Leo Frank TV

Atlanta Georgian Saturday , May 24th, 1913 Here follows, in part, the alleged dictograph record of the conversation that took place in a room in the Williams House Wednesday afternoon between Colonel Thomas B. Felder, G. C. Febuary and A. S. Colyar. Febuary: Let me understand you. You want this Coleman afdavit and all other Phagan afdavits that I can get hold of. Felder: Yes. Colyar told me that he was to have the evidence that would get those two chiefs out of commission, the Phagan papers and the Coleman afdavit. Now what have you got? Febuary: I haven't got these

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Atlanta Georgian, July 28th, 1913 Page 2, Columns 1 and 2 No murder trial in Fulton County ever has approached the spectacular interest which is in prospect in the Frank case from the first, sharp skirmish between the opposing attorneys, through the long, bitter legal battle, and to the final pleas of the prosecution and the defense. The presence of Luther Z. Rosser and Reuben R. Arnold in the brilliant array of legal talent at once made certain that the trial would be out of the ordinary. Neither has the reputation of making a half-hearted fight when there is

    Atlanta Georgian, July 28th, 1913, Page 2, Columns 3 And 4 Bottom As Leo Frank faces to-day the ordeal decreed by law that for man's life, man's life shall pay, interest in his case that has held Atlanta, Georgia and the South enthralled for three months has diminished not a whit since the Sunday morning the body of the little factory girl was found. Wise judges of news, men who are paid thousands of dollars each year for their knowledge of the fickleness of the public, men who can time to the second the period when interest dies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Atlanta GeorgianJuly 24th, 1913 STATE READY AND WILL FIGHT A DELAY Solicitor Disappointed When Court Fails to Draw Jury Panels at Time Planned. With the belief growing that a serious effort is being made to delay the trial of Leo Frank, set for next Monday, Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey Thursday renewed his protest against further postponement in a vigorous statement, declaring the prosecution is ready with a complete case against the National Pencil Company factory head, accused of killing Mary Phagan. The trial date rests entirely with Judge Roan, who is in Covington. The drawing of the jury venire

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

    Atlanta Georgian July 24th, 1913 JUDGE ANNOUNCES HE IS READY TO TRY CASE; 144 MEN EMPANELLED Says He Has Not Even Been Asked for Postponement, and Sees No Reason Why Trial Should Not Begin On Date Fixed. Jim Conley, the negro sweeper of the National Pencil Factory, was taken from the police station late Thursday afternoon by Detectives Starnes and Campbell to verify certain of his statements and to point out certain witnesses, who, he told the detectives, would be able to refute the affidavit of W. H. Mincey by showing that he was not at the point

Atlanta GeorgianJuly 24th, 1913 Leo Frank should be placed on trial Monday for the murder of Mary Phagan. The crime was committed April 26; Frank was arrested April 28; he was indicted Mary 23 and his trial set for June 30. At the suggestion of the judge in whose court the trial is to take place, a postponement was agreed on, and the date of the trial moved up to July 28. Now attempts are being made to secure another postponement. The only reason given to the public is that the weather is hot and it would be disagreeable to

Atlanta GeorgianJuly 23rd, 1913 Scouts New ‘Proof' of Defense Detective Chief Scoffs at Claim of Evidence That Club Used by Negro Was Found. Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford Wednesday morning ridiculed the story that the defense of Leo M. Frank has in its possession a bloody club, alleged to have been found by two Pinkerton detectives on May 10 in the National Pencil Factory, and with which, it is reported, the defense will contend Mary Phagan was slain by James Conley, the negro sweeper. Asserting that he knows nothing whatever of the alleged bloody club, Chief Lanford declared that, if

Atlanta GeorgianJuly 23rd, 1913 The Discovery of the Body of the Slain Factory Girl and Start of Hunt for Slayer. CHAPTER II. His heart pounding in superstitious fright, Newt Lee, the night watchman, forced himself to approach the strange object on the pile of debris in the pencil factory basement. A step nearer and he could make out what appeared to be a human foot. He recoiled and was on the point of precipitate flight. But he must look closer, he thought. Perhaps, after all, it was only the ghastly prank of some of the factory employees who had manufactured

Atlanta GeorgianJuly 23rd, 1913 TRACE FOUND HERE OF NEGRO SAID TO HAVE SEEN PHAGAN SLAYING Sister of Will Green Tells Police He Slept at Home at Hour Girl Was Slain; Jim Conley, Factory Sweeer Again Grilled. The two negro principals in the Phagan case—Newt Lee and Jim Conley—were put on the grill together in the cell of the former in the county jail by Solicitor Dorsey and his assistant, Frank G. Hooper, late Wednesday afternoon. Present at the cross-examination were J. M. Gantt, former pencil factory employee, and Detectives Starnes and Campbell, the officers who have had charge of Conley

Atlanta GeorgianJuly 22nd, 1913 Slaying of Factory Girl, South's Most Baffling Crime Mystery, Reviewed in Detail. CHAPTER I. Will the veil of mystery be lifted when the curtain rises next Monday on another scene in Atlanta's darkest tragedy? A vast audience, shocked by the horror of Mary Phagan's fate on a Saturday of last April and held through the succeeding weeks in the thrall of the baffling crime drama, in keen suspense awaits this question's answer. Will Fulton County's Solicitor General be able to point his finger at Leo M. Frank and exclaim, "That is the man who strangled Mary

Atlanta GeorgianJuly 22nd, 1913 TALK OF POSTPONING FRANK TRIAL TILL FALL Protest of Solicitor Dorsey Wins Presents Evidence Showing Indictment of Negro Would Hinder Frank Prosecution. Here are the important developments of Monday in the Phagan case: The decision of the Grand Jury of Fulton County not to bring at this time an indictment against James Conley. The information that there is a strong probability of another postponement of the trial of Leo M. Frank. The Grand Jury's refusal to reopen its investigation of the Phagan murder mystery was a decided victory for the Solicitor after that body had overridden

Atlanta GeorgianJuly 22, 1913 Hearing of Crawford Case May Conflict Conference Planned to Decide Which Shall Take Precedence. Ready to Draw Venire. Reuben R. Arnold, of counsel for Leo M. Frank, announced Tuesday that he proposed to seek a conference of the attorneys in the Frank case and in the Crawford will hearing to determine which case should be postponed next Monday, the date set for the beginning of the trial of Frank on the charge of slaying Mary Phagan. Mr. Arnold, Luther Z. Rosser, chief of counsel for Frank, both also are attorneys in the Crawford will case, and

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, July 21, 1913 Protest of Solicitor Will Be Heeded Foreman Declares Inquisitorial Body Will Not Ride "Roughshod" Over Dorsey. With Solicitor Dorsey reaffirming his certainty that Jim Conley will not be indicted before the tral of Leo M. Frank and declaring that he will fight with all his vigor any movement in that direction, the Grand Jury members gathered in the Thrower Building Monday morning in response to the call of Foreman Beatie to decide whether they will reopen their investigation of the Phagan murder mystery. A strong probability that no action would be taken during

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, July 21, 1913 Dr. M. W. Lewis, a prominent physician of Carrollton, was arrested Monday morning and placed under $1,000 bond on a charge of disorderly conduct. He is charged with registering as man and wife at the Hotel Scoville, on Mitchell street, with Miss Effie McColman, who is held as a witness in the case. The trial will be held before Recorder Broyles Tuesday afternoon. The arrest was deloyed until the physician had finished a difficult operation at a sanitarium. According to the charges, Dr. Lewis arrived in Atlanta Monday morning with Miss McColman, registering

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, July 21, 1913 Presents Evidence Showing Indictment of Negro Would Hinder Frank Prosecution. Here are the important developments of Monday in the Phagan case: The decision of the Grand Jury of Fulton County not to bring at this time an indictment against James Conley. The information that there is a strong probability of another postponement of the trial of Leo M. Frank. The Grand Jury's refusal to reopen its investigation of the Phagan murder mystery was a decided victory for the Solicitor after that body had overridden his request that no session be called to take

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, July 21, 1913 Four young women, three of whom had been caught in Chief Beavers' vice dragnet last week, escaped from the Martha Home during chapel exercises Sunday night. The women were Effie Drummond, who after being caught in a raid on Mrs. Lula Bell's place at Peters and Fair streets, declared she was a minister's daughter from North Carolina, and had been the victim of a white slaver; Maude Doughetry, apprehended at the same house; Beatrice Renfro, companion of A.N. Trippe, a Whitehall street clerk, arrested on complaint of Tripp'e wife, and Myrtle Bell, who

The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, July 20, 1913 Solicitor Is Bombarded With Letters to Proceed Against Negro as Slayer of Mary Phagan. THE GRAND JURY IS CALLED Hottest Battle of Famous Case To Be Waged Behind Closed Doors of Inquisitory Body. Solicitor Dorsey is fighting vigorously the movement in the Grand Jury to indict Jim Conley Monday for the murder of Mary Phagan, despite the bambardment of letters from many citizens and by the sentiment of some of its own members. It is for the consideration of these letters and petitions, asking the reopening of the Phagan matter, that the meeting

