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The Atlanta Georgian,
Thursday, 26th February 1914,
6th Edition (Final),
PAGE 1, COLUMN 1.
SCORES DORSEY AND HARRIS FOR HOLDING BACK HAIR EVIDENCE
Leo M. Frank, speaking earnestly and sometimes approaching the eloquent in the heat of his declarations, talked through the bars of his cell Thursday in the first audience to newspaper men that he has given since he was taken to the Tower on the first day of May of last year. While asserting that he bore no rancor nor malice for the prosecution which resulted in his conviction for the slaying of Mary Phagan and the imposition of the death sentence upon him, he nevertheless gave utterance to criticisms bitterly excoriating the attitude of Solicitor Dorsey, who, he charged, "had used the neck of an innocent man as a stepping-stone to preferment." "That is not straight; that is not fair," he said.
He had been leaning back with his chair against the steel pillar in his cell when the subject of the recent startling revelation of Dr. H. F. Harris came up. His chair dropped to the floor with a thud, and he thrust his face close to the steel lacing of his cell. His eyes were lit with earnestness as he said: "That was the only physical fact that they had to connect me with the crime. That was the one circumstance on which the State relied to prove that the murder was on the second floor." "Let Damnable Evidence In." "Yet the Solicitor and Dr. Harris, both knowing that that hair was not Mary Phagan's, that it belonged to some other girl entirely, let the damnable testimony go before the jurors, which convinced the twelve men that the hair was that of the murdered girl."
"It is not for me to pass judgment on the Solicitor or Dr. Harris. It is not for me to question their motives. I only can say that in its effects it was diabolical. It was the one thing that made the jury believe that the murder was on the second floor. The testimony about the blood amounted to nothing. The State's own expert Witness, Dr. Claude A. Smith, showed that clearly enough when he said that only three or four corpuscles which might have been there a year were revealed by his careful analysis, and this on only one of the discolored chips. He would not even say that it was human blood."
And over all, Frank professed his unshaken belief that the people of Georgia would see to it that "justice was done," and that his innocence ultimately would be established. "Conclusion," said Frank, in opening his Statement. "I would even hope that I am mistaken in my conclusions that the prosecution of my Case was undertaken in an unjust and unfair spirit. I sincerely trust that the prosecution will yet show that it is seeking justice. For that is all I ask"simply justice."
Questions Solicitor's Methods. "But what am I to think of the apparent relations of Conley and the Solicitor in my Case of the manner in which his alleged evidence was used? It is a terrible thing to even suggest that a public official would advance his prestige and his position at the expense of an innocent man's neck. And yet " Frank broke off abruptly; then resumed. "You can see how it is. There is not much glory to be gained by convicting a Negro of a sensational crime. But the 'man higher up'"ah, gentlemen, that is a different matter."
It was Frank himself who referred to the "confession" of Mrs. Formby in New York; that she had been coerced and tricked into the Statement concerning his perversion. He lifted his hands in protest. "Never Saw the Woman." "The idea is horrible"revolting!" he said. "In a way, I feel like saying with Cicero, 'O tempora, O mores,' ('O times, O manners') when such things can be done! Is it not hideous that a man's character can be smirched falsely by such vile means? And now that woman says she never saw me; even I can answer for that, at least to the extent that I never saw her. Did I not say in my published Statement that the truth was on the march? It is nearer than I thought, it seems."
Frank sat in his cell and the party of newspaper men sat outside, in the barred vestibule. Frank was smoking a dark, large cigar of full-bodied tobacco. "Will you gentlemen join me?" he inquired, hospitably. "I have cigars and cigarettes"plenty of them; all I can use and perhaps more than is good for me. I cannot offer other refreshments, although there are plenty of bars here." Laughs at His Joke. He laughed unaffectedly at the jest, and insisted that one reporter, whom he had seen frequently during the trial, should have a cigarette. "Oh, I know you smoke"don't deny it!" he chaffed. "How do I know? It's my business"I mean, my work is concerned with details, and I observe little things readily. For instance, I can tell the make of a lead pencil twenty feet distant"but that is talking shop."
