Author Archives: Chief Curator

Frank or Conley? Still Question

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

Atlanta Georgian
August 10th, 1913

Issue Firmly Drawn Between Two Men

Defense Starting to Mould Its Case

Theory That Negro Attacked Mary Phagan With Motive of Robbing Her Will Be Shown; Two Charges Against Accused Must Be Refuted

By AN OLD POLICE REPORTER.

The second week of the trial of Leo Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan in the National Pencil Factory on the afternoon of April 26, came to a close Saturday noon.

The State’s case has been entirely made up in its primary aspects, and the defense has gone into its story of the great crime sufficiently to make clear both its theory and probable line of pleading.

The public, as the case has progressed, has been swayed this way and that, and to-day the remarkable mystery of Mary Phagan’s untimely and tragic end remains, in hundreds of minds, quite as much of a mystery as ever.

The Battle Is a See-Saw.

The State has had its good days and its bad days, and the defense has met the same fate. At times things have seemed dismally dark and gloomy for Frank, while at other times the clouds apparently have lifted from about him decidedly.

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Witness Admits Discrepancies in Model of Pencil Factory

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9th, 1913

T. H. Willet, a pattern maker, who built the model of the pencil factory, was next called by the defense. Under the cross-examination of Mr. Hooper he frequently admitted discrepancies in the pasteboard structure submitted by Frank’s counsel.

“What is your occupation?” he was asked by Mr. Arnold.

“Pattern maker.”

“Did you make an inspection of the National Pencil factory?”
“Yes.”

“In making this model, as to its dimensions and proportions, you have followed exact figures of blue prints?”
“Yes.”

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Epps Boy Not With Mary Phagan, Declares Street Car Motorman

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9th, 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.”

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Hinchey Tells of Seeing Frank on Car on Day of the Murder

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9th, 1913

H. J. Hinchey, of 391 Peachtree street, a business acquaintance of Leo Frank, and manager of the South Atlantic Blow Pipe company, was put upon the stand by the defense. He stated having seen Frank on the murder date as the superintendent rode into town on a Washington street trolley car, meeting him at Washington and Hunter streets.

He was questioned by Mr. Arnold.

“Do you recollect April 26, Memorial day?”

“Yes.”
“Did you see Leo Frank that day?”
“Yes.”

“Where?”
“Near the capitol.”

“Was he on foot or riding?”
“He was aboard a trolley car.”

“Were you on foot?”
“No, I was driving an automobile.”

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Harry Scott and “Boots” Rogers Recalled to Stand by the State

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9th, 1913

When court convened Friday morning Harry Scott, Pinkerton detective, engaged by the defense in the Phagan case, was recalled to the stand by the state and asked how long it took Jim Conley, the negro sweeper, to write a copy of one of the murder notes when it was read off to him and [1 word illegible], dictated word for word.

The detective declared that the negro had taken about three or four minutes for this.

“Boots” Rogers was next called and asked one question about the condition of the basement. Rogers is the ex-county policeman in whose car the police answered Newt Lee’s call the morning of the murder. His testimony Friday was in regard to the unsanitary condition of the basement.

After a call for George Epps, the little newsie who swore to riding to town on April 26 with Mary Phagan, had gone unanswered, the defense called its first witness of the day, Daisy Hopkins.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, August 9th 1913, “Harry Scott and ‘Boots’ Rogers Recalled to Stand by the State,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Civil Engineer and Photographer Tell of Making Plats and Photos

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9th, 1913

Ira U. Kauffman, civil engineer, who had been employed by the defense to make drawings of the Selig home at 68 East Georgia avenue, where Frank and his wife lived, and also of the National Pencil factory, followed the street car conductor on the stand.

Kauffman testified that he made the plats of the Selig home on Tuesday of this week. The plats were shown to the jury.

“Could you stand in the kitchen and see the mirror in the dining room?” asked Mr. Arnold.

“It is impossible to see the mirror from the kitchen.”

