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Abbeville Press and Banner
S
< ~aV??R ~ ABBEVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY. JUNE 23 1915.
GOV. SLATON COMIVI!
MB
Execution Set for Tuesd
J ernor Slaton. Who Gr<
to Life Impris
Atlanta, Ga., June 21.?Lev. M. I i
Frank's death sentence was com- ii
muted to life imprisonment today by a
Gov. Slaton. Announcement of
the governor's decision came several a
hours after Frank had been secretly n
taken from the jail here and hurried
to the state prison farm at Milledge- ^
ville. Frank was sentenced to be
a
hanged here tomorrow for the mur- j(
rJor Af \fnrv Phncran. in Anril. 1913. n
Excitement of crowds on the streets e
when it was announced that Gov.
Slaton had commuted the death sen- ^
tence of Leo M. Frank to life impris- .
onment, subsided somewhat as the a
day wore on. A mass meeting was c
held on the capitol grounds, however, n
starting shortly before noon. It was
conservatively estimated the crowd P
numbered 2.500. Several speakers
took exceptions to Gov. Slaton's ac- b
tion. | s'
As early as. 8:30 o'clock this morn- 0
m
ing extra police started patroling 1
H streeets on which crowds had congre- g
gated; by 10 o'clock two-thirds of ^
the entire force was on duty and at
11 o'clock near-beer saloons and X1
F
clubs dispensing liquor were ordered
closed. Five arrests were made for c<
a failure to "move on," including one 03
physician. Only a very small percentage
of the crowds, however, was ^
Q
professional and business men.
Gov. Slaton issued a statement of e(
approximately 15,000 words, explaining
his action. He maintained there
was reasonable doubt of Frank's |ai
guilt of the murder of Mary Phagan. w
gf
He devoted much of his statement to
the part the negro James Conley 31
might have played in the crime. ^
Governor Slaton still was at his
country home when he announced his .05
le
? decision on the case over the telephone
to The Associated Press. In 111
making this announcement the gover- ^
1 nor dictated the following brief
.statement: ^
F
"All that I ask is that the people
of Georgia read my statement of the ,r<
reasons why I commuted Leo M. jr(
Frank's death sentence to life impris- ir
onment, before they pass judgment. 01
"Foalinc as T Hn ahnut this ease I ^
would be a murderer if I allowed this ^
man to hang. It may mean that I tc
must live in obscurity the rest of my
days, but I would rather be plowing
in a field than to feel for the rest of
my life that I had that man's blood
on my hands."
Governor Slaton was completing a ^
long statement giving his reasons for
his action, and this he said would be 11
made public later.
Early extra editions stated defi- 0
Jiitely that Frank's sentence had been
IT)
commuted and early in the morning .
crowds began to gather on the principal
downtown street corners. The
arrest of a man who attempted to 0
... a
dismount a policeman by grabbing
the horse's reins, stirred the crowd at .
Forsythe and Walton streets to excitement
and they followed che offiV
cers to the city hall, a block away,
?1
where they took the prisoner pending
arrival of a patrol wagon.
cr
Although crowds on the streets disSI
cussing the Frank case did not appear
so excited as the day wore on, the
?11 KAA>* f ftl AAT>C
JJUI1CC UlUCi CU an HCoi "Utti oaiwito i
J*i
closed shortly before 11 o'clock and
an extra 100 policemen were put on | a
duty. Orders were issued to imme- \
diateiy arrest any one attempting to
incite violence on street corners. d
Speakers started to harangue the n
crowd from the city hall steps but v*
were stopped by an extra force of po- S
lice. It was stated that a delegation tl
was coming here from Marietta, the tl
i former home of Mary Phagan. a
Two hearings were held here on t<
Frank's application for executive v
clemency, one before the state prison t<
commission May 31 and the other be- v
JTES
?LEO FRANK
ay is Averted by Govinted
Commutation
onment
fore the governor. The latter hearng
extended through several days
nd ended June 16.
