Caption reads: Detective Harry Scott (in Panama hat), of the Pinkertons, who played the hunch that Jim Conley, the negro, knew something of the girl’s murder. The accompanying figure is Detective John Black, of police headquarters, whose work in co-operation with the Pinkerton man did much to solve the crime. Great dependence will be put in their testimony at the coming trial of Leo Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

The Atlanta Constitution

Sunday, July 13, 1913

By Britt Craig.

Have you ever had a hunch that there wasn’t anybody around the table that held a higher hand than your Jacks over tens and consequently you shoved a ‘blue’ to the mahogany with the result that every hostile hand went to the discard?

Have you ever had a hunch that it was going to rain and you pulled in the rugs and took the clothes off the line and let down the windows just in time to see the elements express themselves in a downpour?

Have you ever had a hunch of any kind—one of those real, undeniable inner promptings that chases round and round in your bonnet and worries the life out of you and invariably forces you to do something that you really intended doing but about which you were sorely undecided?

If you’re human, you have.

Detective Harry Scott had one about Jim Conley, the negro sweeper in the Phagan mystery. It was one of those irresistible hunches that buzzes about like a June bug. He took it for its word with the result that he found the key that is predicted to unlock the secret of Atlanta’s most hideous murder.

Detectives are very normal beings. They have hunches like the weakest of us. They’re superstitious, too. You can’t find a single one that will walk under a ladder or fail to knock wood when he brags about himself.

A hunch is one of the most common of human afflictions. It is the very essence of a frailty that affects every normal somebody. The very fact that it is a weakness requires a nerve of steel and backbone of similar fortitude to play one to the limit like Detective Scott played his.

Good detectives, like genius, are utterly human. Genius frequently stalks about in its shirt sleeves without a shave and wearing suspenders. It has been known to chew tobacco and cuss volubly. Sometimes, it has a red nose and a thirst. It can sleep as contentedly on Decatur street as on Peachtree.

Detectives Very Human.

A good detective is so absolutely human that he generally chews tobacco, doesn’t care where he spits it, possesses a vocabulary of profanity that is surpassed only by its eloquence and brightens up sartorially only when he falls in love or his wife makes him.

Detective Scott, although he doesn’t chew tobacco—not since he was 16, at least—or allow his profanity to interfere with his knowledge of perfectly good English, is so keenly human that he had a premonition that Jim Conley knew something or other about the death of Mary Phagan.

While the investigation was at its zenith, the negro lay in police headquarters, neglected and sorely in need of a bath. Scott, casting about for someone on whom to cast suspicion in order to convince himself that he wasn’t prejudiced against the white prisoner, was guided by the hunch to Conley.

He had no reason to suspect the sweeper other than the fact that Jim had been caught washing his shirt in order to appear presentable at the inquest. Nothing but the hunch pointed Conleywards.

He tried to figure that the negro was guilty and there was nothing to figure on. He tried to figure he was innocent, and the hunch figured for him. It pointed to Conley like that uncanny feeling which irresistibly draws you over on the right hand side of the street on the way home of a dark night when the left side is really the nearest.

It weighed as heavily as remembered wrong, it tortured him of nights and made his days miserable. Conley knows something, it whispered. Pick it out of him, or go back to selling fish.

Finally, the Pinkerton man set out with Detective John Black, of police headquarters, to prove that either the hunch was a liar or he wasn’t a detective as good as he had always considered. Conley had maintained that he was illiterate—couldn’t even write his name, and as this seemed the only vulnerable spot in his story, Scott told him he probably was a liar.

At least, it was the only thing about the negro that could plausibly be discredited. On the theory that every negro who owns a wife and home as Conley owned, possesses furniture bought on the installment plan, the two sleuths cast about for some contract to which the black man could possibly have attached his signature.

They visited third-rate furniture stores, business houses and jewelry shops. The search was fruitless. The signature of Conley was as missing as the secret of the sphinx. Scott was prepared to abandon his hunch on the doorsteps of failure, when Fate—not a thirst—took them to the vicinity of a saloon near Five Points.

Providence—and not the bouncer—urged a gentleman in Panama and white shoes, and with the oily air of a collector, gently through the doorway. He stepped to the sidewalk and recognized Black. He greeted and shook a disconsolate hand.

Wanted to See Conley.

“You’ve got a nigger down at police station I’d certainly like to see,” he announced.

“What nigger?” said Black, promoting conversation.

“That Conley nigger?”

Something bright and dazzling flashed through Scott’s hunch-ridden brain as he noticed the batch of bills carefully folded in the person’s coat pocket.

The hunch told him to collar the oily individual and search his batch of bills. He did, at the oily one’s consent. A single glance revealed a contract issued to Jim Conley. A second glance revealed the negro’s name, scrawled in a characteristic hand all over the signee’s line.

Scott’s hunch had been fulfilled. It had guided him to a specimen of the black sweeper’s handwriting—two words in barely legible script that proved the negro a liar three ways from breakfast. It has since proved the means of lifting the Phagan secret from the mire of mystery.

The contract was signed by Conley more than twelve months ago for a watch he had bought from a jewelry firm. It is now in possession of he solicitor general, and likely will be produced as evidence in the coming trial of Leo Frank.

The Third Degree.

What followed its discovery was the most successful third degree ever operated at police headquarters. Scott and Black showed the signature to the solicitor general, detective chief and Chief Beavers.

Then, they showed it to Conley.

It was on a Sunday afternoon. Police station was dull and drowsy and a sleepy atmosphere pervaded the building. Even the inevitable newspaper reporter was absent. Scott and Black took the prisoner into the little 6×8 “sweat box” and sat him where the light could play full on his face.

