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The Atlanta Georgian,
Tuesday, 19th August 1913,
THIRD EDITION ONLY,
PAGE 80, COLUMN 1.
'TIME TO TALK IS NOW AND I HAVE TOLD YOU WHOLE TRUTH,' HE SAYS
Leo M. Frank, in his remarkable statement to the jury, had little to say of the charges made against him until the latter part of his address, which on this account became the most interesting and most impressive portion of his talk. After going into close detail in respect to his work at the factory office the afternoon of Mary Phagan's murder, he took up the principal evidence and the principal charges against him.
He explained why he did not talk to Conley. He asserted that it was he who gave the information that Conley could write, in spite of the assertions that he had withheld this information. He made complete denial of seeing Conley on the day of the crime or of having any personal knowledge of how Mary Phagan came to her death.
Here is Frank's story as it was told with its various interruptions:
Mr. Arnold: "Now Mr. Frank, such papers as you want to use you can come down here at any time or from time to time and get them on this table right here.
The Court: "Before you commence your statement I want to read the law. In criminal procedure, the prisoner will have the right to make to the Court and jury such statement in the case as he may deem proper in his defense. It shall not be under oath and shall have such force as the jury shall think right to give it. They may believe it in preference to the sworn testimony in the case. The prisoner shall not be compelled to answer any questions on cross-examination. He should feel free to decline to answer them. Now you can make such statement as you see fit."
The defendant said: "Gentlemen of the jury, in 1884, the 17th day of April, I was born in Terrell, Tex. At the age of three months my parents took me to Brooklyn, N. Y., which became my home until I came South, to Atlanta, to make my home here. I attended the public schools of Brooklyn and prepared for college in Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y."
"In the fall of 1902 I entered Cornell University, where I took the course of mechanical engineering, graduating after four years, in June, 1906. I then accepted a position as draughtsman with the B. F. Sturdevant Company, of Hyde Park, Mass. After remaining with this firm for about six months I returned once more to my home in Brooklyn, where I accepted a position as testing engineer and draughtsman with the National Meter Company of Brooklyn, N. Y."
"I remained with these parties until about the middle of October, 1907, when at the invitation of some citizens of Atlanta, I came South to confer with them with reference to the starting and operation of a pencil factory to be located in Atlanta. After remaining here for about two weeks I returned once more to New York, where I engaged passage and went to Europe. I remained in Europe nine months. During my sojourn abroad I studied the pencil business and looked after the erection and testing of machinery which had been previously traded for."
Looked After the Purchase of Materials.
"In the first part of August, 1908, I returned once more to America, and immediately came South, to Atlanta, which has remained my home ever since. I married in Atlanta an Atlanta girl, Miss Lucille Selig. The major portion of my married life has been spent in the home of my parents-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. E. Selig, at No. 68 East Georgia avenue. My married life has been exceptionally happy, indeed-it has been the happiest days of my life."
"My duties as superintendent of the National Pencil Company were in general as follows: I took charge of the technical and mechanical end of the factory, looking after the processes and seeing that the product was turned out in quality equal to the standard which was set by our competitors. I looked after the installation of new machinery, and the purchasing of any machinery, and in addition I had charge of the office work at the Forsyth street plant, and the lead plant on Bell street."
"I looked after the purchasing of the raw material. I saw after the manufacture of pencils and kept up with the market of these materials and when the prices fluctuated so that the purchases could be made to the best possible advantage."
"On Friday, April 25, I arrived at the pencil factory on Forsyth street at about 7 o'clock, my usual time. I immediately started in on my regular routine work, looking over the papers I had laid out the evening before, and attending to any work that needed my special attention that morning."
"At about 9:30 I went over to the office of the general manager and treasurer, Mr. Sigmund Montag, whose office is at Montag Brothers on Nelson street. I stayed over there a short time, and got what papers had arrived in the mail-all the mail of the pencil factory comes over to their office. I got that mail and brought it back to the Forsyth street office. I then separated the mail and continued in my usual routine duties in the office on Forsyth street."
"At about 11 o'clock Mr. Schiff handed me the payroll book, covering the plants at Forsyth street and Bell street, for me to check over and see if the amounts and extensions were correct. Of course, this work has to be very carefully done, so that the proper amount of money is drawn from the bank. This checking took me until about 12:20 p. m."
Went to Bank To Get Pay Money.
"I then went over to Montag Brothers, took the checks drawn and had them signed by Mr. Sig-Montag, after which I returned to Forsyth street and got the leather bag in which I usually carried the money and the coin from the bank, and got the payroll slip, on which the various denominations which I desired to have on the payroll were made out, and went, accompanied by Mr. Herbert Schiff, my assistant, to the Atlanta National Bank, where I had the checks cashed.
"Returning to the factory in company with Mr. Schiff, I placed this bag containing the money for the payroll, in the safe and locked it. At this time my wife called for me and in her company and that of Mr. Schiff I went over to the car, and went with my wife home to lunch. After lunch I returned to the factory and took a tour for about an hour through the factory, after which I then assisted Mr. Schiff in checking over the amounts on the pay envelopes, checking the money against the duplicate slips that we had got from the bank to see that the correct amount had been given us, and helped Mr. Schiff in checking over the money and in filling the envelopes.
"This took us approximately until a quarter to six to fill the envelopes and seal them, and place them in a box we have there with two hundred pigeon holes in it, that we call our payoff box.
Paid One Man Check in Cash.
"While I was so occupied with Mr. Schiff in filling the envelopes, a young man named Wright who had helped us out in the office as clerk during the past week came in and I paid him in cash, as Mr. Schiff had neglected to put his name on the payroll. I just made out a ticket and put it in the payroll box, not the cash box, and continued in the office with Mr. Schiff, taking all the envelopes that were due the help that had worked from April 18 to April 24, inclusive, to pay them through the window in one side of the office. There is a little window built in the hall. I had stayed in my office, checking over the amount of money which had been left there.
"This amount should have been equal to the amount loaned out in advance to the help. I took a ticket out when we were filling the envelopes in checking this amount there. As near as I recollect it, it was about $15.
"I noticed a shortage of about $1.20, or something over a dollar, at any rate, and I kept checking to see if I could find the shortage in the various deductions which had been made. I could not locate it that evening, after the help had been paid off, during which time I stayed in my office. No one came into my office and asked me for the envelope or for an envelope of any other party.
"After the paying off of the help had taken place, Mr. Schiff returned and handed me the envelopes which were left over, bound with an elastic band, and I put them in the cash compartment, which is different from the cash box, the key to which is kept in my cash box, and placed them in the safe, and Mr. Schiff placed the amounts in the box, and placed the box in the safe and left them.
Tells of Putting Slips in Time Clock.
"I placed in the time clock slips which were to be used the next day. I took the two time slips dated April 25, which had been used by the help on Friday, April 25-these are the two that I put in the slot" (exhibiting the same to the jury.)
Mr. Dorsey, thereupon vigorously protested that Mr. Frank should be allowed to exhibit these slips to the jury, because they had not been offered in evidence, on the grounds that they were immaterial and irrelevant, and on the second ground that he could not put them in evidence on his own statement.
