- 29 minutes ago
Sunday, June 1st, 1913
The Weak Points in the Negro's Story Are Shown in One Analysis and the Points That Would Seem to Add to Its Reasonableness Are Weighed in the Other.
Below are given analyses of the negro, James Conley's latest statement or confession from two viewpoints. In one analysis the negro's statement is weighed with the idea that Conley has not told the whole truth, that he is endeavoring to hide his own responsibility in an accusation of Mr. Frank, who is innocent of the crime, is the victim of a chain of circumstances which link his name with suspicion. In the other analysis Conley's confession is discussed from the standpoint of the man who regards it as being truthful and its points are argued from that partisan angle. The Journal presents these discussions without any wish to influence any reader to either view but simply for whatever news value they may have in throwing light on the case.
Conley's Story Is Unreasonable from This Viewpoint
Those who have all along argued that Superintendent Leo M. Frank could not have had any hand in the murder of Mary Phagan, the pencil factory girl, whose body was found in the factory basement on Sunday morning, April 27, are, since the confessions of James Conley, the negro sweeper, more than ever convinced that Frank is innocent.
They now hold to the theory that the negro not only took the girl's body to the factory basement and wrote the notes found beside it, as he says in his confession, but that he, and he alone, committed the murder.
Calling attention to the fact that Frank is an educated, gentle and refined man, and one whose past record and reputation are such as to win the respect and loyalty of his friends and acquaintances, all of whom still believe in him, despite certain unfortunate circumstances which militate against him, they make the flat assertion that Frank, being the man he is, could not have committed the brutal crime charged to him by the grand jury.
After asserting this proposition, those who believe in Frank's innocence and the negro's guilt undertake to analyze the evidence adduced at the coroner's inquest and the negro Conley's affidavit of confession. In doing this they seek to substantiate the statement made by Frank at the inquest and to point out the improbabilities and weakness of the negro's story.
Frank's Clear Statement.
Emphasis is laid upon the remarkably clear and unwavering detailed statement of Frank at the inquest, when for three hours he was put through a rapid fire cross-examination by the coroner, who was prompted by the solicitor general. Without hesitation, and without once entangling himself, it is claimed, Frank answered every question concerning even the most minute incidents in which he figured on Saturday, April 26, the day of the murder.
And it is pointed out that the other witnesses corroborated every material statement he made.
The Weak Points in the Negro's Story Are Shown in One Analysis and the Points That Would Seem to Add to Its Reasonableness Are Weighed in the Other.
Below are given analyses of the negro, James Conley's latest statement or confession from two viewpoints. In one analysis the negro's statement is weighed with the idea that Conley has not told the whole truth, that he is endeavoring to hide his own responsibility in an accusation of Mr. Frank, who is innocent of the crime, is the victim of a chain of circumstances which link his name with suspicion. In the other analysis Conley's confession is discussed from the standpoint of the man who regards it as being truthful and its points are argued from that partisan angle. The Journal presents these discussions without any wish to influence any reader to either view but simply for whatever news value they may have in throwing light on the case.
Conley's Story Is Unreasonable from This Viewpoint
Those who have all along argued that Superintendent Leo M. Frank could not have had any hand in the murder of Mary Phagan, the pencil factory girl, whose body was found in the factory basement on Sunday morning, April 27, are, since the confessions of James Conley, the negro sweeper, more than ever convinced that Frank is innocent.
They now hold to the theory that the negro not only took the girl's body to the factory basement and wrote the notes found beside it, as he says in his confession, but that he, and he alone, committed the murder.
Calling attention to the fact that Frank is an educated, gentle and refined man, and one whose past record and reputation are such as to win the respect and loyalty of his friends and acquaintances, all of whom still believe in him, despite certain unfortunate circumstances which militate against him, they make the flat assertion that Frank, being the man he is, could not have committed the brutal crime charged to him by the grand jury.
After asserting this proposition, those who believe in Frank's innocence and the negro's guilt undertake to analyze the evidence adduced at the coroner's inquest and the negro Conley's affidavit of confession. In doing this they seek to substantiate the statement made by Frank at the inquest and to point out the improbabilities and weakness of the negro's story.
Frank's Clear Statement.
Emphasis is laid upon the remarkably clear and unwavering detailed statement of Frank at the inquest, when for three hours he was put through a rapid fire cross-examination by the coroner, who was prompted by the solicitor general. Without hesitation, and without once entangling himself, it is claimed, Frank answered every question concerning even the most minute incidents in which he figured on Saturday, April 26, the day of the murder.
