Leo Frank TV

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Atlanta Constitution August 4th, 1913 Secretary of State Board of Health Will Resume Testimony Interrupted by His Collapse on Last Friday. STATE TO USE PHOTO OF SPOT WHERE BODY WAS FOUND BY NEGRO Friends and Relatives Besiege Prisoner in Cell on Sunday. Shows Little Evidence of Strain of Trial, Say Jail Officials. The state will open this afternoon's session of the Frank trial with Dr. Roy Harris on the stand, it is stated, if the physician's health is as much improved as it was on Sunday. The solicitor had not finished his examination of Dr. Harris on Friday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?"

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 30th, 1913 Newt Lee, the negro night watchman of the pencil factory, who telephoned police headquarters of the finding of Mary Phagan's body at the pencil factory, was again placed upon the stand when court convened Tuesday for the second day's session. Attorney Luther Z. Rosser renewed his cross-fire of questions by which he sought to confuse the negro and secure new admissions or change valuable points in his testimony, and thus expose a vulnerable point for a concentrated attack upon his entire statement. Mr. Rosser took up practically where he had left off the afternoon before. "Newt,

The Atlanta Constitution, July 29th, 1913 Will Frank's lawyers put any evidence before the court? That is a question that was much discussed on the opening day by a score or more of lawyers who secured seats in the courtroom in order to hear the trial and to watch the way in which the skilled attorneys on both sides handled the case. The fact that so many witnesses have been summoned by the defense does not mean to the legal mind that Attorneys Rosser and Arnold will put up any evidence any more than the summoning of scores of the

The Atlanta Constitution, July 29th, 1913 Up to the hour of the trial, Mrs. Leo M. Frank, wife of the young man now on trial for his life, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan, had kept in the background of the case. Daily she visited her husband at the jail, and brought him delicacies. She came quietly, and when she departed she created no stir of excitement among the hangers-on around the jail. She was accorded the most chivalrous treatment, and her desire to avoid notoriety was respected. Only once did an expression from her appear in the public

The Atlanta Constitution July 29th, 1913 Men Who May Be Called to Stand Report Trial by Attorney's Agreement. Just as the state was about to open formally its case against Leo M. Frank, Attorney Reuben R. Arnold interrupted by declaring to the court that he expected to have to call on a number of newspaper men to testify as the case went on. "They know a great deal about this case, and we have complete files of the papers here and will be able to tell to a certain extent from them whom we will want," he said. "I may

The Atlanta Constitution July 29th, 1913 Attorneys for Both Sides Had Good Line on All Men Examined. According to an unofficial account kept as the matter of striking the Frank jury was carried out, ninety-six men were called into the box and examined before the twelve men to try the case were finally selected. These men were divided into eight panels of twelve each, and came in a panel at a time. Every bit of information that could be got together in advance about the men whose names were on the venire list of 144 men drawn last week, had

The Atlanta Constitution, July 29th, 1913 List Indicates That Prisoner Is Prepared to Put Character in Evidence. Numbers of witnesses were summoned to court by both sides and when the names were called so that all could be sworn it developed that scores of Leo Frank's friends had been called upon. From the fact that there is not a possibility of one in this number knowing anything of the crime, it appears that the defense has made preparation, at least, to put Frank's character in evidence and has secured these of his friends to testify for him. Of the number

The Atlanta Constitution, July 29th, 1913 W. H. Mincey, who made the famous affidavit in which he declared that Jim Conley had told him on April 26 that he had killed a girl, arrived late last night for the Frank trial. In a statement made to The Constitution, Mr. Mincey reaffirmed his affidavit in its entirety and declared that he would tell this story on the witness stand. He was accompanied by Colonel Ben E. Neal, of Ringgold, Georgia, a lawyer who has known him for years and who states that he will testify as to Mincey's good character, should

The Atlanta Constitution, July 29th, 1913 But F. V. L. Smith's Wife Calls Police and Intruders Flee. Two big, burly, black negroes who evidently had taken a decided interest in the Frand murder trial, and knew that F. V. L. Smith, of 481 Cherokee avenue, had been chosen for the jury yesterday and would not be home last night, attempted to enter his home. No one was there but Mrs. Smith and her little 4-weeks' old child. Seeing the negroes on the porch, she made a step toward them, and they fled. Within a few minutes they returned, and instead

The Atlanta Constitution July 28th, 1913 Chief interest in the case of Leo M. Frank, which is scheduled to begin today, centers in the selection of a jury, the first 144 veniremen, having been drawn last Thursday and published in The Constitution on Sunday. It seems to be the general opinion that this panel will be exhausted and others summoned before a jury is secured. Attorneys for both sides are of the opinion that it will take about a day to select a jury, which would let the hearing of evidence begin on Tuesday, or on Wednesday, if it should

Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 26th, 1913 They Have Started Summoning Witnesses and Are Quoted as Having Agreed to Go to Trial. That Attorneys Reuben R. Arnold and Luther Z. Rosser, representing Leo M. Frank, charged with the Mary Phagan murder, have decided to go to trial Monday when the case is called was information made public Friday from an apparently reliable source. Coupled with this, and apparently making the trial doubly sure, is the news that the defense has started summoning its witnesses and making final preparations for the actual trial. Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey reiterated Friday his statement in regard to

  The Atlanta Constitution, July 25th, 1913 Negro Is Taken in Chief's Auto to Sections He Claims to Have Visited on Murder Night. Jim Conley, the negro sweeper and most important figure in the Phagan case, was taken from police headquarters in the automobile of Chief Beavers yesterday afternoon and carried over the ground on which he accounts for his whereabouts during the afternoon of the murder. He was in charge of Chief Beavers and Detectives Pat Campbell and John Starnes, headquarters men who have been attached to the solicitor's office throughout the investigation. He was driven through the Peters

    Atlanta Constitution July 25th, 1913, Friday. As a reward for his success in the Mary Phagan mystery, Detective Harry Scott, assistant superintendent of the Atlanta Pinkerton offices, has been promoted to the superintendency of the Houston, Texas branch, to which he goes immediately following the close of the Leo Frank trial. Scott's work has been declared to have been the most successful in the entire Phagan investigation. It was a result of his efforts that the famous Jim Conley confession was obtained, in which admission the negro acknowledged complicity and accused Leo Frank of the actual murder. The

Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 25th, 1913 Negro Was Taken to Tower Without Knowledge of Beavers or Lanford. Action is likely to be taken against Detective John Starnes and Pat Campbell, who Wednesday afternoon carried Jim Conley, the negro in the Phagan case, from police headquarters to the Tower without permission of either Chief Beavers or Chief Lanford. When asked by a Constitution reporter Thursday afternoon what steps he would probably take against the detectives, Chief Beavers declined to talk. He inferred, however, that an investigation would likely result and that action would be taken. Conley was taken from the station house prison

    Atlanta Constitution July 25th, 1913, Friday. One Hundred and Forty-Four Names Drawn From Jury Box—No Effort So Far at Postponement. The veniremen from which it is expected to choose the jury for the trial Monday of Leo M. Frank, charged with the Mary Phagan murder, was drawn yesterday afternoon by Judge John T. Pendleton, at the request of Judge L. S. Roan, who returned from Covington, Georgia, slightly ill. The names of 144 men were drawn from the petit jury box, and as far as is known no actual attempt was made to have them drawn from the

Atlanta ConstitutionJuly 24th, 1913 Report Says That It Has Been Sent to Northern City to Be Put Under Microscope. That the bloody club found in the National Pencil factory after the murder of Mary Phagan is in some northern city undergoing microscopic examination after having been inspected by local experts, is a rumor that prevailed at police headquarters yesterday. Upon being examined by an Atlanta expert, who, it is said, declared that it would be impossible to determine whether or not the blood spots were from animal or human, the weapon was sent north for more minute examination. Frank's lawyers

Atlanta Constitution July 24th, 1913 For First Time Since Mary Phagan Was Killed Two Negroes Are Brought Face to Face. James Conley, a sweeper at the National Pencil factory, and Newt Lee, night watchman, who carried the police to where Mary Phagan's body lay on the morning of April 27, were brought face to face yesterday afternoon in the tower by Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey and Frank A. Hooper, an attorney who is aiding the solicitor. J. M. Gantt was taken there by the attorneys, as he knew Conley while both were working for the pencil factory. Attorney Hooper stated

  The Atlanta Constitution July 23rd, 1913 Defense of Leo Frank Attaches Importance to Find Made by Pinkerton Detectives. The discovery of a bloody bludgeon on the third floor of the National Pencil factory has added greater mystery to the Phagan case. It became known yesterday that Leo Frank's defense is in possession of the weapon and that it will be used as one of their strongest points in the coming trial. The club is a short, thick stick with small spots of blood at the end. It was found by Pinkerton detectives on May 10 after headquarters detectives had

The Atlanta Constitution July 23rd, 1913 Attorneys for Relatives in the Crawford Will Hearing Are Willing to Yield Their Claim of Priority. The conflict between the dates of hearing the litigation over the $250,000 estate of the late Joshua B. Crawford, and the trial of Leo M. Frank, charged with the Mary Phagan murder, may cause a postponement of the Frank trial, as Attorneys Reuben R. Arnold and Luther Z. Rosser are connected with both cases. The Crawford hearing will be renewed today and by right of priority takes precedence over the other trial. It is expected, however, than an

The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, July 20, 1913 (Page 7, Column 5) The Episcopalian diocese of Georgia, at its annual convention, appointed a social service commission, which has since met and formulated the following special report on prison and child labor conditions in this state. "Resolved, That the prison system of the state of Georgia, and the methods of punishment now in use and as commonly administered, are unworthy of an enlightened and progressive state. "Resolved, That we hereby indorse the splendid efforts of the Prison Reform association of this state, and offer to them our hearty co-operation in securing needed

The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, July 20, 1913 (Page 7) As Famous Murder Case Nears Trial the Public Mind Again Reverts to the Discovery of the Crime; and Again the Great Question Comes Up: "What Happened in the Pencil Factory Between Noon Saturday and 3:15 Sunday Morning?" By Britt Craig. Automobile in which detectives and newspaper men went to the scene of the murder. In the machine are Detective Starnes, Harry Scott, W. W. (Boots) Rogers and John Black. There are things that happen right before our eyes that defy the pen of a god to describe. The mind of a

The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, July 20, 1913 (Page 2, Column 7) Woman Swore That Leo M. Frank Tried to Engage Room on Night of Murder Mrs. Nina Formby, who signed an affidavit in the Frank case in which she swore the superintendent has endeavored to engage a room at her house, 400 Piedmont avenue, during the Phagan murder night to which he might bring a girl has fled to Chattanooga and will not appear at the coming trial on July 28. This announcement was made to a Constitution reporter last night by the woman's legal representative, John Gossett. Gossett states

The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, July 20, 1913 (Page 1,. Column 1) Luther Rosser and Reuben Arnold Declare He Is Going Out of His Way to Dictate to the Grand Jury. EXCEEDS PROVINCE OF SOLICITOR GENERAL Grand Jury Will Meet at 10 O'Clock Monday Morning to Take Up Conley Case. Call Is Sent Out. In reply to Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey's statements in regard to the proposed indictment by the grand jury of James Conley, the negro who has confessed complicity in the murder of Mary Phagan, Attorneys Reuben R. Arnold and Luther Z. Rosser issued a statement Saturday afternoon

The Atlanta Constitution Saturday, July 19, 1913 Asserting That He Considers Recorder Mentally Irresponsible, the Mayor Announces Controversy Closed. With the declaration that no utterance by Recorder Nash R. Broyles will induce him to resort to blackguardism or swerve him in the matter of exercising clemency, Mayor James G. Woodward yesterday reduced the sentence of George Poulas, a Greek retsaurant keeper, who was fined $100 or thirty days in the stockade for alleged violation of the near beer laws. The extent of the mayor's clemency was to reduce the fine assessed against Poulas to $49 or twenty-nine days in jail.

