OCR Text |
Show CHANGING FROM A "GETTE" TO A "G I ST" fe the Story of One Woman, Who, Bent on P Procuring ' Suffrage for Her Sex, Tackles the Militant Mili-tant Process and Becomes a Backslider (Coojrlebt, 1P10. by thu New York Herald Co. All rt-btt rcrs1.) upon i chair, unt a fine looking. RTtTy-"bearded man. He put bis feet down and -urvcyed " lnamaii, ent. Then be rose aud volte to mc. "Will you kindly stop up here, madam?" he asked. I mounted the platform, wondering If they won 1.1 put me In A cell. The wounded niHii. somewhat recovered. slunk on a bench, at he lde of the room and npplled a dirty rag to 1,u forehead. 1 could hoar Ihe gray bearded man and tbe bluccn.1t talking In low tones. "There was no reason, absolutely no reason, for bringing that young woman," sold the gray bearded ni"lAiV"rplej'idcd the policeman, "you ought4o hare seen that mob. It wasn't At to leave her with. I had l0..K,ecpp0" saldhe other; "well, bike that fellow In." The officer and the wounded man went ont. Then the gray iK-nrdcd man turned to me. -"I am so sorry," he began kindly. I sat listening, WHEN I am asked how I came lo Adopt the cause of woman suffrage I Invariably answer: an-swer: "Why, I was born a suffragist." And that is literally the truth. Mother, father, aunts, uncles, and even more dlstaut relatives had adopted the cause long before I came Into their sphere of action. My two brothers equally with me listened to nnd imbibed the doctrine of the vote for women, and, 86 a matter of course, we three became suffragists. Despite this fact we were on the whole n conservative conser-vative family. We were suffragists with the "gist," as It Is accepted iu popular parlance, accented t hat Is, we believed Iu votes for women as a matter of Justice- in consideration of woniun'8 place In the community com-munity and her usefulness to society. About the results of the vote when plared In the hands of women we troubled but little- There was time enough when the vote was placed to consider that We believed this, I say, until I was twenty-one. On that day my father presented me, with a twlnkle ln his eye, with a latch key. duplicates of which my two brothers had received some years before, upon their twenty-first birthdays, and with the acquisition of the latch key came certain other changes. As my mother's htalth was falling, I was asked to consider the position of housekeeper at a generous gener-ous salary, far better, I knew, than I could manage to get In the outside world. I accepted the position at once, and then, as became the incumbent of so lm-' lm-' portant a position, I began to regard myself ns a woman grown, ready to take a part also In the affairs of the world at large. One of the first things I did was to Join the local branch of the suffrage society. M.y family seemed rather pleased at this. Mother had been a member for years, although ehe had not been able to attend many meetings. I at once began to attend meetings Regularly, and I must say that the meetings were a evelatlon. Here weTe women who believed In woman suffrage, "Second the motion," cried a dozen voices. Two newspaper reporters and I hastily sought the refuge of the ball in the rear, where, choking with laughter, wo watched the applicants for the ballot pass that sit of lost resolutions! I'or four years I attended suffrage meetings, but did little else for the "e.aue " To be sure. 1 talked suffrage from my own viewpoint, and even had a record of several converts, both men (fnd women. I whom the logic of my stand aprrcalcd. but otherwise .1 was an Inactive member. Then last winter our little local was awakened by the tremendous activity In suffrage circles In all New York. L'ven the Inactive member- felt a stir In the blood nnd started lo do something. Inspired by a very able speaker who visited our society 1 joined an association of working women. 1 felt not a Utile proud of my claim to membership. I was n genuine working woman myself and eager to ciaim kinship with nil my working sisters. They were a splendid loi of women, most of them professional. w"ell educated, up to dale, alert, in every way far beyond the women In my branch of the suffrage suf-frage society. They welcomed me In spirited faslikii. and ere long drafted me Into service nt one of their street meetings. As this pailieiilar asso: ial ion wa-s composed of working women their street meeting- were evening meetings. I was :i link' dismayed at the prospect, but the chairman of the commiiiee v;h reassuring. "Not a thing to do," she said, airily, ' but to ban 1 out 11 tern I ure." I arrived at the street corner .appointed promptly y-y sapi ir Upon lhc she Mounted, and Addressing the Three Small Boya and Two Stray Dogs 'J" v l'Voue Very Good Looking," H: chairman had arrested my wild speech and was trying try-ing lo bring me to reason "And do you think that suffrage would help the economic status fif woman?" she inqulied, sweetly. "I