The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, July 20, 1913 "Not Necessary to Indict Negro to Close His Mouth," Declares William Smith. William M. Smith, attorney for Jim Conley, the negro now being held as a material witness in the Phagan murder case and whose indictment for complicity in the crime will be considered by the Grand Jury Monday, brought to the office of The Sunday American Saturday night a statement in behalf of his client. In a letter accompanying the statement, Mr. Smith conveyed a doubt as to whether this newspaper would print what he had to say. The attorney's statement in

The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, July 20, 1913 Man Who Says He Heard Negro Confess Now Is at Rising Fawn, Georgia W.H. Mincey, the school teacher who made an affidavit declaring Jim Conley confessed to him on the afternoon of the murder of Mary Phagan that he killed a girl, will appear before the Grand Jury to repeat his startling story when that tribunal convenes Monday to consider the Phagan matter, it was reported Saturday night. Mincey, who is now at Rising Fawn, Georgia, has expressed his willingness to come to Atlanta for this purpose. His evidence, which has proved the

The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, July 20, 1913 By AN OLD POLICE REPORTER. The most important and interesting development of the week in the Phagan case was the Mincey affidavit, directing suspicion more surely in the direction of James Conley than ever before, if the affidavit is that of a credible witness. If what Mincey says is true—if his evidence can be made to "stand up" in court—then he is far and away not only the most important witness yet discovered, but his testimony will serve to clear up the mysterious Phagan case in its most obscure phases. Solicitor General Hugh

The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, July 20, 1913 Attorneys Rosser and Arnold, in a Statement to the Press, Make Bitter Attack on Solicitor for His Conduct of Phagan Case. Call Attention to Secrecy Maintained by Prosecution, and Declare Action of State's Attorney Has Inflamed Public Opinion. Luther Z. Rosser and Reuben R. Arnold, attorneys for Leo M. Frank, who will be tried July 29 on the charge of killing Mary Phagan, joined Saturday in a bitter attack upon the policy of Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey, whose procedure in the case, they said, had inflamed public opinion and had placed the Solicitor

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, July 19, 1913 "Dyspeptic, Fanatic, Stoneheart, Monomaniac" Are Other Terms in "Final" Retort. Mayor Woodward Saturday said he was finally dismissing Recorder Nash R. Broyles from his mind with the statement: "He is a natural dyspeptic, crank and a fanatic. If he ever had a heart it was turned to stone. Therefore, it is natural that he should become a monomaniac over the subject of using his czar-like authority in his own petty sphere. I don't care anything more about him." Mayor Woodward again went over the head of Recorder Broyles Friday when he reduced the

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, July 19, 1913 GRAND JURY SPLIT BY LATEST MOVE Public Opinion Forces Consideration of Move to Indict Conley for Phagan Slaying. Solicitor Dorsey is fighting vigorously the movement in the Grand Jury to indict Jim Conley Monday for the murder of Mary Phagan, despite the bombardment of letters from many citizens and by the sentiment of some of its own members. It is for the consideration of these letters and petitions, asking the reopening of the Phagan matter, that the meeting has been called. That it will result in the indictment of the negro is thought

The Atlanta Georgian Friday, July 18, 1913 REVERSAL OF VERDICTS IS DENIED BY JUDGE Apologizes Also to Porcine Family for Likening Woodward's Legal Knowledge to Theirs. Recorder Nash Broyles penned a polite note of apology to the whole hog family Friday. With the same hand he picked up the cudgels with which again to belabor his honor, Mayor Woodward. The Mayor, quoth the recorder, was the author of a ridiculous and absurd falsehood and it was a regrettable libel upon Mr.Hog to have to submit to a comparison with Atlanta's Mayor. As for the Mayor, he declared he was tired

The Atlanta Georgian Friday, July 18, 1913 POLICE HALT GRILLING OF CONLEY Detective Bent on Questioning Negro Is Barred From Cell by Chief Lanford. With Pinkerton detectives taking the trail in search of W.H. Mincey, whose startling accusations against Jim Conley stirred the police department and won the negro another "sweating" from Solicitor Dorsey, the Mincey affidavit Friday became the storm center about which the prosecution and defense in the Frank case waged their battle. Despite the degree of indifference with which the detectives and prosecuting officials affected to look upon the remarkable statements of Mincey, it became known Friday

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, July 17, 1913 *Editor's Note: Some words in the middle of this article are missing due to scanning blur near a page fold. Recorder Replies to Mayor's Charges of "Czar-Like" Police Court and Scores Him Severely "KNOWS MUCH LAW AS HOG DOES ECONOMY," HE SAYS The Judge Says, "Never Argue With an Ignorant Man, for You Can't Convince Him He's Wrong" Recorder Nash R. Broyles, in replying to Mayor James G. Woodward's criticism of his heavy sentences, quotes the philosopher who says, "Do not argue with an ignorant man, for you can never convince him that

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, July 17, 1913 Declaring that police officers placed him under arrest while he was attempting to convey a woman in the throes of an epileptic fit to a hospital and forced him to be the companion to a negro in riding in the patrol wagon to the police station, Mongin F. Smith, vice president and secretary of the Eagle Stamp Works, Thursday afternoon carried a trenchant complaint of police stupidity to Mayor Woodward for investigation. "The young woman whom we were endeavoring to place in a hospital was Miss Mabel Parker, a performer at the Old

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, July 17, 1913 Joe North, Alleged White Slaver, Declines to Talk Before Hearing in Recorder's Court. Joe North, alleged white slaver, arrested on the statement of Effie Drummond, a young woman who told the police he lured her into a rooming house, will be tried before Recorder Nash Broyles at 2:30 o'clock Thursday afternoon and every effort made to get from him the names of other persons in the "vice ring," to which Chief of Police James L. Beavers says North owes allegiance. North was arrested Wednesday night after a search of very nearly a week.

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, July 17, 1913 WOODWARD SCORED BY BROYLES "Can't Convince Ignorant Man He's Mistaken," Says Judge, Quoting Epictetus. WHAT BROYLES THINKS OF THE MAYOR. He's ignorant. He's a menace to civilization. He knows as much law as a boy does political economy. WHAT WOODWARD THINKS OF RECORDER. He's a petty czar. My office is bigger than his. If he wants to run my office, let him come up and give me orders. "Do not argue with an ignorant man, for you can never convince him he is wrong." Recorder Nash R. Broyles, quoting Mr. Epictetus, the late

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, July 17, 1913 *Editor's Note: This article ran in other editions of the Georgian with slight variations in the headline. GRAND JURY AGREED NOT TO ACT Solicitor Bitterly Opposes Plan of New Body to Reconsider Slaying Case. That the most strenuous opposition of Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey was all that prevented the last Grand Jury from reopening its investigation of the Phagan mystery with a view of indicting the negro Jim Conley became known Thursday. It was admitted by persons acquainted with the events in the Grand Jury room that the Solicitor's determined stand only

The Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, July 16, 1913 Grand Jury Foreman Admits That Action Against the Negro Is Considered. The reported proposal by some of the members of the Grand Jury to meet for an investigation of Jim Conley's connection with the murder of Mary Phagan has precipitated a sharp struggle in which Solicitor Dorsey has declared himself bitterly opposed to any action looking toward the indictment of the negro as a principal in the crime or even as an accessory after the fact, as the negro admits himself to be. The fight has resolved itself into a contest to determine

The Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, July 16, 1913 *Editor's Note: This article also ran in the Final (Box Score) Edition under the headline "State Finds New Frank Evidence." Solicitor Declares Prosecution's Plans Are Unchanged—Doesn't Expect Conley Indictment. That affidavits as sensational and direct against Leo M. Frank, accused of murdering Mary Phagan, as the Mincey statement was against the negro, Jim Conley, are in the hands of the State and will be substantiated by witnesses at the trial, July 28, was admitted by Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey Wednesday morning. The Solicitor and Frank A. Hooper, associated with him in the

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 15, 1913 Mayor Woodward entered the fight which Chief Beavers is waging against vice in Atlanta Tuesday when he told of a negro dive and blind tiger which he said had been reported to him Tuesday morning by a man whose name he refuses to make public. This man, Mayor Woodward declared, had told him he had seen policemen passing through an alley in the direction of the blind tiger, though none of them had actually been seen to enter the place. Chief Beavers ordered an investigation. Captain Poole has been given particular instructions to

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 15, 1913 RECALLS HE WAS TOLD STORY OF CONLEY Watchman Remembers of Visit of Witness to Factory on Day of Crime. Further corroboration of several of the important details in the remarkable affidavit of W.H. Mincey, insurance agent and teacher, who swore he heard Jim Conley confess killing a girl, came Tuesday in a statement by E.F. Holloway, day watchman at the National Pencil Factory. Holloway substantiated in every particular the story of Mincey's visit to the factory the Tuesday following the crime and recalled the general trend of the conversation, which was practically as

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 15, 1913 A crusade against white men frequenting negro dives has been started by Recorder Nash Broyles. He fined three men, who gave their names as Kirk, Smith and Little and A.B. Arnold, of Macon, who forfeited $50.75. The five white men were arrested in a raid on a place at 76 Chestnut street, early Sunday morning. Helen Lester, who runs the dive, was held for the higher courts in bonds of $500. "The mingling of whites and blacks does more to stir up race trouble than anything else," declared the Recorder. * * *

