Crowd in small, smoke-filled room breathlessly follows the Phagan slaying inquiry
Father Weeps Silently
Jurors, officials and detectives manifest intense interest in replies of witnesses
In a small, crowded and smoke-filled room at police headquarters, Coroner Donehoo on Thursday morning opened what is expected to be the final session of the jury impaneled to inquire into the death of Mary Phagan, strangled in the basement of the National Pencil Factory on April 26th.
The atmosphere was charged with tension and possibility. The investigation was visibly drawing toward its conclusion, and officials had acknowledged that new and important evidence would emerge from the day's witnesses. These factors drew a large and curious crowd.
At one end of a long table heaped with notebooks and typewriters sat Coroner Donehoo, flanked on either side by members of the jury. At the foot of the table sat the newspaper reporters and four official stenographers. The witness faced Coroner Donehoo and the jury directly, while spectators, relatives of the dead girl, and friends of the witnesses lined the walls. Every available chair in the room had been taken long before the inquest was called to order, and latecomers settled onto the window ledges.
Dorsey Takes Active Part
Among the prominent figures present were attorneys for Frank, Pinkerton and city detectives, and various county and state officials. Solicitor Hugh Dorsey sat just behind Coroner Donehoo and took an active role in shaping the examination of witnesses. Though Dorsey asked no questions directly, he conferred with the coroner on several occasions about the best approach to take with particular witnesses.
Attorney Luther Rosser occupied a seat near the coroner and followed the proceedings with close attention. He raised no objections to any questions bearing on the actions of Leo M. Frank on the day of the murder.
Ranged against the wall behind Coroner Donehoo stood Detective John Black, who heads the city investigating squad, alongside Detective Starnes and Pinkerton Detective Harry Scott. All three officers followed the examination of witnesses with careful attention. To the coroner's left sat Dr. J. W. Hurt, the county physician who examined the body, whose own testimony is awaited with considerable interest.
Father a Pathetic Figure
J. W. Coleman, father of the dead girl, stood against the wall to the coroner's right, a sorrowful and affecting presence. He kept his eyes fixed on each witness throughout their testimony, and as the grim details of the discovery of his daughter's body were recounted, his eyes filled with tears.
The jurors, all six of them, sat with their arms on the table and gave their full attention to every word spoken. Most questions came from the coroner, though jurors occasionally interrupted to ask a witness to clarify a point.