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Hopkins Woman Denies Charges Made By Dalton and Jim Conley; Is Forced to Admit Untruths

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9th, 1913

Daisy Hopkins, a resident of Redan, Ga., and the woman who Jim Conley and C. B. Dalton declare frequently went to the National Pencil factory with Dalton while Leo Frank was there and was aware of her presence, was the first witness called by the defense Friday morning.

The woman swore to a full and complete denial of every charge that the white man and the negro had made and declared that she only knew Frank by sight, as she had worked at the factory from October, 1912, until June 1912.

When Solicitor Hugh Dorsey took her on cross-examination, however, he succeeded in trapping her into admitting that she had sworn to a lie on the stand when she declared that she had never been in jail. When confronted with a man who is said to have secured her release she admitted that she had been there on a charge of immorality.

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N. V. Darley Denies Testimony Given by Conley and Dalton

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9th, 1913

N. V. Darley, general manager of the National Pencil factory, who has already been used as a witness for the prosecution, was called to the stand for the defense following the pattern maker’s department.

He was examined by Mr. Arnold.

“You are the general manager of the pencil factory, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”

“Looking from a point of ground plan, isn’t this a correct model of the pencil plant?”

“Yes.”

Darley then described various furniture and fixtures in the basement and two floors depicted in the model.

Plain View of Stairway.

“If a body fell down the chute that rose from the first floor to the basement, how far would it land from the spot at which Mary Phagan’s body was found?”
“About thirty or forty feet.”

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Conductor Also Swears Epps Boy Was Not on Car With Mary Phagan

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9th, 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.

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Holloway, Witness for Defense, Riddled By Cross-Examination

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9th, 1913

E. F. Holloway, watchman and timekeeper at the pencil factory, whose testimony Solicitor Dorsey riddled on cross-examination, followed General Manager Darley to the stand.

He gave his answers rapidly, making them frequently even before Attorney Arnold had finished propounding his questions. He is a man who looks older than 60, with cold gray eyes and thin lips.

His general appearance causes the lover of Dickens to think that the aged witness had stepped from one of that author’s novels. He became confused upon the cross-fire of the solicitor, and perspired profusely.

Same Rule for All.

He was examined directly by Mr. Arnold.

“Was it a habit of Jim Conley to register as he pleased?”
“No”

“You applied the same rule to him as you applied to all of the help?”
“Yes.”

“Did you ever see Frank pinch him or touch him?”
“Never saw Mr. Frank even touch him.”

“Do you recall a Saturday that you missed since you have been employed with the pencil company?”
“Not a one.”

“Who would relieve you before Lee went to work on Saturday afternoons?”
“Kendrick, the nightwatchman.”

“At what time?”
“Four o’clock.”

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Couldn’t Locate Epps Boy When Wanted in Court

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9th, 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)

Defense Will Seek to Show That Mary Phagan’s Body Was Tossed Down a Chute in Rear of Pencil Factory And Not Taken Down by Elevator As the State Insists

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 9th, 1913

Eleven Witnesses Are Introduced Friday to Prove Discrepancies in Time Given by Witnesses for the State. Miss Daisy Hopkins Goes on Stand and Swears That She Never Visited Factory With Dalton, But on Cross-Examination She Admitted Having Been in Jail Recently—She Denied That She Knew Frank.

HOLLOWAY’S TESTIMONY RIDDLED BY SOLICITOR; MEMORY FORSAKES HIM

Confesses That He Had Told Detectives the Day That He Caused the Arrest of Conley That “If He’s Convicted, Remember He’s My Nigger”—From Present Indications the Trial Will Be Continued for Two Weeks Longer, and Defense Will Introduce Character Witnesses.

The defense in the Leo M. Frank trial introduced eleven witnesses Friday and a mass of testimony to prove that witnesses for the state were incorrect as to time was presented.

From questions put to Ira Kauffman, civil engineer, who made a drawing of the building, it was evident the defense will seek to show that the body of Mary Phagan was never taken down on the elevator, but was thrown down a chute in the rear of the building leading from the first floor to the basement.

Blood Spots Found.

It is stated that the defense has found blood stains on the floor of the dark passageway leading up the rear of the building.

