DALTON DISAPPOINTS COURT CROWD; ROSSER CALLS DR. L. W. CHILDS
Luther Rosser and Reuben Arnold began an assault Thursday noon upon the structure of evidence erected by the State against Leo M. Frank, accused of the murder of Mary Phagan.
It was the first opportunity the defense had been given to employ offensive tactics in the grim battle for Frank's life.
The testimony of Dr. H. F. Harris, who had just left the stand, was made the object of the first battering attack of Frank's determined lawyers.
As Dr. Harris left the stand at 12 o'clock Solicitor Dorsey announced that the State rested.
Dr. L. W. Childs, a physician and surgeon, immediately was called by the defense.
His first testimony of importance, if it was believed by the jury, served utterly to demolish the most sensational declaration of Dr. Harris, who startled his hearers last Friday by announcing with every appearance of certainty that Mary Phagan came to her death probably within 30 minutes of the time she ate her dinner April 26, positively within 45 minutes. Dr. Harris stated that he knew because the cabbage he found in the girl's stomach hardly had been affected by the digestive juices.
Cabbage No Key to Time of Death.
Attorney Arnold showed Dr. Childs the specimen of cabbage from the Phagan girl's stomach.
The medical expert examined it and said:
"I have seen cabbage less changed by the digestive juices than that which had been in a person's stomach for 12 hours."
Dr. Childs continued his rebuttal of the testimony of Dr. Harris by saying that it was impossible to tell within hours how long any of the carbo-hydrates, of which cabbage is one, have been in the human stomach.
The digestive processes on carbo-hydrates, he declared, are practically nil while this class of foods is in the stomach. Cabbage, for example, may remain in the stomach for hours with little change from the digestive juices. The digestion, for the most part, occurs after the cabbage has passed into the small intestines, the physician said.
Dr. Harris' estimate, he declared, was only a guess.
He characterized in the same manner Dr. Harris' declaration that the blow Mary Phagan received on the back of the head caused unconsciousness.
Arnold's Hypothetical Question.
Arnold propounded to his witness a hypothetical question based on the circumstances under which Mary Phagan's body was exhumed and examined nine days after burial.
"If, under these circumstances," said Arnold, "there was found a wound on the back of her head which one physician said was 1 inches long and another said was 2 inches, and there was found no fracture of the skull or injury to the brain, and only a drop of blood which exerted no pressure on the brain, would any physician be justified in saying that the person receiving the blow was rendered unconscious?"
"He would have had to guess one way or the other," said Dr. Childs. "There was absolutely no way to tell whether the blow caused unconsciousness."
Arnold also brought the startling testimony that a wound made from one to three hours after death has the same appearance as a wound shortly before death.
This statement was in direct contradiction of Dr. Harris' testimony and will be used by the defense in strengthening its theory of the manner in which the factory girl came to her death.
After he had reviewed some of the important bits of Dr. Harris' testimony and had put into the record Dr. Childs' testimony in rebuttal, Arnold asked the witness if he, in all his medical experience
PAGE 2, COLUMN 1
DEFENSE TRIES TO BREAK DR. HARRIS' TESTIMONY; CALLS ITS OWN EXPERTS
Continued From Page 1.
experience, had ever known of a physician of repute giving his opinion as to the unconsciousness of a person with no more data than had been in the possession of Dr. Harris.
Dr. Childs replied that he never had.
The mysterious C. B. Dalton, who was expected to make sensational revelations of incidents in which Leo Frank was alleged to have participated in the National Pencil Factory, proved a very tame and commonplace witness when he was called Thursday.
The most that Dalton could say was that, on several of his visits to the factory, he had seen women in Frank's office. He told of no compromising situations. He was not even able to identify the women. He did not know whether or not they were members of Frank's own family. All that he knew was that they did not appear to be stenographers as he never saw them writing.
Dalton, when he was questioned by Luther Rosser, was not even sure of his own birthplace. He thought it was somewhere in Laurens County. He explained his presence by saying that he had gone to the factory with a Miss Daisy Hopkins. He said that he saw Frank in the office with two or three women, and that cool drinks generally were in evidence. On one occasion he said Frank and his visitors were drinking beer.
Detective Rosser on Stand.
Detective Bass Rosser was on the witness stand for a few minutes and was questioned briefly. He testified that when he saw Mrs. Arthur White the Monday after the crime she failed to tell him that she had seen a negro in the factory the Saturday the girl was killed. He said he did not get possession of this information until May 6 or 7. It is the contention of the State that the defense suppressed these facts.
At the conclusion of Detective Rosser's testimony, Solicitor Dorsey announced that he was prepared to rest as soon as Dr. H. F. Harris had completed the testimony which was interrupted by adjournment Wednesday afternoon. Dr. Harris was unable to appear when court opened at 9 o'clock. The prosecution had nothing more to present at 9:45 and a recess was taken until Dr. Harris arrived at 11:10.
Reuben Arnold began at once on a cross-examination of Dr. Harris as soon as the physician took the stand. He forced Dr. Harris to say that there is much uncertainty in drawing conclusions about digestive functions and their time limitations.
Solicitor Dorsey also asked for the submission of the National Pencil Company's cash book and bank book before he rested his case. This was agreed to by Frank's lawyers.
One of the most interesting pieces of evidence for the purpose of demonstration in the possession of the defense is a large-sized model of the National Pencil Company constructed on an accurate scale.
Frank chatted with his wife and mother in the intermission while the court was awaiting Dr. Harris, and a little later engaged in conversation with his attorneys. Dr. Childs entered the courtroom and talked several minutes with the defendant.
Mr. Arnold said:
"Further than this witness I don't know what line we will pursue at present."
"Did you ever work for the National Pencil Company?" was the first question the Solicitor asked Dalton.
Mr. Arnold interrupted.
"Your honor," he said, "we want it understood that we object to this testimony all of it."
Judge Roan overruled the objection.
"Well, we want our objection recorded," said Rosser.
Dorsey continued his questioning.
"Do you know Leo Frank and Jim Conley?" continued the Solicitor. A. Yes; I know them both.
Q. Were you ever in the factory of the National Pencil Company? A. Yes; two or three times.
Q. Did you ever go to Frank's office with Miss Daisy Hopkins? A. Yes.
Was in Basement.
Q. Was Frank there? A. Yes.
Q. Did you ever go down in the basement? A. Yes.
The witness then pointed out on the diagram the spot he was in in the basement.
Q. Did you ever see Conley on those visits? A. Yes, and one time I saw another negro, a watchman.
Q. Did Frank know you were in the basement? A. He knew I was in the factory. I don't know whether he knew I was in the basement or not.
