BIRTH CONTROL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 288, 21 November 1928, Page 5

BIRTH CONTROL

VAN SET ON FIRE ATTEMPT TO DESTROY LITERATURE. BRADFORD CONFECTIONER FINED. (United Press Association—By Cable Copyright.! [Australian Press Assn—United Service.) (Received 21, 9.55 a.m.) London, Nov. 20. Miss Elizabeth Ellis, a well-dressed confectioner, aged 34, called at the Bradford police station and declared: “I’ve set fire to the birth control van.” Her action was apparently duo to conscientious objections to the circulation of birth control pamphlets not only among married but among single women as a portion of the ac tivities of the Society for Constructive birth control with influential headquarters in London and under the presidency of Dr. Marie Stopes. The van tours the country under the supervision of two certificated midwives.

Miss Ellis broke a window, poured in paraffin and ignited the veuic,e. The fire went out after the curtain had been burnt.

Miss Ellis was charged with malicious damage and pleaded guilty. She announced that she would repeat the performance if Dr. Stopes were not dealt with as a law breaker. Miss Ellis was fined 10/- and ordered to pay 10/- damages, with the alternative of eleves days imprisonment. She refused to pay, announcing that she preferred to go to gaol, but her sister discharged the fine.