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

Atlanta Constitution
August 10^th, 1913

J. M. Minar, a reporter, was put on the stand by the defense after the Epps boy left. By him the defense sought to prove that the boy had talked of Mary Phagan and had not mentioned seeing her on the car.

Before he had finished cross-examining him Attorney F. A. Hooper sought to create the impression on the jury that The Georgian, for which Minar works, had instructed him to discover as much news favorable for Leo Frank as possible, and Mr. Arnold entered an objection at once.

“Did you go to the Epps’ home on Sunday afternoon, the day the dead girl’s body was found?” was Mr. Arnold’s opening question.

“Yes,” replied Minar.

“Did you see George Epps and his sister?”
“Yes.”

“Did you ask them together?”
“Yes.”
“Please state what, if anything, they answered.”

“The sister said she had last seen Mary Phagan on Thursday and the boy told he frequently rode to town with her in the mornings,” replied the witness.

“Did the boy say anything about riding with her on Saturday?”

“No.”

“Did he say he had seen her since Thursday?”
“No, nothing at all.”
“Did he mention the subject at all?”
“No.”
Mr. Hooper here took up the cross-examination.

“Don’t you work directly under M. D. Clofine, the city editor of The Georgian?”
“Yes.”

“Wasn’t he a frequent visitor to the jail to see Frank?”
Mr. Arnold leaped to his feet and protested vigorously against this question and it was ruled out.

“Haven’t you had directions to get everything possible that is favorable to the defendant?”
“No,” replied the witness rather hotly, “I certainly have not.”
“Weren’t you under orders when you went out there to aid Frank as much as possible?”

“Frank hadn’t been mentioned in the case at that time,” replied the witness and he was excused.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, August 11th 1913, “Reporter Makes Denial of Charge That Reports Have Been Flavored,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 10^th, 1913

C. B. Dalton, who was used by the state to corroborate some of Jim Conley’s testimony against Leo Frank, was the first witness called by the defense Saturday morning. He did not respond and George Epps, the newsboy who claims to have ridden to town with Mary Phagan the day she met death, was next called.

The lad, who could not be found Friday, was present and took the stand. State and defense clashed over the lad as Solicitor Hugh Dorsey stated that Attorney Reuben Arnold had tried to give the impression Friday that he had fled from the court and could not be got to testify for the defense.

“Do you remember the Sunday on which Mary Phagan’s body was found?” Mr. Arnold asked the lad.

“Yes, sir.”

“Did Mr. J. M. Minar, a reporter, come to your house that afternoon?”
“Yes, sir.”

“Did he ask you and your sister when was the last time either of you had seen Mary Phagan?”
“I heard that he asked sister: he didn’t ask me.”
“Didn’t your sister say she hadn’t seen her since the previous Thursday and didn’t you stand there and say the same thing?”
“No, sir; I’d gone to get a wrap for her.”
Mr. Dorsey then took the witness.

“George, did you try to hide from this court?”
“No, sir.”
“You weren’t here yesterday, were you?”
“No, sir; I wasn’t here; I got tired of hanging around here and you told me I could go home and you’d send for me when I was wanted, and yesterday when they came for me I was out playin’ ball.”

“Didn’t you call me up last night and ask if you were wanted?”
“Yes, sir.”

At this point Mr. Arnold objected, saying that these remarks had nothing to do with the case.

“Well, your honr, Mr. Arnold tried to give the impression yesterday that this witness was hiding out rather than testify when the defense wanted him,” said Mr. Dorsey, “and I wanted to show that this was not the case.”

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, August 10th 1913, “Epps Boy Denies Trying to Avoid Being Called to the Stand Again,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Georgian
August 10^th, 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.

The defense was only fairly under way in its presentation of evidence. Another week, at least, will be consumed in the examination of witnesses, and it is regarded as not at all unlikely that the jury will receive the case for its verdict not before the latter part of the following week.

More than 100 witnesses will be called to the stand before the defense rests. Some of them will be questioned and cross-questioned at length. Others will be on the stand only a few minutes.

Conduct in Question.

Many who will be called are factory employees. They will be asked in regard to Frank’s conduct at the pencil factory. This line of interrogation already has been begun by the defense. E. F. Holloway, day watchman at the factory, and N. V. Darley, general manager, testified Friday that women, aside from those of Frank’s family, never visited him at the factory. Herbert G. Schiff, assistant to Frank, who was on the stand during practically all of the Saturday session, testified to the same thing.

Schiff was taken into an exhaustive description of the duties of Frank, which was dry and uninteresting to the casual spectator at the trial. His testimony, however, was regarded by the defense as extremely important. The financial sheet, in particular, on which Frank worked the afternoon of the murder, came up for extended consideration. Schiff told in elaborate detail the complexities of the sheet and the elements that entered into its make-up.

It was the purpose of the defense to show that it would have been entirely out of the realm of human probabilities that Frank, after committing an atrocious and brutal murder, could have sat down and, without a quiver of his pen or a shaking of his hand, put down column after column of figures and made scores of notations with never an error.

Schiff was asked first in regard to Frank’s customs and habits about the factory. From his testimony it was developed that Schiff generally was at dinner on Saturdays from 12:30 to 2 o’clock and that Frank ordinarily was away from the factory from 1 o’clock until 3. This made it practically impossible for Frank to have women visitors in his office during the half-holiday without Schiff’s knowledge. The witness denied that he ever knew of such occurrences.

Gay Parties Impossible.

He added, under the questioning of Reuben Arnold, that it was not at all uncommon for persons from Montag Bros. to call at the factory on Saturday afternoons, and that gay parties of this sort could not have taken place. Salesmen, too, he said, interrupted the work on Saturday after noons.

A spike was placed in C. B. Dalton’s testimony by Schiff’s statement that he was in the invariable habit of working with Frank at the office Saturday afternoons, but that he never saw Dalton before the trial began. Dalton had testified that he was an occasional visitor at Frank’s office on Saturdays, and that Frank always had two or three women with him in the afternoon, but that no man was working in the office with him. Schiff also said he never had seen Daisy Hopkins, who Dalton said was his companion, on these visits.

Schiff remembered that last Thanksgiving was cold and rainy and that there was snow on the ground. This evidence was brought out to show the improbability of Conley’s story which had a woman wearing summery white slippers and stockings visiting the factory to see Frank that day.

The witness recalled paying Miss Helen Ferguson the afternoon of Friday, April 25. He was positive that she did not ask for the envelope of Mary Phagan and that she would have asked no one else, as no one else had anything to do with the distribution of the pay envelopes. It is a custom at the factory, he said, to give one person’s pay to another only on a written order, unless the person making application is a relative.

Frank Easily Disturbed.

Asked in regard to the temperament of Frank, he replied that the superintendent was high strung and nervous and was easily disturbed by little accidents that happened about the factory.

Schiff was shown the financial sheet for the week ending on the Friday of the week the tragedy occurred. He identified it as the work done by Frank Saturday afternoon. He said that the writing was unmistakably that of a young superintendent. Attorney Arnold also had in the courtroom the financial sheet for every week during the year previous to the crime. Schiff identified them all as Frank’s work and said that the least complicated of them never took less than two and a half hours to compile. The average time, he thought, was about three hours.

All of the financial sheets will be submitted as evidence to show that the writing of Frank April 26 was not tremulous, irregular or in any way different from his writing in the 51 other financial sheets on file.

The witness explained the highly complex manner in which the financial sheet was made up and narrated that the costs and profits were estimated each week on several thousand gross of pencils of different grades and classifications, including the materials which entered into their composition.

The other witnesses of the day were George W. Epps, the newsboy who had sworn several days previously that he had ridden to town with Mary Phagan the day that she was killed, and J. M. Minar, a reporter on The Georgian.

A degree of suspicion already had been thrown upon the story of Epps by the testimony of the motorman and conductor of the car on which Mary rode that day. Both testified that they did not see the boy on the car. The motorman asserted that another girl rode with the Phagan girl after the car arrived in town.

Boy’s Credibility Questioned.

The reporter was called to strengthen further the doubt of the lad’s credibility. He related that he had visited the Epps home, No. 246 Fox street, Sunday night, April 27, having learned that the children of the family had been acquaintances of the little girl whose dead body had been found that morning.

He went there, he said, for the purpose of finding who had seen the murdered girl last, and at what time she had been seen. He talked at length both to the boy and his sister. In response to his question as to who had seen Mary Phagan last he said that Vera Epps, the sister, declared that she had played with Mary the Thursday before, and George only told of occasions when he had ridden to town with Mary when she was going to work in the morning, mentioning not at all that he had ridden with her at noon only the day before when she was on the journey that ended in her death.

The most exhaustive examination of any of the defense’s witnesses so far introduced came Saturday with Herbert Schiff on the stand. With an apparently remarkable memory Schiff was able to answer clearly and almost without hesitation a number of detailed questions both by the lawyers for the defense in direct examination, and by the State’s attorneys on cross-examination. Even bits of conversation were recalled, notably one between Leo Frank and a Mr. Ursenbach on the afternoon before the day of the killing.

“Do you recall hearing a conversation between Mr. Frank and Mr. Ursenbach Friday about going to ball game Saturday?” Reuben Arnold asked him.

“Yes,” said Schiff, “but not exactly what was said. I heard Mr. Frank say something about ‘I will go if I can, Charley.”