Counsel for the defendant insisted, however, that they should be allowed to offer these slips in evidence, as they had been testified to by Mr. Darley and others. The testimony, however, was not produced, and Judge Roan ruled that Mr. Frank might make any statement concerning the same, but that he would withhold his ruling until further investigation. Mr. Frank thereupon proceeded to explain to the jury.
"Gentlemen, as I was saying, these two slips that have April 26, 1913, written at the bottom are the two slips I put in the clock on the evening of Friday, April 25, to be used on the day following, which, of course, was April 26.
Darley's Duty to Employ All Help.
"I neglected to mention also, in going over my duties at the factory, that Mr. Darley was superintendent of labor and manufacture, and it fell to his duty to engage the help and distribute the help throughout the plant, and to discharge the help in case it was necessary. It was also due to him whether the wages were raised or not. In other words, he was the man that came directly in contact with the help. Moreover, he saw that the goods progressed through the plant without stopping, speedily and economically for their manufacture.
'On Friday evening I got home at about 6:30, had my supper, washed up, and with my wife played a game of auction bridge at a friend's home in the evening. My wife and I returned home and retired about 11 o'clock.
"On Saturday, April 26, I rose between 7 and 7:30 and leisurely washed and dressed and ate my breakfast, and caught a Washington Street or Georgia Avenue car. I don't really remember which, at the corner of Washington and Georgia avenue, and arrived at the factory, Forsyth street plant, at about 8:20.
"Upon my arrival at the factory I found Mr. Holloway, the day watchman, at his usual place, and I greeted him in my usual way, and found Alonzo Mann, the office boy, in the office.
"I took off my coat and hat and opened my desk and opened the safe, and removed the various books and files and wire trays containing the various important papers which were placed there the evening before and distributing them in their proper places about the office. I then went out to the shipping room and conversed a few minutes with Mr. Irby, who was at that time shipping clerk, about the work he was going to do that morning.
"According to my recollection, we did no shipping that day, owing to the fact that the freight offices were not receiving any shipments, due to the fact that it was a holiday.
"I returned to my office and looked through the papers and sorted out those which I was going to take over on my usual trip to the general manager's office that morning."
"I then turned to the invoice covering shipments which were made by the pencil factory on Thursday, April 24, and which were typewritten on Friday, April 25, by Miss Eubanks, who was the stenographer who stayed at my office. She had hurried through with the office work on the day previous, so that she could go home and spend the holiday in the country where she lived. But I didn't get to check over the invoices on the shipments on Friday, due to the fact that Mr. Schiff and myself were completely occupied the entire day. So we left the factory with the payroll. So that naturally, these invoices covering shipments which were made on April 24, ought to have been sent to the customers, and I got right to work checking them."
Shows Invoices to Jury First Time.
"Now I have these invoices here (taking up the papers and exhibiting them to the jury). These papers have not been exhibited to you before, but I will explain them. You have seen some similar to these."
"Of all the mathematical work in the office of a pencil factory, this very operation, this very piece of work that I have now before me is the most important. It is the invoices covering shipments and is sent to the customer, and it is very important that the prices are correct, that the amount of goods shipped agrees with the amount which is on the invoices, that the terms are correct, and that the price is correct. Also, in some cases, there were freight deductions, all of which has to be very carefully checked over and looked into, because I know of nothing else that exasperates a customer more than to receive invoices which are incorrect."
"Now, with reference to the work I did on these orders-that is not such an easy job as you might be led to believe. Here are initials. They represent the salesman who took the order. Sometimes I have to go through a world of papers to find out to whom to credit these orders."
"I notice that one of the orders to R. B. Kindele calls for a specialty. That has to be carefully noted and recorded. One column represents the shipping point, another the date, etc."
"The next step is to fill in the orders on this sheet. On this sheet I must separate the orders into price groups. Evidently no work has been done on this sheet since he went away. The reason this is done-in the pencil business as in all manufacturing businesses-it is advantageous to sell as much of the high-priced goods as possible.
"This sheet is the only means of telling how much of the various goods we are selling. It is the barometer of our business and requires most careful work."
Declares He Wrote Financial Sheet.
"After I have finished that work I have had to do this, and notwithstanding any insinuations that have been made, I wrote these requisitions."
Frank read the name on each requisition, which were the same as the names on the orders.
"Now that is all my handwriting, except what as written at a subsequent date to April 26."
"Well, moreover, this operation this morning took me longer than it usually takes the ordinary person to check invoices because usually one calls out and the other checks, but I had this work all myself that morning. As I did this work this morning I saw that Miss Eubanks had evidently sacrificed accuracy to speed, and everyone of them was wrong. I went over the invoices to make the corrections, figure them out, correct them, and make deductions, if any were to be made, and then get the total shipments, because since these shipments were made on April 24, which was Thursday and the last day of our fiscal week, and it was on this week which the financial report which I make out every Saturday afternoon, which has been my custom, so that the total shipments could be figured out, and therefore I could not let it go out at that, so I had to figure every invoice in its entirety, so I could get a figure I would be able to use."
"The first order here is to Hilton, Hart & Kern Co., Detroit, Mich. Here is the original order, which exists in our files in our office. Here is the original transaction which was made March 18, but it was not to be shipped until April 24. This is a small order, 100 gross of Number 2; and here is an order of the Packard Motor Car Company for 125 gross of No. 3, and 150 gross of No. 4. Those figures represent the grade of hardness of the lead in the pencil."
Explains How Orders are Filled.
Frank thereupon explained how such orders were usually filled, whether in part or in whole, and how the shipments were made, and continuing, said:
"In investigating shipments made by the pencil company our method is as follows: We make them in triplicate. Our first original is a white sheet that goes to the customer; the second is a pink sheet that goes over to the general manager's office and is filed serially, that is chronologically, that is, one date after the other, and from that the charges are made on the ledger, and the last sheet, the third sheet, or yellow sheet, which is here (exhibiting it) and those are placed in the files in my office, and are filed alphabetically. These yellow sheets that I have here are not the yellow sheets I had that day, because they have since been corrected, and I am just taking the corrected sheets I made the corrections and Miss Eubanks corrected them on Monday by the corrections I had on the white sheet from the corrections I made and I presume at that time made that correct."
Mr. Frank exhibited to the jury various orders similarly written, to H. W. Williams and Company, of Fort Worth, Tex.; The Fort Smith Paper Company, of Fort Smith, Ark.; S. O. Barnum & Sons, of Buffalo, N. Y.; F. L. Schmidt and Company, of Chicago, and H. S. Kress and Company, of New York.
"Now, there is an order that takes a great deal of study (referring to the Kress order) because in common with these five and ten cent syndicates, there is a great deal of red tape. These are invoices that were typed on April 25, Friday, and were shipped on April 24. It was the date on which the shipment was made irrespective of the date there, (referring to the date on the letter) and these were typewritten. In other words, shipments took place April 24, and that date was at the top, typewritten and stamped by the office at the bottom, April 24. Among other things that the S. H. Kress Company demand on their orders, we must state whether or not it is complete, must give the case number, and must tell by which railroad the shipment goes."
Checking Made Hard By Much Red Tape.
