00:00Girl will swear office of Frank deserted between 12.05 and 12.10, Atlanta Constitution, Saturday,
00:05May 10, 1913, testimony considered important by officers, because Frank at the inquest stated
00:11on stand that he did not leave between noon on Saturday and 12.25, when Quinn came to see him.
00:17She went to factory to get pay envelope positive of the time. New evidence just submitted to
00:21Detective Department leads Chief Lanford to believe that Mary Fagan was murdered in the
00:25basement. Woman says she heard screams on Saturday afternoon. A new and important witness has been
00:31found in the Mary Fagan murder mystery. She is Monteen Stover, a girl of 14 years, a former
00:36employee of the pencil factory. After already having attested to an affidavit now in possession
00:41of the Solicitor General, she will testify before the grand jury that on the day of Mary Fagan's
00:47disappearance, she entered the pencil plant at 12.05 o'clock in the afternoon and found the office
00:52deserted. Also, that she remained five minutes, during which time no one appeared. The building
00:58seemed empty of human occupants, she declares, and no sounds came from any part. Expecting to have
01:03found the superintendent, she says she went through both the outer and inner offices in search of Frank.
01:08Testimony important, declare police. The police say that this is valuable evidence because of the
01:13testimony of Frank at the inquest, to the effect that he remained in his office throughout the time
01:18between 12 noon and the time at which Quinn arrived, 35 minutes after 12. Also, they recount his statement
01:26that Mary Fagan entered the building at 12.05, the time the Stover girl says she arrived. The latter
01:32states she went to draw her pay envelope. She is positive of the time at which she appeared in the
01:36office, because she looked at the time clock on the wall, fronting the entrance to the outer office.
01:41She was anxious, she says, to ascertain if it was time to draw the pay for which she had come.
01:46In telling of the value of the Stover girl's testimony, the police refer to Frank's testimony,
01:51which was recorded as follows.
01:54What time did Miss Hall, the stenographer, leave the office Saturday, April 26th?
01:59About 12 noon. I recollect the time because I heard the noon whistles blow.
02:04What did you do when she departed? Started work on my books. Were you alone? So far as I knew.
02:10Did anyone come in later? Yes. Shortly after 12 o'clock, the little girl who was killed entered my
02:15office. When Mary Fagan reached office. Can't you estimate the time? Yes, it was about five minutes
02:21after twelve. How did you fix the time? It seemed that late. What time do you say Lemmy Quinn arrived?
02:28About 12.25 o'clock. Were you out of the office from the time the noon whistles blew until Quinn
02:33came?
02:34No. Monteen Stover was seen by a Constitution reporter last night at her home, 171 South Forsyth Street.
02:42She is a daughter by first marriage of Mrs. Homer Edmondson, a boarding housekeeper of that address.
02:49She is now employed with a Whitehall Street Department store as salesgirl. The detectives
02:54discovered her last Saturday, when she came again to the pencil factory to draw the pay she had missed
02:58on the previous weekend. As she and her mother entered the office, they were questioned by two
03:03officers who were stationed in the plant to procure whatever evidence they might find.
03:08Monteen told them of her visit on Memorial Day and gave them her name and address. Monday morning she
03:13was taken to the office of the Solicitor General, where an affidavit was attested to. Went to factory
03:19to get her pay. I went to the pencil factory that Saturday, she told the reporter, to draw my pay.
03:26The front door and the door leading to the second floor were unlocked. The whole place was awfully quiet
03:31and kinder scary as I went up the steps. The minute I got to the office floor I looked at
03:36the clock to
03:36see if it was time to draw my pay. I would have looked at it anyhow, I suppose, as it
03:41was always
03:42customary for me to punch it the first thing upon entering the place to go to work. It was five
03:46minutes after twelve. I was sure Mr. Frank would be in his office, so I stepped in. He wasn't in
03:51the
03:52outer office, so I stepped into the inner one. He wasn't there either. I thought he might have been
03:56somewhere around the building, so I waited. When he didn't show up in a few minutes, I went to the
04:01door and peered further down the floor among the machinery. I couldn't see him there. I stayed until
04:06the clock hand was pointing exactly to ten minutes after twelve. Then I went downstairs. The building
04:12was quiet and I couldn't hear a sound. I didn't see anybody. As I walked from the building out to
04:17the
04:17street, I saw four young boys standing close to the entrance. When I first came into the place,
04:22they were standing on the corner of Forsyth and Hunter Streets. They were only young boys.
04:27Detectives wanted testimony a secret. Mrs. Edmondson, Monteen's mother, said to the reporter,
04:32I regretted exceedingly that Monteen will have to testify in this case, but if it will help clear
04:37up the mystery, I will be mighty glad. Also, I'm grieved that it will get in the newspapers.
04:42The solicitor and detective seemed extremely anxious that her testimony be kept secret.
