A Day With Carry Nation

A Day With Carry Nation. BY NEPHI ANDERSON, AUTHOR OF "ADDED UPON," "THE CASTLE BUILDER," "DAUGHTER OF THE NORTH," ETC. We left Kansas Citv for the West on the evening of Septem- ber 17, 1906. The train was belated, and we found ourselves next morning rolling slowly over the rain-soaked plains of Kansas. As the morning advanced there was a general awakening among the pas- sengers, an adjustment of chairs and the making of toilets, in which Elder Delbert Stanger and I took part. We were returning "Mormon" mission- aries. Elder Stanger had labored in x^ustralia, and was coming home by way of Europe, thus making a com- plete tour of the world. We had been companions from Liverpool. Directly across the aisle from us sat a "striking" looking w^man. She was large, both in bone and muscle. Her dress was severely black, and when she had readjusted her toilet for the day she had on a small, Quaker- looking, black bonnet. Her black hair was sprin- kled generously with gray. Her nose was rather small and sunk- en, but she had a prominent lower jaw, and lips that indicated the firmness of a vise. When she talked, which she was not timid in doing, it was in a high, clear voice that could be heard in all parts of the car. 1 She attracted our attention from the first. Presently every] one in 'the car was startled by the woman

A DAY WITH CARRY NATION. 1001 standing on her feet, and repeating in a loud voice one of the psalms of David. After the recitation, she spoke for a few minutes by way of praise unto the Lord. Then she said, "Let us pray," and kneeling by her seat she uttered a prayer that could be heard in every part of the car. Then she arose to her feet again, and by way of explanation to the astonished passengers, she said, "I give my first and best efforts to God." As we were still wondering what it all meant, we saw the QcuiA^? fa. i/Va£^ ••Behold, I have czealed the smith that htoweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument fot his woz/t; and I have cieated the waster, to destroy. "■•■Isaiah LiV. i6. The Home Defender. The Home Builder '^ '.'.■■ ■///.-:: -.-.-; ?■■ ■'/.'-,:?■ '".: % it evei so humble, there's no place like home. " S CtB per Copy GUTHRIE, OKLA. SEPTEMBER I, 1 906 25 Cts. per Year FRONT COVER DESIGN OF MRS. NATION'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE, "THE HATCHET," WITH HER SIGNATURE. woman take from her hand-bag a number of papers, go forward to the front of the car, turn to the passengers and thus address them: "I am Carry Nation. I have copies of my paper, The Hatchet, which I sell for five cents. The newspapers of this country have abused me and misrepresented me, and I am publish- ing this paper in self-defense. Each paper bears my signature, and you may say you got it from Carry Nation herself. No one seems to know how to spell my name. It is C-a-r-r-y, not C-a-r-r-i-e, as you will see." Then she came down the aisle, and readily disposed of her papers.

1002 IMPROVEMENT ERA. After a time I began conversation with her across the aisle. I asked her how the work of prohibition was prospering, and we talked pleasantly on kindred subjects for some time. Then I handed her my card, I must say, not without some fear. "You are a 'Mormon' are you?" she asked. "Yes," I replied. "Well," she said, "there are some good people among the 'Mormons,' of course; but polygamy damns you all." Just then, to my great relief, a party of four or five young men came in from another car. They had heard that the saloon smasher was on the train, and they came to see. They stopped by Mrs. Nation's seat and shook hands with her, as if they were acquaintances. Some of them had been drinking already, and it did not take long for Mrs. Nation to discover the fact. Then she denounced them roundly, which the young fellows took good- naturedly enough. "I know it's wrong to drink, Mrs. Nation," said one of them; "but I can't quit — I'm too weak." "Too weak!" she replied scornfully. "Be a man, don't be a slave. Only cowards give up to such an enemy as whisky." They talked back and forth for some time. Then, when the young fellows would listen, she told them of the home for drunk- ards' wives which she was establishing in Kansas City, Kansas. "Such men as you ought to help me," she said. "How much do you want?" asked one who was in the "good-natured" drunken state. "You ought to give me five hundred dollars, at least," she said. "It would not hurt you a bit." The young man took out his check book. He couldn't give that much, he .'aid. How would a hundred do? There was some parleying, then the young fellow put his book back into his pocket and walked away. I believe I was as much disappointed as was Mrs. Nation. After the crowd had left, she came back at Elder Stanger and me. Perhaps she had to have it out of somebody after that mean trick the young fellow had played on her, and here were two "Mormons" within arm's reach. She pounced on us vigorously, talking loudly and boldly about the "Mormons" and their "vile