"Here is one for F. W. Woolworth and Company, Fort Wayne, Ind., which shows 35 pounds, less 86 cents per 100 pounds credit. In other words, we had to find out what was the weight of that was on a basis of 86 cents for every 100 pounds shipped. Then here is another one of our large distributors in New York. They have a freight allowance of 86 cents a 100 pounds also, and their shipments amounted to 618 pounds on Thursday, April 24."
"I started on this work. As I said, I have gone into it in some detail, to show you the carefulness with which the work must be carried out, and I was at work on this until about 9 o'clock, as near as I remember."
"Mr. Darley and Wade Campbell, the inspector of the factory, came into the outer office and I stopped what work I was doing, which was this work, and went to the outer office and chatted with Mr. Campbell for ten or fifteen minutes, conversed with them, joked with them and while I was talking with them, I think about 9:15, or a quarter after 9, Miss Mattie Smith came in and asked me for her pay envelope, and the envelope of her sister-in-law. I went to the safe and got out the package of envelopes that Mr. Schiff had given me the evening before, and placed the two remaining envelopes in my cash box, as I considered they might come in and I wanted to have them near at hand so that I could pay them off when they came in. I keep my cash box on the lower side of my desk. After Miss Smith had gone away with the envelopes, in a few minutes Mr. Darley came back with one of the envelopes, and pointed out an error in one of them, the one of the sister-in-law of Miss Mattie Smith, who had gotten too much money."
"When I took the amount which was too much, that amount balanced the error in the payroll that I had noticed the night before, and left about five or ten cents. Those things generally right themselves, anyhow. I continued to work on these invoices when I was interrupted by Mr. Lyon, the superintendent of Montag Brothers, and he brought me a pencil display box. He seemed to be in a hurry, and I told him if he would wait a minute I would go over with him, but he passed out of the office, and then I found a stopping place in the work I was working on, and I put on my coat and when I got to the outer office I found that Mr. Lyon had already left."
"Mr. Darley and I left about 9:35 or 9:40, and we got out of the factory and stopped at the corner of Hunter and Forsyth streets, where we each had a drink at Cruickshank's soda fountain, and I bought a package of my favorite cigarettes.
"After that conversation there I left him and went alone to Montag Brothers, where I arrived about 10 o'clock or maybe a little after. I entered Montag Brothers and spoke to Mr. Sig Montag, general manager, on business, and he brought the papers which I collect and laid them on his desk, and I then took the papers out, thrust them in the folder and took the other papers which I had in my folder, and then distributed them at the proper places in the Montag plant. I don't know just which ones they were."
Conversation With Miss Hall Recalled.
"In chatting with Mr. Montag I spoke to Mr. Montag and Mr. Korse, after that I spoke to Miss Hattie Hall, the pencil company's stenographer, who stays at Montag Brothers, and asked her to come over and help me that morning, as I have already told you, that these invoices were wrong, and I wanted her to help me on that work, and could not take it up to-morrow. In fact, I told her I had enough work to keep her busy that whole afternoon if she would stay. She said she didn't want to do that; she wanted to have at least a half holiday.
"I then spoke to members of the Montag Brothers force, on business matters, and then other matters. Also I then spoke to Mr. Guttenheim, who was sales manager of the Montag Brothers and of the pencil factory, and then spoke to him about several of his orders that were in the factory. There were two of his orders that he paid special stress on that were desired to be shipped right away. I said, 'I don't know how far along in the process of manufacture the orders have proceeded, but if you can come back I can look it up and tell you when they can be shipped.' He said he could not come then, but he would come a little later. I told him I would be glad if he would come up a little later on in the afternoon; that I would be there until about 1 o'clock in the morning, and then about half past three. I then took the folder and returned."
Arrived at Factory At About 11 o'Clock.
"Upon arrival at the pencil factory I went up to the second or office floor, and then I noticed that the clock was perhaps five minutes after 11 o'clock, and I saw Mr. Holloway there, and I told him he could go as soon as he got ready. He told me he had some work to do for Harry Denham and Arthur White, who wanted to do some repairing on the top floor, and that he would do the work first.
"I then went to the office, and found Miss Hattie Hall, who had preceded me from Montag Brothers, and another young lady, who introduced herself to me as Mrs. Arthur White. Mrs. White wanted to see her husband. I went into the inner office, and took off my hat and coat and removed the papers which I had brought back from Montag Brothers and put the folder away.
Week's Sheet Left In Incomplete Form.
"It was about this time that I first heard the elevator motor start up, and the circular saw in the carpenter shop which was near to it, and I heard it sawing through some boards and thought it was evidently the work that Mr. Holloway had referred to."
"I separated the orders from the letters which required answers, and took from them the letters that did not need immediate attention and laid them in the various places, and it was about this time I had an idea I would like to see how far along the report sheets were which I used in getting up the financial report every Saturday afternoon. To my surprise I found that the sheet contains the records of the pencils packed for the week had been entered for Thursday. The last day of the fiscal week was omitted, and Mr. Schiff, evidently in the stress of figuring out and filling the envelopes for the payroll for Friday instead of Saturday, had evidently not had enough time. I told Alonzo Mann, the office boy, to call up Mr. Schiff and find out when he was coming down, and Alonzo said that the answer came back over the telephone that Mr. Schiff would be right down, so I didn't pay any more attention to that part of the work, because I expected Mr. Schiff to come down any minute."
Mrs. Freeman and Corinthia Hall Came In.
"It was about this time that Mrs. Emma Clark Freeman and Miss Corinthia Hall, two of the girls that worked on the fourth floor, came upstairs and asked to go upstairs and get Mrs. Freeman's coat, which permission I gave them. I told them at the same time to tell Arthur White that his wife was downstairs. A few minutes after they left my office two gentlemen came in, one of them Mr. Graham, and another gentleman, fathers of two boys who had gotten into some trouble during the noon recess and were taken down to police headquarters, and, of course, could not get their pay envelopes the night before. I gave the required envelopes to the two fathers, and chatted in reference to the trouble that their boys had gotten into on the day previous."
"Just before they left the office Mrs. Emma Clark Freeman and Mrs. Corinthia Hall came into my office and asked my permission to use the telephone, and started using the telephone during the time these two gentlemen left my office. Previous to the time these two gentlemen came in I had called Miss Mattie Hall in and dictated what mail I had to give her, and she went out and was typewriting the mail."
Frank went back to the stand. He was handed a glass of water as he resumed his seat, but declined it.
"Miss Hall left my office" he continued, "on her way home at this time. There were then in the building Arthur White, Harry Denham and Mrs. White. It must have been from ten to fifteen minutes after that this little girl whom I afterwards found to be Mary Phagan came in. She asked for her pay. I got my cash box, referred to the number and gave her the envelope.
"As she went out, she stopped near my outer office door and said:
"'Has the metal come?'"
Sound of Voice Made Little Impression.
"The safe door was open and I could not see her, but I answered 'No.' The last I heard was the sound of her footsteps going down the hall. But a few moments after she asked me, I had the impression of a voice saying something, but it made no impression on me."
"The little girl had hardly left the office when Lemmie Quinn came in. He said something to me about working on a holiday and went out. A few minutes before 1 o'clock, I called up my wife and told her I was coming to lunch at 1:15. I then went upstairs to where Denham and White were working and found they had a bit of the floor taken up and were sawing."