It was Frank, too, smoking comfortably away, who first mentioned William J. Burns in connection with his Case. Glad of Aid of Burns. "How did he come into the Case? I'm sure I don't know. I did not employ him. My lawyers did not employ him. But I am glad he is to investigate it; it is another point in my favor, for if he is the man they say he is, he will find the truth"and that is all I ask." "And why is this great Detective interesting himself in my Case? Does not that fact suggest something to you? Does it not suggest that he is not satisfied with the present status? That surely signifies something. I am not satisfied with it myself," and he shrugged his shoulders meaningfully. "But a great detective is free to investigate a great problem without prejudice"and that doesn't seem to be the way of a State Official."
And then Leo Frank came to his own theory. Here Is His Theory. "As I have said before, the hand that wrote those crude, almost illegible notes killed that little girl. There is the door of truth open to all who will go through it. The Solicitor has seen fit to stand outside and against what pressure?" "Gentlemen, who was it that informed the police that Conley could write? Conley? No. He denied it"denied it steadily, with a straight face. Gentlemen, I told the police Conley could write. I opened the door of truth to them"but they preferred not to enter."
And then Leo Frank showed the first flash of heat in the interview. "I've Played the Man," He Says. "I want to say just one more word for myself," he said, "and I want to say it with all modesty." "I have played the man in this Case from start to finish. I have met every issue. I have faced my prosecutors at every turn"and they were many and devious. Gentlemen, I have acted the man. I have played fair, with all the cards on the table. I shall play the game out to the end and I shall expect the reward of a man, of an innocent man, when the last trick is played." He stopped and looked hard at his visitors. Behind their heavy lenses, his dark eyes were very bright, and the heavy brows above them were in a straight line. Then he smiled.
FRANK RECEIVES REPORTERS IN CELL; DISCUSSES HIS CASE
Doomed Man Hints He Is Victim of Political Ambition, and Reiterates Belief That He Yet Will Go Free. Jokes with Interviewers.
Continued From Page 1.
Charges Collusion. Frank said that he had been impressed by the evident collusion that existed between Solicitor Dorsey and William M. Smith, attorney for the Negro, Conley. Dorsey, said Frank, apparently had worked hand in hand with Smith in an endeavor to get the Negro off as lightly as possible. The prisoner then went into a minute analysis of the notes that were found by the dead girl's body to show that, as he had declared in his formal Statement of a few days ago, "the hand that wrote the notes was the one that strangled Mary Phagan." "The Solicitor argues that 'no one ever heard of a Negro leaving notes by the body of his victim,'" said Frank, "but he is begging the question, for it can be asked with equal logic, 'Whoever heard of a white man dictating notes to a Negro to be left at the side of the white man's victim?'"
Reads Poem by Holmes."Well, well," he said, "you can see how I feel about it. Here would you mind if I read you a verse or two? It's not out of the Bible, but sometimes, when I read it in here by myself, when everything is quiet, I can well believe that the author was inspired, the same as the writers of the Bible. It's by Holmes Oliver Wendell Holmes."
"This is the verse; it is entitled, 'Give Us Men.'"
"God, give us men! A time like this demands"
"Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;"
"Men whom the lust of lucre does not kill,"
"Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy,"
"Men who possess opinions, and a will"
"Men who have honor; men who will not lie;"
"Men who can stand before a demagogue"
"And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;"
"Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog"
"In public duty and in private thinking."
"While Justice Sleeps."
"And what does the lack of such men bring about?" asked Leo Frank, looking up from the little blue volume which he held. "Listen: 'Lo! Freedom weeps Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps!'"
He paused and looked affectionately at the little blue book. When he spoke again, his voice was lower.
"I think very likely that it is the hardest thing in the world to wait while justice sleeps," he said quietly.
Leo Frank is a young man of easy and engaging manners. If you fancy that the same may not be displayed in a heavily barred cell, you are entertaining an illusion. There was no hint of embarrassment, no shyness, no hesitation in his address. He invited questions.
"Shoot Your Questions."
"Shoot them at me," he laughed. "I'm simply bursting to tell all I know, and I only wish it were more. I've got nothing to conceal, and I wish everybody in the Case would say the same. Then we'd mighty soon get at the thing that is back of all this sorry business."
"I believe I have acted the part of a man from the time I was arrested," he said. "I have been a man and have endeavored to have every charity for those who have been unfair and unjust to me."