And it is pointed out that the other witnesses corroborated every material statement he made.
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00:00Conley's statement analyzed from two different angles. Atlanta Journal Sunday, June 1st, 1913.
00:07The weak points in the Negro story are shown in one analysis and the points that would seem to
00:12add to its reasonableness are weighed in the other. Below are given analyses of the Negro,
00:17James Conley's latest statement or confession from two viewpoints. In one analysis, the Negro's
00:22statement is weighed with the idea that Conley has not told the whole truth, that he is endeavoring
00:26to hide his own responsibility in an accusation of Mr. Frank, who is innocent of the crime,
00:32is the victim of a chain of circumstances which link his name with suspicion. In the other analysis,
00:38Conley's confession is discussed from the standpoint of the man who regards it as being truthful,
00:42and its points are argued from that partisan angle. The Journal presents these discussions
00:47without any wish to influence any reader to either view, but simply for whatever news value
00:52they may have in throwing light on the case.
00:57Conley's story is unreasonable from this viewpoint.
01:01Those who have all along argued that Superintendent Leo M. Frank could not have had any hand in the
01:06murder of Mary Fagan, the pencil factory girl, whose body was found in the factory basement on Sunday
01:12morning, April 27th, are, since the confessions of James Conley, the Negro sweeper, more than ever
01:19convinced that Frank is innocent. They now hold to the theory that the Negro not only took the girl's body
01:25to the factory basement and wrote the notes found beside it, as he says in his confession, but that he,
01:31and he alone, committed the murder.
01:34Calling attention to the fact that Frank is an educated, gentle, and refined man, and one whose past record and
01:40reputation are such as to win the respect and loyalty of his friends and acquaintances, all of whom still
01:46believe in him, despite certain unfortunate circumstances which militate against him, they make the flat assertion that
01:52Frank, being the man he is, could not have committed the brutal crime charged to him by the grand jury.
01:58After asserting this proposition, those who believe in Frank's innocence and the Negro's guilt, undertake to analyze the
02:05evidence adduced at the coroner's inquest and the Negro Conley's affidavit of confession. In doing this, they seek to
02:12substantiate the statement made by Frank at the inquest and to point out the improbabilities and weakness of
02:17the Negro's story. Frank's clear statement. Emphasis is laid upon the remarkably clear and unwavering
02:24detailed statement of Frank at the inquest, when for three hours he was put through a rapid fire cross
02:29examination by the coroner, who was prompted by the solicitor general. Without hesitation and without once
02:35entangling himself, it is claimed, Frank answered every question concerning even the most minute incidents in
02:42which he figured on Saturday, April 26th, the day of the murder. And it is pointed out that the other
02:48witnesses corroborated every material statement he made. Taking up the Negro's affidavit of confession,
02:54those who hold to the theory that he committed the murder reason as follows. Conley's statement that
02:59on Friday afternoon, Frank told him to meet him Saturday morning about 10 o'clock at the corner of
03:04Forsyth and Nelson streets, as he wanted him to do some work, is not to be believed, because if Frank
03:10had
03:10wanted the Negro for any purpose he would have told him to report at the factory, that it is impossible
03:16to assume that Frank premeditated the murder, because he is not that kind of a man, and even if he
03:22was,
03:23he had no way of knowing that the little Fagin girl would show up at the factory Saturday.
03:28That had he known the girl would come, and had he planned to murder her and employ the Negro's
03:33services in hiding the body, he would not have had Conley meet him at a prominent street corner,
03:38a half block from the general offices of the pencil factory, in hiding all morning. That is a matter
03:44of fact, Conley never met Frank on the streets at all, but was in hiding practically all the morning
03:50in a pile of boxes beside the stairway, where he could see everything that occurred in the front
03:54part of the factory on the lower floor without being seen himself. Conley admits he was drinking
04:00that Saturday morning, and admits he was in hiding in the boxes, but says he did not come to the
04:05factory until between 10.30 and 11 o'clock, following Frank from Nelson and Forsyth Streets
04:10at his Frank's suggestion. Frank did not leave the factory to go to Nelson Street until about 10 o'clock.
