times. Practically nothing new was adduced from the testimony at Saturday's session of the Leo M. Frank trial. But by far the session—which lasted from 9 o'clock until 1 o'clock, adjournment being had until Monday—was fought with the keenest interest of any thus far held. This was due to the

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Good Order Kept in Court by Vigilance of Deputies

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 3rd, 1913 Despite the throng that has gathered each day around the courthouse where a man is on trial for his life, and despite the number of people who have crowded in to fill every seat, there has been on the whole good order in the courtroom, due to the vigilance of the deputies in charge. Sheriff C. W. Mangum sits daily in the room and with him are practically every deputy and bailiff that the courtrooms afford. To handle the large crowd and to take care of the entrance all of them are needed. In charge of

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Girl Asked for Mary Phagan’s Pay But Was Refused by Frank

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 3rd, 1913 Miss Helen Ferguson, formerly employed at the National Pencil factory, but now working for Marcus Loeb and company, was the first state witness put on the stand Saturday morning. She proved to be a litle girl in short dresses with her hair hanging in two braids down her back. Her age she gave as sixteen. On the stand she was rather timid and answered questions in an almost inaudible voice, but replied positively to each one. She was only kept on the stand about fifteen minutes. For two years previous to the murder she declared that

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Fixing Hour of Girl’s Death Through Aid of Modern Science The Prosecution’s Greatest Aid

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 3rd, 1913 By Britt Craig. When Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of Mary Phagan, related a simple story on the witness stand the first day of the Frank trial of the slain child's frugal meal of cabbage and biscuit which she ate upon leaving home that fateful day, she paved the way for the most thrilling development thus far in the entire case. Her story was as devoid of thrills as any yet told. It was an ordinary recitation of a common meal and told in the mother's plain, simple manner. Had she not broke into tears her

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Finding of Dead Girl’s Parasol is Told by Policeman Lasseter

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 3rd, 1913 Following Chief Beavers the name of Detective Bass Rosser was then called, but he was not present and Policeman R. F. Lasseter was put on the stand. "Did you go to the National Pencil factory on Sunday morning, April 27?""Yes." "Did you ever see this parasol before?" asked the solicitor, holding up the which was found in the elevator shaft and identified as Mary Phagan's. "Yes, I found it that morning at the bottom of the shaft." "What else did you find? Any other wearing apparel?" "No." "Well, did you find anything else?""Yes, some twine.""You saw

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Dorsey Pleased With Progress

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 3rd, 1913 Solicitor Will Put Dr. Roy Harris on the Stand Again on Next Tuesday Afternoon. While Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey declined to make an expression of what he believed would be the outcome of the case against Leo M. Frank, which he has been prosecuting all the week, he expressed himself yesterday afternoon as thoroughly satisfied with the present progress. The solicitor held an extended conference immediately after court adjourned with his assistant, E. A. Stephens, and with Attorney Frank A. Hooper, who is aiding him, and together with the lawyers went over what had been done

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Detective Waggoner Describes Extreme Nervousness of Frank

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 3rd, 1913 City Detective D. L. Waggoner was called to the stand following Miss Ferguson Attorney Rosser immediately raised the objection that he had been in the court room and the solicitor declared that he did not know whether or not the detective had Waggoner stated that he was present for about 20 minutes Wednesday. "He was not sworn and put under the rule," explained Solicitor Dorsey, "because I did not know that I would need him." The defense made no further objection and the examination began. "How long have you been on the force, Mr. Waggoner?" the

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Condition of Girl’s Body Described by Dr. J. W. Hurt

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 3rd, 1913 Dr. J. W. Hurt, county physician, who examined the body of Mary Phagan, took the stand following Detective Waggoner. Dr. Hurt not only made an examination on the Sunday morning that the body was found, but he was present several days later when the girl's body was disinterred at Marietta by Dr. Roy Harris. "How long have you been a physician?" asked Solicitor Dorsey after he had put the formal questions to establish the physician's connection with the case. "Since 1884." "What are your duties as county physician?""To attend all inquests and examine the bodies of

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Chief Beavers Tells of Seeing Blood Spots on Factory Floor

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 3rd, 1913 Police Chief James L. Beavers followed Dr. Hurt upon the witness stand. Mr. Rosser immediately asked him if he had been in the courtroom, as he had not been named by the state when other witnesses were named, sworn and put under the rule. He replied that he had for a short time and Mr. Dorsey explained that in the beginning of the case he had no intention of using him. "Were you present at the National Pencil factory on the Monday following the finding of the dead girl?" asked Mr. Dorsey. "I was there not

Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Break in the Frank Trial May Come With the Hearing Of Jim Conley’s Testimony

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 3rd, 1913 By Britt Craig. Jim Conley isn't a cornfield negro—he's more of the present day type of city darkey—and that's the only difference between him and Newt Lee. Outside of that there is but little variance. However, Jim's ancestors hewd cotton and plowed bottom lands long before Jim had an idea of existing. He's got the good old country strain in him and he's as black as tar. Some folks say he'll make a witness as good as Newt, and others say he won't. That all remains to be seen. One thing is sure: There'll be plenty

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Women and Girls Thronging Court for Trial of Leo Frank

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 2nd, 1913 Fully one-fourth of the big audience at yesterday afternoon's session of the Frank trial was composed of women and girls. It was the largest crowd of the entire case, and, to the credit of Deputy Sheriff Miner and his force, was handled more effectively than at any preceding session. There were many strange faces. The women sat in conspicuous seats, fighting many times to obtain a location in view of the witness stand and the tables at which sat the state's lawyers and counsel for the defense. Many were small girls, especially one, who did not

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Stenographer Parry Identifies Notes Taken at Phagan Inquest

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 2nd, 1913 Stenographer Parry, the official court stenographer, was next called to the stand to identify a number of notes he took at the coroner's inquest held in police headquarters shortly after Frank's arrest. He was asked by Solicitor Dorsey: "Did you report the coroner's inquest over the body of Mary Phagan?" "Yes." "Did you take a statement from Leo Frank?""Yes." The solicitor showed the stenographer's notes. "Is that your report?""Yes." "Is it correct?""It is correct to the best of my ability.""You are an expert?""I am a man of twenty-five years' experience."Attorney Rosser took the examination: "Look at