Scott locked the door and threw the key over the transom. Black pulled off his coat, let down his suspenders and put cigarettes conveniently near. Conley blinked at the light and wondered what was coming off.

Scott pulled a mysterious something from his pocket and laid it on the table. It was a folded bit of paper, and he smiled significantly as it left his hand. Conley grimaced and shifted a leg.

“Well, Jim, we’ve got the deadwood on you. Better cough up and tell us something.”

“Honest, white folks, I swear ‘fore God and High heaven I don’t know a thing.” His plea was pathetic in its apparent sincerity.

“But we know better. The quicker you tell, the better off you’ll be. Kick in, Jim—kick in. It’s the best for you.”

“I can’t kick,” protested the negro. “I ain’t got nothin’ to kick for.”

Scott stepped to the table and pointed at the folded slip.

“You see that! It’s enough to hang you. You don’t know what it is, and you couldn’t guess in a year. It’s dead-wood, nigger. It’s dead-wood. You’d better kick through or we’ll pull it on you.”

The negro studied the slip intently. He was sorely puzzled. Great drops of sweat rolled down his face and his fingers twitched nervously. His very air betrayed guilt.

“Listen,” said Scott. “Can you write?”

“Naw, sir, I can’t. I never could.”

“Will you swear it?”

“I shore will.”

“Do you know the penalty for perjury?”

“Naw, sir—what is it?”

“Twenty years in the gang—maybe more.”

“What’s perjury?”

“Swearing a lie.”

“But I ain’t goin’ to swear no lie.”

“You will if you swear you can’t write. Here! Look at this.”

The Pinkerton man unfolded the mysterious slip. It was the contract. The negro noted the signature with a betraying flash of recognition.

“How could you sign this if you couldn’t write?”

Conley was wordless for minutes. He stared dumbly out the window and twisted his fingers. Suddenly, he exclaimed:

“White folks, I’m a liar!”

“Good! We thought so all the time. Now, we want you to write a bit.”

The sleuths produced pen and paper. Conley was put at the table to write his name.

“Now, write the alphabet.”

He wrote the A, B, C’s in huge, scrawling figures.

“Write this: ‘That long, tall, black negro did this by hisself.’ ”

Conley winced slightly as he evidently recalled the words of the tragic note found beside the body.

He wrote, slowly and deliberately with apparently no effort to disguise his script:

“That long, tall, black negro did this boy hisslef.”

The detectives, peering eagerly over the negro’s shoulder, noted with satisfaction the misspelling of words “by” and “self.” They ordered him to rewrite the words.

“Boy” and “slef,” he wrote.

The original murder missive had been written “boy” and “slef.” Satisfied that Conley was their author, the detectives flatly accused him of writing the Phagan notes.

“I didn’t do it,” he answered. ” ‘Fore God I didn’t.”

Showed He Was Guilty.

“The very fact that you errored in these words show you’re guilty. The handwriting compares with the originals. You accuse yourself of killing the girl. I believe you did it. Everybody else will  believe it. You’ll be hung just as sure as you’re foot high and black.”

“But I ain’t guilty. I don’t know a thing about them notes or about that killing—honest, white folks. Can’t you believe a word I say?”

“Naw, Jim, we wouldn’t b’lieve you on the gallows. You tell so many lies.”

Black broke in.

“Listen, Jim, you don’t want to go to the scaffold. It’s hell to be slung at the end of a rope to God knows where. You’re going, though, just as sure’s hell’s hot, and still heatin’. There ain’t but one way out of it—uncork and tell all you know.

“There ain’t a jury in the world—even a nigger jury—that’d believe you didn’t kill this girl. They’d hang you or lynch you—likely lynching. You’ve got yourself in a pickle, and there ain’t but one way out—kick in. Tell all about it.”

“I don’t know a thing, boss, I swear I don’t. If I did, I’d tell you the truth—the whole truth, so he’p me God!”

Black’s tone had been so convincing that the negro had been left in a quandary. The detectives comprehended it.

Scott said:

“We’ll give you a day to think it over.”

With which, they transferred the prisoner to a dark and desolate cell in the prison downstairs, locked him in and left him alone to his thoughts and a vivid outlook of the scaffold.

While the detectives jubileed inwardly and kept reporters from gaining knowledge of the marvelous development, they quizzed Conley for seven following days trying to exact a confession. It was locked firm in his bosom. He stoutly maintained the original story.

It was the following Saturday—the day that veteran reporters declare was the newsiest in Atlanta’s history. Beside the famous Felder-Lanford dictagraph row, Frank was indicted, developments came thick and fast from many quarters, and other things were happening that kept an army of news-gatherers the busiest of their careers.

At daybreak, Detective Black was summoned by Conley to the negro’s cell.

“I’ve got something to tell you, boss,” he said. Black locked himself in with the prisoner and Conley began to unburden himself of his first tale of complicity in the Phagan crime.

“I wrote those notes,” he admitted. “Mr. Frank had me write ’em. I didn’t know what he wanted with them, and he gave me some money to do it. I’d a told you sooner, but I thought he’d send me more money for not tellin’. I hoped some of his friends ‘d get me out.”

Dorsey Is Notified.

The solicitor was notified immediately. The grand jury was being presented with evidence against the suspected Frank. Conley’s confession was submitted in the meanwhile. Thirty minutes later the famous bill of indictment was drawn.

Although he had eked a wonderful yarn from the negro, Scott’s hunch failed to subside. It buzzed about in his head like a circular saw and got frantic at times. It told him the negro knew even more than he had confessed.

