Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-12-05
TORTURES FOR
SUFFS. CHARGE.
OF A WOMAN
Men Jailers Show "Feroc-
ity" in Treatment Of In
mates Declares Arrested
White House Picket.
Asserts That Head of Insti-
tuition Is MAN of Insane
Cruelty" and Acted on
Orders of Higher Ups.

The Capital News the other day
published, in dispatch from New
York, an abstract of a letter written
by Mrs. John w. Brannan, one of the
White House suffragette pickets sent
to the Occoquan workhouse in which
charges of gross mistreatment were
made. Several readers Of this paper
ask for, Mrs. Brennan's statement in
full. Here It Is:
David Lawrence In the New York
Evening Post intimates that picketing
might endanger the presidents life be-
cause 1t attracts crowds and some one
might assassinate him. All can see Is
that the danger is all to the pickets
and not to the president. The president
Is safe. The pickets have already had
q shot fired at them in the Cameron
House, and now they have been delio-
erately terrorized and almost killed by
the presidents officials. 1t Is not dark
Russia l am now to tell of, but So
called enfranchised America.
There Is = law against the dishon-
orable use Of the American flag. and
In the name of that law I call upon
the government to forbid the flying of
our flag over the prison at Occoquan.
where 30 American women were tor
tured under the direct orders Of high
government officials. or by their ac-
quiescence.
ATTACKS COMMISSIONERS.
1.-THE superintendent of the prison is
under the immediate direction of the
three commissioners OF the District of
Columbia, Louis Brownlow, Gwynne
Gardner and the engineer commission
err. These three Illegally passed over
Judge Mullowney's sentence to the dis
trict iail-where at least the superin-
tendent Is decently humane-and rail-
roaded us to the OccoQuan workhouse,
where the superintendent, w. H. Whit
aker. is known to be man of insane
cruelty.
THE plan last July, when 16 OF us
were first committed to the workhouse,
was plainly to break us down by in
flicting extraordinary humiliations up
on us. crowding us in with negro pros
titues, forcing us to bathe before a
matron and negro prisoner, denying
us every decency of personal life-no
combs no tooth brushes, no water
closet paper, the only soap one small
piece used in common by all the in
mates of the dormitory. The head
matron took several occasions to en-
phasize the danger Of communicable
diseases or to call attention to the fact
that our fellow inmates were the scum
of the Washington prostitutes The
manner of the superintendent and
matron was of uncalled for rudeness
They went out of their way to give
us all sorts of petty orders with i'm
pertinence.
"scENE OF INFAMOUS CRUELTY
This plan Of humiliation failed tc
stop our peaceful legal picketing. Or
Nov. 10, Al women of the Nationa
woman's party picketed the White
House gates. Then the plan Of terror
izing us was conceived and carried Out
to a degree that has not yet been told
The scene that took place in the recep
ton room of the workhouse on the
night of the 14th of November was o.
Incredible, infamous cruelty.
Nothing that we know Of German
frightfulness short of numbering anc
manning nom combatants could exceed
the brutality that was used toward us
/ firmly believe that no matter how WI