Seeming to refute Monteen Stover’s story that she looked into Frank’s office and found that he was not within, Schiff testified that it would have been impossible for the girl to see over the open safe door into all the office.

Failed to See Mesh Bag.

Schiff it was who looked into the office safe the Monday following the killing, according to his statement. He said he saw nothing of the silver mesh bag of Mary Phagan, which Jim Conley testified Frank hid in the safe after the removal of Mary Phagan’s body.

That Jim Conley was frightened the Tuesday following the murder, when the investigation was at its height, was another bit of Schiff’s testimony.

“I saw him near the shipping room,” related Schiff. “I asked him what he was doing there, and he said he was afraid to go out. He said he would give a million dollars to be a white man. I answered that that would not do any good, as they had taken Mr. Frank.”

Under Solicitor Dorsey’s cross-examination, Schiff said that Frank appeared eager to employ the Pinkerton detectives to work toward clearing the mystery, declaring that the young superintendent called him over the telephone two or three times Monday after the murder to talk over various matters, once to suggest the employment of detectives.

“He asked me to take up with Mr. Montag the employment of a private detective,” said Schiff, “and suggested the Pinkertons. He said he thought it was only fair to the employees.”

At one stage in the examination of Schiff, Judge Roan threatened to have cleared the courtroom. A number of spectators had burst into laughter at a sally between Attorney Arnold and Solicitor Dorsey.

Questions asked Schiff by the defense’s lawyers seemed to show that by him they would bolster their theory that Mary Phagan’s body was lowered to the factory basement by some means other than the elevator, which the State contends was the means used.

Trapdoor Not Locked.

Schiff testified that not only was there a hole in the rear of the factory leading to the basement, but also a trapdoor, which was not locked. He was asked about the door leading from the National Pencil Factory’s space into the room used by the Clark woodenware department from which access to the basement is easy. He said that he noticed the door had been apparently cracked open.

Schiff’s testimony was unshaken by cross-examination, and he proved an able witness for the defense, much more so than the other factory employee, E. F. Holloway, who became confused on the witness stand under the grilling cross-examination of Solicitor Dorsey.

The attack of the defense on Conley’s character was evident with Schiff on the stand. The witness was asked at length concerning the negro and replied that he was worthless, unreliable and untruthful.

It is likely that Schiff will be called again to the stand when the trial is resumed Monday.

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, August 10th 1913, “Frank Struggles to Prove His Conduct was Blameless,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9^th, 1913

W. M. Mathews, of 459 Lee street, car motorman who declares that Mary Phagan rode to town on his car on April 26, followed Daisy Hopkins on the stand.

Mathews gave a new turn to the theory of the girl’s actions of that day by declaring that she rode to Broad and Hunter streets before getting off with another girl who was with her, and also by saying that he did not see George Epps on the car with her.

In answer to questions the motorman asserted that Mary Phagan got on his car at Lindsay street at about 10 minutes to 12 and got off at Hunter and Broad at 10 minutes after 12, the time that Monteen Stover says she left the factory and after the time that, according to the state’s theory, Mary Phagan was killed.

“What time does your car reach Forsyth and Marietta streets?”
“It is due there at 12:07 1-2.”

“Was it on time that day?”
“It was.”

“Where did the girl get off?”
“At Hunter and Broad.”

“At what time?”
“At just about 12:10, because it takes from 2 1-2 to 3 minutes to go through the congested part of town from Forsyth and Marietta to Hunter and Broad.”
“Go ahead.”

“Well, when my car reached Forsyth and Marietta I was relieved by another man and went in and took a seat and rode to Whitehall and Mitchell streets. I sat on a seat directly back of Mary Phagan and another girl, who was with her, but whose name I do not know.”

“Did she and this girl get off together or not?”
“They got off together and walked together towards Forsyth street on Hunter.”

Epps Boy Not With Her.

“Was there a little boy with her?”
“No, not when she got on at Lindsay street, not when I sat behind her in the car and not when she got off.”

“Did you see a boy, George Epps, get on the car?”
“No, I did not.”

“Didn’t you tell L. P. Whitfield, a Pinkerton detective working on this case, that you might have run to town three or four minutes ahead of your schedule?” asked Solicitor Dorsey.

“No, I never said that.”

“Are you sure?”
“Yes; positive.”

“Where did George Epps get on the car?”
“I couldn’t tell you; I never saw him.”

“Why did you happen to notice Mary Phagan so particularly? Was she a very pretty girl or not?”
“Well, she was certainly not ugly,” replied the motorman.

“Couldn’t a person get off the car at Forsyth and Marietta and reach the National Pencil factory quicker by walking down Forsyth than by riding around to Hunter and Broad?”

“It would take about as long to go either way.”

“How does it happen that you remember seeing Mary Phagan particularly and know when she got off that day, when there were hundreds of other people who rode with you during the day?”

“Well, when I was relieved at Forsyth and Marietta I came in and sat down behind her and I had a picture in my pocket which I remember taking out and showing her, and we talked about it.”

Could Not Identify Dress.

Mathews was then asked to describe the girl’s dress, but could not do so, further than to say she had on some sort of a light colored dress. When shown her clothes he stated that he thought the dress was about that color, but that he could not swear that it was the same one she had worn that day.

“I was looking at the girl, not the dress,” Mathews explained naively.

“Well, you didn’t see George Epps on the car?”
“No.”

“Would you say he was not on the car.”

“I can’t say about that; I didn’t see him, if he was.”

Mr. Dorsey concluded and Mr. Arnold then asked the witness several questions.

“When did you hear of the murder?”
“Sunday morning about 6 o’clock.”

“Did you see her body?”
“Yes, at the undertaker’s, about 6 o’clock that evening.”

“Were you certain that she was the girl that rode with you?”
“Yes, I was positive.”

Mathews was then excused.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, August 9th 1913, “Epps Boy Not With Mary Phagan, Declares Street Car Motorman,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9^th, 1913

W. T. Hollis, of 16 Western avenue, the conductor on the English avenue car on which Mary Phagan rode to town on the day she was murdered, followed the motorman on the stand.

He also declared that the girl was not accompanied by a boy and that she did not get off at Forsyth and Marietta streets where he left the car. He also declared that she was not accompanied by any boy answering the description of George Epps, but that a little girl was with her.

Hollis corroborated the testimony of the motorman in practically every detail as to time and other features up to the moment when he was relieved at Forsyth and Marietta and left the car.

Further than that the witness declared that there were only a few passengers on the car that trip and that he noted the girl’s appearance as she had often ridden with him on the way to the factory in the mornings. He said he did not know her name until after the murder, when he found out she was the one who had been killed.

Attorney Frank A. Hooper, who is aiding the state in the case, took up the cross-examination.

“Did you see the girl’s body?”
“Yes, a newspaper man found out that I was the conductor on whose car she had come to town and he took me to see if I could identify the body.

“Did you have any trouble in doing so?”
“No, I knew her at once.”

“Have you any recollection of a tow-headed boy getting on the car?” asked Mr. Hooper, referring to Epps.

“No.”

“Did Mary Phagan get on a Lindsay street?”
“Yes.”

“Do you remember the Epps boy getting on at any other street?”
“No, I have not.”

“When you took up the girl’s car fare was anyone with her?”
“No.”

“Did you mean a while ago that you keep the rules of the company and never reach a given point ahead of or behind time?”
“It’s not against the rules to get there behind time,” replied the conductor.

“But it is against the rules to get there ahead of time, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”

“Do you always look at your watch when you pass every important point?”
“We are supposed to.”

“Don’t you fail to do a lot of things you are supposed to?”
The witness admitted that such might occasionally be the case. He was then excused.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, August 9th 1913, “Conductor Also Swears Epps Boy Was Not on Car With Mary Phagan,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9^th, 1913

At the opening of the afternoon session the defense called for George Epps, the 14-year-old newsboy, who says he rode uptown with Mary Phagan on the day of her death. He did not answer.

Mr. Arnold asked the assistance of Judge Roan in bringing the boy to court. The judge dispatched a bailiff in search of the newsie, armed with an attachment. He was not produced, however, at any time during the afternoon session.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, August 9th 1913, “Couldn’t Locate Epps Boy When Wanted in Court,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Georgian
August 9^th, 1913

THE RIDDLE OF THE CLOCK IN THE PHAGAN MYSTERY

Jim 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 12:07^1/2 and at Broad and Hunter at 12:10.

If Mary Phagan was at Marietta and Forsyth at12:07, as the State says, or at Broad and Hunter at 12:10, as the defense says, how could she have preceded Monteen Stover, as Jim Conley says, up the factory stairs, when Monteen Stover was in the factory at 12:05?

What’s the answer?

By JAMES B. NEVIN.

Tick-tock! Tick-tock!
Hark to the tale of the old hall clock!
Tick-tock! Tick-tock!
This is the tale of the clock!
—Old English Ballad.

This is a tale of an office clock and a motorman’s watch—an office clock in the National Pencil Factory, the first requisite of which, it being a “time” clock, is accuracy, and a motorman’s watch.

And this is the story of a clock that may or may not mean life and liberty and a restored good name to Leo Frank, or—a fate infinitely worse than mere death itself!

It is a story involving a young business man of repute and high standing, a college graduate and a husband, a brave, womanly little girl, foully murdered, a motorman known to many Atlantans, a newsboy not so well known, a disinterested working girl, a negro sweeper, a confessed accessory to murder, the dead girl’s mother—and an office clock.