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Startling Statements Made During Testimony of Dr. Harris

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 2nd, 1913 Making the startling declaration that Mary Phagan had been killed within thirty or forty-five minutes after she had eaten dinner, Dr. Roy F. Harris, state chemist, took the stand during the afternoon session yesterday. It was Dr. Harris who made the autopsy upon the body when it was disinterred in Marietta on May 5. He brought with him into court specimens of predigested cabbage which had been removed from the slain girl's stomach. He also testified to the effect that the girl had suffered violence before death and recited the condition in which he had found

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Policeman W. F. Anderson Tells of Newt Lee’s Telephone Call

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 2nd, 1913 W. F. Anderson, the policeman who answered the telephone when Newt Lee called police headquarters on the morning of the discovery and who went with the police squad to the scene, was next called to the stand. "About 3 o'clock on the morning of April 26 where were you?" he was asked by the solicitor. "At police headquarters." "Did you have a telephone call about that time?" "A man called from the National Pencil factory and said a woman had been killed. I asked was it a white woman or negro, and he answered that she

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Negro Lurking in Factory Seen by Wife of Employee

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 2nd, 1913 Mrs. Maggie White, wife of John Arthur White, who was at work on the fourth floor of the National Pencil factory part of the day upon which Mary Phagan was killed, was the first witness the state called to the stand Thursday morning in the Frank trial. The witness told of going to the factory twice on that day to see her husband, and of seeing Frank on both occasions, and also of seeing a negro lurking behind some boxes on the first floor. "How long has your husband been working for the National Pencil factory?"

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Mary Phagan Murdered Within Hour After Dinner

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 2nd, 1913 DR. H. F. HARRIS GIVES STARTLING EVIDENCE ABOUT TIME OF MURDER Wound on Eye of Girl Victim of Pencil Factory Crime Looked as if It Came From Blow of Fist, Secretary of State Board of Health Tells the Jurymen. WHILE ON THE STAND DR. HARRIS COLLAPSES FROM RECENT ILLNESS Frequent Clashes Take Place During Testimony of N. V. Darley, Assistant Superintendent of National Pencil Factory, Over the Alleged Nervousness of Frank. Within three-quarters of an hour after she had eaten her frugal breakfast of cabbage and bread, Mary Phagan was dead. This startling fact was brought

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Husband of Minola McKnight Describes Movements of Frank

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 2nd, 1913 Albert McKnight, colored, the husband of Minola McKnight, who made a startling affidavit for the police in regard to circumstances at the Frank home on the night of the murder, followed Febuary to the stand. "What is your wife's name?" the solicitor asked. "Minola McKnight." "What does she do?""Cooks at Mrs. Selig's home.""How long has she held that place?" "For two years.""Where were you about 1 o'clock on the afternoon of April 26?" Saw Frank April 26. "I was at Mr. Frank's home."(The Franks have been living with the Seligs, Mrs. Frank's parents.) "Did you see

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Gay Febuary Tells Frank Jury About Statement Prisoner Made

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 2nd, 1913 Gay C. Febuary, secretary to Chief Newport A. Lanford, of the detective bureau, and recent figure in the sensational dictagraph episode, was called to the stand to testify to a statement made by Leo Frank on April 26 in Chief Lanford's office. It was during Febuary's testimony that Frank's statement was permitted to be produced before the jury. It was read by Attorney Stephens, an associate of Solicitor Dorsey. Mr. Dorsey questioned Febuary: "You were present at Lanford's office when Frank and Luther Z. Rosser were there?""Yes.""Do you remember having made stenographic report of a statement

Saturday, 2nd August 1913 Frequent and Angry Clashes Between Attorneys Mark the Hearing of Darley’s Testimony

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 2nd, 1913 N. V. Darley, mechanical head of the National Pencil factory and directly in charge of the Georgia Cedar company, an adjunct concern, was put on the stand by the state, after Mrs. White had finished. "How long have you been with the company, and are you still employed here?" asked Solicitor Dorsey. "I've been there about five years, and am still employed there." "Who is your immediate superior?" "I consider Sig Montag my immediate superior," he replied. "What is your relation to Frank?" "We are co-laborers, on an equal basis." "With whom do you more often

Friday, 1st August 1913 William Gheesling, Embalmer, Tells of Wounds on Girl’s Body

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 1st, 1913 William Gheesling, the undertaker who embalmed Mary Phagan's body, was next called in. "What is your business?" queried Solicitor Dorsey. "I am an embalmer." "How long have you been in that advice?" "Fifteen years, or more." "Did you see the body of Mary Phagan?" "Yes, I first saw it at 15 minutes to 4 on the morning of April 27." "Where was it?" "In the basement of the National Pencil factory." "Describe it." How Body Was Lying. "It was lying on the face, arms crossed, and with a piece of wrapping twine and part of her

Friday, 1st August 1913 Sweeper Swears No Spots Were on Floor Day Before Murder

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 1st, 1913 Mel Stanford, a sweeper and plater at the factory, was put on the stand at 12:20. He testified that he had worked there for about two years and was there on Friday, April 25, on the second floor. "What did you do on Friday?" asked the solicitor. "I swept up the entire floor in the metal room." "Were you there Monday, April 28?" "Yes." "See anything at water cooler near girls' dressing room?" "Yes; a spot which had a white substance over it." "Was it there Friday?" "It was not there when I swept the floor

Friday, 1st August 1913 Mrs. Arthur White Takes Stand Today

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 1st, 1913 Will Testify She Saw Negro Idling in Shadows of Stairway. Mrs. Arthur White, wife of Arthur White, the witness who will testify that on Saturday morning when she appeared at the pencil factory to see her husband, she saw a negro idling in the shadows of the stairway on the first floor, will be the first called to the stand this morning. A moment before adjournment yesterday afternoon she was summoned to testify, but Judge Roan ordered the session closed before she could reach the witness stand. Mrs. White, it is stated, has already declared that

Friday, 1st August 1913 Leo Frank Innocent, Says Mrs. Appelbaum

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 1st, 1913 Acquitted in Same Courtroom, She Is Now Eager Spectator at Big Trial. A little woman, neatly dressed and wearing a dark hat crowned with a flowing aigrette, slipped quietly into the rear of the courtroom at the afternoon session of the Frank trial yesterday afternoon, and sat down near the press table unnoticed. Presently, a reporter looked up from his notes, caught sight of her and instantly walked to where she sat. Soon reporters swarmed around her. The press table and trial proceedings were almost deserted for the moment by the Fourth Estate. She was Mrs.

