1913 October 21 Atlanta Georgian 53 Pages Georgia : Atlanta Georgian : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive (2024)

SHIRLEY’SACCUSER IN CELL

DETECTIVES SEEK TO REVEAL PLOTAGAINST

Police, Tuesday, considered the exoneration of J. C. Shirley complete.Charles J. Graham, attorney for the man accused by Ira W. Fisher of the murderof Mary Phagan, and that was as yet undecided whether Fisher’s accusations werethe ravings of a diseased and dope-steeped mind or the first evidence of adeep-laid plot with Fisher as the tool.

Two prominent Atlanta men and one Birmingham man arethreatened with arrest on charges of conspiracy. A searching investigation byChief Lanford and Attorney Graham will decide whether this move will be taken.Graham said Tuesday that would make a decision as soon as reports had been madeto him on certain rumors that had come to his ears.

Shirley said that he either would put Fisher in the asylum orin the penitentiary. He will bring his books to the police Tuesday to show acomplete alibi. Lanford has instituted an investigation of the charges ofconspiracy and will make arrests at once if he finds them substantiated. Two ofthe men named in the alleged conspiracy have been identified with the Frankcase. The other one is known to have been with Fisher in Birmingham.

It was pointed out by Chief Lanford Tuesday that wereFisher’s story true in every particular, there is nothing in it to connectShirley with the murder of Mary Phagan. The name that Fisher said Shirleymentioned as that of the girl he was to meet was Hattie. Shirley asserts thathe never even knew Mary Phagan by sight.

Fisher Locked Up.

Fisher was put under arrest at the police station on thecharge of criminal libel, the complaint being sworn to by Russell Shirley, abrother of J. C. Shirley. Short shrift was given him after he had repeated hisweird story Monday night in the presence of the man he accuses.

The warrant had already been made outand as soon as it became apparent that Fisher, said by some to be an irresponsibledrunkard and dope fiend, was going to stick by his story, Chief of DetectivesLanford gave the paper to Detective John W. Starnes and Fisher was locked up.

Fisher underwent a searchingexamination that lasted more than three hours. His detailed story first wastaken by G. C. Febuary, secretary to Chief Lanford. Little effort was made atthis time to cross-examine him, the purpose being to get his story together ashe originally had told it so that every feature might later be investigated witha view of disproving or substantiating it.

Visits Places He Names.

Chief Langford and Detectives Starnes and co*ker then putFisher through a severe questioning and he then was taken out in the policeautomobile to visit several of the places he said he had been with Shirley onthe day of the crime. While he was gone Shirley, at the request of ChiefLanford, came to the police station. Shirley went into the chief’s office. Assoon as Fisher came back he was bustled without any warning right into theroom. Standing before him was the man he accused.

Fisher was taken aback for an instant,but recovered himself at once. He was placed in a chair near the chief and thequestioning was resumed, Chief Lanford, Charles J. Graham, attorney forShirley; Russell Shirley and the accused man himself took turns in firingquestions at the stolid figure in the chair. Aside from a nervous movement inthe chair. Aside from a nervous movement of his hands, and a frequent strokingof his face on which there was a four days’ growth of beard, he showed no signthat he was disturbed by the unusual position in which he found himself.

Because of the positive statementscontained in the first announcement of Fisher’s story and the terrible chargeagainst Shirley that was implied in its words, some possibility existed thatShirley might be held at the police station until the story had beeninvestigated.

So many glaring improbabilities andconflicts, however, crept into the man’s narrative that Chief Lanford declaredthat he couldn’t think of holding Shirley on the strength of Fisher’s story,which he branded as manifestly impossible.

Dresser Never Delivered.

The trip to No. 132 Bellwood avenue developed one of thereasons for disbelief in Fisher’s statement. Mrs. William Holloway lives here.Fisher said that he went in a wagon with Shirley to this house the morning ofApril 28 to deliver a dresser. When the officers and Fisher drove up to the houseMonday night, Mrs. Holloway declared that Fisher and Shirley never haddelivered anything there, and that she had not bought a dresser for years. Thisblow to his tale did not daunt Fisher in the least. He still stuck to hisassertion that they went there that morning and delivered the furniture.

Another of his statements which gavetangible cause for disbelief was that he had seen no crowd on the streets April26, which was Memorial Day, either while he was waiting at Marietta and Forsythstreets from about 1 until 3 o’clock in the afternoon or while he and Shirley,according to his story, were driving across Peachtree street and down Decaturstreet and then to the Union Station.

He said that he noticed no crowd on thestreets at all other than would naturally be on any Saturday afternoon. Theprogress of his wagon never was stopped at any time he was driving from oneplace to another. It is claimed that this alone brands his story as ridiculous,as there were large crowds on the street.

Still another discrepancy which thepolice say is in his story is that he first said that he met C. W. Burke, agentfor Attorney Luther Rosser, on Friday night in Birmingham. Before thedetectives he declared that the first time he saw Burke was last Saturday nightwhen Burke met him on the street and brought him to Atlanta. Burke also isdeclared to have said that he met Fisher first on Friday night.

Fisher was questioned very closelyabout who had talked to him in Luther Rosser’s office. He said that

FISHERSTICKS TO STORY

UNDER FIERCE GRILLING

OF LAWYER AND POLICE

Rosser andReuben Arnold had not talked to him at all, but that Burke had done most of theexamination. They told me up there that I would have a hard time down here ifthe detectives got hold of me,” he naively told Langford.

Fisher gave all of his replies in acalm, almost disinterested voice. When he charged Shirley with going to thepencil factory to meet Mary Phagan he jeered his thumb carelessly towardShirley who sat the other side of a table.

“You did it; you know you did it,” hesaid to Shirley.

“You lie, you skunk; you know d—wellyou lie!” retorted Shirley, and he started from his chair in a menacing manner.Detectives grabbed Shirley and averted a fight.”

This dramatic scene was enacted whenShirley was brought to headquarters to face his accuser. Quiet was restored andFisher was ordered to tell his story in the furniture man’s presence.

“The Saturday of the murder Shirley andI drove down to Broad and Marietta streets in his wagon. We had delivered abureau to a Mrs. Holloway on Bellwood avenue. We stopped near the corner andShirley said he wanted me to hold the horse while he went to the pencilfactory, where he had a date, he said, with ‘Hattie,’ the pet name for MaryPhagan.” Fisher paused and Shirley was on his feet in an instant.

Called “Liar and Bum.”

You’re a measly liar and I’ll prove it,you drunken ‘bum,” shouted Shirley, his eyes lighting up with a dangerous fire.“Why don’t you tell the truth and quit lying?” Shirley, half mad with rage, wasalmost dragged into his chair by Charley Graham, his attorney.

Fisher was told to continue.

“I waited about an hour and a half forShirley,” started the man again, his eyes roaming about the room, as though insearch for a place he could look where no eyes would catch his gaze. “He gotback between 2:30 and 3 o’clock.”

“I’ve played hell in general,” he saidto me. Then he said I had better get out of town.”

Fisher again paused, and lookingShirley straight in the eyes for the first time, said:

“That’s straight. Mr. Shirley, and ifyou’ll tell the truth you’ll admit it.”

Once more Shirley arose in athreatening attitude, but took his seat again.

“I didn’t want to get out of town and toldShirley so, but he threatened me and said I would have to get out. We drove tothe Union Depot and he purchased me a ticket for Ellijay. He gave me $25. Hewent in the car with me and left me. If I hadn’t have been afraid of him Iwouldn’t have gone away. I stayed in Ellijay two weeks then came back toAtlanta.

Tells of Threats.

“I stayed here two weeks then went to Copper Hill, Tenn.,because Shirley wanted me to and because he threatened me. You know youthreatened me Shirley—you know you did,” and the strange man shook his head ina dogged manner.”

“Shirley sent me some letters withmoney in them. Two he sent contained $25 each. Another one contained $8.”

“I’ve told the truth and it’d all comeout sooner or later,” declared Fisher with the air of a philosopher.

Efforts to shake the mans’ story werewithout results. He would answer most any question in an unconcerned way andrefused to be tangled up by the questions put to him by Graham, the chief andby reporters.

“You are telling a most wondrous tale,”said Graham, “but you had better tell the truth before you get sent to jail forcriminal libel.”

Denies Using Drugs.

“I know what libel is retorted Fisher, “and you can’t send aman to prison for telling the truth.”

“What Kind of dope do you use, morphineor cocaine?” someone “shot” at him.

“None,” said Fisher.

“You look like you did,” said one ofthe detectives.

“That’s because I need a drink—gotone?” he replied.

And undoubtedly, he did need one.

He had been given all the whisky he wanted while in the handsof the attorneys, and was reluctant to leave such a nice abode. His face neededa hour’s work by a barber and a bath would not have harmed him.

Chummy or Rummy?

Fisher said that while in Parksville he met a man by the nameof Joe Hicks, who was employed on the rail road with him and that they becamequite “chummy.”

“You mean ‘rummy,’ don’t you, Fisher?”interposed Shirley’s brother.

Fisher went on to say that Hicks wentto Birmingham with him some weeks ago and that they had stayed together there.Hicks, he said, was the first person he ever told the story of his movements onthe day of the murder of Mary Phagan. He never even had told his wife.

“You know that all she wants is to keepme in jail, don’t you?” he asked, addressing the Shirley brothers.

“Well, I just let drop a hint or two atfirst. I told him that they didn’t have the murderer of Mary Phagan and that Iknew who the real murderer was. He told me that I ought to tell if I knew. ThenI went on to tell him the whole thing just as I have told it here. After he hadkept telling me that I ought not to let an innocent man hang, it just kind ofgot on my conscience. Finally, he went with me Friday to Chief Bodeker’s officeand we told the whole thing.”

“Well, I just let drop a hint or two atfirst. I told him that they didn’t have the murderer of Mary Phagan and that Iknew who the real murderer was. He told me that I ought to tell if I knew. ThenI went to tell him the whole thing just as I have told it here. After he hadkept telling me that I ought not to let an innocent man hang. It just kind ofgot on my conscience. Finally, he went with me Friday to Chief Bodeker’s officeand we told the whole thing.”

“Who did the most talking?” inquiredChief Lanford.

“Why, I guess Hicks did,” said Fisher.

After the questioning of Fisher wasover, Lanford said.

Search for Conspiracy.

“We are goingto get at the bottom of this. It may be that Fisher has been paid money, but Iam going to investigate the possibility that it was someone else and notShirley that paid it to him. If there is any conspiracy against Shirley or inbehalf of anyone else, the detective department proposes to find it out ifpossible. Fisher has absolutely no evidence that money was sent him. He has noenvelopes from Shirley. He says he tore them up. He says the letters were notregistered, and he says that all of the money was sent in cash. Altogether itis the most ridiculous story I ever listened to.”

_{DORSEY TO BE ASKED}

_{TO AID IN UNEARTHING}

Solicitor Dorsey shortly before noon made public a mass ofaffidavits upholding Jurors Johenning and Henslee who were accused of bias incharges filed by the defense in the fight for a new trial for Leo Frank.

The affidavits included statements from fellow jurorsdeclaring that the two men had expressed no opinion on the merits of the casewhile the trial was in progress. They also included statements upholding thecharacter of the men.

That the County Grand Jury will be asked to investigate theorigin of the accusation of Ira W. Fisher was the statement made by C. J.Graham, attorney for J. C. Shirley, the furniture dealer named by the newPhagan “witness” Tuesday.

This action was decided upon following a lengthy conferencebetween Shirley, Graham and Chief of Detectives Lanford. Its purpose will be todetermine whether Fisher’s story was the result of a conspiracy against Shirleyor simply the result of a drink-crazed mind.

A rigid probe to the foundation of the story will be asked.Persons named by Fisher as his associates since his departure from Atlanta willbe questioned, especially those with whom he had dealings just prior to thetime he appeared before Chief of Police Bodeker in Birmingham and made hisstartling statements.

If the investigation shows that others had a hand in theaccusation against the furniture dealer, they will be prosecuted together withFisher on a conspiracy charge. Many believe that this will prove the fact.

ConferenceWith Dorsey

Attorney Graham stated that he would have a conference withSolicitor Dorsey later in the day and an early date for the Grand Jury probewould be fixed.