What does the story demonstrate?

That shall be for the reader to say.

Here is the story:

What the State Contends.

The State of Georgia is contending that Leo Frank murdered on April 26, before the hour of 12:05 in the afternoon, Mary Phagan, a 14-year-old working girl, employed in the National Pencil Factory, of which Frank was the superintendent.

It cites, among others, to bear out its contention, James Conley, a negro sweeper in the factory, and Monteen Stover, an employee of the factory.

Miss Stover is a disinterested witness—Conley not only is the star witness against Frank, but is interested in fixing the murder upon Frank.

Here is what the State, by its own witnesses, asserts:

Jim Conley swears that a few minutes before Miss Monteen Stover came into the factory—Miss Stover herself, swearing that she entered at 12:05—Mary Phagan entered and passed upstairs and into Leo Frank’s office.

Miss Stover, asked how she was positive as to the time she went in and the time she came out, stated that she looked at the time clock both as she came in and as she went out. That fixes the time of her coming and going definitely and exactly.

It was before Miss Stover came in that Conley swears Mary Phagan came in. Therefore, Mary Phagan must have arrived at the factory, according to Conley, at least before 12:05, the moment Miss Stover came in.

Before Miss Stover Entered.

But after Mary came in, and before Miss Stover came in, the murder, still according to Conley, had been effected.

For (a) after Mary went upstairs and before Miss Stover came in, Conley (b) heard pattering footsteps toward the rear of the building, where (c) he says the body was found by him later, and after that (d) a scream, and then (e) a period of silence.

All of this, according to Conley, before Monteen Stover entered the factory—that is, before 12:05 certainly—and, considering the things Conley swears happened, several minutes before 12:05, necessarily.

Mrs. Coleman, Mary’s mother, swears that Mary left home “about 11:45” in the morning, and George Epps swears he joined her on the car at 11:50, for he looked at a clock at home just before boarding the car, and that he and Mary arrived at Marietta and Forsyth streets at 12:07, the latter hour not definitely fixed in his mind.

Motorman Remembers Time.

The motorman on that car, however, who swears he knew Mary Phagan, and had seen her board his car frequently, and remembers seeing her board that particular car on that particular day, says that the car arrived at Marietta and Forsyth at 12:7^1/2, [1 word illegible] that is the time it is scheduled to arrive there, and he was running on time that day.

The motorman swears Mary and a companion got off at Hunter and Broad about 12:10, that being a few minutes’ farther run than Marietta and Forsyth. The conductor corroborates the motorman in an additional statement that the car was not running ahead of schedule, the conductors being particularly required by the company not to run ahead of time.

Mary Phagan left the street car at 12:10, still a block and a half from the pencil factory.

If she walked directly to the factory, she could not have reaclied [sic] there before 12:12, in any event.

If the little victim of this tragedy, Mary Phagan, therefore, DID NOT REACH THE FACTORY UNTIL MANY MINUTES AFTER CONLEY SWEARS SHE DID GET THERE, AND UNTIL AT LEAST TWO MINUTES AFTER MONTEEN STOVER HAD DEPARTED, AND UNTIL AFTER CONLEY SWEARS HE HAD HEARD THE FOOTSTEPS AND THE SCREAM, HOW CAN CONLEY’S STORY BE TRUE?

Slain Before She Arrived?

In other words, how could Mary Phagan have been murdered before she arrived at the factory?

Remember, too, that when Frank was asked at the Coroner’s inquest as to the time of Mary Phagan’s arrival, he said that it was after 12, because the noon whistle had blown some time before—that she might have arrived at 12:10 or, maybe later, perhaps as late as 12:20 or 12:25.

Conley, also, in fixing the time of Mary Phagan’s arrival at the factory, said it was soon after the noon whistle blew, therefore, a little after 12—thus placing Mary’s arrival between 12 and the time of Monteen Stover’s arrival, which was 12:05.

Now then, take your pencil and paper, and figure this problem out for yourself.

Can you reconcile Conley’s story with the other things proved, in the main, by the State’s own witnesses?

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, August 9th 1913, “Here’s the Time Clock Puzzle in the Frank Trial; Can You Figure it Out?” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 3^rd, 1913

Place and Time of the Murder Only Big Facts Brought Out in the Mass of Evidence.

One week of the battle Leo M. Frank, accused of the murder of Mary Phagan in the factory of the National Pencil company, for his life has elapsed, and his fate is yet a question for future developments to decide.

The first week of the trial has been markedly free from sensations.

The two big facts that the week’s evidence would seem to show are that Mary Phagan was murdered in the second floor of the pencil factory, and that she was murdered within one hour after she ate her breakfast at home shortly after 11 o’clock.

The principal features of the week’s evidence are as follows:

Mary’s Mother Testifies.

The examination of witnesses began with the most pathetic scene in the whole week, when Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of the murdered girl, took the stand.

With appealing simplicity the mother told of how her little daughter had arisen on the fatal Saturday morning about 11 o’clock bright and joyous in her childish excitement over going to see the Memorial day parade; of the frugal breakfast of bread and cabbage she had eaten, and of how the little girl had happily busied herself helping her mother by doing this or the other small turn in the housework. At about 12 o’clock little Mary had finished with her chores, and dressed in a light summer frock, as fresh and sweet as a wild rose, sallied forth to meet her fate.

The mother went gently as she was compelled to recall her little girl’s fourteenth birthday, which would have been June 1, and to which she and Mary had looked forward to celebrating with so much pleasure, and as Mrs. Coleman told of the child’s beauty, she dwelt tenderly on each feature as if her very heart were breaking once more to caress them.

Identifies Daughter’s Dress.

Bearing up wonderfully under the ordeal of beholding once more the frock which she had helped little Mary to adjust before she left home for the last time, Mrs. Coleman identified the dress and the hat with the pale blue ribbon and the tiny bunch of flowers.

Mrs. Coleman was followed on the stand by George Epps, a little “newsy” and a companion of Mary, who had been with her on the street car as she came into the city, and had talked with her about the fun they would have that afternoon when they had promised each other to watch the big parade together.

With his head shaven as smooth and slick as a billiard-ball, George mounted the stand and told his story, boy-wise, in minute detail even to the point of explaining how he could squint one eye at the sun and tell the time of day.

Were Going to Parade.

He testified that Mary Phagan got on the English avenue incoming trolley car with him about 10 minutes before 12 o’clock and that they had ridden together to Forsyth and Marietta streets when Mary had left him to go to the pencil factory to get her wages and that they had agreed to meet again at 2 o’clock at Elkin’s drug store to see the parade. George said that he waited until 4 o’clock that afternoon to meet Mary, and when she did not meet him as she had promised, he had grown tired of waiting and went to the ball game.

George Epps left the stand and Newt Lee, the nightwatchman at the National Pencil company’s factory, who discovered the body of Mary Phagan in the basement and reported his grewsome find to the police, followed him. Stolid and stubborn, all negro, and without any refined sensibilities to be hurt, Newt Lee stood the punishment of Attorney Rosser’s gruelling cross-examination without a shadow of a qualm, never once departing in any particular from the story he had repeated innumerable times since that gray Sunday dawn when he found the body.

Sent Away From Factory.

Lee testified that, in view of the fact that Saturday, April 26, was a holiday, he had been ordered to report for duty at the pencil factory at 4 o’clock, instead of 5 o’clock which was the time when he was accustomed to report on Saturdays, and accordingly had arrived at the factory a few minutes before 4 o’clock. He found the front door unlocked as usual, but found the door on the stairway leading to the second floor locked.

Lee testified that when he arrived at Mr. Frank’s office, Frank met him at the door rubbing his hands saying that he was sorry that he (Lee) had come so early. Frank insisted that Lee go up town and “have a good time,” and Lee says that he told Frank that he needed sleep. Frank, according to Lee, continued to insist that he leave the factory, and said that Lee needed a good time. Lee said he could have slept in the packing room of the factory.

When Frank insisted, however, Lee says he left the factory and did not return until 5 o’clock, at which time he found the doors just as he had left them.

Gantt Scared Frank.

Lee said that Frank told him then not to punch the clock as there were some workmen in the building. Immediately afterwards Frank put a punch slip in the clock.

Lee was questioned about the relations between Frank and Gantt on that afternoon, and said that he saw Gantt downstairs about 6 o’clock, when he claimed to be looking for a pair of shoes he had left there when discharged from the factory. About that time Frank came downstairs unexpectedly and when he saw Gantt jumped back a little frightened. Gantt explained to Frank that he came for his shoes. Frank intimated that the shoes had been swept out, but at length allowed Gantt to enter the factory with Lee, at which time Gantt got two pairs of shoes and left. By this time Frank had also left.

About 7 o’clock, Lee said, Frank telephone to him to know if “everything was all right,” which action on the part of Frank had not been done before during Lee’s service.

Lee then explained how he had gone to the basement to the toilet about 3 o’clock, and while there saw an unusual object lying on the ground, which he investigated with a smoky lantern and found to be the dead body, which was later identified as that of Mary Phagan. Lee says he then notified the police and tried to notify Frank.

Frank Dropped His Head.

When the police arrived Lee was taken to police headquarters and did not see Frank until he was carried back to the factory about 7 or 8 o’clock.