Friday, 1st August 1913 Defense Not Helped by Witnesses Accused of Entrapping the State

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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

Friday, 1st August 1913 Conley Takes Stand Saturday

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Atlanta GeorgianAugust 1st, 1913 Lawyers Wrangle Over Frank's Nervousness DORSEY WINS POINT AS ROSSER BATTLES TO DEFEND ACCUSED Jim Conley, accuser of Leo Frank, will take the stand Saturday morning, according to all indications Friday, to repeat the remarkable story he told concerning his part in the disposition of the body of Mary Phagan and undergo the merciless grilling of the defense. Solicitor General Dorsey said that he expected to have his case completed by Saturday night and police, believing he will call the negro to-morrow, had him shaved and cleaned up and in readiness for his appearance. Regardless of

Thursday, 31st July 1913 State Balloon Soars When Dorsey, Roiled, Cries ‘Plant’

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 31st, 1913 By JAMES B. NEVIN. Poor John Black! With this unwitting assistance of the Solicitor General and the assistance of Luther Rosser, he furnished all the "punch" there was in Wednesday's story of the Frank trial. Black evidently was undertaking to tell the truth, and was unwilling to tell more or less than the truth, but that didn't help matters much, so far as the State was concerned. When Solicitor Dorsey exclaimed "plant!"—which means nothing more than "faked" or "framed up" evidence for the benefit of the defense—I glanced rapidly at Rosser. I saw precisely what I

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Scott Trapped Us, Dorsey Charges; Pinkerton Man Is Also Attacked by the Defense

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 31st, 1913 FRANK NOT IN OFFICE JUST AFTER 12 ON DAY OF SLAYING, SAYS GIRL The deliberate charge that he had been "trapped" by Pinkerton Detective Harry Scott was made by Solicitor Dorsey at the trial of Leo M. Frank Thursday. Scott played a curious part in the trial, being attacked by both sides. He was given the same fiery baptism that annihilated City Detective Black the day before, but he passed through the ordeal in much better shape than his brother detective. Scott left the stand at 11 o'clock and Miss Monteen Stover was called. The Stover

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Red Bandanna, a Jackknife and Plennie Minor Preserve Order

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 31st, 1913 He Raps With the Barlow Blade and Waves the Oriflamed Kerchief Judiciously. Plennie Minor, chief deputy sheriff, has a man's sized job on his hands and he handles it with the aid of a red bandanna handkerchief and a pocketknife. More formidable armament has been invented, but the oriflammed kerchief and the barlow blade are all that Plennie Miner requires to perform a duty that many would deem arduous, all of which shows that the deputy sheriff is a man of resource and ability. It is his job to keep order in Judge Roan's courtroom, while

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Holloway Accused by Solicitor Dorsey of Entrapping State

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 31st, 1913 Here are the important developments of Thursday in the trial of Leo M. Frank: Harry Scott, Pinkerton detective, is accused of having "trapped" the prosecution by Solicitor Dorsey, when he testifies that Frank was not nervous when he first saw him. He is fiercely grilled by the defense after having testified to finding blood spots on the second floor, wiped over with a white substance. He testifies in addition that Herbert Haas, attorney for Frank, asked him to give him reports on his investigations before he gave them to the police and that he refused. He

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Crimson Trail Leads Crowd to Courtroom Sidewalk

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 31st, 1913 By L. F. WOODRUFF. The sun's heat is broiling. No man can stand it without suffering. And still men stand, not one man, but scores of them, on a blistered pavement gazing on a red brick building as unsightly as a gorgon's head and look at nothing by the hour. They are led there by a trail of crimson, and they are held there by the carmine charm that—since Cain committed his deed of fratricide—has made murder the deed that the law most severely punishes and has made it the act that most interests man. Go

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Collapse of Testimony of Black and Hix Girl’s Story Big Aid to Frank

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 31st, 1913 Although the State's witnesses were on the stand all of Wednesday the day was distinctly favorable for Frank, partly because nothing distinctly unfavorable was developed against him—the burden of proof being upon the State—but most largely because of two other factors, the utter collapse of the testimony of one of the State's star witnesses, City Detective John Black, and the testimony in favor of Frank that was given by another of the State's witnesses, Miss Grace Hix, a 16-year-old factory employee. Girl Helps Frank. Miss Hix testified that the strands of hair found on the lathing

Wednesday, 30th July 1913 Rosser’s Examination of Lee Just a Shot in Dark; Hoped to Start Quarry

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 30th, 1913 By JAMES B. NEVIN. If Mr. Luther Z. Rosser's bite is one-half so dangerous as his growl undoubtedly is disconcerting and awe-inspiring, there will be little save shreds and patches of the prosecution left when the State comes eventually to sum up its case against Leo Frank. Rosser's examination of Newt Lee was one of the most nerve racking and interesting I ever listened to. It reminded me much of a big mastiff worrying and teasing a huge brown rat, and grimly bent eventually upon the rat's utter annihilation. A witness up against one of Rosser's

Wednesday, 30th July 1913 Gantt Has Startling Evidence; Dorsey Promises New Testimony Against Frank

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 30th, 1913 STATE ADDS NEW LINK TO EVIDENCE CHAIN BY BOOTS ROGERS' STORY Sensational testimony by J. M. Gantt, discharged pencil factory employee, was promised Wednesday by Solicitor Dorsey and Frank A. Hooper, who is assisting him. They admitted that Gantt had testimony that had never before been published and would be one of the State's most material and direct witnesses. The defense has heard that Gantt will testify he saw Frank and Conley together on the day of the crime. Gantt was expected to follow Grace Hicks on the stand. The State added another link in the