Dorsey then turned the witness over to the defense for the cross-examination.
"When was the first time you saw Frank at the pencil factory?" asked Mr. Rosser.
"Last fall some time."
Q. Where was Frank at that time? A. At his office.
Q. Who was in there with him? A. Some ladies.
Q. Were there any other men in there with him? A. No; he was the only man.
Q. Who was you with? A. Miss Daisy Hopkins.
Q. Do you know the names of the ladies in the office with Mr. Frank? A. No.
Q. Where did you go? A. I went to the basement.
Q. Was Miss Daisy with you? A. Yes.
Q. When did you go to the factory again? A. Right before Christmas.
Q. Who introduced you to Frank? A. Miss Daisy Hopkins.
Q. She just said to Mr. Frank, "This is my friend, Mr. Dalton," did she? A. Yes.
Went to Basement.
Q. You were never in his office after Christmas? A. No.
Q. When you went into the factory with Miss Daisy, you went down to the basement with her, didn't you? A. Yes.
Q. Where did you go down into the basement? A. We went down the ladder by the elevator.
Q. Where did you go in the basement? A. Right to where there were some boxes in the little room in the rear.
Q. Where did you live last year?
A. No. 337 East Hunter street.
Q. Who did you work for? A. Mr. Heflin, a contractor.
Q. Where did you work after that? A. With Captain John Mc Ginnis.
Q. What time did you see Frank in his office? A. Some time between 2 and 3 o'clock.
Q. Were the windows up? A. I don't know.
Q. Did you see any curtains? A. No, but the office was very light.
Q. There were two windows in each office, weren't there? A. Yes.
Q. Do you know whether there was anyone else in the factory when you saw Mr. Frank? A. Yes; the negroes were there.
Saw Negro Watchman.
Q. What time at night was it when the night watchman was there? A. I don't know.
Q. Was it a negro watchman? A. Yes.
Q. Was that this year? A. No.
Q. Were you ever in Walton County? A. I lived there twenty years.
Q. How long were you away from there? A. I went to Lawrenceville for about a year.
Q. How long ago? A. I don't know. I forget just how long ago it was.
Q. Did you ever go with anyone to the pencil factory except Miss Daisy Hopkins? A. Yes. I used to go to the Busy Bee and wait for the factory to close to walk home with the girls.
Q. Can you name the girls? A. Yes; Miss Laura Atkinson and a Miss Laura Smith, of No. 148 South Pryor street.
Q. Do you go there any more? A. No; I haven't been to the Busy Bee in a long time.
Q. Where were you born? A. I don't know.
Q. When you first woke up, where were you? A. Somewhere in Walton County.
Gave Conley Money.
Q. As a matter of fact, you know where your family lived when you were born, don't you? A. Somewhere near Lawrenceville.
Solicitor Dorsey took the witness on the redirect examination.
Q. Did you ever give Jim Conley anything? A. Sometimes I would give him a quarter and sometimes 50 cents. Sometimes they would have cold drinks, and sometimes they would have beer.
Rosser took the witness again.
Q. When did you see beer there? A. On Saturday afternoons I don't remember the dates.
Q. Can you name specifically any time last fall that you went there? A. Not the day, but it was some time after 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Mr. Frank would have the cold drinks on a waiter in his office.
Can't Give Women's Names.
Q. And that is as definite as you can fix it? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you know the women besides the ones you name? A. No.
Q. Can you describe them? A. No.
"Come down."
City Detective S. L. Rosser took the stand.
Q. Since April 26, have you been engaged in this case? A. Yes.
Q. Did you visit Mrs. Arthur White subsequent to that date? A. Yes.
Q. At what time? A. Monday, April 28.
Q. Did she say anything about seeing a negro at the pencil factory Sat urday? A. No.
Q. What was the first time she mentioned to you seeing a negro at the factory? A. May 6.
"I want to record an objection to that, your honor," said Rosser.
Rosser took the witness.
She Made Statement.
Q. Did you ask her? A. No; but she made a statement.
Dorsey took the witness on redirect.
Q. Did you take anything to Dr. Claude Smith? A. Yes; some chips.
Q. Are these the chips? A. Yes.
Starnes and Chief Beavers," said Dorsey.
Judge Roan ruled that he would let them go to the jury.
Dorsey:
State's Case Nearly Finished.
"Now, I want the cash book and the bank book of the National Pencil Company."
Arnold said they would be furnished.
Dorsey:
"I want it understood as soon as Dr. Harris is able to complete his testimony the State is ready to rest its case."
"Mr. Dorsey," said Arnold, "will you tell Mr. Dalton not to leave. We may want to recall him."
Judge Roan declared a recess until Dr. Harris could reach the court. He said it would be about 10 o'clock.
Dalton Recalled for Moment.
Dorsey recalled the witness.
Q. Were you ever in the pencil factory with Daisy Hopkins? A. Yes.
Q. Did you go to the factory with her? A. Yes.
Q. Where was Frank? A. In his office.
Q. Where did you go? A. In the basement.
Q. Did he know you were there? A. Yes.
Q. Did Conley know you were there? A. Yes.
Q. Who else? A. The night watchman at one time.
Court then had a recess until Dr. H. F. Harris, who was excused from the witness stand Wednesday on account of illness, could arrive in court. The recess lasted for more than an hour. Dr. Harris, when he arrived upon the stand, was questioned upon cross-examination by Attorney Reuben Arnold.
Q. Unfavorable circumstances sometimes retard digestion, don't they? A. Well, that is a very grave matter, and there is so little data on the subject it is hard to answer.
About External Circumstances.
Q. You would not say then that external circumstances, some undue mental excitement, might delay digestion? A. I really don't know. There was an old Roman proverb that a person should take a walk after eating. Others say sleeping after a meal aids digestion.
Q. Then there is no set rule for digestion? Everybody is a rule unto themselves? A. Not altogether. The average normal stomach is about the same in digestion.
Q. There is no indication on the outside of the body that would indicate how far digestion has gone? A. None whatever.
Q. Don't the pulse or temperature show indigestion? A. No. Very many people have indigestion several years and don't know it. They don't even feel it themselves.
Q. How long does the stomach take to free itself when it is full? A. That has been investigated rather thoroughly, but it varies. I would say about 7 1-2 hours.
Q. How long does it take some substance that the stomach does not digest to pass out? A. That is hard to say. They probably pass through in a foreign body.