Lee said when he saw Frank then it was in the factory office and that Frank looked at him and then at the door and dropped his head without saying anything. He testified that N. V. Darley, an official at the factory, examined the time clock and stated that it was correctly punched.

Lee and Frank were then carried to the police station and Lee said that he did not see Frank any more until a night soon after then, when Lee was handcuffed to a chair in a room at the police station and Frank was shut in the room alone with him.

On this occasion, said Lee, Frank looked at him and dropped his head. Lee testified that he (Lee) said:

“Mr. Frank, it’s mighty hard for me to be handcuffed to this chair for something I didn’t do.”
To this Lee said Frank replied:

“We’ll Both Go to Hell.”

“What’s the difference, they’ve got a man guarding me.” Frank then told Lee that he didn’t believe that Lee killed the girl, but knew something about it. Lee told Frank that he only discovered the body, whereupon Frank, according to Lee, replied:

“Yes, and if you keep that up, we’ll both go to hell.” The detectives came in at that time.

Upon cross-examination by the defense, Lee testified that if he had inspected the basement of the building with the regularity required by his instructions, he would have found the body earlier.

Thus, without sensation or the disclosure of a single fact that had not been public property for many weeks, ended the first day of the most famous murder trial in the history of Atlanta.

At the opening of Tuesday’s session Newt Lee was again placed on the stand and Attorney Rosser continued his cross-questioning without bringing out further material facts from the watchman.

Girl’s Body Found.

Sergeant L. S. Dobbs, the officer who headed the squad which responded to Newt Lee’s alarm, went on the stand and stated that when he arrived at the factory Lee was apparently not laboring under excitement, but that he took him in charge and had him direct the officers to the body in the basement. He stated that he found the girl’s body lying there face down with blood on the back of her head and with a cord tied so tightly around her neck that it cut into the flesh. There was also, he stated, a piece of underclothing tied loosely around the neck.

The finding of the murder notes was next related as well as of the discovery of the missing shoe and hat and traces of where a body had apparently been dragged along the ground in the basement from the elevator shaft to where the body was lying.

Tuesday afternoon Detective J. N. Starnes was placed upon the stand and testified corroboratory to Sergeant Dobbs’ story of finding the body.

Says Frank Was Nervous.

Detective Starnes brought upon his head the gruelling fire of the defense when he stated in regard to telephoning Frank that the superintendent was nervous. A sharp lilt between Solicitor Dorsey and Attorney Rosser ensued, in which the former accused the defense of trying to impeach the testimony of the witness.

This closed Tuesday’s hearing of the trial with no material advantage one way or the other since the beginning of the trial.

Affairs took a turn on Wednesday morning, however, which aroused great hopes of acquittal among the friends of the defense when the memory of John Black, who was the first witness of the morning, proved treacherous and his testimony did not pan out as the state had evidently expected.

Black Gets “Mixed Up.”

Black admitted that he was “mixed up” and could not recall to mind what he had testified a few moments before. He failed particularly in recalling dates and details in regard to the finding of the bloody shirt at Newt Lee’s house.

The solicitor had hoped to prove by Black that he went to Lee’s home and found the shirt after Frank had informed him that there were irregular punches on the slip in the time clock, showing that Newt Lee would have had time to go home; that after Frank’s house had been searched for incriminating evidence at the suggestion of Herbert Haas, that Frank sought to have Lee’s house also searched and that the bloody shirt was a “plant.”
Black’s answers, however, failed to bear these points out.

Black also failed in recalling the exact time within a few hours when he and Detective Haslett took Frank to the police station on Monday morning following the discovery of the murder.

“Frank Didn’t See Body.”

W. W. (Boots) Rogers, who went with the officers to the factory at the time the body was discovered and who was subsequently active in the investigation of the case, testified that to the best of his knowledge Frand [sic] did not look at the body of Mary Phagan when he was taken to the undertaking establishment where the body was lying, and that he could not, therefore, have known who the dead girl was. Frank had previously testified at the coroner’s inquest that he saw the body.

Attorney Rosser resorted to the grilling tactics which had played havoc with the faculties of Detective Black, but was unable to confuse Rogers.

Grace Hicks Identifies Body.

Grace Hicks, who worked at the pencil factory, testified that she had identified the body as that of Mary Phagan on the morning of its discovery. She stated that during the five years she had been employed at the pencil factory she had spoken to Leo Frank but three times. She did not know whether Frank was personally acquainted with Mary Phagan or not.

J. M. Gantt, a former employee at the factory, stated that he had known Mary Phagan for years, his and her family having been neighbors in Cobb county. He recalled that Frank had once asked him:

“You know Mary pretty well, don’t you?”
Gantt said that Frank appeared nervous when he went to the factory on Memorial day to get his shoes which he had left there when discharged for alleged shortage in the pay roll.

The feature of Thursday’s proceedings was the failure of other witnesses to testify as the prosecution had expected, and introduction of the first new testimony since the trial began.

Mary’s Pay Envelope Found.

R. B. Barrett, a machinist at the pencil factory, disclosed the fact that he had found the supposed pay envelope of Mary Phagan near her machine on the second floor. Until Barrett’s testimony the question of the pay envelope had been a mystery. Barrett also stated that he had discovered blood stains on the floor near the girl’s machine and had found strands of hair on the machine. The blood stains, he said, had been smeared over with some sort of a white preparation. Barrett’s testimony, as did the testimony of other witnesses, seemed to bear out the contention of the solicitor that the murder was committed on the second floor.

A surprise was in store for the prosecution when Harry Scott, a Pinkerton detective who had been employed by the defense was placed upon the stand. Solicitor Dorsey sought to prove by Scott that Frank was nervous the first time he saw him, but contrary to the solicitor’s expectations Scott testified that such was not the case. Solicitor Dorsey became somewhat excited at this turn in the detective’s testimony and intimated that he had been “trapped.” Scott did, however, testify that Frank was nervous at police station. He also stated that either Frank or Darley had told him that Gantt had been very familiar with Mary Phagan.

Defense Wanted Evidence First.

Scott declared that Herbert Haas, one of Frank’s attorneys, had suggested to him that the Pinkertons turn over to him all evidence found before turning it over to the police department. Scott said he declined to do this, declaring that he would give up the case first.

Monteen Stover, a former employee at the pencil factory, declared that she was in Frank’s office on the Saturday of the murder from 12:05 until 12:10, but that she did not see Frank. Frank has claimed that he was in his office at that time.

Dr. Claude Smith testified that he had examined the bloodstains of the shirt found at Newt Lee’s home and the blood found on the pencil factory floor, but was unable to decide whether or not it was human blood.

Elevator Power Box Unlocked.

When E. L. Holloway, an employee of the pencil factory, and the last witness of the day, was placed upon the stand, his testimony also turned out to be not all that was expected of him.

Holloway had previously made an affidavit to the effect that the power box to the elevator at the factory was locked on the day of the murder. But when he testified on the stand he stated that he was mistaken, and that, after all, the power box was not locked at all, but was unlocked.

With the attorneys for both sides greatly ruffled on account of the failure of the witnesses to testify as they had been led to believe they would, Thursday’s hearing was closed. If there was an advantage either way in the day’s testimony it was not so favorable to the defense.

The most startling fact brought out on Friday, and probably the most startling fact in the whole testimony given in the trial so far, was that within three-quarters of an hour after Mary Phagan had eaten her frugal breakfast of bread and cabbage she was dead, as shown by the testimony of Dr. Roy Harris, secretary of the state board of health, who made an examination of the dead girl’s stomach.

Murdered Hour After Breakfast.

The evidence throws considerable light on the much mooted question of the exact time of the murder.

Dr. Harris exhibited on the stand a small bottle in which were particles of undigested cabbage, which he declared he had removed from the girl’s stomach. He declared that the cabbage could not have remained in that state of preservation longer than one hour at the outside while the girl was alive.

Dr. Harris stated that the nature of the wound on the back of Mary Phagan’s head seemed to indicate that she had been struck an upward blow. The blow on the eye, he said, looked as if it had been inflicted by a person’s fist.

Dr. Harris was unable to testify positively as to whether Mary Phagan had been outraged or not, although he said there were indications that such was the case.

Dr. Harris’ testimony had to be discontinued within a few minutes after he took the stand, when he was attacked by a fainting spell as the result of recent illness. His testimony will be resumed as soon as his physical condition will permit.

Says Frank Didn’t Eat.

The testimony of N. V. Darley, assistant superintendent of the pencil factory, who followed on the stand, was to the effect that Frank was very nervous on the morning following the murder, but on cross-examination Darley also testified that he had on two other occasions seen Frank equally as nervous.

Albert McKnight, husband of Frank’s cook, stated that he had seen Frank in the dining room of his home when he came home for lunch on the day of the murder, but that he did not see him eat anything.

There were several other witnesses who testified to minor details.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, August 3rd 1913, “Resume of Week’s Evidence Shows Little Progress Made,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Constitution
July 29^th, 1913

WATCHMAN TELLS OF FINDING BODY OF MARY PHAGAN

Trial Adjourns for the Day While Lee Is on the Stand, and His Cross-Questioning Will Be Resumed Today.

MOTHER AND THE WIFE OF PRISONER CHEER HIM BY PRESENCE AT TRIAL

Jury Is Quickly Secured and Mrs. Coleman, Mother of the Murdered Girl, Is First Witness to Take Stand.