"I explained to them that I was going to lunch and would lock the door when I left. Mrs. White left at this time. Some lady said that at 12:35 o'clock she found me in front of the safe. It is barely possible that she did. I don't recall her being there. Her memory probably is fresher than mine on this point."
"When I went up stairs I asked Mr. White if his wife was going to stay there with him. She said no, that she would go. She left and then I got my hat and coat and left, locking the outer door."
"Now, gentlemen, to the best of my recollection from the time the whistle blew until I went upstairs to see Mr. White, I did not stir out of my office. I went on home."
"I called up my brother-in-law, Mr. Ursenbach, to tell him I was unable to keep the engagement to go to the ball game. The cook answered the phone.
"My wife and mother-in-law were going to the opera. My father-in-law and I ate lunch. He went into the backyard while I lit a cigarette and lay down for a moment."
"I left and while passing the home of Mrs. Wolfsheimer, saw Mrs. Michael on the porch. I went in to see her and saw Mrs. Wolfsheimer, Mr. Loeb and others."
Watched Parade When Street Cars Stopped.
"To catch the next car I ran down to Glenn street. On the car I met my wife's cousin, Mr. Loeb. The car was blocked at the corner of Washington and Hunter streets. I walked up to Whitehall street and stood there possibly for fifteen minutes watching the Memorial Day parade."
"As I walked down Whitehall street I met Miss Rebecca Carson. This was probably 3:10 or 2:15 o'clock. I greeted her and walked on. I stopped at Jacobs' Pharmacy and walked on. I went from there to the factory."
"When I reached there I went upstairs and let the boys know I had returned. A minute later, I returned to my office and started to work on the financial sheet."
"In a few minutes the clock bell rang and Arthur White came into the office to borrow two dollars. It was while I was at work on the sheet at probably 4 o'clock that I went to the toilet."
"As I returned toward the office, I noticed Newt Lee coming toward me from the head of the stairs. I told him he could go on off but to be sure and be back at 6 o'clock. I told him I was very sorry I could not let him know about the half holiday but that he was at liberty to enjoy himself as he saw fit, but that he must not fail to return at 6 o'clock."
"The first night that Newt Lee came to work at the factory, I took him over the building, and stressed the fact that he must go into the basement, especially the dust bin, every half hour."
"I told him it would be part of his duties to watch the back door. He was to make a complete tour every half hour and punch the clock."
"Now, I will return to the work of the financial sheet. This sheet contains the cost of all the pencils made that week. There are no names but this sample case will show you."
Evidence Excluded But Jury Sees It.
Frank unfolded a sample case.
Dorsey: "We object to this being used as evidence."
Judge Roan: "I sustain you."
Frank placed the sample case to one side.
"Well," he said, "you got a sufficient glance at those pencils to see there were a great many."
"In making up this sheet it was necessary to go through the list of all that were packed. Specials, of course, have to be figured separately."
"For instance, there is a special 60-60-x pencil known as 'Crackerjack.' Now I notice that the two expert accountants reported two errors. While they were unimportant, I wish to explain that those errors were not mine. They were made by Mr. Schiff. I never checked his figures. I checked over mine, but not his."
"Now the next is 'jobs.' The accountant found the only error in my financial sheet there in the item 'job'. It was not an error, as I will show you. He did not know my method of figuring."
"Two items here are totals. The total gross amount is 791 gross, the total value amount $396.75. In figuring the average I obtained $50.01. In that average he discovered an error. It was not an error. I simply did not go as far into the decimals as he did. One-tenth of a cent was close enough for my purpose."
"Now some of the items in here are taken from the reports of the foremen of the different departments."
Frank then exhibited a report from the foreman or forewoman of each department and explained it.
"Then there is the report of Mr. Schiff, showing the gross of pencils shipped each day of that week-that week was an exceptionally heavy one.
"Now there is a little report here that constitutes one of the most difficult calculations. It is from the packing room. We have a trick of the trade to put the pencils that do not sell very fast into fancy packages to make them go."
"Now, very often these pencils are taken from the shelf, where they have laid for more than a year, and repacked in the fancy cases. I made all the calculations on this that afternoon, despite everything that has been said here to the contrary."
"Now here is a little sheet that deals with the grades of the pencils. It shows the totals for each class of pencils shipped that week. This data sheet-we have had very few clerks at the Forsyth street office capable of keeping it, because it requires rather advanced mathematics to reach the totals."
"Now I will have to get all my thoughts on this sheet. I isn't a hard job but it is a very tedious one and requires much care and accuracy. Here is rubber-cheap rubber and good rubber. Now it has been intimated that some of these items-this one in particular, if I am not mistaken-that I could take two that were already figured and subtract them from the total and get the cost of the third."
"That is not so. Some of the pencils haven't any rubber in them at all. I have to go through the same tedious operation on each item. There are various sorts of packing boxes used. Then there are the skeletons in the boxes. Some pencils don't have skeletons at all."
"All these items must be gone through accurately to get correct results of this sheet. Then there is no section on this data sheet showing the cost of tips. You can5t use rubbers without tips, so, after figuring them, I just added them to the rubbers."
"Some pencils take wrappers and some don't. The very cheap pencils are tied with a cord, so we have the same tedious figuring again."
"The slat item is not worked out because I could not find the data. I just put it off until Monday."
"Here are the jobs-the payroll at Forsyth street and the payroll at Bell street."
"Now the shipments were figured for the week. I did part of that work in the morning and I explained to you about the invoices being wrong. Well, here are the items on this financial sheet. Then, as to the orders received. Entering the orders received that day involved no more work than transferring."
Has Own Method of Figuring Cost Data.
"Here they are in comparison to the amount shipped."
"One of the most intricate things in making out this financial sheet is figuring the cost data. This sheet I may say is a child of my own brain. The first one gotten out was gotten out by myself."
"This item here gives us the net value and the net amount of money the pencil factory received for its pencils. The burden that a business has to carry is its fixed charges-rent, insurance, certain salaries, etc.-the charges that are same whether great or few pencils are made."
"The machine shop is variable. We did make many machines at first, but later the machine shop was used solely for upkeep. The slats are figured at 22 a gross. That cost was simple multiplication."
"The figuring of that price is not done in making out the financial sheet Saturday afternoon. Mr. Montag and myself figure that in advance, making allowance for profit, breakage, etc."
"I have here on the report of April 26 'Slats, not complete;' that was because Schiff had not made out the slat report, and I planned to complete it Monday morning before taking it to Montag."
"Now, beside the making this large sheet here and the financial sheet, there are three other sheets that I made out. Now, I want to call your attention to this. I did not typewrite it. I merely filled in the blanks. I have several of them typewritten and keep them in my desk."
"In addition to that I make out two condensed financial sheets, showing the principal figures. They are sufficient for a director or stockholder to see what the factory is doing.
Mailed Statements To Stockholders.
"One of these statements I mailed to my uncle, Mr. M. Frank, who is president of the company, and the other to Oscar Papenheimer, who was a director.