04:16Miss Maddie Smith, an employee who came for her money Saturday morning at 9 o'clock,
04:21says she saw a Negro sitting on the box at the front of the factory. She says it was either
04:26Conley
04:26or Gordon Bailey, another one of the Negroes employed at the factory. She did not notice which.
04:32Bailey's movements have been accounted for, and he was not at the factory that Saturday morning.
04:36When Conley saw Miss Smith enter through the closed front doors, he followed her in and secreted
04:42himself in the pile of boxes. He knew some of the employees would be coming for their money,
04:47and he might have intended to rob some of them. He was looking for an opportunity. Left factory at
04:529.30. Miss Smith, according to her own statement and those of several persons who were at the factory,
04:57declare she arrived about 9 a.m., and she left about 9.20, and that N.V. Darley, the manager,
05:04walked down the steps to the front door with her. In his confession, Conley says he saw Miss Smith
05:08and Darley come down, and to the detectives he described the kind of dress the young woman wore.
05:13This was at 9.20 before Frank ever went over to Nelson Street. About 15 or 20 minutes after Miss
05:19Smith's departure, Superintendent Lyne of Montague Brothers and Wade Campbell, an inspector at the
05:24pencil factory, left the pencil factory. Conley says he saw them, yet this happened before Frank
05:29went to Nelson Street. A few minutes before 10, Frank, accompanied by Darley, left the factory,
05:35walked to the corner of Forsyth and Hunter Streets, where they drank a soda water and separated,
05:40Frank going to Nelson Street and Darley to the Montgomery Moving Picture Theater on Peachtree
05:45Street. Frank says he arrived at Montague Brothers on Nelson Street a few minutes after 10 o'clock,
05:50and his statement is corroborated by a half dozen or more persons there. Darley says he walked to the
05:56Moving Picture Theater, going by way of Hunter to Broad, Broad to Viaduct Place, along Viaduct Place
06:02to Whitehall, and thence to the theater on Peachtree. He says he arrived there three or four minutes before
06:08the theater opened, and that it was scheduled to open at 10 o'clock. Conley declares he saw Darley leave
06:13and that he went away by himself. The latter states that he never returned to the factory after he went
06:19out with Frank. Sometime between 10.30 and 11 o'clock, E.F. Holloway, the factory timekeeper,
06:25talked in the entrance of the factory with a peg-legged Negro driver for Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company
06:30who had brought a load of boxes. Conley says he saw the two men talking. This was while Frank was
06:37on
06:37Nelson Street. Conley tells of other persons who came in and went out again after an hour when Frank
06:42returned to the factory, which was a few minutes after 11 o'clock. He having hurried back because of a
06:48telephone call from Miss Hall, the stenographer, who was helping him that morning. The Negro says he
06:54did not see Mary Fagan enter the factory at 12.10 o'clock, that he had drunk a half pint
06:58of whiskey
06:59and several beers and dozed some while hidden behind the boxes. However, he recalls having seen L.A.
07:04Quinn come in, and according to the testimony at the inquest, Quinn arrived at the factory about 12.15 or
07:1012.20 within five or ten minutes after the girl. What Mr. Frank said, Quinn left about 12.25. In
07:18Frank's
07:18statement at the inquest, he said he left the factory to go to lunch about one o'clock, that just
07:23before leaving he walked upstairs to the fourth floor where Harry White and Arthur Denham, two
07:28machinists, were working, and where Mrs. White was talking with her husband. He said he announced to
07:33them that he was going out and would lock the front doors, and that if any of them cared to
07:38get out
07:38before he returned from lunch, they had better go then. Mrs. White left, and Frank followed her out,
07:43locking the doors. White and Denham continued at work on the fourth floor. Frank testified that
07:49after leaving the factory he caught a Washington street-car, that he arrived at his home, 68 East
07:54Georgia Avenue, about 1.20, and found his wife and Mrs. Selig, his mother-in-law, dressed and ready to
08:00go
08:00to the grand opera matinee, which opened promptly at two o'clock, that he told them good-bye, ate lunch
08:06with
08:06Emile Selig, his father-in-law, and lay down for a few minutes, that he left home about two o
08:12'clock to
08:13go back to the factory, that he walked to Glen Street where he boarded a Washington street-car,
08:17that on the way he met his aunt and his cousin from Athens, that after getting on the car he
08:23saw J.C.