"I don't want sympathy. I don't need sympathy in spite of the terrible position in which I am in. All I want and need is justice. I am entitled to that as a man and as a citizen. But I haven't received it. I have deserved more consideration, but it has not been given me."
Solely Question of Justice.
"I have come to a point where I am willing to submerge my own individuality. My own personality sinks to nothing in this matter. It has become solely a question of justice, and fairness, and fair play, and decency."
"If my incarceration or if my death will serve to show up the rottenness and crookedness in public life, if it will serve to uncover the conspiracies that have put me where I am, then I am willing that they do what they wish with me. I am just a bubble and they can crush me as easily as they wish."
"I am not worried, however, as to the outcome. I am chipper and cheery. I have no fear for the future."
Comment on Notes.
Taking up the notes written by Conley, Frank said:
"The State made much of the detail into which Conley went in his description of what he said took place in the factory on Saturday, April 26. It was said that the Negro could not have concocted such a tale had it not been so."
"But just let me call your attention to the first statement the Negro made. When he talked to Black and the other Detectives, he went into the finest details as to what he did on Saturday, and he never once mentioned being in the factory."
Conley's First Story.
"He told about going from one saloon to another; told on what streets he walked; described how he went to one saloon and got a glass of beer, and how he went to another and got a 'double-header,' and to still another, where he mixed his beer with wine. He related from whom he bought drinks."
"He told of shooting craps in a back room; told how much he won and from whom he won it. He told of emerging onto the street and of meeting a man with a whip around his neck. He said he bought whisky from this man."
"Yet not a word was true."
Tells of Daily Routine in Jail.
Frank's steel cell is about six feet wide by eight feet long and eight feet deep. A passageway three feet wide runs along between the barred front of the cell and the steel cell-house wall. Pointing through the steel lattice to the big steel door leading to the balcony, Frank told of his daily life. He said:
"I haven't been outside of that door since I was convicted. Yet I have gained 15 pounds, my color is good and I feel fine. I read current Fiction, visit with my friends a good deal and write innumerable letters."
"Hundreds of letters are pouring in on me all the time from men, women and children who take a kindly interest in me. Some of the letters, of course, are from old friends and I answer each one personally, whether from anyone I know or not."
Time Passes Rapidly.
"I sleep ten hours every night, take what exercise I get by using my Indian clubs and walking up and down this little place. I sleep like a top and the only reason I don't sleep more than ten hours is because I don't permit myself to."
"In spite of the fact that I am in solitary confinement here, I find plenty to do to pass the time away. A few of my personal friends call to see me, my attorneys come to consult with me once in a while and withal I find that time flies, and it is bedtime before I know it every day."
"I read a great deal of light Fiction, all the Atlanta papers and practically all the Southern papers. I keep a Card-Indexed filing system of every line that is printed about myself, or the Phagan Case and I find this an interesting occupation."
Knows All in Newspapers.
"I smoke good 5-cent cigars and cigarettes. Won't you have one?"
And Frank shoved a package of cigarettes through the bars, smiling.
The man has at his tongue's grip the salient points of every line of newspaper matter that has been printed about him, and of these there are reams. His conversation was constantly interrupted by himself with quotations from editorials, feature stories and reviews printed of the Frank case. When he forgot the precise wording of any article, he quickly turned to his card-indexed file and read the article in full.
Frank's cell is fully lighted, and quite comfortable in a plain sort of way. The sun streams in at one of the two windows practically all the time it shines. In the center of the cell is a small flat-top desk, upon which lies a newspaper or two, a few magazines, a current novel, cigars, cigarettes and stationery.
Shows Flush of Health.
Beside the table is a straight-back chair, and a second chair of the same sort sits on one side of this. Frank's bed is a low, narrow cot, with a rather worn, plain, homemade quilt and one pillow.
Frank himself is quietly, though faultlessly, attired in a dark business suit which fits him closely, black patent leather shoes, a dark four-in-hand tie and black hose. He wears gold-rimmed glasses, the frame being rather small.
His actions are filled with the spring of health. When he speaks, his voice is even, clear, pleasant and decisive. His gaze is steadily at the person to whom he addresses himself, and he uses a great many gestures.
He smokes most of the time, flipping the cigar about to emphasize what he says, in a characteristically nervous fashion.
Greets Newspaper Men.