Two Atlanta men and one Birmingham man are threatened witharrest on charges of conspiracy. A searching investigation by Chief Lanford andAttorney Graham will decide whether this move will be taken. Graham saidTuesday that he would make a decision as soon as reports had been made to himon certain rumors that had come to his ears.

Shirley said that he either would put Fisher in the asylum orin the penitentiary. He will bring his books to the police Tuesday to show acomplete alibi. Lanford has instituted an investigation of the charges ofconspiracy and you will make arrests at once finds them substantiated. Two ofthe men named in the alleged conspiracy have been identified with the Frankcase. The other one is known to have been with Fisher in Birmingham.

It was pointed out by Chief Lanford Tuesday that wereFisher’s story true in every particular, there is nothing in it to connectShirley with the murder of Mary Phagan. The name that Fisher said Shirleymentioned as that of the girl he was to meet was Hattie. Shirley asserts thathe never even knew Mary Phagan by sight.

Fisher Locked Up.

Fisher was put under arrest at the police station on thecharge of criminal libel, the complaint being sworn to by Russell Shirley, abrother of J. C. Shirley. Short shrift was given him after he had repeated hisweird story Monday night in the presence of the man he accuses.

The warrant had already been made out,and as soon as it became apparent that Fisher, said by some to be anirresponsible drunkard and dope fiend, was going to stick by his story, Chiefof Detectives Lanford gave the paper to Detective John W. Starnes and Fisherwas locked up.

Fisher underwent a searchingexamination that lasted more than three hours. His detailed story first wastaken by G. C. Febuary, secretary to Chief Lanford. Little effort was made atthis time to cross-examine him, the purpose being to get his story together ashe originally had told it so that every feature might later be investigatedwith a view of disproving or substantiating it.

Chief Lanford and Detectives Starnesand co*ker then put Fisher through a severe questioning and he then was takenout in the police automobile to visit several of the places he said he had beenwith Shirley on the day of the crime. While he was gone S the request of ChiefLanford, came to the police station. Shirley went into the chief’s office. Assoon as Fisher came back he was bustled without any warning right into theroom. Standing before him was the man he accused.

Fisher was taken aback for an instant,but recovered himself at once. He was placed in a chair near the chief and thequestioning was resumed. Chief Lanford, Charles J. Graham, attorney forShirley; Russell Shirley and the accused man himself took turns in firingquestions at the stolid figure in the chair. Aside from a nervous movement ofhis hands, and a frequent stroking of his face on which there was a four days’growth of beard, he showed no sign that he was disturbed by the unusualposition in which he find himself.

Because of the positive statementscontained in the first announcement of Fisher’s story and the terrible chargeagainst Shirley that was implied in its words, some possibility existed thatShirley might be held at the police station until the story had beeninvestigated.

So many glaring improbabilities andconflicts, however, crept into the man’s narrative that Chief Lanford declaredthat he couldn’t think of holding Shirley on the strength of

Fisher’sstory, which he branded manifestly impossible.

The trip to No. 132 Bellwood avenue developed one of thereasons for disbelief in Fisher’s statement. Mrs. William Holloway lives here.Fisher said that he went in a wagon with Shirley to this house the morning ofApril 28 to deliver a dresser. When the officers and Fisher drove up to thehouse Monday night, Mrs. Holloway declared that Fisher and Shirley never haddelivered anything there, and that she had not bought a dresser for years. Thisblow to his tale did not daunt Fisher in the least. He still stuck to his assertionthat they went there that morning and delivered the furniture.

Another of his statements which gavetangible cause for disbelief was that he had seen no crowd on the streets April26, which was Memorial Day, either while he was waiting at Marietta and Forsythstreets from about 1 until 3 o’clock in the afternoon or while he and Shirley,according to his story, were driving across Peachtree street and down Decaturstreet and then to the Union Station.

He said that he noticed no crowd on thestreets at all other than would naturally be on any Saturday afternoon. Theprogress of his wagon never was stopped at any time he was driving from oneplace to another. It is claimed that this alone brands his story as ridiculous,as there were large crowds on the street.

Still another discrepancy which thepolice say is in his story is that he first said that he met C. W. Burke, agentfor Attorney Luther Rosser, on Friday night in Birmingham. Before thedetectives he declared that the first time he saw Burke was last Saturday nightwhen Burke met him on the street and brought him to Atlanta. Burke also isdeclared to have said that he met Fisher first on Friday night.

Fisher was questioned very closelyabout who had talked to him in Luther Rosser’s office. He said that Rosser andReuben Arnold had not talked to him at all, but that Burke had done most of theexamination. “They told me up there that I would have a hard time down there ifthe detectives got hold of me,” he naively told Langford.

Fisher gaveall of his replies in a calm, almost disinterested voice. When he chargedShirley with going to the pencil factory to meet Mary Phagan he jeered histhumb carelessly toward Shirley who sat the other side of a table.

“You did it; you know you did it,” he saidto Shirley.

“You lie, you skunk; you know d—wellyou lie!” retorted Shirley, and he started from his chair in a menacing manner.Detectives grabbed Shirley and averted a fight.”

This dramatic scene was enacted whenShirley was brought to headquarters to face his accuser. Quiet was restored andFisher was ordered to tell his story in the furniture man’s presence.

“The Saturday of the murder Shirley andI drove down to Broad and Marietta streets in his wagon. We had delivered abureau to a Mrs. Holloway on Bellwood avenue. We stopped near the corner andShirley said he wanted me to hold the horse while he went to the pencilfactory, where he had a date, he said, with ‘Hattie,’ the pet name for MaryPhagan.” Fisher paused and Shirley was on his feet in an instant.

Called “Liar and Bum.”

You’re a measly liar and I’ll prove it,you drunken ‘bum,” shouted Shirley, his eyes lighting up with a dangerous fire.“Why don’t you tell the truth and quit lying?” Shirley, half mad with rage, wasalmost dragged into his chair by Charley Graham, his attorney.

Fisher was told to continue.

“I waited about an hour and a half forShirley,” started the man again, his eyes roaming about the room, as though insearch for a place he could look where no eyes would catch his gaze. “He gotback between 2:30 and 3 o’clock.”

“I’ve played hell in general,” he saidto me. Then he said I had better get out of town.”

Fisher again paused, and lookingShirley straight in the eyes for the first time, said:

“That’s straight. Mr. Shirley, and ifyou’ll tell the truth you’ll admit it.”

Once more Shirley arose in athreatening attitude, but took his seat again.

“I didn’t want to get out of town andtold Shirley so, but he threatened me and said I would have to get out. Wedrove to the Union Depot and he purchased me a ticket for Ellijay. He gave me$25. He went in the car with me and left me. If I hadn’t have been afraid ofhim I wouldn’t have gone away. I stayed in Ellijay two weeks then came back toAtlanta.

Tells of Threats.

“I stayed here two weeks then went to Copper Hill, Tenn.,because Shirley wanted me to and because he threatened me. You know youthreatened me Shirley—you know you did,” and the strange man shook his head ina dogged manner.”

“Shirley sent me some letters withmoney in them. Two he sent contained $25 each. Another one contained $8.”

“I’ve told the truth and it’d all comeout sooner or later,” declared Fisher with the air of a philosopher.

Efforts to shake the mans’ story werewithout results. He would answer most any question in an unconcerned way andrefused to be tangled up by the questions put to him by Graham, the chief andby reporters.

“You are telling a most wondrous tale,”said Graham, “but you had better tell the truth before you get sent to jail forcriminal libel.”

Denies Using Drugs.

“I know what libel is retorted Fisher, “and you can’t send aman to prison for telling the truth.”

“What Kind of dope do you use, morphineor cocaine?” someone “shot” at him.

“None,” said Fisher.

“You look like you did,” said one ofthe detectives.

“That’s because I need a drink—gotone?” he replied.

And undoubtedly, he did need one.

He had been given all the whisky he wanted while in the handsof the attorneys, and was reluctant to leave such a nice abode. His face neededa hour’s work by a barber and a bath would not have harmed him.

Chummy or Rummy?

Fisher said that while in Parksville he met a man by the nameof Joe Hicks, who was employed on the rail road with him and that they becamequite “chummy.”

“You mean ‘rummy,’ don’t you, Fisher?”interposed Shirley’s brother.

Fisher went on to say that Hicks wentto Birmingham with him some weeks ago and that they had stayed together there.Hicks, he said, was the first person he ever told the story of his movements onthe day of the murder of Mary Phagan. He never even had told his wife.

“You know that all she wants is to keepme in jail, don’t you?” he asked, addressing the Shirley brothers.

“Well, I just let drop a hint or two atfirst. I told him that they didn’t have the murderer of Mary Phagan and that Iknew who the real murderer was. He told me that I ought to tell if I knew. ThenI went on to tell him the whole thing just as I have told it here. After he hadkept telling me that I ought not to let an innocent man hang, it just kind ofgot on my conscience. Finally, he went with me Friday to Chief Bodeker’s officeand we told the whole thing.”

“Well, I just let drop a hint or two atfirst. I told him that they didn’t have the murderer of Mary Phagan and that Iknew who the real murderer was. He told me that I ought to tell if I knew. ThenI went to tell him the whole thing just as I have told it here. After he hadkept telling me that I ought not to let an innocent man hang. It just kind ofgot on my conscience. Finally, he went with me Friday to Chief Bodeker’s officeand we told the whole thing.”

“Who did the most talking?” inquiredChief Lanford.

“Why, I guess Hicks did,” said Fisher.

After the questioning of Fisher wasover, Lanford said.

Search for Conspiracy.

“We are going to get at the bottom ofthis. It may be that Fisher has been paid money, but I am going to investigatethe possibility that it was someone else and not Shirley that paid it to him.If there is any conspiracy against Shirley or in behalf of anyone else, thedetective department proposes to find it out if possible. Fisher has absolutelyno evidence that money was sent him. He has no envelopes from Shirley. He sayshe tore them up. He says the letters were not registered, and he says that allof the money was sent in cash. Altogether it is the most ridiculous story Iever listened to.”

POLICEHUNT FISHER’S ‘ACCOMPLICE’

TWO JURORS

DEFENDED

Probity of Henslee and Johen-

ning Upheld—Influence of

Some 30 affidavits to support theState’s contention that Leo M. Frank had a fair trial were made public Tuesdayby Solicitor Dorsey. They will be used Wednesday in the fight against thedefense’s motion for a new trial before Judge L. S. Roan.

Some of the affidavits defend theprobity and character of A. H. Henslee and M. Johenning, jurors who wereaccused of bias; some attack the trustworthiness of affiants for the defense,and others assert that no influence could have been exerted on the jury by the“cheering” and “demonstrations” on which the defense is basing much of itstheme of appeal.

Samuel Aaron, whose affidavit wasquoted as attacking the sincerity of Juror Henslee, was himself attacked by T.M. Webb, whose impeachment was in the usual form, that he would not believeAaron on his oath, having known him many years.

Calls Neill Bad Character.

W. P. Neill, the defense’s affiant, who stated he saw aspectator “talk one of the jurors and grab him by the hand,” is referred to inthe affidavit of W. J. Clayton, of the Central Carriage Company, as of badcharacter and one whom Clayton would not believe under oath.

Plennie Miner, Deputy Sheriff, also refers to the affidavitof Neill. He states, under oath, that one day in the courtroom he thought hesaw a spectator say something to a juror, without rising, or touching him, ormaking any other gesture. He (Miner) at once went to the spectator, in order totake him before the judge, but the man denied having addressed any juror, andanother man, sitting next him, also assured Miner that his companion had notspoken to any juror, so the deputy let the incident close.

T. S. Hawes, of Bainbridge, Ga., impeached R. G. Gremmer,stating that he had known the defense’s affiant twenty years and that he wouldnot believe him under oath.

Time Element Enters.

In the interval of preparing the affidavits Mr. Dorsey statedthat he fancied those affiants who had sworn to hearing Henslee say Barnesville“some time in June” that he had been drawn on the jury would be puzzled onhearing that Henslee, as a matter of fact, did not know himself that he wasdrawn on the jury until Friday, June 25, at 5 o’clock in the afternoon; that heremained in Atlanta Saturday and Sunday, and did not start for home untilMonday.

The Solicitor evidently had been calculating on the variousdates on which Henslee might have been charged with saying he was “on the Frankjury,” but what deductions he had made would have to appear later.

