Reading Time: 4 minutes [594 words]

LEO M. FRANE. 229

tory, got Newt Lee and asked him if Mr, Gantt had gone again, he
says, “Yes.” I asked if everything else was all right at the factory;
it waa, and then I hung up and had supper, and phoned to my
brother-in-law, Mr. Ursenbach if he would be at home that evening,
but he said he had another engagement, so I stayed home reading
8 newspaper or magazine. About 8 I saw Minola pass out on ber
way home, That evening, my parents in law, Mr, end Mrs. Emil
Selig, had company, and among those present were Mr. and Mrs.
Morris Goldstem, Mr. and Mrs. M. Mareus, Mrs. A, E. Marens
and Mrs. Ike Strauss. Sat reading in the hall antil 10:30 when
I turned out the gas, went into the dining room, bade them all
good night, and went upstairs to take my bath, a few minutes later
my wife followed me upstairs.

Sunday, April 27th, 1 was awakened before 7 o'clock by the tele
phone. The man that spoke was City Detective Starnes; he said, “Is
this Mr, Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil Company?”
I says, “Yes, six,” he ses, want you to come down to the factory
right away,” I says, What's the trouble, haa there been a fire?
He says, “No, @ tragedy, 1 want Phd to come down right away;”
T says, All right, he says, “I'll send an automobile for you,” I saya,
All right, and hung up and went upstairs to dresa; was in the
midst of dressing when the automobile drove up, the bell rang and
my wife went down stairs to answer the door. Bbe had on a night
arees with a robe over it, I followed my wife in a minute or two.
I asked them what the trouble was, and the man who I afterwards
found out was detective Black, hung his head and didn’t say any-
thing. They asked me did I know Mary Phagan, and I told them
I didn’t, they then said to me, didn’t a little girl with long hair
hanging down her back come up to your office yesterday some time
for her money. I says, Yes, I do remember such a girl coming up
to my office that worked in the tipping room, but 1 didn’t know her
name was Mary Phagan. “Well, we want you to come down right
away with us to the factory.” I didn’t have breakfast, but went
right on with them in the automobile. They took me to the under-
taker’s, as they wanted mea to ses the body and see if I could iden~
tify the little girl. One of the two men asked the attendant to
show us the way into where the body was, and the attendant went
down a long, dark pasageway with Mr. Rogers following, then I
came, and Black brought up the rear until we got to @ place that
was apparently the door to a small room—very dark—the attend-
ant went in and suddenly switched on the electric light, and I saw
the body of the little girl, Mr. Rogers stood to my right, inside of
the room, I stood right in the door, leaning np against the right
facing of the door, and Mr. Black was to the left, leaning on the
left facing, but 2 little to my rear, and the attendant, whose name
T have since learned was Mr. Gheesling, was on the opposite side
of the little cooling table to where I stood. He removed tha sheet
which was covering the body, and took the head in his hands,
turned it over, put his finger exactly where wound in the left side
of the head was located. I noticed the hands and arms of the little
gitl were very dirty—blue and ground with dirt and cinders, the

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