The Atlanta Constitution Saturday, July 19, 1913 Call Is Issued After Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey Had Flatly Refused Request of Foreman. A call for the Fulton grand jury to meet at 10 o'clock Monday to take steps leading to the indictment of James Conley, the negro sweeper of the National Pencil factory who accuses Leo M. Frank, its superintendent, of the Mary Phagan murder was issued yesterday by Foreman W.D. Beatie after Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey had flatly refused the foreman's request to call the meeting. The move to indict Conley is wrong and should not be made, the

The Atlanta Constitution Saturday, July 19, 1913 Chief's Statement Follows the Publication of Report That Pinkertons Are Now of the Opinion Sweeper Is Guilty. "OPEN TO CONVICTION," SCOTT TELLS REPORTER "Our Testimony in Case Will Be Fair and Impartial," He Says—Grand Jury Called to Consider Indicting Conley. DEVELOPMENTS OF DAY IN MARY PHAGAN CASE Meeting of grand jury called to take steps leading to indictment of James Conley on the charge of murder, over protest of Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey, who declares that indictment of Conley will be useless procedure. Reported on Friday that the Pinkertons have changed their opinion

The Atlanta Constitution Friday, July 18, 1913 Among These Is One That Effort Will Be Made to Indict Conley. That the grand jury would meet possibly today or tomorrow and take steps toward indicting James Conley, the negro sweeper of the National Pencil factory, was a persistent rumor in circulation Thursday. From Foreman W.D. Beattie came the statement that he had not called for a meeting of the grand jury and that as far as he knew there would be no such action taken. Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey also declared that he had issued no call for the grand jury

The Atlanta Constitution Friday, July 18, 1913 In Final Fling at Broyles the Mayor Declares He Is Through With Controversies With City Officials. The word war raging between Mayor James G. Woodward and Judge Nash R. Broyles, police magistrate, which grew out of the mayor's use of the pardon prerogative, grew tense yesterday, when both sides hurled bitter excoriations at the other. Mayor Woodward took a final fling at Recorder Broyles in a statement last night. "I sympathize with Broyles," Mayor Woodward said. "He is, in my opinion, a political accident. No one takes him seriously. He is mad with

The Atlanta Constitution Wednesday, July 16, 1913 State Has No Intention of Changing Plan of Action in Phagan Case. The declaration of W.D. Beattie, foreman of the grand jury, that the grand jury had no intention of taking steps to indict James Conley, and a statement from Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey that as far as he was concerned the state would continue its present plan of action in regard to the Mary Phagan murder, apparently put a block to the rumor that the grand jury would go over the solicitor's head and indict the negro sweeper for murder. The

The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, July 13, 1913 Girls of Fourteen and Sixteen Tell Recorder Revolting Stories of Vice. After relating a revolting tale of a career of vice on the streets and in the suburbs of Atlanta, Dora Rothstein and Corinne Wilson, two girls aged 14 and 16 years, stood unabashed in the recorder's court Saturday afternoon. Recorder Pro Tem Preston, shocked by their testimony, called for the parents of the prisoners. Two aged men and a woman stepped forward and stood before the judge. They were Mr. and Mrs. A. Rothstein, parents of the younger girl, and W.B. Engesser,

Caption reads: Detective Harry Scott (in Panama hat), of the Pinkertons, who played the hunch that Jim Conley, the negro, knew something of the girl's murder. The accompanying figure is Detective John Black, of police headquarters, whose work in co-operation with the Pinkerton man did much to solve the crime. Great dependence will be put in their testimony at the coming trial of Leo Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan. The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, July 13, 1913 By Britt Craig. Have you ever had a hunch that there wasn't anybody around the table that held a higher hand

The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, July 13, 1913 Solicitor Dorsey Does Not Believe the Negro Guilty of Any Part in Crime. That Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey does not believe that Newt Lee, negro night watchman at the National Pencil factory, who was bound over by the grand jury with Superintendent Leo M. Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan, is guilty, was the only matter of importance brought out yesterday at the hearing of the habeas corpus before Judge W.D. Ellis by which Lee's attorneys, Graham & Chappell, sought to free him. Judge Ellis denied the motion for habeas corpus

The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, July 13, 1913 Jim Conley Declares Positively That He Has Made No New Admissions. Jim Conley, the negro sweeper, who was reached for a moment by newspaper reporters last night, reiterated his former story and declared positively that he had made no new statement of admission. The police have taken special pains to keep Jim secluded from reporters. Early Saturday night they managed to find him in a cell in "Drunkard's Row." He answered a few questions put to him, and seemed very willing to talk. An early arrival of the turnkey, however, prevented the newspaper

The Atlanta Constitution Friday, July 11, 1913 Insurance Man Who Made Affidavit Says Conversation Was With Some Other Negro—Saw Conley at Station. It was disclosed Thursday afternoon that William H. Mincey, the insurance agent who has made an affidavit to the effect that Jim Conley on the date of the Phagan murder drunkenly admitted that he had slain a girl had appeared at police headquarters during Conley's grilling and had positively failed to identify the negro. This was told a Constitution reporter by Detective Harry Scott of the Pinkertons and Detective Chief Newport Lanford. The insurance agent, they declared, had

The Atlanta Constitution Thursday, July 10, 1913 Discovery Made by Detectives Weeks Ago, But Is Just Announced The discovery of the pay envelope given Mary Phagan on the day of her murder is believed by detectives to furnish the missing link in the chain of circumstancial evidence they declare they have forged. The envelope was found by Detectives Harry Scott and John Black. It is now in possession of the solicitor general. It was discovered on the first floor of the plant building behind a radiator that is situated in immediate vicinity to the spot at which James Conye ,

The Atlanta Constitution Thursday, July 10, 1913 Soda Water Stands, Chop Suey Joints and Automobile Rides Figure in Her Narrative. NAME OF BUSINESS MAN BROUGHT INTO SCANDAL Hattie Smith Says She Registered With Men in Cumberland and Brittain—Recorder Binds Over Three. A story of vice that is unprecedented even in the sorbid history of police court, was poured into the ears of Judge Broyles Wednesday afternoon, when Hattie Smith, the 17-year-old "Girl of the Streets," was called to the stand. She made no attempt to withhold anything. She gave names and addresses with startling willingness, and told of her own

The Atlanta Constitution Wednesday, July 9, 1913 Because the attorney of Lena Barnhart, who is accused by Hattie Smith of being a white slave procuress, pleaded for time in which to obtain witnesses to the effect that the Barnhart woman had been introduced to the girl and had been her benefactress, the recent hotel vice scandal which was to have been given an airing yesterday in police court was postponed until today at 2:30 o'clock. Chief Beavers ordered detectives Tuesday morning to summon C. V. Kistner, proprietor of the Hotel Cumberland, to appear in recorder's court and bring the guest

The Atlanta Constitution Wednesday, July 9, 1913 Three Officers Are Suspended for Ninety Days, and Two Exonerated and Their Pay for Lost Time Restored. WOOD, BORN, FOLDS DISCHARGED BY BOARD Mayor Intimated He Would Ask Charges Be Preferred Against Moon, Who Said He Drank to Secure Evidence. The scandal in the police department which grew out of revelations that eight policemen visited the resort of Ola Bradley, a negress, at No. 129 Auburn street resulted in the dismissal of three, exoneration of two, and suspension of three for ninety days, by the police board, at 1:30 o'clock this morning. The