A DAY WITH CARRY NATION. 1003 practices." We did not wish to enter into a discussion with her, but she at last forced us to say something in defense. All in the car knew by this time that their stock of curiosities had been augmented by the addition of two "real, live, 'Mormon' elders," so they crowded around us to enjoy the novel spectacle. As Mrs. Nation wildly denounced us, she nourished a large Bible, which she said was the only hatchet she now used. I referred her to a few passages in her Hatchet, and asked her to read them, which she did. But she launched nut again in a stream of talk. It was impossible to hold her to a given point until that was dis- posed of. She would fly from one topic to another with lightning rapidity. And how she did talk! Her words came in a continuous stream, loud and strong. Whenever 1 could "get in a word edge- wise," which was not often, I spoke in a moderate tone; there- fore the people in the farther end of the car came nearer to lis- ten. I gave up trying to say anything. We were literally beaten down by the force of words, and at last, when there was a calm in the storm so that I could be heard, I called the listeners' attention to the fact that it was not our fault that Mrs. Nation's statements were not answered. We could not talk against a whirlwind, we said, or against a Kansas tornado. She quieted a little then, and I talked for a few minutes with- out interruption, explaining the doctrines and position of the Latter-day Saints on the topics under discussion. The passengers listened attentively, and some of them expressed their approval of what we said. But Mrs. Nation showed her utter contempt for us by her non- attention. Then she became sarcastic, and I fear, I made a mistake by retaliating in kind. However, the "Mormons' tried to take it all good-naturedly. We had taken part in too many such adventures to be very much discomfited at this one. Mrs. Nation had been in Utah, and had been accorded the privi- lege of speaking in the Tabernacle, but this did not seem to count in the "Mormons'" favor. In fact, she was very ignorant of Utah affairs, for she spoke of the women of Utah as slaves. "Why," she exclaimed, "you 'Mormons' deny the rights of the priesthood to your women!" We tried to explain.

1004 IMPROVEMENT ERA. "I should like to see a man try to bring a second wife to me," she said in no uncertain tones. "I'd fix him!" "I can well believe it, Mrs. Nation," said I. It was afternoon before the storm of discussion quieted. I changed seats with Elder Stanger, and after a time he and Mrs. Nation began talking. He told her of his missionary experiences in Australia, and she listened quietly. He spoke of how the Lord had blessed him and answered his prayers, and how his testimony that God lives had been made strong by the experiences through which he had passed. I had doubted whether there was in this strange, strong woman a particle of that finer feeling which naturally is a part of woman's nature; but when I listened to the conversation between Elder Stanger and her, I discovered that I was wrong in my doubts. As she listened to my companion, I noticed a softer expression come into the hard face, and as she, too, talked of how the Lord had been good to her, there was a mildness in her voice. Then I thought, "What an incompre hensibly odd mixture human nature is!" And again, "How wonder- ful it is that the Lord uses every odd mixture for his own good purpose! Here was Mrs. Carry Nation, eccentric, coarse, fool- ish in her ways, prejudiced, making herself ridiculous in the eyes of mildly- mannered people, and yet a force which set the people of Kansas and surrounding states to thinkiDg in earnest about their condition in letting the saloon and whisky be their master. Was she not doing her work in the world? It may not be the way I or you would do such work, but who shall say that Carry Nation's way was not the best for the particular time and place?" It was time for lunch in the car. We got out our meagre bread and butter, and Mrs. Nation opened a package of tempting sandwiches. 1 don't know whether she saw our scanty store, or our greedy eyes told on us, but I suppose her mother-heart was touched, and so she offered to share with us. ''If thine enemy hunger,'" she quoted, as she handed a sandwich over to us. "Mrs. Nation," I replied good-naturedly, "if that applies to me, I shall not take it. I am not your enemy. I wouldn't object to your smashing every saloon in the land." She laughed. "I was joking," she said.

A DAY WITH CARRY NATION. 1005 "Then I accept your kindness with thanks," I replied. The sandwiches were delicious. Who was Carry Nation? Although the state of Kansas has been a prohibition state for many years, the laws against the selling of intoxicating liquors have not always been enforced. In the year 1900, the liquor dealers had become so bold that saloons, or "joints" as they were called, could be found all over the state, and the officers seemed to be helpless to put them out of their unlawful business. Such a con- dition must have been humiliating to the public-minded and law- abiding citizens of the state. Perhaps something radical had to transpire to wake the state from its unenviable condition, and on the scene came Mrs. Carry Nation. She had lived in Kansas for some years, in the town of Medicine Lodge. As a young woman she had married a man who became addicted to drink, and her experience with this drunkard created in her an intense aversion to drink. As a girl, it is said, she was fearless. Later she married David Nation, with whom she lived about ten years. In December, 1900, the people of Wichita, Kansas, were startled by a determined woman armed with a hatchet entering the "swellest" saloon in the town and breaking its bottles, mirrors and other fixtures. She was arrested and placed in jail, where she remained three weeks, when her case was dismissed. On Jan- uary 21, 1901, Mrs. Nation, with two other women, raided and wrecked two other saloons in Wichita. She was arrested again, but immediately discharged. For the next three months she sur- prised the "jointists" in various Kansas cities, falling upon them unawares, and with her faithful hatchet and a few followers, struck terror to the whisky dealers. An account of her saloon smashing in the town of Enterprise was sent at the time to The Outlook, from which the following excerpt of the affair is taken: Mrs. Nation came quietly into town about breakfast time, went to the house of the mayor's father, attended prayer-meeting at two o'clock, and at three began hammering on the windows of one of the two saloons. The keepers had heard of her advent, an! had locktd up and departed- to the other side of the street, where a waiting crowd had gathered.