Q. How long would it take? A. That depends. The stomach doesn't like to free itself of meat until it is emulsified. Then it goes out very freely.
About Digestion of Cabbage.
Q. That is just the point. Does the stomach emulsify cabbage or corn? A. Oh, yes; there is always a constant churning motion.
Q. How about corn? A. It might pass through without emulsifying.
Q. Peas? A. Yes.
Q. You would not attempt to enumerate what vegetables would pass through the stomach to the intestines? A. No, I would not.
Q. Is it not a fact that the first knowledge of digestion comes from that Canadian case? A. Yes.
Q. Is it not a fact that the only experiments before that time were made on rabbits and other animals for vegetables, and animals for meat? A. Yes.
Q. Is there any animal that eats everything that man does? A. Yes, the swine.
Q. Any other? A. I rather think the cat does.
Q. Well, isn't the wildcat a carnivorous animal strictly? A. I don't know. I never associated with one.
Q. You will admit that the experiments along this line are very limited with the exception of that Canadian case? A. Yes.
Processes Not All Understood.
Q. It is practically in its infancy? A. Well, I would not say that. We are fairly familiar with the various juices and the process of digestion. But there is still much to learn.
Q. Just what part does the mouth and saliva play in connection with the stomach and the gastric juices, and the lower bowels? Is not this something that is not definitely known? A. Yes, that is true.
Q. Don't you practice vivisection on these animals? A. Yes.
Q. And you have never done it on humans, and you don't know how the processes take place in the human like you do in the animals? A. Except with the stomach.
Q. What is the hardest vegetables to digest? I mean, leaving your experiments and speaking from the viewpoint of science. A. I don't know that science has ever determined that.
Q. Isn't cabbage regarded as one of the hardest vegetables to digest? A. I probably have heard that. It may be that after cabbage has gone through the stomach, trouble may be caused in the small intestines that may be what has given the general idea that cabbage is hard to digest.
Q. Didn't you say when you first testified that you couldn't tell anything about the bread in the stomach? A. I don't think I made that statement.
Mr. Arnold read his testimony previously given.
Dr. Harris: "If I said that, I did not mean it in that sense. I meant that you could tell nothing about it by observing with the naked eye."
Q. You said it was impossible to state absolutely how long that cabbage had been in Mary Phagan's stomach? A. I meant I could not state within a minute.
Q. Could you tell within two minutes? A. No, not within 3, or 4, or 5. Probably not within 10 minutes. But I could tell that it was somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes.
Q. Doesn't it all depend on how much digestion is delayed? A. To an extent.
Q. All you are attempting to say, then, is that the process of digestion had only gone on a certain length of time? A. Yes.
Q. Didn't you say that certain circumstances retard digestion? A. Yes, but I didn't say that anything could retard the flow of the digestive juices. No one has ever shown that anything could retard the process of digestion.
Head Wound Not Serious.
Q. I believe you said that wound on the head did not cause any pressure on the brain? A. Yes.
Q. Was it cut through to the skull? A. Yes.
Q. What arteries were there? A. Only some trifling blood vessels.
Q. I believe you said it might have bled a good deal? A. Yes, it might. A cut on the head usually causes a good deal of blood to flow.
Q. I believe you said it was not sufficient to have caused death? A. Yes, I did.
Solicitor Dorsey then took the witness.
Q. Mr. Arnold was asking you yesterday about poisons. Was there any evidence on the mucous membrane of poisons? A. There could not have been any irritant poisons. Their evidence is always unmistakable.
Dr. Harris was excused.
Dorsey addressed the court: "Your honor, I wish to tender these samples of cabbage as evidence."
Arnold We want to object to all except that taken from Mary Phagan.
Continued on Page 4, Column 1.
PAGE 4, COLUMN 1
FRANK DEFENSE OPENS WITH ATTACK ON DR. HARRIS' EVIDENCE
Dalton Corroborates Jim Conley's Story of Women Calling at Pencil Factory
OPINIONS AS TO TIME OF GIRL'S DEATH GUESSES, IS DR. CHILDS' TESTIMONY
Continued From Page 2.
We don't want to argue it. We just want to be recorded as objecting.
Judge Roan permitted all of the samples to go in.
Solicitor Dorsey asked for the bank book and the cash book of the National Pencil Company. They had not been secured.
Dorsey We will rest our case, anyway.
The State rested its case exactly at 12 o'clock.
Dr. L. W. Childs, a prominent young surgeon of Atlanta, was the first witness called by the defense.
Attorney Arnold questioned Dr. Childs.
Q. What is your occupation? A. Surgery and general medicine.
Q. Where did you graduate? A. University of Michigan in 1906.
Q. Where did you practice? A. I was first assistant at the Michigan University Hospital.
Q. How long have you been in Atlanta? A. About five years.
Q. A body is found at 3 o'clock in the morning. It is not embalmed until 10 o'clock that morning. It is dug up nine days later and a cut is found in back of the head. There is only a drop of blood found on the skull. There was no pressure on the brain. Could a physician have said whether that blow produced unconsciousness? A. He might hazard a guess. He could not tell.
Calls Opinion Mere Guess.
Q. The presence of a drop of blood would have had nothing to do with it?
A. Absolutely nothing. There was no pressure, you said.
Q. No pressure at all. A. Then its effect was negligible.
Q. Now is there any way for a doctor telling definitely whether or not that blow caused unconsciousness? A. I should say it would be a guess.
Q. Is it possible to tell whether a wound or cut such as I have described with the appearance of blood was inflicted before or after death? A. If it was inflicted in from one to three hours after death it would have the appearance of having been inflicted just before death.
Q. Would you say that such a wound as I have described could have been inflicted one hour after death? A. It would practically be a guess to say so.
Q. Would the fact that this body had been embalmed and buried for nine days add to the difficulties of making an examination or not? A. It would greatly add to the difficulties.
Q. Have you ever heard of a case on record when an opinion on unconsciousness and the length of time the person was unconscious before death was placed on what data we have? A. Absolutely no.
Blows Often Cause Death.
Q. Have you heard of cases of blows on the head causing death without fracturing the skull? A. Yes, I have seen several cases of sandbagging where the person would die of concussion of the brain and there would only be a slight swelling where the blow had been struck.
Q. Then there is absolutely no way of telling the exact result of a blow on the head after a post-mortem held nine days after interment? A. No.
Q. What class of food does cabbage come in? A. Carbohydrates.
Q. Are they considered hard to digest? A. As such they are not, but in cabbage the carbohydrate is mixed with cellulose, a woody fiber on which the digestive juices have practically no effect, therefore, it is very hard.