do." I replied, emphatically. "And In what way would suffrage help?" she suggested "It would raise wages," 1 volunteered uncertainly. I was repenting some of the favorite arguments whli h I had listened to for four years. "And what cNo?" she persisted. In the manner of one teaching a kindergarten child her lesson, "It would give her shorter hours," I faltered. "What else?" began the chairman again, but a big voire out in the crowd Interrupted. ' There, you've said your lesson, baby, get down!" Learning the Lesson. "f!et down, ymi goose." snld a voice behind me, and I got down. Up mounted the Indefatigable chairman. "Von know this Is Miss I 's first speech," she said, smiling, "and ymi know also that It takes experience experi-ence and courage to do things like this." "That's so," murmured the men sympathetically. "She was all right, but we like you belter," railed a in. in on the outer edge The chairman smileil and went on. I listened dully. I was ntlume with nnger. I had failed, miserably failed, before those ordinary men; I. who had been born a suffragist, had been apologized apol-ogized for It was not to be endured. I forced myself to listen to the chairman. It was not such n good speech she was making. Alter all. I could do -is well as that; no, I could do better than thnt, and I was going to do II, too. I i deed up to the soap box. Al ter the thatt man had talked ten minutes she glanced down. I had been waiting my chance. "I want to get up there," 1 said Imperatively. Sin; yielded without aword I mounted the box. "Learned your lesson yet. baby?" Inquired a facetious face-tious voice There was n suppressed laugh. ' Yes. I have," I retorted Nervousness had lied I made a speech oh, I made a speech. 1 talked for over twenty minutes to a spellbound mob. I painted suffrage suf-frage as I had heard If painted In those four silent years. No argument was mKsod no Impassioned appeal ap-peal forgotten Then I descended. Unshed, trtutii-pliant, trtutii-pliant, to a chords of h iiidclapplng and ciles of: T.abv's all right" desi ended into the aims of the chairman, to be petted and Mattered and admired descended a suffragette! I hid gone upon that box a conservative. I came down a radical. 1 had gone up a "gist," I came down a "gelle" nd to avoid any misconception ns to my change iu sentiment perhaps those two terms should l.e dr lined "Suffragist" Is a term Including Uiomj who desire voles for women, but who employ conservative, conserv-ative, dignllled means toward working for that end. "Suffragette" derbies those who use aggressive methods, meth-ods, who demand voles rather than nsk for them, and who slop at nothing, using nil means, whether dlg-nllied dlg-nllied or not. to gain the goal. When I announced my transition from "gist" to "gelle" lo my family they were iinkllv Interested so mildly that It wa annoying. My father Inquired tho reason for my changed attitude, and to my .surprise and confusion I was unable to tell hlrn. 1 certainly could not admit that the upplituse of il street mob and the admiration of ihice suffragettes had made uie alter lifelong views, so with a view ( convincing myself as well as him 1 advanced all the best suffragette arguments argu-ments of which I knew. They were politely received nnd evidently rejected, This Increased my Irritation and augmented mv zeal. If my family did not appreciate my talent there were those who did. I plunged iuto suffragette demonstrations dem-onstrations ns rapidly aud as thoroughly as my dally business permitted. Soap box speeches became a rcgului evening performance I always enjoyed them hugely. The dickering lights, the upturned races, and particularly the growing popularity of my speeches intoxicated me. 1 looked foiward anxiously to my next great day. a day hi which a detachment of suffragettes suf-fragettes were to parade iu a monster labor parade, nnd I was to carry a banner. I dressed carefully for the occasion in a pretty frock of yellow suffray? color. When 1 joined the group waiting on a. side street to turn in 1 noticed a peculiar look upon almost every face. I fell u bit queer myself and very conspicuous In my blight gowu. The women clustered in groups about doorways. They looked anything hut militant Indeed they were a shy and shi Inking lot our indefatigable i bah man passed me with her Jlps pale aud her bauds trembling. I wondered, then sinldcidv the explanation dawned upon me. These woimm wcic accustomed to nifht meetings. For most of them this was the flist, or possibly the second, day demonstration. The bread glare of the sunshine made them nenous. There was a seemingly hiicnnlmible period of waiting. Every one grew weary. Finally wo mustered Into lino and "fell in." As tho light caught my yellow banner I here came a burst of shouting. "There's the suffragists!" Then came a prolonged ' Who-oo!" Then a series of cat calls, Interspersed with. "Where's yer baby?" "Who's a doln' ycr old