For the rest of the prosecution’s affidavits, Henslee praisedJohenning as a juror without bias or prejudice: Johenning praised Henslee issimilar terms, and J. T. Ozburn, F. E. Winburn, W. F. Medcalf, W. M. Jeffries,D. Townsend and A. L. Wisley, fellow jurors, commended both Henslee andJohenning as high-minded examples of justice and moderation.

Henslee Doubtful of Guilt.

It was the invariable testimony of his fellow jurors thatHenslee was the only juror to cast a “doubtful” ballot, indicating that he wasthe most reluctant to make up his mind on what all the rest of the jurorsseemed to have agreed on.

There was much testimony in regard to the cheering and“demonstrations,” attending to show that the

AFFIDAVITS HIT

FRANK’S PLEA

Thirty Witnesses Swear to Good

Character of Accused Jurors

And Deny Influence on Jury.

onlycheering recognized as such was heard in open court, until the last day of thetrial, when a burst of applause followed the reading of the verdict and washeard by the jurors as the poll was being taken.

The jurors all professed to have beenutterly ignorant of any cheering except what was stated, and insisted that whatthey heard could not have had any effect upon their decision since it had beenreached before the real cheering was heard.

Heard No demonstration.

As to the demonstrations in favor ofDorsey, there were a dozen affidavits by jurors and deputies to say that thejury was at such a distance, or in such a place, that only a confused andindistinct noise was heard. One or two of the jurors fancied at the time thatthere was a fight in progress somewhere.

C. F. Huber and A. F. Pennington,deputies having charge of the Frank jury, contradicted the affidavit of SamsonKay for the defense, and stated they heard no cheering or demonstration of anykind the afternoon of Friday, August 22, or after the noon hour Saturday,August 23.

Perhaps the most interesting reading inthe pile was Johenning’s own account of the conversation related by Mrs. JennieG. Lovenhart and Miss Miriam Lovenhart, in the course of which it was chargedthat he stated a belief in Frank’s guilt.

Johenning asserts in his affidavit thathe was talking of the case with Mrs. Lovenhart and Miss Lovenhart, and theyasked him what he thought of it.

“I replied that by the papers they havefound him guilty already,” says Johenning, “and added that I thought Frankwould have a hard time getting loose; that things didn’t look very bright forhim.”

Expressed No Opinion.

Johenning insists that he said no more than that, and that heentertained no fixed opinion at that time, and did not arrive at a fixedopinion until hearing the full evidence in court.

T. W. McGarity came to the support ofJoehenning’s character, declaring it good, and asserting he would believe himon oath. Similar affidavits, all warmly worded, were made by Dr. W. C. Robinson,O. H. Puckett and R. N. Weaver.

Quite an array of complimentaryaffidavits came from Barnesville to the support of A. H. Henslee. Among themwere those of W. H. Howard, J. C. Collier, T. W. Cochran, P. K. Gordy, J. E.Howard and C. O. Summers, J. D. Lochridge, formerly of Douglas, Ga. Professedto know the juror well and favorably.

An inkling of some plan of theSolicitor may be hidden in a small affidavit made by Joe Murray, clerk at theNew Albany Hotel, Albany, Ga. He said that A. H. Henslee was a guest at thathotel the night of June 2, and also registered there before the noon mealSeptember 18, 1913. Of course, if Henslee was not in Albany between those dateshe could not have made any statement about his chance as a talesman.

Arnold and Dorsey Confer.

Reuben R. Arnold, of counsel for Frank, and Solicitor Dorseyheld a conference beginning at 2 o’clock Tuesday afternoon for the purpose ofcoming to an agreement on the exact grounds upon which the argument for a newtrial will be based. It was expected that if there were to be any conflictbetween the opposing attorneys it would develop on this question.

Solicitor Dorsey is known to have takenissue with the defense on a number of points as the affidavits made publicTuesday indicate. He will strenuously resist any effort on the part of Frank’slawyers to establish that there was sufficient disorder or demonstrations inthe courtroom at any time either unduly to influence or intimidate the jurors.He already has answered this charge by the affidavits denying that there wascheering in the courtroom at times specified by the defense.

Judge Roan, before whom the argumentwill be heard Wednesday, will be the final arbiter on the questions whichremain disputed by the attorneys. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9o’clock in Judge Bell’s court on the first floor of the old City Hall Building,Pryor and Hunter streets. Both sides are prepared to go ahead with thearguments and there appeared no probability of further delay.

MANHIGHER UP IS MENTIONED IN

A search extending over two States wasbegun by the police Tuesday in an effort to locate Joe Hicks, companion of IraW. Fisher. Hickk is the man who accompanied Fisher to the office of Chief ofPolice Bodeker in Birmingham when Fisher made his weird but quickly discreditedaccusation of the murder of Mary Phagan against J. C. Shirley, of 809 Mariettastreet, Atlanta.

Chief of Detectives Lanford and CharlesJ. Graham, attorney for Shirley, believe that they will have disclosed thedeeply laid plot against Shirley, if such a plot actually has existed, whenthey have forced Hicks to talk and when they have grilled Fisher in a sobercondition. Threats were made yesterday that two prominent Atlantans might bearrested if any basis were found for belief in the plot theory. Later it wassaid that a searching investigation was being made of the possibility that aman still higher up was the moving spirit in a diabolical scheme to fasten thecrime on an innocent man.

Graham was undecided Tuesday as towhether Fisher’s sensational story was merely the vaporings of a disordered andcrazy intellect or the outcropping of a genuine conspiracy that had gone wrongthrough the inability of Fisher to tell a convincing story.

“I think we all know all when we findthis man Hicks, who Fisher says was his constant companion Parksville, andlater in Birmingham,” said Graham. “Hicks, played a mysterious part in theaffair. Fisher himself admitted that Hicks did most of the talking when theywent to the office of Chief Bodeker. Hicks appears to have told most of thestory and Fisher merely corroborated it.”

“There also is the possibility thatHicks suggested the story to Fisher from day to day, and finally built up inFisher’s mind the structure of the ridiculous tale he has told in Birminghamand here in Atlanta, a story which was startling enough as a simple, and directaccusation, but which broke down the instant the man was forced to give anyalleged details.”

Blackmail Is Suggested.

“We are working on several possibilities. One is that therewas a conspiracy against Shirley. If there was such a plot, it may have beenengineered alone by Fisher. Hicks may have been a party to it. In this case, itwas simple blackmail.”

“There also is the possibility that Fisher or Fisher andRicks were merely tools in a conspiracy and that the real conspirators are menhigher up. If this is the case, Atlanta will have a sensation the like of whichit has not experienced in years. On the other hand, the whole story may besimply the ravings of a drunken and besotted mind. Fisher’s own relatives saythat he was an extraordinary liar when in his cups.”

“Ordinary conditions were reversed Tuesday. Shirly, theaccused, was walking the streets a free man. Fisher, the accuser, was occupyinga cell in the police station. A charge of criminal libel has been preferredagainst him, but there is some question as to whether this charge can be madeto stand in view of the fact that so far as is known Fisher made no writtencharges against Shirley. Lawyers in general have expressed themselves asbelieving that no charge beyond slander can be preferred against him becauseall of his charges were verbal.”

Fisher will be arraigned before Justice of the Peace Puckett,probably Wednesday.

That the Fulton County Grand Jury will be asked toinvestigate the origin of the accusations was the statement made by Graham.

This action was decided upon following a lengthy conferencebetween Shirley, Graham and Chief of Detectives Lanford. Its purpose will be todetermine whether Fisher’s story was the result of a conspiracy against Shirleyor simply the result of a drink-crazed mind.

A rigid probe to thefoundation of the story will be asked. Persons named by Fisher as hisassociates since his departure from Atlanta will be questioned, especiallythose with whom he had dealings just prior to the time he appeared before Chiefof Police Bodeker in Birmingham and made his startling statements.

If the investigation shows that others had a hand in theaccusations against the furniture dealer, they will be prosecuted together withFisher

FISHERSTICKS TO STORY

UNDER FIERCE GRILLING

OF LAWYER AND POLICE

on a conspiracy charge. Many believe that this will prove thefact.

Attorney Graham stated that he would have a conference withSolicitor Dorsey later in the day and an early date for the Grand Jury probewould be fixed.

Two Atlanta men and one Birmingham man are threatened witharrest on charges of conspiracy. A searching investigation by Chief Lanford andAttorney Graham will decide whether this move will be taken. Graham saidTuesday that he would make a decision as soon as reports had been made to himon certain rumors that had come to his ears.

Shirley said that he either would put Fisher in the asylum orin the penitentiary. He will bring his books to the police Tuesday to show acomplete alibi. Lanford has instituted an investigation of the charges ofconspiracy and you will make arrests at once finds them substantiated. Two ofthe men named in the alleged conspiracy have been identified with the Frankcase. The other one is known to have been with Fisher in Birmingham.

It was pointed out by Chief Lanford Tuesday that wereFisher’s story true in every particular, there is nothing in it to connectShirley with the murder of Mary Phagan. The name that Fisher said Shirleymentioned as that of the girl he was to meet was Hattie. Shirley asserts thathe never even knew Mary Phagan by sight.

Fisher Locked Up.

Fisher was put under arrest at the police station on thecharge of criminal libel, the complaint being sworn to by Russell Shirley, abrother of J. C. Shirley. Short shrift was given him after he had repeated hisweird story Monday night in the presence of the man he accuses.

The warrant had already been made out,and as soon as it became apparent that Fisher, said by some to be anirresponsible drunkard and dope fiend, was going to stick by his story, Chiefof Detectives Lanford gave the paper to Detective John W. Starnes and Fisherwas locked up.

Fisher underwent a searchingexamination that lasted more than three hours. His detailed story first wastaken by G. C. Febuary, secretary to Chief Lanford. Little effort was made atthis time to cross-examine him, the purpose being to get his story together ashe originally had told it so that every feature might later be investigatedwith a view of disproving or substantiating it.

Chief Lanford and Detectives Starnesand co*ker then put Fisher through a severe questioning and he then was takenout in the police automobile to visit several of the places he said he had beenwith Shirley on the day of the crime. While he was gone S the request of ChiefLanford, came to the police station. Shirley went into the chief’s office. Assoon as Fisher came back he was bustled without any warning right into theroom. Standing before him was the man he accused.

Fisher was taken aback for an instant, butrecovered himself at once. He was placed in a chair near the chief and thequestioning was resumed. Chief Lanford, Charles J. Graham, attorney forShirley; Russell Shirley and the accused man himself took turns in firingquestions at the stolid figure in the chair. Aside from a nervous movement ofhis hands, and a frequent stroking of his face on which there was a four days’growth of beard, he showed no sign that he was disturbed by the unusualposition in which he find himself.

Because of the positive statementscontained in the first announcement of Fisher’s story and the terrible chargeagainst Shirley that was implied in its words, some possibility existed thatShirley might be held at the police station until the story had beeninvestigated.

So many glaring improbabilities and conflicts, however, creptinto the man’s narrative that Chief Lanford declared that he couldn’t think ofholding Shirley on the strength of Fisher’s story, which he branded manifestlyimpossible.

The trip to No. 132 Bellwood avenue developed one of thereasons for disbelief in Fisher’s statement. Mrs. William Holloway lives here.Fisher said that he went in a wagon with Shirley to this house the morning ofApril 28 to deliver a dresser. When the officers and Fisher drove up to thehouse Monday night, Mrs. Holloway declared that Fisher and Shirley never haddelivered anything there, and that she had not bought a dresser for years. Thisblow to his tale did not daunt Fisher in the least. He still stuck to hisassertion that they went there that morning and delivered the furniture.

Another of his statements which gavetangible cause for disbelief was that he had seen no crowd on the streets April26, which was Memorial Day, either while he was waiting at Marietta and Forsythstreets from about 1 until 3 o’clock in the afternoon or while he and Shirley,according to his story, were driving across Peachtree street and down Decaturstreet and then to the Union Station.

He said that he noticed no crowd on thestreets at all other than would naturally be on any Saturday afternoon. Theprogress of his wagon never was stopped at any time he was driving from oneplace to another. It is claimed that this alone brands his story as ridiculous,as there were large crowds on the street.