The Atlanta Constitution Friday, July 4, 1913 Attorney Chappell Declares Belief That Lee Has No Knowledge of Guilty Parties. An early effort is likely to be made to free Newt Lee, the negro night watchman who discovered the body of Mary Phagan, and who has since been held for suspected complicity in the crime. This is intimated in a statement issued by the negro's counsel, Bernard L. Chappell, who says he has arrived at the conclusion that his client knows absolutely nothing about the murder, except his grewsome discovery. Lee was not indicted, although his name was submitted before the

  The Atlanta Constitution Monday, March 9, 1914 Stated That He Was Willing to Reply to Any Questions That Might Be in the Mind of the Public, and Asked to Answer Any Such That Might Be Propounded to Him. TELLS HOW JIM CONLEY COULD HAVE SLAIN GIRL AND ESCAPED DETECTION Asserts That Very Fact That He Admitted He Had Seen Mary Phagan on the Day of the Murder, Thus Placing Himself Under Suspicion, Was Proof in Itself That He Was Innocent of Crime. Probably the most interesting statement yet issued by Leo M. Frank in connection with the murder for

The Atlanta Constitution Saturday, June 28, 1913 Indictments Grew Out of the Dictagraph Episode and the Letters Which Followed. Formal investigation into the invectives hurled between Colonel Thomas B. Felder and Detective Chief Newport Lanford resulted yesterday in indictments of criminal libel being returned by the grand jury against each of them for their cards and interviews in the daily papers in which they attacked each other's character, after the dictagraph row. Colonel Felder is held under two indictments on a bond of $500, while Chief Lanford has one indictment against him, and is free on the same bond. The

The Atlanta Constitution Wednesday, June 25, 1913 Date of Trial Changed From June 30 Until July 28 at Plea of Attorneys for Defense. The first appearance in open court of the indictment against Leo M. Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan came yesterday afternoon when Judge L. S. Roan, presiding over the criminal division of superior court, summoned attorneys for both sides, and after a hearing changed the date of trial from June 30, as set by Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey, to July 28. This and the legal move by the defense in serving upon Solicitor Dorsey, Police Chief

The Atlanta Constitution Wednesday, June 25, 1913 Rumor He Will Appear for Defense Emphatically Denied, However, by Senator. By John Corrigan, Jr. Washington, June 24.—Reports that Senator Hoke Smith will be associated with Luther Rosser and other lawyers for the defense in the trial of Leo M. Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan were current here today. These reports followed the visit to Washington on last Saturday of Luther Rosser, leading counsel for Frank and Ike Haas, president of the National Pencil company, which employed Frank as superintendent of the factory. Investigate Early Life. Mr. Rosser and Mr. Haas

The Atlanta Constitution Tuesday, June 24, 1913 Indications Are Case Will Begin on That Day—Jury Panel Not Yet Drawn by Judge Roan. The trial of Leo M Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil Factory, now under indictment for the murder of Mary Phagan on April 26 in the factory, has been definitely set for next Monday. This was the announcement of Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey last night after he had been working upon the court calendar for the coming week. Solicitor Dorsey announced Sunday upon his arrival from New York city where he had spent the past two weeks

    The Atlanta Constitution Monday, June 23, 1913 Solicitor General Hears Report That John Moore Will Assist in the Defense. "Unless something now turns up of which I have no knowledge at present, I will set Leo Frank's trial for June 30," said Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey yesterday on his return from a week's stay in New York city. While the solicitor's announcement has set at rest the rumors that the state would wait and set the trial for July 14 or 28, it does not necessarily mean that the trial will actually be held on that date,

The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, June 22, 1913 Of especial interest in legal circles is the announcement that two of the leading law firms of Atlanta have joined forces, under the firm name of Rosser, Brandon, Slaton & Phillips. They will begin operation with offices on the west end of the seventh floor of the Grant building on July 1. Associated with the firm will be Luther Z. Rosser, Morris Brandon, John M. Slaton, Benjamin Z. Phillips, J. H. Porter, I. S. Hopkins, L. Z. Rosser Jr., V. B. Moore, J. J. Ragan, and James J. Slaton. Governor elect Slaton has

The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, June 22, 1913 Journey Had No Relation to the Phagan Mystery or Dictagraph Incident, He Says. Colonel T. B. Felder returned Saturday from a six-day trip to Cincinnati. Much speculation was created by his departure for Ohio last Sunday and it was hinted that he had made the journey in interest of his recent connection with the famous dictagraph plot. It was also reported that he had gone behalf of the Mary Phagan investigation, in which he has been an active figure. His departure within less than twenty-four hours after Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey had left

The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, June 22, 1913 Prominent Atlanta Lawyer Engaged to Aid in Defense of Pencil Factory Superintendent. NO WHITE MAN KILLED GIRL, ASSERTS LAWYER Formby and Conley Statements Should Not Be Given Credence So Far as They Tend to Incriminate Frank, He Says. Reuben R. Arnold, perhaps the best-known attorney in Georgia, has been engaged to aid the defense of Leo M. Frank, the suspected pencil factory superintendent, in the Mary Phagan mystery. This announcement was made from his office yesterday afternoon. In a statement that was furnished each of the newspapers, Mr. Arnold attacks the detectives for

The Atlanta Constitution Saturday, June 21, 1913 Doubt is expressed around the Fulton superior court that Leo M. Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil factory, now under indictment for the murder of Mary Phagan, an employee, on the afternoon or night of April 26, will go to trial during June. This date was the one upon which the solicitor had suggested that the trial might be held, but it is believed that if the state should prove to be ready at that time, that the defense would move to postpone the trial, pending further investigation and preparation on their part.

