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

Atlanta Constitution
August 5^th, 1913

By Britt Craig.

There was a chorus girl who sat next to an aged and withered woman who is undoubtedly a grandmother—a great-grandmother, maybe; there was a painted-cheeked girl with hollow eyes who bore the unmistakable stain of crimson, who sat between a mother who held in her lap an eager 13-year-old.

There was a wrinkled and worn old woman with the lines of care stamped indelibly, who hobbled into the room on a crutch and sat beside a man who chewed tobacco and whispered profanity. Over in a corner there was a graceful young woman with a wide hat and flowing plume and pretty features crowned with a wealth of auburn hair.

They all were at the Frank trial yesterday, listening intently to Jim Conley’s ugly story, many parts of which brought shame to the cheeks of the hardened court attaches. They sat throughout his tale, eager, expectant, apparently thrilled through and through and intent upon missing nothing.

Not a single one left the courtroom until adjournment time. On Friday afternoon, when Dr. Harris gave intimate testimony of details of his examination of Mary Phagan’s body a number of women arose from their seats, shielded their blushing cheeks with newspapers, and strode from the courtroom.

But Monday it was different. Jim Conley’s tale reeked at times and yet not a woman left the courtroom. Instead they leaned forward, bent upon escaping nothing of the odious details that came from the negro’s mouth. A mother held a child in knee dresses on a knee in a position in which the child could see and hear perfectly.

The mother held a fan, with which she fanned briskly at times. That is, at times when there was a lull in the story. But it stopped, the fan did, and was held poised in expectation, when Conley would resume relating his story.

Every Type Represented.

There was every type of woman in the courtroom Monday. There seemed to have been something in the air that foretold of sensation and scandal. There were fully as many women and girls as men. Girls in their teens, women in the eighties. There was not the hubbub of voices and talk that generally spreads over a gathering of women. There was a hush that could almost be felt.

Nobody wanted to talk. They wanted to hear. Tomorrow they would talk—tomorrow when they were in their own homes and porches. There would be plenty of topic then for talk. Now it was a case of gaining the topic—listening to Jim Conley and his scandal-reeked narrative. A staid and experienced deputy looked over the courtroom at noon and said:

“It’s shameful. I’m going to see if these little girls can’t be kept out hereafter.”

There were plenty of little girls, sprinkled all over the place. But there were more older women—women who had mothered little girls and had seen their little girls mother little ones.

Fight for Seats.

The most prevalent type of woman at the trial Monday, however, seemed to be the ordinary housewife—the wife and mother of an uncertain middle age. They came early to the building, and stood about in groups on the street, waiting for the doors to be thrown open. They rushed forward, and, some of them, even so far forgot themselves as to fight for seats.

In a number of cases some women patronized the doorkeepers for admittance. Some of those who came late did this. These same women, no doubt, would be shocked upon listening to the gossip of a neighbor who had committed the same indiscretion. They resorted to many subterfuges. Some said they were reporters. Others declared they were friends of the defendant.

Some even went so far as to say their husbands were connected with the trial, when, no doubt, if the truth were known, their husbands were employed blocks and blocks away—may, miles. It was no sin to fib when the reward for fibbing was such a precious thing as a seat in which to hear Jim Conley’s tale.

One thing is noticeable about the type of women at the Frank trial. There are but few women of experience, or, what might be called worldly knowledge and wisdom, seen among the gathering. The girl on whose face is stamped the wisdom of things she has seen by rubbing against the world is missing from the Frank audiences. It might be peculiar, but it’s true.

Why Do They Do It?

There are women whose features look out of place anywhere but in a neat and tidy home, or at the rocking-side of a cradle. They have come and mingled with the various characters that are found in every sensational trial. They come and sit beside the aged woman and withered, and the girl of the crimson stain and the man who chews tobacco and whispers profanity and winks significantly at suggestive testimony.