Still another discrepancy which thepolice say is in his story is that he first said that he met C. W. Burke, agentfor Attorney Luther Rosser, on Friday night in Birmingham. Before thedetectives he declared that the first time he saw Burke was last Saturday nightwhen Burke met him on the street and brought him to Atlanta. Burke also isdeclared to have said that he met Fisher first on Friday night.

Fisher was questioned very closelyabout who had talked to him in Luther Rosser’s office. He said that Rosser andReuben Arnold had not talked to him at all, but that Burke had done most of theexamination. “They told me up there that I would have a hard time down there ifthe detectives got hold of me,” he naively told Langford.

Fisher gaveall of his replies in a calm, almost disinterested voice. When he chargedShirley with going to the pencil factory to meet Mary Phagan he jeered histhumb carelessly toward Shirley who sat the other side of a table.

“You did it; you know you did it,” hesaid to Shirley.

“You lie, you skunk; you know d—wellyou lie!” retorted Shirley, and he started from his chair in a menacing manner.Detectives grabbed Shirley and averted a fight.”

This dramatic scene was enacted whenShirley was brought to headquarters to face his accuser. Quiet was restored andFisher was ordered to tell his story in the furniture man’s presence.

“The Saturday of the murder Shirley andI drove down to Broad and Marietta streets in his wagon. We had delivered abureau to a Mrs. Holloway on Bellwood avenue. We stopped near the corner andShirley said he wanted me to hold the horse while he went to the pencilfactory, where he had a date, he said, with ‘Hattie,’ the pet name for MaryPhagan.” Fisher paused and Shirley was on his feet in an instant.

Called “Liar and Bum.”

You’re a measly liar and I’ll prove it,you drunken ‘bum,” shouted Shirley, his eyes lighting up with a dangerous fire.“Why don’t you tell the truth and quit lying?” Shirley, half mad with rage, wasalmost dragged into his chair by Charley Graham, his attorney.

Fisher was told to continue.

“I waited about an hour and a half forShirley,” started the man again, his eyes roaming about the room, as though insearch for a place he could look where no eyes would catch his gaze. “He gotback between 2:30 and 3 o’clock.”

“I’ve played hell in general,” he saidto me. Then he said I had better get out of town.”

Fisher again paused, and lookingShirley straight in the eyes for the first time, said:

“That’s straight. Mr. Shirley, and ifyou’ll tell the truth you’ll admit it.”

Once more Shirley arose in athreatening attitude, but took his seat again.

“I didn’t want to get out of town andtold Shirley so, but he threatened me and said I would have to get out. Wedrove to the Union Depot and he purchased me a ticket for Ellijay. He gave me$25. He went in the car with me and left me. If I hadn’t have been afraid ofhim I wouldn’t have gone away. I stayed in Ellijay two weeks then came back toAtlanta.

Tells of Threats.

“I stayed here two weeks then went to Copper Hill, Tenn.,because Shirley wanted me to and because he threatened me. You know youthreatened me Shirley—you know you did,” and the strange man shook his head ina dogged manner.”

“Shirley sent me some letters withmoney in them. Two he sent contained $25 each. Another one contained $8.”

“I’ve told the truth and it’d all comeout sooner or later,” declared Fisher with the air of a philosopher.

Efforts to shake the mans’ story werewithout results. He would answer most any question in an unconcerned way andrefused to be tangled up by the questions put to him by Graham, the chief andby reporters.

“You are telling a most wondrous tale,”said Graham, “but you had better tell the truth before you get sent to jail forcriminal libel.”

Denies Using Drugs.

“I know what libel is retorted Fisher, “and you can’t send aman to prison for telling the truth.”

“What Kind of dope do you use, morphineor cocaine?” someone “shot” at him.

“None,” said Fisher.

“You look like you did,” said one ofthe detectives.

“That’s because I need a drink—gotone?” he replied.

And undoubtedly, he did need one.

He had been given all the whisky he wanted while in the handsof the attorneys, and was reluctant to leave such a nice abode. His face neededa hour’s work by a barber and a bath would not have harmed him.

Chummy or Rummy?

Fisher said that while in Parksville he met a man by the nameof Joe Hicks, who was employed on the rail road with him and that they becamequite “chummy.”

“You mean ‘rummy,’ don’t you, Fisher?”interposed Shirley’s brother.

Fisher went on to say that Hicks wentto Birmingham with him some weeks ago and that they had stayed together there.Hicks, he said, was the first person he ever told the story of his movements onthe day of the murder of Mary Phagan. He never even had told his wife.

“You know that all she wants is to keepme in jail, don’t you?” he asked, addressing the Shirley brothers.

“Well, I just let drop a hint or two atfirst. I told him that they didn’t have the murderer of Mary Phagan and that Iknew who the real murderer was. He told me that I ought to tell if I knew. ThenI went on to tell him the whole thing just as I have told it here. After he hadkept telling me that I ought not to let an innocent man hang, it just kind ofgot on my conscience. Finally, he went with me Friday to Chief Bodeker’s officeand we told the whole thing.”

“Well, I just let drop a hint or two atfirst. I told him that they didn’t have the murderer of Mary Phagan and that Iknew who the real murderer was. He told me that I ought to tell if I knew. ThenI went to tell him the whole thing just as I have told it here. After he hadkept telling me that I ought not to let an innocent man hang. It just kind ofgot on my conscience. Finally, he went with me Friday to Chief Bodeker’s officeand we told the whole thing.”

“Who did the most talking?” inquiredChief Lanford.

“Why, I guess Hicks did,” said Fisher.

After the questioning of Fisher wasover, Lanford said.

Search for Conspiracy.

“We are going to get at the bottom ofthis. It may be that Fisher has been paid money, but I am going to investigatethe possibility that it was someone else and not Shirley that paid it to him.If there is any conspiracy against Shirley or in behalf of anyone else, thedetective department proposes to find it out if possible. Fisher has absolutelyno evidence that money was sent him. He has no envelopes from Shirley. He sayshe tore them up. He says the letters were not registered, and he says that allof the money was sent in cash. Altogether it is the most ridiculous story Iever listened to.”

MAYORTAKES PART OF STRIKING MILL WORKERS

FISHER’S‘ACCOMPLICE’ SOUGHT

TWO JURORS

DEFENDED

Probity of Henslee and Johen-

ning Upheld—Influence of

Some 30 affidavits to support theState’s contention that Leo M. Frank had a fair trial were made public Tuesdayby Solicitor Dorsey. They will be used Wednesday in the fight against thedefense’s motion for a new trial before Judge L. S. Roan.

Some of the affidavits defend theprobity and character of A. H. Henslee and M. Johenning, jurors who wereaccused of bias; some attack the trustworthiness of affiants for the defense,and others assert that no influence could have been exerted on the jury by the “cheering”and “demonstrations” on which the defense is basing much of its theme ofappeal.

Samuel Aaron, whose affidavit wasquoted as attacking the sincerity of Juror Henslee, was himself attacked by T.M. Webb, whose impeachment was in the usual form, that he would not believeAaron on his oath, having known him many years.

Calls Neill Bad Character.

W. P. Neill, the defense’s affiant, who stated he saw aspectator “talk one of the jurors and grab him by the hand,” is referred to inthe affidavit of W. J. Clayton, of the Central Carriage Company, as of badcharacter and one whom Clayton would not believe under oath.

Plennie Miner, Deputy Sheriff, also refers to the affidavitof Neill. He states, under oath, that one day in the courtroom he thought hesaw a spectator say something to a juror, without rising, or touching him, ormaking any other gesture. He (Miner) at once went to the spectator, in order totake him before the judge, but the man denied having addressed any juror, andanother man, sitting next him, also assured Miner that his companion had notspoken to any juror, so the deputy let the incident close.

T. S. Hawes, of Bainbridge, Ga., impeached R. G. Gremmer,stating that he had known the defense’s affiant twenty years and that he wouldnot believe him under oath.

Time Element Enters.

In the interval of preparing the affidavits Mr. Dorsey statedthat he fancied those affiants who had sworn to hearing Henslee say Barnesville“some time in June” that he had been drawn on the jury would be puzzled onhearing that Henslee, as a matter of fact, did not know himself that he wasdrawn on the jury until Friday, June 25, at 5 o’clock in the afternoon; that heremained in Atlanta Saturday and Sunday, and did not start for home untilMonday.

The Solicitor evidently had been calculating on the variousdates on which Henslee might have been charged with saying he was “on the Frankjury,” but what deductions he had made would have to appear later.

For the rest of the prosecution’s affidavits, Henslee praisedJohenning as a juror without bias or prejudice: Johenning praised Henslee issimilar terms, and J. T. Ozburn, F. E. Winburn, W. F. Medcalf, W. M. Jeffries,D. Townsend and A. L. Wisley, fellow jurors, commended both Henslee andJohenning as high-minded examples of justice and moderation.

Henslee Doubtful of Guilt.

It was the invariable testimony of his fellow jurors thatHenslee was the only juror to cast a “doubtful” ballot, indicating that he wasthe most reluctant to make up his mind on what all the rest of the jurorsseemed to have agreed on.

There was much testimony in regard to the cheering and“demonstrations,” attending to show that the

AFFIDAVITS HIT

FRANK’S PLEA

Thirty Witnesses Swear to Good

Character of Accused Jurors

And Deny Influence on Jury.

onlycheering recognized as such was heard in open court, until the last day of thetrial, when a burst of applause followed the reading of the verdict and was heardby the jurors as the poll was being taken.

The jurors all professed to have beenutterly ignorant of any cheering except what was stated, and insisted that whatthey heard could not have had any effect upon their decision since it had beenreached before the real cheering was heard.

Heard No demonstration.

As to the demonstrations in favor ofDorsey, there were a dozen affidavits by jurors and deputies to say that thejury was at such a distance, or in such a place, that only a confused andindistinct noise was heard. One or two of the jurors fancied at the time thatthere was a fight in progress somewhere.

C. F. Huber and A. F. Pennington,deputies having charge of the Frank jury, contradicted the affidavit of SamsonKay for the defense, and stated they heard no cheering or demonstration of anykind the afternoon of Friday, August 22, or after the noon hour Saturday,August 23.

Perhaps the most interesting reading inthe pile was Johenning’s own account of the conversation related by Mrs. JennieG. Lovenhart and Miss Miriam Lovenhart, in the course of which it was chargedthat he stated a belief in Frank’s guilt.

Johenning asserts in his affidavit thathe was talking of the case with Mrs. Lovenhart and Miss Lovenhart, and theyasked him what he thought of it.

“I replied that by the papers they havefound him guilty already,” says Johenning, “and added that I thought Frankwould have a hard time getting loose; that things didn’t look very bright forhim.”

Expressed No Opinion.

Johenning insists that he said no more than that, and that heentertained no fixed opinion at that time, and did not arrive at a fixedopinion until hearing the full evidence in court.

T. W. McGarity came to the support ofJoehenning’s character, declaring it good, and asserting he would believe himon oath. Similar affidavits, all warmly worded, were made by Dr. W. C.Robinson, O. H. Puckett and R. N. Weaver.

Quite an array of complimentaryaffidavits came from Barnesville to the support of A. H. Henslee. Among themwere those of W. H. Howard, J. C. Collier, T. W. Cochran, P. K. Gordy, J. E.Howard and C. O. Summers, J. D. Lochridge, formerly of Douglas, Ga. Professedto know the juror well and favorably.

An inkling of some plan of theSolicitor may be hidden in a small affidavit made by Joe Murray, clerk at theNew Albany Hotel, Albany, Ga. He said that A. H. Henslee was a guest at thathotel the night of June 2, and also registered there before the noon mealSeptember 18, 1913. Of course, if Henslee was not in Albany between those dateshe could not have made any statement about his chance as a talesman.

Arnold and Dorsey Confer.

Reuben R. Arnold, of counsel for Frank, and Solicitor Dorseyheld a conference beginning at 2 o’clock Tuesday afternoon for the purpose ofcoming to an agreement on the exact grounds upon which the argument for a newtrial will be based. It was expected that if there were to be any conflictbetween the opposing attorneys it would develop on this question.

Solicitor Dorsey is known to have takenissue with the defense on a number of points as the affidavits made publicTuesday indicate. He will strenuously resist any effort on the part of Frank’slawyers to establish that there was sufficient disorder or demonstrations inthe courtroom at any time either unduly to influence or intimidate the jurors.He already has answered this charge by the affidavits denying that there wascheering in the courtroom at times specified by the defense.