Q. Look at this sample (Arnold showed the witness the cabbage taken from Mary Phagan's stomach). Was that well masticated? A. Not very well.
Q. Isn't it a fact that cooked cabbage is harder to digest than raw cabbage? A. Yes; raw cabbage is the easiest of all forms of cabbage to digest.
Cabbage in Digestive State.
Q. What part does the saliva play? A. It acts on the carbohydrates.
Q. What part of the cabbage is the carbohydrates? A. Seven or eight per cent.
Q. So saliva only affects that part of the cabbage? A. Yes.
Q. Does the stomach do anything about digesting cabbage? A. The
muscular effect the churning might break it up to some extent.
Q. So the juices of the stomach instead of digesting cabbage merely retard it? A. Yes.
Q. Then where is cabbage really digested? A. In the small intestines.
Q. How long would it take boiled cabbage to pass out of the stomach? A. About four and one-half hours.
Q. Then when it goes out of the stomach it is really undigested, is it not? A. Yes. It may pass out of the body entirely in the undigested form.
Digestion Easily Retarded.
Q. Are there not a great many things that retard digestion? A. Yes, the psychic causes fright, anger and sudden mental excitement materially retard it.
Q. Would walking retard it? A.
Yes, if the walking was immediately after the meal, digestion would be retarded. These other causes might totally stop digestion.
Q. Isn't it a fact that you might find substances in a stomach that had laid there quite a while and practically no digestive action had begun? A. Yes, if the psychic influence had taken place.
Q. Don't stomachs differ as much as minds? A. Yes. To understand a stomach you must study it as an individual.
Mr. Arnold held up a sample of cabbage taken from the Phagan girl's stomach.
Q. Would you hazard a guess that this cabbage had only been in a stomach one half hour before death ? A. I would not.
Q. Why? A. For the reasons I have stated. The cause of the psychic influences I know not of that might have been brought to bear and because of the varying effects of stomachs on such a substance.
Denies Accurate Opinions.
Q. Do you think a doctor could give an accurate scientific opinion by making such a statement? A. I do not.
Q. How long would you say it was possible for cabbage like this to stay in the stomach? A. I have seen cabbage less digested than that which had been in the stomach for twelve hours.
Q. When the process of digestion begins, it begins very slowly, doesn't it? A. Yes, it is really indeterminate.
It has not advanced very far when the food goes to the stomach.
Q. How long would it take wheat bread? A. I would say about two and one-half hours.
Q. Then solids like cabbage and wheat bread would be at least two and one-half hours passing out of the stomach, would they not? A. Yes.
At this point court was adjourned until 2 o'clock.
PAGE 2, COLUMN 1
HOW CONLEY SAYS HE AND FRANK WENT TO THE FACTORY
MONTAG'S OFFICE CONLEY MEETS FRANK ON WAY TO MONTAG'S FRANK STOPPED HERE FOR A DRINK. CONLEY FOLLOWS FRANK BACK TO FACTORY. NATIONAL PENCIL FACTORY FRANK'S OFFICE HUNTER STREET MITCHELL ST. FORSYTH ST CONLEY ON WAY TO LAUNDRY
PAGE 4, COLUMN 3
TRIAL EXPERTS CONFLICT ON TIME OF GIRL'S DEATH
Here is a sample of the testimony of Dr. Harris, for the State, given Wednesday afternoon, and conflicting evidence given for the defense by Dr. Child's on Thursday:
Dr. Harris said:
"I want to state that the amount of secretive juice in this stomach was considerably less than would have collected in an hour. The hydrochloride acid had not been in long enough to become free. The amount of confined hydroclordic was 32 degrees. In a normal stomach, the amount would have been 55 or 60 degrees. It was just about the amount one would have supposed to have collected in half an hour or 35 to 40 minutes. I can say with absolute certainty that she was unconscious within 30 or 40 minutes after she ate the cabbage."
Shortly after the defense opened Mr. Arnold held up a sample of cabbage taken from the Phagan girl's stomach.
Q. Would you hazard a guess that this cabbage had only been in a stomach one-half hour before death? A. I would not.
Q. Why? A. For the reasons I have stated. The cause of the psychic influences I know not of that might have been brought to bear and because of the varying effects of stomachs on such a substance.
Q. Do you think a doctor could give an accurate scientific opinion by making such a statement? A. I do not.
PAGE 17, COLUMN 1
STATE ENDS CASE AGAINST FRANK
Dalton Corroborates Jim Conley's Story
DR. CHILDS IS CALLED BY DEFENSE TO REBUT DR. HARRIS' EVIDENCE
With the cross-examination of Dr. H. F. Harris, the State Thursday afternoon rested its case against Leo M. Frank accused of the murder of Mary Phagan.
Dr. L. W. Childs was called by the defense as its first witness to rebut the testimony of Dr. Harris.
The mysterious C. B. Dalton, who was expected to make sensational revelations of incidents in which Leo Frank was alleged to have participated in the National Pencil Factory, proved a very tame and commonplace witness when he was called Thursday.
The most that Dalton could say was that, on several of his visits to the factory, he had seen women in Frank's office. He told of no compromising situations. He was not even able to identify the women. He did not know whether or not they were members of Frank's own family. All that he knew was that they did not appear to be stenographers as he never saw them writing.
Dalton, when he was questioned by Luther Rosser, was not even sure of his own birthplace. He thought it was somewhere in Laurens County. He explained his presence by saying that he had gone to the factory with a Miss Daisy Hopkins. He said that he saw Frank in the office with two or three women, and that cool drinks generally were in evidence. On one occasion he said Frank and his visitors were drinking beer.
Detective Rosser on Stand.
Detective Bass Rosser was on the witness stand for a few minutes and was questioned briefly. He testified that when he saw Mrs. Arthur White the Monday after the crime she failed to tell him that she had seen a negro in the factory the Saturday the girl was killed. He said he did not get possession of this information until May 6 or 7. It is the contention of the State that the defense suppressed these facts.
At the conclusion of Detective Rosser's testimony, Solicitor Dorsey announced that he was prepared to rest as soon as Dr. H. F. Harris had completed the testimony which was interrupted by adjournment Wednesday afternoon. Dr. Harris was unable to appear when court opened at 9 o'clock. The prosecution had nothing more to present at 9:45 and a recess was taken until Dr. Harris arrived at 11:10.
Reuben Arnold began at once on a cross-examination of Dr. Harris as soon as the physician took the stand. He forced Dr. Harris to say that there is much uncertainty in drawing conclusions about digestive functions and their time limitations.