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 15, 1913 Chief Beavers Opens Real Fight on Doubtful Places—Several Under Watch. Active steps against doubtful rooming and boarding houses were taken by Chief of Police Beavers Tuesday morning. He declared that he intends to close every "shady" rooming house in the city against which he can obtain evidence. He intimated that he has the addresses of a number of boarding houses where, it is alleged, young girls and men visit and where the roomers are in reality inmates of the place, and his campaign is to be directed especially against these. They will be

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, July 14, 1913 *Editor's Note: This article also appeared in the Night Edition under the headline "Mincey Tells of Confession." Tells How Conley Confessed Killing Girl ‘I AM SEEKING ONLY TO DO MY DUTY FOR TRUTH AND JUSTICE' The Georgian Secures Remarkable Statement From Chief Witness for Defense in the Trial of Frank. Declares Belief in Conley's Guilt. On Thursday, July 10, The Georgian published the exclusive story of an affidavit in the possession of the lawyers for Leo M. Frank, accused of the murder of Mary Phagan, made by W.H. Mincey, an insurance agent, the

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, July 14, 1913 Young Woman From the Country Says She Was Lured to Resort on Peters Street. Raid Frees Victim of Alleged Gang From a Resort on Peters Street. Five White Men and Dozen Negroes Arrested in Raid Are Convicted in Court. *Editor's Note: This article was also published under the headlines "Police Hunt Vice Band's Leader" and "17 Caught in Vice Drag Fined," the latter article containing the following six paragraphs in brackets. The sub-headlines for each article are listed above in the same order. There is also a continuation of the article on a

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, July 14, 1913 Revocation of License Will Be Asked if Law Is Violated. Girl Sentenced. The vice inquiry Monday morning resulted in a close surveillance of hotels which, it is alleged, harbor young girls for immoral purposes. If the law is violated, the police authorities say, the police committee of Council will be requested to revoke the license of the hotel involved. Chief Beavers has detailed men to watch for violations of the law following information given by Corinne Wilson and Dora Rosthstein , sentenced to the Reform School Saturday afternoon. The new information, it is

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, July 14, 1913 MRS. CRAWFORD BEGINS FIGHT FOR HER FREEDOM STATE STILL CONFIDENT OF CASE Story of Negro Who Says He Was Eyewitness of Slaying Disbelieved by Solicitor. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey and Attorney Frank A. Hooper, engaged in the prosecution of Leo M. Frank, were induced Monday to break the silence they have maintained grilling the negro Jim Conley last week. They made their first public comments on the sensational developments of the last few days in the Phagan murder mystery. Both declared emphatically that neither the affidavit of W. H. Mincey, insurance solicitor,

The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, July 13, 1913 *Editor's Note: Some text is blurred in the original document, and illegible text is marked by "". The text box insert is transcribed at the bottom of this post. Old Police Reporter Declares True Bill Against Negro Might Alter Entire Frank Prosecution. RULES OF EVIDENCE CITED Mincey Affidavit May Have Important Bearing on Defense of Pencil Factory Manager. By An Old Police Reporter. Persistent rumors have been abroad of late that the present Grand Jury may indict James Conley for the murder of Mary Phagan. This is interesting, for if the Grand Jury

The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, July 13, 1913 Fugitive, Reported to Have Been Traced to Birmingham, Declares That He Witnessed the Attack on the Girl Slain in the Pencil Plant. LAYS CRIME TO BLACK WITH WHOM HE HAD GAMBLED Loser at Dice, He Declares, Planned to Rob Victim as She Came From Getting Pay—Tried to Prevent the Crime and, Failing, Fled. Report that a negro who has declared that he witnessed the attack by another negro upon Mary Phagan, which resulted in her death in the National Pencil Factory on the afternoon of April 26, has been apprehended in Birmingham, became

The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, July 13, 1913 Attorney Leavitt Declares Tale That Conley Admitted Killing Girl Will Stand Test. NEWT LEE STILL HELD IN JAIL Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey Promises to Present a Bill Against Him as Suspect. That several negro women overheard Jim Conley when he ran the insurance agent, Mincey, away with the alleged statement that he had just killed a girl and didn't want to kill anyone else, and that the affidavits from the women are in the hands of the attorneys for the defense, was stated Saturday by Attorney J.H. Leavitt, who aided in obtaining the

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, July 12, 1913 After Gruelling Third Degree, Officials Refuse to Deny or Affirm Negro Confessed. Habeas corpus proceedings to release Newt Lee collapsed in the court of Judge Ellis Saturday morning. By agreement, Bernard L. Chappell, representing Lee, withdrew his application for a habeas corpus; Solicitor Dorsey promised to present a bill against Lee as a suspect in the Phagan murder case, with the expectation that a "no bill" would be returned. This appeared satisfactory to the attorneys for Lee, as well as to the State. Luther Z. Rosser, Reuben R. Arnold and Herbert J. Haas,

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, July 12, 1913 Arrest of Additional Men Named by Girl Victim of the "Ring" Due Soon. With rapid-fire developments featuring the day's investigation of the "vice ring" said to exist in Atlanta, Chief of Police Beavers announced at noon that he is accumulating new evidence through which he hopes to be able soon to break up the gang. The new evidence, he intimtaed , is startling, and is expected to result in arrests of several men and women within 24 hours. The principal developments of the day, through which Chief Beavers is obtaining his new evidence

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, July 12, 1913 *Editor's Note: The second part of this article is not available. Police, Spurred by Chief, Raid Boarding House—Additional Arrests Due Soon. As the result of the increased activity by the detective and police departments, following the grilling given the detectives Friday afternoon by Chief Beavers, five new arrests were made by a squad of officers shortly after noon Saturday, in a raid on a boarding house at No. 164 1-2 Peters Street. The persons under arrest gave their names as Lulu Bell, Maud Wilson, Mrs. Lee Berkstein and L.W. Berkstein. Effie Drummond, a 22-year-old

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, July 12, 1913 *Editor's Note: The second portion of this article is not available. Acting Recorder Sends Girls to Reform School and Binds Two Men Over. Probe into vice conditions resulted in a startling climax Saturday afternoon when Acting Recorder Preston sentenced two girls, Corinne Wilson and Dora Rothstein to the Cincinnati Reform School and bound over two men, W.W. Suttles and C.A. Dollar, under $200 bond each, making eight vice cases tried Saturday, with the prospect of five more trials for Monday. The trial was featured by the statements of the Acting Recorder, who declared

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, July 12, 1913 *Editor's Note: This article also ran with the headlines "Says Women Overheard Conley Confess" and "Says Women Heard Conley Confess" in the Final and Home Editions, respectively. The headline used here is from the Night Edition. AFFIDAVITS SUPPORT MINCEY STORY Attorney Leavitt Declares Tale That Negro Admitted Killing Girl Will Stand Test. That several negro women overheard Jim Conley when he ran the insurance agent, Mincey, away with the alleged statement that he had just killed a girl and didn't want to kill any one else, and that the affidavits from the women

The Atlanta Georgian Friday, July 11, 1913 *Editor's Note: The following column ran in the final edition of the Georgian with the title "Georgian's Story Stirs Officials to Action," and contains the following bracketed text in lieu of the first two paragraphs and preceding sub-headline. [Mincey Affidavit Leads to Another Cross-Examination of Phagan Case Suspect. [As a result of the publication by The Georgian exclusively Thursday of the sensational affidavit of W.H. Mincey, the insurance agent, which declared that Jim Conley had confessed on the afternoon of the Phagan murder, that he had killed a little girl, the negro sweeper

The Atlanta Georgian Friday, July 11, 1913 THREE NEW VICE WAR ARRESTS Man Prisoner Declares He Will Bare the Whole System if Brought to Trial. As a result of statements made to Chief Beavers Friday morning by Hattie Smith, the young girl who has been held for the Grand Jury in connection with the vice war, Detective Rosser at noon arrested three persons—two men and a woman—who were named by the Smith girl as contributing to her downfall and being involved in her white slavery charges. The persons under arrest are Paul Estes, 52 Queen Street; Hoyt Monroe, Edgewood, and

The Atlanta Georgian Friday, July 11, 1913 Speedy Indictment of Negro Is Likely Following Publication of Mincey Affidavit. The speedy indictment of Jim Conley on the charge of murdering Mary Phagan was the strong possibility discussed in court circles Friday following the sensational turn given the strangling mystery by The Georgian's publication Thursday of the accusation of William H. Mincey, an insurance solicitor, that he had heard the negro boast on the afternoon of the crime of killing a girl. For nearly two months a self-confessed accessory after the fact of the murder of the little factory girl, Conley has

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, July 10, 1913 Georgia Suffragists Adopt Resolution Indorsing Chief's Course in Atlanta. Chief of Police Beavers' fight against vice was enthusiastically indorsed at the Thursday morning session of the convention of the Georgia Woman Suffrage Association. The following resolution, introduced by Mrs. Margaret T. McWhorter, was adopted: The Georgia Woman Suffrage Association realizes the high civic ideals which actuate Chief of Police James L. Beavers, of Atlanta, and we wish to place ourselves on record as indorsing every move which he has taken for good government and clean morals, and especially do we commend his action