Before the prison commission oral
i
rgument on Frank's behalf was
lade by his counsel and by jurists,
awyers and prominent citizens of
Jeorgia, Illinois and Massachusetts,
'etitions bearing hundreds of thous- 1
nds of names from various state s
sgislatures, societies and committees
nd thousands of letters urging clemncy
for Frank were presented to
he commission.
In opposition to the application *
here were filed a letter from Solici- (
or Dorsey, who prosecuted Frank c
nd a protest from citizens of Cobb i
ounty, Ga., where Mary Phagan for- *
4
lerly resided. "
t
Frank's counsel, prior to the ap- ^
eal for executive clemency had
lade seven unsuccessful attempts
efore the county superior jimI state ^
jpremc courts to obtam a n?:w trial ^
r the setting aside of the veid'ct.
he federal district court refuse-.: 1o ^
rant him a writ of habeas corpus and ^
le United States supreme court delined
to grant a writ of error for veiew
of the case and also denied .
H
1 t_ _ 1
ranK s appeal in naDeas corpus proidings.
Four times the sentence
f death was passed upon him.
The first official announcement of
c
le Georgian's decision was made at
:42 o'clock this morning. Extra ' c
iitions of the local newspapers conLining
the unofficial annuncement,
lused considerable excitement
n
nong a number of crowds of men, ^
ho began gathering on various
reet cornersand around city hall, j(
fid who discussed the governor's
rant of clemency to Frank. Mounted c
jlice and patrolmen were stationed
a the outskirts of the crowds and at
ast one arrest was made. Com
ient derogatory to the decision was j I
jard in the gatherings. ^
In his statement exhaustively exlaining
his reasons for commuting
rank's sentence, Governor Slaton
jviewed the circumstances sur>unding
the murder of Mary Phagan
i the National Pencil factory here
n April 26, 1913, the conviction of
rank and his appeal for clemency,
e mentioned the attention attracted j(
) the case all over the country and
le widespread appeals for commuta- t
Continuing, the statement reads:
"The murder was a most heinous v
ne and the offender deserves the t
unishment of death. The only ques- ^
on is as to the identity of the crim- ^
lal. The responsibility is upon the
eople of Georgia to protect the lives t
f her citizens and to maintain the s
ignity of her laws and if the choice
lust be made between the approba- ^
on of citizens of other States and
le enforcement of our laws against
(Tenders we must choose the latter j,
Iternative. v
"It is charged that the court and s
jry were terrorized by a mob and c
lat the jury were coerced into their ^
erdict. When Frank was indicted ^
nd the air was filled with rumors as ^
) the murder and mutiliation of the a
irl there was intense feeling, and to
uch an extent that my predecessor, v
lovernor Brown, stated in argument c
efore me that he had the militia s
eady to protect the defendant if any
ttack was made.
Governor Menaced.
Last night a mob of several hun- a
red people, threatening the Gover- c
or, assembled in front of his home >]
rhich was guarded by country police. v
tones and missiles were hurled at ^
lie officers. It was necessary for j
lie Governor to declare martial law j.
nd to call out the militia in order s
o disperse the mob. The Governor t
:as hanged in effigy in many Georgia r
awns, in the town of Newnan, along y
,-ith Frank. t
FRANCE SEEKS
LOAN IN AMERICA
URGES HER INVESTORS TO EXCHANGE
SECURITIES FOR
WAR BONDS
New York Juune 18.? According
to advices received in Wall Street,
French bankers are making extraordinary
efforts to induce French investors
to turn in their American securities
to the leading banking institutions
of that country, to be exchanged
for war bonds, as a means
Df providing funds to be used for j
;he purchase of ammunition and
supplies in the United States.
TUfl Amarlnon cA^nrifioc will hp
repledged in New York as collateral ^
for a loan to be raised by bankers in ;
bis city. France enjoys a very high
:redit here, despite the depreciation
>f exchange on Paris, and it is genirally
believed that there will not be
he slightest difficulty in raising a
5100,000,000 loan, or even twice
hat amount with high class railroad
>onds as collateral.
France owns a substantial amount
?f the bonds of such roads as the
'ennsylvania and Chicago, Milwau:ee
and St. Paul, and the bankers
vho distributed these bonds in the
"rench Republic undoubtedly would
e members of the syndicate to bring
>ut the loan.