Wednesday, 30th July 1913 Frank’s Mother Pitiful Figure of the Trial

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 30th, 1913 Defendant Perfect in Poise, His Wife Picture of Contemptuous Confidence. By L. F. WOODRUFF. Arm akimbo; glasses firmly set, changing position seldom, Leo M. Frank sits through his trial with his thoughts in Kamchatka, Terra del Fuego, or the Antipodes, so far as the spectators in the courtroom can judge. He may realize that if the twelve men he faces decide that he is guilty of the murder of Mary Phagan, the decree of earthly court will be that his sole hope of the future will be an appeal to the Court on High. His mind

Wednesday, 30th July 1913 Flashes of Tragedy Pierce Legal Tilts at Frank Trial

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 30th, 1913 By O. B. KEELER. The trouble is, plain human emotions won't stick at concert pitch all the time. And so the Frank trial, after the first twenty minutes, say, becomes much like any other trial. Except in the flashes. You get into the courtroom with some formality. At once you are in the midst of order. It is rather ponderous, made-to-order order. But it is order. Officials stalk about, walking on the balls of their feet, like pussy cats. But they do not purr. They request you to be seated. You must not stand up; you

Wednesday, 30th July 1913 Defense Plans Sensation, Line of Queries Indicates

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 30th, 1913 That a sensation is be sprung by the defense by the production of the mysteriously missing ribbon and flowers from the hat of the murdered girl was repeatedly indicated by Attorney Rosser's line of questioning Tuesday and the afternoon before. Beginning with Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of Mary Phagan, the attorney for Frank interrogated every witness who saw the girl alive or dead that day in regard to the ribbon and flowers. Mrs. Coleman said that the ribbon and flowers were on the hat when Mary left home. Newt Lee said that he had seen

Tuesday, 29th July 1913 Tragedy, Ages Old, Lurks in Commonplace Court Setting

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 29th, 1913 Outwardly Quiet and Singularly Lacking in Excitement, Frank Trial is Enactment of Grim Drama. By JAMES B. NEVIN. One of the most commonplace things in the world—crime—is riveting the attention of Atlanta and Georgia to-day. Crime is almost as commonplace as death—and yet death, in a thousand ways, never is commonplace at all. If I were a stranger in Atlanta and should walk into the courthouse where Leo Frank is being tried for the murder of Mary Phagan, doubtless I should be utterly astounded to discover what I had walked into. That pale-faced, slight, boyish-looking party

Tuesday, 29th July 1913 Lee’s Quaint Answers Rob Leo Frank’s Trial of All Signs of Rancor

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 29th, 1913 By L. F. Woodruff A page was ripped from a story of Harris Dickson. "Old Reliable" was paraded in the life in as somber a setting as was ever conceived and the temper of the audience that is following the fortunes of Leo Frank through his struggle for life and liberty was revealed. Some sinister things have been said of the spirit of Atlanta in reference to the trial of the pencil factory superintendent as the slayer of Mary Phagan. It was whispered once that the law would not be allowed to take its course, but

Tuesday, 29th July 1913 Defense Wins Point After Fierce Lawyers’ Clash

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 29th, 1913 STATE TRIES TO SHOW GIRL WAS STRANGLED ON THE SECOND FLOOR Here are Tuesday's important developments in the trial of Leo M. Frank on the charge of murdering Mary Phagan in the National Pencil Factory, Saturday, April 26. Newt Lee, negro night watchman at the pencil factory, leaves the stand after four hours and forty minutes of examination and cross-examination with the essential points of his story unshaken. Efforts to discredit the negro's story result only in showing several discrepancies in the story he told before the Coroner's jury and his testimony on the stand at

Tuesday, 29th July 1913 After Rosser’s Fierce Grilling All Negro, Newt Lee, Asked for Was Chew or Bacca-AnyKind

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 29th, 1913 He Looks Like a Negro, He Talks Like a Negro, and He Has the Will and the Manner of Darkies in Old-Time Slavery Days—Was on the Stand Three Hours Tuesday Morning "All I wanted was a chew of ‘bacca. Yes, sir, dat was all," said Newt Lee after he had testified for three hours Tuesday morning at the Frank trial, had answered question upon question, had experienced all the exquisite delights of a real cross-examination. "I can't say I was tired. Naw, sir, not ‘zactly that I jes' needed the ‘bacca. Soon as I left the

Monday, 28th July 1913 Mary Phagan’s Mother Testifies

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 28th, 1913 Newt Lee Repeats His Story in Court Room Negro Watchman Swears Frank Acted Oddly Day of Crime Here are the important developments in the trial of Leo M. Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan. Jury chosen at 1:30 p. m. Mrs. Coleman, girl's mother, takes stand after recess, at 3:15, and tells of Mary leaving for the factory 11:45 a. m. on April 26. George W. Epps, boy companion of Mary Phagan, repeats his story that he had an engagement to meet her on the afternoon of the fatal day. Newt Lee, night watchman at

Monday, 28th July 1913 Jury Complete to Try Frank

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 28th, 1913 Wife Helps Prisoner Pick Men to Try Him All in Readiness for Real Trial to Begin After Short Recess Events on the opening day of the trial of Leo M. Frank, accused of the slaying of Mary Phagan in the National Pencil Factory, moved with such unexpected swiftness that it was apparent that the trial proper would be under way and the first witnesses called before the close of the first day's session. The jury had been completed by the time recess was taken at 1:30. After a few preliminary clashes between the opposing attorneys which

Monday, 28th July 1913 Frank Jury

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 28th, 1913 Here is the Frank jury complete: A. H. Henslee, 74 Oak street; salesman. F. V. L. Smith, 481 Cherokee avenue, manufacturer's agent. J. F. Higdon, 108 Ormewood avenue. F. E. Winburn, 213 Lucile avenue, claim agent. A. L. Wisbey, 31 Hood street, cashier of the Buckeye Oil Company. W. M. Jeffries, a real estate man, with offices at 318 Empire building. Marcellus Johemming, 161 James street, a machine shop foreman with offices at 281 Marietta street. M. L. Woodward, cashier King Hardware Company, 182 Park avenue. J. T. Osburn, an optician for A. K. Hawkes, was