He Is the Man Who Went With Fisher toChief of

A search extending over two States was begun by the policeTuesday in an effort to locate Joe Hicks, companion of Ira W. Fisher. Hickk isthe man who accompanied Fisher to the office of Chief of Police Bodeker inBirmingham when Fisher made his weird but quickly discredited accusation of themurder of Mary Phagan against J. C. Shirley, of 809 Marietta street, Atlanta.

Chief of Detectives Lanford and CharlesJ. Graham, attorney for Shirley, believe that they will have disclosed thedeeply laid plot against Shirley, if such a plot actually has existed, whenthey have forced Hicks to talk and when they have grilled Fisher in a sobercondition. Threats were made yesterday that two prominent Atlantans might bearrested if any basis were found for belief in the plot theory. Later it wassaid that a searching investigation was being made of the possibility that aman still higher up was the moving spirit in a diabolical scheme to fasten thecrime on an innocent man.

Graham was undecided Tuesday as towhether Fisher’s sensational story was merely the vaporings of a disordered andcrazy intellect or the outcropping of a genuine conspiracy that had gone wrongthrough the inability of Fisher to tell a convincing story.

“I think we all know all when we findthis man Hicks, who Fisher says was his constant companion Parksville, andlater in Birmingham,” said Graham. “Hicks, played a mysterious part in theaffair. Fisher himself admitted that Hicks did most of the talking when theywent to the office of Chief Bodeker. Hicks appears to have told most of thestory and Fisher merely corroborated it.”

“There also is the possibility thatHicks suggested the story to Fisher from day to day, and finally built up inFisher’s mind the structure of the ridiculous tale he has told in Birminghamand here in Atlanta, a story which was startling enough as a simple, and directaccusation, but which broke down the instant the man was forced to give anyalleged details.”

Blackmail Is Suggested.

“We are working on several possibilities. One is that therewas a conspiracy against Shirley. If there was such a plot, it may have beenengineered alone by Fisher. Hicks may have been a party to it. In this case, itwas simple blackmail.”

“There also is the possibility that Fisher or Fisher andRicks were merely tools in a conspiracy and that the real conspirators are menhigher up. If this is the case, Atlanta will have a sensation the like of whichit has not experienced in years. On the other hand, the whole story may besimply the ravings of a drunken and besotted mind. Fisher’s own relatives saythat he was an extraordinary liar when in his cups.”

“Ordinary conditions were reversed Tuesday. Shirly, theaccused, was walking the streets a free man. Fisher, the accuser, was occupyinga cell in the police station. A charge of criminal libel has been preferredagainst him, but there is some question as to whether this charge can be madeto stand in view of the fact that so far as is known Fisher made no writtencharges against Shirley. Lawyers in general have expressed themselves asbelieving that no charge beyond slander can be pre-

FISHERSTICKS TO STORY

UNDER FIERCE GRILLING

OF LAWYER AND POLICE

ferred against him because all of his charges were verbal.”

Fisher will be arraigned before Justice of the Peace Puckett,probably Wednesday.

That the Fulton County Grand Jury will be asked toinvestigate the origin of the accusations was the statement made by Graham.

This action was decided upon following a lengthy conferencebetween Shirley, Graham and Chief of Detectives Lanford. Its purpose will be todetermine whether Fisher’s story was the result of a conspiracy against Shirleyor simply the result of a drink-crazed mind.

A rigid probe to thefoundation of the story will be asked. Persons named by Fisher as hisassociates since his departure from Atlanta will be questioned, especiallythose with whom he had dealings just prior to the time he appeared before Chiefof Police Bodeker in Birmingham and made his startling statements.

If the investigation shows that others had a hand in theaccusations against the furniture dealer, they will be prosecuted together withFisher on a conspiracy charge. Many believe that this will prove the fact.

Attorney Graham stated that he would have a conference withSolicitor Dorsey later in the day and an early date for the Grand Jury probewould be fixed.

Two Atlanta men and one Birmingham man are threatened witharrest on charges of conspiracy. A searching investigation by Chief Lanford andAttorney Graham will decide whether this move will be taken. Graham saidTuesday that he would make a decision as soon as reports had been made to himon certain rumors that had come to his ears.

Shirley said that he either would put Fisher in the asylum orin the penitentiary. He will bring his books to the police Tuesday to show acomplete alibi. Lanford has instituted an investigation of the charges ofconspiracy and you will make arrests at once finds them substantiated. Two ofthe men named in the alleged conspiracy have been identified with the Frankcase. The other one is known to have been with Fisher in Birmingham.

It was pointed out by Chief Lanford Tuesday that wereFisher’s story true in every particular, there is nothing in it to connectShirley with the murder of Mary Phagan. The name that Fisher said Shirleymentioned as that of the girl he was to meet was Hattie. Shirley asserts thathe never even knew Mary Phagan by sight.

Fisher Locked Up.

Fisher was put under arrest at the police station on thecharge of criminal libel, the complaint being sworn to by Russell Shirley, abrother of J. C. Shirley. Short shrift was given him after he had repeated hisweird story Monday night in the presence of the man he accuses.

The warrant had already been made out,and as soon as it became apparent that Fisher, said by some to be anirresponsible drunkard and dope fiend, was going to stick by his story, Chiefof Detectives Lanford gave the paper to Detective John W. Starnes and Fisherwas locked up.

Fisher underwent a searchingexamination that lasted more than three hours. His detailed story first wastaken by G. C. Febuary, secretary to Chief Lanford. Little effort was made atthis time to cross-examine him, the purpose being to get his story together ashe originally had told it so that every feature might later be investigatedwith a view of disproving or substantiating it.

Chief Lanford and Detectives Starnesand co*ker then put Fisher through a severe questioning and he then was takenout in the police automobile to visit several of the places he said he had beenwith Shirley on the day of the crime. While he was gone S the request of ChiefLanford, came to the police station. Shirley went into the chief’s office. Assoon as Fisher came back he was bustled without any warning right into theroom. Standing before him was the man he accused.

Fisher was taken aback for an instant,but recovered himself at once. He was placed in a chair near the chief and thequestioning was resumed. Chief Lanford, Charles J. Graham, attorney forShirley; Russell Shirley and the accused man himself took turns in firingquestions at the stolid figure in the chair. Aside from a nervous movement ofhis hands, and a frequent stroking of his face on which there was a four days’growth of beard, he showed no sign that he was disturbed by the unusualposition in which he find himself.

Because of the positive statementscontained in the first announcement of Fisher’s story and the terrible chargeagainst Shirley that was implied in its words, some possibility existed thatShirley might be held at the police station until the story had beeninvestigated.

So many glaring improbabilities and conflicts, however, creptinto the man’s narrative that Chief Lanford declared that he couldn’t think ofholding Shirley on the strength of Fisher’s story, which he branded manifestlyimpossible.

The trip to No. 132 Bellwood avenue developed one of thereasons for disbelief in Fisher’s statement. Mrs. William Holloway lives here.Fisher said that he went in a wagon with Shirley to this house the morning ofApril 28 to deliver a dresser. When the officers and Fisher drove up to thehouse Monday night, Mrs. Holloway declared that Fisher and Shirley never had deliveredanything there, and that she had not bought a dresser for years. This blow tohis tale did not daunt Fisher in the least. He still stuck to his assertionthat they went there that morning and delivered the furniture.

Another of his statements which gavetangible cause for disbelief was that he had seen no crowd on the streets April26, which was Memorial Day, either while he was waiting at Marietta and Forsythstreets from about 1 until 3 o’clock in the afternoon or while he and Shirley,according to his story, were driving across Peachtree street and down Decaturstreet and then to the Union Station.

He said that he noticed no crowd on thestreets at all other than would naturally be on any Saturday afternoon. Theprogress of his wagon never was stopped at any time he was driving from oneplace to another. It is claimed that this alone brands his story as ridiculous,as there were large crowds on the street.

Still another discrepancy which thepolice say is in his story is that he first said that he met C. W. Burke, agentfor Attorney Luther Rosser, on Friday night in Birmingham. Before thedetectives he declared that the first time he saw Burke was last Saturday nightwhen Burke met him on the street and brought him to Atlanta. Burke also is declaredto have said that he met Fisher first on Friday night.

Fisher was questioned very closelyabout who had talked to him in Luther Rosser’s office. He said that Rosser andReuben Arnold had not talked to him at all, but that Burke had done most of theexamination. “They told me up there that I would have a hard time down there ifthe detectives got hold of me,” he naively told Langford.

Fisher gaveall of his replies in a calm, almost disinterested voice. When he chargedShirley with going to the pencil factory to meet Mary Phagan he jeered histhumb carelessly toward Shirley who sat the other side of a table.

“You did it; you know you did it,” hesaid to Shirley.

“You lie, you skunk; you know d—wellyou lie!” retorted Shirley, and he started from his chair in a menacing manner.Detectives grabbed Shirley and averted a fight.”

This dramatic scene was enacted whenShirley was brought to headquarters to face his accuser. Quiet was restored andFisher was ordered to tell his story in the furniture man’s presence.

“The Saturday of the murder Shirley andI drove down to Broad and Marietta streets in his wagon. We had delivered abureau to a Mrs. Holloway on Bellwood avenue. We stopped near the corner andShirley said he wanted me to hold the horse while he went to the pencilfactory, where he had a date, he said, with ‘Hattie,’ the pet name for MaryPhagan.” Fisher paused and Shirley was on his feet in an instant.

Called “Liar and Bum.”

You’re a measly liar and I’ll prove it,you drunken ‘bum,” shouted Shirley, his eyes lighting up with a dangerous fire.“Why don’t you tell the truth and quit lying?” Shirley, half mad with rage, wasalmost dragged into his chair by Charley Graham, his attorney.

Fisher was told to continue.

“I waited about an hour and a half forShirley,” started the man again, his eyes roaming about the room, as though insearch for a place he could look where no eyes would catch his gaze. “He gotback between 2:30 and 3 o’clock.”

“I’ve played hell in general,” he saidto me. Then he said I had better get out of town.”

Fisher again paused, and lookingShirley straight in the eyes for the first time, said:

“That’s straight. Mr. Shirley, and ifyou’ll tell the truth you’ll admit it.”

Once more Shirley arose in athreatening attitude, but took his seat again.

“I didn’t want to get out of town andtold Shirley so, but he threatened me and said I would have to get out. Wedrove to the Union Depot and he purchased me a ticket for Ellijay. He gave me$25. He went in the car with me and left me. If I hadn’t have been afraid ofhim I wouldn’t have gone away. I stayed in Ellijay two weeks then came back toAtlanta.

Tells of Threats.

“I stayed here two weeks then went to Copper Hill, Tenn.,because Shirley wanted me to and because he threatened me. You know youthreatened me Shirley—you know you did,” and the strange man shook his head ina dogged manner.”

“Shirley sent me some letters withmoney in them. Two he sent contained $25 each. Another one contained $8.”

“I’ve told the truth and it’d all comeout sooner or later,” declared Fisher with the air of a philosopher.

Efforts to shake the mans’ story werewithout results. He would answer most any question in an unconcerned way andrefused to be tangled up by the questions put to him by Graham, the chief andby reporters.

“You are telling a most wondrous tale,”said Graham, “but you had better tell the truth before you get sent to jail forcriminal libel.”

Denies Using Drugs.

“I know what libel is retorted Fisher, “and you can’t send aman to prison for telling the truth.”

“What Kind of dope do you use, morphineor cocaine?” someone “shot” at him.

“None,” said Fisher.

“You look like you did,” said one ofthe detectives.

“That’s because I need a drink—gotone?” he replied.

And undoubtedly, he did need one.

He had been given all the whisky he wanted while in the handsof the attorneys, and was reluctant to leave such a nice abode. His face neededa hour’s work by a barber and a bath would not have harmed him.

Chummy or Rummy?

Fisher said that while in Parksville he met a man by the nameof Joe Hicks, who was employed on the rail road with him and that they becamequite “chummy.”

“You mean ‘rummy,’ don’t you, Fisher?”interposed Shirley’s brother.

Fisher went on to say that Hicks wentto Birmingham with him some weeks ago and that they had stayed together there.Hicks, he said, was the first person he ever told the story of his movements onthe day of the murder of Mary Phagan. He never even had told his wife.