With a swiftness which was gratifying to counsel for the defense, the solicitor general and a large crowd of interested spectators, the trial of Leo M. Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan on April 26, in the building of the National Pencil factory, was gotten under way Monday.

When the hour of adjournment for the day had arrived, the jury had been selected and three witnesses had been examined. Newt Lee, the nightwatchman who discovered the dead body of Mary Phagan in the basement of the National Pencil factory, and who gave the first news of the crime to the police, was still on the stand, undergoing rigid cross-examination by Luther Z. Rosser, attorney for Frank.

Lee Sticks to First Story.

When the trial is resumed this morning, Newt Lee will again be placed on the stand. It is not expected that anything new will be adduced from his testimony. Throughout the gruelling cross-examination of Mr. Rosser Monday afternoon Lee stuck to his original story in minutest detail.

Questions that would have confused or befuddled a man of education failed to budge him from the statement he originally made to the police, and has repeated from time to time to reporters and court officials.

The first day’s proceedings of the Frank trial proved singularly free of the dramatic element or the unexpected in testimony.

There were touches of the pathetic, as, for example, when Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of the dead child, broke down and cried bitterly when she viewed the clothing of her little daughter; and there were touches of humor when the little Epps boy, who had ridden to town with Mary Phagan on the day of her murder, explained to Luther Rosser his method of telling the time of day by the sun, and of Newt Lee, who amused the courtroom by his quaint allusions and his negro descriptions of a tiny light in the basement of the pencil factory, which he likened to the gleam of a lightning bug, and of his quick retort when Mr. Rosser purposely spoke of this insect as a June bug.

“I didn’t say June bug—I said lightning bug,” contradicted Newt.

Careful Attention to Detail.

This brief excerpt is given as significant of the careful attention to detail that Lee gave to his story.

When the hour of 9 o’clock arrived, Pryor street in front of the temporary courthouse building was cluttered with the usual mob of the morbidly curious. They hugged the hot walls of the buildings like lethargic leeches, vainly trying to gain admission to the building, or buzzed about like bees, gossiping idly of the case.

Perfect order was maintained, however, and few not directly interested in the trial were allowed to enter the courtroom. All day long the crowd remained on the sidewalks gazing intently at the windows to the courtroom, spewing tobacco juice on the street, eagerly questioning every person who left the building.

Interest naturally centered on the appearance in the court of Leo M. Frank, the accused. If Frank has chafed under his confinement, his physical appearance belies the fact. He looked as fit physically as he did the day he was first arrested. He was dressed with scrupulous neatness in a gray suit of pronounced pattern, which was all the more conspicuous on account of his diminutive form. As he entered the courtroom he smiled cordially at several friends. The first person to whom he spoke was a woman employee of the pencil factory.

Next in interest was Mrs. Leo M. Frank, wife of the accused, who, up to this time, has been seen little in public. Mrs. Frank is an extremely attractive-looking young woman. During progress of the trial she kept her eyes constantly fixed on Solicitor Dorsey. Her gaze was one of calm estimate. She seemed to be attempting to fathom his thoughts and to divine his purposes.

Mrs. Coleman Takes Stand.

Efforts to show Mary Phagan’s attitude toward Leo M. Frank by the state and efforts by the defense to show the dead girl’s attitude toward little George Epps, the 14-year-old newsie who testified to riding down town with her on the morning before she was found dead, were the first important things attempted yesterday when the trial of the state v. Leo M. Frank, charged with the Phagan girl’s murder on April 26, was formally opened.

Both efforts were promptly blocked for the present time by opposing counsel, and the testimony was started in regular form by the introduction of Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of Mary Phagan, as the first witness for the state.

During the preliminaries Attorneys Reuben R. Arnold and Luther Z. Rosser, for Frank, tried to conceal the names of their witnesses, but on Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey’s objections, they were overruled by Trial Judge L. S. Roan, and they called and swore their witnesses as the state had done but a few moments previously.

In a come-back for this the defense asked the court to honor their duces tecum which they previously served upon the solicitor, requiring him to bring into court all statements and affidavits made by James Conley, the negro sweeper, who made an affidavit incriminating himself and declaring he had aided Frank in disposing of the girl’s body.

Solicitor Dorsey, after a conference with Frank A. Hooper, a brilliant criminal lawyer aiding him, dictated a statement to the court stenographer in which he agreed to produce these affidavits and statements at the proper time, should they be held material.

Defense Announces Ready.

The case started promptly at 9 o’clock with the courtroom thronged with veniremen and spectators, witnesses and lawyers and friends of the principal. Contrary to the persistent rumor that the defense would ask postponement and to their frequent objections to the trial in the heated term, the defense proved ready and willing to go to trial.

Frank had been brought from the Tower at 6 o’clock in the morning, and at 7 o’clock had his breakfast brought to him by friends. He ate this in an ante-room, where he remained until the time came for picking the jury, when he came into the courtroom.

When Judge Roan called the court to order all seats were taken.

Frank Enters Courtroom.

It was a few minutes after 10 o’clock, and when the veniremen had been divided into nine panels and a number of them excused on various legal grounds, that Frank was led into the courtroom by a deputy who had stayed with him in the ante-room.

Frank looked quickly about him as he came into the crowded room. He appeared, as a person frequently is, unable to take in all at once the scene in the crowded hall. There was a general stir about the room as he entered, and as he made out the straining faces and searching eyes, it seemed to dawn upon him that he was the man for whom the crowd had gathered and at whom all eyes were turned.

A quizzical smile came over his face. His eyes were partly hidden by the thick and slightly darkened glasses he wore, but his expression seemed to indicate that he was telling himself, “It’s my appearance that has brought this stir and what can those people be thinking about me.”

It was the first time Frank had seen a crowd since he entered the jail on May 8, and it was the first time he had been given an opportunity to look on any but faces of his close friends. The order of the courtroom was perfect except for the slight stir.

Greeted by Wife and Mother.

Frank went to a seat in front of the judge’s stand and near his lawyers. Several of his close friends who had been admitted within the rail crowded round and warmly grasped his hand. A moment later his wife and mother, Mrs. Ray Frank, followed him from the ante-room and took seats on either side.

Mrs. Frank is a beautiful woman, just past the bloom of girlhood, and whose attractive face would cause a second look from any man.

Neither Mrs. Frank, the wife, nor Mrs. Frank, the mother, showed by their looks the strain that the accusation upon their loved one must have caused them.

Jury Quickly Chosen.

The entire morning session was taken up in choosing a jury and general surprise was expressed that the twelve men in whose hands Frank’s life now lies, were selected from the 144 veniremen and within the time mentioned.

At 1:30 the jury had been selected and sworn in and Judge Roan, upon agreement from both sides, adjourned until 3 o’clock. Frank was then taken to an ante-room where his dinner was brought to him from his home, and where, with his wife and mother, he calmly partook of his meal.

Girl’s Mother Breaks Down.

It was at the afternoon session that Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of the murdered girl, was put on the stand by the state as the first witness. She was asked a number of questions and finally on being shown the dead girl’s clothes, broke completely down and sank back in her chair sobbing with her face hidden by a large palm leaf fan.

Deputy Miner, quickly brought her a glass of water and she slightly recovered, only to break down again when the defense began to cross-examine her. During her mental suffering Frank carefully kept his eyes away from her, although he sat facing her and the jury. He seemed either unable or unwilling to view the mother’s grief.

George Epps, the little newsboy, who claims to have ridden to town on the street car with the Phagan girl, and who is said to have declared that she told him of certain things she did not like about Frank, was next put up. He was followed by Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, whose telephone call to police station, brought the officers to the scene of the crime at 3 o’clock on Sunday morning, April 27.

When Mrs. Coleman was put on as the first witness she was then apparently holding herself perfectly composed. She was dressed in a black mourning dress and wore a black hat and heavy veil which she threw back from her face.

The mother talked in a quiet, refined voice, that was at times inaudible to lawyers and jurors. By her looks the Phagan family is above the station in life from which come children who toil in factories.

Mrs. Coleman’s Testimony.

After answering the usual questions in regard to her relationship and place of residence, she began her testimony.

“When did you last see Mary Phagan alive?” asked the solicitor.

Answer: “On the morning of April 26, at my home.”

Question: “What did she do that morning?”

Answer: “She helped me with the general housework.”

Question: “When did she get up and when did she have breakfast?”

Answer: “She got up about 11 o’clock and had breakfast right afterwards.”

Question: “What did she eat?”

Answer: “She ate some cabbage and some bread.”

Question: “Was that all?”

Answer: “Yes, I think it was; I know it was.”

Question: “What time did she leave home?”

Answer: “About a quarter to 12.”

Question: “How old was Mary Phagan?”

Answer: “She was nearly 14 years old. She would have been 14 on June 1.”

At the mention of her daughter’s fourteenth birthday, the mother broke down for the first time. It was not evident what had happened as she hid her face with her large fan and no one knew that she was gently sobbing until a minute later.

Tells of Girl’s Beauty.

Here followed questions and answers in which the mother told that Mary Phagan was large and well developed girl for her size and what she was fair complected and decidedly pretty.

“Was she pretty or ugly?” the solicitor asked directly and yet in the kindest tone.

“She was pretty, mighty pretty,” the mother replied.

“Did not she have dimples in her cheeks?” pressed the solicitor.

“Yes, a dimple in either cheek,” replied the mother.