man's washin'?" "Look at her In yellow" my frock had arrested ar-rested attention "She's a young im looklu for a husband, hus-band, she is." A burst of laughter. The Weary Duty. Some filnt applause greeted us from the dubs which looked down from windows above us, but from the crowds which lined the sidewalks cainc little but adverse criticism before we had marched ton blocks the banner became heavy. After twenty my arms ached and my feet burned painfully. At tho twenty-hlHh twenty-hlHh n ripe tomato, well aimed, struck the front of my yellow gown, burst, and dribbled to the hem. A mounted policeman started after the offender as we moved on. At the fortieth block one great voice rose above the others: "You tired women," It demanded, "what do you ex-pont ex-pont to accomplish that way?" Through the remainder remain-der of the march that question rang In my ears. At the forty-lift h block the women began to drop out. Finally our contingent was so small thnt we withdrew, with-drew, and the parade moved on. At dinner 4 hat. evening my father asked, "And how did the parade go. d inglitcr?'" I stretched my aching feet In their most comfortable comfort-able slippers and answered vaguely, ' Oh. pretty well." Was there much enthusiasm?" he persisted. With i little ft art I considered. I thought of the shrinking waiting groups at the start, of the ceaseless fusillade of banter and insult, of aching feet nnd tired bodies, .and of the final weary withdrawal. "Nol very much." I answered truthfully. It was about a month after this that I was appointed appoint-ed to watch the polls at election, i was assigneel to an outlying district where presumably affairs would be rather quiet, and my only uccompanvlng sister managed to develop a evere cold, which left me alone In their lie-Id The cle'dlon was held In a tiny tobacco shop. The proprietor was very civil, supplied me with a cushioned i h ur lu honor of my sex, and repeatedly offered me a glass of water J bail a vague notion that I was .to watch carefully for repeateis aud to estimate the number of ballots cast. but., as 1 was not to be on duty nt counting time, I antic Ipatctl an easy task. The morning pissed quietly. As I had no relief 1 bad to forego luncheon., I sent word to headquarters' and received a promise that someone would relieve me at four o'clock, r.eiween twelve and one the shop was almost deserted, and, seeing a chance to breathe a little pure air, I moved mi chair Just outside the enframe. I must have fallen Into a half doze, for I suddenly started, conscious ihat a man wa .-landing at my side. "Whatcher dolu' here':" he demanded I looked full at blm. ills Hushed face aud bloodshot eyes told their own .story. "Say, whatcher doln' here?" he lepcnted, grasping the buck of my chair as he lurched violently. I tried to rise. The man swayed lor ward toward me aud would hive fallen upon mo but thai, with my .senses lu revolt. I thrust out my arms and pushed him v lo-lently lo-lently from me. Ills hold on the chair relaxed aud he fell lo the pavement. In a moment tin; street was full of people. Closer and closer ahey crowded, foul breaths and voices still more foul. A white gloved hand camo down upon my shoulder and I was iu the bands of the law. Down the street to the patrol box we tiled at the word of the policeman, the wounded man, aided by a bystander, on one side, while a chorus of shrill young voices fiom the rear brought fresh followers at every moment. "Oh, look at the lady pinched!" The patrol wagon came at last. Into it we all piled. Then I roused myself from bewilderment arid faced the situation. 1 was evidently beiug arrested I wondered won-dered If the mau was much hurt arrested. At the word I felt elated. I should bo a real heroine after this, arrested like those Faiglish suffragettes, of whom we Americans felt so proud. 1 Mulled in anticipation of my father's anger, of my brother's realization of the real position of woman in this benighted country. Insult followed by arrest us a reward of a civic duty done! I was in exultant mood when we reached the station house. We alighted aud Hied tlnough a narrow corridor Into a great square room Upon a Platform at one cud. toying with a cord, his feet high dazed. This man was- apologizing to me for the Insult, In-sult, for the otlicer's misplaced zeal in bringing nic there, nnd offering to send nie back or home under escort! This was not the way iu which arrested per-sous per-sous were treated. My exultation vanished. It was a very meek suffragette who nsked: "Will you picas tell me who you are?' "Oh." replied the man, rather embarrassed, "I'm one of the magistrates. I Just happened to bo here, you know." , I went, escorted by the poUceinnu, back to my post. My relief, or rather my reliefs, for there were two of them, bad arrived. They bad heard something of th-j fracas and were exceedingly curious. I voucbeafed do explanation. It wasn't a real suffragette