The detective, by this time, considered the hunch productive and trustworthy. He set out on new lines. He faced the negro with a daily accusation of guilt and a picture of his predicted doom. It had a satisfactory effect. Conley grew weak and lost his appetite. He slept little and a nervous and haunted look crept into his eyes.

While the Pinkerton man assumed an attitude of hostility toward the black sweeper, Detective Black affected sympathy, as per plot, and bought the prisoner drinks and pies and sandwiches and consolation. Between the two fires, Jim inclined toward the headquarters man and gradually the crust of his reticence began to crack.

“Mister Black,” he said one day, “you’ve been mighty good to me, and some day I’m going to be the same to you—whenever I get the chance.”

Black carried the news to Scott. Scott went directly to Conley’s cell and drew a masterful picture of a hanging at daybreak. He declared that efforts already were being made to indict him for the actual murder, and told that officials of the pencil factory had openly accused the negro of the crime.

Scott’s visit and attitude left the negro in a state of fear. Black reached his cell shortly after the Pinkerton man had departed. He played upon the suspect’s emotion. He pretended sympathy and offered to see the black carried safely through the ‘plot’ against him.

Finally, when Black and Scott and headquarters had become convinced that the negro was ripe for confessing, he was carried into Chief Lanford’s office. He faced a group of detectives—shirts off, sleeves rolled and a prevailing widespread willingness to wade in.

The sleuths cajoled and coaxed. They warned and threatened. They did everything that detective ingenuity could suggest. Conley seemed adamant. He stuck to his story and never wavered. He was worked into a heat, a boiling, bubbling heat and left therein to think things over.

His questioners stepped into the hallway outside and compared notes. A newsboy arrived with an afternoon newspaper. Glaring headlines announced that pencil factory authorities had publicly charged Conley with murdering Mary Phagan and of trying to shift the crime to their superintendent.

Scott again had an idea. It was born in a dazzling brilliance that was overwhelming.

“Here, boy,” he called to the newsie. “Take one of those papers to that nigger in the room.”

The boy did as directed. Conley was given the paper containing the accusation. What happened to his emotions isn’t on police record. No one knows but Conley. The result, though, is a gilded page in police history.

When Scott and his fellow-examiners returned to the room, the negro was staring blankly at the headline, perspiration streaming and fingers trembling. He glanced at the headquarters men with an air of weak resignation.

“Listen, Mr. Black,” he said to the detective, “I’d like to talk to you privately, please, sir.”

Black was left with the suspect, closeted in the chief’s office. Thirty minutes later he emerged, a smile flooding his face, success in his soul and his mind filled with Conley’s startling confession of complicity in disposing of Mary Phagan’s body in assistance to his superintendent.

It was the second conflicting story he had told. The first was of having only written the murder notes. It has been replaced by his latter and more incriminating tale, to which he has made a definite and sworn statement.

The prosecution maintains that this last admission solves the Phagan case. It pins the crime conclusively to one of two sources—Frank or the negro.

One or the other will be proved at the coming trial—the trial for which an entire state awaits with unprecedented eagerness—a trial that will be based largely on the amazing result of a hunch, a pure, simple hunch, one of the many frailties that affect us all.

But a frailty few of us can resist.

A frailty which Harry Scott, in a flight of fancy, analyzes thusly:

“The God of Good Luck’s Gift—
A whisper of the conscience,
To work a wonder with.”

* * *

The Atlanta Constitution, July 13th 1913, “Detective Harry Scott’s Hunch-Thrilling Story of How it Secured James Conley’s Confession,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

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 for the disbarment of Colonel Felder the alleged irregular practices of which Colyar accused Colonel Felder in the sensational dictograph conversations furnished by Colyar to the police.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 3rd 1913, “Attempt by Colyar To Disbar Felder Is Halted; Tries Again,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

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 [sic] 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 June 8, in which he excoriated the Atlanta lawyer.

The grand jury had the bill drawn of its own initiative, it is said, and considered it Tuesday morning. The only witness called before the grand jury was John Paschall, city editor of The Atlanta Journal.

In answer to questions of the grand jurors, Mr. Paschall stated that the card was furnished for publication by Mr. Colyar. Colyar has been given an opportunity to reply to an attack on his character, which Mr. Felder had embodied in a card, addressed to the editor of The Journal and which was published on the same day, the newspaper man told the jury in answer to further questions.

Attached to the bill, which was drawn against Mr. Colyar, was a copy of his card.

The grand jury was in session more than an hour considering the bill, before its decision not to return an indictment was reached.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 1st 1913, “”No” Bill Is Returned Against A. S. Colyar,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

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. Largely on Colonel Felder’s representations, the indictment was procured. John Pascal, of The Journal, was the only witness called by the Grand Jury in considering Colyar’s case.

Chief of Detectives Lanford and Colonel Felder, indicted last week by the Grand Jury, obtained their freedom by making a $500 bond. It was expected that the same bond would be imposed upon Colyar.

Much of the time Tuesday was occupied by members of the Grand Jury in probing into police affairs. Without calling any witnesses, the scandal which has shaken the department was given serious consideration for nearly two hours. The result of the discussion was not made public.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 1st 1913, “Colyar Indicted as Libeler of Col. Felder,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

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.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 1st 1913, “Colyar Not Indicted On Charge of Libel,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

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 to the true bills.

The penalty for conviction of a misdemeanor is six months in the county jail, twelve months in the penitentiary, a fine not exceeding $1,000, either or all three.

Colonel Felder appeared at the Solicitor’s office about 2 o’clock and furnished the $500 bond required. Chief Lanford had not been located at that time, but was expected to do likewise.

The accusation against both men is based on recriminations issued against each other and published in the Sunday newspapers of May 25 and June 8.