The Atlanta Constitution Friday, June 20, 1913 State Declares Its Case Against Frank Is Now Complete Dorsey Still Absent Because of the inconsistency of her statement with the state's outline of prosecution, Chief Lanford intimates that Mima Formby , the roominghouse keeper of 400 Piedmont avenue, will not be called to the stand in Leo Frank's trial. He does not state this positively, however, but it is the general opinion that such will be the prosecution's action. Mrs. Formby has stated to a Constitution reporter that she is ready to testify against the factory superintendent and that she will remain

The Atlanta Constitution Thursday, June 19, 1913 When questioned last night as to the truth of the rumor that he will be associated with the defense of Leo M. Frank, indicted for the Mary Phagan murder, Reuben R. Arnold, one of Georgia's most prominent attorneys, refused to either affirm or deny the rumor. "I am not associated with the defense yet," Mr. Arnold said. "I cannot make any statement at the present time in regard to this matter." When questioned closely as to whether he would be engaged by the defense later on, Mr. Arnold made the same statement. Luther

The Atlanta Constitution Wednesday, June 18, 1913 Former Girl Employee and a Machanic May Testify Against Frank. Two new witnesses may be used by the state in the prosecution of Leo Frank when his trial is held on June 30. Chief Lanford is investigating the reported statement of a young girl living near Roswell and of a mechanic who resides near East Point. The former, a lass of 17, is said to have been employed in the pencil factory two years ago. For the past year or more she has been living with her parents at their home just outside

The Atlanta Constitution Monday, June 16, 1913 Solicitor Wants Photograph of Spot Where Mary Phagan's Body Was Found A flashlight picture, made by The Constitution's staff photographer is to be used as evidence by the prosecution in the trial of Leo M. Frank. This was made evident Sunday afternoon when Detective John Starnes applied to a Constitution reporter for the photograph of the spot in the pencil factory basement, where Mary Phagan's body was discovered. Starnes would not state why he wanted the picture, saying only that it would be used by the prosecution. He was extremely desirous of getting

The Atlanta Constitution Monday, June 16, 1913 Says Trip Has Nothing to Do With That of Solicitor Dorsey Following the departure of Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey for Atlantic City Saturday afternoon, Col. Thomas B. Felder left Sunday afternoon at 5:10 o'clock for Cincinnati. He said that his trip had no connection whatever with that of the solicitor general. He would not disclose his object in going to Cincinnati, however, and said only that he would be in the Ohio city for several days. Business was his motive in leaving, he declared, although he would not tell what business he

The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, June 15, 1913 Grand Jury Will Probably Take Up the Dictagraph Probe While He Is Away. With the departure of Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey for New York yesterday afternoon, whither he declares he is going for a week's rest, and the announcement of Foreman L. H. Beck, of the grand jury, that only routine criminal business will be taken up at the meeting on Tuesday, comes a peculiar situation, as hitherto the solicitor's pretense has been considered necessary for the indictment of the regular class of criminals, and only when investigating on their own accord

The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, June 15, 1913 Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey Announces His Associate in Big Case. Just before leaving yesterday afternoon for New York, Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey announced that Attorney Frank A. Hooper would be associated with him in the prosecution growing out of the murder of Mary Phagan. Saying that Mr. Hooper was his personal choice, Dorsey also stated that Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Coleman, parents of the victim, had been consulted and had directed him to employ such counsel as he desired and that his choice of Mr. Hooper satisfied the Colemans. Attorney Hooper

  The Atlanta Constitution Sunday, June 15, 1913 Questions Put to Lanford Indicate That Investigation of Police Methods Is Being Conducted. TORTURE ERA IS PAST, CHIEF INFORMS JURY Science and Skill Now Employed by Detectives in Securing Confessions From Criminals, He Says. The police "third degree," which has created such widespread discussion during the Mary Phagan murder investigation, has been thoroughly explained to the grand jury by Detective Chief Newport A. Lanford, who appeared before that body at its request. Detective John Black, of headquarters, who has been an active figure in the Phagan case, is also said to have

  The Atlanta Constitution Saturday, June 14, 1913. Requests Investigation of the Gentry Affidavit—A. S. Colyar Is Not in Atlanta Now Colonel Thomas B. Felder yesterday requested that the grand jury make an early investigation of the affidavit submitted by George Gentry in which he declared that the dictagraph records were padded. On Friday afternoon he forwarded a letter to L. H. Beck, foreman of the jury, in which he asked that body to look into the matter as early as possible. Offering to appear before the jury at any time, Colonel Felder assured Mr. Beck that he could place

  The Atlanta Constitution Saturday, June 14, 1913 After a short hearing in his chambers yesterday Judge L. S. Roan, of the superior court, revoked his former order holding James Conley, the negro sweeper, as a material witness in the Phagan case, and ordered his release from the custody of the state. The negro was immediately rearrested and held by city detectives on a charge of suspicion. By this the detective department and Solicitor Hugh Dorsey won their first point, as had the negro been ordered held by the state, he would have been transferred to the Tower and placed

  The Atlanta Constitution June 13, 1913 Hearing Before Judge Roan Today Will Decide Whether Negro Will Be Sent to Tower. Whether James Conley, the negro sweeper, who swears that Leo Frank got his aid in disposing of Mary Phagan's body and made him write the notes found near her, will be held as a material witness in the county jail or turned free and re-arrested by detectives as a suspect and then kept at police station, is due to be decided at 10 o'clock on the hearing of the rule nisi before Judge L. S. Roan. The question of Conley's

  The Atlanta Constitution June 13, 1913 Felder Says He Will Be Produced at the Proper Time. Notary Declares Affidavit Is Genuine. Miss Jeannette Henning, the notary public whose official seal was attached to the affidavit made recently by George Gentry, has informed The Constitution that she took the document from him last Monday, and that although it is genuine, she does not know its contents. She states that she had never met Gentry prior to the time he made the affidavit. Chief Beavers, who has for the past several days been attending the convention of national police chiefs in

  The Atlanta Constitution June 12, 1913 Investigation of Charges and Counter Charges Will Begin at Early Date and Will Be Exhaustive One. LANFORD SAYS GENTRY WILL DENY AFFIDAVIT Affidavit Is Made Declaring Dictagraph Instrument Was Secured by Chief Lanford For Use in Phagan Case. Following close on the heels of the publication of the George M. Gentry affidavit, in which the young stenographer states that his typewritten report of the dictagraph conversation was padded, and says that he left town after he had discovered that he had fallen in with a "crowd of crooks," comes the assurance that the

  The Atlanta Constitution June 11, 1913 Detective Chief Says He Has No Reply to Make to the Charges of Counsel for Leo M. Frank. Following the public letter written yesterday by Luther Z. Rosser, counsel for Leo Frank, Detective Chief Newport Lanford said that he had no reply to make to the charges and that hereafter he intended to adopt a policy of silence. The chief smiled frequently while reading the attorney's statement, but be positively declined to comment on it. "Henceforth," he stated briefly, "It will be the attitude of the detective department to avoid publicity. It should