04:47Monteen had worked at the pencil factory for a year. She spoke highly of the suspected
04:52superintendent and said that he was as popular with his employees as any employer
04:56whom she had ever known. She did not know the Fagan girl, and said she had never even seen her.
05:02After scouring the vicinity of Mapleton and Smyrna for miles around, the police have finally
05:07found the mysterious girl in the red dress, who was reported to have visited the pencil factory
05:13with Mary Fagan at the time of her disappearance. She is Mrs. Nancy Caldwell, of 10 Gray Street,
05:18a former companion of the new paragraph, started, misprint, how report started, started. The chief
05:26of police and two detectives, after an auto trip to Marietta, were informed she lived in Atlanta,
05:31and after examining her thoroughly, learned that she had not seen Mary Fagan since a year ago.
05:35The rumor of her association with Mary on Memorial Day started in a store near Mapleton by a girl who
05:41is
05:41said to have asserted her knowledge of a girl who accompanied Mary to the pencil factory.
05:45Before her marriage, Mrs. Caldwell was Miss Nancy Summerhill, who lived eight miles from Smyrna.
05:50She and the victim were intimate friends until 1912, when both moved to Atlanta.
05:55She was seen by a reporter for the Constitution late last night.
05:59No, I wasn't with Mary that Saturday, she said. I wish I had been. I might be able to throw
06:04some
06:05light on the mystery. If I had gone with her to the factory building and had experienced all I am
06:10reported to have experienced, I'd have said so long ago, says she heard screams.
06:14Evidence that Mary Fagan was murdered in the pencil factory basement in which her lifeless form was
06:19found was submitted by Chief Lanford to Solicitor Hugh Dorsey Friday, in the shape of an affidavit
06:25attested by a young woman pedestrian who passed the building at 4.30 o'clock the Saturday of the crime.
06:31She testifies to this effect, that at 4.30 o'clock Saturday afternoon, April 26th, as she passed the
06:38Forsyth Street entrance to the National Pencil Factory, she was attracted by shrill screams of a girl
06:43emanating apparently from the basement of the plant building. So tragic did the cries sound that
06:49she stopped. Three sharp, piercing screams came in succession, then died away as though having been
06:55stifled. The deponent says that although her experience preyed depressingly on her mind,
07:00she did not consider it important enough to report to police authorities until she read of the Fagan
07:05murder. Her testimony has been in the hands of Chief Lanford since last Monday, believes girl was
07:10alive. This throws a new aspect on the mystery. The problem of the bloody hairs and stains found on
07:16the second floor confront the sleuths. It has heretofore been the accepted theory that the
07:21murder was committed in that part of the building. Chief Lanford, however, believes that the girl was
07:26still alive when her body was lowered to the cellar. Neither Chief Lanford nor the Solicitor would
07:31reveal the name of the woman. Her home is on Haines Street, but further than this, they would tell
07:36nothing. This affidavit exists, though, the Chief states positively, and will be delivered to the
07:42grand jury. Many new developments arose Friday. With the case completely in its hands, the state busted
07:49itself throughout the day with examining one hundred or more witnesses who were summoned to the office of
07:55Solicitor Dorsey. Solicitor Dorsey announced Friday morning that he had obtained one of America's
08:01best detectives to assist him. He would not disclose the name, saying that the new detective would work
08:06secretly on the case. It is rumored that Detective Burns has been employed to conduct the investigation.
08:12Many detectives on trail. The entire staff of detectives at police headquarters, numbering 30,
08:17is still engaged in running down every available clue. The Pinkertons and other private agencies
08:23continue at work on the mystery. No pains or expense are being spared. The grand jury, according to
08:29Solicitor Dorsey, is likely to begin its investigation any time after Friday. It is thought its action
08:35will be taken next Monday. Shelby Smith, chairman of the Fulton County Commission, in speaking of the
08:41solicitor's probe, said it would be through and exhaustive. No expense will be too great, no work
08:47too hard and exacting. We have instructed Solicitor Dorsey that he will be back to the last ditch in the
08:52money to be spent. He has the sanction and support of the county board in every particular.
08:57Newt Lee was interviewed for the second time by Solicitor Dorsey Friday afternoon. Mr. Dorsey
09:03would not discuss the lines along which the Negro was quizzed. The grand jury, which has been
09:07empaneled for the present term, is composed of many prominent and influential residents and
09:12businessmen. It is as follows. L. H. Beck, Foreman, F. P. H. Acres, R. R. Nash, Charles Hines, H. G.
09:21Hubbard,
09:21John D. Wing, R. A. Redding, V. H. Kriegshaber, R. F. Sams, A. D. Adair, S. C. Glass, J. G.
09:28Bell,
09:29Cephas M. Brown, George A. Gershon, A. L. Guthman, Walker Dunson, W. L. Perroy, C. A. Cowles,
09:35Saul Benjamin, R. P. Bell, H. M. Butel, W. A. Bosser, and Albert Royalson.
09:40M. Paul Williams.
Comments