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State Confronts Watchman Holloway With Previous Affidavit

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

Atlanta Journal
August 9th, 1913

Solicitor Dorsey Fiercely Attacks Evidence Given by the Witness For Defense Afternoon Session

He Also Implies That Watchman Was Trying to Fix Crime on Conley to Get Reward. Holloway Admits Signing Statement Produced by the Prosecutor—Other Witnesses for Defense Heard

After Solicitor Dorsey riddled E. F. Holloway, day watchman at the National Pencil factory, with volleys of questions regarding former statements made by the witness and which he could not explain or make coincide with his testimony Friday afternoon, court adjourned at 6:45 o’clock until 9 o’clock Saturday.

The solicitor also trapped the watchman and the witness for the defense. The solicitor also made the sensational implication that the bloody stick found by Pinkertons in the factory was planted by Holloway himself. The solicitor further implied that Holloway was working for a reward and had turned up Conley for that purpose.

After Holloway had declared that Daisy Hopkins’ character was good as far as he knew, the solicitor asked him about a paper he had signed previously stating the contrary. He admitted that he signed the paper. The solicitor asked the witness if he hadn’t told the detectives to return to the factory on a certain day and he was sure they would find something. The witness denied this.

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Schiff Refutes Jim Conley and Dalton

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

Atlanta Journal
August 9th, 1913

WITNESS IN MOST OF DORSEY’S GRILLING WHEN COURT ADJOURNS UNTIL NINE O’CLOCK ON MONDAY

Assistant Factory Superintendent Refutes Testimony of C. B. Dalton and Jim Conley That Frank Frequently Had Women Callers In His Office on Saturday Afternoons and During Holidays—He Says He Never Saw Conley There Saturday Afternoons

DECLARES THAT WIFE OF THE ACCUSED FREQUENTLY CALLED ON HUSBAND AT HIS OFFICE ON SATURDAYS

Attorney Arnold Registers Another Objection Against Laughter of Spectators in the Court Room—Solicitor Draws From Schiff Change of Answers Made to Several Previous Statements of His While on the Witness Stand

The second week of the trial of Leo M. Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan ended at 12:30 o’clock Saturday when court adjourned until 9 o’clock Monday morning. Herbert Schiff, assistant superintendent of the National Pencil factory was on the stand for the defense at the hour of adjournment and will resume under cross-examination by Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey on Monday. During the cross-questioning of Schiff, he and the solicitor had many tilts regarding the system of the factory office and were frequently interrupted by objections from Attorney Arnold for the defense. The solicitor put Frank’s assistant through a grilling examination during the course of which he caused the witness to change several answers he had previously made to the jury.

That Jim Conley, the negro sweeper who accuses Frank, feared the crowd gathered in front of the pencil factory following the murder of Mary Phagan and that the negro declared that he would give a million dollars if he had a white skin, was the declaration of Schiff, earlier during his testimony. Schiff also declared that the financial sheet made out in Frank’s handwriting on April 26 was accurate and the handwriting of the accused superintendent was normal. Schiff works with Leo M. Frank in the office and assists in making up the weekly financial sheets.

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Exposure of Conley Story Time Flaws is Sought by Defense

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

Atlanta Georgian
August 9th, 1913

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

Q. Do you recollect the Sunday the body was found?—A. Yes.

Q. Do you remember a gentleman, a Mr. Minar, coming to your house and talking to you and your sister?—A. Yes.

Q. Didn’t he ask you when was the last time either of you had seen Mary Phagan?—A. Yes, he asked my sister, he didn’t ask me.

Q. Weren’t you there?—A. No, I wasn’t there. I was in the house.

Q. Weren’t you standing by your sister and she said the last time Mary Phagan was seen by her was Thursday before the murder and you stood there and said nothing?—A. No, I didn’t hear that. I was in the house, but I didn’t hear all he said to her.

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State Attacks Frank Report

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

Atlanta Georgian
August 9th, 1913

Intricacy of Figures Produced by Schiff Under Fire

WOMEN NEVER CAME INTO FACTORY OFFICE, WITNESS TESTIFIES

The second week of the Frank trial ended at 12:30 Saturday with a bitter battle in progress over the testimony of Herbert G. Schiff, assistant superintendent of the National Pencil Factory.

