Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-11-17
GIVE PRESIDENT CHANCE
T0sT0PD DRASTIC ACTION
tice, Pending Publication Of Next
Message to Congress.
WATCH SITUATION CLOSELY
Washington Will Keep Eye on Ac-
tlyities Of Women After December
3-Thirty-T Three Prisoners Now
Hunger Striking.

WASHINGTON. November 1G-An
armisticc has been declared by the
militont s~uffragists here ito give the
President a chance to decide whether
he will urge the Federal ~enfranchise-
mcnt OF women in his message to Con-
gross"
This picketins armistice or the Ma
tional Woman's Party. which to-day
saw the sentencing of the last OF it's
members arrested in the reccnt dem
onstrations. has a Joker" no militan-
cy will be rcsumed-unless treatment
Of the twoscore or more Of prisoners.
necessitatc more forceful protest than
hunger striking.
Otherwise. Demonstrations are to be
held in allegiance till the National
Woman's Party finds what the Presi-
dent has said in his message to The
Congress, December 3. concerning wo-
man suffrage. If IL ism what they
have been pickctinE for--well. to quote
ono of the executive committee mem
bers: Asking for liberty never was a
mild and mannetly procedure. What
we'll do will depend entirely or the
President. AS long AZ tho government
considers picketing as drastic as II
does. we probably won't have to re-
sort to anything more drastic than
picketing."
Although thirty-three of the picket
prisoners are reported to be hunger
striking for special privileges as po-
littcal Offenders, IT la not expected gen
orally at the militant headquarters
that the strike will prccipitate an
other demonstration and abrogation Of
the truce. The enigmatic hint OF
something more drastic than picket
Ing could not be cleared here. so Wash
ington must watch the militants for
new moves after the Presidents mes
~saEeand Washington Will:
The imposing OF additional sentences
on thirty-one Of The pickets just sent
to Occoquan was curtailed by the
Presidents action to-day In having or
ders for the recalling Of some of the
already sentenced prisoners rcscinded.
Most Of them had offended three times,
hut were sentenced on pnly two OF the
charges. the other hearing being post
poned.
Mrs. Harvey Wiley was one Of those
teen days. The court WAS inclined to
suspend sentence. but Mrs. Wiley in
sisted OH being treated the same AS
tho other pickets. refusing to be put
on probation.
Mrs. William Kent also was SEN
fenced to fifteen days, with tho usual
alternate of n S25 fine. Til. money for
49, h'ho a pSCh s'ht ~ JlI court
before she was tried. by her husband.
and was paid automatically as soon
as she was sentenced. despite her pro-
tests.
She will file papers for a new. trial.
TO defeat her husbands paying the
fine. She insists on going 10 Jail: he
Insists on paying the fine. Both seem
willing TO so = long way in conform
ance with their sense OF duty
-----
DIARY KEPT ny PICKET
REVEALS ROUGH TREATMENT
WASHINGTON. November ia
diary smuGgied out Of O%ccoquan Jail
by one of the s~uffragists purports to
show that the ~thirty-onc picket prison
ers recently sent there are being han
died violently by the guards.
The diary was written by Miss Lucy
Burns, and says that one Of the guards
threatened Miss Burns thus:
I'll put you in a sardinc box and
put mustard on you
The diary was brought out BY Miss
Catherine Morey, of Brooklinc, who
went there to visit her mother. In |.
reference is made to Mrs. Mary A.
Nolan. seventy-three years I'D. one of
the pickets, as a victim of the alleged
jail brutality. The diary follows:
Wednesday,, 14th.-Demanded TO sec
Whitaker jail superintendent. Re-
quest refused. Miss Herndon said we
would walt up all night. Privilege of
leaving room refused us. Man guard
said he would put us in "a sardine box
and put mustard on us. Whitaker
came at 0 p. NJ, refused to hear de-
mand for political rights. Seized by
GIaFdQ from hAhipI IN -.
out OF room. All seized by guards and
dragged to coils in mems part. Dor
othy Day roughly used. Back twisted.
Nolan tMrs. Mary A.. Nolan) flung in
cell. Mrs. Lawrence F.. Lewis shot
past my door. I slept all night with
Dorothy Day on a single bed. was
h~andcuffed for asking others how they
were. Fastened for a short time to
bars of cell. threatened with strait
Jacket and threatened with button gag.
"Thursday.-BrouEht here Tin hos
pital at jniD. Food brought for first
time at loon. An refused It..
"Friday.-ESpected to go to court.
Asked for Whitaker. Said to matron
over phone. No orders Whitaker
came. seized Julia Emory by back OF
neck and threw her in room very
brutally. I asked for counsel, to learn
status OF case. He Cvhittaker) told
me to shut up, threatened strait
Jacket and button gag again. Later I
was taken to put on prison clothes.
Refused. Resisted seriously. Put in
room where men with delirium tremens
are put"
Counsel for Mrs. Lewis. OF Phila-
delphia; Mrs. John winters Brannan.
OF New York, and Miss Lucy Burns,
author of the diary. succeeded in get
ting into the Occoquan jail on q court
order from Magistrate Mullowney, who
sentenced tho m He issued a
statement tonight reporting that his
investigation at the jail had revealed
In substance what Miss Burns wrote
in the struggled diary.