The Atlanta Constitution June 11, 1913 NOTEBOOK WILL PROVE REPORTS WERE ‘PADDED,' HE SAYS IN AFFIDAVIT Young Stenographer, Who Made the Report of the Conversation in Room No. 31 Williams House, Voluntarily Makes Statement Before a Notary Public in the City of Washington D. C., Where He Is Employed. ASSERTS THAT HE LEFT ATLANTA WHEN INFORMED OVER TELEPHONE HE MIGHT BE PUT UNDER ARREST Swears That A. S. Colyar Has Made Effort to Purchase His Original Notes, Which Are Now in Possession of His Brotheró"Grand Jury Should Make an Investigation" Declares Mayor James G. Woodward. The sworn charge that the

  Atlanta Constitution Tuesday, June 10, 1913 Many Witnesses Are Being Examined Every Day by Attorneys for the Defense That counsel for Leo Frank is ready for trial was freely reported over the city Monday. Attorney Luther Z. Rosser, his lawyer, when asked regarding this report, gave the reply that has been characteristic of his attitude during the Phagan case. "I have nothing to say." He would in nowise commit himself. It is understood, however, that Mr. Rosser has informed friends that the defense is ready and that there will be no delay in putting it before the jury, which

Atlanta Constitution Sunday, June 8, 1913 Declares That He Has Never Seen Gentry But Once in His Life. "Tom Felder is a contemptible liar," blazed Chief Lanford last night when informed of the contents of Colonel Felder's letter directed to him through The Constitution. "I never saw this Gentry but once in my life, and that was before this dictagraph exposure ever happened. I have never seen him since. "Gentry telephoned police headquarters Saturday, a week ago, however, and asked for Febuary, my secretary. Febuary happened not to be in at the time. I answered the telephone. Gentry wanted to

Atlanta Constitution Sunday, June 8th, 1913 Well-Known Attorney Writes Four Cards Covering All the Phases of Situation and Answering All Charges. DICTAGRAPH TRAP JUST "FRAME-UP," HE SAYS Col. Felder Asserts George Gentry, Who Took Down the Stenographic Notes, Will Return and Expose the Deal. Colonel Thomas B. Felder has written four cards—to Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford, Chief of Police Beavers, James R. Gray, editor of The Journal, and Foster Coates, manager of The Georgian—all bearing on the late pictograph incident which was published in the three papers of Atlanta. He states the whole thing was a "frame-up" from beginning

  Atlanta Constitution Saturday, June 7th, 1913 Report That Elevator in Pencil Factory Was Not Running Proves Groundless. Following a widely-prevalent rumor that Leo Frank's defense will strive to prove that the current was shut off from the pencil factory plant on the day Mary Phagan was slain, and that, for this reason, James Conley could not have lowered the girl's body to the basement on the electrically-driven elevator as he claims in his confession, it was established conclusively last night that the Georgia Railway and Power company's electric service was in effect on the tragedy day. This statement was

  Atlanta Constitution Saturday, June 7th, 1913 All Information in Future Must Come Through Office of the Chief. Chief Newport Lanford yesterday morning issued a special order prohibiting the disclosing of information to newspaper reporters. It was stated in The Constitution in its story Friday morning the investigation in the Phagan case had been seriously hampered by the publication of developments, many of which were made public in premature form. Solicitor Dorsey wrote Chief Lanford requesting him to clap on the lid. Chief Lanford, in a talk with reporters, said that much of the publication of developments was not caused

Atlanta Constitution Friday, June 6th, 1913 Personal Encounter in Solicitor's Office Is Narrowly Averted by Bystanders. What threatened to be a serious personal encounter between Colonel Thomas B. Felder and Detective Chief Newport Lanford was narrowly averted Thursday morning in Solicitor Hugh Dorsey's office by the interferences of bystanders. The two men who for several weeks have been hurling ugly charges at each other were facing each other at the time after the passage of a few words when they were seized and hustled away from each other. Out of the seriousness of the near fight grew a laughable incident

  Atlanta Constitution Friday, June 6th, 1913 Foreman Beck Delines to Talk of Probable Action of Jury—Felder to Issue a Public Statement. "The grand jury has finished its questioning of witnesses with its adjournment, and unless members of the jury should desire that those of the several witnesses summoned, who have not been heard, should be brought before them, there is nothing more to do." This was the statement made yesterday by L. H. Beck, foreman of the grand jury, which adjourned at 2 o'clock after a three-day probe in vice conditions in Atlanta. Foreman Beck stated that the body

Atlanta Constitution Friday, June 6th, 1913 Says the Wife of an Accused Man Would Be the Last to Learn of Her Husband's Guilt. MRS. FRANK BITTER IN HER CRITICISM Detective Department Not at All Disturbed Over Denial of the McKnight Woman That She Signed Affidavit. The wife of a man accused of crime would probably be the last person to learn all of the facts establishing her husband's guilt, and certainly would be the last person to admit his culpability, even though it be proved by overwhelming evidence. Perhaps the most unpleasant feature incident to the position of prosecuting attorney

Atlanta Constitution Thursday, June 5th, 1913 A. L. Colyar, Jr., George M. Gentry and G. C. Febuary Summoned at Request of Chief Lanford An investigation of the separate phases of the row resulting from the dictagraph traps laid by city detectives for Attorney Thomas B. Felder and Mayor James G. Woodward is believed to be forecast on the grand jury by the summoning before it of A. L. Colyar, Jr., George M. Gentry and G. C. Febuary. All these men played an important part of the performance and were summoned it is claimed at the request made by N. A.

Atlanta Constitution Thursday, June 5th, 1913 Sensational Affidavit Made for the Police by Minola McKnight, Servant in Leo Frank's Home. Fully as startling as the recent confession of James Conley, an affidavit purporting to have been sworn to by Minola McKnight, the servant girl of the Frank household, was given out to the newspapers yesterday afternoon by Chief Lanford. The detectives assert it is the "final straw" in the mass of evidence they boast of having accumulated. Attesting to a statement that Frank was nervous and excited on the tragedy night, the negress swears Mrs. Frank told of having to

Atlanta Constitution Wednesday, June 4th, 1913 Despite Gruelling Third Degree, Woman Maintains Denial of Having Told Conflicting Stories. FACED BY HUSBAND, SHE CONTRADICTS HIM Her Release Came After Her Attorney Had Threatened to Take Out Habeas Corpus Proceedings. Minola McKnight, the servant girl held in the Mary Phagan case, was given her freedom early last night, and left police headquarters for her home on Pulliam street. She was not liberated, however, until the detectives had obtained her signature to an affidavit telling what she knew of Frank's actions the day of the murder. Her husband, who was also carried to