08:23Loeb and chatted with him until the car reached the corner of Hunter and Washington streets where it
08:28was halted by the Memorial Day parade, that he left the car there and walked west on Hunter to Whitehall,
08:33stopping at the corner of Hunter and Whitehall a moment to view the parade, then proceeding north
08:39along Whitehall, that in front of M. Rich and Brothers' store he met Miss Rebecca Carson,
08:44a four-lady at the factory to whom he spoke, that he got through the parade at the corner of
08:49Whitehall
08:49and Alabama, and went into Jacobs's pharmacy, where he purchased some cigars, after which he proceeded
08:55along Alabama to Forsyth Street and down Forsyth to the factory, arriving there about three o'clock,
09:00that he went into the office on the second floor, removed his hat and coat, and walked up the fourth
09:06floor to see if White and Denham were still at work, that they were concluding their work,
09:10and about ten minutes later came by the office, where White obtained from him an advance of dollar
09:15two, that White and Denham then left, what Conley claims. As against this detailed statement of
09:21Frank's, Conley says that about one o'clock Frank came to the top of the stairs on the second floor
09:26and whistled twice for him to come up, that when he got up the steps Frank, who appeared to be
09:31highly
09:31excited, said he had picked up a girl back in the metal room and had let her fall, her head
09:36striking
09:37against something, that Frank told him to go back there and bring her out, that he went back and
09:42found the girl lying on her face dead, that he came back and told Frank she was dead, and Frank
09:47told
09:47him to go bring her out, that he asked how he was to do it, and Frank told him to
09:51go into the cotton
09:52room and get a piece of bagging, that while he was tying the girl's body in the bagging, Frank remained
09:58at the head of the stairs, and watched that he started out with the girl's body on his shoulder, and
10:02after
10:03walking for about fifty or seventy-five feet, he dropped it, that he then went back to Frank and told
10:08him
10:08it was too heavy, that Frank came and took the feet and he the head, that they carried it in
10:13this way to the
10:14elevator, that Frank went into the office and got the key to the elevator switch box, that Frank ran the
10:20elevator to the
10:21basement and helped him get the body off, that Frank directed him to carry it back to the sawdust pile
10:27in the rear of the basement, that, while he was obeying, Frank climbed up the ladder, poked his head
10:33through the cubby hole on the first floor, and kept a watch out, that after he had deposited the body
10:38in
10:38the sawdust pile, he came back and ran the elevator up to the first floor, where Frank got on and
10:44rode with
10:45him on up to the second floor, that Frank went to the sink to wash his hands while he, the
10:50negro, shut
10:51off the elevator motor, that they both then went into the inner office, that soon after their arrival
10:57someone was heard approaching, and Frank put him in a wardrobe, that Frank went into the outer office to
11:02talk with the persons who had come in, and was gone about seven minutes before he came back and let
11:07him
11:07out of the wardrobe, that they then sat down in the office, where Frank got him to write and talked
11:12with
11:13him for several minutes, telling him that he was a good boy, and he would not forget him, that after
11:18obtaining the notes, Frank gave him a roll of money, but took it back a little later, saying he would
11:23see him Monday, that Frank offered him a cigarette, and he found two dollars fifty cents in the cigarette
11:28box, which Frank told him he could have, that a few minutes later Frank let him out into the stairs,
11:34and that he left, and went to a nearby beer saloon. The negro says he noticed the clock when he
11:40came
11:40back to get the cotton bagging to tie up the girl's body, and that it was four minutes to one.
11:45He
11:45states that he left the factory about one-thirty. Couldn't have happened. The incidents related by
11:51the negro could not have possibly been enacted within thirty minutes, and according to the
11:55testimony of witnesses, Frank was at home eight or ten blocks away at one-twenty. What is more
12:00plausible and more probable is that Conley, from his hiding place, saw Mary Fagan enter the factory,
12:05and peering up the steps saw her go from the office back to the metal room in the extreme rear
12:10of the
12:11building, three or four hundred feet away, it being assumed that she went back to her dressing room for
12:16something or to the women's lavatory. He noticed she carried a silver mesh bag and probably slipped
12:21up the stairs and followed her back with the purpose of robbing her. The negro closed the big
12:26doors leading to the metal room and accosted the girl, knocking her in the head. He then tore the
12:32ruffle from her underskirt and knotted it around her neck, and when he went after the bagging to
12:36tie around the body he obtained the cord which he also tied around her neck. Conley evidently hid in
12:41the metal room until Frank went to lunch, when he brought out his gruesome burden to the elevator.