“You know that all she wants is to keepme in jail, don’t you?” he asked, addressing the Shirley brothers.

“Well, I just let drop a hint or two atfirst. I told him that they didn’t have the murderer of Mary Phagan and that Iknew who the real murderer was. He told me that I ought to tell if I knew. ThenI went on to tell him the whole thing just as I have told it here. After he hadkept telling me that I ought not to let an innocent man hang, it just kind ofgot on my conscience. Finally, he went with me Friday to Chief Bodeker’s officeand we told the whole thing.”

“Well, I just let drop a hint or two atfirst. I told him that they didn’t have the murderer of Mary Phagan and that Iknew who the real murderer was. He told me that I ought to tell if I knew. ThenI went to tell him the whole thing just as I have told it here. After he hadkept telling me that I ought not to let an innocent man hang. It just kind ofgot on my conscience. Finally, he went with me Friday to Chief Bodeker’s officeand we told the whole thing.”

“Who did the most talking?” inquiredChief Lanford.

“Why, I guess Hicks did,” said Fisher.

After the questioning of Fisher wasover, Lanford said.

Search for Conspiracy.

“We are goingto get at the bottom of this. It may be that Fisher has been paid money, but Iam going to investigate the possibility that it was someone else and notShirley that paid it to him. If there is any conspiracy against Shirley or inbehalf of anyone else, the detective department proposes to find it out ifpossible. Fisher has absolutely no evidence that money was sent him. He has noenvelopes from Shirley. He says he tore them up. He says the letters were notregistered, and he says that all of the money was sent in cash. Altogether itis the most ridiculous story I ever listened to.”

MERCHANTVOWS TO

PROSECUTE FISHER

Ira W. Fisher, whose story attempted to involve J. C.Shirley, a respected Marietta street merchant, in the Phagan case, was turnedover to the police authorities late Monday afternoon. Attorney Rosser notifiedChief of Detectives Lanford that he was ready to give the “witness” up.Detective Eugene co*ker was dispatched to the attorney’s office immediately.Fisher was taken to the police station and will be subjected to a rigidcross-examination Monday night.

Fisher reiterated before a crowd ofnewspaper men and detectives his startling story.

DespiteShirley’s denial of every accusation made by Fisher, the man persisted in hisaccusations. He went into detail, going even so far as naming the amounts ofmoney which he said Shirley had sent him at various times and giving the townswhich he visited. However, he had no documents to support him and none whoheard the story believed.

That he will prosecute Ira W. Fisher,who names him as the principal in his sensational story of the Phagan murder,to the fullest extent the law allows, was the declaration made to a Georgianreporter late Monday afternoon by J. C. Shirley, the well-known and respectedMarietta street merchant. He was retained C. J. Graham, a lawyer who hasalready figured in the Frank case, to represent him.

“The whole story is a joke,” said Mr. Shirley. “But I willinvestigate the law and determine how I may prosecute this man for thisabominable fairy tale.”

J. C. Shirley said he did not even know where the NationalPencil Factory was until he read of the Phagan case in the newspapers. Hedeclared that he knew none of the girls employed there, except that he hadheard that two girls who lived across the street were employed at the plant.

Fisher, in Luther Rosser’s office, stuck to his story, butvery little credence was attached to it by anybody.

Fisher, according to report, declared that Shirley had methim on the street on the afternoon of the murder and had declared that he hadmet Mary Phagan and “played hell.”

When informed of this statement, the furniture man laughed.

“Why the man is crazy” he said.

Identification of the accused man was made public Mondayafternoon. It came from Birmingham, where Fisher first made his sensationalstatements. The man is well known in business circles of Atlanta. He declaredthat he was not aware that he was the one referred to until he was approachedMonday.

Mr. Shirley could not ascribe any reason for Fisher havingbrought the charge of murder against him unless he was demented.

“Why, I don’t recall having talked withFisher since he left his Marietta street home,” said Mr. Shirley. “The onlytime I saw much of him was when he loafed around the store. I don’t recallhaving ever discussed the Phagan case with him.”

Mr. Shirleydenied having ever delivered furniture at the home of J. W. Coleman, stepfatheroof Mary Phagan, with Fisher.

Charged by his wife with being a ravingdrunkard; wanted by the police, who give him a long court record, believed byProbation Officer Coogler to be demented as a result of accusations of murdermade against himself, I .W Fisher, the accuser of a prominent Atlanta man inthe Phagan case, was confronted Monday by a general disposition to ridicule his story and thethreatened collapse of a sensation.

Kept a prisoner in the office of LutherZ. Rosser, while the police waited to arrest him, Fisher continued to beinaccessible to newspaper men, but various investigations of his record baredfacts that threw a dark cloud on his reliability.

Detectives continued their vigil on theground floor of the Grant Building ready to arrest Fisher as soon as he madehis appearance. In the meanwhile the Frank lawyers kept on investigating hisstory and seemed determined to hold their man a strict prisoner until they wereentirely through with him.

“I am not acting sponsor for Fisher orfor Fisher’s story,” declared Mr.Rosser, at his office Monday. “We want to keep the man for a few hours longer,and then if the police would like to have him they are welcome to him.”

“Do you believe Fisher’s story?”questioned a Georgian reporter.

“I have said my say,” exclaimed theattorney.

“Can I talk to Fisher?” the reporterasked.

“You can—when I get through with him,”said Rosser, and he strode away in the direction of his office doer.

A police officer stated positivelyMonday noon that the Frank attorneys “prisoner” would be arrested and taken toheadquarters as soon as he was taken from Rosser’s office.

None of the officers has had a look atFisher, and it is doubtful whether or not they will get him if he should try towalk out of the Grand building. Since he was taken to the office of Rosseryesterday morning he has been given a shave and an overcoat. A pint of whiskywas also seen to have been taken into Fisher’s “cell.”

The arrival of Chief of Police Beaversin Rosser’s office Monday noon created quite a bit of excitement. Chief Beavershowever, went into the private office of Rosser where the arguments in theWhitehall street injunction were being heard.

Mr. Coogler’s opinion was contingent onthe identity of an I. W. Fish-

FISHER IS DERANGED BY

AN OLD MURDER CHARGE,

THINKS OFFICERCOOGLER

er Cooglerhas had before him many times and that of the Fisher who has been virtually aprisoner in the Grant Building being the same.

Coogler said Monday that Fisher wastried several years ago for the murder of his wife’s brother. He was acquitted,but it is known that a suspicion that he was guilty still rested in the mind ofhis wife, and that she frequently had charged him with the crime. Theseaccusations are believed by Coogler to have unsettled Fisher’s mind, acondition which perhaps has been augmented by the use of drugs.

The “Fisher” Coogler has had before himlived at No. 797 Marietta street. An investigation of his record has disclosedthat the man was placed on probation November 24 of last year charged withbeing drunk and disorderly and abusing his wife. He obtained employment andcontributed to the support of his wife and children through the probationofficer.

Fisher was before Coogler again onChristmas, and this time he was given employment with the Christian Helpers’League. He could not say good and February 21 he was arrested again, chargedwith striking and otherwise mistreating his wife. He was bound over to theState Court under bond of $200. He obtained his release only to offend in thesame respect again. A peace warrant was issued, and he stayed in jail two dayslast May, and soon afterward he disappeared from the city.

Coogler received a letter from him lastMay, postmarked in Parksville, Tenn. He asked that his trunk be sent him. Thatwas the last Coogler heard of him until Fisher’s sensational story appeared inthe Sunday papers.

Here is Fisher’s probation record:

He was arrested and put on probation November 24, 1912. Thecharge was abusing and mistreating his wife while drinking, December 24, heviolated his parole, drinking and again being arrested. He promised betterbehavior, and was continued on probation, staying at the Christian Helpers’League on Decatur street.

February 22, 1913, Fisher yielded oncemore. Intoxicated, he went to his wife’s home and beat her. He was arrested andbound over in police court under a $200 bond, which he furnished.

May 15 his wife applied for a peacewarrant, under which Fisher was arrested and detained two days, finally givingbond. Then he disappeared May 28 Coogler received a letter from Fisherpostmarked Parkville, Tenn., requesting his truck, which he had left in theChristian Helpers’ League.

That closed that part of the official record of Fisher inAtlanta.

MindBroken by Drink.

Grave discredit was cast on Fisher’sstory by Mrs. Annie Fisher, his wife, of No. 734 Marietta street, who assertedfirmly that she believed the tale of a “business man’s confession” of the crimewas the fabrication of a mind broken down by drink, perhaps by drugs.

“My husband is a confirmed drunkard,”Mrs. Fisher regretfully admitted. “He is at times without any responsibilityfor his words or actions. He was once tried on a lunacy writ taken out by hisbrother, a business man of Rome, Ga. They declared him sane at the time, butput him on probation. I have an idea he uses morphine. He left me August 12.”

Both Stallings and his wife declareFisher is utterly irresponsible. His sister said she would not believe anystatement he might make, while her husband recounted some strange stories hesaid Fisher had told him at different times.

“He told them with no straight a facethat I almost believed him,” Stallings said, “but afterward I always found themto be untrue.”

Believed Frank Innocent.

As to Fisher’s knowledge of the Phagancase, Mrs. Fisher said that only once did her husband say anything that mighthave been taken as evidence that he knew something. One night while reading thenewspaper accounts of the arrest Fisher said:

“They haven’t got the guilty man. Frankdidn’t murder Mary Phagan.”

Mrs. Fisher also denied that herhusband had left Atlanta immediately after the murder of the little girl, as hesaid.

“He lived with here until August 12,”she stated, “and then he went away because I had filed a petition askingdivorce and alimony. He went away to keep the papers from being served.”

Mrs. Fisher was very candid andunreserved in talking the affairs of her husband and herself.

They were married, she said, in Dalton,Ga., thirteen years ago, and lived there until they moved to Atlanta three yearsago.

Maniac When Drinking.

“My husband has long been a drinkingman,” Mrs. Fisher said. “When sober I believe he was perfectly rational, butwhen drinking—I don’t know just how to express it. He was nearly a maniac. Morethan once he threatened to shoot me. I had to have him arrested less than ayear ago because he was threatening my life.”

“I was going to sue him for divorcethen, but Officer Clarke, a friend of his, took his part and begged me not to.I consented, and he was put on probation. Officer Coogler, I believe it was,kept him on the probation list four months. But it was no use at all.”

Since Fisher went away to avoid theservice of the divorce papers, his wife has been taking boarders and sewing tosupport herself and their two children. Fisher wrote to her from Parkville,Tenn., she said, and again from a suburb of Birmingham. He wanted to return andlive with her, Mrs. Fisher said, but she did not answer the letters.

Then Mrs. Fisher told of a happeningthe morning after the murder was committed.

“It was Sunday,” she said, “and justafter breakfast we went to a drug store about a block away. On our way back wemet a man I didn’t know. He stopped my husband and said: ‘Fisher, I’ve gotsomething to tell you.’”

Went to Factory.

“Mr. Fisher stopped and talked with himand I went on home. Later, he came home and told me the man told him a girl hadbeen killed at the pencil factory. He seemed to be quite curious about thecrime. He and I went and we took our little girl, Evelyn, and Miss LilleEmbree, a young woman who was boarding with us.”

“We couldn’t go all over the factory,but I didn’t think my husband seemed at all nervous or acted unusual. He didread a lot about the case. I noticed that. And some time after that I missed mydiary that I kept to set down almost everything I did. I don’t know that hetook it, however.”

Reporters, who had trailed Fisher fromBirmingham, from where he was brought to Atlanta by C. W. Burke, an agent forAttorney Rosser, were on constant duty ready to resume the chase in the eventthat any new move was made by Frank’s lawyers or there appeared an endeavor tohide him away. The vigilance of an entire day and a night resulted in only thesensational statement of the quasi-prisoner which was forecast very closely byThe Sunday American. This statement was given out late in the afternoon byAttorney Rosser. Rosser would not reveal the name of the prominent man charged.He said that his identity must remain a mystery for a time at least. The onlyclew he furnished was that the man was fairly prominent.

“I do not want to use the name of the man,” said Rosser, “andthus possibly to do him an injustice. I will tell everything in the worldexcept the name of the man.”