Is it that the housewife, cooped within the limited boundaries of her home-making, husband-keeping and child-mothering, pines to know the scandalous, the sensational, the underside of life which she has not seen?

Is it that she takes advantage when the opportunity affords purely because other women are doing the same?

Is it the same principle that makes the life of worldly things so attractive to the girl and woman who knows nothing but her home and neighborhood?

One little girl who said she was a newspaper reporter, but who, very likely, had never written anything more than a school essay and who had never seen any further in a newspaper shop than the business office, sat within the railing that separates the lawyers and persons interested from the audience, and scribbled enthusiastically in a notebook while Jim Conley told of an alleged scene he had witnessed between Leo Frank and a girl in Frank’s office.

All Listen Eagerly.

The mother that held the 13-year-old strained eyes and ears while Conley told the same story. The woman on the crutch, whose years are but few among the living, cupped her hand behind an ear so as not to miss a word and leaned as far forward as her aching bones would permit.

The woman with the big, wide hat, flowing plume and auburn tresses, who wasn’t as worldly as she tried to paint her features, while the negro prattled on, retained her standing position, unabashed, apparently unmindful of the eyes from all parts of the courtroom.

Two chorus girls, with all the appearance of the cheap vaudeville type, while Conley told his story, attempted to whisper something to each other, probably of similar incidents they themselves had seen, when the mother with the child leaned near with a cautioning whisper.

Women were all over the courtroom, sprinkled here, there and everywhere. They sat between criminals, crooks and jailbirds. They didn’t care where they sat or between whom, just so they found a seat. They fought for them, they demanded them. Pride nor anything else counted. Just so they got a seat—just so they could hear Jim Conley’s story. Let the consequences take care of themselves.

And the question again is asked:

Why was the woman of worldly wisdom absent?

Why was the little girl and the housewife, who, no doubt, maintains a happy home, and the woman of withered countenance and few remaining years, present in scores?

It’s a question even a woman could not answer.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, August 5th 1913, “Women of Every Class and Age Listen With Morbid Curiosity to Testimony of Negro Conley,” Leo Frank newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 2^nd, 1913

Fully one-fourth of the big audience at yesterday afternoon’s session of the Frank trial was composed of women and girls. It was the largest crowd of the entire case, and, to the credit of Deputy Sheriff Miner and his force, was handled more effectively than at any preceding session.

There were many strange faces. The women sat in conspicuous seats, fighting many times to obtain a location in view of the witness stand and the tables at which sat the state’s lawyers and counsel for the defense. Many were small girls, especially one, who did not look over 14, and who wore a big hat that covered a mass of brown curls.

There were all types of feminine auditor—the woman of social position and the working women, most of the latter coming into the courtroom later in the afternoon when their working hours were at an end.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, August 2nd 1913, “Women and Girls Thronging Court for Trial of Leo Frank,” 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 27^th, 1913

“If Beavers and Lanford permitted Febuary, ‘a trusted man,’ to go out and circulate lies about corruption in the police department in an effort to trap someone, they have debauched their officers, and the sooner they are put out the better it will be for the men who work under them.”

Mayor James G. Woodward made the above reply to Chief James L. Beavers in a statement to The Constitution late Monday afternoon. They mayor declared that Febuary’s part in the conspiracy has destroyed his usefulness with the department, and he is not fit to serve with honorable men.

“In my opinion, and I believe every decent citizen of Atlanta will agree with me, Febuary is not fit to serve in the department in any capacity.” Mayor Woodward continued. “How can Beavers or Lanford, or the members of the police commission, place faith in him. He has dragged the department through filth of his own making. He has cast reflection, by his act, on the blue uniform.”

Beavers’ Charge Refuted.

Mayor Woodward scathingly denounced Chief Beavers’ allegations that he (Woodward) urged the reopening of the Manhattan avenue district. He admits telling Beavers that the district would be opened as a result of public demand for the interest of society, because of the scattered conditions.

