00:00Colonel Felder and Chief Lanford indicted. The Atlanta Journal. Friday, June 27, 1913.
00:06Grand jury returns bills against each. The charge's libel cards, written by Chief of Detectives and
00:12Attorney and published in the Atlanta newspapers, form the basis two bills found against Felder,
00:17one on Lanford. Both men who have criticized each through Atlanta Press must face jury on
00:22criminal libel charge. The Fulton County Grand Jury on Friday returned two true bills against
00:27Colonel Thomas B. Felder, lawyer, and one bill against Chief Newport A. Lanford of the City
00:33Detective Department, all bills charging libel. The action of the Grand Jury ensures the airing of
00:39Colonel Felder's charges against Chief Lanford and of Chief Lanford's charges against Colonel Felder
00:44in open court, and in effect, it puts it up to each man to prove his charges against the other
00:50or to stand convicted of criminal libel. The two famous cards of Colonel Felder, printed in the
00:55Atlanta newspapers of May 26 and June 8, in which the attorney flayed the detective, form the basis
01:02for the indictments against the lawyer. The bills charge that each man unlawfully, wantonly, maliciously,
01:08and with malice aforethought, cause to be published the articles in question, with the intent to falsely
01:14vilify and blacken the character of the other, and to prejudice before the public the honesty,
01:19the integrity, the virtue, and the reputation of the other. The indictments charged that the
01:25statements made by each man against the other were disgraceful, false, and malicious. The Grand
01:30Jury considered the three bills for less than an hour, and returned the true bills on the testimony
01:36of three newspaper men who testified simply that the articles in question were signed and given out
01:41for publication by the two men against whom the indictments were returned. The three witnesses were M.D.
01:46Caulfine, Sidney Ormond, and W.P. Flythe. What Felder said, in his open letter to Chief Lanford,
01:54bearing date of June 7 and published in the Sunday morning papers of June 8, Colonel Felder begins by
02:00saying, I shall now proceed to redeem the pledge heretofore made, to lay bare through the columns
02:06of the papers your infamous career in the maladministration of the affairs of the official position which you
02:11disgrace and dishonor. Proceeding, Colonel Felder quotes the lamented Reverend Sam P. Jones as follows,
02:18When you shave, a gentleman use a razor. When you shave a hog, use a brick. And adds that even
02:23one of
02:24Chief Lanford's mental caliber must recognize the appropriateness of the brick. What Colonel Felder
02:29said. Colonel Felder further declared that he had no doubt that an investigation of vice conditions by
02:35the grand jury would show abundantly your criminal connection therewith in all of its hideous deformity.
02:41Continuing, O'Clonal Felder said, Within the past few weeks the hideous crimes committed by you when
02:46exposed would create a panic about the habitus of a rot pit, and bring the blush of shame to the
02:52cheeks
02:52of the inmates of a brothel. They mark you a hireling scavenger of filth and falsehood, lost to every sense
02:58of propriety and recreant to every principle of honor. Colonel Felder repeatedly charged in his letter
03:04that Chief Lanford had lied and set forth wherein he claimed that he lied. The reply in one of the
03:10papers
03:10made to Colonel Felder's card by Chief Lanford forms the basis for the indictment against the latter.
03:15What Chief Lanford said. In replying to Colonel Felder on Sunday morning, June 8th, Chief Lanford said,
03:21Continued on page 7, Colonel 4, Grand Jury Returns, Bills Against Each. The Charge is Liable.
03:28Continued from page 1. In a morning paper, Tom Felder is a contemptible liar, scoundrel,
03:34and a coward. He is absolutely devoid of truth. He has lied so much that he doesn't know anything
03:40else. The good people of Atlanta are tired of Felder. He has grafted so much upon the people
03:46of Atlanta and surrounding towns that all he can think of is graft. Apparently, his system is
03:51saturated with it. He grafted upon the good people of Alanta in getting up a fund for prosecuting a
03:56murder case in which he had never been employed. I never heard of a reputable lawyer paying a man to
04:01retain him and get turned down, and then trying to impose upon the public by raising a fund on the
04:06false statement that he had been retained. He said it would require a fund of $6,000 to employ
04:12skilled detectives, and the response was liberal. We would like to know what Tom Felder has done with
04:16the money subscribed. Both Chief Lanford and Colonel Felder have been before the present Grand Jury on
04:22several occasions, and it is said that both have denied in toto the charges made against each by the
04:27other, and at the same time asked a Grand Jury investigation of their controversy, jury must
04:32determine. The action of the Grand Jury Friday is said to have eliminated the probability of an
04:37investigation by the jury of the dictograph incident per se. It is said to have been the opinion of the
04:43solicitor from the first that no legal charge was involved in the controversy unless it was that of
04:48libel. The Grand Jury has apparently made no effort to determine for itself the truth of the
04:54charges against Colonel Felder, or the charges against Chief Lanford, but has left their truth
04:59or falsity to be established by a jury. The indictments were drawn under section 340 of the
05:05Criminal Code of Georgia, which makes libel a misdemeanor, the penalty being a fine of not more
05:10than $1,000 or one year in the chain gang, either or both penalties to be imposed at the discretion
05:16of
05:16the trial judge. While it is possible that the case will be tried in the criminal division of the
05:21Superior Court, it is more probable that they will be heard in the city criminal court, where most
05:27misdemeanor cases are tried, the felonies occupying the greater portion of the time of the Superior
05:32Court. What they say. Colonel Felder was engaged in the trial of a case in the thrower building,
05:38when the indictments were returned against him. He was informed of the existence of the bill,
05:43and an attaché of the solicitor's office announced to him that his bond had been axed at $2.50 in
05:49each
05:49case. Mr. Felder, when seen by reporters, said that he had no statement to make. The bond of Chief
05:55Lanford was assessed at $1.500, and he will be asked to make it during the afternoon. When told
06:00of the indictment, Chief Lanford declared that he could substantiate every charge he has ever made
06:05against Mr. Felder. It was learned after the indictments were returned that the grand jury took
06:10the matter up of its own initiative, and the bills were not presented by the solicitor's office in
06:15the routine manner. It is said that the grand jury has now wiped its hands of the entire dictograph
06:20controversy. It is known that Colonel Felder demanded an investigation, and that Chief Lanford
06:26demanded a probe of their controversy, and apparently the grand jury has simply complied with the request
06:31of each man.
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