1006 IMPRO VEMENT ERA . Through the broken glass door Mrs. Nation climbed in, hatchet in hand; and the smashing began. The big mirror behind the bar went to pieces, then the bottles and glasses; cases were emptied on the floor and smashed one by one; the refrigerator was disfigured, the wall pictures pulled down and butchered. Then came the city marshal, who took Mrs. Nation by the arm and walked her out the back way. The war was ended, the wreck was complete. At the prayer meeting the proposed smashing was announced, and volunteers to join in the good work were called for. A dozen went to the vicinity, but only one joined in the attack, and she neither a Woman's Christian Temperance Union nor church member — simply a brave woman who believed in trying the new remedy for closing the lawless joints, which law and persuasion had failed to close. The owner stood by meekly protesting, but raising no hand. There was some blood on the bellicose smasher's hand, made by falling glass, and her black alpaca dress was perfumed with odors of whisky and beer. Undismayed she approached the second saloon, but the improvised marshal firmly kept her off. A war of words, sprinkled with scriptural quotations and some counter remarks about law-breaking and hoodlum- ism, kept the good-natured crowd amused. Mrs. Nation was driven to her friend's home, where she awaited the hoped-for arrest in vain. The sheriff did not come. After supper she started talking on the street, but this soon ended in a row, with much bad language and some blood letting. The raided saloon-keeper's wife slapped the speaker in the face, missiles were thrown, and adjournment taken to a church where a revival meeting was in progress. Mrs. Nation's plea was that the law was openly violated by collusion of the authorities and the "men," and that no remedy was open but counter-violence by the victims— the women. The press of the country, at the time Mrs. Nation was busy with her hatchet, discussed extensively her and her ways, some agreeing with her, others pointing out that it was poor policy to meet law- lessness with lawlessness. At the time the Springfield Republican had this to say of Mrs. Nation: For seven years officialdom has been publicly holding up the consti- tution of Kansas to the contumely of every weak-minded, moral degener- ate or immature person in the commonwealth. . . . Mrs. Nation now comes upon the scene. She is evidently a robust woman of simple character with an unerring instinct for the moral law. A temperance

A DAY WITH CARRY NATION. 1007 fanatic, no doubt, as John Brown was an anti-slavery fanatic. This woman starts in to smash saloons because the authorities permit them to flourish in violation of the constitution of the state of Kansas. And she seems to be doing well within her prerogative. For the saloons, or "joints," have no legal standing, and can claim no protection in the courts of Kansas. In an address to a crowd in Topeka the other day Mrs. Nation maintained that she was a law-abiding citizen whenever she raided a "joint," since the "joint" had no legal rights. Kansas lawyers there are who support her in this contention, and say that she cannot be punished for destroying saloon fixtures or stocks of liquors. If the principle of prohibition is a good thing and deserves to be maintained in the fundamental laws of Kansas, it is difficult to condemn Mrs. Nation for her proceedings of violence against lawless dens of bibulous resort. She is certainly backed by the constitution of the state; she is unquestionably a distinct moral force, since she stands for respect for law. Her methods may be anarchical in their operations, but a much worse kind of anarchy has been and is being fostered by those whose sworn duty it is to enforce the laws and preserve the constitution of Kansas from public shame. The St. Louis Post Dispatch gave this characterization of Mrs. Nation: She is a great talker— can talk your arm off, if you will let her. Back in Medicine Lodge she has been known always as a very determined woman. Whatever she believes in, she believes with her whole soul, and nothing except superior physical force can stay her. She used to drive about the country collecting food and other supplies for the poor. She has done much good in that way, but when she sets out to get contri- butions, she can not be shaken off. Whenever she would hear of a needy family anywhere in reach by buggy, she would start out to relieve the unfortunates. Kansas was soon in a state of ferment. The people were aroused. They demanded that the law be enforced, and the saloons be closed. Other smashing parties were organized. Then the state legislature took action, and the prohibitory law was better enforced. Mrs. Nation did very little smashing outside of Kansas, bne became a lecturer on temperance, traveling all over the country. She printed a small monthly paper wherein she preached against