The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. NationNation, Carry Amelia
History
The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation
Nation, Carry Amelia
Nation, Carry Amelia, 1846-1911; Social reformers -- United States -- Biography; Temperance -- United States
I had become so disgusted with jail food that my stomach refused
it. As soon as I was put in jail I told Mr. Cook to send the milkman
to my cell. He came and was very kind. He agreed to bring me some
bread and milk, ten cents worth a day. This I lived on for the eighteen
days. In the cell with me was a woman named Mrs. Mahanna, who was
put in for selling beer. She did not happen to have a government license.
Poor creature! She bad been the mother of fifteen children; had a
broken hip caused by a kick of a drunken husband. She was very ignorant
but kind-hearted. The heat was intense and we were next to the
roof. Sometimes I would feel like I was suffocated. The windows
slanted so that but little draught came in. One pane of glass was partly
out and we would sit by that to get a breath of air. While in this jail
I had many offers from different theatrical, circus, and museum managers,
who tried to tempt me with all kinds of prices; one as high as $800
a week, and a palace car and a maid. I never for one moment thought
of taking any of them until two managers came from New York City.
The sheriff, Mr. Cook, brought their cards up. I said: "Tell them to
wait until morning." I prayed over the matter nearly all night and before
day all seemed settled. (This was a test to try my faith.) The cloud
was lifted and I told Mr. Cook to tell the men that a "million a minute
would not catch me." My dear friends especially Mrs. Goodwin, Dr.
Eva Harding and others used their influence to have Stanley, the governor
pardon me, this he refused to do, the joint-keepers were those he
favored more than me.
I had never thought of going before the public as a lecturer. I
knew those people only wanted me as they would a white elephant. I
did not at this time see the stage as a missionary field.
At this time I was entirely out of means, was in debt and the duns
I got while in jail were a terrible trouble to me. The ten cents I got
for my bread and milk came in almost daily for copies of my papers. I
paid my milkman sometimes in stamps.
I never wanted to get out of jail so badly in my life, as I did at this
time, when the offers to make engagements were so many. Two days
after the New York managers were there, I got a letter from James E.
Furlong, a Lyceum Manager of Rochester, N. Y., who had managed
Patti and many of the great singers. He told me if I would give him
"some dates", he would assist me in getting out of jail. I hardly knew
what he meant by "dates". Mrs. Goodwin of Topeka called to see me,
I showed the letter to her and asked what this man meant by "dates?"
She said: "He may want you to lecture or you could tell of your experience."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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