Sunday, 3rd August 1913 Fixing Hour of Girl’s Death Through Aid of Modern Science The Prosecution’s Greatest Aid, The Atlanta Constitution

Atlanta Constitution
August 3rd, 1913

By Britt Craig.

When Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of Mary Phagan, related a simple story on the witness stand the first day of the Frank trial of the slain child's frugal meal of cabbage and biscuit which she ate upon leaving home that fateful day, she paved the way for the most thrilling development thus far in the entire case.

Her story was as devoid of thrills as any yet told. It was an ordinary recitation of a common meal and told in the mother's plain, simple manner. Had she not broke into tears her connection would have been completely devoid of interest, except for the fact that she was Mary Phagan's mother.

But her statement of the meal the murdered child had eaten, prepared an opening for the startling testimony of Dr. Roy F. Harris, the state chemist, who testified that the cabbage found in the stomach, and which Mrs. Coleman stated the child had eaten at the noon meal, indicated that she had met her death within 45 minutes after eating.

And another extraordinary incident for which the trial has been peculiarly noted. The biggest thrill of the case was created by two ordinary vials that looked as though they had once contained substance no more interesting than household vaseline which were produced by Dr. Harris—the vials containing the 160 cubic centimeters of cabbage removed from the girl's body.

Morbid Curiosity of Audience.

There was a straining of necks. Many arose from their seats. Women and girls looked on eagerly, expectantly, intent upon missing none of the details. A silence prevailed that could almost be felt and only the buzzing of the fans and ozonators could be heard.

Dr. Harris' testimony was grewsome—harrowingly so. An air of tragedy pervaded the room as he spoke in the terse, crisp words of the medical expert. As he spoke of exhuming the body at dawn in the little Marietta grave yard and of cutting into the child's skull to examine the brain, there were visible shudders throughout the crowded room. Many women left their seats walking hurriedly to the exit, hiding their features with newspapers.

When Mrs. Coleman told of Mary's last meal many wondered why the solicitor introduced such apparently trivial evidence. It irritated them to listen to such unimportant statements while there were more thrilling ones to follow. Inwardly, they no doubt rebuked the prosecutor for dallying with such a story.

But a lasting lesson was learned upon the introduction of Dr. Harris—a lesson of how big sometimes are the infinitesimally small and seemingly inconsequential things of life and mystery.

The trend of modern science is graphically shown in this particular phase of the Frank trial. It forces one to believe that sooner or later, the secret will be learned from the Sphinx, and the world will know the moon's inhabitants. Dr. Harris' testimony indicates that Mary Phagan's last meal—her cabbage and biscuits—will reveal almost the exact minute of her end.

When the Dead Do Tell Tales.