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

Atlanta Constitution

Wednesday, May 21^st, 1913

Burns Operative Finds New Theory in Detailed Study of Life of Girl Who Was Murdered.

Investigation into the life of Mary Phagan from the time she was a child until the day upon which she was murdered has been the work for the past several days of C. W. Tobie, the investigator who is preceding William J. Burns in the attempt to find the perpetrator of the crime.

The detective will not reveal his specific reasons for accumulating a record of the girl’s life, but steadily he has been familiarizing himself with every detail which it has been possible to learn. When his chief reaches Atlanta he will have practically every detail in the life of the murdered girl at his finger tips. Tobie states that this is an important part of his criminal investigation.

All of Tuesday morning was spent in interviewing Mrs. James W. Coleman, mother of the dead girl, at her home, 146 Lindsay street. The grief-stricken parent broke into tears before the examination was finished. Tobie learned that on the morning of Mary’s disappearance she had arisen early to help her mother with the day’s housework.

Ironing Sunday Frock.

Up until the time she caught the trolley car for town, shortly after 11 o’clock, she had been ironing a summer frock which she intended wearing to Sunday school the following Sunday. It still lies carefully spread across the chair upon which she had folded it, a cherished memento of her bright young life.

A pathetic feature of Tobie’s investigation of the victim’s past was his interview with a girl employee of the Nunnally factory, a local manufacturing concern. A number of these girls were intimate chums of the Phagan girl, and it was from them that the first floral offering came to the undertaking establishment as her body lay in the silent chapel.

“She was the best girl that any of us knew,” the factory girl told the detective. “She was a fine little girl, as good as they make them.”

Grand Jury Meets Friday.

Solicitor General Dorsey announced Tuesday that the Phagan case was ready for the grand jury, and would be presented next Friday morning. It will require three or four days, it is predicted, for the returning of either a true or no bill, although it is possible the jury will finish with the case in a single day.

In making this announcement, the solicitor said he anticipated no development which would change or alter his present plans. The larger part of the day was spent in procuring signatures for the big batch of stenographic interviews obtained by Mr. Dorsey. He also examined a number of witnesses.

The mysterious telephone girl, of whom mention was first made publicly by The Constitution Tuesday morning, telephoned the office of Solicitor Dorsey early that morning and informed him that it was she whom the detectives were hunting. She offered to tell all she knew.

Letter on Phagan Case.

Evidence that Mary Phagan was seen outside the pencil factory afternoon on Memorial day was submitted to The Constitution Tuesday in the following letter from Mrs. A. A. Smith, a well-known woman living at 198 West Peachtree street:

“On Monday, May 5^th, between 4 and 5 o’clock in the afternoon on Whitehall street in front of High’s I heard three women in conversation. One was a rather stout woman, apparently 25 years old, and the others were older. I did not note the appearance of the elder women as closely as I did the young one, for the reason that the latter did the most talking.

“These ladies were talking about the Phagan case. The younger one said she did not like the looks of Mr. Frank’s picture, but that she believed justice ought to be given everybody. She said she knew Mary Phagan well, and that she saw her on Whitehall street, near Trinity avenue, about 4 o’clock on Memorial Day, after the parade had ended. One of the other women said if she knew that, that she ought to tell the authorities.

“I was deeply impressed with the sincerity of this young woman and have deeply regretted that, in the interest of justice, I did not ask her name at the time I overheard her conversation.

“So strongly have I felt upon this subject that I have dared to write this card, begging that the women referred to, in some way, communicate with the editor of this paper. I suggest the editor, because I believe that he will fairly treat the informant and see that the information is fairly used.

“I have no possible interest in the Phagan case except to see justice done.

“Very truly yours,

“MRS. A. A. SMITH.”

Search for the Girl in Red.

Chief Lanford Tuesday morning received from J. W. Tedder, a business man of Kennesaw, Ga., a small community near Marietta, a letter advising the chief to send a detective to see him, as he could show them to a girl who was acquainted with the mysterious girl in red who is said to have accompanied Mary Phagan to the pencil factory.

Detectives Starnes and Campbell visited him, but upon the trip to find the girl, failed to locate her. It is rumored in Kennesaw that this girl has made a public statement to the effect that she knows the girl for whom a veritable army of detectives has searched for three weeks.