story. Becoming a "Gist" Last month our chairman had an idea that It would be a good plan to do some personal canvassing on tho suffrage question among the minor politicians so that we might have n record for nnd against, and of possibilities possi-bilities for converts. The Idea was received with enthusiasm. en-thusiasm. Since the election there had been Uttla active work and the more energetic among us were languishing In enforced idleness. In a very businesslike business-like manner we divided the work by lot, every member mem-ber of the committee promising to see three politician before the next meeting. Then our chairman set our task In plain language before us. "The majority of these men," she said, "wlil not want to seo ytni and will refuse to talk with you. But . this is your opportunity. LTe It If you have to adopt militant methods; use It If you have to seem rude and unladylike; Insist upon a chance to present your, cause!" Wo applauded with vigor and started ou( llreil with a conviction that nt least one of our three must succumb to our attack. The first one of my three was a lawyer, with olllces iu a building not far from my home. Aglow with the inspiration engendered by tln chairman's speech I set the date for my lirst call on the day following'. I entered the ofljee with a light heart and surveyed my victim. He was a hnndsomo young man, evidently boasting of ancestors from tb Isle of Erin, with deep blue, merry eyes. He looked up rather abstractedly and inquired. "You wish to see me? What can I do for you?" "I have come to talk about woman suffrage," I announced. an-nounced. My lawyer opened his blue eyes. "I am afraid that you will have to excuse me," hi snld, civilly, "I have an Important appointment in a few minutes." "Tost pone your appointment," I said, quickly. The man looked at me In amazement. Ills color rose. "I assure yon," he repeated, in crisp tones, "that I need this office. Will you be so good ns to go?" "Nothing can Induce me lo leave without your nt-tenlion nt-tenlion for a few minutes," I said, firmly, fly this time the lawyer was very red. Indeed. He glanced at his watch. Then he turned to me and actually smiled. "You are very good looking," be said, slowly. 1 ros. He followed. With a gasp I turned and tied l the corridor, only to hear the key turn in the lock behind me and a low chuckle. Somewhere down the corridor another door opened. Then voices floated over the transom. "Thought I'd have to call the police. Had a suffragette suffra-gette In here who refused to go." "How'd you get rid of her?" "Told her she was good looking," chuckled my lawyer, law-yer, "scared her to death and she fled fast enough." There was a burst of laughter. "I'.etler be careful," cautioned the second speaker, "she might believe you." "It . was true," returned the lawyer, "she was a peach, a regular peach" the voices trailed off iuto mere murmurs. There were two big tears runniug down my cheek! and I crouched on the stair opposite the door to steiu Ihem and the tide that followed 1 was humiliated as well as outwitted. There was no nume for tho shauie t that possessed me. I cried and cried until my nosif w as red aud sore, and Just lu the middle of one big sob ' the door opened and my lawyer stood uiou the tbres- I hold. I "What in the" he began. "Why, It a the lilt! snffragelle. and crying!" Very gently he persuaded mc up, and aclu.icy took out his big liandkctchicf mine was drenched aud wiped away the tears, wulli , 1 sobbed out: "I'm so sorry I was so rude" "There, there, that's ali right," he returned soolli Ingly. "1 was rude enough myself in all conscience Why, 1 believe In woman suffrage, anyhow, aud 1 would have told you so at hist If you hadn't betu hipper." Hal IbLs proved the last straw. To iuy own aud my lawyer's dismay my tears tlowed fuslet than ever. Finally the second man came from lu cilice and between borrow e-d handkerchiefs and s glass of water aud much friendly sympathy 1 al la' calmed down And then one kiok at my swollen uo and inflamed eyes convinced my lawyer that 1 cwuld not go home iu a car. So he found a taxlcab aud rod with me all the way. 1 gave him my baud at the dool with a wan smile. "1 am afraid 1 make a pretty poor suffragette," ' said sadly. The lawyer lixcd his merry eyes on tu most seriously. "I assure you thnt 1 think more of the cause f'" j your espousal of its merits," he returned with a uwt j profound bow. Some time during the course of that ride I bncksllu- I When 1 nwoke next morning I was a suffragist, aua a "gist" I have continued and u -gist" I shall ream In. J No longer shall 1 share the glories of street nice-tin?! and parades; for me the lesser honors of mothers j clubs and of women's associations. And yet nud , yet 1 owe much to my suffragcttlug. 