"I put one in an envelope and addressed it to Mr. Oscar Papenheimer; the other I sent to my uncle along with a price list, and I wrote him this letter.
"This price list is too long for an ordinary envelope, hence the large envelope.
"After finishing the financial sheet, I folded the large sheet and addressed it to Mr. Selig Montag. I then took up the checking up of the cash and balancing of the cash book. I did that work as near as I remember, between 5:30 and 5 minutes to 6 o'clock. It did not take me an hour and a half. I did it in about 25 minutes. There was $30.54. There couldn't have been any more. It was mostly in small change. There was one loan to Mr. White, making the total amount of cash $28.50.
"Beginning that week, we had $39.25 as a balance. We drew two checks of $15 each-I mean by that that we went to Mr. Montag's office and had him draw the checks. The total amount of money we had to account for was
Continued on Page 5, Column 1
PAGE 81, COLUMN 1
COUNSEL CONSIDER THAT FRANK IS HIS OWN BEST WITNESS
Accused Looks Squarely at Jury as He Tells of Every Act on Day of Crime
DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING FRANK'S ALIBI
FRANK left HOME for OFFICE and ARRIVED at 8.20 A.M.
FRANK went to MONTAG BROS at 9.30 A.M.
ARRIVED HOME to LUNCH 1.15
On RETURN from LUNCH Met REBECCA CARSON at 3.10 on way to OFFICE
RETURNED to WORK 4.00 P.M.
LEFT OFFICE 6.00 P.M. for HOME.
PAGE 81, COLUMN 1
DECLARES HE DOES NOT KNOW ANYTHING OF HOW MARY PHAGAN MET DEATH
Continued from Page 4.
69.25. What it was spent for, of course, is shown on the debit side."
Frank explained each of those items, including drayage, parcel post, etc.
"I found at the end a shortage of $4.34 coming about in payrolls within the last three months."
At this point Frank paused to take a drink of water having been talking for 2 hours and 30 minutes.
"I finished this work I have just outlined," he continued, "at 5 minutes to 6 o'clock. I took those slips-I won't show them to you-stamped April 28. They were put into the clock because no one was coming into the office until Monday."
"Newt Lee's punches on Monday night would appear on the strip placed on the clock Monday night. Just before I left I put a new tape in the clock and made Newt Lee punch it. Then he went on down stairs to wait and let me out."
"As I started out of the factory, I saw Newt Lee talking to a man named Gantt, who had been released about two weeks before. I gave them permission to go into the factory and get Gant's shoes which he said were left there and I told Newt Lee to go with him."
"I reached home at about 6:25 o'clock and at 6:30, thinking Newt Lee would be near the clock, I called him over the phone to see if everything was all right. I could not get him. I called again at 7 o'clock and again at 7:30. At that time I got him and he told me everything was all right."
"That night my parents-in-law had company at the home. Those present were Mr. and Mrs. Marcus, Mrs. Goldstein, Mrs. M. Marx, Mrs. A. B. Marx, Mr. Ike Strauss-who came in at about 10 o'clock. I read a magazine until about 10:30 and then retired."
Told Officer He Did Not Know Girl.
At this juncture the jury retired for five minutes.
Frank conferred with his attorneys while the jury was out. Upon its return he resumed:
"I believe I have taken in every move Saturday night. I retired Saturday night. Sunday morning about 7 o'clock I was awakened by the telephone ringing and a man's voice which I afterwards found out to be Detective Starnes, said: "I want you to come down to the factory.' 'What is the trouble?' I asked. 'Has there been a fire?' 'No,' he said. 'A tragedy has occurred.' I said, 'All right,' and he said he would send an auto."
"They came before I finished dressing. At this point I differ with the detectives, Black and Starnes, about where the conversation took place. They say it was after we were in the machine. I say it was before we left the house, before my wife. At any rate, here is what was said:"
"They asked me if I knew Mary Phagan. I answered that I did not. They asked me if I did not pay off a little girl with long hair down her back the afternoon before. I said I did. They said they wanted me to go to the undertaking establishment to see if I could identify the body. They made the trip to the undertaking establishment very quickly. I went in and stood in the doorway. The attendant removed the sheet from the little girl's face and turned the head toward me. His finger was right by the cut on the head. I noticed her nostrils were filled with dirt and cinders and there were several discolorations. I noticed a piece of cord around her neck, the kind we used in the pencil factory. I said it looked like a little girl that came to the factory the day before. They had already told me it was Mary Phagan. We went to the factory and by examining the payroll I found that Mary Phagan had drawn her pay the day before and that the amount was $1.20."
"As we went into the factory I noticed Mr. Darley going in. We went to the office and I found Newt Lee in the custody of the officers. They told me they wanted to go down into the basement. I got the elevator key, but when I tried to start the elevator machinery I found I could not and I told Mr. Darley to see if he could start it."
Admits Nervousness And Defends Himself.
"He started the car, and when we got further down I found that one of the chains had slipped. They showed me where the body was found, where the shoe was found and pointed out every thing that was at that time known. After looking about the basement we got some nails and a hammer, and Mr. Darley nailed up the back door. Back upstairs Mr. Darley, Chief Lanford and myself went on a tour of inspection of the three upper floors. We went through the metal room, the same metal room that has figured so prominently in this trial, and neither Mr. Darley nor myself noticed anything particular on that floor. Nor did Sergeant Lanford, chief of the Atlanta detective force."
"We went to the time clock. I took out the slip and a casual note of this ship would indicate nothing was on it. There was something on it. It had been partially rubbed out. It could not be rubbed out altogether without rubbing out the printed lines. I did write with a pencil across the face of it, '8:26 a. m.' We noticed a slip but overlooked any skips. I folded the time slip as it is now and handed it to Chief Lanford. Now, gentlemen, I have heard a great deal during this trial about nervousness."
"I was nervous. I was completely unstrung. Imagine yourself called from sound slumber in the early hours of the morning, whisked through the chill morning air without breakfast, to go into that undertaking establishment and have the light suddenly flashed on a scene like that. To see that little girl on the dawn of womanhood so cruelly murdered-it was a scene that would have melted stone. Is it any wonder I was nervous?"
"I got in an automobile and sat on Mr. Darley's knee. I was trembling, perhaps. Later Sunday morning, I went to the home of Mr. Sig Montag and told him what had occurred. I got home about 11 o'clock. My wife and I went over to my sister-in-law's, Mrs. Ursenbach's, and with a number of friends we discussed the tragedy."
"We went back home to dinner and mentioned there the terrible crime. After dinner I read a short time and about 10 minutes to 3 o'clock caught a car downtown."
"The conversation on the car was about the little girl that had been found dead in the factory. At 3:10 o'clock I went back to the undertaking establishment and found Joe Stelka there."
"On Monday I went to the police station with Darley and he said he would like to talk to Newt Lee alone. We were shown the two notes found by the side of the slain girl."
Frank then described the notes.
"Now, on one of the notes there was an erasure, but the tracing was still discernable. It was January 11, 1912. The order number was very indistinct, but it was evidently an old serial number."
"Returning to my home at 4:15 I met Mr. Haas and he asked me about the murder. Several people on the street also asked me."