He declared that he has never placed a straw in the way of Chief Beavers’ vice crusade, and explained that whenever he called the chief to his office it was for the purpose of referring complaints to him—complaints of bad conditions in respectable neighborhoods.

Mayor Woodward said that on one occasion he referred to the chief a letter written by a respectable woman—the mother of little children—who complained that there was an immoral house near her home, and she wanted the police to protect her and her babies.

“This woman told me that she had written Chief Beavers about the house some ten days before she wrote me, and nothing was ever done,” Mayor Woodward said. “All that I have ever heard of the complaint is that the house is quieted down.”

Mayor Woodward says that the only time he has called Beavers to task was when he received complaints of women being insulted in the central portions of the city.

Protect Respectable Women.

“I told him of the conditions as reported to me, and urged him to clean up the central portions of the city so that respectable women might be safe.”

As to the Eva Clark affair, Mayor Woodward said that the women came to him and explained that herself and her mother wanted to move into a house near the Grady hospital—95 Armstrong street—and that he informed her that she had the right to live wherever she pleased, just so long as she conducted a moral house and lived within the law. He says that he laid the whole matter before Beavers just as the Clark women laid it before him.

Mayor Woodward further stated that the whole affair casts a dirty reflection on the heads of the police department, and that the part they played in it branded them as being unfit to guard the lives and property of the people of Atlanta.

“Men who will allow their personal characters and their offices to be dragged through such a mess cannot hope to gain the respect and esteem of the people they serve,” he said. “When Febuary came to me and told me that Beavers and Lanford were protecting disorderly houses and blind tigers, I knew that it was either true or that he was lying.

Gave Him Benefit of Doubt.

“I decided, for the time being, to give him the benefit of the doubt. If I had known that that visit to the Williams house would be the last time I would see him I would have shown him up for the liar that he is. But in the interest of the public I decided to give him leeway. I did not expose him, because I did not want to do the police department an injustice.

“I think I have made my position clear to the people. I am just as anxious now as I was at that time to correct any evils in the city government.”

FEBUARY AND THE POLICE ARE ATTACKED BY MALOR [sic]

Chief of Police James L. Beavers issued the following statement Monday morning:

“As for Colyar, I never heard of him until this thing came up. He may be a crook. As far as I know, it seems that Mr. Felder has known him for a long time, but it is no uncommon thing for one crook to turn up another to the police, or turn state’s evidence.

“When I heard of this deal that Mr. Felder was trying to make in the Phagan case, I told Chief Lanford to advise with Solicitor Dorsey and get his advice in the matter. He did this. I did not want anything done that would not be perfectly legitimate.

“G. C. Febuary, who is a trusted man in the detective department, was instructed to carry out the deal with him. Now it appears that Mr. Felder has been closely associated with Colyar for a long time and certainly should have known what manner of man he is.

“If he knew him to be a crook, why did he enter into a deal like this with him if he wanted to do the straight thing? I say that I never heard of this man Colyar, but I would have listened to any report or rumor in hunting for the guilty party in a case like that of the Phagan murder.

“It seems that Mr. Felder in his ramifications through the press tries to get eloquent and undertakes to tell about the government of Scotland and the conditions in Ireland, as if that had anything to do with this case he’s trying to distract attention from.

“What he has done and as far as his evidence he claims to have about my moral turpitude as chief of police or as a citizen, I defy him to show anything wrong. If he is a good, loyal citizen, which he claims to be, why did he not go to the police commission and lay the evidence before them?

Would Be in South Carolina.

“Now, Mr. Felder knows well enough that if he had anything that would have been damaging, against the police department, he would have hurried to bring it to the proper authorities.

“That is what you are hired to do by a gang you are very close to.

“I would say that some one has been misled by Mr. Felder, or no doubt he would be in South Carolina today, where he belongs.

“So much for Mr. Felder.

“I see that Mr. Woodward says he has nothing against me personally. Now I don’t quite understand his connection with the Felder-Colyar affair. He knew that G. C. Febuary was a trusted employee of the police department and if Febuary knew of crookedness or graft in the department he would have forced him to divulge it or seen that he was turned out of the department.