“The man who has just told his story to us is I. W. Fisher.He once lived here and left e about the time of the murder of Mary Phagan, andsince then has lived in North Georgia, Tennessee and Birmingham. He now livesin Birmingham.”

“Without our knowledge or instigation, he went to the Chiefof Police in Birmingham, George H. Bodeker, and asserted that Frank wasinnocent, and that he had known of his innocence all the time, but that hedidn’t think Frank would be convicted, and therefore had kept his silence aboutthe real murderer.”

“He said that he met the man whocommitted the crime on Saturday, April 26, and that this man told him he wasgoing to meet Mary Phagan in the pencil factory at noon. Fisher said that whenthe man came factory he said: ‘I raised h—l in there and you have got to getout of town.’”

“Since that time Fisher says that thisman, who is well to do and established in business here, has been paying hisexpenses wherever he went.”

“Whether Fisher’s story is true or false we donot know. We are not giving it out as fact, but merely as one of the numerousstories which have come to our ears during the investigation of the crime. Wewould have said nothing about it if the newspapers had not come out yesterdaytelling of Fisher’s walking into the office of the Chief of Police inBirmingham. We do not take any stock in it one way or another as yet. But weare going to investigate it thoroughly and find whether or not if it is true.”

Police Told Name.

“We have told the detectives somethingwhen we have not told the public. We have told them the name of the man Fisheraccuses, and have incited them to work with us on our investigation. There issuch a man as the one Fisher names, and he is well known. Fisher is a marriedman, and has several children. They are in Atlanta.”

Solicitor Dorsey, Frank A. Hooper, whoassisted the Solicitor in the Frank trial, and members of the detectivedepartment appeared not at all impressed by Fisher’s story Monday. “I thinkhe’s telling a lie, pure and simple,” said Mr. Hooper when he was asked hisopinion.

Chief Lanford laughed at the story andsaid it was his belief that Fisher was out in town at the time of the Phaganmurder. Fisher is the same man, he thinks, that testified some ago againstGriff Freeman, who was arrested on a blind tiger charge, and then disappearedfrom town after Freeman was bound over Fisher was not on hand to testify in theState trial.

Mrs. Fischer acted as a sleuth andobtained much of the evidence that resulted in the prosecution of Freeman. Shetestified at the trial that Fisher pawned her shoes and sold their chickens toget liquor from Freeman. Fisher admitted that he had bought liquor many timesfrom the defendant.

ShirleyDeclares Books

“I can account for every minute of my time on the day of themurder of Mary Phagan,” said J. C. Shirley, better known to his friends as“Charley,” Shirley was in his furniture store at No. 809 Marietta street and acrowd of his friends had gathered around him.”

“I can not say offhand just what I didon that day, but my books will show my whereabouts.”

“I have not taken the time to look thisup yet, as I attach such little importance to the statement and accusations ofthat drunken bum Fisher.”

“I first knew Fisher in 1911, when hemoved next door to my shop here. He came over here and I sold him, on time, alarge quantity of furniture. He fooled around about the bill, did little workand much drinking, and finally in 1912 I went over and told him I would have tobring the furniture back to my place.

“His wife came to me and said that if Iwould change the account to her, she would pay the bill. She said that if shepaid it and left the furniture in her husband’s name he would steal it and sellit to buy whisky.”

Wife Got Furniture.

Shirley’s friends nodded their approval.

“I changed the account for her and shepaid the bill and a short time later, after her husband had left town, shemoved farther down the street. I didn’t see Shirley for some time, then one dayhe came and borrowed a dollar from me. Then it was a long time before he camearound. Previous to his borrowing the dollar, he used to hang around thestore.”

The crowd around the popular furnituredealer knew all about Fisher and many admitted that he had stung them for smallamounts.

“Along in August of this year, a longtime after Mary Phagan was murdered, I saw Fisher and he paid the dollar. Hewas wearing good clothes and had money and he apologized and told me that hewanted to pay all his debts, to re-establish his good standing.”

Calls Fisher Drunken Tramp.

“I never knew where the pencil factorywas until I read accounts of the murder in the papers and saw pictures of thebuilding. Then one day while down town I passed by and a crowd of people wereout in front and I stopped, and learned that the building was the factory whereMary Phagan had been murdered.

“Until after the murder I didn’t know asoul at the factory and then I learned that two girls who live across theestreet here worked there.”

“Fisher is aliar and a drunken tramp and nobody will believe anything he says. I will seethat he goes to jail for what he has done if there is any way I can manage tosend him there.”

Shirley’sFriends

ThreatenViolence.

Threats of violence against Ira Fisherwere made in the neighborhood where Fisher formerly lived and where “Charley”Shirley is liked by everyone. Should Fisher fall into the hands of theseresidents, there is liable to be a manhandling part in the 700 and 800 block ofMarietta street.

That Fisher has a regulation for abeing a drunkard and tale bearer is shown in the statements made to TheGeorgian Monday night by wrathy residents.

W. H. Hooten, who owns a dry goodsstore at No. 807 Marietta street, said:

“I wouldn’t believe I. W. Fisher if heswore to anything while on a stack of Bibles. He is the lowest, meanest manthat ever lived. One day last summer he tried to sell me some chickens which hehad in a sack. I asked him where he got them and he said he stole them from hiswife so he could sell them and go up on North street for some liquor.”

“I know of another time when Fisherstole his wife’s shoes so that he could buy drink with the money he got byselling them.”

“Fisher is the man who the papers wroteup last spring in connection with the ‘mouse-colored mule,’ when he claimed twomen asked him to ride in their wagon. Fisher said the men robbed him of hispay. Later he said that he just claimed he was robbed so he wouldn’t have togive his money to his wife.”

B. F. Shirley, brother of “Charley”Shirley and partner in the business, speaking of Fisher, said:

“He was the sorriest man I ever knew inmy life. I wouldn’t trust or believe him. He would do anything for a dollar.Fisher is the man who turned up Griff Freeman for selling liquor, and then lefttown before the trial. This was about a year ago.”

D.R. Dunbar, 800 Marietta, said:

“I wouldn’t believe that drunken trampon oath. He has ‘done’ every body in this neighborhood, but you can believethat he won’t show his face around here again as long as he lives.”

Dr. W. D. Vincent, 57 Ponders avenue,and Samuel Deavers, 59 Hayden avenue, expressed, the same opinion.

Half a dozen others backed up thestatements of their friends, but didn’t want their names in the papers.

The telephones in Shirley’s store rangall afternoon and up until late evening. Friends wanted to express themselveson their opinion of Fisher, and to ask Shirley if he needed any help.

Shirley’sBooks Give Alibi;

J. C. Shirley declared to Chief of Detectives Lanford at thepolice station Tuesday morning, when he called there with his lawyer, CharlesJ. Graham, that he could easily account for his movements on the day MaryPhagan was murdered and that this would establish a complete alibi.

Shirley’s statement to the chief was verbal, the latterinforming him that an affidavit was wholly unnecessary, as there was no chargeagainst him. For this same reason the merchant was not required to go intodetails.

Shirley explained that he has all of his books and records inuse in his store on April 26, the day of the murder, and that these showed thatno delivery of furniture was made at any place on Bellwood avenue on that date.This refutes the statement of Ira W. Fisher, the “mysterious accuser,” that heaided Shirley that day in delivering a dresser at the Holloway home, No. 132Bellwood avenue, and that it was there that the merchant told him of hisengagement of that afternoon with “Hattie.”

“I never went out in my wagon that day at all,” Shirley toldthe chief. “I remember very well that it was an unusually busy day with us inthe store, and I was kept there practically the whole of the day. I rememberdistinctly that both of my hired boys one white and the other a negro, got madat me because I wouldn’t let them off at 12 o’clock. It being Memorial Day theywanted to go downtown to see the parade.”

Went to Terminal Station.

“The negro boy, as I recollect it, drove the ‘calico’ muleand the wagon all day. This is the mule referred to by Fisher in his storyabout my driving it to Bellwood avenue and later down town. Only once did Ileave the store for any considerable time. Shortly after 1 o’clock, in, theafternoon I went to the Terminal Station to meet a man, who was going away onthe train and who promised to pay me a bill if I would see him there. I wasback in the store about 2 o’clock. I stayed there then until 8 or 9 o’clock atnight, when we closed the store.”

Shirley said he was prepared to go more fully into detail ina sworn statement as to his movements should it become necessary.

“I don’t think that it will ever become necessary, however,for that fellow Fisher is the greatest scoundrel unhung, or else is a dangerouslunatic, “ remarked the merchant with asmile.

“It’s just a question of whether he ought to be in thepenitentiary or the madhouse.”

Explaining his acquaintanceship with Fisher, he added:

“I first knew Fisher in 1911, when hemoved next door to my shop here. He came over here and I sold him, on time, alarge quantity of furniture. He fooled around about the bill, did little workand much drinking, and finally in 1912 I went over and told him I would have tobring the furniture back to my place.

“His wife came to me and said that if Iwould change the account to her, she would pay the bill. She said that if shepaid it and left the furniture in her husband’s name, he would steal it andsell it to buy whisky.”

Wife Got Furniture.

Shirley’s friends nodded their approval.

“I changed the account for her and shepaid the bill and a short time later, after her husband had left town, shemoved farther down the street. I didn’t see Shirley for some time, then one dayhe came and borrowed a dollar from me. Then it was a long time before he camearound. Previous to his borrowing the dollar, he used to hang around thestore.”

The crowd around the popular furnituredealer knew all about Fisher and many admitted that he had stung them for smallamounts.

“Along in August of this year, a longtime after Mary Phagan was murdered, I saw Fisher and he paid the dollar. Hewas wearing good clothes and had money and he apologized and told me that hewanted to pay all his debts, to re-establish his good standing.”

Calls Fisher Drunken Tramp.

“I never knew where the pencil factorywas until I read accounts of the murder in the papers and saw pictures of thebuilding. Then one day while down town I passed by and a crowd of people wereout in front and I stopped, and learned that the building was the factory whereMary Phagan had been murdered.

“Until after the murder I didn’t know asoul at the factory and then I learned that two girls who live across thestreet here worked there.”

“Fisher is a liar and a drunken trampand nobody will believe anything he says. I will see that he goes to jail forwhat he has done if there is any way I can manage to send him there.”

OldCharge of

Murder IsRevived.

DALTON, Oct. 21.—Suspicions of murderonce held against Ira W. Fisher are to be brought up once again in a newinvestigation as a result of Fisher’s activity in the Frank case.

Years ago, Fisher was a witness in awhisky case in Superior Court here and Judge G. G. Glenn, representing thedefense, impeached him. Twelve or fifteen of the country’s most responsiblecitizens swore on the stand that they would not believe Fisher on oath. Fisherleft here soon after the death of his brother-in-law, Dug Steele.

ShirleyDeclares Books

“I can account for every minute of my time on the day of themurder of Mary Phagan,” said J. C. Shirley, better known to his friends as“Charley,” Shirley was in his furniture store at No. 809 Marietta street and acrowd of his friends had gathered around him.”

“I can not say offhand just what I didon that day, but my books will show my whereabouts.”

“I have not taken the time to look thisup yet, as I attach such little importance to the statement and accusations ofthat drunken bum Fisher.”

“I first knew Fisher in 1911, when hemoved next door to my shop here. He came over here and I sold him, on time, alarge quantity of furniture. He fooled around about the bill, did little workand much drinking, and finally in 1912 I went over and told him I would have tobring the furniture back to my place.

“His wife came to me and said that if Iwould change the account to her, she would pay the bill. She said that if shepaid it and left the furniture in her husband’s name he would steal it and sellit to buy whisky.”

Wife Got Furniture.

Shirley’s friends nodded their approval.

“I changed the account for her and shepaid the bill and a short time later, after her husband had left town, shemoved farther down the street. I didn’t see Shirley for some time, then one dayhe came and borrowed a dollar from me. Then it was a long time before he camearound. Previous to his borrowing the dollar, he used to hang around thestore.”

The crowd around the popular furnituredealer knew all about Fisher and many admitted that he had stung them for smallamounts.

“Along in August of this year, a longtime after Mary Phagan was murdered, I saw Fisher and he paid the dollar. Hewas wearing good clothes and had money and he apologized and told me that hewanted to pay all his debts, to re-establish his good standing.”

Calls Fisher Drunken Tramp.

