New Britain herald., 1914-07-23
BECKY .EDELSON
 STILL ON STRIKE She WoAt Eat, but is Less
 RcbeIiOuS.

New York, July 23.--Becky Edel-
 son, in the fifty-second hour of her
 hunger strike, underwent a slight change of disposition yesterday after 1 noon. Her rebellious mood softened.
 She greeted kindly pr. Anna Hubert whom she treated with scorn on her
 arrival on Blackwelrs Island from the
 Tombs on Monday morning and when pr. Hubert renewed her proposal that Miss Edelson should submit to a phy-
 sical examination, the hungry and
 thirsty prisoner submitted willingly. ] After she had made this examina-
 tion, pr. Hubert said Miss Edelsons physical condition was perfect. The physician then notified Commissioner 1 of Correction Katharine B. Davis by l telephone that there was no imme- I diate danger of Miss Edelson's suffer- 1 ing harm from her hunger strike. She said she believed that Miss Edelson could fast for another twenty-four l hours before her craving for food I tempted her to yield.
 l At the suggestion of Commissioner l Davis a rubber tube and funnel were 1 obtained yesterday for use in feeding
 Miss Edelson forcibly in case this should become necessary.
 Jane Est the young woman who 1 interrupted the services in pr. Park hurst's church, and interrupted also l soapbox orators in Union Square, was 1 transferred recently to the Mattea- 1 wan Asylum from Blackwell's Island. it was learned yesterday. This led to a report that Miss Est had been transferred because she had started hunger strike and that Miss Edel-
 son might be sent to Matteawan also I for forcible feeding. Deputy Com
 missioner of Correction Burdette Lewis explained that Miss Est did not at
 tempt a hunger strike, but that she
 was sent to the insane asylum because she harangued other prisoners in a
 way that indicated that she was un- balanced mentally.
 Fifty-Six Hours Without Food. At 8 o'clock last night Miss Edelson
 passed her former record of fifty-six
 hours as hunger striker. Her fifty
 six hour strike was declared in the
 sueens County Jail last April while she was serving the same sentence
 
 ter her release on bail pending de- cision on her appeal. At noon today, if she is still fasting,
 Miss Edelson will have passed seventy two hours without food, counting the time from the first meal offered to
 her and refused after her commitment on Monday. She said on leaving the Tombs for the island on Tuesday that she had really begun her fast twenty four hours earlier than her arraign- ment before Judge Swann on Monday l morning in order to hasten the period when she would collapse in her cell. Tn the opinion of surgeons familiar
 with the physical effects of long per- iods of fasting, Miss Edelson went through kind of crisis vest terday. It was the third day of the hunger strike, | and the day on which the bangs of hunger would naturally be acute. If
 she should hold out over today, it was said, the bangs of hunger would dis appear in great measure and she i! would begin to lose strength rapid ly.
 From women prominent in the suf- frage movement i was learned yester- day that Miss Edelson would get no sympathy from them, and that no pro- test on her behalf would be started by suffrag gists. The reason given for this was that Miss Edelson's case was not in the hands of a man, who could be charged with dealing unjustly with
 her. Instead, pr. Katharine B. Davis
 was looked upon as an ardent SUD-
 porter of the womens movement. Miss Edelson was known as one of
 the strongest persons in the group of
 aCitatOrS If which she was a. leader
 None of the men even approached her
 in physical endurance, her friends
 said She was coached carefully by
 Alexander Berkman in the art of
 hunger striking, and the nature and
 probable duration of the suffering
 that would result. Berkman, while
 serving a sentence of fourteen years
 for shooting Henry c. Prick in 1892.
 was often put in the dungeon for
 breaking prison rules. On such oc-
 casions he lasted for eight and ten
 days at time.
 Berkman and his followers were
 much disappointed last night when
 no letter came from Miss Edelson.
 They were even more disappointed
 when they learned that she had sub
 mitted to physical examination.
 Berkman asserted that it was a "frame-up" and that there was either no examination or else that Miss Ed elson fought until she was subdued. At a meeting to be held at the Fer Ter school tonight anarchists from all
 the eastern cities will decide on plans to support Miss Edelson. The meeting will be secret but Berkman said last 1 night that statement would be made after it was over