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For Second Time in Less Than a Week, Physicians to Make Examination at the Graveside of Mary Phagan

REFUSE TO TELL WHY ACTION WILL BE TAKEN

Search for Finger Prints and New Wounds Is Reported Reason — Inquest Resumed Thursday — Strange Man Sought

The body of Mary Phagan is to be exhumed today for the second time. Bertillon and medical experts will conduct examinations for finger prints and wounds that may have been overlooked in prior examinations. Coroner Donehoo and Dr. H. F. Harris of the State Board of Health will be in charge of the proceedings.

The examination is scheduled to begin between 9 and 10 o'clock. The coroner, Dr. Harris, and members of their staffs are to depart at daybreak by automobile and are expected to return by noon. The examination will take place at the graveside.

This action has been taken at the request of Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey. Neither he nor Dr. Harris would speak when questioned by a Constitution reporter on Tuesday night. Although both admitted that a second exhumation was planned, neither would disclose their reason for it.

Dr. Harris Is Non Committal

"I am not in a position to talk," said Dr. Harris. "Under other circumstances, I would be glad to give any information at my command. In this case, though, I have been urged to secrecy and cannot violate my trust."

The Solicitor offered the following statement:

"I cannot talk. The body will be exhumed, it is true, at my request. To reveal further plans would be ruinous."

The Constitution learned from a responsible source, however, that the exhumation is intended to allow for an examination of possible finger prints and wounds on the body. It is also rumored that a Bertillon expert, summoned by the authorities, arrived in Atlanta on Tuesday night and will inspect the body for finger prints. Should such evidence be found, photographs will be taken and placed in the hands of the Solicitor General.

The examination for wounds is to be conducted by Dr. Harris. When asked whether his analysis of the deceased girl's stomach had been completed, he replied:

Examination Not Complete

"The examination has not been completed. It is well under way, however, and within a few days I will be prepared to submit the results before the coroner's jury."

When asked whether he could determine at this stage whether traces of drugs or other substances were present, he answered: "I am not prepared to talk on that subject. I will be unable to make a statement until I am called before the coroner's inquest."

