Lady.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13863, 27 March 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

Lady.

OF THE HATCHET. . The Lady of tho Hatchet arrived in London on Saturday, January '2iJrd, from Leicester, anil lost no time ill 'beginning her crusade against tlie drink trade. .

Mrs Carrie Nation has not brought with her the famous axe with which slie wrought damage in the saloon bars of the States; she prefers to rely on "the open Bible." Nevertheless, she managed to create a scene iii a popular place of aftiusement before she had been half an hour in town. :

Making only the briefest stay in her hotel, she proceeded, or, rather, was conducted, to the Oxford Music Hall. With an air of grim determination, and heedless of the fact that a well-known and popular artist was on the stage, Mrs Nation began, to iyaraugue, one of the barmaids and everyone else within reach of her penetrating voice. Her presence had been quite unsuspected by the management of the . Oxford, or by the audience.; ; but the unusual incident of an elderly, grey-liair-ed lady in spectacles, delivering an uninvited address to a number of barmaids, at once drew all eyes upon her. There were cries of annoyance, and even ,of indignation. But Mrs Carrie Nation is used to these attentions, and she continued her harangue unabashed. She abjured the girls to give up selling that "horrid stuff," assuring them tnat the;- were doing the "devil's own work. "... Then she turned her attention to some of the men in ■eveniiig-dress who were in and .about the bar. Those who were smoking,- she said-were ruining their health, and those who were drinking were in even worse ease. "With a gesture that is evidently a favourite one —the liftin;: of both arms from the elbow, and the 'turning outward ol' her palms—she next approacned Some wcll-tlressfed young women, and upbraided them for drinking. Pathetically ' she referred to herself as '' an old women;" who had seen a great deal of life, and of the world, and she was I almost apologetic, as she spoke, of what - they: might, 'she-feared,-, call her bigo"try.'

The girls took her remarks in good part, but when someone.!-invited-,'her to "have a. drink," the spell of tolerance 'was broken, and signs of annoyance began to be manifest.-

The incident had occupied only a few minutes, when Mr Blyth Pratt, the manager of the Oxford, who had been summoned, intervened, and politely requested Mrs Nation to leave. He gave her the alternative of keeping quiet or of going voluntarily, and, as Mrs Nation did not seem inclined to aclopt either course, Mr Pratt led her downstairs, and she returned to her hotel. Mrs Nation afterwards ' explained that she had not come to England on a saloon-smashing expedition, but, she added grimly, "the. Lord may, give me a call to smash saloons, aiid 1 shall not interfere with the cjall." ■

■ Mrs Nation's first public appearance was when she addressed three meetings at the Shakespeare Theatre, Clapham Junction. The meetings were heldniir dor tlie auspices of a temperance mission conducted there every Sunday by the Rev. A. G. Pritchard, a former Congregational minister. The first address was rather in the nature of a sermon, but the denunciation of drink and the . demand for its absolute annihilation ran through all her discourse. Short and squarely built, Mrs Nation has an appearance of grim determination. Her immobile mouth only once, relaxed all the time she was on the platform, and that- was when she referred to the Apostle Paul's declaration about himself that he had, " fought a igood fight." It is a kindly face all the same, but looking upon her. one could hardly venture to assert that she • had " fed on the rbses and lain on the lilies of life." ;. She makes, this plain herself when she refers to ihe number of times she has suffered imprisonment for her methods of fighting the drink traffic. She has, indeed, been •" in prispn oft," and she told her Clapham audience' that when she received an offer, to appear at 'a-'music-hall in New York- she was 'deep in debt and was -paying ofF her fines and costs in monthly instalments.- The money she. got for.-appearing on the music hall stage of New York enabled; her to buy off the mortgages on her house in Kansas City, and use it as a home for the wives of drunkards.

" I liva- poor," she said. " 1 liuvc 110 fine dresses, I have 110 jewels. I don't xvant these things, because they would be a burden and a hindrance to me in going about." That was the reason of an elderly woman who has learnt to despise gauds and trinkets, 1 but another reason flashed forth and revealed the spirit of 1.110 zealot. "Another thing," she said, "they are forbidden in God's Word." This idea is evidently her , inspiration in all she does. She has a dryly humorous way of taking her audience into her confidence.' "I have been criticised for going 011 a music-hall stage," she said, and then, turning 'to Mr ~ Pritchard, she inquired, " Have, you heard any criticism" Well, if you have, 1 am ready for the critics. If anyone has any objection, let liinv speak out now. Is there any 011 cin this audience who Iras any objection to niy appearance 011 a music-hall stage ? ■ ■ 1 would like someone, to ask me why 1 go to such a wicked place?" There was no response, and she went on; "Well, I will tell you; I will give you a few reasons, and if they are. not satisfactory I will give you more. The music-hall is a pulpit from which i'ou can speak good things or bad tilings. There are a great many bad things being said from the music-hall stage and a. great many bad.sights are seen there. Under these- conditions it .is certainly necessary that someone should "go there and say something good;" ' .