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, July 10, 1913 Chief of Police Beavers caused a stir Thursday morning when he went before the day watch and addressed the men on their conduct. His talk resulted from the recent scandal in which several policemen were found guilty of visiting a resort in the rear of 127 Auburn Avenue. "Any man who hangs around a negro dive has no place on the police force of Atlanta," the Chief said, addressing the men. "If you get positive evidence that any of your brother officers are engaged in discreditable practices and frequenting disreputable places, it is

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, July 10, 1913 *Editor's Note: Articles with the titles "Tells of Conley Confession" and "Says Conley Confessed" also appeared in other editions of the Georgian. NEGRO MADE BOAST OF KILLING A GIRL, AGENT DECLARES Attorneys for Frank Will Put Main Reliance of Defense on the Startling Affidavit Made by W. H. Mincey and Now in Their Possession. That Jim Conley, negro sweeper at the National Pencil Factory, made a virtual confession to him that he attacked and killed Mary Phagan is the startling allegation made in an affidavit by William H. Mincey, until recently a solicitor

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, July 10, 1913 MEN NAMED BY GIRL ARE SOUGHT Chief Beavers Declares New and Startling Arrests Are Near. Alleged Procuress Held With the principals in the sensational vice case, Hattie Smith, a 17-year-old girl victim; Mrs. Lena Barnhart, a flashily-dressed woman, alleged white slave procuress; Lige Murray, negro ally, and Clyde Cox, the youth who was arrested in the hotel raid, all bound over to the higher courts, the police Thursday turned the full flare of a searching investigation directly on the hotels and alleged immoral resorts, with the result that new arrests and startling developments

The Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, July 9, 1913 Accused Prisoners in White Slave Inquiry Held for Higher Court. That sufficient evidence had been produced in court to make a case against one of the city's most prominent business men was the statement of Recorder Broyles Wednesday afternoon at the trial of the persons involved in the latest vice scandal. Lena Barnhardt, alleged white sliver and procuress, was bound over to the higher court under a bond of $500. Hattie Smith, who claimed in court to be a white slave victim of the Barnhardt woman, was placed under $100 bond for the

The Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, July 9, 1913 iGrl Called to Tell of Negro She Saw in Pencil Factory—Lee Stays in Jail. A sensation in the Phagan murder mystery developed Wednesday afternoon when Solicitor Dorsey summoned Miss Mattie Smith under a special subpena to question her in regard to a negro she saw in the National Pencil Factory the morning of the Saturday that Mary Phagan was murdered. Miss Smith told a Georgian reporter that she saw a negro there that morning and believed it was between 9 and 10 o'clock. She thought she might be asked to identify Conley. If

The Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, July 9, 1913 PART OF PAY ENVELOPE FOUND Discovered Shortly After Tragedy by Detectives, but Find Was Kept Secret. *Editor's Note: The following headlines also appeared: (Night Edition): NEW PHAGAN EVIDENCE FOUND PART OF PAY ENVELOPE HELD BY POLICE (Extra Final Edition): PHAGAN PAY ENVELOPE FOUND Two sensational developments marked the Phagan case Wednesday. One was the testimony of Miss Mattie Smith, an employee of the National Pencil factory, that she had seen a negro sitting on the first floor of the factory betwen 9 and 10 o'clock, at a time when Conley had denied being

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 8, 1913 Hattie Smith Warns Young Women of Atlanta Against the Wiles of Procurers. The startling expose of vice conditions by Hattie Smith, the prety 17-year-old girl, one of the alleged victims of the "system," resulted Tuesday in an aggressive war n the downtown hotels. Chief Beavers declared he would stamp out vice if he had to detail a special officer at every one of the hotels in question. Several additional arrests will be made before noon, it is believed. The Smith girls repeated her story with many additional details of the "system" which is

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 8, 1913 Attorneys for Accused Man Can Keep Him From Facing Accuser if They Wish. That Leo M. Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil Factory, and James Conley, Frank's accuser in the Mary Phagan murder mystery, would be brought face to face Tuesday was the strong possibility presented by the contemplated application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of Newt Lee, negro night watchman at the factory. The plan of bringing Conley and Frank together may meet an insurmountable obstacle when it comes to getting the permission of Frank's attorneys. The law allows

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 8, 1913 The Prison Commission again has taken up the application of J. J. Mangham for a pardon. A recommendation is expected to be made to Governor Slaton in the next day or two. Mangham is the Griffin cotton mill man given four years for embezzlement and one year on a misdemeanor charge. The application came up some time ago and was sent to Governor Brown by the commission without any recommendation. The Governor returned it with the statement that the board should make a recommendation. That great influence will be brought to bear on

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 8, 1913 Dorsey Confident That Move, Which May Confront Frank With Conley, Is Futile. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey said Tuesday he was confident the State would be able to defeat any attempt to get Newt Lee out of the Tower, where he has been confined since April 27, first as a suspect in the Mary Phagan murder case and later as a material witness. He said he had advised Lee's attorney not to take the action, as the negro was regarded as an important witness in making a complete chain of evidence against Leo

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 8, 1913 Negro's Counsel Secures Chance to Argue for Habeas Corpus Writ Wednesday. Reuben R. Arnold, of counsel for Leo M. Frank, communicated with Sheriff Mangum Tuesday afternoon directing him under no circumstances to permit the removal of Frank to appear Wednesday as a witness in the habeas corpus hearing to free Newt Lee. "There is no law on earth to bring Frank to court under an order as a witness," said Arnold. Attorney Rosser, chief of counsel, was absent from the city Tuesday. Attorney C. J. Graham, of the firm of Graham & Campbell,

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 8, 1913 Search Records of Guests for the Leaders of System Named by Girl Victim. A general rounding up of hotel registers by detectives for the identification of notorious men and women added the latest sensation in the vice investigation instituted following the startling disclosures of Hattie Smith, the pretty 17-year-old girl, who claims to be the victim of the "system." The first move was made Tuesday morning when the manager of the Cumberland Hotel was subpenaed to appear in Police Court with his register that afternoon. The register will be examined by the Smith

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, July 7, 1913 Victim Tells Beavers Names of Women and Man Engaged in Traffic in Girls. A new and sensational expose of vice conditions said to be prevalent in Atlanta was made Monday morning by Hattie Smith, a pretty 17-year-old girl, who was arrested in a hotel which was raided Sunday night. If the statements of the Smith girl, who made a confession of her own guilt to the Chief, are true, Atlanta is in the clutches of one of the best organized vice systems in existence. Certain downtown hotels, the girl claims, are the rendezvous

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, July 7, 1913 Habeas Corpus Move to Free Negro in Phagan Case Due to Start Monday. Habeas corpus proceedings in behalf of Newt Lee, negro night watchman at the National Pencil Factory, were promised Monday by the negro's attorney, Bernard L. Chappell. Settlement of this phase of the Phagan murder mystery will determine definitely the status of the negro. It is known that the State regards Lee as a material witness in building up its case against Frank. The attitude of Mr. Chappell is that his client knows no more about crime than he already has

The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, July 6, 1913 Dorsey Will Endeavor to Force Defense to Disclose Their Documentary Evidence. ACT IS COUNTERSTROKE Frank's Attorneys Said to Have Affidavits Exonerating Frank and Indicating Conley's Guilt. A sensational turn in the Phagan murder mystery, according to one of the attorneys for the defense, will develop next week when Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey issues a subpena duces tecum on Attorneys Luther Z. Rosser and Reuben Arnold, citing them to produce all the affidavits they have secured that bear on the crime. The movement is in the nature of a counterstroke to block the

The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, July 6, 1913 Negro's Lawyer Says He Will Offer Habeas Corpus When Solicitor Dorsey Returns. On account of the absence from the city of Prosecuting Attorney Hugh M. Dosey , Bernard L. Chappell, attorney for Newt Lee, announced Saturday that he would not file a writ of habeas corpus until Monday. He claims in the petition for the release of the negro that Lee is being held unlawfully and without any charge against him. Solicitor Dorsey left for his country place at Valdosta, Georgia, Saturady morning. He will return Monday. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey will

The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, July 6, 1913 *Editor's Note: See insert article, "Decisions Which May Aid Defense of Frank", at the conclusion of this post. Frank Expects Freedom by Breaking Down Accuser's Testimony, and State a Conviction by Establishing Truth of Statements. BY AN OLD POLICE REPORTER. The developments in the Phagan case have been of late highly significant and interesting. During the past week, it became evident that the very heart and soul of both the prosecution and the defense is to center largely about the negro, James Conley. He is at once apparently the hope and the despair

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, July 5, 1913 Writ to Free Watchman From the Tower Will Be Filed—State to Oppose Liberation. The prosecution will fight an entirely new angle in the Phagan case Saturday morning when Barnard L. Chappell, attorney for Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, files a writ of habeas corpus for the release of the negro from the Tower, where he is being held without any charge against him. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey will ask the courts to hold the negro as a material witness for the State, or may charge him with being an accessory. He

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, July 5, 1913 New Governor Declares He Will Take Action After Hearing All Sides. Governor Slaton has formed no opinion in the famous McNaughton-Mattie Flanders murder case, and says he will make no decision until he has heard all sides. The new Governor says he has not talked to the former Governor about the case. He will hear, he said, all arguments without prejudice. It is known that the hopes of McNaughton's friends for commutation of sentence, if not pardon, have been greatly strengthened now that Governor Slaton is in the executive office. The statement, made