Solicitor Dorsey also asked for the submission of the National Pencil Company's cash book and bank book before he rested his case. This was agreed to by Frank's lawyers.
The defense announced that its first witness probably would be Dr. L. W. Childs, who would be called to start an immediate attack upon the testimony presented by Dr. Harris.
Dr. Childs to Combat Harris Story.
Dr. Childs is a physician and surgeon and was expected to testify in regard to the wounds on Mary Phagan's body, as well as in respect to the certainty with which the lapse of time between a person's eating and his death may be determined.
One of the most interesting pieces of evidence for the purpose of demonstration in the possession of the defense is a large size model of the National Pencil Company constructed on an accurate scale.
Frank chatted with his wife and mother in the intermission while the court was awaiting Dr. Harris, and a little later engaged in conversation with his attorneys. Dr. Childs entered the courtroom and talked several minutes with the defendant.
Attorney Rosser said that he would turn over the direct examination of the defense's witnesses to Arnold. Mr. Arnold said that the defense's first witness would be Dr. Leo A. Childs, who would give expert testimony in rebuttal of such testimony offered by the State.
Mr. Arnold said:
"Further than this witness I don't know what line we will
PAGE 18, COLUMN 1
DEFENSE TRIES TO BREAK DR. HARRIS' TESTIMONY; CALLS ITS OWN EXPERTS
Continued From Page 1.
pursue at present."
"Did you ever work for the National Pencil Company?" was the first question the Solicitor asked Dalton.
Mr. Arnold interrupted.
"Your honor," he said, "we want it understood that we object to this testimony all of it."
Judge Roan overruled the objection.
"Well, we want our objection recorded," said Rosser.
Dorsey continued his questioning.
"Do you know Leo Frank and Jim Conley?" continued the Solicitor. A. Yes; I know them both.
Q. Were you ever in the factory of the National Pencil Company? A. Yes; two or three times.
Q. Did you ever go to Frank's office with Miss Daisy Hopkins? A. Yes.
Was in Basement.
Q. Was Frank there? A. Yes.
Q. Did you ever go down in the basement? A. Yes.
The witness then pointed out on the diagram the spot he was in in the basement.
Q. Did you ever see Conley on those visits? A. Yes; and one time I saw another negro, a watchman.
Q. Did Frank know you were in the basement? A. He knew I was in the factory. I don't know whether he knew I was in the basement or not.
Dorsey then turned the witness over to the defense for the cross-examination.
"When was the first time you saw Frank at the pencil factory?" asked Mr. Rosser.
"Last fall some time."
Q. Where was Frank at that time? A. At his office.
Q. Who was in there with him? A. Some ladies.
Q. Were there any other men in there with him? A. No; he was the only man.
Q. Who was you with? A. Miss Daisy Hopkins.
Q. Do you know the names of the ladies in the office with Mr. Frank? A. No.
Q. Where did you go? A. I went to the basement.
Q. Was Miss Daisy with you? A. Yes.
Q. When did you go to the factory again? A. Right before Christmas.
Q. Who introduced you to Frank? A. Miss Daisy Hopkins.
Q. She just said to Mr. Frank, "This is my friend, Mr. Dalton," did she? A. Yes.
Went to Basement.
Q. You were never in his office after Christmas? A. No.
Q. When you went into the factory with Miss Daisy, you went down to the basement with her, didn't you? A. Yes.
Q. Where did you go down into the basement? A. We went down the ladder by the elevator.
Q. Where did you go in the basement? A. Right to where there were some boxes in the little room in the rear.
Q. Where did you live last year? A. No. 337 East Hunter street.
Q. Who did you work for? A. Mr. Heflin, a contractor.
Q. Where did you work after that? A. With Captain John Mc Ginnis.
Q. What time did you see Frank in his office? A. Some time between 2 and 3 o'clock.
Q. Were the windows up? A. I don't know.
Q. Did you see any curtains? A. No, but the office was very light.
Q. There were two windows in each office, weren't there? A. Yes.
Q. Do you know whether there was anyone else in the factory when you saw Mr. Frank? A. Yes; the negroes were there.
Saw Negro Watchman.
Q. What time at night was it when the night watchman was there? A. I don't know.
Q. Was it a negro watchman? A. Yes.
Q. Was that this year? A. No.
Q. Were you ever in Walton County? A. I lived there twenty years.
Q. How long were you away from there? A. I went to Lawrenceville for about a year.
Q. How long ago? A. I don't know. I forget just how long ago it was.
Q. Did you ever go with anyone to the pencil factory except Miss Daisy Hopkins? A. Yes, I used to go to the Busy Bee and wait for the factory to close to walk home with the girls.
Q. Can you name the girls? A. Yes; Miss Laura Atkinson and a Miss Laura Smith, of No. 148 South Pryor street.
Q. Do you go there any more? A. No; I haven't been to the Busy Bee in a long time.
Q. Where were you born? A. I don't know.
Q. When you first woke up, where were you? A. Somewhere in Walton County.
Gave Conley Money.
Q. As a matter of fact, you know where your family lived when you were born, don't you? A. Somewhere near Lawrenceville.
Solicitor Dorsey took the witness on the redirect examination.
Q. Did you ever give Jim Conley anything? A. Sometimes I would give him a quarter and sometimes 50 cents. Sometimes they would have cold drinks, and sometimes they would have beer.
Rosser took the witness again.
Q. When did you see beer there? A. On Saturday afternoons I don't remember the dates.
Q. Can you name specifically any time last fall that you went there? A. Not the day, but it was some time after 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Mr. Frank would have the cold drinks on a waiter in his office.
Can't Give Women's Names.
Q. And that is as definite as you can fix it? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you know the women besides the ones you name? A. No.
Q. Can you describe them? A. No.
"Come down."
City Detective S. L. Rosser took the stand.
Q. Since April 26, have you been engaged in this case? A. Yes.
Q. Did you visit Mrs. Arthur White subsequent to that date? A. Yes.
Q. At what time? A. Monday, April 28.
Q. Did she say anything about seeing a negro at the pencil factory Saturday? A. No.
Q. What was the first time she mentioned to you seeing a negro at the factory? A. May 6.
"I want to record an objection to that, your honor," said Rosser.
Rosser took the witness.
She Made Statement.
Q. Did you ask her? A. No; but she made a statement.
Dorsey took the witness on redirect.