In those statements Colonel Felder attacked Lanford bitterly, hurling a line of invectives that the greatest of the Roman orators might have envied. He attacked Lanford’s private and public character, accusing him of “hideous crimes.”

Lanford in Full Denial.

Chief Lanford replied in kind, denouncing Colonel Felder as a “contemptible liar, scoundrel and coward.” He denied absolutely any wrong-doing.

To establish the fact that the statements published had actually been made by Felder and Lanford, the Grand Jury summoned Sidney Ormond, city editor of The Constitution, and M. D. Clofine, city editor of Hearst’s Sunday American. Both men testified that there could be no question that Felder and Lanford issued the statements in question.

The new turn in the dictograph fight was entirely unexpected and promises stirring developments. If the charges are upheld and the two men formally accused, the real fight will come at the trial, when it will be up to both Lanford and Felder to prove the charges they made against each other.

Real Revelations Promised.

That will bare the real inside of the dictograph trap and other things that have been rumored in the last few weeks, and some real explosions are anticipated.

Subpenas also have been issued  out of the Solicitor General’s office for other witnesses who engaged in the controversy at a time when charges and countercharges were flying thick and fast. It is the announced intention of the Grand Jury to probe carefully and thoroughly into Colonel Felder’s charges of alleged crookedness in the detective department.

It is rumored in the lobbies of the courthouse that the investigation of the Felder charge will in time develop into another and more searching inquiry into the vice situation in Atlanta. Colonel Felder’s charges have been based on the alleged protection of resorts by Chief Lanford and his detectives, which have been as vigorously denied.

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The Atlanta Georgian, June 27th 1913, “Lanford and Felder Are Held for Libel,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

The Atlanta Constitution

Saturday, June 28, 1913

Indictments Grew Out of the Dictagraph Episode and the Letters Which Followed.

Formal investigation into the invectives hurled between Colonel Thomas B. Felder and Detective Chief Newport Lanford resulted yesterday in indictments of criminal libel being returned by the grand jury against each of them for their cards and interviews in the daily papers in which they attacked each other’s character, after the dictagraph row.

Colonel Felder is held under two indictments on a bond of $500, while Chief Lanford has one indictment against him, and is free on the same bond.

The offenses charged against each are misdemeanors, and the punishment, in case of conviction, is six months in the county jail, twelve months in the penitentiary or a fine of not more than $1,000. It is in the discretion of the judge to impose any or all of these penalties after conviction.

In order to come clear at the trial it will be necessary for the man indicted for criminal libel to prove that the charges he made were true, and it is expected that the cases will develop into the most bitterly fought in the history of the Fulton courts.

Felder Will Not Talk.

Shortly after his indictment Colonel Felder appeared in the solicitor’s office and was told of the two indictments. He appeared to think for a moment that he was being jailed. When he saw the bills his only comment was that he “didn’t give a darn.”

He refused to make any further statement on the matter and declined to discuss what steps he would take to clear himself of the libel charges.

Chief Lanford made only the comment that he could prove every charge he had ever made against Colonel Felder, but he declined to discuss the matter at length.

Both Colonel Felder and Chief Lanford are indicted for the articles that appeared in The Atlanta Constitution and other Sunday papers on June 8, and Colonel Felder is also indicted on another bill for alleged libel in connection with his famous letter addressed to “The People of Atlanta” and published in The Constitution of May 25.

It was in the latter article that Colonel Felder referred to the detective head as the “Lieutenant Becker of our ‘system'” and also charged that since the arrest of Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee, charged as suspects in the murder of Mary Phagan, that the detective chief had been protecting them.

It is charged in the bill of indictment that Colonel Felder did maliciously, unlawfully and intending to injure and vilify the reputation of Lanford, write and cause to be published the letter referred to, a great part of which is copied upon the indictment.

Charges Against Lanford.

The indictments against Colonel Felder and against Chief Lanford for their articles of June 8, which appeared in the Atlanta papers, are practically similar in form. Lanford is charged with calling Colonel Felder “a contemptible liar and a scoundrel,” and accusing him of grafting and of pretending to raise a fund for the prosecution of the murderer of the Phagan child.

Colonel Felder’s article on June 3 was full of bitter invectives against the detective chief, whom he accused of graft, and who, he declared, was a disgrace and dishonor to the office he held.

All three of the indictments were returned as “special presentments” by the grand jury, which indicates that the investigations leading up to them were taken up at the volition of the members, and that no outsider appeared as prosecutor.

The only witnesses used in finding the basis for the indictments were newspaper men by whom the grand jurors proved that the articles in question had actually come from the men whose names were given as the authors of them.

In all the grand jury probably put less than an hour’s time upon the question before returning its true bills, and the case was taken up in the interim of routine criminal business.

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The Atlanta Constitution, June 28th 1913, “Lanford and Felder Indicted for Libel,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

The Atlanta Constitution

June 12, 1913

Investigation of Charges and Counter Charges Will Begin at Early Date and Will Be Exhaustive One.

LANFORD SAYS GENTRY WILL DENY AFFIDAVIT

Affidavit Is Made Declaring Dictagraph Instrument Was Secured by Chief Lanford For Use in Phagan Case.

Following close on the heels of the publication of the George M. Gentry affidavit, in which the young stenographer states that his typewritten report of the dictagraph conversation was padded, and says that he left town after he had discovered that he had fallen in with a “crowd of crooks,” comes the assurance that the grand jury will at once make a searching probe of the detective department in an effort to establish the truth regarding the many charges and counter charges that have been afloat since the dictagraph sensation was sprung.

Members of the grand jury take the position that if the Gentry affidavit is true, it constitutes a stinging indictment of the detective department—an indictment which should not be allowed to stand longer than it will take to uncover the facts.