Harry Scott, assistant superintendent of the Pinkerton offices in Atlanta, issued a statement Tuesday in reply to the assertion of Chief Tobie, of the Burns agency, that a number of phases of the mystery had been overlooked by the local investigators.

“We have overlooked nothing,” he said. “We have worked upon the case from a thousand different angles, and are continuing to do so as the investigation progresses daily. We have been successful to a surprising extent, and when our hands are revealed, the public will readily be convinced of that fact.”

Detective John Black, of police headquarters, said:

“The police detectives have covered the case thoroughly. They have unearthed evidence which will merit conviction. We can fix the guilt, and we have overlooked nothing. We have run to earth countless thousands of rumors, idle and substantial, and we have worked systematically and energetically.”

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, May 21 1913, “Tobie is Studying Mary Phagan’s Life,” 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

Tuesday, May 20^th, 1913

“Freedom of Murderer Is a Menace to Honor and Life of Every Woman,” Writes Mrs. James Carr.

Optimistic over the prospects for solving the Mary Phagan mystery, C. W. Tobie, chief of the William J. Burns criminal department, told a reporter for The Constitution yesterday morning that he was confident the girl’s murderer would be apprehended and convicted in a surprisingly short while.

“What if Mary Phagan were your child?” is the subject of an eloquent plea made to the women of Atlanta by Mrs. Jane F. Carr for the apprehension of the slyer. Women of all walks of life and classes are uniting in one combined effort to assist in investigation.

Mrs. Carr’s plea is an apt illustration of the widespread sentiment felt by the women of the city. It will be recalled that six prominent women advanced the suggestion to Attorney Felder that Detective Burns be employed, and the fund was started by The Constitution. Women’s clubs and organizations all over Georgia are ready and willing to lead every aid possible.

Women Are Interested.

Mrs. Carr’s letter follows:

“To the Women of Atlanta: The Mary Phagan case is our case, and it behooves every woman to set the scale of condemnation upon lawlessness and demand that no means shall be unused, no expense spared in bringing to justice the foul villain who perpetrated this unparalleled crime. His freedom is a menace to the honor and life of every woman in our community.

“But no mistake must be made. Some of our most prominent men, and a few big-hearted women, have taken the initiative in contributing to the fund which obtains the best detective talent in America, and it’s the increasing of that fund we women have our opportunity.

“Let every woman give something, however small the amount, and in the aggregation of these such a sum will be acquired as shall employ and reward all the legal and detective talent that has been so continuously and generously given, and will be given in the search for the criminal.

“To systematize this wholesale giving, let the women in all departments of endeavor—in offices, in plants, in stores or wherever women congregate, select one of their number to receive the individual contributions and send, as a whole, the amount they realize to The Constitution with these instructions: ‘For the Mary Phagan investigation Fund.’ Let the same plan be pursued in neighborhoods.

“Let us be up and doing!

“What if Mary Phagan were your child?

“MRS. JAMES F. CARR.

“(Signed)

Tobie Given Interview.

Tobie, the Burns agent, gave an interview to reporters Monday morning in the office of Colonel Felder. He predicts a complete and early clearing up of the mystery. Already, he says, he has unearthed new and valuable evidence.

His reports are being submitted daily to Colonel Felder and Solicitor General Dorsey. Both are highly pleased and evince optimism over his work. Tobie comes direct from Chicago, where he is in charge of the entire criminal department of the Burns agency. His orders, cabled from his chief in Europe, are to drop everything else and work exclusively on the Atlanta mystery.

Basing this investigation on the theory that the murderer was a sexual pervert, he has formed a definite theory of the crime. Excluding the idea that the girl left the pencil plant after entering at noon, he believes she was murdered inside the building.

Theory of Tobie.

Also, he believes that, although the primary intention of the murderer was not to slay his victim, the crime was a deliberate one. His idea of the crime is as follows:

“The girl was lured into the rear of the second floor, on which were found the blood spots and hair strands. Advances were made. She resented, attempted to flee. The murderer, raging, strove to check her. A scuffle ensued. Blind with madness, she was struck. She fell backward. Her head struck the lathing machine. The skull was fractured. Unconscious, her body was dragged to the closet in which blood stains were discovered.