Q. Did you take anything to Dr. Claude Smith? A. Yes; some chips.
Q. Are these the chips? A. Yes.
Q. Did you make a search of the areaway around the elevator? A. Yes.
Q. Did you find anything like this (showing the bludgeon alleged to have found by the Pinkertons)? A. No.
Q. Would you have found it? A. Yes.
Attorney Rosser took the witness again.
Q. Don't you know this roller has been in that factory two years? A. It may have been, but it was not on the first floor when we made our search.
State Wins Ruling.
Q. You made a good search? A. Yes.
Q. Do you know these are the same chips? A. Yes, I am sure of that.
The witness was excused.
Dorsey addressed the court:
"I don't know whether we tendered that bloody shirt or not. If we did not, I want to tender it now. I also want to enter these chips."
Attorney Rosser:
"They haven't been identified."
"They were identified by Detective Starnes and Chief Beavers," said Dorsey.
Judge Roan ruled that he would let them go to the jury.
Dorsey:
State's Case Nearly Finished.
"Now, I want the cash book and the bank book of the National Pencil Company."
Arnold said they would be furnished.
Dorsey:
"I want it understood as soon as Dr. Harris is able to complete his testimony the State is ready to rest its case."
"Mr. Dorsey," said Arnold, "will you tell Mr. Dalton not to leave. We may want to recall him."
Judge Roan declared a recess until Dr. Harris could reach the court. He said it would be about 10 o'clock.
Dalton Recalled for Moment.
Dorsey recalled the witness.
Q. Were you ever in the pencil factory with Daisy Hopkins? A. Yes.
Q. Did you go to the factory with her? A. Yes.
Q. Where was Frank? A. In his office.
Q. Where did you go? A. In the basement.
Q. Did he know you were there? A. Yes.
Q. Did Conley know you were there? A. Yes.
Q. Who else? A. The night watchman at one time.
Court then had a recess until Dr. H. F. Harris, who was excused from the witness stand Wednesday on account of illness, could arrive in court. The recess lasted for more than an hour. Dr. Harris, when he arrived upon the stand, was questioned upon cross-examination by Attorney Reuben Arnold.
Q. Unfavorable circumstances sometimes retard digestion, don't they? A. Well, that is a very grave matter, and there is so little data on the subject it is hard to answer.
About External Circumstances.
Q. You would not say then that external circumstances, some undue mental excitement, might delay digestion? A. I really don't know. There was an old Roman proverb that a person should take a walk after eating. Others say sleeping after a meal aids digestion.
Q. Then there is no set rule for digestion? Everybody is a rule unto themselves? A. Not altogether. The average normal stomach is about the same in digestion.
Q. There is no indication on the outside of the body that would indicate how far digestion has gone? A. None whatever.
Q. Don't the pulse or temperature show indigestion? A. No. Very many people have indigestion several years and don't know it. They don't even feel it themselves.
Q. How long does the stomach take to free itself when it is full? A. That has been investigated rather thoroughly, but it varies. I would say about 7 1-2 hours.
Q. How long does it take some substance that the stomach does not digest to pass out? A. That is hard to say. They probably pass through in a foreign body.
Q. How long would it take? A. That depends. The stomach doesn't like to free itself of meat until it is emulsified. Then it goes out very freely.
About Digestion of Cabbage.
Q. That is just the point. Does the stomach emulsify cabbage or corn? A. Oh, yes; there is always a constant churning motion.
Q. How about corn? A. It might pass through without emulsifying.
Q. Peas? A. Yes.
Q. You would not attempt to enumerate what vegetables would pass through the stomach to the intestines? A. No, I would not.
Q. Is it not a fact that the first knowledge of digestion comes from that Canadian case? A. Yes.
Q. Is it not a fact that the only experiments before that time were made on rabbits and other animals for vegetables, and animals for meat? A. Yes.
Q. Is there any animal that eats everything that man does? A. Yes, the swine.
Q. Any other? A. I rather think the cat does.
Q. Well, isn't the wildcat a carnivorous animal strictly? A. I don't know. I never associated with one.
Q. You will admit that the experiments along this line are very limited with the exception of that Canadian case? A. Yes.
Processes Not All Understood.
Q. It is practically in its infancy? A. Well, I would not say that. We are fairly familiar with the various juices and the process of digestion. But there is still much to learn.
Q. Just what part does the mouth and saliva play in connection with the stomach and the gastric juices, and the lower bowels? Is not this something that is not definitely known? A. Yes, that is true.
Q. Don't you practice vivisection on these animals? A. Yes.
Q. And you have never done it on humans, and you don't know how the processes take place in the human like you do in the animals? A. Except with the stomach.
Q. What is the hardest vegetables to digest? I mean, leaving your experiments and speaking from the viewpoint of science. A. I don't know that science has ever determined that.
Q. Isn't cabbage regarded as one of the hardest vegetables to digest? A. I probably have heard that. It may be that after cabbage has gone through the stomach, trouble may be caused in the small intestines that may be what has given the general idea that cabbage is hard to digest.
Q. Didn't you say when you first testified that you couldn't tell anything about the bread in the stomach? A. I don't think I made that statement.
Mr. Arnold read his testimony previously given.
Dr. Harris: "If I said that, I did not mean it in that sense. I meant that you could tell nothing about it by observing with the naked eye."
Q. You said it was impossible to state absolutely how long that cabbage had been in Mary Phagan's stomach? A. I meant I could not state within a minute.
Q. Could you tell within two minutes? A. No, not within 3, or 4, or 5. Probably not within 10 minutes. But I could tell that it was somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes.
Q. Doesn't it all depend on how much digestion is delayed? A. To an extent.
Q. All you are attempting to say, then, is that the process of digestion had only gone on a certain length of time? A. Yes.
Q. Didn't you say that certain circumstances retard digestion? A. Yes, but I didn't say that anything could retard the flow of the digestive juices. No one has ever shown that anything could retard the process of digestion.
PAGE 19, COLUMN 1
JIM CONLEY, THE EBONY CHEVALIER OF CRIME, IS DARKTOWN'S OWN HERO
By JAMES B. NEVIN.
Now that James Conley has been dismissed from the Frank trial, now that he has stood safely the fire of Mr. Rosser's most exhaustive grilling, what of him?
If Frank is convicted, Conley subsequently will be convicted, no doubt, of being an accessory after the fact of Mary Phagan's murder and that will mean three years, at most, in the penitentiary.
After that when the Frank trial, more or less, has been forgotten Conley will be at liberty to come back amongst the people of Atlanta.
Not far from Five Points, a little due east along one of the big thoroughfares meeting there, there is a negro bootblack who now and then, when he is on the job, which frequently he isn't, gives me a "shine" so much to my liking that it brings me back on other days.