The plan particularly commends
tself to New York bankers, for the
eason that it doubtless would preent
the liquidation of a large
mount of securities for French acnnnf
in tho Maw Ynrlf miirlfpt Tt
rould, moreover, have the effect of .
onserving the French golci supply. I
New York banks now have a sur- |
lus reserve, above legal requirements,
of about $2Q0,000,000. Uner
the Federal Reserve Law this
fould be a basis of a $1,000,000,000
>an expansion. They could readily
fford, therefore, to give France a
redit of $100,000,000.
ikiahomTlaw ;
UNCONSTITUTIONAL i
. 1
Washington, June 21.? The su- ?
irpmp r?niirt in whnt. is Pf>nsiHArf>rl t
ne of the most important race decis- s
ans in history, today annulled as un- (
onstitutional the Oklahoma consti- ^
utional amendment and the Annapo- ^
is, Md., voters' qualification law re- j
tricting the suffrage rights of those ^
rtio could not vote or whose ances- s
ors could not vote prior to the rati- (
ication of the fifteenth amendment r
o the federal constitution. B
Chief Justice White, a .native of
he South and a former Confederate g
oldier, announced the court's decis- j
t>n, which was unanimous, except j,
hat Justice McReynolds took no part c
n the case. y
By holding that conditions that ex- c
sted before the fifteenth amendment,
/hich provides that the right to vote ^
hall not be denied or abridged on ac- T
ount of race, color or previous conlition
of servitude. could not be
irought over to the present day in ^
lisregard of this self executing g
mendment, it is generally believecf f
hat the court went a long way to- r
yard invalidating much of the so- g
ailed "grandfather clause" in contitutions
of Southern States. t
t
ALBERT TOLBERT CASE. ' r
Mr. C. C. Featherstone will make
; persnal appeal to Gov. Manning to f
ommute the sentence of Albert
/olbert recently sentenced in Green- t
vood to pay the death penalty for t
he murder of his young wife. Sher- t
ff McMillan is convinced that Tol- vi
>ert is weak mentally and should not ^
uffer the death penalty and is in- g
eresting himself in the unfortunate
nan's behalf. Mr. Featherstone . t
las no interest in the case save from ~
he standpoint of humanity. ^ j
LANSING PICKED
FOR SECRETARY
LIKELY TO BE GIVEN THE
PORTFOLIO OF STATE BY
THE PRESIDENT
Washington, June 21.? President
Wilson was understood tonight to
have virtually decided on Robert
Lansing as secretary of state to succeed
William Jennings Bryan.
It was said in well informed quarters
that it was almost a carta ty
that Mr. Lansing?counselor and secretary
ad interim of the state department?would
be given the portfolio.
White House officials refused tc- n-ake
any statement except to say that the
subject still was under consideration.
Mr. Lansing will be in New York
tomorrow, and it is exDeeted that the
selection of a secretary of state will
be discussed at the cabinet meeting.
Several cabinet members are known
io favor Mr. Lansing.
The president plans to leave here
Wednesday night for New York,
vhere he will spend Thursday with
2ol. E. M. House, before going to the
'Summer White House" at Cornish,
.H. It has been considered likely
;hat he would discuss the- question of
Mr. Bryan's successor with Col.
iouse before making an announce^
nent, but tonight there was said to
>e a possibility that the appointment
night be made tomorrow.
Col. House himself has been promilently
mentioned for the place and
nany officials think he could have it
f he would accept it. He always
las refused to accept public office,
lowever. /
1EATH PENALTY
A ^ P" A P%l% 1
UUHI1
Albany, June 18.?"I invite you
o come down to Sing Sing and inpect
the machinery used in inflictng
the death penalty. It would give
'ou a clearer idea of the horrors of
his thing we would like to see abolshed,
and if you wish you may witless
an execution and see the mahinery
in motion."