Mrs. Coleman was then asked to describe the dress her child had worn on the morning when she bade her goodby and told her she was going to the pencil factory to draw her pay.

A moment later an attachee of the solicitor’s office had spread out on the floor before the mother and the jury the clothes which the girl wore when her dead body was found.

“How long had it been since the girl had worked at the factory?” the solicitor asked while his employee was unwrapping the bundle of clothing.

“She had not worked there since the previous Monday,” Mrs. Coleman replied.

The woman had been shading her eyes from the sun’s rays during the examination, and suddenly she removed it and spied the clothes. She had previously sobbed when telling of her daughter’s age, and of the little personal traits about her; but when she perceived the garments the child had worn when she last kissed her goodby, little thinking it was forever on earth, a great shudder passed over her frame.

A burst of sobbing seemed to give her relief, and when the deputy brought her a glass of water she recovered sufficiently to drink it and to thank him so quietly that her voice was again audible only a fe feet away.

The mother’s agony at the sight of her dead child’s clothing was enough proof that she had identified them in the mind of the solicitor, and he declared that he had no more questions to ask.

Cross-Examination by Rosser.

Luther Z. Rosser, for the defense, took up the unpleasant task of cross-examination.

“Is that Miss Mary’s hat?” he asked in as kindly a way as his great voice and rugged bearing would permit.

“Yes,” sobbed the mother.

“She wore a pale blue ribbon and a small bunch of flowers on her hat when she left home, didn’t she?” the lawyer asked.

“Yes,” came the faint reply.

“Those are her clothes, then?” queried the attorney.

“Yes, I recognize them as hers,” said Mrs. Coleman.

Attorney Rosser turned from the matter of clothes, apparently satisfied, and started a new line of questioning.

“How far do you live from a car line?” he asked suddenly.

“About two blocks.”

“Is there a store near where you live, and who keeps it?”

“Mrs. Smith keeps a store near my home.”

“What time did Miss Mary leave home that Saturday morning?”

“About a quarter to 12,” the mother replied.

“Do you know whether she started out to walk or to catch a car to town?”

“I think she caught a car; she always did.”

“Do you know a boy named Epps?’ asked Mr. Rosser, referring to the little newsie later put on the stand.

“Yes.”

“Was he a friend of Miss Mary’s?”

“Yes, to a certain extent he was,” she answered.

“Did you not talk to a certain gentleman on May 13?” began Mr. Rosser.

Objections by Solicitor.

“Your honor,” interrupted the solicitor, “I object to that as improper. He must give the name of the person and the place where she talked to him.”

“I’m trying to find out the relations between Mary Phagan and George Epps,” replied Mr. Rosser.

“Well, what this lady said to a certain gentleman is immaterial to this case, unless the defense wishes to impeach this witness and then they must give in detail the time and place of the conversation, as well as the person with whom she talked.”

“I’m not trying to impeach the witness, your honor,” replied Mr. Rosser.

“Isn’t it true Miss Mary told you she detested the Epps boy?” he continued, quickly addressing the witness.

“Immaterial,” objected Mr. Dorsey, “What someone said to her about someone else won’t tell us who killed Mary Phagan,” said Mr. Dorsey.

The attorney, Mr. Rosser, did something that he rarely ever does; he withdrew his question without a fight on it and put it in another way to the mother.

“Didn’t you tell L. P. Whitfield on May 3, that Mary Phagan detested the Epps boy,” said the attorney, apparently trying to show that Mary Phagan’s dislike was so strong for the child that she would never have gone to town with him and promised to meet him at the Elkin drug store to see the parade, as the lad had declared previously and as he later told on the stand.

Solicitor Dorsey again objected and Mr. Rosser agreed to withdraw the question with the provision that he could bring Mrs. Coleman back to the stand later should be think it necessary to prove this.

Solicitor Dorsey then had the mother state to the jury that the clothes exhibited were those of Mary Phagan. Mrs. Coleman then was allowed to have the stand, and she left the [c]ourt room, as she was “under the rule” and required to remain out of court while other witnesses were testifying.

Epps Boy on the Stand.

George Epps was brought in. The lad was barefooted and in two senses of the word bareheaded. He crumpled a ragged cap in his hand and not a hair showed upon his head. The little boy’s head was as cleanly shaven as though a barber had passed a razor across it that very day.

The lad, who looked nervous and how had previously told a reporter that this was his first time in a courtroom, went to the stand in a series of rapid strides and quick jumps.

“I’d be away from here now,” he had previously told the reporter, “if there weren’t so many p’licemen round here.”

The determined way in which he answered all questions and the sureness of his bearing and quickness of his replies caused laughter in the courtroom.

He was asked the usual questions about his age and residence and knowledge of Mary Phagan.

“When did you last see the girl alive?” asked the solicitor.

“When she left me at Forsyth and Marietta streets about seven minutes after 12,” he replied.

“She got on the English avenue car I was on at ten minutes before 12,” he told, “and she said she was going to the factory to get her money. She promised to meet me at Elkin’s drug store to see the Memorial day parade with me, and I was there and stayed there until 4 o’clock and then went to the ball game when she failed to show up.”

Question Withdrawn by State.

“What did she say to you while on the car in reference to L. M. Frank?” asked the solicitor.

Here came a prompt objection from the defense. Attorney Rosser leaping to his feet and declaring the question improper.

“Well, I withdraw it, then,” agreed the solicitor, who, without another question, turned the lad over to the defense.

It was while being cross-examined by the defense that the lad showed the quick wit he possesses.

“How did you know [w]hat time it was when Mary Phagan joined you going downtown that morning?” asked Mr. Rosser.

“I looked at a clock just before I took the car,” he replied.

“You didn’t say anything about a clock when you testified before the coroner’s jury,” objected Mr. Rosser.

“Nope, but I looked at one that time just the same,” flashed back the young witness.

“How did you know what time it was when Miss Mary left you?” asked Mr. Rosser.

“I estimated it from the time she got on the car, and I told it by the sun,” answered the lad. “I can tell time by the sun,” he continued, as though proud of that achievement.

“You can tell the time to within seven minutes by the sun, then?” said the lawyer, apparently trying to confuse the young witness.

“Yes, sir, I can,” came back in a childish treble, but in a manner that showed complete self-confidence.

Lad Positive in Statements.

The lawyer then left out further remarks in regard to the lad’s gift in regard to telling time without any of the modern mechanical means, and took up another phase.

“Did Mary get off the car with you?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Certain of that, are you?”

“Yes, sir,” the lad replied.

“You are sure she got off the car with you at Forsyth and Marietta?”

“Yes, sir; she and me got off there, and she went across the bridge toward the pencil factory and I went under the bridge to get some papers to sell.”

“You went to sell your papers then?”

“Yes, sir; I thought I could sell them by 2 o’clock and meet her as she had agreed with me to do.”

“Had you sold out by 4 o’clock?”

“No, sir, I finished sellin’ out at the ball grounds.”

“What time was it when you finished selling your papers?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

“Couldn’t you tell by the sun?” came the tantalizing question.

“No, sir, the sun had went down by that time,” the boy replied.

The positive way in which little Epps replied, and the stress upon the “had went” caused a general ripple of laughter.

The lad was then allowed to leave the stand.

Newt Lee Calm on Stand.

Newt Lee followed the Epps boy. He had been waiting in the prisoners’ room throughout the day. There was a characteristic calmness about him and he answered all questions readily.

Attorney Rosser subjected him to a rigorous grilling, under which the negro stood up bravely. At times, his quaint dialect and gestures sent a wave of titters over the court room. He told a graphic story of discovering the body, and was kept on the stand for fully two hours. The adjourned while he was testifying. His testimony will be resumed this morning.

Lee was questioned first by Solicitor Dorsey.

“Newt, how long have you been night watchman at the National Pencil factory on Forsyth street?”

“Three weeks.”

“Ever watch before at the other plant?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What instructions did Mr. Frank give you when you began work on Forsyth street?”

“He carried me around the building and told me to report for work at 5 o’clock on Saturdays and at 6 o’clock on other days.”

Tells of Talk With Frank.

“Did you talk with Frank on Friday, April 25?”

“Yes. He told me to come at 4 o’clock on the next day, which was a holiday; so he could get off earlier than usual.”

“What time did you arrive at the factory on the 26^th of April?”

“A few minutes until 4 o’clock.”

“What was the condition of the Forsyth street door?”

“It seemed locked, and I got my keys out of my pocket. When I pushed on […]

WATCHMAN TELLS OF FINDING BODY

[…] it a second time though it came open.”

“Did this door on previous Saturdays seem locked or unlocked?”

“Unlocked.”

“Was the door on the stairway leading to the second floor locked or unlocked?”

“Locked.”

“When you appeared at the factory to report on afternoons what did you generally do upon going up to the second floor where Mr. Frank’s office is situated?”

“Say ‘Howdy, Mr. Frank.’ He usually called, ‘Hello, Newt,’ and if he wants anything he calls me into his office.”

Told to Leave Factory.

“What did he do when you went to the second floor on Saturday the 26^th?”

“He came to the door rubbing his hands and saying he was sorry I had come so early. I told him I needed sleep and was sorry too. He said go out in town and have a good time because I needed it. I told him again that I needed sleep and he said I needed a good time.”

“Could you have slept in the factory?”

“Yes, sir. In the packing room.”

“When did Frank say come back to work?”

“He said for me not to be gone more than an hour and a half.”