He is a sort of Jim Conley negro at least, he has a smattering of education, an ingratiating air, and is polite, particularly when it pays him to be.
Quite without previous design, I stopped at this negro's stand Wednesday afternoon, and it was not long before he mentioned the famous trial. He having started the conversation, I asked him a few questions and his replies, given herein in part, rather set me to thinking.
"Complimented on All Sides."
"George," I said not that I know his name is George, but that it so happens I address negroes unknown of name that way "what do your friends down on Decatur street think of Jim Conley's story over yonder in the big court? Rather clever, negro, Jim, eh?" said I to this bootblack.
"Well, boss, dat Mr. Rosser ain't made nothing on Jim yit, is he?" replied George.
I ventured the opinion that Mr. Rosser failed, at least, to make Jim out so many different kinds of a liar that his story might not stick in spots.
"Well, boss," continued my bureau of information, "dem niggers down on Decatur street, dey ain't talking of nothing but Jim Conley. He's de most talked about nigger anywhere, I guess. I hears him complimented on all sides!"
"In other words, Jim's a sort of hero along Decatur street nowadays?" said I.
"Yassir, dat's it Jim's a hero. Niggers all talking about him. He done got de best of de smartest of 'um. Nobody can't fool er nigger like Jim!"
Hero Around "Butt In" Bar.
I presume, too, that something of the same condition prevails over on Peters street particularly in the neighborhood of the "Butt In" bar over there.
You remember the "Butt In" boozorium in Peters street is the one wherein Conley filled up rather freely on beer, the morning of the Phagan murder, also on beer mixed with wine.
The "Butt In," it also will be recalled, is where Conley obtained a "double-header" beer "double-headers" being the order of the day always take Mr. Conley's honest money the violent presumption being that Jim ever had, or ever will have, that kind of money even for "double-headers."
Jim has just passed through the fire. And he got through, his reputation more or less damaged for truthfulness, to be sure, but not utterly shattered beyond patching up in such wise that it might be worked one more time, at least, if necessary.
True, Conley already had been in jail seven times that he admits of, and several times more that he cannot recall precisely, and that had served to make him something of a hero in darkest Darktown; but Jim's involuntary residence in durance vile heretofore has been in police circles and mere county chaingangs exclusively. So that didn't make him a particularly big hero albeit it made him a hero not altogether to be sneezed at!
Now, however, Jim has been in "de big court," tangled all up in a murder case, suspected by some of being a principal to the murder, indeed, but cleverly side-stepping that too deadly peril and his name has been in all the newspapers hundreds of times, and his picture dozens of times, and before he gets through with it, he will be decorated by the State's majesty in stripes but the latter not so long that it will seriously inconvenience anybody, particularly Jim!
All in all, Jim's a real hero in darkest Darktown, at last a real ebony chevalier of crime and those brethren who frequent the "Butt Ins" and the "Butt Outs," and booze dispensaries of like persuasion will bow down and worship Jim for, in their philosophy, of such as Jim is the Decatur street "kingdom of heaven."
Ruling Generally Approved.
The general impression seems to be that Judge Roan did the right thing in permitting the Conley story to go to the jury in its entirety, inasmuch as it had gone in deadly part, anyway.
Perhaps the evidence fixing upon Leo Frank another crime than the one he stands charged with under the present indictment was, primarily, inadmissible, but there was no way to relieve the jury of the charge Conley made, and it would have been hardly fair either to the jury, the court and even to the defendant, to cut the story off there.
If the State is able to sustain its terrible charge against Frank, it perhaps is common sense now to let it proceed to the corroborating of Conley, if it can corroborate him.
To have left Conley's charge neither contradicted nor corroborated that would merely have resulted in its probable corroboration in the minds of the public, if not elsewhere.
The things Conley said to the Frank jury can not be said and then forgotten.
It would have been folly to have ASKED the jury to forget it would have been imposing upon it an impossible mental task.
Other Charge as Serious.
If it so be that error was committed in not ruling out the story, a new trial will be granted, on appeal, in the event of Frank's conviction and the trial next time undoubtedly will proceed without this particular evidence in.
The State can, if it fails to sustain eventually its charge of murder, still move against Frank, if it so elects, in the other direction which crime, under the Code, is quite as serious as murder.
One may feel the injustice of flinging at Frank, while on trial for murder, another capital charge still, since the additional charge was admitted, with protest, as an original proposition few people will contend strenuously that the State should not be permitted to proceed to the conclusion of a line of evidence begun without protest.
I have heard Judge Roan's ruling discussed about town last night, and to-day, and I heard few who find fault in it.
Indeed, as matter of simple justice to Frank, no less than to the State and I will not do to forget that the State has large rights at stake in this matter it seems common sense and elementary justice that the State, having made its awful charge, be required either to corroborate it or not.
That appears to be the public attitude in the matter.
PAGE 19, COLUMN 3
PROSECUTOR DORSEY SNAPPED IN ACTION
This shows the Solicitor in an argument at the Frank trial.
PAGE 19, COLUMN 5
TRIAL AS VARIED AS VAUDEVILLE EXHIBITION
Every Change in Chromatic Scale
Rung All Georgia Types
Seen in Court.
By L. F. WOODRUFF.
Every change in the chromatic scale has been rung in the Frank trial. With the single exception of the skyrocket oratory that will mark the last stage of the trial, everything that has ever been done in the trial of a criminal case has been enacted in the fight to fix on the superintendent of the National Pencil Factory the guilt of the murder of Mary Phagan.
There has been comedy. There has been tragedy. There has been periods as dull as a hookworm victim. There have been occasions as startling as the feat of a circus daredevil. There have been pathos and performances worthy of a clown. The somber has mixed with the gay until the entire trial seems the work of a futurist artist who has had a hard night with the drinking cups before he started the painting.
Jim Conley was on the stand something like sixteen hours. His story was a ragtime composition, with the weirdest syncopations, and then came Dr. Harris right on his heels and gave evidence full of soundness and learnedness. To the spectators it seemed that they had just heard "Alexander's Ragtime Band" played and then a Bach fugue for an encore.
One Simple, Other Complex.
Conley's story was as simple in words as "Old Black Joe," while Dr. Harris' was as complex as a Wagnerian overture.
Jim Conley spoke in terms of the street, of the near-beer saloon, of the blind alley crap game. Dr. Harris spoke in the language of the laboratory and the library.
Jim Conley could not enunciate a word of more than one syllable. Dr. Harris was as polysyllable as the word "heterogeneous." And the spectators had to gasp after the shift.