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, July 5, 1913 Watchman's Lawyer Says He Will Await Return of Dorsey Before Filing Habeas Corpus. On account of the absence form the city of Prosecuting Attorney Hugh M. Dorsey, Bernard L. Chappell, attorney for Newt Lee, announced Saturday that he would not file a writ of habeas corpus until Monday. He claims in the petition for the release of the negro that Lee is being held unlawfully and without any charge against him. Solicitor Dorsey left for his country place at Valdosta, Georgia, Saturday morning. He will return Monday. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey will

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, July 5, 1913 Charges Preferred Against Another Patrolman and Suspension Is Near. Atlanta's police scandal was revived Saturday by the preferring of charges against another member of the police force. His suspension by Chief of Police James L. Beavers is expected to follow within a few hours. The subject of the accusations is the ninth policeman involved in the scandal. Chief Beavers would not make public the man's name until formal order of suspension was made. The charges against the majority of the policemen are they they frequented the notorious negro resort in the rear of

The Atlanta Georgian Friday, July 4, 1913 Frank Defense Locates Witness Who Points to the Negro Sweeper as Slayer. A new witness, said to have the most damaging evidence yet produced against Jim Conley, the negro sweeper in the National Pencil factory, entered the Phagan case Thursday and made an affidavit, the contents fo which are carefully guarded by attorneys for Leo M. Frank, charged with causing the death of the factory girl. The identity of the witness is as much a secret as the exact nature of his testimony. It was learned, though, that the affidavit was made in

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, July 3, 1913 Attorney for Watchman Declares Client Knows Nothing of the Actual Crime. Bernard L. Chappell, attorney for Newt Lee, negro night watchman at the pencile factory, held in the Phagan case, stated Thursday morning that he would swear out a writ of habeas corpus for the release of the negro. Attorney Chappell stated that he had come to the conclusion that there was nothing the negro knew about the crime except finding the body, and that the State had no right to keep him without some charge or as a material witness. Lee was

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, July 3, 1913 A petition filed Tuesday with the Clerk of the Superior Court by A. S. Colyar, Jr., asking for the disbarment of Colonel Thomas B. Felder from the practice of law in Georgia, has been withdrawn by Colyar on information that he first must submit his petition to the court for the determination of whether his grounds are sufficient to warrant an investigation and trial by jury. Colyar said Wednesday he would apply for a rule nisi. Until this is done there can be no action on his petition. The petition includes as reasons

The Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, July 2, 1913 No Indication Given of Results of Investigation of Reports of Disorderly Houses. The result of the Grand Jury's sensational vice probe of a few weeks ago will be made known Wednesday when the presentments are returned to Superior Judge W. D. Ellis, who two months ago charged that an extensive investigation be made. Save when an indictment was returned against Police Commissioner W. P. Fain, which charged him with keeping a disorderly house and beating one of the women inmates, no inkling of the general trend of the probe got beyond the closed

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 1, 1913 Grand Jury Declines to Indict Colyar for Reply to Attack of Colonel Felder charging A. S. Colyar, of Nashville, with libel, the Fulton county grand jury at its session on Tuesda ymorning refused to indict the Tennessean, returning a "no bill" in the case. Mr. Colyar has been in the limelight recently as a principal in the sensational dictograph episode, and has been engaged in a heated controversy with Colonel Thomas B. Felder. The Tennessean was charged specifically with libelling Mr. Felder in a card published over his signature in The Journal of

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 1, 1913 Accused Man Declares He's Anxious Even for Prosecution to Cross-Examine. Surpassing in interest any of the other testimony at the trial of Leo M. Frank will be the story related on the stand by the accused man himself. That Frank will make a detailed statement of his movements on the day that Mary Phagan was murdered is regarded as one of the certainties of the trial. It was learned Wednesday that Frank was desirous of going even further than this by being sworn and submitting to a cross-examination by the attorneys for the

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 1, 1913 Grand Jury Develops Sensational Sequel to Famous Dictograph Scandal. A. S. Colyar, Jr., dictographer of Colonel Thomas B. Felder, Mayor Woodward and C. C. Jones, was indicted by the Grand Jury on the charge of criminal libel Tuesday forenoon. Colyar is the man who sought to trap Colonel Felder by means of the dictograph into offering a bribe of $1,000 for certain affidavits in the Phagan case in the possession of the police. The dictograph records as furnished an afternoon newspaper by Colyar contained the offer. Colonel Felder swore the records were padded.

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 1, 1913 JURY LIKELY TO GO OVER DORSEY'S HEAD Indictment of Negro Sweeper Would Be Severe Blow to Prosecution of Frank. That the Fulton County Grand Jury will go over the head of Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey and indict Jim Conley, the negro sweeper, for the murder of Mary Phagan, in connection with Leo M. Frank, was a probability which came to light Tuesday. While the report was not verified, its origin was such as to throw a bomb into the camp of the prosecution, as it will mean the indictment of the star

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 1, 1913 The Fulton County Grand Jury returned no bill against A. S. Colyar, Jr., Tuesday forenoon on the charge of criminal libel.  Colyar came into prominence a few weeks ago by dictographing Colonel Thomas B. Felder, Mayor Woodward and C. C. Jones in Williams House No. 2. Colyar is the man who sought to trap Colonel Felder by means of the dictograph into offering a bribe of $1,000 for certain affidavits in the Phagan case in the possession of the police. The dictograph records as furnished an afternoon newspaper by Colyar contained the offer.

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, July 1, 1913 Grand Jury Reported as Seriously Considering Connection of Negro With the Crime. A well founded rumor Tuesday was to the effect that the Grand Jury had Jim Conley's connection with the Mary Phagan murder mystery under serious consideration with a view of finding an indictment against the negro on the charge of causing the death of the little factory girl. Announcement was made after the close of Tuesday's session that the present Grand Jury would hold its last session Wednesday, and it was reported that if action were not taken on Conley's case

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, June 30, 1913 DEFENSE PLANS TO TEAR DOWN CONLEY TALE* * This headline appeared on Page 3 of the Georgian. Expect to Prove Frank Innocent By Discrediting Negro's Story Of Phagan Crime. Warned that the State is basing practically all of its expectations of sending Leo M. Frank to the gallows on the dramatic story told by Jim Conley, the defense this week is completing the collection of a strong line of evidence with which it is planned utterly to discredit the negro's statements and his testimony in court. Conley again has insisted on confronting Frank.

The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, June 29, 1913 * * Alternate headline from another page is shown in brackets above. By An Old Police Reporter. As deplorable as the Phagan case is in all its melancholy details, it already is evident enough that there will come of it eventually much that the community may be thankful for. In the first place, Atlanta and Georgia, and incidentally the entire South will have learned a good lesson in law and order, justice and fair play, and to that extent may be the better prepared for the next case of the kind that comes

The Atlanta Georgian Friday, June 27, 1913 Solicitor Closely Guards Data of Which City Detectives Have No Knowledge. New activity was injected into the Phagan case Friday when James Conley, negro sweeper at the National Pencil Factory, was removed secretly from his cell in police station and closely questioned by Frank Hooper, who will aid Solicitor Dorsey in the prosecution of Leo Frank. The move was surrounded with the utmost secrecy. The negro was taken from his cell by Detective Starnes, and behind locked doors questioned anew in the room used by the Police Commissioners. He had been in for

The Atlanta Georgian Friday, June 27, 1913 Grand Jury Indicts Lawyer and Head of Detectives for Attacks on Each Other. Three indictments charging criminal libel were returned Friday by the Grand Jury against Colonel Thomas B. Felder, the Atlanta attorney, and Newport Lanford, Chief of Detectives, who accused each other of most everything in the category after the famous dictograph episode. There are two bills against Felder and one against Lanford. The two men will be placed under bond and will be tried in the Fulton County courts under the misdemeanor act for unlawfully and maliciously accusing each other, according

Judge L.S. Roan, who will preside at trial of alleged slayer of Mary Phagan. The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 26, 1913 State, However, Must Prove She Entered Factory Before Mary Phagan. With the selection of the court room made Thursday, all is virtually in readiness for the trial of Leo M. Frank, accused of strangling Mary Phagan. The venire of jurymen has been selected and July 28 is fixed as the date, and both sides have announced they are ready to go into court. A definite decision was reached by Judge L. S. Roan to hold the trial on the

The Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, June 24, 1913 Dorsey, Beavers and Lanford Summoned to Appear June 30 With All Affidavits They Have Secured Relative to the Phagan Slaying Case. Just before the conference with both sides in the Frank case started Judge Roan intimated strongly that he would set the case for July 14 or July 28 and hold it in some more commodious court room than the one in which he sits on the fourth floor of the Thrower building. Judge Roan's personal inclination leans to a date in July, and it is not likely that the State or defense

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, June 23, 1913 Negro Conley Sticks to Affidavit Story When Again Cross-Examined by Dorsey. The first official action of the court in preparing for the trial of Leo M. Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan was taken Monday afternoon when Judge L. S. Roan impaneled 72 men, from whom a jury to hear the case will be sought. June 30 was agreed to by Judge Roan for the opening of the case. If a postponement is desired it will now have to be asked for in open court. As yet Judge Roan said he had