The body was first exhumed last Sunday night under the supervision of Dr. Harris, Coroner Donehoo, and County Physician John W. Hurt. The stomach was removed and placed in Dr. Harris's laboratory, where it is being analyzed for traces of drugs or poison.
Transcript
00:00Officials plan to exhume body of victim today. Atlanta Constitution Wednesday, May 7, 1913.
00:06For second time in less than a week. Physicians to make examination at the graveside of Mary
00:11Fagan. Refuse to tell why action will be taken. Search for fingerprints and new wounds is reported.
00:17Reason inquest resumed Thursday. Strange man sought. Mary Fagan's body will be exhumed today
00:23for the second time. Bertillion and medical experts will make examinations for fingerprints
00:27and wounds which may have been overlooked before. Coroner Donhoo and Dr. H.F. Harris of the State
00:33Board of Health will be in charge. Between 9 and 10 o'clock is the scheduled time. The coroner and
00:39Dr. Harris and others of their staffs will leave at daybreak this morning in automobiles. They are
00:44expected to return about noon. The examination will be at the graveside. This action is taken at the
00:50request of Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey. Neither he nor Dr. Harris would talk when questioned by a
00:55Constitution reporter last night. Although they admitted that a second exhumation was in view,
01:00they would not divulge their reason. Dr. Harris is non-committal. I am not in a position to talk,
01:06said Dr. Harris. Under other circumstances, I would be glad to give any information at my command.
01:11In this case, though, I have been urged to secrecy and cannot violate my trust. The Solicitor said,
01:18I cannot talk. The body will be exhumed, it is true, at my request. To reveal further plans would be
01:23ruinous. It was learned by the Constitution, however, that the body was to be exhumed for an
01:28examination for possible fingerprints and wounds. The information came from responsible source.
01:34It also is rumored that a Bertillion expert summoned by authorities arrived in Atlanta last
01:39night and will inspect the body for fingerprints. In case such evidence is revealed, photographs will
01:45be made and placed in hands of the Solicitor General. The examination for wounds will be made by Dr.
01:50Harris. When he was asked if his analysis of the dead girl's stomach had been finished, he said,
01:56Examination not complete. The examination has not been completed. It is well underway, however,
02:01and within a few days I will be prepared to submit the result before the coroner's jury.
02:06He was asked if he could determine at this stage of the examination whether or not there were traces
02:11of drugs or dope. He answered, I am not prepared to talk on that subject. I will be unable to
02:16make a
02:17statement until I am called before the coroner's inquest. The body was first exhumed last Sunday
02:22night under supervision of Dr. Harris, Coroner Don Hu, and County Physician John W. Hurt. The
02:28stomach was removed and placed in the laboratory of Dr. Harris, who is analyzing it for traces of
02:33drugs or poison. It came as a surprise. It was not made known until 2.50 o'clock Monday afternoon
02:39when
02:39the coroner and Dr. Hurt appeared at the inquest held at police headquarters. It was intended to keep the
02:44second exhumation a secret, in accordance with plans of the solicitor. Seek strange man.
02:50Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey is striving to learn the identity of the strange man who
02:54participated in a sensational scene at the terminal station last Saturday week with a girl believed to
03:00have been Mary Fagan. It was learned Tuesday that this man's suitcase, which was checked overnight in
03:06the parcel check room, was tagged with a label bearing the lettering National Pencil Company,
03:11Atlanta. Also, it was disclosed that, following the scene created by him and the girl, he cancelled
03:17his Pullman ticket for Saturday night, returning Sunday afternoon to engage a berth for that night.
03:23He left the station Saturday in company with the girl. Girl makes scene. As he has already been
03:29revealed, a youthful, well-dressed man wearing a straw hat and carrying a suitcase walked hurriedly from
03:34the waiting room of the terminal Saturday afternoon of the 26th, and made his way along the runway leading
03:40to the track stairways. As he reached the gateway of tracks number five and six, a pretty girl,
03:46about fourteen years old, clad in summer frock and wearing a dark blue straw hat, rushed from the
03:51waiting room and accosted him. She seemed angry. He dropped his case and led her away from the crowd,
03:57apparently to have a talk with her. The attention of a gateman, who had noticed the arrival of both
04:02the man and girl, was again attracted to them by loud exclamations from the girl. She was furious and
04:08tearful, while he was obviously trying to explain something. You want to leave me, you want to
04:13leave, she was heard to wail. I won't let you, you are doing wrong, you are, you know you are.
04:18Scene attracts attention. The scene attracted a considerable crowd. The man drew himself away,
04:24picked up his suitcase, and catching the tearful girl by the arm, moved with her to the window of
04:29the parcel checkroom. There he deposited the case. The operator of the checkroom states that he noticed
04:35the name of the pencil firm on a tag attached to the baggage, but thought nothing of it until
04:40several days later, when he read of the Fagan tragedy. The man and girl walked into the waiting
04:45room, where he went to the ticket window and cancelled the Pullman ticket he had obtained for
04:50a trip that afternoon. The agent could not recollect his destination. Immediately he and his companion
04:56left the station, and were last noticed as they walked across the plaza toward Mitchell Street.
05:01Sunday afternoon he returned alone to the terminal and obtained a Pullman berth for a journey that
05:06night. The ticket agent, it is said, will be able to identify him in the event he is located,
05:11and so will the parcel checkroom man. The description of the girl, as given by the gate men and man
05:17who
05:17checked the stranger's suitcase, fit aptly with that of the murdered girl. Neither saw her body,
05:23however, as it had been buried before news of the pencil plant tragedy refreshed their memory of the
05:28station incident. Coroner's inquest Thursday. A number of attaches to the pencil concern will
05:34probably be examined in the effort to learn the identity of the strange man at the terminal
05:38when the coroner's jury meets Thursday. The pencil company tag on the suitcase leads the solicitor and
05:44his staff to believe he was connected in some capacity with the plant. Dorsey makes denial.
05:49Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey declared yesterday that in speaking with Lemmy Quinn,
05:53foreman of the National Pencil Factory, about the Fagan murder case, that he had not asked Quinn if
05:59counsel had bribed him for his testimony. It is the last thing that would come into my mind,
06:04said the solicitor. I did ask Quinn about whom he had been talking with and asked him if anybody
06:09was paying him for his testimony, but I certainly did not mention counsel or anyone else in particular
06:14in regard to the case.
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