Records True, Says Lanford.

Chief of Detectives Lanford defends his department and his own personal connection with the sensation with the declaration that the dictagraph reports, as published, were absolutely correct, and that reports to the contrary are not only false, but will be proved untrue.

Impeiled by public sentiment the dictagraph incident created, it is authentically stated that the grand jury probe will be made at a very early date, and will be an exhaustive one.

While contradicted by Gentry’s affidavit and statements from the trio of dictagraph “victims”—Mayor Woodward, Colonel Felder and Charles Jones. G. C. Febuary, secretary to Chief Lanford, stoutly maintas that the dictagraph notes were accurate and that there were no discrepancies whatever in the published copies.

Probing Gentry’s Departure.

Developments were many Wednesday as a result of the stenographer’s testimony. Chief Lanford declared to reporters that he was investigating Gentry’s departure from the city with a view to substantiating his theory that the youth was lured to Washington by Ed Miles, acting for people “higher up.”

An affidavit setting forth the statement that Lanford obtained the dictagraph instrument on the pretense of using it only to corroborate evidence in the Mary Phagan mystery, has been attested to by L. O. Suries, who is attached to the Southern Bell Telephone company, and who is local representative of the dictagraph concern.

L. O. Series Makes Affidavit.

It follows:

Georgia, Fulton County—Personally appeared before the undersigned, an officer authorized by Surles, who, first being duly and legally sworn, deposeth and saith: That he is an employee of the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, and heretofore represented, as agent, the General Acoustics company.

Deponent further says on oath that on Wednesday, the 31st day of May, 1913, Newport Lanford, chief of detectives, called him over the phone, requesting that he install a dictagraph in an important case, and that it must be done by 10:30 on the same morning Deponent thereupon at the office of Chief Lanford, who stated that he desired the dictagraph to corroborate important evidence in the Phagan murder mystery, whereupon deponent consented to install the dictagraph, upon the understanding that his name would not be used in connection with said installation. Chief Lanford assured deponent that he would comply with said request. Deponent was directed to certain rooms in the Williams house, where the dictagraph was installed under direction of one Febuary and one Colyar, who were understood by deponent to be representatives of Chief Lanford’s office, the installation being completed about 1 p.m. on Wednesday, the 21st day of May, 1913. After the installation deponent left the premises, and was called to remove the instrument on the following day. The removal was made about 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, the 22nd day of May, 1913.

Deponent further states on oath that at no time during the interview with Chief Lanford, during the installation of said dictagraph or thereafter, was there any intimation that the instrument was to be used for corroborating evidence in the Phagan murder mystery.

Deponent further states on oath that this affidavit was dictated by him personally and voluntarily, in order to clearly state his position in any controversy arising over his connection with said installation.

L. O. Surles

Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 9th day of June, 1913.

D. O. Chestnut

Notary public, Fulton County, Georgia.

Felder Parallels Statements.

This affidavit has inspired Colonel Felder to draw a parallel of extracts from one of his statements recently published and from a reply made by Chief Lanford. He accuses the detectives of having lied regarding the negotiations with Surles prior to the installation of the dictagraph.

The first extract is from a card addressed by Colonel Felder to Chief Lanford. It follows:

“You lied to Surles, of the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph company, to induce him to install the so-called dictagraph; you lied to turn him in promising him not to use his name—you disclosed it in an effort to give respectability to the conspiracy by publishing: ‘The instrument used in dictagraphing Felder was installed by Surles, electrician of the Southern Bell Telephone company.'”

The extract from Lanford’s answer is:

“He says I promised Surles that I would not use his name. Here, again, he lies. All I said to Surles while negotiating with him to install the dictagraph was that I intended to use it in the interest of justice.”

Detectives Want Gentry.

That every effort will be made by the detective department to return Gentry to Atlanta, was a statement made by Lanford. If any legal means can be found, he said, and the stenographer refuses to come back to Georgia, he will be brought back under charges of perjury.

Chief Beavers, who is in Washington attending the annual convention of national police heads, has been wired by the detective chief to find Gentry and investigate his affidavit. No reply was received from him up to late last night. He was also asked to persuade Gentry to return with him to Atlanta.

“If Gentry had made this affidavit in Atlanta,” Chief Lanford said, “I would take instant action against him for perjury. We can do nothing with him as long as the deed was committed in Washington. He had better be glad, however, that he was that far away. That is, considering, of course, that he attested to the paper. I doubt its genuineness myself. I think it’s a forgery.”

“If Gentry comes back, he’ll tell the truth, and prove our assertions that the affidavit is false and that the dictagraph records were absolutely correct. He will come shortly. I have detailed men to investigate the cause of his departure, and it is my theory that he was got out of the city by this Miles, who was acting under instructions of influence ‘higher up.'”

Believes in Gentry.

“I do not believe Gentry is the kind of man to swear to one affidavit and then make another contradicting his first. He impresses me as being a clean-cut, honest youth, who will act according to the dictates of his conscience, matter not what be the circumstances.”

Febuary stated to a reporter that he will swear to the accuracy of the published dictagraph reports, and that if Gentry persists in his purported story, he will personally take action against the stenographer for alleged perjury. He says the affidavit is the result of a frame-up of the ‘ring,’ who were affected by the dictagraph incident.

“Gentry’s affidavit bears out my contention that the entire matter was a frame-up on the part of Lanford and his hirelings,” said Colonel Felder. “It is complete vindication. Everyone now agrees with me that I was the innocent victim of a conspiracy.”