“I never knew where the pencil factorywas until I read accounts of the murder in the papers and saw pictures of thebuilding. Then one day while down town I passed by and a crowd of people wereout in front and I stopped, and learned that the building was the factory whereMary Phagan had been murdered.

“Until after the murder I didn’t know asoul at the factory and then I learned that two girls who live across theestreet here worked there.”

“Fisher is aliar and a drunken tramp and nobody will believe anything he says. I will seethat he goes to jail for what he has done if there is any way I can manage tosend him there.”

Shirley’sFriends

ThreatenViolence.

Threats of violence against Ira Fisherwere made in the neighborhood where Fisher formerly lived and where “Charley”Shirley is liked by everyone. Should Fisher fall into the hands of theseresidents, there is liable to be a manhandling part in the 700 and 800 block ofMarietta street.

That Fisher has a regulation for abeing a drunkard and tale bearer is shown in the statements made to TheGeorgian Monday night by wrathy residents.

W. H. Hooten, who owns a dry goodsstore at No. 807 Marietta street, said:

“I wouldn’t believe I. W. Fisher if heswore to anything while on a stack of Bibles. He is the lowest, meanest manthat ever lived. One day last summer he tried to sell me some chickens which hehad in a sack. I asked him where he got them and he said he stole them from hiswife so he could sell them and go up on North street for some liquor.”

“I know of another time when Fisherstole his wife’s shoes so that he could buy drink with the money he got byselling them.”

“Fisher is the man who the papers wroteup last spring in connection with the ‘mouse-colored mule,’ when he claimed twomen asked him to ride in their wagon. Fisher said the men robbed him of hispay. Later he said that he just claimed he was robbed so he wouldn’t have togive his money to his wife.”

B. F. Shirley, brother of “Charley”Shirley and partner in the business, speaking of Fisher, said:

“He was the sorriest man I ever knew inmy life. I wouldn’t trust or believe him. He would do anything for a dollar.Fisher is the man who turned up Griff Freeman for selling liquor, and then lefttown before the trial. This was about a year ago.”

D.R. Dunbar, 800 Marietta, said:

“I wouldn’t believe that drunken trampon oath. He has ‘done’ every body in this neighborhood, but you can believethat he won’t show his face around here again as long as he lives.”

Dr. W. D. Vincent, 57 Ponders avenue,and Samuel Deavers, 59 Hayden avenue, expressed, the same opinion.

Half a dozen others backed up thestatements of their friends, but didn’t want their names in the papers.

The telephones in Shirley’s store rangall afternoon and up until late evening. Friends wanted to express themselveson their opinion of Fisher, and to ask Shirley if he needed any help.

PDF PAGE 9, COLUMN 3

J. C. Shirley declared to Chief of Detectives Lanford at thepolice station Tuesday morning, when he called there with his lawyer, CharlesJ. Graham, that he could easily account for his movements on the day MaryPhagan was murdered and that this would establish a complete alibi.

Shirley’s statement to the chief was verbal, the latterinforming him that an affidavit was wholly unnecessary, as there was no chargeagainst him. For this same reason the merchant was not required to go intodetails.

Shirley explained that he has all of his books and records inuse in his store on April 26, the day of the murder, and that these showed thatno delivery of furniture was made at any place on Bellwood avenue on that date.This refutes the statement of Ira W. Fisher, the “mysterious accuser,” that heaided Shirley that day in delivering a dresser at the Holloway home, No. 132Bellwood avenue, and that it was there that the merchant told him of hisengagement of that afternoon with “Hattie.”

“I never went out in my wagon that day at all,” Shirley toldthe chief. “I remember very well that it was an unusually busy day with us inthe store, and I was kept there practically the whole of the day. I rememberdistinctly that both of my hired boys one white and the other a negro, got madat me because I wouldn’t let them off at 12 o’clock. It being Memorial Day theywanted to go downtown to see the parade.”

Went to Terminal Station.

“The negro boy, as I recollect it, drove the ‘calico’ muleand the wagon all day. This is the mule referred to by Fisher in his storyabout my driving it to Bellwood avenue and later down town. Only once did Ileave the store for any considerable time. Shortly after 1 o’clock, in, theafternoon I went to the Terminal Station to meet a man, who was going away onthe train and who promised to pay me a bill if I would see him there. I wasback in the store about 2 o’clock. I stayed there then until 8 or 9 o’clock atnight, when we closed the store.”

Shirley said he was prepared to go more fully into detail ina sworn statement as to his movements should it become necessary.

“I don’t think that it will ever become necessary, however,for that fellow Fisher is the greatest scoundrel unhung, or else is a dangerouslunatic, “ remarked the merchant with asmile.

“It’s just a question of whether he ought to be in thepenitentiary or the madhouse.”

Explaining his acquaintanceship with Fisher, he added:

“I first knew Fisher in 1911, when hemoved next door to my shop here. He came over here and I sold him, on time, alarge quantity of furniture. He fooled around about the bill, did little workand much drinking, and finally in 1912 I went over and told him I would have tobring the furniture back to my place.

“His wife came to me and said that if Iwould change the account to her, she would pay the bill. She said that if shepaid it and left the furniture in her husband’s name, he would steal it andsell it to buy whisky.”

Wife Got Furniture.

Shirley’s friends nodded their approval.

“I changed the account for her and shepaid the bill and a short time later, after her husband had left town, shemoved farther down the street. I didn’t see Shirley for some time, then one dayhe came and borrowed a dollar from me. Then it was a long time before he camearound. Previous to his borrowing the dollar, he used to hang around thestore.”

The crowd around the popular furnituredealer knew all about Fisher and many admitted that he had stung them for smallamounts.

“Along in August of this year, a longtime after Mary Phagan was murdered, I saw Fisher and he paid the dollar. Hewas wearing good clothes and had money and he apologized and told me that hewanted to pay all his debts, to re-establish his good standing.”

Calls Fisher Drunken Tramp.

“I never knew where the pencil factorywas until I read accounts of the murder in the papers and saw pictures of thebuilding. Then one day while down town I passed by and a crowd of people wereout in front and I stopped, and learned that the building was the factory whereMary Phagan had been murdered.

“Until after the murder I didn’t know asoul at the factory and then I learned that two girls who live across thestreet here worked there.”

“Fisher is a liar and a drunken trampand nobody will believe anything he says. I will see that he goes to jail forwhat he has done if there is any way I can manage to send him there.”

OldCharge of

Murder IsRevived.

DALTON, Oct. 21.—Suspicions of murderonce held against Ira W. Fisher are to be brought up once again in a newinvestigation as a result of Fisher’s activity in the Frank case.

Years ago, Fisher was a witness in awhisky case in Superior Court here and Judge G. G. Glenn, representing thedefense, impeached him. Twelve or fifteen of the country’s most responsiblecitizens swore on the stand that they would not believe Fisher on oath. Fisherleft here soon after the death of his brother-in-law, Dug Steele.

Shirley’sBooks Give Alibi;

J. C. Shirley declared to Chief of Detectives Lanford at thepolice station Tuesday morning, when he called there with his lawyer, CharlesJ. Graham, that he could easily account for his movements on the day MaryPhagan was murdered and that this would establish a complete alibi.

Shirley’s statement to the chief was verbal, the latterinforming him that an affidavit was wholly unnecessary, as there was no chargeagainst him. For this same reason the merchant was not required to go intodetails.

Shirley explained that he has all of his books and records inuse in his store on April 26, the day of the murder, and that these showed thatno delivery of furniture was made at any place on Bellwood avenue on that date.This refutes the statement of Ira W. Fisher, the “mysterious accuser,” that heaided Shirley that day in delivering a dresser at the Holloway home, No. 132Bellwood avenue, and that it was there that the merchant told him of hisengagement of that afternoon with “Hattie.”

“I never went out in my wagon that day at all,” Shirley toldthe chief. “I remember very well that it was an unusually busy day with us inthe store, and I was kept there practically the whole of the day. I rememberdistinctly that both of my hired boys one white and the other a negro, got madat me because I wouldn’t let them off at 12 o’clock. It being Memorial Day theywanted to go downtown to see the parade.”

Went to Terminal Station.

“The negro boy, as I recollect it, drove the ‘calico’ muleand the wagon all day. This is the mule referred to by Fisher in his storyabout my driving it to Bellwood avenue and later down town. Only once did Ileave the store for any considerable time. Shortly after 1 o’clock, in, theafternoon I went to the Terminal Station to meet a man, who was going away onthe train and who promised to pay me a bill if I would see him there. I wasback in the store about 2 o’clock. I stayed there then until 8 or 9 o’clock atnight, when we closed the store.”

Shirley said he was prepared to go more fully into detail ina sworn statement as to his movements should it become necessary.

“I don’t think that it will ever become necessary, however,for that fellow Fisher is the greatest scoundrel unhung, or else is a dangerouslunatic, “ remarked the merchant with asmile.

“It’s just a question of whether he ought to be in thepenitentiary or the madhouse.”

Explaining his acquaintanceship with Fisher, he added:

“I first knew Fisher in 1911, when hemoved next door to my shop here. He came over here and I sold him, on time, alarge quantity of furniture. He fooled around about the bill, did little workand much drinking, and finally in 1912 I went over and told him I would have tobring the furniture back to my place.

“His wife came to me and said that if Iwould change the account to her, she would pay the bill. She said that if shepaid it and left the furniture in her husband’s name, he would steal it andsell it to buy whisky.”

Wife Got Furniture.

Shirley’s friends nodded their approval.

“I changed the account for her and shepaid the bill and a short time later, after her husband had left town, shemoved farther down the street. I didn’t see Shirley for some time, then one dayhe came and borrowed a dollar from me. Then it was a long time before he camearound. Previous to his borrowing the dollar, he used to hang around thestore.”

The crowd around the popular furnituredealer knew all about Fisher and many admitted that he had stung them for smallamounts.

“Along in August of this year, a longtime after Mary Phagan was murdered, I saw Fisher and he paid the dollar. Hewas wearing good clothes and had money and he apologized and told me that hewanted to pay all his debts, to re-establish his good standing.”

Calls Fisher Drunken Tramp.

“I never knew where the pencil factorywas until I read accounts of the murder in the papers and saw pictures of thebuilding. Then one day while down town I passed by and a crowd of people wereout in front and I stopped, and learned that the building was the factory whereMary Phagan had been murdered.

“Until after the murder I didn’t know asoul at the factory and then I learned that two girls who live across thestreet here worked there.”

“Fisher is a liar and a drunken trampand nobody will believe anything he says. I will see that he goes to jail forwhat he has done if there is any way I can manage to send him there.”

OldCharge of

Murder IsRevived.

DALTON, Oct. 21.—Suspicions of murderonce held against Ira W. Fisher are to be brought up once again in a newinvestigation as a result of Fisher’s activity in the Frank case.

Years ago, Fisher was a witness in awhisky case in Superior Court here and Judge G. G. Glenn, representing thedefense, impeached him. Twelve or fifteen of the country’s most responsiblecitizens swore on the stand that they would not believe Fisher on oath. Fisherleft here soon after the death of his brother-in-law, Dug Steele.

Two more affidavits were obtained thismorning by the lawyers for Frank tending to show that A. H. Henslee, a memberof the trial jury, had expressed strong opinions as to the guilt of Frankbefore the trial.

Leon Harrison, of Atlanta, makes thestatement under oath that some time in May, 1912, he was walking South onPeachtree street, and just north of Five Points he overheard Henslee andanother man engaged in a very animated conversation” regarding the Frank case.

Harrison stopped, he said, andlistened, being interested in anything he might learn of the famous case. Hesays he overheard Henslee’s companion say:

“I don’t believe Frank committed thatmurder.”

To which Henslee’s reply is said tohave been:

“I believe he did kill the girl, and ifby any chance I get on the jury that tries him I’ll do my best to get himconvicted.”

The other sworn statement is the secondaffidavit of Julian A. Lehman whose first statement drew from Henslee a sharpand sweeping denial of the charge that he had expressed a belief in Frank’sguilt.

Lehman reiterates in his secondstatement all the assertions made in his first. He says that between the dateof the murder, April 26, and the beginning of the trial, July 28, he heardHenslee on two occasions express himself as being firmly convinced of Frank’sguilt. He gave the approximate dates of the expressions as June 2 and June 20.