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, June 23, 1913 Defense Has Announced Its Case Is Complete and Judge Roan Is Free. Prosecuting Attorney Hugh M. Dorsey announced for the State Monday morning that the trial of Leo M. Frank would be placed on the calendar for the week of June 30. The defense had announced that its case was completed and no continuance would be asked unless some unforeseen contingency arose. The trial judge, L. S. Roan, will have the most to say about the date for the trial. He intimated he would be ready on this date and would personally make

Reuben Arnold, noted Atlanta lawyer, who in a statement to The Sunday American says he will help defend Leo M. Frank, accused of slaying Mary Phagan. The Atlanta Georgian Sunday, June 22, 1913 Declares Prisoner is Innocent Has Studied Case Deeply, He Says Noted Lawyer, in Statement to Sunday American, Tells Why He Has Decided to Take Up the Defense of the Accused Man. Negro Conley, in New Interview, Asserts He Is Eager to Face Leo M. Frank in Court and Repeat Story of Alleged Part in Crime. Positive confirmation of the report that he would be one of counsel

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, June 21, 1913 I have not been employed in the case to prosecute Leo M. Frank, but to help find and convict the murderer of Mary Phagan. If the trial proves we are wrong, we will begin work on another angle. We have but one object and idea. It is that justice and the law be vindicated. We are, however, convinced we have a strong case against the accused. FRANK A. HOOPER, Attorney. Mrs. Mina Formby and her sensational affidavit will not be used by the State in the trial of Leo M. Frank, according to

The Atlanta Georgian Friday, June 20, 1913 Few Witnesses of the Scores Examined Will Be Called When Case Is Heard. That the trial of Leo M. Frank will take a much shorter time that is generally thought was indicated in a statement by Judge L. S. Roan. The judge said the greatest difficulty and almost as great a length of time would be consumed in drawing a jury as in the hearing of the case. He said the actual taking of evidence might not consume more than a day. Judge Roan intimated that he expected neither side to introduce the

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 19, 1913 DEFENSE HAS WITNESSES TO REFUTE WOMAN Learns Identity of Other Persons in Home on Night of the Phagan Slaying. That the defense in the trial of Leo M. Frank will be able, if it wishes, to produce three or four witnesses who will testify that the affidavit of Mrs. Mima Formby is untrue was discovered Thursday when the identity of the other persons in the house of Mrs. Formby, 400 Piedmont Avenue, the night of April 26, when Mary Phagan was murdered, was learned. It was from Mrs. Formby that the detectives obtained

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, June 16, 1913 A. S. Colyar is in Atlanta again, promising to spring some more sensations. The investigator who engineered the dictographing of Thomas B. Felder and Mayor Woodward has been in Washington. He sent a letter to Atlanta before him, saying he objected to being made a goat. It is believed Colyar saw George M. Gentry while in Washington and got from him an affidavit. This is said to be much the same as the one printed admitting that the dictograph records had been padded, as charged in Gentry's recent affidavit, but that the general

The Atlanta Georgian Monday, June 16, 1913 Attorney Hooper Declares State Is Prepared for Any Move the Defense May Make. Frank A. Hooper, the well-known criminal lawyer who has been engaged to assist Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey in the trial of Leo M. Frank for the alleged murder of Mary Phagan, said Monday that the case was complete and was ready for presentation in court at any time. Mr. Hooper asserted that the attorneys interested in the prosecution had investigated every angle of the mystery so thoroughly and fortified themselves against any defense that Frank will present, that practically

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, June 14, 1913 With certain of the strong defenses of Leo M. Frank exposed by the preliminary battle over the custody of the negro Conley, the prosecution in the Phagan murder mystery went to work on the case to-day with its first definite idea of the sort of a stronghold it must assault. It was assured that the accused man's lawyers would not rest with fighting suspicion away from Frank, but would seek to fasten the guilt so firmly upon Conley that Frank not only would be acquitted, but that he would be cleared of every

Atlanta Georgian Friday, June 13th, 1913 Chief of Detectives Lanford Receives No Order to Take the Negro Sweeper to Court. A more explicit accusation of murder against Jim Conley, negro sweeper at the National Pencil Factory, than has yet been made since his name has been connected with the Phagan mystery, was expected Friday morning when Luther Z. Rosser, attorney for Leo Frank, was to appear before Judge L. S. Roan to combat Solicitor Dorsey's move to keep Conley at the police station and away from the tower. The probability that Conley, accuser, and Frank, accused, would be brought face

The Atlanta Georgian Saturday, June 14, 1913 Attorney for Conley Injects Politics Into Dispute Over Negro's Place of Confinement. William M. Smith, counsel for James Conley, confessed accessory after the fact in the killing of Mary Phagan, in a statement Saturday sought to make a political issue out of his controversy with Sheriff Mangum over the alleged treatment Conley received while in the Tower. Attorney Smith employed references to his own previous statement that the jail was five stories high; was divided into four wings with seventeen cell blocks distributed over five floors, to discredit Sheriff Mangum's characterization of the

The Atlanta Georgian Friday, June 13, 1913 Rosser Declares ‘Gibbering Statements' Point Out Sweeper as Guilty of Slaying. James Conley, self-confessed accessory after the fact in the murder of Mary Phagan, Friday was discharged by Judge L. S. Roan entirely from the custody of the State on the petition of Solicitor Dorsey. Technically free, Conley was at once rearrested and held by the police on suspicion in the murder mystery. The action of Judge Roan constituted a victory for Solicitor Dorsey, who was fighting to prevent the authorities returning Conley to the Tower, from which he had been taken on

The Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 12, 1913 Detective Chief Ready to Have Accuser Confront Prisoner Before Grand Jury. New sensations are expected in the Phagan mystery Friday morning when the petition of Solicitor Dorsey for the revocation of the order holding James Conley as a material witness is heard before Judge L. S. Roan. Luther Z. Rosser, attorney for Leo Frank, will be afforded his first opportunity formally to present his reasons for the holding of James Conley, not only as a material witness in the baffling murder mystery, but as an actual suspect. While it is not anticipated that

The Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, June 11, 1913 In New Sworn Statement Gentry Declares He Came to Realize He Was Dealing with "Bunch of Crooks"—Charges Lanford and Beavers Names Were Inserted. That the dictograph conversations in which it was plotted to trap Colonel Thomas B. Felder, Mayor Woodward and C. C. Jones were padded and altered in meaning is the sensational charge brought back to Atlanta in an affidavit sworn to by George M. Gentry, who fled to Washington after the conversations, in their alleged garbled form, had been offered for publication by A. S. Colyar, Jr., and printed. Gentry's charges

The Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, June 11, 1913 Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford telegraphed Chief of Police Beavers in Washington, D. C., Wednesday morning to investigate the origin of the affidavit bearing the signature of George M. Gentry in connection with the dictograph plot. The detective chief asked Chief Beavers to find Jeannette Henning, the notary in the national capital who swore Gentry to his statement, and ascertain if the stenographer signed the affidavit which was brought to Atlanta by Detective E. O. Miles. The telegram asked that a minute investigation of the statement be made and the conditions under which

Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, June 11th, 1913 Judge Roan Gives Suspect Chance to Show Why He Should Not Be Released. The Phagan case took a queer turn Wednesday afternoon when Judge Roan, apparently stirred by Luther Z. Rosser's araignment of the way Jim Conley has been "petted" by the police, issued notice to suspects in the mystery that they will be given opportunity Friday to show cause why the negro should not be released from custody as a suspect. However, the move is strictly legal in character, Conley, through his attorney, W. M. Smith, having signed a written statement to stay

The Atlanta Georgian June 11, 1913 Attorney Explains Disposition of Money Subscribed to Secure Burns' Services. Colonel Thomas B. Felder Wednesday issued an itemized statement of the funds subscribed by Atlanta citizens, to secure the employment of the Burns Detective Agency to investigate the Phagan mystery, to show that these funds had been returned to the donors. According to Mr. Felder's statement, but $102 was actually subscribed. This amount was placed in the hands of Curtis N. Anderson, a member and treasurer of the law firm of Felder, Anderson, Dillon & Whitman. In a letetr to Colonel Felder, dated June

The Atlanta Georgian June 9, 1913 Luther Z. Rosser, chief of counsel for Leo M. Frank, issued the first public statement Tuesday that he has made since the arrest of the factory superintendent six weeks ago on the suspicion of being the murderer of Mary Phagan. He took occasion to point out many of the absurdities in the stories of the negro Jim Conley, and paid his respects in a forcible manner both to Chief of Detectives Lanford and Colonel Thomas B. Felder, who have been accusing each other of trying to protect Frank. Mr. Rosser explained the violation of

The Atlanta Georgian June 10, 1913 Assistant Solicitor E. A. Stephens virtually admitted this afternoon that Police Commissioner W. P. Fain had been indicted. There was a division of the vote, it was said, but the majority was for indictment. With blank bills of indictment against Attorney Thomas B. Felder and Police Commissioner W. P. Fain under consideration, the vice probe by the Fulton County Grand Jury took a sensational turn Tuesday. Two witnesses told of disorder and rowdyism in a house at 40 East Harris Street, in which the Police Commissioner was said to have been involved. The disorder,

Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, June 10th, 1913 Story That Companion of Conley Saw Him Strike Down Girl Opens New Clews. Jim Conley, whose sensational story has made him an accessory after the fact in the murder of Mary Phagan, is sticking closely to the details he unfolded in his remarkable affidavit, according to his attorney, William M. Smith. Mr. Smith said Tuesday morning that Conley has varied in no essential particular from the original tale of his part in the disposal of the body of the strangled girl, under the direction of Leo Frank. To Mr. Smith and others who have

Atlanta Georgian Monday, June 9th, 1913 R. P. Barrett, in Letter to Georgian, Gives Reasons for Suspecting Negro of Crime. R. P. Barrett, foreman of the metal department at the National Pencil Factory, in a letter to The Georgian Monday, gives his reasons for believing that Jim Conley, negro sweeper at the plant, attacked and strangled Mary Phagan. It was Barrett who found the strands of hair on the lathing machine in his department. This is supposed to be where the girl was thrown against the machine in her struggles. Later Barrett testified positively that the blood stains in the

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, June 8th, 1913 Average Atlantan Believes Frank is Guilty, but That Little Real Evidence Has Yet Pointed to Him as Slayer. Stirring Defense by Wife and Attack on Solicitor Dorsey Are Two Striking Features of Week's Progress in Case. by AN OLD POLICE REPORTER. I have thought a good deal during the past week about a fine young newspaper man I used to know some fifteen years ago, and particularly of the last thing he said to me before he died. He was a Georgian, too. We had been college mates and fraternity mates, and all that

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, June 7th, 1913 The defense of Leo Frank against the charge of murdering Mary Phagan will be more than a mere attempt to clear Frank's skirts. It will seek directly to fix upon James Conley, negro, full and complete responsibility for the crime. Despite the secretiveness and the silence of Frank's attorneys, it has been ascertained with a reasonable degree of authority that the foregoing is the program of the defense, and that the defense believes itself abundantly prepared to take care of itself along that line. An ironclad alibi, covering all the time cited in the

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, June 7th, 1913 Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey refused late Saturday afternoon to make reply to the reiterated accusations of Mrs. Leo M. Frank that "torture chamber" methods were made use of by the state to secure evidence from witnesses. "I havn't had time to read Mrs. Frank's statement fully," declared Mr. Dorsey, "and even though I did read it, I do not know that I would reply to it." Mrs. Frank's second letter was made public Saturday morning and is as follows: Atlanta Georgia, June 7, 1913. Editor Atlanta Georgian: I think fairness to Mr. Frank requires

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, June 7th, 1913 Getting New Evidence to Show Negro Was Located in Factory—Theory Explains Mystery of Staple Pulled From Back Door of Basement. The defense of Leo Frank against the charge of murdering Mary Phagan will be more than a mere attempt to clear Frank's skirts of the crime. It will seek directly to fix upon James Conley, negro, full and complete responsibility for the crime. Despite the secretiveness and the silence of Frank's attorneys, it has been ascertained with a reasonable degree of authority that the foregoing is the program of the defense, and that the

Atlanta Georgian Friday, June 6th, 1913 St. Louis, June 6.—That a negro, who is alleged to have said he witnessed the murder of Mary Phagan in Atlanta, is under arrest in Cairo, Ill., and is about to be returned to Atlanta by a Pinkerton detective, was the information brought into St. Louis today by a passenger who declared he overheard a conversation betwene the detective and an attorney in the case who were on the train en route to Cairo. According to the passenger, the negro has admitted that he was in Atlanta with a show at the time of

L. H. Beck, foreman of Fulton County Grand Jury that is investigating vice conditions in Atlanta, the Felder bribery charges and the famous dictograph row. Mr. Beck is the one who launched the probe of reports that vice exists here. Atlanta Georgian Friday, June 6th, 1913 Resort in Spring Street Flourishes While Injunction Prevents Police Interference It became known Friday that Chief of Police James L. Beavers made the startling charge before the vice investigating Grand Jury that the courts of the State of Georgia made it impossible for him to close the most notorious resort that had ever operated

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 5th, 1913 Utter repudiation of the affidavits which she was alleged to have sworn to incriminating conversations in the home of Leo M. Frank, indicted for the slaying of Mary Phagan, was made Thursday by Minola McKnight, negro cook for the accused factory superintendent and his wife's parents. The woman denies absolutely every statement attributed to her by the police, and denies that she even signed the paper made public by the police. The Georgian presented the McKnight affidavit to its readers with the distinct admonition that it must not be accepted as credible evidence until

George Gentry, operator of the dictograph, alleged to have trapped Colonel T. B. Felder and Mayor Woodward. Gentry now is missing. Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 5th, 1913 Probers Question Colyar and Febuary About Alleged Admissions by Negro. Chief Lanford, in discussing the near-fight between himself and Attorney Felder in Solicitor Dorsey's office Thursday morning, characterized his opponent as all bluff. "Felder is a coward and void of all truth," declared Chief Lanford. "If I had been left with him alone for one minute I would have showed the rascal up. I wouldn't have cared if he had a dozen pistols.

Portrait of Lucille Selig Frank Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 5th, 1913 Following the complete denial by Minola McKnight, cook in the household of Leo M. Frank, of the statements she is alleged to have made in the sensational police affidavit given out Wednesday, Mrs. Leo M. Frank Thursday made her first public statement on the Mary Phagan mystery. Mrs. Frank makes an eloquently pathetic defense of her husband and attacks Solicitor General Dorsey's methods in the securing of evidence, charging torture and a deliberate determination to distort facts. Mrs. Frank denies absolutely that her husband in any way demeaned himself

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 5th, 1913 With the time when Leo M. Frank will go on trial for the murder of Mary Phagan rapidly approaching, perhaps no greater reinforcement to the accused pencil factory superintendent in facing his ordeal has been made than that in the person of his mother, who is now in Atlanta at the Selig home. Mrs. Frank came on from Brooklyn, where she makes her home, and where Frank himself formerly resided. She will remain until after the trial. A woman of considerable age, Mrs. Frank has shown wonderful bravery in coming to share her son's

  Atlanta Georgian Thursday, June 5th, 1913 Attorney Reiterates Graft Accusations Following Lanford's Defiance—Offers More Proof. Newport A. Lanford, Chief of Detectives, issued a statement Thursday morning defying Colonel Thomas B. Felder, or anyone, to substantiate the charge of graft made against him and his department in the Grand Jury's probe of vice conditions and alleged corruption in the detective and police departments. "I defy Felder, or anyone, to prove to the Grand Jury that a penny of graft has ever gone into the detective department, and I defy him to substantiate one of his blackmailing utterances against me. He

Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, June 4th, 1913 While police activities have been turned to this line of investigation, the negro sweeper, Jim Conley, has been given a rest. Chief of Detectives Lanford stated that the negro would be quizzed no more. Cook Counted on by Defense. "If he has not told the whole truth," said the Chief, "he will send for me within the next few days, I believe." The cook is one of the five witnesses upon whom the defense has relied to prove that Frank returned home for luncheon at 1:20 o'clock the Saturday afternoon of the murder and

Mayor James G. Woodward (left), leaving Grand Jury room after testifying in vice probe; Thomas B. Felder (middle), who exonerates Beavers of graft charges but declares war on Lanford; Carl Hutcheson (right), who gave Grand Jury list of "houses in our midst." Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, June 4th, 1913 Police Commissioner Accused Before Grand Jury of Brawl in Disorderly House. As a climax of revelations made before the Grand Jury in its probe of vice conditions in Atlanta, Police Commissioner William F. Fain was named as the central figure in a carousal said to have been held in a house on

Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, June 4th, 1913 Says She Heard Frank's Wife Tell Mother Frank Had Threatened Suicide Incoherent Statement by Employee of Frank Household That Must Not Be Taken as Legal Evidence Until Heard and Corroborated in Court. Another sensational but strangely incoherent affidavit in the Mary Phagan mystery was made public this afternoon when the police gave out what purports to be a startling statement sworn to by Minola McKnight, negro cook in the Frank household, who was grilled for two hours at police headquarters Tuesday. The statement quotes the McKnight woman as declaring that she overheard Mrs. Leo

Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, June 3rd, 1913 Defense Prepares to Show Glaring Discrepancies in Affidavit of James Conley. "Developments of a startling nature may be expected from day to day in the Phagan case," said Chief of Detectives Lanford Tuesday morning. "They may be expected right up to the date that the trial of Leo Frank begins. "That we feel we practically have a conclusive case against the factory superintendent does not mean that we are resting in our labors to the slightest extent. We are a little more at rest in our minds, that is all. "The detectives are working

Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, June 3rd, 1913 Attorney Ready to Go Before Grand Jury, but Has Not Been Called; Hutcheson Summoned in the Airing of the Dictograph Controversy. Colonel Thomas B. Felder appeared before the Grand Jury Tuesday morning at 10 o'clock, prepared, he said, to substantiate every charge he had made against the police department and its heads, and promising to open the eyes of the city to a condition of affairs that was startling in the extreme. "I have not been served with a subpena to go before the Grand Jury," Colonel Felder said, "but Mr. Hutcheson has been,

