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The Atlanta Georgian,
Sunday, 17th August 1913,
PAGE 2, COLUMN 5.
More than one hundred witnesses had been called to testify in defense of Leo M. Frank's character when the third week of the factory superintendent's trial concluded shortly after 1 o'clock Saturday.
Character witnesses occupied most of the time during the four hours of Saturday's session. They displayed a remarkable loyalty to their employer, who is being tried on the charge of being the murderer of little Mary Phagan. Only one of the number, Miss Irene Jackson, gave testimony in any way prejudicial to the case of Frank.
The character testimony, the tale of the finding of Mary Phagan's envelope and other so-called clews on the first floor of the factory by W. D. Mc Worth, Pinkerton operative, and the return of Mrs. Rae Frank, mother of the defendant, formed the important features of the day.
Girl Furnishes Incident.
A spectacular incident, which would have been even more amusing than it proved had it not been for the evident sincerity and profound earnestness of the witness, came in the testimony of Miss Sarah Barnes, one of the pencil factory employees.
"I'd die for Mr. Frank if they'd let me!" she exclaimed almost the instant she had composed herself in the witness chair. Attorney Arnold had only time to ask her the formal question: "Do you know Leo M. Frank, the defendant in this case?" before she launched into a eulogistic description of the young factory superintendent that left her breathless at the end of five minutes.
The attorney sought to interject another of the formal questions prescribed by law, but by the time she had caught her breath and was engaged in telling her willingness to lay down her life, if need be, to prove the guiltlessness of Frank.
Attorney Arnold could not stop her. The court could not dam the flood of words. She had a mind to speak and she was determined to speak without check and without interruption.
"I know Frank couldn't have committed such a terrible deed," she cried, accompanying her declaration with an emphatic brandishing of her folded fan. "I have known him ever since I have been in the pencil factory. He has always been kind to all of the employees and to the girls in particular. He never has done any of these things that have been told about him. He has always been a gentleman.
Willing to Die for Him.
"I've had to fight for him, almost, a number of times since these awful charges have been made against him. I'm willing to fight for him again. I am willing to die in his place."
At this point she turned toward the jury and said:
"You can give me any sort of a death you want. I know he is an innocent man. I just wish that I could make everyone believe in his innocence."
Attorney Arnold succeeded in the brief space of one of the moments when she paused for a fresh start to ask the remainder of the questions he desired, and then gave her to Solicitor Dorsey.
Dorsey met with the same trouble. He tried to get her to say with whom she had talked about the testimony to which she was to swear. Disregarding his question as though it never had been asked, she continued in her encomiums of Frank until the courtroom spectators were convulsed with laughter and the Solicitor filed with disgust at his inability to get the sort of answer he wanted from the girl.
Miss Irene Jackson, daughter of County Policeman A. W. Jackson, was called by the defense as a character witness, but gave testimony on her cross-examination in regard to conduct by Frank which the State has construed as highly improper.
Looked in Dressing Room.
Miss Jackson said that so far as she knew the character of Frank was good and that she never had known him to attempt any liberties with the factory girls. To the Solicitor she admitted, however, that she three times had been in the girls' dressing room when Frank had pushed open the door and looked in.
Once Emmeline Mayfield had been in the room with her, she said; once Mamie Kitchen and once her own sister. Her sister had threatened to quit on this last occasion, she testified, but had been persuaded against it.
She said that Frank merely pushed the door open, looked in, on one occasion smiled toward Miss Kitchen, and then turned around and walked away. She testified that the girls never were any further in a condition of undress than lacking their overskirt.
Solicitor Dorsey inquired of her in regard to a reported remark of N. V. Darley, general manager, that "if the girls stay with us through this, they will not lose by it." She said she had overheard Darley say this.
Many Employees Called.
The following pencil company employees were called as character witnesses during the day:
Misses Mollie Blair, Ethel Stewart, Sarah Barnes, Corinthia Hall, Ina Hayes, Eula May Flowers, Elma Hayes, Minnie Foster, Obie Dickerson, Gussie Wallace, Annie Osman, Bessie Thrailkill, Allie Denham, Rebecca Carson, Maude Wright, Irene Jackson, and Mesdames Emma Freeman and Ella Thomas.