Monday, 28th July 1913 Frank, Feeling Tiptop, Smiling and Confident, is Up Long Before Trial

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 28th, 1913 Frank was escorted from the Tower to the courthouse shortly after 6 o'clock in the morning, nearly three hours before the trial was schedule to begin. This was done to avoid the curious crowd which it was expected would be about the courthouse and thronging the corridors at 9 o'clock. Frank was up and dressed and freshly shaven when Deputy Sheriff Plennie Miner appeared before his cell at the early hour. "How are you feeling this morning Mr. Frank?" the deputy inquired. "Tip top, only, I'm mighty hungry," replied Frank. Exhibiting the same poised confidence that

Sunday, 27th July 1913 Work of Choosing Jury for Trial of Frank Difficult

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 Veniremen Searchingly Examined by Both State and Defense Slightest Objection Used to Disqualify—Attorneys Shrewdly Gauge Candidates from Every Angle. In the selection of the twelve men to comprise the jury which will try Leo M. Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan, one of the bitterest contests of the great legal battle which begins Monday is anticipated. That counsel for both the defense and State will probe deep into the character of each of the men drawn from the venire of 144 who take the stand for examination for jury service in this

Sunday, 27th July 1913 Venire Whipped Into Shape Rapidly; Negro Is Eligible

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 Within a minute or two after Deputy Sheriff Plennie Minor had called the court to order the examination process was applied to the venire panel of 144 men. From each panel of twelve one or more men were excused after being asked the formal questions and furnished a sufficient reason to bar them. J. H. Jones, Deputy Clerk, called the names. F. W. Stone, No. 82 East Linden street, was excused on account of illness. R. F. Shedden was refused on an excuse of military exemption. Only one man was excused from the

Sunday, 27th July 1913 Trial to Surpass in Interest Any in Fulton County History

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 No murder trial in Fulton County ever has approached the spectacular interest which is in prospect in the Frank case from the first, sharp skirmish between the opposing attorneys, through the long, bitter legal battle, and to the final pleas of the prosecution and the defense. The presence of Luther Z. Rosser and Reuben R. Arnold in the brilliant array of legal talent at once made certain that the trial would be out of the ordinary. Neither has the reputation of making a half-hearted fight when there is anything at stake. This time

Sunday, 27th July 1913 State Bolsters Conley

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 Solves Discrepancies of Time Mistaken Identity To Be Plea Leo M. Frank Goes to Trial for the Slaying of Mary Phagan Monday, With Both Prosecution and the Defense Confident. All Preparations Are Made for Big Crowds—Judge Roan to Be on Bench, Despite Recent Illness—Bitter Battle Expected. Leo M. Frank will go on trial for his life to-morrow forenoon. With the beginning of the great legal battle, hardly more than 24 hours distant, it has been learned that the prosecution has overcome to its own satisfaction the greatest obstacle with which it has been

Sunday, 27th July 1913 Public Demands Frank Trial To-morrow

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 Old Police Reporter Sees No Cause for Delay Either Side Asking Postponement Will Reveal Weakness, as Time Has Been Given for Preparation. Conley Is Center of Interest. Defense Must Break Story of Negro or Face Difficult Situation. State Will Base Case on Chain of Circumstantial Evidence. By AN OLD POLICE REPORTER. The defense in the case of Leo Frank would have made a mistake, if current street comment counts for anything, had it decided to move for a continuance of the case to-morrow. Indeed, the fact that the defense even was suspected of

Sunday, 27th July 1913 Prominent Atlantans Named On Frank Trial Jury Venire

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 The venire of 144 men from which twelve will be selected to decide the fate of Leo M. Frank is considered to be one of the most representative ever drawn from a petit jury box in Fulton County. Prominent among the prospective jurors are Joel Hurt, Dr. E. L. Connally and J. W. Alexander, capitalists: David Woodward, president of the Woodward Lumber Company; George Law, of Law Brothers; R. F. Shedden, of the Mutual Life Insurance Company; Thomas D. Meador, vice president of the Lowry National Bank, and Edwin F. Johnson, advertising man.

Sunday, 27th July 1913 Pinkerton Men Brand Lanford Charges False

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 Emphatic denial of the charges by Chief of Detectives Lanford that he had kept bad faith with the city department in connection with the investigation of the murder of Mary Phagan was made by H. B. Pierce, superintendent of the Pinkerton Detective Agency in Atlanta, Saturday night. Chief Lanford's accusations against the Pinkerton official were mainly that he had withheld evidence from the city police, especially the bloodstained stick and the pay envelope of the Phagan girl, both of which were found by Pinkerton operatives on the first floor of the factory and

Sunday, 27th July 1913 Phagan Case of Peculiar And Enthralling Interest

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 As Leo Frank faces to-day the ordeal decreed by law that for man's life, man's life shall pay, interest in his case that has held Atlanta, Georgia and the South enthralled for three months has diminished not a whit since the Sunday morning the body of the little factory girl was found. Wise judges of news, men who are paid thousands of dollars each year for their knowledge of the fickleness of the public, men who can time to the second the period when interest dies in one thing before the public eye

Sunday, 27th July 1913 Frank Watches Closely as the Men Who are to Decide Fate are Picked

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 This newspaper article is a continuation from the first page of an Atlanta Georgian newspaper. The first page is missing from our archives. If any readers know where to obtain the first part of this article, we would appreciate any help! Thank you! Mary Phagan by strangulation. This was followed by the request of the defense that the State's witnesses be called, sworn and put under the rule. The prosecution opened by announcing its readiness to go on with the trial and called the list of witnesses. Bailiffs brought them down from the

