第39章 CHAPTER VIII.(8)

You, and each of you, are hereby notified that the following is a copy of a paper purporting to be a statement made by J. W. Shults, President of the Board of Health, of Wichita, Kansas, and attached to the return of Charles W. Simmons in the The Matter of the Application of CARRIE NATION for a Writ of Habeas Corpus now pending in The Supreme Court of the State of Kansas, viz:

"Wichita, Kansas, December 29, 1900.

"At special meeting of the Board of Health, held in the City of Wichita, Kansas, on the 29th day of December, 1900, at the office of Dr.

J. W. Shults, President of the Board of Health, the following resolution was adopted and ordered spread upon the minutes kept by the said board. 'Whereas it has come to the knowledge of the Board of Health that the inhabitants of the jail of Sedgwick County, Kansas, have been exposed to small pox and that one Isaiah Cooper confined therein has been exposed to smallpox and is infected with said disease and that the said Isaiah Cooper is a violently insane man and it is impossible to move him from said jail and that all of the said jail have been exposed to the same and that one W. A. Jordan, who is County Physician of Sedgwick County and City Physician of the City of Wichita, Kansas, asked and desired and demanded that said jail be quarantined or that said Isaiah Cooper be removed therefrom and that said jail be fumigated, and whereas it is impossible to remove the said Isaiah Cooper therefrom, the action of said W. A. Jordan in recommending the quarantine of the said county jail and in quarantining the same is hereby approved and the said county jail is hereby declared quarantined and ordered quarantined for the space of twenty-one days from this date and all persons in charge of said jail and the health officer of said city are hereby directed to enforce this said quarantine and the order of the said W. A. Jordan.

J. W. SHULTS, M. D.

President of Board of Health." and that the above statement is not true; that there was no meeting of the Board of Health on the 29th day of December, 1900 and that the said jail has never been quarantined by the said board of health on the said 29th day of December or at any other time.

Dated at Wichita, Kansas, January 14, 1901.

W. S. ALLEN, RAY & KEITH, ROBT. BROWN, Attorneys for Carrie Nation, an Inmate of said Jail.

Served on O. B. Kirk, 9:20 a. m., Tuesday, January 15, 1901.

Harden Ebey, 9:20 a. m., Tuesday, January 15, 1901.

Chas. W. Simmons, 9:35 a. m., Tuesday, January 15, 1901.

I could tell of many interesting incidents in jail.

There were five singers, one a graduate of the conservatory of music in Boston, and Mr. Dodd was a fine singer himself; he would often sing with the prisoners and it was a great pleasure to me. One song he would have the boys sing was: "My Old Kentucky Home." We had a genuine poet there, and I here give you a poem he sent up to me one day, by the trusty:

SOLEMN THOUGHTS.

'Twas an aged and Christian martyr, Sat alone in a prison cell, Where the law of state had brought her, For wrecking an earthly hell.

Day by day, and night she dwelt there, Singing songs of Christ's dear love;

At His cross she pray'd and knelt there, As an angel from above.

In the cells and 'round about her, Prisoners stood, deep stained in sin;

Listening to the prayers she'd offer, Looking for her Christ within.

Some who'd never known a mother, Ne'er had learned to kneel and pray, Raised their hands, their face to cover, Till her words had died away.

In the silent midnight hours, Came a voice in heavenly strain, Floating o'er in peaceful showers, Bringing sunshine after rain.

Each one rose from out his slumber, Listening to her songs of cheer, Then the stillness rent asunder, With their praises loud and clear.

Praise from those whose crimes had led them, O'er a dark and stormy sea, Where its waves had lashed and tossed them Into "hell's" captivity.

Wine it was, the drink that led them, From the tender Shepherd's fold, Now they hear His voice call them, With His precious words of gold.

Like the sheep that went astray, Twice we've heard the story told, They heard His voice, they saw the way, That leads to His pastured fold.

The first time I was put in jail, after everything was quiet, I heard some prisoner down below, swearing, and I called out: "What do you mean boys by asking God to damn this place? I think he has done so and we don't want any more damns here. Get down on your knees and ask God to bless you." And all the rest of time I never heard an oath.

In a week or so I heard them singing hymns; and I called to them:

"How are you boys?"

"We have all been converted since the first of January," was their reply.

One of those young men got out while I was there, and came to my cell and told me that it was true about their conversion.

Oh! the sad hearts behind the bars! Oh! the injustice! I am glad I have been a prisoner for one thing, I never see a face behind the bars that my heart does not pity. I have heard so many tales of ruined lives; have seen men with muscles and brain, bowed into tears. Oh, if we would only love each other more; if we would feel as Paul: "To owe love to all we meet, and pay the debt. 'Tis the most pleasant debt to pay and the indebtedness blesses both parties, especially the one who pays." I used to think that birth and other circumstances made one person better than another. I do not see it that way now. The man with many opportunities is not entitled to as much consideration as one with fewer. I am the defender of the one who needs help most. The great need of the world is Love.