Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-28
OFFICIALS SUFFER BURNS
Two Attempts to Invalidate an I'm
portant London Election.
LEADERS GLORY IN DEEDS
Violence Admittedly Planned by
Members of the Women's Freedom
League-Mrs. Chaplin Arrested.

LONDON, October 2S.--Mrs. Chaplin, a
suffragette. furnished an early morning
thrill at the Bermondsey by-election to-
day. when she smashed bottle contain
ing corrosive acid upon a ballot box. Her
intention evidently was to destroy the
ballots in the box as a protest against
the exclusion Of women from the right
of franchise What she accomplished
was the painful burning Of some Of the
election officers and the assurance of her
own arrest
Slipping into one of the booths where
perhaps thousand ballots had been de-
posted, Mrs. Chaplin drew from under her
cloak bottle in which ink had been
mixed with corrosive acid. and before she
could be stopped hurled the bottle upon
the box. 1t broke into many pieces and
the flying acid splashed upon the election
officers.
A number of these were SO severely in
jured as to require medical attention.
About the same time a similar outrage
was attempted at another booth by a
young girl who wore the suffragette COL
ors. In the latter instance little damage
was done beyond the burning of the fin-
ger tips Of the election officials who re-
moved the bits of broken glass. So far
as could be ascertained hot much acid
reached the ballots in either case.
Later in an interview Miss Christabe
Pankhurst while deploring the wounding
of the officials, asserted with much en-
phaSis:
1T is the government that is RESPONSE
bile. 1t is the government that drives
women to these acts
Planned by Freedom League.
1t appears that today's violence was
planned by the Women's Freedom League.
the members of which glory in what was
done. They were members of this same
league who picketed the >house OF COM
mons for fifteen weeks. The leagues Sec
retary is Mrs. Edith Hon. Martyr. In
an interview following the attack upon
the ballot boxes Mrs. Martyr said:
I'VE thought that as Premier Asquith
has not shown himself amenable TO our
requests the time had come to take
more active measures. Our plans were
thought out most carefully, and we found
delight in the opportunity to carry them
out on the anniversary OF the grille pro-
test in the house of commons, which
was perpetrated by the Women's Free
dom League Our object this morning
was to invalidate the election. We have
formed various plans. and the others
would have been tried during the day
had this one failed"
October 2S. 1908, a suffragette demon
straton was made in the ladies' galleries
during sitting of the house of COM
mons When attendants sought to empty
the galleries they found that two suffra-
gettes had firmly chained themselves to
the grille OF lattice from behind which
feminine eyes must view the proceedings
of the house. For a time the two volun-
tary prisoners resisted the efforts made
to remove them.
An Important Election.
Today's by-election in the Bermondsey
division Of Southwark Zone Of the paria-
mentary boroughs of LondonD is of un-
usual interest, as it is expected to afford
good test of the feeling in London and
the country generally on the impending
struggle in parliament.
A strong fight the budget against
tariff reform has been waged in this con-
stituency. The candidates are: Liberal,
S. l.. Hughes; unionist, John Dumph-
reys: labor. DIR. A. Salter. AT the last
general election the liberals had ma
iority of 1,I5q