The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-05-28

''jail smell" about the place. the odor
! that clngs to every Jail and which no
sanitary precautions seem able to pre-
| vent. Tuesday was cool and the cell
/ seemed damp and chill. It is not a
pleasant place to visit, much less to
pass $50 days. But that is the sentence
under which an old woman is confined
there
The woman is Carrie Nation.
NoW-hold on 1t doesn't matter what
you think about Carrie Nation, person
ally, or how tired you may be of the
subject, or how utterly out of sympa-
thy with her motives and her methods
The legal aspect of the question makes
no difference.
Here's the point: Do you enjoy the
thought Of an old woman over so pass
ing her days in such a placer?
The argument will not be made-be-
cause it is really no argument-that
since other offenders are allowed to go
scot free Mrs. Nation should be also
| Comparisons between her condition and
that of the jointists whose violation Of
the statutes was her incentive, will not
be drawn. Doubtless there are a whole
! lot of US out who ought to be in. Let
! that pass. Here's hoping there aren't
many in who ought to be out.
In or out it's q pretty tough PROPOSE
ton, but there's no doubt that those
1 who are out have the best of it.
/ There's nothing new to say about Car
! RE Nation. That subject has been ex-
/ nduSLed. II mas DeGn viewed from every
/ standpoint and studied under every
1 light treated seriously and as a joke.
/ The neWspaper correspondents who have
! made a good thing out of Mrs Nation
have described her as a 'motherly old
| soul" a lunatic, a martyr, a shrew. a
fanatic, a termagant, a heroine and a
! bag But Tuesday she was nothing but
a mild hammered gentle voiced, earnest,
! harmless old woman shut up in a cold
cell in the county Jail.
aI=o
4 her it seemed, to say the least. incon-
gruous. You felt it wasn't right
Mrs Nation felt so. too
7 am just writing piece for the State
! Journal" she said, reaching her hand
/ between the bars of the cell door. I'm
making a statement of my side of this
case. I contend that I am peaceful,
/ laW-abiding citizen and that have done
nothing in violation of the law. The
| property I destroyed has no more right
to exist in Kansas than the burglar
tools in your parlor or the assassin s
knife at your throat. The law provides
that joint stock and fixtures shall be
taken and publicly destroyed, etc. De
you care for any more of that?"
But presently Mrs Nation began TO
get down to cases
do you know-have you any idea
she asked, what a low opinion Of girls
the average young man has? Talk to
any of them seriously and they let you
see their contempt for women. tell
| YOU these frivolous gaddy society girls
with their insincerities and their posing
and their foolishness. don't know what
/ the men who fiatter them and make love
| to them really think about them Wo-
men are a great power, they are the
! real power if they only knew it. Men
are jealous and try to keep them down,
| but men are learning wish glrls
would understand the value of purity
and modesty and high principles and a
serious purpose in life. l wish they
/ demand and deserve respect of men.
wish they wouldn't hold themselves
cheaply."
In spite of her strenuous efforts to
save it. Mrs. Nation has evidently a
poor opinion of the superior sex
7 tell the girls not to marry" she
! said. The worlds over-populated now.
Let them be independent and self-sus-
( tanning and devote themselves to the
I good to their fellow men instead OF
| family life. Let them take care of the
children that are already here, neglect
ed and unhappy and growing up in sin
not bringing more into the world to SUI
fer"
Mrs Nation the reporter suggested
meekly, why don't you try a new tack
and go among the women reforming
them instead of wasting your time or
the men? You're a woman and under
stand women better than you do men
The men don't matter, anyway. Let
them drink themselves to death"
But no. This is my forte. said Car
RE Nation. This is my life work
have put my hand to the plow."
Mrs. Nation did not complain Of heI
SURROUNDINGS She said it was very cold
and she had had to give up her writing
and go to bed to keep warm. She was
bundled up IN all the clothes she had
and had hung a blanket in trent Of the