Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1911-08-09
j. 10 i. !. i. !. !. j. !. j. .ss i.
!. SHOW CARRIE NATION j..
\. WORKED ATLANTA. j.
's' IL j. !. !. I. j. !. i. j. y. i.

| ~ ~ ~ ~ 70 sIs >ts tts sts sts efs s{s
The activities Of Mrs. Carrie Ma
ton, while lecturing in a vaudeville
tneater In Atlanta several years ago,
are recounted in an interesting way
! by John NJ. Gregory, her former press
agent, in an interview in the New
York Sun. Mr.. Gregory, an old At
lantan, managed the publicity end OF
Mrs. Nations engagement at the old
El Dorado, and framed up several OF
the stuns which brought her space in
the newspapers. His interview was
rendered timely by the recent death
Of Mrs. Nation.
''The two dominant features of
Carrie Nations character were dia-
metrically opposed" says Mr.. Greg
ory. "On the one side was the cru
sadcr, the leader, the fearless fanatic
boldly defying tho world, greedy for
money and seeking the best method
for getting 1t, alive to the value of
advertising and quick to grasp the
dramatic and sensational.
ION the other hand was her sim
pie, motherly character, as loyablc
as that of any woman l have ever
known. Sometimes she would make
one wonder how she could be thc
termagant she was. She rarerly re-
ferred to her smashing tours, and
when she did it was with quiet lit
tie laugh, her gray eyes sparkling
and her fist clenched as she would
describe how the men would flee the
saloon by the rear door when she en-
tered the front. The waste, the in
justice, the criminal side Of her ac-
tions, never seemed to enter her
head.
Many Of Carrie Nations sensa-
tional deeds were inspired by her
press agents or the press agents Of
the theaters in which, during n few
years, she worked. She was keen,
too, in making her contracts. She
received from $3.50 to $1,000 week
for lecturing at theaters and ALWAYS
with the privilege Of selling in the
lobby her little gold hatchet pins
and the history Of her life. This
privilege would net her from 500
to $3.50 a week extra.
Ihe hrst work | did for her was
as press agent for theater In At
! lanta, Ga. The house was putting on
sensational plays at popular prices
and Carrie Nation was signed fortwo
twenty-minute lectures each day, for
which she received $500 for the week
with the usual lobby privileges. The
house manager chose Ten Nights in
Barroom' for the weeks production
and Mrs. Nations profits for tho pc
riod amounted to nearly $1,000.
"In spite of the money she made
she refused absolutely to stop at a
hrst-class hotel She preferred ra-
ther to go to cheap place because,
she said, she needed her money
more than the hotel keepers did.
"Not single suggestion made by
me with view to making her stay in
Atlanta more sensational was reject
ed by her. She arrived Sunday night
and early Monday morning began her
crusade. There was big ADVERTISE
ment for cigarettes in a drug store
window in the center of the city in
| which man, made up to represent
manikin with electric wires at
| tached, smoked cigarettes. sug-
gested that Mrs. Nation pull him out
| Of the window backward
"Of course there was q big crowd
| In front of the window and the little
| woman saw her first chance for SEN
| sation. She marched determinedly
into tho store, stopped In the center
| and began a TRADE against cigarette
smoking.
Then when the store became
crowded with people she went to the
| window, opened the back of 1t, grasp
ed the performer inside by the scruff
of the neck and yanked him to the
floor. The manikin was so surprised
| that he became galvanized into the
| liveliest lay figure imaginable and
the crowd roared. The next day the
| window was empty and remained so
! for tho rest Of Carrie Nations stay
| in Atlanta.