Would Have Been Guilty.

“If Febuary had known anything of the kind and not made it known he would have been equally guilty.

“Mr. Woodward knows that in the frequent talks with me since he has been mayor there has hardly been a time that he did not bring up the question of the red light district, and he gave me to understand in his first talk with me that three women should be allowed to go back to Manhattan avenue where they had previously plied their nefarious trade.

“No longer than last Saturday a week ago he asked me if I was willing for Eva Clark and her mother to move into a house on Armstrong street in front of the Grady hospital, where they had previously lived.

As to Eva Clark.

“I told him I would answer him as I did Alderman McClelland; that it was none of my business as long as she did not violate the law, but that if she did she would have to take the consequences.

“Mr. Woodward also told me the first of the year that if my vice policy continued the police department would be reeking with graft like the New York department.

Graft on Outside.

“I told him that no graft had ever existed and I was satisfied there would never be any.

“I told him that from what I had heard someone outside the police department had been receiving money from the vice traffic that virtually amounted to graft and extortion.

“I am ready and willing to compare my past record both as citizen and as an official with Mr. Woodward as to which is in the right and which is in the wrong.”

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, May 27th 1913, “Chief James L. Beavers’ Reply to Mayor Woodward,” 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

Monday, May 26^th, 1913

“Thousands of people in Atlanta are living the lives today that the murderer of Mary Phagan lived, and which culminated in the atrocious crime,” declared Rev. W. W. Memminger, pastor of All Saints’ Episcopal church. In a sermon yesterday morning which he devoted in great part to pleading for a better standard of morals in the daily life of man and woman.

The woman who uses paint and powder, who dances the turkey trot and who dresses in a suggestive manner came in for scathing remarks from the rector, but the man who boasts of being the stronger sex, and yet bends his efforts to tearing down woman’s standard, instead of upholding and protecting virtue and purity, was given even greater blame.

“Women are wrong to adopt any suggestive manner of dress or to use paint and powder which for hundreds of years has been the mark and symbol of a certain type of women,” said the pastor, “and I agree with the church councils which have passed resolutions deprecating it.”

The Story of Nathan.

Mr. Memminger took up the story of Nathan, the prophet, who went to David shortly after the latter committed his terrible crime, and told him the tale of the rich man, with hundreds of lambs in his flock, and of the poor man, who owned but one ewe lamb, and how the rich man when he desired to entertain a wayfarer slew not one of his many, but the single lamb of the poor man.

The story goes that David, on hearing the telling, was highly indignant, and ordered that the rich man should be forced to pay the poor man four-fold. Nathan then said to him, “Thou art the man.”

“Despite the horror at this crime and the detestation felt for the murderer,” said the rector, “there are today thousands in Atlanta to whom Nathan might declare, ‘Thou art the man.’

“The besetting sin of today,” he continued, “is not so much the love of money or the disregard of the poor, as it is the love of women and the ease with which we yield to the lusts of the flesh.”

Mr. Memminger then referred to the enormous amount of unfaithfulness to the marriage tie that is shown daily in newspapers and court records, and declared that certain deep thinkers are debating the entire system of marriage.

Man Worthy of Contempt.

Taking up the subject of placing the blame for these conditions, the rector stated that when man follows Adam and puts the blame on woman, and also attempts to call it the fault of God, as Adams did when he said, “The woman Thou gavest me,” that the right-thinking person has only the same contempt for man as he has for Adam.

Concluding, Mr. Memminger paid a deep tribute to the way in which woman has kept the single standard of purity while man has been doing his best to break it down for hundreds of years, and named as the remedy for the entire state of affairs the necessity for religious life to a personal reality.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, May 26th 1913, “‘Thousands in Atlanta Living the Life of Mary Phagan’s Murderer’—Rev. W. W. Memminger,” 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.”

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