Schiff was called soon after court opened in the forenoon and was on the stand when the adjournment was taken until Monday.

Schiff, besides denying that Frank ever had women in his office, describes in elaborate detail the duties of superintendent, particularly his work on the afternoon the little Phagan girl came to her death. It was the purpose of the defense to show that it would have been most improbable that Frank, after committing a murder, calmly would have sat down with the burden of guilt resting on his conscience and proceeded with his usual preciseness in the intricate and involved computations required in making out the financial sheet.

Dorsey was given the witness toward the close of the session and started at once to attack Schiff’s estimates of time that it would have required for the various details of the work. Schiff made a good witness and the solicitor was able to make little headway in his cross-questioning.

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Confusion of Holloway Spoils Close of Good Day for the Defense

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

Atlanta Georgian
August 9th, 1913

What promised to be a very favorable day for the defense in the trial of Leo M. Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan, was partly spoiled at its close Friday by the bewilderment of E. F. Holloway, day watchman at the pencil factory, in a maze of conflicting statements.

Holloway’s confusion under the fire of the Solicitor General was more than offset by the importance of the testimony which had gone before, two of the witnesses giving testimony which was intended to establish that Mary Phagan did not enter the National Pencil Factory on the day of her death until after Monteen Stover had come and gone.

Besides giving the lie direct to Jim Conley’s tale, this testimony, if it stands as the truth in the minds of the jurors, upsets the State’s theory that Monteen Stover visited the office of Leo Frank while the superintendent was in the metal room with the Phagan girl.

Conley said on the stand that he saw Lemmie Quinn, then Mary Phagan and then Monteen Stover go up to the second floor. The Stover girl said that she entered the factory at 12:05 o’clock. It was 12:10 when she left, she testified. She looked at the time clock both times.

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Here’s the Time Clock Puzzle in Frank Trial; Can You Figure It Out?

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

Atlanta Georgian
August 9th, 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 12:071/2 and at Broad and Hunter at 12:10.

If Mary Phagan was at Marietta and Forsyth at12:07, as the State says, or 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.

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Absence of Alienists and the Hypothetical Question Distinguishes Frank Trial

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

Atlanta Georgian
August 9th, 1913

By O. B. Keeler

There are two things about the Frank trial that entitle it to distinguished consideration.

Thus far not a single alienist has been called to bat, and only the common or domesticated type of the dread Hypothetical Question has appeared.

In most of our great murder trials, the alienist is the last resort, or one of the latest resorts. Usually he is introduced by the defense; anywhere from four to eight of him.

The prosecution promptly counters with an equal number of wheel inspectors.

The defense (Vide Thaw case) generally proves to its own satisfaction that the defendant was crazy when he did it, but since has recovered his equilibrium, his alibi and all the rest of his scattered personal effects.

The four to eight experts for the State differ slightly with this finding.

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Dalton’s Testimony False, Girl Named on Stand Says

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

Atlanta Georgian
August 9th, 1913

The Georgian today received from Miss Laura Atkinson of No. 30 Ella Street, one of the young women mentioned in C. B. Dalton’s testimony, a letter denying absolutely that she had ever walked home with Dalton from the restaurant near the pencil factory, as he swore. Here is Miss Atkinson’s letter in full:

Editor The Georgian:

Will you please allow me space to correct a statement made by Mr. C. B. Dalton in his testimony at the Frank trail and published in your paper yesterday? In answer to a question from Mr. Rosser as to whether he ever went to the pencil factory with any one except Miss Daisy Hopkins he said yes, he used to go to the Busy Bee and wait for the factory to close to walk home with the girls and gave my name as one of the girls.

His statement as I read it in your paper, impressed me as being intended to convey to the minds of those heard it (and of course all who read it) the idea that I was working at the factory at the time he says he went there and that he was in the habit of waling home with me. I have no desire to make any derogatory remarks about Mr. Dalton, but in justice to myself and my good name, I certainly do feel it my duty to say that his statement concerning me is false and he had not the slightest ground whatever for making it and no right to use my name in any way in his testimony.

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