Conley's story, while it was as full of contradictions as a hive is of bees, was as easy to understand as a baby's "da-da" is to a fond parent. Dr. Harris' evidence was as loaded with medical lore as a physician's library.
And, although it seems impossible, there is more still to come. Before the trial has ended practically every type that Georgia knows will have been paraded in the courtroom.
Types Seen in Court.
Right now, the spectators have seen the scholarly defendant whose court attitude is still an enigma as unsolvable as the crime with which he is charged. There are his loving mother and his devoted wife.
Here is the massive figure of Luther Rosser, attacking every opponent with a battleax ferocity. Here is the erudite Arnold, with rapier thrusts to send in the death blow when the enemy is beaten down by the more direct assault of his ally.
Here is the young Solicitor, struggling against tremendous odds, upsetting tradition by fighting Rosser with his own weapons, burning Arnold with his own fire.
Here is his learned associate, quick to grasp a point as a drowning man is a straw.
Here are factory girls and business men. Here are the comical figure of Newt Lee and the sinister figure of Jim Conley. Here are the learned scientist and the sleuth hound.
It seems that everything has been shown, but still there will be more. It is impossible that Rosser and Arnold will not show something just as novel and bizarre as the State has presented.
Color for a Dickens.
There is Mincey to come with his startling story Mincey, as typical of the red clay soil of the Cracker country as peanuts and watermelons; Mincey, so typically the country school teacher that he will have to carry a rod of hickory and a blueback speller to the stand to feel at home while he is giving his evidence.
And there will be a lot more.
Tragic as is the trial, it has been Atlanta's greatest vaudeville show. Dickens could have spent one week in Judge Roan's courtroom and written four novels around the types he saw listening to and playing parts in the drama that hovers around the life and death of a little girl of the factory.
PAGE 19, COLUMN 6
ROSSER AND ARNOLD SMILING AT THEIR "FIGHTING FACES"
FACES OF MEN BATTLING FOR FRANK LUTHER Z. ROSSER. REUBEN ARNOLD.
The snapshot shows Luther Rosser and Reuben Arnold looking at Artist Carter's sketch of their "fighting faces" in The Georgian. Below, is a small reproduction of the sketch which is declared by their friends to be the best likeness ever published of the two attorneys.
PAGE 19, COLUMN 6
ROAN'S RULING HEAVY BLOW TO DEFENSE
Judge Roan administered a severe blow to the defense Wednesday when he ruled that all of Conley's story should stand, although portions of it, he acknowledged, would have been inadmissible had objection been made at the time the testimony was offered.
Judge to Rule as Case Proceeds.
It was a particularly difficult allegation to combat. Unlike many allegations, it was exactly as hard to fight in the event it was false as in case it was founded on fact.
Judge Roan said in regard to the testimony of Dalton that he did not know what it was to be and that he would allow it to be presented so that he might rule on its admissibility as it came up.
Solicitor Dorsey put the final rivet in his case so far as it rested upon the testimony of Conley when at the close of his redirect examination of the negro he brought to light the State's theory of the disposition that had been made of the Phagan girl's mesh bag.
Practically no mention of the mesh bag had been made during the week and a half of the trial. The only reference made to it was in the examination of Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of the slain girl, and of the officers who visited the scene of the crime immediately after police headquarters was called by the negro nightwatchman, Newt Lee.
Tells of Mesh Bag.
Mrs. Coleman testified that Mary left home with the mesh bag in her hand. The detectives and policemen all testified that they were able to find no trace of it either the morning after the crime or in the search that had been conducted since then.
"Did you ever see the murdered girl's mesh bag?" Dorsey asked Conley, just as it appeared that he had finished his questioning.
"Yes, sah, I see it," Conley replied.
"Where was it?"
"It was right on Mr. Frank's desk when I went in there to write the notes."
"Did you see what became of it?"
"Yes, sah; Mr. Frank went and put it in his safe."
Conley left the stand at 11:10 o'clock still sticking to his charge that Leo Frank killed the Phagan girl and that, at Frank's direction, he (Conley) assisted in the disposal of the body. He had been on the stand fifteen and one-half hours and under the grilling cross-examination of Luther Rosser for more than thirteen hours.
Practically the only addition he made to his story as it appeared in his direct examination was his declaration that while he was writing the murder notes Frank took the pencil out of his hand and then an instant later made him rub out the "s" he had written as he spelled out "negros." Conley said he wrote the note at first:
"A long tall black negros did this by hisself."
A long argument over the admissibility of Conley's testimony in regard to Frank's alleged conduct with women previous to the murder of Mary Phagan took place after the jury had been sent from the courtroom at noon. Court recessed before the arguments were concluded, and the debate was resumed in the afternoon.
Reuben Arnold cited opinions from courts in States from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but his arguments were unavailing and the decision went against the defense. There was a murmur of applause and a stamping of feet.
Arnold instantly was on his feet with a motion for a mistrial, but he realized at once that the jury was not present and withdrew the motion. He threatened, however, to make a motion that the courtroom be cleared if such a demonstration occurred again.
Dr. Harris Recalled.
Dr. Harris was recalled to complete the testimony which he was giving when he collapsed on the stand the Friday before. He repeated his assertion as to the time Mary Phagan came to her death after eating dinner at her home in Bellwood Saturday shortly before noon.
"I can say with almost absolute certainty," he declared, "that this little girl was killed within 30 or 40 minutes after she ate her meal that day."
He refused, under cross-examination, to change his testimony in the least in respect to the cause of death.
"It was easily apparent that strangulation was the cause," he declared. "An examination of the lungs was unnecessary and even useless because of the embalming preparation that had been employed. It was plainly evident that the rope had been placed about the girl's neck before death and the deep indentation showed that it was sufficient to choke off her breath and cause death within a brief time."
Blow Not Fatal, He Says.
Although Arnold was unable to make the physician alter the statement of his opinion, he obtained an admission that a blow on the head sufficient to cause death might immediately precede garroting and still the same manifestations of strangulation exist.
Dr. Harris, however, did not believe that the blow on Mary Phagan's head was enough to cause death. He said that the blow was not severe and that, aside from a little spot of blood on the brain which could not have caused any pressure, the brain was entirely normal.
Attorney Arnold in the latter part of the afternoon session engaged in an exhaustive and highly technical examination of the witness in regard to the action of the digestive juices, the percentages that were present in Mary Phagan's stomach and the tests that were made for poisons.
Thursday, 7th August 1913: Defense Of Frank Begins, The Atlanta Georgian PDF