Sunday, 27th July 1913 Frank Fights for Life Monday

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 Dorsey Ready to Avenge Mary Phagan Mystery of Months Is Still Unsolved Most Bitter Legal Battle in History of Atlanta Courts Is Expected—Case Will Probably Last for Weeks. After three months of mystery in the death of Mary Phagan, a climax is at hand more tense, more dramatic, more breathlessly interesting to Atlanta and all Georgia than any situation of fiction. Leo M. Frank, employer of the little girl whose tragic death, April 26, stirred a State, will be brought to trial Monday on the charge that he killed her. Frank's trial is

Sunday, 27th July 1913 Every Bit of Evidence Against Frank Sifted and Tested, Declares Solicitor

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 Solicitor-General Hugh Dorsey, who will prosecute the case against Leo M. Frank, last night gave the Sunday American the following statement: Without going into the merit of the State's case against Leo M. Frank, charged with the murder of little Mary Phagan, the possibility of a mistake having been made is very remote. To say why the State believes Frank to be guilty of this murder would be hurtful, and lay before the defense the evidence we have so carefully guarded. We have employed only the fairest methods and have accepted no evidence

Sunday, 27th July 1913 Defense Claims Conley and Lee Prepared Notes

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 Theory Is That Watchman Surprised Sweeper Attempting to Dispose of Body and Entered Into Pact. An amazing chain of evidence, laying bare the mystery of the two notes found beside the body of Mary Phagan, which have proved the most baffling of all the facts connected with the girl's murder, came to light as in the possession of the defense Saturday. According to the theory of the defense, Conley murdered the girl and was unexpectedly discovered with her body in the basement of the pencil factory by Newt Lee; that the night watchman

Sunday, 27th July 1913 Brewster Denies Aiding Dorsey in Phagan Case

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Atlanta Georgian (Hearst's Sunday American)July 27th, 1913 Colonel P. H. Brewster has written The Georgian a letter correcting a statement in The Sunday American. The letter quotes the report that Colonel Brewster had aided Mr. Dorsey, and proceeds: "Where such information could have been obtained I can not understand, since it is absolutely false. "I have had nothing whatever to do with the Frank case. My advice has not been even sought as to any question involved in the case, nor have I volunteered it, and I have prepared no briefs on any phase of the case. Mr. Dorsey, the

Saturday, 26th July 1913 Present New Evidence Against Frank

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 26th, 1913 Both Sides Hide Vital Phagan Facts State's Prosecutor Shrouds Identity and Stories of Scores of Witnesses in Secrecy. Prosecution and defense continued their preparations for the Frank trial Saturday, the last-hour hurry of interviewing new witnesses and gathering up the stray ends of evidence giving a fair promise that the trial will start as scheduled next Monday forenoon. That Solicitor Dorsey has nearly a score of important witnesses whose testimony has been carefully guarded from the defense and the general public is well known. These witnesses have come to his office from time to time, and

Saturday, 26th July 1913 Pinkerton Chief Scored by Lanford

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 26th, 1913 Says Pierce Broke His Promise Detective Head Also Asserts Phagan Evidence Private Sleuth Unearthed Was Plant. Chief of Detectives Lanford roundly scored H. B. Pierce, head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency in Atlanta, Saturday for what he termed questionable procedure in connection with the Phagan murder investigation. When application was made by the agency for permission to operate in Atlanta and the matter was under consideration by the Police Board, the promise was made that the Pinkerton's would work in harmony with the city detective department and would co-operate in the apprehension of criminals. This promise,

Saturday, 26th July 1913 Chapter 5 in Phagan Case

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 26th, 1913 The Negro Conley's Confession That He Was Frank's Accomplice and Events Leading Up to Trial. Chapter VI. "He (Leo Frank) told me that he had picked up a girl back there and had let her fall, and that her head had hit against something—he didn't what it was—and for me to move her, and I hollered and told him the girl was dead." With this startling accusation Jim Conley introduced his third confession. Under the rack of a merciless third degree, continued through the long afternoon of May 29, he weakened or became desperate toward the

Friday, 25th July 1913 Witnesses for Frank Called

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 25th, 1913 Despite Judge's Statement All Is In Readiness, Move for Postponement Is Expected. Despite the fact that Superior Judge L. S. Roan stated everything was in readiness for the trial of Leo M. Frank next Monday, that State's Attorney Hugh M. Dorsey has announced he will fight a delay, and that the defense actually commenced summoning witnesses, the impression still prevailed Friday that a motion for continuance would be made by the defense when the case is opened. Attorneys Luther Rosser and Reuben R. Arnold, declined flatly to say whether they would permit the trial to proceed

Thursday, 24th July 1913 Third Chapter in Phagan Mystery

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Atlanta GeorgianJuly 24th, 1913 Arrests of Suspects in the Factory Slaying. Sensation as Leo Frank, Manager Was Taken Into Custody. CHAPTER III. Everything that occurred, trivial or important, during those first few days after the body of little Mary Phagan was discovered in the pencil factory basement took on a dramatic aspect. The people were keyed to so high a pitch by the revolting crime that for for a time it seemed to require only a spark to fire them to violent deeds. Let a strange person so much as appear at the police station to confer with Chief of

Friday, 1st August 1913 Frank’s Presence in Office at Time He Says He Was There is Denied by Girl on Stand

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 1st, 1913 Following the Pinkerton detective testimony the state introduced Miss Monteen Stover, who worked in the factory when Mary Phagan did. The girl was rather abashed when she first appeared, but turned out to be a witness who could relate exactly what she started out to tell and who did not seem to get confused. "Where do you work?" asked the solicitor of the girl. "Nowhere." "Were you work on April 26?" "No." "When did you last work before the murder?" "On the Monday before the murder," she answered. "Were you in the factory on April 26?"