“As far as I personally am concerned, the incident is closed, Gentry will return to Atlanta within the next ten days and will something additional to say. It is reported that I possess the key to vault in which are contained Gentry’s original notes. This is erroneous. They are safe in the hands of a responsible attorney.”

Grand Jury Probe Needed.

“The grand jury will do Atlanta a real service by investigating this vile dictagraph business.” Mayor Woodward declared Wednesday afternoon. “The sooner it is taken up and the deeper the grand jury goes into it, the better pleased I’ll be.”

“The whole business, on its face, looks like a plot against me. If I am guilty of anything, I want the grand jury to expose me. If I have been victimized I feel that it is the duty of the grand jury to vindicate me, and if those who tried to frame up on me are guilty of unbecoming conduct I think it is the duty of the grand jury to say so.”

“I am satisfied that the people of Atlanta now know the truth. Gentry’s affidavit has vindicated me. But it has placed the police department in a bad light in the eyes of the people of Atlanta. If the mayor of the city is not safe from underhand attacks such as this dictagraph plot has been shown to be, God help our citizens.”

“And right here let me say that the police commission can do a whole lot to restore public confidence by making an investigation of its own accord.”

George Gentry’s mother, when seen by a Constitution reporter at her home last night, would not discuss the report that she had sworn to an affidavit, which stated that her son, shortly before his departure from the city, had told her of the dictagraph ‘padding,’ and had given as the reason for his flight the fear of being arrested on a rumored warrant.

Mrs. Gentry said that she did not care to tell the date on which she expected the stenographer’s return. She explained that it was his affair, not his family’s, and that this was the reason why they were maintaining silence.

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The Atlanta Constitution, June 12th, 1913, “Grand Jury Will Probe Affidavits About Dictagraph,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

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 it was made be wired to him immediately.

Chief Lanford’s action was taken following his declaration that he did not believe the affidavit genuine. Lanford stated as his belief that the stenographer’s name had either been forged or that Gentry has been coerced into signing the document.

Police officials have also conducted a rigid investigation into the standing of Detective Miles. Miles, the investigation showed, is at the head of the Reed Detective Agency.

Thomas B. Felder was at one time one of the largest stockholders in the agency, Carl Hutcheson being also a stockholder and attorney. He it was who appeared before the Police Commission and urged that body to grant the permit from the agency’s operation in Atlanta.

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The Atlanta Georgian, June 11th 1913, “Asks Beavers to Investigate Affidavit,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

The Atlanta Constitution

June 11, 1913

NOTEBOOK WILL PROVE REPORTS WERE ‘PADDED,’ HE SAYS IN AFFIDAVIT

Young Stenographer, Who Made the Report of the Conversation in Room No. 31 Williams House, Voluntarily Makes Statement Before a Notary Public in the City of Washington D. C., Where He Is Employed.

ASSERTS THAT HE LEFT ATLANTA WHEN INFORMED OVER TELEPHONE HE MIGHT BE PUT UNDER ARREST

Swears That A. S. Colyar Has Made Effort to Purchase His Original Notes, Which Are Now in Possession of His Brotheró”Grand Jury Should Make an Investigation” Declares Mayor James G. Woodward.

The sworn charge that the dictagraph statements, alleged to have been made by Colonel Thomas B. Felder, Mayor James G. Woodward and Charles C. Jones, in Room No 31, Williams house, were “padded” was brought back to Atlanta last night by Ed O. Miles, a private detective, and turned over to Mayor Woodward.

The affidavit was composed and sworn to by George M. Gentry, the stenographer who took the dictagraph conversations. Detective Miles located Gentry in Washington, D. C., where he has been employed during the past two weeks. The affidavit was sworn to before Jeannette Henning, a notary public.

GENTRY WILLING TO RETURN WHENEVER HE IS NEEDED HERE.

“Gentry was willing to come back to Atlanta with me,” Detective Miles said last night. “He has promised to work out the remainder of the month, and has assured me that he will return at the end of that time, or earlier if he is wanted.”

Aside from the charge that his stenographic notes were “padded” by A. S. Colyar, and that he was paid $50 for the part he played in the dictagraph drama, Gentry says that he left Atlanta because he could not bear the humiliation which he knew he would suffer after he learned that his notes had been altered.

His affidavit bears out the statement made by Mayor Woodward, immediately after the publication of the dictagraph scandal, to the effect that he did not mention the names of Chief of Police James L. Beavers or Detective Chief Newport Lanford. Gentry also swears that a reporter called at his home after the publication of the dictagraph statements and informed him that warrants had been issued for the arrest of Colyar, Gay C. Febuary and himself (Gentry), and that he left the city upon being informed that he would not be allowed to give bond.

BROTHER HAS ORIGINAL NOTES; “COLYAR TRIED TO BUY THEM.”

According to the affidavit, the original notes taken by Gentry are in the possession of his brother. He charges that an effort was made to purchase them. He mentions Colyar as the man who tried to secure his notes.

Mayor Woodward, Colonel Thomas B. Felder and Charles C. Jones, the victims of the dictagraph scandal, would not comment on the Gentry
affidavit.

“I think it is up to the grand jury to look into the matter and see if there hasn’t been forgery committed,” Mayor Woodward said. “The affidavit bears out all that I have said. The whole thing was a frame-up. Now, let the public see who has done the framing.”

“I knew that there was something wrong the minute I read the statement, alleged to have been made by me,” said Charles C. Jones, after he was shown the Gentry afffdavit. “I didn’t have very much to say, and I don’t remember mentioning the names of Chief Beavers or Chief Lanford as often as I was quoted. I knew that something was wrong the minute I entered the room, and was on my guard.”

Lanford Doesn’t Believe Gentry Signed Affidavit.