Atlanta Constitution Wednesday, June 4th, 1913 Head of Police Department Invites Carl Hutcheson to Furnish Him With List of Houses. MORE WITNESSES WILL GIVE TESTIMONY TODAY Grand Jury Determined to Go to Bottom of Vice Allegations, But Will Not Touch Bribery Charge at Present. Renewed activities on the part of the police "vice squad" have come with the taking up vice probe by the grand jury, which was started yesterday morning, when a number of principals in the Felder-Beavers controversy were summoned to tell what they know of alleged operation of vicious houses and hotels in Atlanta. The grand jury

Atlanta Constitution Tuesday, June 3rd, 1913 Reported That She Is Being Held as Witness—Defense of Prisoner in the Tower Outlined. Another arrest was made yesterday in the Phagan mystery. Minola McKnight, cook and servant in the Leo Frank household, was sent to police headquarters by Detectives Starnes and Campbell when she hysterically created a scene at Pryor and Mitchell streets, sobbing and moaning that "they were going to hang her for something she knew nothing about." She is being held under a charge of suspicion. Chief Lanford said last night, however, that she will likely be used as a witness

Atlanta Constitution Tuesday, June 3rd, 1913 Subpoenas Served Monday Night on the Principals in Dictagraph Case and in Charges of Corruption. GRAND JURY TO HOLD INVESTIGATION TODAY Mayor Woodward, Col. Felder, Chief Beavers, Chief Lanford, Carl Hutcheson and Jno. Black Subpoenaed That the Fulton county grand jury will undertake today an investigation of both sides of the Beavers-Felder controversy was made apparent by the formal summons issued last night to all the principals in the affair. An added element of mystery to the investigation comes in the attempt made to summon Mrs. Mima Formby, the woman who made affidavit that

Atlanta Constitution Monday, June 2nd, 1913 Detective Chief Forms New Theory as to Reason Why Prisoner Is Said to Have Phoned Mrs. Formby. HER DISAPPEARANCE PUZZLING TO OFFICERS Lanford Says He Will Find Her in Time for Trial, But Does Not Know Where She Is Now. That Leo M. Frank telephoned Mrs. Formby on the night of Mary Phagan's murder for a room to which he would be able to remove the victim's body and thereby lessen suspicion against himself, is the theory on which Chief Newport Lanford is basing a search for Mrs. Formby, which is extending over the

Atlanta Constitution Sunday, June 1st, 1913 Friends of Leo Frank Have Tried to Intimidate Him, Negro Sweeper Tells Detective Chief as Reason for His Transfer to the Police Station. LANFORD RAPS SHERIFF DECLARING HE IS NOT ASSISTING THE POLICE "He Appears to Be Placing Obstacles in Our Way," Asserts Chief, in Speaking of Attempts to Interview the Suspected Superintendent. Mangum Denies Intimidation Attempts. Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford is authority for the statement that James Conley, the negro floor sweeper of the National Pencil factory, who, in his latest affidavit, has admitted his complicity in the Mary Phagan murder, after

Atlanta Constitution Saturday, May 31st, 1913 Following is the complete signed confession of James Conley, the negro sweeper employed at the National Pencil factory, which was made to Chief of Detectives Lanford, Chief of Police Beavers, Harry Scott, of the Pinkertons, and others, late Friday afternoon: "On Saturday, April 26, 1913, when I came back to the pencil factory with Mr. Frank I waited for him downstairs, like he told me, and when he whistled for me I went upstairs and he asked me if I wanted to make some money right quick, and I told him, yes, sir, and

Atlanta Constitution Saturday, May 31st, 1913 "No Man With Common Sense Would Even Suspect That I Did It," Prisoner in Fulton Tower Tells Attache. "It's a Negro's Crime Through and Through." Asserts His Innocence to Turnkeys and to Fellow Prisoners. "IT'S UP TO MR. FRANK TO TELL THE TRUTH," ASSERTS JAMES CONLEY "I Believe He'd Let ‘Em Hang Me to Get Out of It Himself if He Had the Chance," Says Negro Sweeper—Chief Lanford Is Pleased With Work of Department and Ready for the Case to Come to Trial Immediately. "No white man killed Mary Phagan. It's a negro's crime,

Atlanta Constitution Friday, May 30th, 1913 Amid the warp of falsehood and the woof of conjecture, one thing stands out like a scarlet thread in the Mary Phagan murder mystery—for mystery it still is and still will be until a jury of twelve men fixes the guilt on some man or men. That one thing—startling in its vivid contrast to the murky maze of contradictions—is the fact that James Conley, the negro sweeper employed at the National Pencil factory, wrote the notes which were found beside the mutilated and lifeless body of Mary Phagan early in the morning of April

Atlanta Constitution Friday, May 30th, 1913 Helped Frank Dispose of Mary Phagan's Body Conley Now Confesses Negro Sweeper Who Swore to Detectives That He Wrote Murder Notes Found Near Dead Girl's Body Now Admits His Complicity in Case, According to Statements Which Have Stirred Police Headquarters as Nothing Since Murder. LANFORD AND BEAVERS PLEASED OVER RESULT OF GRILLING NEGRO, THEY ANNOUNCE TO REPORTERS. Police and Detective Heads Refuse to Go Into Details of Negro's Statement Or to Discuss What He Said, But Declare That It Will Prove a Big Factor in the Murder Case—Negro Will Be Subjected to Another Third

Atlanta Constitution Thursday, May 29th, 1913 James Conley Makes New Affidavit, Swearing That He Wrote at the Dictation of Leo M. Frank. EVIDENCE CHAIN NOW COMPLETE, SAY POLICE Conley Declares Frank Gave Him $2.50 for Writing the Notes—He Writes "Night Witch" for Night Watchman. James Conley, the negro sweeper at the National Pencil factory, in which little Mary Phagan was murdered, made a new affidavit Wednesday morning in which he threw additional light on the case, incriminating Leo M. Frank, and which detectives think will solve the long-drawn-out mystery. "Write ‘night watchman,'" he is said to have been commanded by

Atlanta Constitution Wednesday, May 28th, 1913 Negro Sweeper, It Is Stated, Acknowledges That He Erred in Former Statement to the Detectives. POLICE NOW SATISFIED WITH NEGRO'S EVIDENCE Conley Is Taken to Frank's Cell, But Prisoner Refused to See Him Except in the Presence of His Lawyer. In a gruelling three-hour third degree at police headquarters last night, James Conley, the negro pencil factory sweeper, is reported to have made the statement that he erred in the date of his original confession and that he wrote the murder notes at Leo Frank's dictation at 1 o'clock on the Saturday of Mary