Friday, 1st August 1913 Attorneys for Both Sides Riled by Scott’s Testimony; Replies Cause Lively Tilts

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 1st, 1913 When court convened on Thursday morning, J. M. Gantt, formerly employed in the bookkeeping department of the National Pencil factory, was placed on the stand for two questions, and he was followed by Harry Scott, Pinkerton detective, who worked as a partner of John R. Black, of the city detectives, in searching for the murder of Mary Phagan. Solicitor Hugh Dorsey had Gantt swear that he was arrested on April 28 and hold until the following Thursday. During Scott's testimony, there were lively tilts of all sorts. At one time Scott became angry with the solicitor

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Detective Black Muddled By Keen Cross-Examination Of Attorneys for Defense

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 31st, 1913 Detective John R. Black, the officer who went in Rogers' machine from the factory to Frank's residence on the Sunday morning that Mary Phagan's body was discovered, was next put up by the state. He took the stand at 11:45 o'clock, and was still there when court adjourned for lunch. In answers to Solicitor Dorsey's questions he said he had been on the police force for six years and previous to that had worked as n cooper for the Atlanta Brewing and Ice company. "Do you know any of the directors of this company?" began the

Wednesday, 30th July 1913 Mother and Daughter in Tears As Clothing of Mary Phagan Is Exhibited in Courtroom

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 30th, 1913 Solicitor Dorsey stood before Detective Starnes at the witness box yesterday afternoon and held to view a lavender frock with a bit of pink ribbon at each shoulder. In the hand that was lowered at his side he held a wee slipper. "Do you recognize this dress?" he put to the witness. "I do." "To whom did it belong?" "To Mary Phagan, the girl who was killed in the National Pencil factory." Mother and Daughter Sob. A moist-eyed woman, gray beginning to fleck her hair and betray her fifty years looked sadly upon the articles in

Friday, 1st August 1913 Holloway Denies Affidavit He Signed for Solicitor

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 1st, 1913 NEW TESTIMONY GIVEN AT TRIAL OF LEO M. FRANK BY R. B. BARRETT Machinist at Pencil Factory Tells Jury of Discovery of Murdered Girl's Pay Envelope and of Strands of Hair Near Her Machine in Metal Room on Second Floor. HENRY SCOTT PUZZLES BOTH SIDES OF CASE BY EVIDENCE THURSDAY E. L. Holloway, Who Swore in Affidavit That Elevator Was Closed on Saturday, the Day of the Murder, Admits on Stand That He Was Mistaken—"I've Been Trapped," Cries Dorsey. The first piece of new testimony of any importance which has developed since the beginning of the

Friday, 1st August 1913 Haslett Describes Visit to Home of Leo Frank

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 1st, 1913 Detective B. B. Haslett, who went with Detective John Black on Monday morning, April 27, to Leo Frank's home to summon him to police headquarters for a statement Chief Lanford wished him to give, was next called to the stand. "Did you go to Leo Frank's home at any time?" the solicitor asked. "Yes. At 7 o'clock Monday morning we were sent to see Frank and have him come to the detective bureau." "What did you tell him?" "That Lanford wanted to see him." "Do you know whether he was liberated or not?" "Yes." "When you

Friday, 1st August 1913 Finding of Hair and Envelope Described by Factory Machinist

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 1st, 1913 R. B. Barrett, a machinist at the National Pencil factory, who declares that he found strands of hair similar to Mary Phagan's on his machine after the murder, and who also told of finding a torn piece of pay envelope in the same room and under the machine where the hair was found, followed Monteen Stover on the stand. He was asked if he had testified before the coroner's and the grand jury, and replied that he had. "What did you see near Mary Phagan's machine?" "A peculiar spot on the floor," he replied. "Was the

Friday, 1st August 1913 E. F. Holloway Testimony

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The article below is just a piece of the printed testimony of E. F. Holloway from the Atlanta Constitution. Unfortunately, most of the beginning part of this article is missing from our archives. Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 1st, 1913 "Who was the next man?" "Mr. Darley." "Who was the next man or woman?" "Mattie Smith." "Did you turn the building over to Newt Lee?" "Yes." "How many negroes worked in the building?" "Seven or eight." Always Sweeping. "Did you ever hear of a man named Stanford who had a mania for sweeping out and couldn't stop until he had swept the whole

Friday, 1st August 1913 Blood Found by Dr. Smith on Chips and Lee’s Shirt

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Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 1st, 1913 Dr. Claude A. Smith, the medical expert who made microscopic examinations of the blood-spotted chips chiseled from the floor of the pencil factory and of the bloody shirt discovered in Newt Lee's home, was next called in. He was asked by Solicitor Dorsey: "What is your business?" "I am city bacteriologist and chemist." He was handed the chips from the pencil factory flooring. "Did you test these chips?" "Yes. Some detectives brought me these specimens and asked me to examine them. They were considerably dirty and stained. On one of them I found blood corpuscles." "Was

Thursday, 31st July 1913 William Gheesling First Witness Today

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 31st, 1913 Harry Scott, Pinkerton Detective Will Also Be Called to Stand During Day William Gheesling, the P. J. Bloomfield undertaking attachee who made the first examination and emblamed the body of Mary Phagan will probably be the first witness called to the stand in the Frank trial this morning. He will be followed by Harry Scott, the Pinkerton detectives who worked with Detective John Black in the murder investigation and who engineered the third degree which resulted in Jim Conley's confession. Dr. Hurt, county physician who made the medical examination upon the corpse and who it is

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Rogers on Stand Describes Visit of Frank to Undertakers

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 31st, 1913 When court convened and before the jury had been brought in Attorney Luther Rosser entered an objection to the drawing of the pencil factory which Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey had rehung upon the wall after removing the descriptive lines. Objection had previously been made to the lines and the solicitor had caused these to be erased. Attorney Rosser and his colleague Reuben Arnold declared that the dotted lines which shows the state's theory of how the girl's body was carried from the second floor to the basement were not part of the building and hence were

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Mrs. Coleman Is Recalled To Identify Mary’s Handbag

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 31st, 1913 Mrs. J. W. Coleman was recalled to the stand for only a moment's interrogation regarding the mesh handbag which she carried with her upon leaving home on the day of the tragedy. Attorney Rosser asked, "What kind of bag did Mary carry with her that day?" "A mesh bag." The solicitor asked that she describe its size and shape. Her description was that of an ordinary mesh bag, unornamented and manufactured of silver. She also identified the handkerchief and parasol as having belonged to the slain child.