"I remained at home until 5 o'clock, then I went to Mr. Montag's home and made a report of the tragedy to him. From there I went to the home of Mr. Marcus where I had received a telephone message from my wife, and I went by there to get her.
"At supper that night the conversation was again about the murder. After supper I read the paper. I called up Mr. Marcus and asked him if he would come down. He said he could not."
"Mr. and Mrs. Selig had a party that night. About 10 o'clock, my wife and I went up to bed. Next morning before I had finished dressing, the door bell rang. It was Detectives Black and Hazelett. They said they wanted me to go to the police station with them."
Kept in Ignorance of Charge Against Him.
"I went and on the way I asked them what was the trouble. They said Chief Lanford would tell me.
"I arrived at the police station and sat in an outer office for probably an hour without seeing Chief Lanford. Near 9 o'clock, Mr. Sel Montag and Mr. Herbert Haas came down. Near 10 o'clock I saw Mr. Rosser. He came in and said, "Hello boys, what's the trouble.'
"Mr. Haas took him off to one side. Chief Lanford came out and said to me: 'Come in here.'"
"I went into his office. He handed me the time slips and if I am not mistaken this same time slip had the figures still unerased: '8:26 a. m.'"
"I took the slip and examined it closely, discovering the slips. There seemed to be some altercation about Mr. Rosser getting into the room with me. I heard him say: 'I am going into that room. That man is my client.' Chief Beavers asked me if I would give him a statement."
"I heard Mr. Rosser say: 'Why, it's preposterous. The man who did that would have signs on his body.' I jumped up and, opening my clothes, let the detectives see for themselves."
"I then gave them a statement, willingly and freely and without any reluctance. Then one of them said something about examining my linen at my home. I knew that none of it had gone to the laundry at that time and invited the detectives to make a search, which they did. Mr. Herbert Schiff went with them. They were very well satisfied with the search, or rather, they found nothing.
Employed Pinkertons To Aid the Police.
"That afternoon I telephoned Mr. Schiff to get Mr. Montag's permission to employ the Pinkertons to aid the police. I told him I would be down about 3 o'clock.
"I went around to Mr. Wolfsheimers, got into his automobile and went down town. I saw Mr. Schiff, Mr. Darley and a number of others, including Mr. Quinn.
"Mr. Quinn said he wanted to take me back to the metal room where it was claimed blood spots had been discovered and where the hair on the lathe was discovered by Mr. Barrett.
"I examined them closely, particularly the spots. I did not examine them standing up. I got down on my knees and examined them with a strong electric flashlight and I arrived at certain conclusions.
"That floor is grease, soap and dirt covered to a thickness varying from a quarter to half an inch.
"To return to that spot. I don't claim it was not blood. The space where these spots were adjoins the ladies' dressing room. There have been accidents which may not have been brought out in this trial. We do not report every time one of the employees cuts his finger.
"There are all sorts of paints around the factory. I have seen girls drop bottles in the hall, not exactly at that point, but near there. But the point about those spots is that when I examined them there was over them an accumulation of dirt not of days or weeks, but of at least three months.
Phoned to Prevent Alarm of Family.
"The white stuff was not fresh. It was dry. And another thing: if that compound had been put on the blood fresh, it would have been pink and not the white that it was.
"I returned after making this examination from which I noticed two or three or four chips had been knocked up, the boys told me, by the police that morning. I returned to my office and gathered up what papers I had to take over to Montag Brothers, and I took over the financial report which I had made out the Saturday afternoon previous, and I talked it over with Mr. Sig Montag."
"I had a good long conversation with Mr. Montag with reference to the occurrences that morning, and we decided that since the papers had stated that I was being detained at headquarters, it would be best to tell my uncle, who was ill and who is an elderly man, being over 70 years of age, and who was on the point of taking a trip to Europe, and whom I didn't want unnecessarily alarmed by seeing in the papers that I was detained."
"So I wrote a telegram to Mr. Adolph Montag informing him that I was no longer in custody, that I was all right and that he could communicate that to my uncle. That was so that my uncle should not get hold of an Atlanta paper and see that I was in custody and be unnecessarily alarmed.
"I returned from Montag Brothers' to the pencil factory, being accompanied by one of the traveling men, Mr. Hines (Mr. Sol Hines), and on my arrival at the factory I went up into the office and distributed the various papers all over the factory to be acted on the next day. In a few minutes Mr. Harry Scott, of the Pinkerton detectives, came in and I took him aside into my office, my private office, and spoke to him in the presence of Mr. M. V. Darley and Mr. Herbert Schiff.
Told of Mrs. White Seeing a Negro.
"I told him that I expected that he had seen what had happened at the pencil factory by reading the newspapers and knew all the details. He said he didn't read the newspapers and didn't know the details, so I sat down and gave him all the details that I could, and in addition I told him something which Mr. Darley had that afternoon communicated to me, viz, that Mrs. White had told him that on going into the factory at about 12 o'clock noon on Saturday, April 26, she had seen some negro down by the elevator shaft. Mr. Darley had told me this and I just told this to Mr. Scott.
"After I told Mr. Scott all that I could, I took him around the building, took him first back to the metal room and showed him the place where the hair had been found, looked at the machinery and at the lathe, looked at the table on which the lathe stands, and the lathe bed and the floor underneath the lathe, and there wasn't a spot, much less a blood spot underneath. I showed him the other spot in front of the dressing room, and I took him to the fourth floor and showed him where I had seen White and Denham a little before 1 the first time and about 3 the second time.
"Then I took him down into the basement and made a thorough search of the basement, and that included an examination of the elevator well which was at the bottom of the elevator shaft.
"I noticed Mr. Scott was foraging around down there and he picked up two or three or maybe four articles and put them in his pocket, and one of them I specially noticed was a piece of cord exactly like that which had been found around the little girl's neck.
Showed Where Girl's Hat Was Found.
"We then went back and I showed him where the officer said the slipper had been found, the hat had been found and the little girl's body was located. I showed him, in fact, everything that the officers had showed us. Then I opened the back door and we made a thorough search of the alleyway and went up and down that alleyway to Hunter street and down Hunter to Forsyth and up Forsyth in front of the Pencil Factory.
"In front of the Pencil Factory I had quite a little talk with Mr. Scott as to the rates of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. He told me what they were and I had Mr. Schiff to telephone to Mr. Montag to find out if those rates were satisfactory. He phoned back the answer that he would engage them for a few days at any rate. Mr. Scott then said: "Well, I don't need anything more," and he said: "The Pinkertons in this case, according to their usual custom in ferreting out the perpetrator of this crime, will work hand in hand with the city officers." I said: "All right, that suits me," and he went on his way.
"About that time my father-in-law joined the group over in front of the factory, and after talking for some time my father-in-law and I left and we arrived home about 6:30, I should judge, and found there my mother-in- law and my wife and Minola Mc Knight, and we had supper. After supper my two brothers-in-law and their wives came over to visit with us and they staid until about 10 o'clock, after which my wife and I retired.
Tells of His Arrest as Suspect.
"On Tuesday morning I arose some time between seven and seven-thirty, leisurely dressed and took my breakfast and caught the 8:10 car coming toward town, the Georgia avenue car, and when I went to get on the car I met a young man by the name of Dickler, and I remember paying the fare for both of us.