“I do not believe Gentry signed this affidavit. I think it is a forgery, pure and simple. If he did, then he liedólied straight out, lied maliciously. It is absolutely false that the dictagraph record was padded. There’s not a word of truth in it. I can prove it. Others can prove it. This is all a scheme to clear the skirts of a lot of dirty politicians.”

Thus did Chief Lanford caustically arraign the affidavit from Washington when he was informed of its receipt. He says that not until he has seen and talked with the young stenographer will he believe that Gentry attested to the document, and, that if Gentry does admit its authorship, he will brand that youth a liar.

“I never saw ‘Gentry but once in my life,” the chief declared, “and that was the day of the dictagraph conversations. He came to my office. My secretary, G. C. Febuary, recommended him as a rapid and efficient[…]

[…]even knew of his existence. I know little about the young man, but what I do leads me to believe that he never attested to any such affidavit. And, besides. I do not believe he is in Washington. I think he is still right here in Atlanta. Anyway, you’ll have to show me before I believe otherwise.”

Here Is Gentry’s Affidavit, Sworn to in Washington

Mr. Gentry’s Affidavit in full is as follows.

District of Columbia, City of WashingtonóPersonally appeared before me, the undersigned a notary public of the District of Columbia, George M. Gentry, who on oath states that:

On Wednesday, May 21, 1913, at or about 10 o’clock in the morning, Mr. Gay C. Febuary called me over the telephone and desired to know if I would do some stenographic work for him. I told him I would but that I couldn’t get off until noon. He said that they were in a hurry for it and he would like for me to come at once, so I arranged to get off and went down to his office. He took me into the chief’s office and the chief told me he wanted me to take down some testimony and he asked me if I could write very fast. Mr. Febuary assured Chief Lanford that I was a good stenographer and I could do the work all right. The chief then told me that the work he wanted done required somebody that could be trusted all right and I assured him that I always treated all stenographical work I had as confidential. Chief Lanford told me then that what he wanted me to do was to take down a conversation that would take place in a hotel and he asked me if I thought I could take it over a dictagraph. Mr. Surles coming in at that time with a satchel which he opened and which contained wires and and other paraphernalia in connection with a dictograph outfit.)

Went to Williams House

“After a few minutes, during which time Mr. Febuary was absent, we went over to the Williams house No. 2, on North Forsyth street, Atlanta, Fulton county, Georgia (Mr. Febuary and I), and I was instructed to go into Room No. 21 of this hotel. Mr. Surles and Mr. Colyar were there, and they probably had to make arrangements for adjoining rooms, as Mr. Surles commented to me that they hadn’t decided just what to do with the dictographs. After a time Colyar came in and instructed Surles to follow him, and gave me instructions to await his wishes. Later on Mr. Febuary came in, and I told him that if I had to wait much longer by myself I was going back to the office.

“I was then allowed to come into the room, where they were installing the dictographs (one on each end of the bottom board of the bureau just under the bottom drawer on the back of the board), and the wires being run through the keyhole of the door between Room 31 and Room 32. The bureau was then screwed against the door facing. At about 12:30 I started getting accustomed to Febuary’s and Colyar’s voices.

Could Distinguish Voices

“At first I could not hear at all, but gradual[l]y I was able to hear more distinctly and after an hour or two of diligent practices I was able to use the dictograph and to distinguish voices very clearly. Right at the beginning I found that I would not be able to hear anything with the windows up. When they were closed it became rather stuffy and this, coupled with the strain I was under, added to the distraction. I stopped particing [sic] at 2:45 that afternoon and went downstairs to the office of the hotel, where I awaited Mr. Felder’s arrival.

“I saw him cross Forsyth street, and after he, Febuary and Colyar went upstairs, or were just about at the top of the stairs, I started up and saw the three enter Room 31 of the Williams house, located as mentioned previously. I then immediately went into room 32 and closed the door, partly, but did not lock it. The windows were down and so I went directly to the table and placed the receiver over my head and started writing what I heard. I took down all the conferences that took place. At somewhere around 5 that afternoon I left the hotel and went to Mr. R. B. Bliss’ house and took some dictation. From there I went home and changed my collar. I returned to the office of the General Fire Extinguisher company, 376 Marietta street, where I wrote the dictation he had given me, signed his letters and then met Mr. Febuary there at the office. We went to the Candler restaurant to supper and from there we returned to the Williams house to keep an appointment with Colyar at about 7:30. At about 8 o’clock Mr. Miles and Mr. C. C. Jones and Colyar went up to the ‘conference room’ and Mr. Febuary and I to the ‘information reception room.’

Preparing for the Trap

“I placed the retriever over my head, and in order to be sure that I would hear everything, Mr. Febuary stood behind me and held them pressed tightly to my ears. This conference lasted about thirty minutes. Between 8:30 and 9:15 Wednesday night Mr. Febuary loafed about town, as we had an appointment with Mr. Branch and Mr. Paschal at 9:30 at the Williams house, and as they were not in The Journal office, we had to kill time until they showed up. I left Mr. Febuary and Mr. Colyar at The Journal office at 9:15 and went over to the Williams house to wait for the arrival of The Journal reporters mentioned above. They came in shortly and we went over to The Journal office and all of us (Colyar, Febuary, Branch, Paschal and myself) went up to the editorial department, where a machine was selected and I then went to work transcribing what I had heard.