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Idle and Curious Throng Court Despite Big Force of Deputies

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 31st, 1913 In spite of the largest force of deputies that has ever been brought together in Fulton county for a similar purpose, the greatest difficulty is being experienced in keeping out the idle and morbidly curious at the Leo M. Frank trial. A glance around the room is sufficient to show that the deputies have been imposed on. Scores of professional loafers—men who have had no visible means of support for years, and who could have possible interest in the trial—throng the room. Many women, who are in no way connected with the case either through friendship

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Gantt, Once Phagan Suspect, On Stand Wednesday Afternoon

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 31st, 1913 J. W. Gantt, who once was a suspect in the famous case, followed Mrs. Coleman to the stand at the afternoon session. "Have you ever been connected with the pencil company?" "From January 1st, 1918, until April 7, I was employed with that concern as shipping clerk. I was discharged by Mr. Frank for an alleged shortage." "Did you know Mary Phagan?" "Yes—I knew her as a little girl." "Did Leo Frank know her?" "Yes." "How do you know this?" Knew Mary Pretty Well. "On Saturday she came into the office for a time record. Frank

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Defense Riddles John Black’s Testimony

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 31st, 1913 SLEUTH CONFUSED UNDER MERCILESS CROSS-QUESTIONS OF LUTHER ROSSER Just Before He Left the Stand He Confessed That He Was "Mixed Up" and That He Could Not Recall What He Had Testified a Moment Before—Tangled on Finding Bloody Shirt. FRIENDS OF PRISONER HAVE HIGH HOPES NOW OF FAVORABLE VERDICT "Boots" Rogers, Grace Hicks, Mrs. J. W. Coleman and J. M. Gantt on Stand During Day—Mobs of Curiosity Seekers Besieging Doors to Gain Admission to Frank Trial. When Wednesday's session of the Leo M. Frank trial had come to a close, the friends of the accused were filled

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Daintily Dressed Girl Tells Of Daily Routine of Factory

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 31st, 1913 Grace Hicks, a sister-in-law of ‘Boots' Rogers, whom he carried to the factory the morning of April 27 to tell if the dead girl was an employee of the factory was put upon the witness stand by the state after Rogers had been excused. She was a daintily dressed slender girl of 17, and declared that she had worked there for the past five years. To the solicitor's questions she answered that she had known Mary Phagan for about a year at the pencil factory and that the dead girl had worked on the second floor.

Thursday, 31st July 1913 Bearing of Black and Lee Forms a Study in Contrast

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 31st, 1913 By Sidney Ormond Comparisons are odious, but to the close observer of events following the Mary Phagan murder and the trial now in progress one cannot help contrasting the impression made on the jury by Newt Lee, the negro night watchman of the National Pencil factory, and the testimony of John Black, detective, who worked up a large part of the evidence being used against Leo M. Frank by the state. It was only a short while ago that John Black, according to the statement of Lee, was ‘blunblamming' at him night and day in an

Wednesday, 30th July 1913 Three Witnesses Describe Finding Mary Phagan’s Body

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 30th, 1913 NEWT LEE STICKS TO ORIGINAL STORY DESPITE ATTEMPTS TO CONFUSE NEGRO Striking Feature of Day's Proceedings Was the Evident Effort on Part of Luther Rosser to Connect Watchman With Crime, or Show He Knew More Than He Has Told. DORSEY SAYS DEFENSE IS TRYING TO IMPEACH TESTIMONY OF STARNES Mr. Rosser Declared, However, That All He Was Trying to Do Was to Test the Memory of Detective Who Was Among First to Investigate the Murder of Mary Phagan in Factory. During the second day's proceedings of the Leo M. Frank trial the sensation for which the

Wednesday, 30th July 1913 Sergeant Dobbs Resumes Stand At Tuesday Afternoon Session

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 30th, 1913 Sergeant L. S. Dobbs took the stand again at the afternoon session. "Did you help take the girl's body from the basement?" Attorney Rosser questioned. "I was there when the undertakers came," answered the sergeant. "Who cleaned the girl's face?" "Sergeant Brown, I believe." "How?" "With a piece of paper." "How was the body removed?" "In a corpse basket." Here the examination was taken up by the solicitor general. "What is the distance from the ladder to the spot where the body was found?" "About 150 feet." Found Slipper and Hat. "Did you discover anything on

Wednesday, 30th July 1913 Officer Tells About Discovery Of Body of Girl in Basement

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 30th, 1913 Sergeant L. S. Dobbs, one of the policemen who answered Lee's call to the factory, was put on the stand, after Lee was dismissed. He told of the call at about 3:20 a. m. on April 27, and of how he and Officers Anderson and Brown, with "Boots" Rogers, an ex-county policeman, and Britt Craig, of The Constitution, went to the factory and found the body. The officer declared, among other things, that Lee was not frightened or trembling when they got there, that they had difficulty in telling at first whether the girl was white

Wednesday, 30th July 1913 First Two Days of Frank Trial Only Skirmishes Before Battle

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 30th, 1913 During the two days' progress of the Frank trial public interest has centered around the case and all eyes seemed turned to it. To date, the interest has really been in watching the struggle between the skilled attorneys who are fighting for position and whose clashes over the preliminary witnesses are merely the skirmishes of the pickets before two mighty armies come together. Thus far the interest, while to a certain extent centered on the maneuvering, has been mostly of the future tense. Every one is looking forward to what is to come. A fierce skirmish

Wednesday, 30th July 1913 Clash Comes Over Evidence Of Detective John Starnes

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Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 30th, 1913 When Sergeant Dobbs was called from the stand Detective J. M. Starnes, prosecutor of Frank and a detective attached to police headquarters was called in. He has been associated with the solicitor general throughout the Phagan investigation. The defense and prosecution clashed in perhaps their most spectacular battle over an attempt of Attorney Rosser to force the detective into recalling the exact words of a portion of his testimony at the coroner's inquest. An argument was advanced by both Attorneys Dorsey and Hooper and each member of Frank's counsel Attorneys Arnold and Rosser. The apparent motive

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