Saturday, 14th March 1914: Frank Scores Chief Lanford, The Atlanta Georgian

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FRANK RAPS LANFORD'S STAND

Declares Chief's Plan to Oppose Burns Quizzing Accuser Does Not Worry Sleuth.

Leo Frank Saturday paid his respects to Newport Lanford in a sarcastic criticism of the detective chief's published declaration that Jim Conley told the truth on the stand, and that any change he might make in his sworn statement now, even under the pressure of Detective Burns' questioning, would be a lie pure and simple.

"What gift of omniscience permits our great detective chief to look into the very soul of the Negro and distinguish the instant he veers from the lies that he has been telling to the straight course of veracity?"

"Conley made his first statement May 18. That was a tissue of lies. Chief Lanford and his detectives admit that. He made another May 24, a third on May 29, and a fourth on May 29, each one different than the one preceding, and all of them more or less untruthful."

Testimony Differs, Too.

"Then came the trial. Conley testified and again added and took away from the statements he had made before."

"'That is the truth and the whole truth,' said the detective chief and the Solicitor. But how do they know that it is? What supernatural power is theirs that they can pick from a mass of admitted and confessed lies and say that that which they have chosen is the truth and is sufficient basis to hang a man?"

"Each successive statement the Negro made he swore was the truth and the whole truth, and yet each one was different. How can Chief Lanford arbitrarily say, 'The fifth statement the one which he made on the witness stand is true, and the others are false?'"

"He not only says this much, but he goes further and declares that anything the Negro may say in the future which changes his story on the stand will be a lie."

Has Confidence in Burns.

"Atlanta certainly is fortunate in having a detective chief who is able not only to determine with supernatural insight just the moment the subject of his wonderful powers forsakes untruth and tells the facts, but can, with unerring accuracy, foretell whether this person in the future is to tell the truth or a lie."

"I am not particularly interested in the chief's announcement that he will oppose Detective Burns if Burns seeks to see Conley. I don't imagine that Burns will let that worry him much."

"I have enough confidence in him to believe that he will arrive at the truth in spite of any obstacles that may be put in his path. I do not even know that he will care to see Conley at this part of his investigation."

Story Seems Groundless.

Investigation by The Georgian Saturday showed that there was little, if any, foundation for a wild story that Solicitor Dorsey had seen Frank on the day Mary Phagan was murdered.

The story apparently grew out of the fact that the Solicitor was walking with C. W. Mc Clure when the latter passed one of the Montag brothers and, in the early days of the case, recalled the fact.

The defense heard an indefinite rumor that the Solicitor had seen Frank. Its investigation failed entirely to establish that fact, and reports that Dorsey would be put on the stand to show that he had seen the prisoner and been prejudiced by his actions were based on the merest conjectures.

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Says Girls Were In Fear of Conley

Continued From Page 1.

It is known that Solicitor Dorsey attended a meeting of the Mc Clure company, of which he is the vice president, on the day of the crime. The meeting was held about noon and lasted some time.

According to information given to the defense, Mr. Dorsey and Mr. Mc Clure, or Dorsey and C. W. Bohler, buyer for the Mc Clure Company left the meeting together and went to a motion picture show. It was after they had left the theater, presumably 2:30 or 3 o'clock, that Dorsey and his companion saw Frank at Whitehall and Hunter streets.

Mr. Bohler told The Georgian Saturday that he did not leave the Mc Clure store with Dorsey. He said that at that time he knew Frank but casually, and did not see him at all on the fatal Saturday.

Mr. Mc Clure, who is at his home ill, was reached over the telephone. He explained that it was he who left the store with the Solicitor, but that he did not know Frank at all, even by sight.

Did Not Know Frank.

"I didn't see Frank that day at all that I am aware of if I had seen him, I wouldn't have known it, for I didn't even know him by sight," said the merchant.

Mr. Mc Clure denied the reported telephone message later from Solicitor Dorsey, reminding him of seeing Frank and asking if he "didn't think Frank's actions suspicious."

"There were no grounds for any such telephone query," said Mr. Mc Clure. "I did see one of the Montags on the street that day, and I presume that's what started all of this wild rumor."

Attorneys for the defense said they attached no significance to the reports.

Mr. Dorsey, in keeping with the attitude he has lately assumed, declined to discuss it.

Burns Due Here Sunday.

William J. Burns is now expected to reach Atlanta Sunday evening, according to the latest information that has reached the lawyers for the defense in the Frank case. But Frank and his counsel are not marking time while awaiting the advent of the noted detective.

They are going right along, piling up new evidence on which to base their appeal for a new trial in the extraordinary motion that is expected to be presented to Judge Hill about April 7.

The latest evidence made public is the affidavit of Ruby Snipes, 17, an employee at the National Pencil Factory. She says Jim Conley, whose "surliness" was often commented on, attempted to get money from her at the very spot where the defense claims Mary Phagan met her death, some time in the month of April, 1911.

Says Girls Feared Conley.

Her story is to the effect that she was descending from the second floor of the building, carrying a handbag, about 5:45 o'clock in the afternoon, when she heard a voice behind her and turned. Jim Conley had called her, she said. He approached within a few paces of her and asked her for a quarter, at the same time pointing at her handbag.

The girl was frightened, she says, but before she could say anything, steps were heard descending from the upper floor, and Conley, turning quickly, walked away.

Miss Snipes asserts that on telling some of the other girls of this occurrence, she learned that most of them were afraid of the Negro on account of his surliness.