12:46The front office door is seldom locked, so he had no difficulty in obtaining the key to the elevator
12:51switch, and having been accustomed to operating the elevator he ran it down to the basement without
12:56trouble. The negro must have dragged the body by the cord from the elevator to the sawdust bin in the
13:01rear, for on the day after the crime there was a plain trail indicating that something had been
13:06dragged from the elevator to the sawdust bin, and when the body was examined Sunday morning by the
13:12officers the eyes and mouth were full of dirt, the face was scratched, the dress in one of the
13:17stockings was torn, and there was an abrasion on the left leg which appeared to have been scrapped
13:22against something. Wrote the notes. After leaving the body the negro ran the elevator back to the second
13:28floor and went into the opened outer office where he wrote the notes, and where there is always lying
13:34around the kind of pencil pads upon which the notes were written. He then took the notes, climbed down
13:39the ladder into the basement and laid them beside the body, after which he pulled the staple on the
13:44rear door and made his escape. The front doors were locked while Frank was at lunch, and this was the
13:50only way he could get out. Evidence at the inquest showed that the staple had been drawn from the rear
13:56door. It is hard to believe that Frank, if guilty, would have shared his secret with anyone, much
14:01less a negro, and even had he done so he would have most likely made more explanations than are given
14:06by the negro. With the negro in possession of his secret, Frank would without doubt have let him
14:11retain the roll of bills and almost anything else he wanted. That portion of the negro's story about
14:17Frank slipping him two dollars fifty cents in a cigarette box seems too silly to believe. Had he been
14:23guilty, and desired to give the negro something he would have done so openly. Little if any credence
14:29can be attached to the negro's declaration that Frank kept murmuring, Why should I hang when I
14:34have got rich kinfolks? And the same is true of the negro's allegation that Frank explained the
14:39dictation of the notes by saying he was going to send them to his mother. The negro had written the
14:43notes, and he knew they were designed to fix the crime on some other negro. He couldn't, as he says,
14:48have believed they were wanted merely as a sample of his handwriting. If Frank were guilty, and had
14:54taken the negro in his confidence, as the latter claims, it goes without saying that Frank would
14:59have made some effort to see him, and get him out of the way after suspicion began to point at
15:04him,
15:04Frank. Things to be explained. Then, too, the negro must explain why it was that on the Monday following
15:11the crime, he remarked to Herbert Schiff, the assistant superintendent, that he would give a million
15:16dollars if he was a white man, so that he wouldn't be bothered. He must also explain why he was
15:21washing
15:21his shirt on the day that he was arrested. The statement that he had only one shirt, and wanted
15:26to be presentable at the inquest to which he had been summoned, will not suffice. The above represents
15:32the theory of those who believe that the negro has not told the whole truth, but is trying to save
15:37himself by putting the crime on Frank. Conley's story stands test in this analysis. There are
15:45several strong points in the detailed confession of the negro sweeper, James Conley, in the opinion
15:50of those who accept the negro's last affidavit. All students of the mystery are disposed to admit
15:56that Mary Fagan met her death on the second floor of the pencil factory. Whether Conley killed her or
16:01whether Frank killed her, the negro would hardly imagine and fit together such details as he has
16:07fitted together and enacted, describing vividly the scenes on the second floor. Then, too, there was
16:13the telltale evidence of blood on the floor there and hair on a machine's sharp point. Whoever killed
16:18Mary Fagan killed her on the second floor of the pencil factory, it seems probable. If the negro killed
16:24her, why should he have cared to move the body? Would it not have cast a suspicion at once upon
16:29others
16:29in the factory if the body had been left where negroes ordinarily would not be bold? Would it
16:35have incriminated the negro workers if found there as it did once when it was found in the basement?