"When I arrived at the pencil factory, about 8:30, I immediately entered upon my routine work, sending the various orders to the various places in the factory where they were due to go, and about 9:30 I went on my usual trip over to Montag Brothers to see the general manager. After staying over there a short while I returned, in company with another one of their traveling men, Mr. Jordan. At the corner of Forsyth and Hunter street I met up with a cousin of my wife's, a Mr. Selig, and we had a drink in Cruickshank's soda fount, at the corner of Hunter and Forsyth.
"Then I went up into the factory and separated the papers I had brought back with me from Montag Brothers, putting them in the proper places, and sending the proper papers to the different places. I was working along in the regular routine of my work, in the factory and about the office, and a little later Detectives Scott and Black came up to the factory and said: "Mr. Frank, we want you to go down to headquarters with us," and I went with them.
"We went down to headquarters, and I have been incarcerated ever since. We went down to headquarters in an automobile, and they took me up to Chief Lanford's office."
"I sat up there and answered any questions that he desired, and I had been sitting there sometime when Detective Scott and Detective Black came back with a bundle under their arm. They showed me a little piece of material of some shirt, and asked me if I had a shirt of that material. I looked at it, and told them I didn't think I ever had a shirt of that description."
Lee Said He Had Shirt Like It.
"In the meantime they brought in Newt Lee, the night watchman, brought him up from a cell and showed him the same sample. He looked at it and immediately recognized it. He said he had a shirt like that, but he didn't remember having worn it for two years; if I remember correctly, that is what he said. Detectives Scott and Black then opened the package they had and disclosed the full shirt of that material that had all the appearance of being freshly stained with blood, and had a very distinct odor. Newt Lee was taken back to the cell.
"After a time Chief Lanford came over to me and began an examination of my face and of my head and my hands and my arms. I suppose he was trying to hunt to see if he could find any scratches. I stayed in there until about 12 o'clock, when Mr. Rosser came in and spoke to the detectives or to Chief Beavers.
"After talking with Chief Beavers he came over to me and said to me that Chief Beavers thought it better that I should stay down there. He says: 'He thinks it better that you be detained at headquarters, but if you desire, you don't need to be locked up in a cell; you can engage a supernumerary policeman who will guard you and give you the freedom of the building.' I immediately acquiesced, supposing that I couldn't do anything else, and Mr. Rosser left."
"Now, after this time-it was about this time they took me from upstairs down to the district sergeant's desk and Detectives Starnes (John N. Starnes, I think his name is) came in and dictated from the original notes that were found near the body-dictated to me to get a sample of my handwriting. Have you got those photographs there? (Photographs handed to the defendant). I wrote this note at the dictation of Mr. Starnes, which was given to me word by word, and, of course, I wrote it slowly. When a word was spelled differently, they usually stopped-take this word 'buy' for instance, the detective told me how that was spelled so they could see my exact letters and compare with the original note."
Photograph of Note Is Shown.
"Now, I had no hesitation in giving him a specimen of my handwriting. Now, this photograph is a reproduction of the note. You see J. N. Starnes in the corner here; that is Detective Starnes, and then is dated here; I put that there myself so I would be able to recognize it again in case they tried any erasures or anything like that. It is a photographic reproduction of something that was written in pencil, as near as one can judge-a photographic reproduction of the note that I wrote. Detective Starnes then took me down to the desk sergeant, where they searched me and entered my name on the book under a charge of suspicion."
"Then they took me back into a small room, and I sat there for a while my father-in-law was arranging for a supernumerary policeman to guard me for the night. They took me then to a room on the top of the building, and I sat in the room there and either read magazines or newspapers and talked to my friends who came to see me until I was about to retire at midnight."
"I had the cover of my cot turned back and I was going to bed when Detective Scott and Detective Black, at midnight, Tuesday, April 29, came in and said: 'Mr. Frank, we would like to talk to you a little bit. Come in and talk to us.' I says: 'Sure, I will be only too glad to.' I went with them to a little room on the top floor of the headquarters. In that room were Detective Scott, Detective Black and myself. They stressed the possibility of couples having been let into the factory by the night watchman, Newt Lee."
"I told them that I didn't know anything about it; that if I had, I certainly would have put a stop to it long ago. They said: 'Mr. Frank, you have never talked alone with Newt Lee. You are his boss and he respects you. See what you can do with him. We can't get anything more out of him. See if you can.' I says: 'All right; I understand what you mean. I will do my best,' because I was only too willing to help."
"Black says: 'Now, put it strong to him, put it up strong to him, and tell him to cough up and tell all he knows. Tell him that you are here and that he is here, and that he better open up and tell all he knows about happenings at the pencil factory that Saturday night, or you will both go to hell.' Those were the detective's exact words."
Tells of Questioning Newt Lee Alone.
"I told Mr. Black I caught his meaning, and in a few minutes afterward Detective Starnes brought up Newt Lee from the cell room. They put Newt Lee into a room and handcuffed him to a chair. I spoke to him at some length in there, but I couldn't get anything additional out of him. He said he knew nothing about couples coming in there at night, and, remembering the instructions Mr. Black had given me, I said: 'Now, Newt, you are here and I am here, and you had better open up and tell all you know, and tell the truth, and tell the full truth, because you will get us both into lots of trouble if you don't tell all you know.'"
"He answered me like an old negro: 'Before God, Mr. Frank, I am telling you the truth and I have told you all I know.' And the conversation ended right there.
"Within a minute or two afterwards the detectives came back into the room, that is, Detective Scott and Detective Black, and then began questioning Newt Lee, and then it was that I had my initiation into the third degree of the Atlanta Police Department."
"The way that fellow Black cursed at that poor old negro, Newt Lee, was something awful. He shrieked at him, he hallooed at him, he cursed and did everything but beat him. Then they took Newt Lee down to a cell and I went to my cot in the outer room."
"Now, before closing my statement, I wish to touch upon a couple of insinuations and accusations other than the one on the bill of indictment that have been leveled against me so far during the trial."
Why He Didn't Talk to Sleuths.
"The first is this, the fact that I would not talk to the detectives; that I would not see Jim Conley. Well, let's look into the facts a few minutes and see whether there was any reason for that, or if there be any truth in that statement.
"On Sunday morning I was taken down to the undertakers' establishment, to the factory, and I went to headquarters; I went to headquarters the second time, going there willingly without anybody coming for me. On each occasion I answered them frankly and unreservedly, giving them the benefit of the best of my knowledge, answering all and any of their questions, and discussing the matter generally with them."
"On Monday they came for me again. I went down and answered any and all of their questions and gave them a statement which they took down in writing, because I thought it was right and I was only too glad to do it. I answered them and told them all that I knew, answering all questions."
"Tuesday I was down at police station again, and answered every question and discussed the matter freely and openly with them, not only with the police, but with the reporters who were around there; talked to anybody who wanted to talk with me about it, and I have even talked with them at midnight when I was just about to go to bed. Midnight was the time they chose to talk to me, but even at such an outlandish hour I was still willing to help them, and at their instigation I spoke to Newt Lee alone, but what was the result? They commenced and they grilled that poor negro and put words into his mouth that I never said, and twisted not alone the English, but distorted my meaning."