“What did you then do?”

“Offered him some bananas I had and went on out.”

“How long did you stay away?”

“Until four minutes until 6 when I went back to the factory.”

“How were the doors when you returned?”

“Just like I had left them.”

Told Not to Punch.

“What did Frank say when you came back?”

“I went to the door, told him I was back and he asked me what time was it. I told him it was 6 o’clock and, he said, ‘Don’t punch the clock yet, that there were some workmen upstairs.”

“What did he then do?”

“Put in a slip for the time clock.”

“Did Frank ever mention Gantt to you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did you see Gantt that afternoon?”

“Yes, sir. I saw him downstairs a little after 6 o’clock. He came across the street from a saloon, and told me he had left a pair of shoes in the factory and that he wanted to get them. I told him Mr. Frank was upstairs, and if he’d go ask Mr. Frank he could get in the building. He said, ‘No, he didn’t want to do that.’ About that time Mr. Frank came downstairs unexpectedly. When he saw Gantt he jumped back a little frightened.”

“What conversation ensued?”

Found Two Pairs of Shoes.

“Gantt said, ‘Howdy do, Mr. Frank,’ and Frank said, ‘Howdy do, Mr. Gantt.’ Mr. Gantt said he had left a pair of shoes in the place, and Mr. Frank said he had seen the boy sweep out a pair of shoes a short time back. He said they were tan shoes. Mr. Gantt said he had left a pair of black ones, too. Mr. Frank dropped his head a minute and said for me to go in with Mr. Gantt to get his shoes. We went into the shipping room and found both a pair of black shoes and a pair of tans.”

“Were they Gantt’s?”

“I reckon so; he took ’em.”

“Had they been swept out?”

“Didn’t look like it.”

“Did you see Mr. Frank any more that night?”

“No, sir.”

“Did he telephone you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Had he ever done it before?”

“No, sir.”

“What time did he phone?”

Phones Hour After Leaving.

“About 7 o’clock, about an hour after he had left.”

“What did he say?”

“He said: ‘Is that you, Newt?’ I told him yes, and he said: ‘This is Mr. Frank. How is everything?’ I told him everything was all right so far as I know.”

“Were there any lights on the first floor?”

“Yes, sir. One light as you come into the building.”

(At this juncture a diagram was shown of the pencil factory building. Newt explained the position of the light to which he referred, which was near the Forsyth street entrance.)

“Mr. Frank said, ‘Keep this light burning,’” the negro stated, “’because it won’t cost but a few cents.’”

“Did you always light this light?”

“Somebody else lighted it during week days, and I lighted it on Saturdays.”

“Was there a light in the basement?”

“Yes, sir. Mr. Frank said keep that light burning all the time.”

“Was it burning Saturday morning when you left the pencil factory?’

“Yes, sir.”

“Was it burning Saturday afternoon?”

“Did you ever see a lightning bug? It looked just linke one Saturday evening, just a tiny little light. That morning I had left it burning bright.”

“What are Frank’s instructions as to your rounds?”

Two Rounds an Hour.

“To make them every hour and every half hour—on the hour and on the half.”

“Did you make your clock punches regularly on the night of April 26?”

“Yes, sir.”

“In all your time with the factory, did you ever fail to make punches accurately?”

“Never.”

“Up to 3 a. m., did anything happen out of the ordinary?”

“At 3 o’clock I went to the basement to the closet and discovered the body. When I went to the toilet, I looked around toward the back door, and picked up my lantern, and saw something in the corner. I thought that, as it was a holiday, some devilish boys were trying to play a joke on me. When I saw what it was, though, I got out of there.”

Negro Got Out Quick.

“How did you get up the ladder?”

“I don’t know, sir, but I got up there.”

“What happened then?”

“I called police station and tried to get Mr. Frank, but couldn’t.”

“This body was a girl, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

“When did you see Frank?”

“When they took me back to the pencil factory from the station house.”

“What time was it then?”

“I don’t know—about 7 or 8 o’clock, though.”

“Where was he when you saw him?”

“Coming in the office where they had me.”

“How did he look at you?”

“He looked at me and at the door, dropped his head and didn’t say anything. Mr. Darley, who was in the office, said: ‘Too bad, Newt. I don’t believe you did it, but I think you know something about it.’”

“Was any examination made of the time [c]lock?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Who made it?”

“Mr. Darley, I think.”

“Were you and Frank in jail at the same time?”

“Yes.”

“Did anybody say anything about the clock being punched?”

“Mr. Frank opened it and said the punches were all right.”

“What did he mean by ‘all right?’”

(An objection was made to this question by Mr. Rosser, but was overruled.)

“Meant it was correct,” Lee went on, “accurate—punched every half hour, beginning at 6 p. m. and ending at 3 a. m.”

“After Frank left you in the office that morning, when did you again see him?”

“He went back to the station house with me in the automobile.”

“Did he say anything?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you see him any more?”

Lee and Frank Meet.

“Yes, sir. Some night soon after I was arrested they came to my cell and said they were going to let me and Mr. Frank have it out. I didn’t know whether they wanted us to fight, or what. They put me in a room by myself, handcuffed to a chair, and brought Mr. Frank in. He looked at me and dropped his head. We were alone. When he looked up, I said: ‘Mr. Frank, it’s mighty hard for me to be handcuffed to this chair for something I didn’t do.’ He said: ‘What’s the difference. They’ve got a man guarding me.’ He also said he didn’t believe I killed the girl, but said he thought I knew something about it. I told him I only discovered the body. He said: ‘Yes, and if you keep that up we’ll both go to hell.’ The detectives came in at that time.”

“When Mr. Frank asked you on Friday, the 25^th, to come at 4 o’clock the next Saturday, did you object?”

“Yes, sir; but I agreed to come.”

Defense Takes Witness.

At this point the state yielded the witness to the defense. Attorney Rosser became the questioner.

“You testified before the coroner’s inquest, did you not?”

“I testified before something down at the station house.”

“How many times have you made this statement of yours before Mr. Dorsey?”

“Once.”

“How many times have you made it before Mr. Black?”

“I don’t know Mr. Black, to remember him.”

“How many times before any detectives?”

“I don’t know, sir; there were so many blim-blamming at me so much I couldn’t keep account.”

“Is your mind as fresh now as it was months ago?”

“Well, when anybody remembers a thing, they remember it, don’t they?”

Sticks to Statement.

“Did you tell about Frank’s head being lowered when you came for work that Saturday while you were testifying at the inquest?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Honest?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Positive?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you remember the first Saturday you started to work at the pencil factory?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What time did you report?”

“Five o’clock.”

“Then why did you grumble at having to come back early on the afternoon of the 26^th?”

“I didn’t grumble.”

“Your ordinary Saturday’s sleep ends at 12 o’clock, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“But, on this particular Saturday, you didn’t have to get to the factory until 4 o’clock?”

“No, sir.”

Tells Frank “I’m Here.”

“When you arrived at the office, what were your very words?”

“All right, Mr. Frank, I’m here.”

“What did he do?”

“Came on out of the office—I was standing at the head of the steps.”

“About how far apart were you?”

(Lee pointed at Attorney Frank Hooper, associated with Solicitor Dorsey in the prosecution, saying:)

“About as far from me to that man.”

“What, this handsome man here?”

(Mr. Rosser pointed to Mr. Hooper. The latter took the sally with a good-natured smile.)

“Were you any further than 16 feet?”

“No, sir.”

“Was his head drooping?”

“I didn’t notice.”

“Isn’t it true that before the coroner’s inquest you failed to tell about his head drooping?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, let’s see?”

Rosser referred to stenographer notes of Lee’s testimony at the inquest. He read to the court: “Frank came out rubbing his hands and met me at the office door, and said Newt, you can go have you some fun.”

“Isn’t that your statement?” he queried.

“Some of it is, and some ain’t.”

“What isn’t?”

Have a Good Time.

“That part about ‘some fun.’ I said he told me to go have a ‘good time.’”

“Did you say anything at the inquest about a place to sleep at the plant?”

“No, sir.”

“If the front doors to the factory were unlocked, anybody could get into the basement, couldn’t they?”

“Yes, sir.”

“If the stair door was locked, it would prevent no one from reaching the first floor of basement, would it?”

“It would not.”

Doors Were Unlocked.

“When you got back after having gone out and had your ‘good time’ that afternoon the doors were unlocked and anybody could have gone to any part of the building, eh?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Anybody could have gone where they pleased with Mr. Frank in the rear of his office?”

“If he didn’t hear them.”

“Could he see you Saturday afternoon from where he sat?”

“I couldn’t see him.”

“On the first Saturday of your duty in the pencil factory, didn’t you go all over the building without his knowledge, although he sat in his office?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, couldn’t anybody do the same?”

“I suppose so.”

“He didn’t know you were there because he was in the inner office, and couldn’t hear you?”

“Yes, sir.”

Uneasy About Him.

“When Gantt came over you watched him to let him in didn’t you? Wasn’t Mr. Frank uneasy about him?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Mr. Frank and Mr. Gantt had had a difficulty, had they not?”

“I think so.”

(Solicitor Dorsey objected to the question because of hearsay evidence. Lee continued).

“Mr. Frank says to me: ‘Lee, I discharged Mr. Gantt, and I don’t want him around.’”

“That’s why he was startled when he came downstairs, isn’t it?”

“That’s what first popped into my mind.”