1 aa) tbe j v the lawyer with the deep blue eyes. j I I Indeed, but chiefly, it seemed, upon the ground of what woman suffrage would accomplish. To the majority ma-jority the millennium was scheduled to begin upon the day on which women secured tho ballot. I listened to these Impassioned orators who depicted in such glo-wing terms the marvellous changes to be wrought when womeu had the vote, and every time my thoughts returned to what seemed to me two pertinent perti-nent facts which had apparently been unnoticed. The good, kind husbnuds and fathers of the womeo who made the Impassioned speeches had the ballot nnd they did not seem to have brought any millennium. Were their wives really better than thy? Aud then my errant mind kept reverting to Katie, our Irish-American Irish-American cook, with her Ignorance and surx-rstltlon; to drunken Lbs, who made night a terrifying time In a tenement court not far from my own home, aud tho query persisted, Would Katie and Liz be Buffl-cienUy Buffl-cienUy overpowered when it croe to a matter of voting vot-ing to secure even a portion of the millennium? And there were reasons In our own little local for querying even further. On one occnslon, a celebration of Miss Anthouy's birthday, we were all assembled patiently awaiting the coming of our president. It was a bllzznrdy day, with a sharp fall of sleet, but there was to be a Bpeclal programme, and the meeting room was veil filled. The president was very late, but she lived Iu the suburbs and we knew what difficulty she must have experienced experi-enced in trying to reach town. After a prolonged wait, however, tho members began to grow restless, so the vice president took the chair, lu a neat speech she regretted, re-gretted, that she had no knowledge of the programme prepared, but offered to do her besL Suddenly a murmur mur-mur arose. "Here she Is!" Up the aisle came the president, her coat wet, her nose blue aud her cheeks red. Straight to the platform she proceeded and before the vice president had an op- portunlty .to retire aunounced: "Ladles, I am sorry to be late, but you know what the weather Ls, and In addition to that I have just moved and there a note of tragedy entered her voice) Mrs. A had drawn up a beautiful set of resolutions upon the birthday of Miss Anthony and In the moving I lost them and aud they cannot be found." Pass Them Anyhow. The conclusion of the speech w as In tones of apical calculated to move the siernest heart. There wus a moment of slleuce. Then a womau in the rear of the I hall arose. . . "Ladies," she said, T move that we pass the lost JiLttflllll ' No one of our party was visible. A little neivous. I hung about for some fifteen minutes. The until p had said eight sharp I looked at my watch a dozou times until It registered eight twenty, and then I sighted ' the chairman and two of her helpers. From a nearby grocery store we hauled an Immense soap box. douated by the grocer to our persuasive chairni in, and guaranteed to stand the weight of any of us. Three small boys who certainly should have been preparing for bed at that hour and two stray dogs watched this performance with interest. I armed myself with bundles of "literature." as I saw the other helpers do, and wondered when the audience would arrive. I'.ut tho chairman did not wait. Upon the box she mounted, mount-ed, and, addressing Ihe threw small bows and two tftriiy dogs, begau: "Fellow citizens!" At this one of the small boys looked over his shoulder hi a startled manner, and finding no one there turned tall nnd ran away In , alarm, emitting a wild whoop as he went. The whoop was effective. Two laboring men who were passing turned. The chairman fixed them with her eye and began again: "Fellow citizens!" "Gee, It's one of "them suffragettes." remarked tin? first man to bis companion, "come along." They edged their vay nlovvly in toward the soap box. and then, miraculously It seemed, there was a small gToup, aud then a large group, and then a crowd, and the chairman was giving forth In her silvery tones her best arguments argu-ments for woman suffrage. A pinch on ihe arm aroused me. "Hurry up," said some one, "and get out the stuff." Mechanically I rubbed the arm aud started. The pamphlets disappeared as rapidly as the crowd had rathcred. 1 wits returning empty handed for a fresh supply when the voice of Ihe chairman arrested ar-rested my atteutlon. "The next sieaker," she was announcing, and then my knees sank beneath me. for the name she gave was mine! Somehow I found myself up on that soup box. It shook a little beueath my weight and I bad a fleeting hope that the guarantee of the grocer would prove a false one. JJut no. the box held, and I looked out over expectant faces, hard faces, curiously curi-ously lit up by the double glory of a full inoou and an electric street lamp. Almost without volition I began talking. I had no Idea what I was saying, but afler an Interval I heard my own voice repeating: re-peating: "The economic status of woman," aud at the frame . lime I felt a Lag at my ou( I looked down. The |