“Right at the start I made Colyar angry because when I did not hear what was said I put dashes and so I allowed him to dictate several answers and questions, which do not appear in my notebook and which I am not positive that I heard. I did not hear Mayor Woodward mention Chief Beavers or Chief Lanford during the whole conversation, nor did I write it in the transcription of my notes, these names being evidently added by other parties. At 4:30 Thursday morning, May 22, I finished transcribing my notes and turned the papers over to Mr. Febuary. Later on during the morning he came down to the office, bringing an affidavit which I had written for me to sign before a notary public. He told me that they had made only a few minor changes in the transcription, and that all I had to do was to sign the affidavit which I did. However, I noticed that some interlineations had been made in my copy, or rather in Chief Lanford’s copy, as I had no copy.

Notes Altered, Says Gentry

Colyar and the reporters, just before I started to transcribe my notes, argued as to the number of copies that should be made. They agreed that one copy should be made for the chief, one for Colyar and one for The Journal, and that no more should be made. This kept me from having a copy. I had my notebook, however, and it was the comparison on my notes with the published articles that lead to my discovery that in addition to the several answers and questions which Colyar had personally dictated, other changes had been made, namely that insertion of the names of Chief Beavers and Chief Lanford, in the conference with Mayor Woodward, also many other variations occurred, changing the sense of the statement, and since they had my affidavit attached to the papers I felt that I had been duped.

“As to the remuneration of my services, will say that The Journal reporters, Branch and Paschal, agreed to pay me $5 to get the work written Wednesday night, so it could be published in Thursday’s paper. Saturday morning, after the appearance of the article in Friday’s Journal, The Georgian’s reporter came to the office and offered me either $25 or $45, I do not recollect which, for a copy of the conference with Mayor Woodward, February, Miles and Colyar, and Miles, Jones and Colyar’s conference. I declined the offer. I then went to see The Journal’s reporters and told them that The Georgian had offered me money for a copy of the conference, and they agreed to pay me $50 to hold my notebook from Saturday until Monday. I turned my notebook over to Mr. Brice, who gave it to his stenographer to keep until Monday. Later during the day the reporters told me that The Georgian had gotten a copy, and so I was too late.

“I then went down to Mr. Brice’s office and asked Miss M.—, Mr. Brice’s stenographer, for my notebook, and I took it home and locked it up. Monday, when I went up to see Major Cohen about the $50 he went down to look for Mr. Brice, whom he was unable to find. Later we went back upstairs together and Branch and Paschal explained to him their promise to pay me $50 for allowing The Journal to retain my notebook. However some argument arose over the fact that I took my notebook out of The Journal’s office Saturday night. I told them that they had agreed to give me $50 not to make a copy for The Georgian, and that I had not made the copy for The Georgian, and had, therefore, carried out my part of the compact. They then told be to come back later on and see Mr. Brice about it. I returned after awhile, I believe it was around 1 o’clock, and Mr. Brice paid me the amount in currency and took my receipt.

“Lanford Has Not Paid”

“Chief Lanford has not as yet paid me for my services, from the fact that I have not rendered a bill.

“Saturday morning, before the publication of the Woodward conference, held at 4 o’clock Wednesday, May 21, as previously mentioned, and the Jones conference, held at 8 o’clock the same night, I went to the editorial department of The Journal and requested a proof of what they were going to print. Colyar, who had one reading it, declined to allow me to have a proof, and so I left The Journal building, suspicious.

“Saturday afternoon I went down to the office, carrying with me my original notebook, and a copy of Friday’s and Saturday’s Journal. I compared them all the way through and upon seeing the many variations in what was printed and what I had in my notes, I realized that my transcriptions had been tampered with, and that I had just cause for the suspicions which were aroused by their refusal to allow me to read the proofs Saturday morning.

“Having signed the affidavits, at Mr. Febuary’s request, in which I swore to what I had heard, and seeing something entirely different published, I became very nervous and uneasy. Saturday night when I went home, a reporter called up and said he was one of The Journal reporters and wanted to see me a few minutes. I told him to come over. He came in and introduced himself to me as Mr. Starr, The Journal. My other and aunt recognized his voice as that of a reporter who had called shortly before I came home, and said he was from The Georgian. They both rushed into the sitting room and told me that he was not with The Journal, but was the same fellow that came a few minutes ago, and said he was from The Georgian. He denied that he had said he was from The Journal, although he had told both myself and my grandfather, who went to answer the door bell, that he was from The Journal. Just before he left he informed me that a warrant had been sworn out for Febuary’s, Colyar’s and my arrest, and upon my directing him as to where the door out could be found, he departed, saying that he had got the information he wanted.

Told Me I Would Be Arrested

“Sunday afternoon, at the office, someone called me up and informed me that I would probably be arrested Monday, I did not recognize the voice, and so am unable to say who it was. They also informed me that I would have to make bond in order to be released. I asked who it was, and they hung up or were cut off.

“Monday morning Colyar requested that I turn my notebook over to The Journal and said he would give me $5 if I would show him a receipt from The Journal for the notebook. I came near allowing The Journal to have the notebook, but instead gave it to my brother to take home and instructed him to allow no one to have it.

“Developments later showed me the character of some of the people connected with this transaction and it made me so ashamed of my connection with it that I was afraid I could not face the humiliation that I thought would naturally onsite, and also the fact that they had changed my transcription showed to me very clearly that I was mixed up with a bunch of crooks.

“I am prepared to read my notes whenever it becomes necessary. These notes will show exactly what I heard.

“The foregoing affidavit is made by me voluntarily, unsolicited, and no money or the promise of any remuneration whatever was offered to me for making it, my sole motive being to give the straight history of my connection with the now ‘infamous’ dictograph affair.

“GEORGE M. GENTRY.

“JEANNETTE HENNING, Notary Public, District of Columbia.”

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Atlanta Constitution, June 11 1913, “Dictograph Records Crooked, Says Gentry,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)