Atlanta Constitution Tuesday, May 27th, 1913 "If Beavers and Lanford permitted Febuary, ‘a trusted man,' to go out and circulate lies about corruption in the police department in an effort to trap someone, they have debauched their officers, and the sooner they are put out the better it will be for the men who work under them." Mayor James G. Woodward made the above reply to Chief James L. Beavers in a statement to The Constitution late Monday afternoon. They mayor declared that Febuary's part in the conspiracy has destroyed his usefulness with the department, and he is not fit

Atlanta Constitution Tuesday, May 27th, 1913 Dan P. Lehon Holds Conference With Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey and Other Officials and Then Makes Announcement of Severance of Connection With Case. FELDER TO CONTINUE PROBE, HE DECLARES; NO STATEMENT SOON "One of the Girls" in the Pencil Factory Brings Statement to The Constitution Defending the Character of Employees — Bribery Attempts Are Denied. As a startling climax to the sensational turn of affairs in the Mary Phagan murder investigation, it was announced yesterday by Dan P. Lehon, superintendent of the Burns southern offices, that his agency had retired from the investigation of

Atlanta Constitution Monday, May 26th, 1913 "Thousands of people in Atlanta are living the lives today that the murderer of Mary Phagan lived, and which culminated in the atrocious crime," declared Rev. W. W. Memminger, pastor of All Saints' Episcopal church. In a sermon yesterday morning which he devoted in great part to pleading for a better standard of morals in the daily life of man and woman. The woman who uses paint and powder, who dances the turkey trot and who dresses in a suggestive manner came in for scathing remarks from the rector, but the man who boasts

Atlanta Constitution Monday, May 26th, 1913 Sufficient Evidence Found to Convict Him, Declares Man Hired by the National Pencil Company. Announcing that he had secured evidence sufficient to convict his employer Harry Scott, assistant superintendent of the Pinkertons, who has been retained by the National Pencil company since the second day of the Phagan tragedy, said to a reporter for The Constitution Sunday night that it was his intention to help prosecute the suspected superintendent. Scott has been in command of the Pinkerton forces working on the investigation. His employment came about in answer to a telephone call from Frank

Atlanta Constitution Monday, May 26th, 1913 Reported Two Telephone Operators Will Swear to Conversations Held Over the Pencil Factory's Line. GAVE THEIR TESTIMONY BEFORE THE GRAND JURY A. S. Colyar Confers With Chief Beavers on Bribery Allegations—Case Now in Its Infancy, Says Chief. With the entire city aroused over the recent sensational Felder bribery charges and counter charges of graft and corruption in the police department, investigation of the Mary Phagan mystery continues. Police headquarters was elated Sunday over the progress and over new developments which have arisen. New testimony has been given by girl telephone operators relative to conversations

Atlanta Constitution Sunday, May 25th, 1913 Thomas B. Felder, the Atlanta lawyer who is accused of having offered a bribe for an affidavit of J. W. Coleman, stepfather of Mary Phagan, now in the possession of the police, yesterday issued the following statement: To the People of Atlanta: The publication of the sensational "story" in The Atlanta Journal on yesterday afternoon relating to myself and my connection with the Phagan case is but the symptom or manifestation of one of the most diabolical conspiracies ever hatched by a venal and corrupt "system" to protect crime in a civilized community. To

Atlanta Constitution Sunday, May 25th, 1913 following affidavit concerning his connection with the Phagan case and with A. S. Colyar. Georgia, Fulton County—Personally appeared before the undersigned, an officer authorized by law to administer oaths, C. W. Tobie, who, first, being duly sworn, deposes and says: That he is a citizen of Chicago, with offices in the First National Bank building of that city, and that he is manager of the criminal department, west, of the William J. Burns National Detective agency; that he has occupied this position for the past ten months; that he has been connected with the

Atlanta Constitution Sunday, May 25th, 1913 Going to A. S. Colyar's room in Williams House No. 2, on Forsyth street, Wednesday afternoon to make efforts to get information of alleged grafting on the part of Chief of Police Beavers and Chief Lanford, Mayor James G. Woodward walked into as neat a trap as was ever devised. The same dictagraph which was alleged to take down the statements of Colonel T. B. Felder, is said to have been working while the mayor of Atlanta was in conference with E. O. Miles, a private detective; Febuary, Chief of detectives Lanford's clerk, and

Atlanta Constitution Sunday, May 25th, 1913 National Pencil Company Director Gives Written Statement of Confidence in Superintendent. Declaring that he cannot too strongly indorse Leo Frank's moral character or business capacity, John O. Parmele, president of the Parmele company, manufacturers and importers, and a member of the board of directors of the National Pencil factory, last night gave The Constitution a written statement: "I am a member of the board of directors of the National Pencil factory," he writes. "My duties require me to be at the factory and in the private office of our superintendent, Mr. Leo M. Frank,

A. S. Colyar Atlanta Constitution Sunday, May 25th, 1913 Four sworn statements concerning the career of A. S. Colyar, and declaring him a criminal and unworthy of belief, have been furnished The Constitution by Colonel Thomas B. Felder. They are as follows: Record in Nashville. State of Georgia, County of Fulton—Personally appeared before the undersigned, an officer authorized by law to administer oaths, C. R. Atchison, who, first being duly sworn, deposes and says: That he was born and reared in the city of Nashville, Tenn., and lived there until January 1, 1913, when he removed to the city of

Atlanta Constitution Sunday, May 25th, 1913 That's the Way Mayor James G. Woodward Made Answer Saturday to Published Dictagraph Record. After Mayor James G. Woodward and read the published dictagraph record of the conversation alleged to have been held between him, A. S. Colyar, G. C. Febuary and E. O. Miles, in room No. 31, Williams House, Wednesday afternoon, he declared that it was a "frame-up by a dirty gang." The mayor told The Constitution that he would be willing to start a fund to employ Burns detectives to trace the motive which inspired Colyar and his companions. "I haven't

George Gentry. Atlanta Constitution Sunday, May 25th, 1913 Lanford Declares No Printable Words Can Be Found to Describe Lawyer's Attack. "As for Tom Felder's charges of graft in the police or detective departments," said Chief Lanford last night, "they are as rotten as we have shown his character to be. There is no printable words that might be used to describe them. All Atlanta knows they are untrue, unfounded and are but the explosions of a distorted brain—a brain deformed by years of treachery, and they call him ‘Colonel' Felder. "He directs most of his charges of corruption toward the