As the visiting newspaper men entered Frank's cell, he arose quickly to his feet, stretched his hand through an aperture in the three-inch deep lattice of iron bars, and asked the name of each visitor in turn. A few moments later he interrupted the conversation to ask that each man present give him his full name and the name of the paper he represents. Taking a note pad and pencil from his pocket, he jotted down these points as they were given him, saying:
"I keep a complete record of all visits. It is my business to know details."
Formby Story Called Gamblers' Frame-Up.The sensation sprung by Mrs. Nina Formby, whose repudiation of her Affidavit against Leo M. Frank was followed by her sensational charges in New York that Detectives kept her drunk for three weeks and coerced her into making the Affidavit, was intensified Thursday by a Statement given out by Chief of Detectives Lanford.
The Chief charged that the attack on the Detectives is "a frame-up, pure and simple," for the sole purpose of discrediting the detective Department and to "even up" for a fight made by Detectives on certain Gamblers. He declared he had Information that convinced him that Harry Latham, recently arrested in a gambling raid in a downtown office building, was the instigator of the "frame-up."
He said that Harry Latham was present in the home of the Formby woman at the time she was interviewed by himself and Chief Beavers as to the Information later contained in the Affidavit, and that Latham professed to be a particular friend of the woman.
Latham, according to the Chief, also has made threats against Detectives Vickery and Hamby, who arrested Latham and several others in the gambling raid and whose names are mentioned in the Formby woman's Statement in New York.
Detective Vickery, on behalf of himself and his partner, Detective Hamby, branded the Formby story as "an infamous and malicious lie from start to finish." Detective Chewning, one of the Detectives mentioned as having furnished whisky to Mrs. Formby for three weeks to induce her to make the Affidavit, was equally vehement in his denial.
The Negro Albert Mc Knight still is being sought by the Detectives, and his Affidavit stating that he testified falsely against Frank is being investigated.
Meantime Attorneys Rosser and Arnold, for the defense, are going ahead with the preparation of their detailed reasons for a new trial, which they will present for decision before Judge Ben H. Hill in the Lower Court soon, following the Supreme Court's denial of a rehearing on the original evidence.
"The published reports of Mrs. Formby's 'confession' in New York come as news to me," said Luther Rosser. "I didn't know she was in New York even. I haven't anything to say at present on the possible bearing of her admissions on our Case."
Mrs. Formby, pleading repentance over having "given false evidence against Leo M. Frank," Wednesday called up a New York paper and asked to be permitted to make a public denial of her Affidavit.
Mrs. Formby said she was "plied with whisky" by Detectives who wanted her to make the Statement against Frank; that she was "on the border of delirium tremens;" that she "was taken before Witnesses at Detective Headquarters and forced to state that she had made incriminating Statements against Frank."
Here is Mrs. Formby's story: "I remember quite well the day that Mary Phagan was murdered. It was on April 26, and I remember it because it was my birthday. I remember also quite well that day that Mr. Frank was arrested, and I remember, too, that it was only about a week afterward that Detectives Norris and Chewning called me up over the telephone and asked me if I had any booze. I told them I didn't have any, and they said they would bring some around to my house."
"They called around that evening and they brought the booze. We drank booze and played Cards in the Dining Room. They mentioned the arrest of Mr. Frank only incidentally. They told me that some woman had called them up that day over the telephone and suggested to them I might be able to tell them something about Mr. Frank. I don't know who their informant was, as they wouldn't tell me."
"For three weeks Norris and Chewning came to my Apartment. They were there every night, and they always brought booze. We played Cards as usual in the dining room, and something was said each time about the Frank Case. I remember now that when they went away each time, we had drunk up all the whisky."
"I can't say how many days they came to my Apartment and talked about the Frank Case before they asked me if Mr. Frank wasn't a degenerate."
"Of course, I said I didn't know; but at that time, I was under the influence of liquor. When Norris and Chewning kept asking me if I didn't know that Mr. Frank was a degenerate, I finally lost the power to discriminate about what I was saying."
"They asked me the same question so many times that at last I gave them the answer they wanted me to give them. I said: 'Yes, he is.' It was right there I made a fatal mistake."
FRANK ACCUSER WHO SAYS SHE WAS DRUNK NINA FORMBY.