Atlanta Georgian Monday, June 2nd, 1913 Woman Questioned by Dorsey, Becomes Hysterical; Solicitor Refuses to Tell Whether She Gave Important Information; Alibi for Defense. Minola Mcknight, the negro cook in the household of Mr. and Mrs. Emil Selig, 68 Georgia Avenue, with whom Leo M. Frank lived, was put through the severest sort of grilling in the office of Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey Monday in an effort to break down Frank's alibi which tends to show that he was at home about the time James Conley swore the notes found by Mary Phagan's body were written. The negro woman grew

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, June 2nd, 1913 Dictograph conversations and alleged bribery charges will be discussed by Chief of Police Beavers and Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey at a conference to be held to-day. Chief Beavers is ready to have every one who had anything to do with the graft charges called before the Grand Jury, and if conspiracy can be proven it is very probable there will be indictments. However, it is all up to Solicitor General Dorsey just what will be done. It is thought that, owing to the present state of the Phagan case, the dictographers will not

Atlanta Georgian Monday, June 2nd, 1913 Defense to Cite Discrepancies in Time to Disprove Conley's Affidavit—Sheriff Denies Friends of Superintendent Approached Sweeper in Cell. After a two-hour grilling by Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey Minola McKnight, a negro woman about 21 years old, was taken to police headquarters and is held under suspicion in connection with the murder of Mary Phagan. She is believed to have made sensational disclosures to the solicitor. At the police station she was in hysteria, shouting: "I am going to hang, but I didn't do it." * * * Five persons will be prepared to testify

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, June 1st, 1913 Negro Will Be Used as Material Evidence Against Frank, Says Solicitor Dorsey LEE LIKELY TO BE FREED Sweeper Sticks to Story Accusing Head of Pencil Factory of Phagan Slaying. The startling confessions by Jim Conley of the part he played in the Phagan murder mystery have not changed the State's case in any of its essential features, according to an announcement from Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey, at the close of a long examination of the negro yesterday. Stormed at for several hours by the Solicitor and the city detectives, Conley's story was unchanged

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, June 1st, 1913 Parents Intended to Give Child Happy Surprise—Now They Will Strew Flowers on Her Grave in Marietta Churchyard. By MIGNON HALL. This will be the saddest Sunday with Mary Phagan's family since that fatal Sunday just five weeks ago when the little girl's body was found hidden away in the basement of the National Pencil factory. For to-day is Mary's birthday, and it had been planned by her mother and stepfather, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Coleman, that they would give her a party. If she had lived it would have been celebrated last night

  Atlanta Georgian Sunday, June 1st, 1913 ‘He Has Told the Whole Truth—There's Not a Lawyer Who Can Shake Him,' Asserts Chief. Jim Conley has told the whole truth—there's not a shadow of a doubt about it. We feel perfectly satisfied now with the case against Frank. If we had the least suspicion that his story were false, we could not feel satisfied—we would be puzzled and worried just as much as when the crime was first committed. Conley's evidence cinches the case against Frank. He will go on the witness stand in the trial of Frank and tell his

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, June, 1st, 1913 Does Not Deviate In Least From Detailed Story Despite Traps to Snare Him FRANK APPEARS PLEASED Prisoner Tells His Friends That Sweeper's Affidavit Is Good News to Him A gruelling cross-examination of Jim Conley, confessed accessory in the murder of Mary Phagan, in an effort to break down his charges against Leo M. Frank as the actual slayer of the little girl, was made by Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey late Saturday afternoon. Before the rapid-fire questioning, in which every imaginable snare was set to entrap him, the negro did not deviate one iota

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, June 1st, 1913 By AN OLD POLICE REPORTER. Developments came thick and fast during the past week, and one is able to approach consideration of the Phagan case to-day with more assurance and ease of mind than heretofore. Distinctly have the clouds lifted, so I think, from about Leo Frank, and if not yet are they "in the deep bosom of the ocean buried," they have, nevertheless I take it, served to let a measure of the sunshine in. Leo Frank, snatching eagerly at that faltering ray of blessed and thrice-welcome light, may thank the negro Conley

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 31st, 1913 Will Reconvene Next Tuesday for Routine Business Only, Declares Foreman Beck. Lewis H. Beck, foreman of the Fulton County Grand Jury, which has been called to meet in special session at 10 o'clock next Thursday morning, said Saturday afternoon that the Grand Jury positively would not take up either the Phagan case or the Felder-Beavers row. The purpose of the special session, Mr. Beck said, was to appoint certain committee. Mr. Beck went a step furthere and said the Grand Jury had been called for no other purpose except to appoint these committees and

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 31st, 1913 In all the grim annals of Atlanta's criminal history an illiterate negro, Jim Conley, stands out to-day the principal figure in one of the most remarkable and dramatically impressive "third degrees" ever administered by the city police. A chief of police, ordinarily stolid and unmoved, and chief of detectives and members of his force, a Pinkerton operative—all men in daily touch with every sort of crime and evil—hung with tensest interest on each word as it came from the lips of the negro, and watched, as wide-eyed as any tyro in man-hunting, the negro's

    Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 31st, 1913 Police Hope Meeting Will Prove Whether Negro Will Stick to Latest Story Under Eyes of the Man He Accuses—Ready to Pay Penalty. A determined effort is being made by the police department to bring Leo M. Frank face to face with his accuser, Jim Conley, the negro sweeper. The detectives wish to learn how Conley will go through the ordeal of confronting the man he accuses of directing the disposal of the body of Mary Phagan, and dictating the notes that were found her body. They desire also to give Frank an

Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 31st, 1913 That The Georgian played a conspicuous part in obtaining the latest and most important confession from Jim Conley, the negro sweeper, in which he admitted his complicity in the crime, was the declaration of Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford late Friday afternoon. Chief Lanford, in telling of the cross-examination of Conley on Thursday afternoon which resulted in his confession, said that Conley for a long time persisted in maintaining that he knew no more of the crime than what which he had related previously. After several hours of futile questioning the chief showed him

    Atlanta Georgian Friday, May 30th, 1913 Chief of Detectives Lanford admitted Friday morning that Jim Conley, under the rack of the third degree, had made the astounding confession that he had assisted Leo M. Frank in disposing of the body of the murdered Mary Phagan. His new statement is believed to contain even more startling admissions than have not yet been made public. If the negro sweeper is to be believed after his long series of deceits and lies, this forms the most damaging evidence that has been brought against Frank since suspicion was first pointed in his

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 29th, 1913 Dorsey Ready to Act if Negro Sticks to Latest Story Accusing Frank. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey announced that if Conley persisted in his story he would take steps to have him indicted as an accessory after the fact and bring him to trial on this charge. Conley was Friday afternoon removed to the Tower, on an order signed by Judge Roan. Conley's startling tale came late Thursday afternoon after he had been under a merciless sweating for nearly three hours. Noting the signs of weakening, Detective Harry Scott and Chief Lanford shot question

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 29th, 1913 Swears Frank Told Him Girl Had Hit Her Head Against Something. The Georgian in it second Extra published exclusively the first REAL confession of James Conley, the negro sweeper at the National Pencil Factory, regarding the part he played in the Mary Phagan mystery. The Georgian has dealt in no haphazard guesses as to the negro Conley's testimony to the police and in giving prominence to his statements desires to say that it must not be taken as final until it is examined at the trial of Frank. Atlanta, Georgia, April 29, 1913. On

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 29th, 1913 With Detectives Looking On, Negro Shows How He Carried Girl's Body to Basement at Direction, as He Swear, of His Employer, Leo Frank. As a sensational climax to the confession of his part of the Mary Phagan tragedy, Jim Conley, negro sweeper, was taken to the National encil Factory Friday afternoon, where he enacted by movement every detail of the event that took place in the building of mystery after the death of the little girl. With the detectives noting every sentence that fell from the ready lips of the negro, Conley started from

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 29th, 1913 Believed Beavers Will Try to Have Grand Jury Consider Accusations Against Attorney. That bribery charges against Colonel Thomas B. Felder and others will be placed before the Fulton County Grand Jury by police officials, was the indication when G. C. February, secretary of Chief of Detectives Lanford, and the person alleged to have been offered $1,000 in bribe money, secured a subpena Thursday afternoon for A. S. Colyar, Jr., to appear before Solicitor General Dorsey and give testimony Friday morning. The subpena formally summoned Colyar, who was the author of the dictographing of Felder

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 29th, 1913 All Evidence Gathered by His Operatives Sent to the Noted Detective. James Conley, the negro sweeper at the National Pencil Factory who has turned suspicion on himself with a maze of contradictory statements, was put through a gruelling third degree examination at police headquarters this afternoon. Pinkerton Detective Harry Scott said as the grilling began before Chief Beavers and Chief Lanford that he expected to glean important information. Scott had interviewed factory employees and was convinced that there were many things to be cleared up before the negro's second affidavit, on which the police

Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 28th, 1913 Declares That He Will "Clean Out" Disorderly Places When Hutcheson Furnishes List. Renewed crusades to clean out vice in Atlanta have been precipitated by the publication Tuesday of an open letter to Chief of Police Beavers by Carl Hutcheson, an Atlanta attorney. Chief Beavers called up Hutcheson with a demand for his information, asking names, addresses and character of occupants, and declared Wednesday that he would proceed to clean up if the requested information was furnished. Hutcheson is now preparing a list of the places which he declared are immoral and told the chief