“What did you upon letting Mr. Gantt out to the street?”

“I watched him go across the street into the saloon, then went up and punched the clock.”

“Do you know where the body is said to have been found?”

“Yes, sir—in the machine room.”

“Did you go into the machine room that night?”

“Every half hour.”

All Except Basement.

“You went into every floor of the building every half hour, didn’t you?”

“All except the basement.”

“Didn’t you say at the inquest that you went into the cellar every half hour?”

“No, sir.”

“When did you go into it?”

“Every hour.”

“Didn’t Mr. Frank tell you to go over the entire building every half hour?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Mr. Frank, then, thought you went into the basement every half hour?”

No answer came from the witness to this question. He was urged to answer by Solicitor Dorsey. Mr. Rosser retorted that he did not care whether or not the question received a reply.

(Mr. Dorsey insisted upon an answer on the grounds that he did not want questions admitted by silence. Mr. Rosser accused the solicitor of instructing the witness. The examination proceeded.)

“You were given no additional instructions that Saturday night?”

“No, sir.”

“You were not told to go into the metal room?”

“No, sir.”

“Not told to go into the basement?”

“No, sir.”

Objection is Sustained.

“If, however, you had followed original instructions and inspected the basement as you were supposed to inspect it, you would have discovered the body earlier, would you not?”

“Yes, sir.”

(Mr. Dorsey’s objection to this question on grounds of it being a hypothetical nature, was sustained.)

“When you went into the basement, was the back door open or closed?”

“Closed.”

“Isn’t it true that when the police got there it was open?”

“They said it was.”

“How long were the police in coming?”

“Eight or ten minutes.”

“How close did you get to the door?”

“No closer than the place where the body lay.”

“The body was 60 feet distant, wasn’t it?”

“About that.”

“How did you know the door was closed?”

“I could see outside.”

“Do you mean to say you could see through it into the darkness in case it had been open?”

“There is a light that burns in the alley just outside the door.”

Went In at 7 O’Clock.

“What time did you first go into the cellar?”

“Seven o’clock.”

“How far did you go?”

“Just to the bottom of the ladder.”

“Could you see the entire cellar from that point?”

“I could see a fire if there had been one.”

“I’m not talking about a fire.”

“That was what I was looking for when I went to the bottom of the ladder.”

“You didn’t go any further at that time than your Junebug light at the scuttle hole?”

“I didn’t say Junebug, I said lightning bug.”

“Tell me what made you go on through the basement at 3 o’clock?”

“I went to the closet.”

“There are closets on the first, second and third floors, aren’t there?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why did you prefer the one in the basement?”

“Because it was the one Mr. Frank ordered me to use.”

“As you went to the closet, did you notice the girl’s hat, or shoe, or parasol?”

“No, sir.”

“Your lantern was dim and sooty, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, sir—kinder.”

(Here Judge Roan called an end to the afternoon session.)

Sidebars

JURY SELECTED TO TRY FRANK

C. J. Basshart, age 26, single; pressman, resides 216 Bryan street.

A. H. Henslee, age 36, married, head salesman Franklin Buggy company of Barnesville; resides 74 Oak street.

J. F. Higdon, age 42, married, building contractor, resides 108 Ormewood avenue.

W. M. Jeffries, age 33, married, real estate, resides Bolton, Ga.

M. Johenning, age 46, married, shipping clerk, resides 161 Jones street.

W. F. Medcalf, age 30, married, mailer, resides 136 Kirkwood avenue.

J. T. Ozburn, age 36, married, optician, resides 30 Ashby street.

Frederick Van L. Smith, age 37, married, electrical manufacturing agent, resides 481 Cherokee avenue.

D. Townsend, age 23, married, paying teller, resides 17 East Linden street.

F. E. Winburn, age 39, married, claim agent Atlanta and West Point railroad, resides 213 Lucile avenue.

A. L. Wisbey, age 43, married, cashier, resides 31 Hood street.

M. S. Woodward, age 34, married, cashier King Hardware company, resides 182 Park avenue.

Married, 11; single, 1; youngest, 23; oldest, 46; average age, 35 years and 5 months; quartered at Kimball house, in charge of Bailiffs Charles F. Huber and F. A. Pennington.

DORSEY SATISFIED.

This was Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey’s statement made last night.

“Results obtained during Monday exceeded even the state’s hopeful expectations. Progress was highly satisfactory, and the results achieved predict continued success throughout the case. We have always felt confident of victory, but now feel absolutely assured.”

DEFENSE IS PLEASED.

This statement was made last night to a Constitution reporter by Attorney Reuben R. Arnold, associate counsel for the defense:

“I am decidedly pleased with the first day’s progress. The defense feels that great headway has been made toward victory. We feel assured that the success we experienced Monday will continue throughout the trial.”

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

Atlanta Journal
July 29^th, 1913

Each of First Three Witnesses In Case Shows Distinct Personality and Entirely Different Side of Human Nature, Some Character Studies

Three of the witnesses who testified Monday afternoon at the Frank trial were more distinct as personalities than the characters you could see portrayed in any theater, except that very tragic one of a criminal court room.

Much testimony and such individuality as that of these witnesses, has kept the court room crowded by at least 200 people during every minute of the Frank trial—crowded with well dressed men who lean forward in their seats, intent on every detail of the trial, every question that the attorneys ask, every answer that the witnesses give.

They are first attracted to the court room by different reasons for curiosity: but they remain because of their common interest in “character.” In having a glimpse of distinct personalities, in seeing the stubbornness with which Newt Lee adheres to his testimony while lawyers try to confound him.

SORROW OF MOTHER.

Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of Mary Phagan, was first of the three witnesses who testified Monday afternoon. She spoke in a low voice, telling of how her daughter had left home on the day of the murder, and she seemed to have finished her testimony, when a court officer drew forth a suitcase which had been hidden behind several chairs.

Before the mother, he undid the satchel, and took up in his hands the dress and the shoes that Mary Phagan had worn when her mother last saw her. The officer first laid the dress upon the witness stand, almost under the mother’s feet and placed the shoes beside it. Everyone had leaned forward when the satchel had been brought from behind the chairs; everyone, the lawyers, the audience, the jury, waited as the torn clothing and shoes were placed by the mother for her identification.

After the most hurried glance at the clothing almost touching the hem of her dress, she covered her eyes with a fan and began to sob. The solicitor general asked her no further questions, and, after a moment she left the stand and the audience leaned back. This was the mother, without speaking, identified the clothing of her murdered daughter.

IMPUDENCE OF YOUTH.

A witness next testified who was like Samuel Weller in the freshness of youth. He was George Epps, a bare-footed, tow-headed newsboy, whose impudence made the audience turn from seriousness to chuckles, and caused many to lean forward and rub his knees with the palms of his hands.

“It was seven minutes after 12 o’clock when Mary and me got off the car that Saturday morning,” he said.

“Have you a watch?” asked Attorney Luther Rosser.

“Nope.”

“How’d you know?”

“Tell by the sun.”

“Tell to the minute, eh?”

“Sure. Tell now, if the sun was shinin’ in here.”

“Couldn’t have been mistaken, could you?” suggested Mr. Rosser.

“Well, I guess not.”

UNWAVERING TESTIMONY.

The last witness to testify in the afternoon was Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, who discovered Mary Phagan’s body. He speaks with the tongue of a negro but with a wit, and a doggedness that was invincible to all cross-examinations by Attorneys.

This untaught negro remained upon the witness stand for an hour or more Monday afternoon, answering question after question, but never wavering in his story of how he discovered the body of Mary Phagan.

When he was pressed hard about the truthfulness of his story, he sometimes became argumentative and proved his questioners to be wrong.

“You all don’t mind if I get up?” he would ask casually of the jury. “I can show you better standin’ up.”

At times he thought that attorneys were interfering with his story by their questions.

“Now, Newt,” asked Solicitor Dorsey, “what did he say?”

“Well, if you’ll just wait a minute,” answered Newt, “I’ll tell you.”

Later on, when Solicitor Dorsey had summed up the answers that Newt had given in discussing one incident, and drew his conclusion from them, Newt sighed and leaned back.

“Yes, sir,” he said, with humor which he may or may not have meant, “now you got it right.”

At another time he was trying to describe to Attorney Rosser the appearance of a light in the cellar at the pencil factory.

“Wait a minute, boss,” he said. “Have you ever seen a lightning bug? Have you ever knocked it down with your hat when you tried to catch it? You know how it looks then. That’s the way it was.”

He Will Be Freed, Says Mrs. Frank of Husband; Few Women Hear Trial

Mrs. Leo M. Frank says of the trial of her husband:

“I’m sure that he will be acquitted. I look for nothing less than an acquittal. I know that he is innocent, and I believe that the jury also will be convinced.”

“I would rather not talk about it,” says Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of Mary Phagan. “I don’t want to express an opinion.”

“I’m like my mother in not wanting to talk about the trial,” says Miss Ollie Phagan, sister of Mary Phagan. “The trial is almost more than my mother can bear. She was the youngest of us—Mary. I mean—she was the life of our home. Now everything is different.”

Few women, except those interested by relationship with parties to the case, have attended the trial. The number of men in the court room is always about 200. The number of women has never been more than seven. And the few who came out of curiosity lingered but a short while.

No one is admitted to the court room unless there is room for him to be seated. By this restriction, overcrowding has been prevented.