Omaha daily bee., 1919-12-21

mob, and it was necessary for the
boobies" to clear way to the car.
Goodness" she said, as she tum-
bled in, that was a scramble. Now,
Churchward, let's 60 on; we're 60
ing to invade the enemy's territory
this morning, and in a few seconds
we were off, headed for the dock
yard district, the headquarters Of
radicalism, and the stronghold of
the labor party, headed by Gay.
which made the real fight against
Lady Aston, who represented
the coalition now in power under
Lloyd George, the liberal candidate,
a man named Foot being the weak
brother.
Word for Every Voter.
| On the way l found it very hard
to get in a word with Lady Aston
She never let a single voter get by.
Leaning out of the window of the
car, she hailed each passerby:
How are you going to vote at the
election?"
vote proper now" she called to
a butchers boy who was passing on
a cart. Then, turning to me, she.
remarked, That's Devon slang, you
know"
A woman with a baby was stand
ing near the curb.
"Vote for Astor," she shouted,
"and make the baby vote, too"
A man in pony cart was advised
to bring the pony to the poles, and
between whites she chatted with me
about the coming election.
II don't really care a fig about
this for myself" she said, "but l
realize that it is vitality important
that the women of England should
be represented in Parliament. If l
am e1ected-and I feel that I shall
| be- will have paved the way. Eng
1ish women have earned the right to
citizenship by their splendid work
during the war. Hey there. you,
vote proper on Saturday. This to
tat grocer who was standing in the
door Of his shop with his hands
tucked under his apron.
Fewer Smiles Near Dockyard.
Meanwhile we were approaching
the dockyards, and / noticed that
there were fewer smiles in response
to Lady Astor's greetings. Oc-
casionally there was a jeer, more
often sullen stare. When we final
ly stopped in dingy, cherries
street outside still dingier and less
cheerful pot mission" a driving,
wet snow was falling and there was
no audience but score of small
girls with shawls over their heads,
and few street urchins.
Were too early, your ladyship."
said Churchward, touching his fore
lock, "there'll not be a crowd till
the work lets out at noon"
Every we'll, them" she replied,
we'll pay few visits first"
So we set off for a tumble of mis-
cradle tenements, owned by the ia
Their of the liberal candidate. Lady
Aston was in and out of every one,
followed by several campaign work
ers and small army of reporters
and photographers. She Rugged all
the children, kissed all the babies
and expressed righteous indignation
over the living conditions. 1t was
first-rate campaign materialsand she
made the most of it.
Workers Mostly Hostile.
In few minutes the noon whistle
blew and we hurried back to the
corner by the mission, where a fiat
dray was to serve as a platform for
Lady Astor's stump speech. A small
crowd of workmen, mostly hostile
and rather sullen, had collected. She
looked astonishingly feminine and
pretty as she stood on the dray fac
ing her audience, with her small
delicate features, surrounded by an
aureole of pale gold hair and a
string of enormous pearls around
her slender white throat, contrast
ing with her simple black tailor-made
and the frill of her white blouse.
How is she ever going to tackle
this crowd?" I wondered, but | soon
saw that "Our Nancy" was equal to
the OCCASION She began by
straightforward, logical appeal for
the support of the coalition govern
ment that had won the war, but the
audience was not there to listen to
set speech. She was interrupted
by running fire of comments and
questions.
II stand for all classes who want
good government" she declared.
"Your class, you mean" yelled a
greasy fireman; I'VE want none of
the likes of yer"
Quick On Repartee.
"Yer ,ladyship," shouted a steve
dore, you said last night, that you
was going to clean up Plymouth an
make the woman wash their faces.
That's an insult to my wife"
From the looks of you," she re-
piled, you're more likely to insult
her than l am"
To a man who asked three or four
questions without waiting for a re-
ply she shouted: "If you don't want
an answer why in thunder do you
keep on asking questions and to
a professional heckler, II know you;
you come to every one of my meet
ings."
She accused her opponent, Gay,
Of being a bolshevik and pro-Ger-
man.
IF you had listened to him." she
declared, you'd have all been walk
ing the goose step by now"
"A darned sight better than get
ting killed in a capitalist war" re-
turned some one in the crowd.
Personalities Thick and Fast.
Personalities were hurled at her
thick and fast,%but she stood the
batting with imperturbable good hu-
NOR. When her audience began to
dwindle she shouted
That's right; go home to dinner;
| wouldn't be here myself unless /
had to-" And after an hour of con-
tinuous fencing and repartee she