“The murderer, thinking she soon would regain consciousness, waited and meditated. He was an attempted rapist. She had threatened to tell her parents. He would be sent to prison, possibly mobbed or lynched. Dead folks tell no tales.

“While still unconscious, the garrote was formed in the wrapping cord. It was loped around her throat as she lay, insensible, in the closet. She never regained consciousness. The body was lowered to the basement to be burned in the furnace. A fire on holiday would attract attention. It was too risky. The lifeless form was dragged to the desolate recess. In the cellar darkness, the murderer gave way to fright.

“Hoping to direct suspicion to another source, the slayer penned the mysterious notes, and then fled.”

Solicitor Dorsey Busy.

Solicitor Dorsey spent most of Monday examining witnesses. The remainder of the time was occupied in summing up and preparing the available evidence for presentation to the grand jury.

A statement that inspires hope in the heart of the countless thousands who anxiously await the fixing of guilt, was that made by the Burns man Monday morning. The Phagan case, to me, he said, is no more baffling than the ordinary murder. My entire life has been devoted to the solving of murders. That this one can be cleared within less than another month is my prediction.

Hunt for Phone Girl.

Hunting as relentlessly as they hunted the mysterious girl who accompanied Mary Phagan to the pencil plant, headquarters detectives are searching for a pretty telephone girl who is reported to have overheard on the night of the murder a secret telephone conversation between two attaches of the factory.

Detective Chief Lanford last night told a Constitution reporter that he had heard from a responsible source of a switchboard operator who is reported to have overheard the message. A squad of sleuths were detailed for the search, which will reach practically every public and private phone exchange in the city.

The chief would neither deny or admit the rumor that he has learned the identity of the girl. It is said, however, that other than a good description of her, the searchers are otherwise unequipped for their hunt. She is reported to be a young girl, under 20, pretty and an operator of a number of years’ experience.

The conversation she is rumored to have overheard had reference to the murder, and came over the wire during the night of the day on which Mary Phagan disappeared. Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey told the reporter that until he had been informed last night by the newspaper man that he had heard nothing of the telephone operator rumor.

Heard Nothing of Report.

Colonel Felder, in behalf of Chief Tobie, of the Burns detective agency, declared that that branch of the Phagan investigation had heard nothing of the report. The Pinkertons scout the rumor. Harry Scott said last night that he could find at a moment’s notice the girl said to have heard the conversation. A new figure has entered the Pinkerton operations on the mystery, Superintendent H. B. Pierce, who came to police headquarters Sunday and Monday in interest of the case.

C. W. Tobie, the Burns agent, has more the appearance of a polished business man than that of a detective. No one would suspect that his entire life had been devoted to work in criminal circles.

His record has won him the position of director of the Burns criminal department, the most important branch of that agency’s operations. His headquarters is located in Chicago. Tobie was intimately connected with Burns in the famous solving of the McNamara dynamiting cases. He is known as the noted sleuth’s right-hand man. He has worked in connection with the world’s greatest detective departments, including Scotland Yard, in England.

Last night a number of police detectives and Pinkerton operatives, headed by John Black, of headquarters, and Harry Scott, of the Pinkertons, visited the pencil factory building. The premises were scoured hours in search for clues relating to the arrest of the negro sweeper, Connolly, it is said. The result of the search was not made known.

Colonel Felder said Monday that he subscriptions to the Burns fund had slacked considerably that day, and urged everyone interested in the Phagan case to hurry contributions. The amount has passed the $2,000 mark, but additional sums are needed. Money already is at hand to retain the agent now on the gound, but $5,000, it is said, will be needed to obtain Burns.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, May 20th 1913, “Women Declare Phagan Murder Must Be Solved,” 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

Tuesday, May 20^th, 1913

Solicitor General Dorsey Declares All Evidence Will Go to the Grand Jury Friday.

Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey announced Tuesday morning that the State’s case against Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee in connection with the Phagan murder, would go to the Grand Jury Friday of this week. He said that he could anticipate no new arrest or development that would make it necessary to change this plan.

Mrs. Jane F. Carr, 251 Ponce De-Leon Avenue, in an open letter, asked every woman in Atlanta to contribute to the fund to employ the Burns detective and Mr. Burns himself to work in the Phagan investigation. She appealed to women of every walk in life to give according to their means.