"I just decided then and there that if that was the line of conduct they were going to pursue I would wash my hands of them. I didn't want to have anything to do with them. On the afternoon of May 1 I was taken to the Fulton County Tower."
How Detectives Drove Him to Silence.
"On May 3 Detectives Black and Scott came up to my cell in the Tower and wanted to speak to me alone without any of my friends around. I said all right, I wanted to hear what they had to say that time. Then Black tore off something like this: 'Mr. Frank, we are suspicious of that man Darley. We are watching him; we have been shadowing him. Now, open up and tell us what you know about him.' I said: 'Gentlemen, you have come to the wrong man, because Mr. Darley is the soul of honor and is as true as steel. He would not do a crime like that; he couldn't do it.' And Black chirped up:"
"'Come on, Scott, nothing doing,' and off they go."
"That showed me how much reliance could be placed in either the city detectives or our own Pinkerton detectives, and I treated such conduct with silence, and it was for this reason, gentlemen, that I didn't see Conley, surrounded with a bevy of city detectives and Mr. Scott, because I knew that there would not be an action so trifling, that there was not an action so natural, but that they would distort and twist it to be used against me, and that there was not a word that I could utter that they would not deform and twist and distort to be used against me, but I told them even then if they got the permission-I told them through my friend Mr. Klein-that if they got the permission of Mr. Rosser to come, I would speak to them, would speak to Conley and face him or anything they wanted-if they got that permission or brought Mr. Rosser. Mr. Rosser was on that day up at Tallulah Falls trying a case."
"Now, that is the reason, gentlemen, that I have kept my silence-not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't want to have things twisted."
"Then that other implication, the one of knowing that Conley could write and that I didn't tell the authorities."
Tells of Showing Conley Could Write.
"Let's look into that."
"On May 1 I was taken to the Tower. On the same date, as I understand it, the negro Conley was arrested. I didn't know anybody had any suspicions about him. His name was not in the papers. He was an unknown quantity. The police were not looking out for him; they were looking out for me. They didn't want him, and I had no inkling that he ever said he couldn't write.
"I was sitting in that cell in the Fulton County Jail-it was along about April 12, April 13 or April 14 that Mr. Leo Gottheimer, a salesman for the National Pencil Company, came running over, and says: 'Leo, the Pinkerton detectives have suspicions of Conley. He keeps saying he can't write; these fellows over at the factory know well enough that he can write, can't he?'"
"I said: 'Sure he can write.'"
"'We can't prove it. The nigger says he can't write and we feel that he can write.'"
"I said, 'I know he can write. I have received many notes from him asking me to loan him money. I have received too many notes from him not to know that he can not write. In other words, I have received notes signed with his name, purporting to have been written by him, though I have never seen him to this date use a pencil.'"
"I thought a while and then I said: 'Now, I tell you. If you will look into a drawer in the safe you will find the card of a jeweler from whom Conley bought a watch on the installment plan. Now, perhaps if you go to that jeweler you may find some sort of a receipt that Conley had to give and be able to prove that Conley can write.'"
Pinkertons Found Conley's Contracts.
"Well, Gottheimer took that information back to the Pinkertons. They did just as I said; they got the contract with Conley's name on it, got back evidently to Scott, and then he told the negro to write. Gentlemen, the man who found out or paved the way to find out that Jim Conley could write is sitting right here in this chair. That is the truth about it."
"Then that other insinuation, an insinuation that is so dastardly that it is beyond the appreciation of a human being, that is, that my wife didn't visit me. Now the truth of the matter is this, that on April 29, the date I was taken in custody at police headquarters, my wife was there to see me. She was downstairs on the first floor. I was up on the top floor. She was there almost in hysterics, having been brought there by her two brothers-in-law and her father."
"Rabbi Marx was with me at the time. I consulted with him as to the advisability of allowing my dear wife to come up to the top floor to see me in those surroundings with city detectives, reporters and snap-shotters. I thought I would save her that humiliation and that harsh sight, because I expected any day to be turned loose and be returned once more to her side at home."
"Gentlemen, we did all we could do to restrain her in the first days when I was down at the jail from coming on alone down to the jail, but she was perfectly willing even to be locked up with me and share my incarceration."
Says He Knows Nothing of Crime.
"Gentlemen, I know nothing whatever of the death of little Mary Phagan. I had no part in causing her death nor do I know how she came to her death after she took her money and left my office. I never even saw Conley in the factory or anywhere else on that date, April 26, 1913.
"The statement of the witness Dalton is utterly false as far as coming to my office and being introduced to me by the woman, Daisy Hopkins, is concerned. If Dalton was ever in the factory building with any woman, I didn't know it. I never saw Dalton in
(Continued on Page 13, Column 1.)
PAGE 88, Column 1
FRANK HIS OWN BEST WITNESS, SAYS COUNSEL
State Fights Hard to Overcome Impression Accused Made by Calm Statement.
Continued from Page 5.
my life to know him until this crime.
"In reply to the statement of Miss Irene Jackson, she is wholly mistaken in supposing that I ever went to a ladies' dressing room for the purpose of making improper gaze into the girls' room. I have no recollection of occasions of which she speaks, but I do know that that ladies' dressing room on the fourth floor is a mere room in which the girls change their outer clothing.
"There was no bath or toilet in that room, and it had windows opening onto the street. There was no lock on the door, and I know I never went into that room at any hour when the girls were dressing. These girls were supposed to be at their work at 7 o'clock. Occasionally I have had reports that the girls were flirting from this dressing room through the windows with men.
"It is also true that sometimes the girls would loiter in this room when they ought to have been doing their work. It is possible that on some occasions I looked into this room to see if the girls were doing their duty and were not using this room as a place for loitering and for flirting.
Says Negro's Story Is Tissue of Lies.
"These girls were not supposed to be dressing in that room after 7 o'clock, and I know that I never looked into that room at any hour when I had any reason to suppose that there were girls dressing therein.
"The statement of the negro Conley is a tissue of lies from first to last. I know nothing whatever of the cause of the death of Mary Phagan, and Conley's statement as to his coming up and helping me dispose of the body, or that I had anything to do with her or to do with him that day, is a monstrous lie.
"The story as to women coming into the factory with me for immoral purposes is a base lie, and the few occasions that he claims to have seen me in indecent positions with women is a lie so vile that I have no language with which fitly to denounce it.
"I have no rich relatives in Brooklyn, N. Y. My father is an invalid. My father and mother together are people of very limited means, who have barely enough upon which to live. My father is not able to work. I have no relative who has any means at all, except Mr. M. Frank, who lives in Atlanta. Nobody has raised a fund to pay the fees of my attorneys. These fees have been paid by the sacrifice in part of the small property which my parents possess.
"Gentlemen, some newspaper men have called me 'the silent man in the tower.' I kept my silence and my counsel advisedly until the proper time and place. The time is now, the place is here, and I have told you the truth, the whole truth."
Frank bowed slightly to the twelve men to whom he had addressed this remarkable statement and then stepped down from the stand. Court adjourned until 9 o'clock Tuesday morning.