Following this invitation by
rhomas Mott Osborne, Warden of
>ing Sing, to the members of the
Jill of Rights Committee of the Contitutional
Convention, R&bbi Jacob
Goldstein, chaplain of Sing Sing and
he Tombs, in arguing for the adopion
of the Betts amendment abolishng
capital punishment, declared
hat the District Attorntey's office had
idmitted in a communication to the
Jovernor that one of the four gunnen
who died for the murder of Hernan
Rosenthal was innocent.
"From my own experience," he
oi/1 "an/I -from urViof T h?.VP lpftrnftrf.
know that scores of innocent men
iave died on the gallofrs and in the
hair. I was present when a lad
vhom I practically kenw to be innoent
went to his death."
Chairman Louis Marshall asked if
ie referred to one of the four gunnen.
"I do," replied Rabbi Golj'tein,
'and the innocence of this boy has
teen admitted in a communication
ent from the District Attorney*3 ofice
to the Governor. If this is delied
by any one, I stand prepared to
five chapter and verse."
He declined to give the name of
he gunman, saying: "Better leave
he matter as it stands. One of the
nen was innocent."
It is believed, ^owever, that he reerred
to "Dago Frank" Ciroficci.
Rabbi Goldstein said that the night
he gunmen died at Sing Sing "all
he youngsters of the east side
urned out and came to Sing Sing
intil it became necessary for the
Varden to place armed keepers on
;uard outside the prison walls."
"They were there," he said, "for
he purpose of being able to say af(Continued
on page five.)
I
Both Men Declare that S
the Rails Which Cause
Concerned Over
In the presence of an Age-Herald
reporter, Amos Smith and Archie <
Lee last night confused to deliber- !
ately ditching the fast New York <
Passenger train of the Seaboard rail- i
road for the purpose of robbing the 1
passengers. In their confession i
they implicated Shan Henry, arrested 1
by Chief Eagan and half a score of j
officers Wednesday night, charged i
with the murder. Henry denied >
their story but broke down and asked 1
for a minister. s
The wreck which they admit caus- s
ing, occurred at 10:30 o'clock on the y
night of June 10, near Weems, east 1
of Birmingham. The engineer, fire- i
man and road superivsor of 'locomo- ^
tives were killed and 10 passengers i
injured. d
Among those who heard the con- e
fession were Chief Marjtin Eagan,
Detectives Eubank and Crenshaw of S
the city, M. Welch, chief of the Sea- t
board special agens; Special Agents v
J^euffer arid Joe Hill of the Sea- t:
board. J. Reese Murray of the de- t.
partment of justice of Washington ^
took down the testimony and acted as h
notary. The arrest of the three h
men and the subsequent confession !
of two of them, in which both impli- *
cate Shan Henry, completes one of
the most spectacular pieces of detective
work in criminal records in Jef- tl
* j. k
ierson county.
Showed No Concern About the 11
Deaths. ^
s
Archie Lee confessed to the detec- ^
tives immediately after his arrest
last Wednesday night, and implicated g
the other two men, Shan Henry and ^
Amos Smith. Detectives Eubank ^
and Crenshaw talked with Smith
Thursday night and he told them he g
would be ready to tell the whole story ^
the following night. Accordingly,
all the men connected with the arrest gj
of the wreckers assembled in the office
of Chief Eagan to hear what he
had to say. Smith sat down and in
a calm and deliberate way ,told what jj
he had to do with the whole thing, at
the same time telling who was with j(
him on the night of the wreck. After
Smith had made a clean breast of ^
the affair, Archic Lee came in and
corroborated all that had been said ^
by Smith. The men seemed to be
calm throughout the story and did ^
not appear to have the slightest
qualm about the harrowing details g
of the story. After both men had g]
signed a confession they sat down and
told an Age-Herald reporter of what ^
they had planned to do. None of ?<
:be men under arrest can either read
.r > rite. C(
"ShanfHenry came to me," said ^
Lee, 'a few days before the wreck w
.1 said that K was goin;; to wreck ^
the fast Seaboard train and get a
bunch of money. I think he said that ^
we could get about $2500 out ofAhe p
thing if my self and Amos Smith
*-?.u!d come in r-ad help hici. On
?r.e night of Jim 10 Hinry, Amos
on.ith and myse.f went about two ,,
miles beyond Irondale in a wagon ^
and got ready to ditch th? 'flyer.'