16:40Someone other than the negro might have been interested in getting the body, damning accusation
16:45of a crime done on the second floor, away from that floor. Illogical would have been any initiative on
16:51his part to remove the body. Would it have been reasonable still to suppose that the negro, of his own
16:56accord, would have faced the momentary risk of exposure entailed by carrying the body out from
17:01concealment at the rear, to the front, where anyone might come in or go out and seam, and so to
17:08the
17:08basement, either by stairs and ladder or by elevator, all to accomplish the directly opposite of what the
17:14negro's logical desire would have been? If the negro had killed the girl in the cellar, for example, would
17:20it not have been natural on his part to want to lay her body at some such place, say, at
17:25the door of
17:26the factory office? But wouldn't he have left the body wherever it lay and fled? Yes, he moved it, and
17:32he
17:32returned to work Monday morning. Realism of statement. The strength of the negro's statements is in their
17:38realism. Their weakness consists in the fact that they have emerged from a mesh of lies. The negro lied
17:45flatly at first. Why? Self-preservation. He knew nothing of law, and instinct to save his own neck made him
17:52swear that he knew absolutely nothing about the murder that, and perhaps also, the hope of reward for
17:57silence. Had his ignorance been less, he might have made a clean statement early in the investigation, but he
18:03lied. Afterward he told a partial truth. The detectives knew at once that there was more than he had told,
18:09and they
18:10urged him to reveal the rest. He revealed more, acknowledged that he had lied. They knew he still
18:16was lying, and they dug for more. Then they opened up the vein of information that they sought. The minute
18:21the negro admitted he knew anything at all about the crime he was in for the whole story, it seems
18:26reasonable that his mentality is too low for him to create the fiction of a yarn which would fool the
18:32detectives who have every phase of the case in mind or at ready command. Could any person, even one of
18:38the
18:38detectives, fabricate a story that would fit in with all the known circumstances of this or any other
18:44real case? There remain crudities in the negro's story. It is improbable, seemingly, that Frank should
18:50exclaim, Why should I hang? to the negro. Yet he may have said that, in effect, without melodrama. It is
18:58improbable that Frank premeditated the crime if he did commit it, and summoned the negro to the factory
19:04in advance. Yet that might be merely a tissue of the original falsehood which the negro has been
19:09trying to harmonize with his present story. Perhaps the negro went to the factory for some natural
19:15purpose that took him to the basement and found the dark corner behind the elevator a good place to
19:20rest and snooze when he came out. It is improbable that Frank deliberately called the negro in to help
19:25dispose of the body. But could it have been possible that he was looking around to see if the coast
19:30was
19:30clear before he started with the body, when his eyes met those of the astonished negro beside the
19:35elevator, and he realized that an accessory had been forced upon him? Then there is the possibility
19:41that his lack of strength to lift the body made help necessary. He is a slight man. The negro is
19:47stout, accounting for mistakes. Perhaps there are mistakes in the sequence of the negro's story,
19:52yet that might be natural. It is a most difficult task to remember what you have done in exact sequence.
19:58Try it. What did you do day before yesterday? What did you do yesterday act by act, minute by minute?
20:03Exact sequence might be immaterial. The thing is, if a lie is being told out of the whole cloth,
20:08even a plausible semblance of sequel is impossible. That is one absolute test that a lie cannot stand.
20:14A man may say he rode to town at noon on a trolley car. He heard the noon whistles blow,
20:19he swears.
20:19Yet it may be proved on the contrary that all cars were stopped for two hours from eleven to one
20:24o'clock
20:25on that very day. That is an illustration. On the face of things it can be argued, then,
20:30that the negro is lying now with regard to the larger facts. His tail is constructed too admirably,
20:36it is woven too subtly with corroborated fact, it can claim to be the product of his imagination,
20:42or that of any very intelligent person either. There is the wardrobe, for instance. Would anyone
20:47have imagined such a superfluous incident as that, swearing he hid in the wardrobe in the office when
20:53somebody called Frank? There is another point, the crocus sack that was used to wrap the girl's body
20:58in. It is entirely superfluous. No blood-stained crocus sack was found on the trash pile where
21:04Conley says he threw it in the basement. Yet the girl's hat and one shoe and her ribbon were found
21:10there. The mention of crocus sack injected something entirely new into the known case. Conley does not
21:16even suggest an explanation of why no one noticed it. It was there on the trash pile, that's all he
21:21knows.
21:21Nor does he explain the girl's parasol being found at the bottom of the elevator shaft.
21:25The last time he saw it, it was on the floor near where he picked up her body. In short,
21:30there are things which Conley does not attempt to explain. He does not presume to illuminate
21:34every point. If he did, would his story be so credible? The negro told a story in detail and
21:40swore to it. Several hours later, he repeated that story and acted it at the factory, and his
21:45repetition corresponded with the original. The negro Jim Conley may be capable of a crime like this,
21:50but it is unreasonable to condemn him, therefore. It would be equally unreasonable to accuse anybody
21:55of any crime of which he is capable. That is not the standard by which Jim Conley must be judged.