“What if Mary Phagan were your child?” was the subject of her letter.

Felder Asks for Funds.

The Burns fund, after going above the $2,000 mark, slacked considerably. Colonel Thomas B. Felder said this sum would not sufficient if it became necessary for the Burns men to make an exhaustive investigation, and asked the people to contribute liberally to the end that Atlanta’s greatest mystery be satisfactorily cleared.

C. W. Tobie, chief of the Burns’ criminal investigation department, was even more optimistic Tuesday morning than he was Monday that the Phagan mystery would be cleared to the satisfaction of Atlanta.

“Another day on the scene has only convinced me that the crime is far from the most baffling the Burns detectives have solved,” he said at his hotel Tuesday morning.  “I am not at liberty to make public the result of my investigation, but we have certainly made progress.”

Search for Phone Girl.

City detectives are searching for a telephone girl who was reported to have heard a conversation over the telephone the night of the murder between two persons said to be attaches of the pencil factory.

Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford said that he had learned from a responsible source of a switchboard operator who was reported to have overheard a conversation that would be of the greatest importance in the Phagan case. He would not say whether he had learned the identity of the girl.

A corps of department detectives were detailed to the search that will take in every private branch exchange in Atlanta.

Colonel Felder said that he had heard nothing of the report and was quite sure the Burns detective had not. The Pinkertons, through Harry Scott, said they attached little importance to the report, but that if it were true the girl could be easily located.

City detectives and the Pinkertons spent several hours at the pencil factory plant last night. The premises were minutely searched for new clews. The result was not made public.

Working independent of every one, Tobie, the Burns agent, was away from his hotel bright and early Tuesday morning following up a lead that he said had been heretofore overlooked. He will make daily reports to Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey and Colonel Felder.

Here is Mrs. Carr’s letter urging all women to interest themselves in the Mary Phagan case:

Calls It Women’s Case.

“To the Women of Atlanta:

“The Mary Phagan case is our case, and it behooves every woman to set the seal of condemnation upon lawlessness and demand that no means shall be unused, no expense spared in

Phagan Case in Readiness for Indictment

Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey Will Ask Grand Jury for True Bills on Friday.

Continued From Page 1.

bringing to justice the foul villain who perpetrated this unparalleled crime. His freedom is a menace to the honor and life of every woman in our community.

“But no mistake must be made. Some of our most prominent men, and a few big-hearted women, have taken the initiative in contributing to the fund which obtains the best detective talent in America, and in the increasing of that fund we women have our opportunity.

Wants All to Contribute.

“Let every woman give something, however small the amount, and in the aggregation of these such a sum will be acquired as shall employ and reward all the legal and detective talent that has been so continuously and generously given, and will be given in the search for the criminal.

“To systematize this wholesale giving, let the women in all departments of endeavor—in offices, in plants, in stores or wherever women congregate, select one of their number to receive the individual contributions and send, as a whole, the amount they realize to The Georgian, with these instructions: ‘For the Mary Phagan Investigation Fund.’ Let the same plan be pursued in neighborhoods.

“Let us be up and doing!

“What if Mary Phagan were your child?

(Signed) “MRS. JAMES F. CARR.”

Black Scores Burns Man.

Detective John Black, who has been working on the Phagan case in conjunction with Pinkerton Detective Harry Scott, Tuesday declared that Detective Tobie, the Burns man, was not justified in his charge that certain features of the mystery have been overlooked.

“Mr. Tobie has gone entirely too far in his statements,” said Detective Black. “He doesn’t know what has been done by detectives on this case, and doesn’t know what evidence we have in our possession. We are not showing our hand to everyone who comes along. If he can show us some thing in this case that has been overlooked, then we’ll think he knows what he is talking about, but unless he does show something, we’ll attach no importance, whatever, to his statements.”

Detective Scott declined to discuss the Burns detective’s theory or position in the case. As to the Pinkerton’s part in the affair, he said:

“We have worked this case from fully 500 angles. Every possible phase and feature has been investigated. Nothing has been overlooked. The public has no idea of the many and varied angles that have been presented by this tragedy.”

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, May 20th 1913, “Cases Ready Against Lee and Leo Frank,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)