Shan carried all the tools f'<r taVing ^
up the track and I carried the lanrr
tern. After we had got:er? to the
place where Shan had deuded to
a
wreck the train me and Amos tried .
to tell him not to do it.
w
Began to Shiver When they Saw ^
the Train ^
"Shan wouldn't listen and com- ^
menced to tear up the rails. After he ^
had done so we all got up on the
hill that overlooks the place where ^
the wreck occurred and watched. In j.
a few minutes the train came alon?.
We saw the headlight as it came down
the track in the distance. Somebody
r<
cussed and we all commenced to ^
shiver. Here comes the train at full
speed, when she hit th? place where _
the rail had been taken out, the en- ^
I
IG SEABOARD FLYER
ham Henry Tore Up
id Wreck Little
the Disaster
gine and all the cars went into the
ditch. Everything was quiet for a
second and then everybody coramenc
ed to cry and yell. We intended to
rob the passengers and get all they
tiad but when we heard all the women
and children crying out it was
too much. I turned arund and saw
\mos and Shan running for the road
vhere we had a wagon. I caught up
vith them and said, "'There's a bunch
>een killed." I don't give a d?,'
;aid Shan, and we got away from the
ipot. Shan told us that if the train
vrecked, all the people would be
:illed and it would be easy to get the
noney. But all the people wasn't
;illed and when we heard all those
oiks hollowing and crying I guess we
lidn't have the nerve to get the
noney."
Throughout the recital of Lee,
imith nodded his head in assent to all
hat was being said. Chief Welch
/as questioning the speaker from
ime to time while he talked- At
he conclusion of Lee's statement,
imos Smith admitted that all that
ad been said was true and said that
is part in it was about the same as
,ee's.
lenry Brought In and Denies ConfeHivs.
Detectives Eubanks and Crenshaw
hen went^ down to the jail and f
rought up Henry. Henry stalked
uto the room and was evidently surrised
as he gazed into the faces of
Imith and Lee. Welch took a seat
irectly in front of Henry and after
yeing him silently for a few seconds,
aid: "Weil, Shan, these other two
oys have made a confession. Here
; is and I am going to read it to
ou." He did so, then turning to
mith and Lee said: Is this - conession
true?" Both the men anwered
in the affirmative. "Well,1'
aid Welch, to Henry, "what have
ou to say?"
Henry loked from one person to
tie other and after moistening his
ps said in a trembling voice: "I
m going to tell the truth if God will
it me."
"Well," said Welch, "let's hear the
ruth."
Henry's gaze shifted and he sudenly
screamed: "It's a lie; I didn't
ave nothing to do with it: I was in
ea.
Chief Eagan turned to Lee and
mith and asked: "Is that so?" "No,"
lid both of them in unison.
"If you have anything to say, let's
ear from you," said Welch to Henry.
I ain't got a thing to say," Henry
nswered. He was then led to his
ell. After getting back in the cell
[enry broke down and commenced to
'ail in a loud voice for the Lord to
ave mercy on his soul. He finally
ailed Warden Glover and said that
e wanted to speak to a minister,
ormal Statement by Smith and Lee.
Amos Smith's formal statement to
le police was as follows:
"My name is Amos Smith. I m?ke
-f-ii : a. -
IB lunuwing statement ux niy own
ree will. There have been nc- offers
f reward, nor have there been any
ireats made to induce this statelent.
"I don't recollect exactly wherebouts
I was standing there on the
ide of the road wherj the train was
'recked about 25 yards from where
le train was wrecked I had been
lere for about an hour. Mr. Shan
[enry removed the rpils with tools,
[e had begged and persuaded me to
nxft nnflt 1?i?m T /1i/] w aJ- L'AA ov?tf_
u wicic vyii/ii mm. x uiu nv/u ocu oujody
with him. He had something
ke a bar. There was a light setng
down on the crosstie. It was
3me kind of a lantern. I saw Shan
emove ths rail. I told him it was
le best thing not to do it.
"When the train fell over I was
(Continued on Page Five)
I*