22:01It is right here that the great difficult comes in about believing Jim Conley's story.
22:05Leo M. Frank's most intimate friends believe him incapable of any crime, much less of such an
22:11atrocious deed as the murder of Mary Fagan. If the negro sweeper's accusation is to be accepted,
22:16it follows that Frank is possessed of what science knows as a dual personality. The personality that
22:22his friends know would never have harmed the little girl. The personality that the negro Conley
22:26paints is something fearful. The ascribe the crime to Frank implies necessarily, too, that he planned
22:32his own escape from it, deliberately, astutely, cunningly. Yet if he committed the crime, the rest
22:38would have been nothing but logical. Why not clear his own skirts by directing suspicion elsewhere?
22:43Why not employ notes? Get someone else to write them? Shift the whole matter by a well-though and
22:48artfully devised program with all details foreseen, all except that every negro employed around the
22:54factory would stand pat, and none of them would run. There is wealth of realism in the negro Conley's
23:00statement, his confession or explanation, or whatever one has a mind to call it. He added something
23:06entirely new to the case when he said he found the body away around at the back near the women's
23:10laboratory. No one had suspected that it lay there at any time. There had been nothing at all even to
23:16suggest that. Several things explained. There is his story about the body getting heavy and slipping
23:23from his shoulder and falling heavily to the floor just as he reached the dressing room. That explains what
23:28has been regarded as blood found on the floor there. It explains the bruises on Mary Fagan's dead face
23:35caused by the face hitting on the floor after she was dead. There is the vivid detail about the elevator
23:41bar being up, so that he and Frank didn't have to stoop when they put her body on the elevator
23:46floor,
23:46about Frank standing astride the body's limbs when he ran the elevator down, its feet being close to the
23:52corner where the rope runs, about Frank climbing the ladder and standing at the top of it with his head
23:57through the trap door on guard while the negro took the body back through the gloom. Incidentally,
24:03the negro has not stated that he put the notes beside the body. If they were found there, his
24:08story implies that they must have been put there by somebody other than himself. If the negro were lying
24:14now, why wouldn't he tell the story differently? There is the further realism when he quotes Frank
24:19at the top of the ladder, gee, that was a tiresome job, and says, and I told him his job
24:25was not as
24:25tiresome as mine was, because I had to tote it all the way from where she was lying. It is
24:30gratuitous,
24:31too, unless fact is involved, to recite that Frank jumped aboard the elevator before it reached the
24:37street floor level, and fell against the negro, throwing his arms around the negro. It would seem
24:43to be gratuitous again, unless it is the truth that is being told, when the negro says that Frank was
24:49so anxious to get off at the office floor that he jumped out of the elevator before it go to
24:53that
24:54level, and tripped and fell on his hands and knees. Statement reasonable. Read Conley's statement on the
25:00main facts, and you find him just as reasonable it can be claimed. For instance, he recites that just
25:06after he had finished writing the notes at Frank's dictation, in the office after Frank had washed
25:11his hands, I asked him why he wanted to put that about the night watchman in the note, and he
25:16said,
25:16that's all right, I'll fix that. Then, swears the negro, Frank put both notes on his desk and put the
25:21ink stand upon them, and I handed him the cigarette box, and he told me that was all right, I
25:26could keep
25:27that, and I told him he had some money in it, and he told me that was all right, I
25:30could keep that.
25:31Did imagination furnish that detail in the negro's story, or this? He said, here is dollar two hundred,
25:38and he handed me a big roll of greenback money, and I didn't count it. I sat there a little
25:43while
25:43looking at it in my hand, and I told Mr. Frank not to take out another dollar for that watchman
25:48I owed.
25:49He referred evidently to weekly payments on the installment purchase of a watch. The lease of a watch
25:54betrayed later the negro's lie that he could not write, and opened the way for the whole confession.
25:59And if the negro were lying, would he supply the very superfluous garnishment of the incident he
26:05recites about Mr. Frank having passed close to him in the factory the next Monday morning,
26:09and having whispered as he went by, be a good boy now. The above is an analysis of the negro's
26:15statement from the standpoint of those who regard it as reasonable and truthful, and is given simply as
26:21representative of that viewpoint.