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O jr newspaper women who have
won real distinction most are
Americans, and no two write
along the same lines. In Eng
land the most admired and influential
of those whom the humor lacking
Briton calls “lady journalists’' is Mrs.
Thomas Power O’Connor, wife of the
Irish lender and member of parliament.
T. P. O'Connor, a brilliant young Irish
patriot and writer, came to America
with Charles Stewart Parnell, to whom
he was devoted. During Parnell’s Amer
ican tour O’Connor met in Washington
Miss Paschal, a beautiful youns Ameri
can actress, the daughter of Judge Pas
chal of Texas. O’Connor and Miss Pas
chal met, loved, were wed, have stayed
wed and have apparently continued to
Jove.
X X
Mrs. *T. P. O’Connor gave up her
American career and went to London
with her husband. She wrote various
things for publication and continued at
intervals to appear on the stage. By
and by T. P. founded the famous peri
odical, ”M. A. P.”—Mainly About Peo
ple. It was devoted chiefly to sparkling
personalities and good natured com
ment on well known Individuals. Mrs.
T. P. became a leading contributor to
its pages In order to “help” her hus
band. By and by Mrs. T. P. became
the main show of the new paper, though
few knew It or know it to this day. She
wrote scintillating paragraphs. She was
animated and delightful in society, con
sequently everybody wanted her and
invited her to entertainments. In the
literary, musical and artistic social cir
cle of London, probably the mcst de-’
lightful of that kind in the world, Mrs.
T. P. became a leading light. She kept
her eyes open. She is a keen as well as
philosophical observer, seeing through
the surface of things. Her observations
and comment she puts into print in her
own peculiarly attractive English. She
could not be dull If she tried, neither ill
tempered. Good nature and kindliness,
besides her undoubted genius, have
paved the way for her in every circle
she has desired to enter.
X X
This gifted woman is also a success
ful playwright. Her best known play
is “The Lady From Texas.” She was in
America recently with her husband,
and everybody was glad to see her.
Keeping, as always, her eyes open on
matters and things, she discovered a
fact that American women themselves
are mostly ignorant of. She found that
the supposed superiority of Europe as
a shopping field for women is mostly
humbug. She found, and said so In
pi a In English, that American stockings
for women are cheaper and far better
made than tnose of Great Britain, while
as to shapeliness of these articles there
is no comparison, so far inferior is the
ugly, baglike hosiery—same size at an
kle as .at knee—of the British article.
The same is tfue of American shoes,
Mrs. O'Connor iirids.^ They are infinite
ly superior in shape! - being trim and
graceful in comparison tt’lth a British
shoe, which is clumsy and Hi. fitting.
And the American shoe is cheaper in
price than the English one too. in the
matter of ready made underwear for
women, likewise tailor made costumes
and outer garments, America is ’way
ahead of England again, Mrs. O'Connor
discovers, and she tells American wom
en so.
X X
One of the most versatile journalists—
without the despicable qualifying ad
jective “feminine,” mind you—is Doro
thy Dix (Mrs. Elizabeth Meriwether
Gilmer) of New York, Now Orleans and
all over, wherever work is to do for the
newspapers of whose staff she is a
member. She declares she has no aspi
ration beyond the journalistic field, in
which she has made a success as bril
liant as that of any living writer.
“No books or plays for me,” . says
Dorothy Dix in a New York Herald in
terview. “I am a newspaper woman
first, last and all the time.”
X X
Now, this is fine indeed. Many women
who write for newspapers speak as
though it were beneath their dignity
and literary gift to do so. ignorant in
their stupidity and conceit that the
journalist's field is the world, that the
work of the contributor to the daily
press reaches fresh and.redhot a thou
sand readers where that of the mere
book writer reaches ten. There certain
ly can be no worthier aspiration than
to be a really worthy newspaper writer,
saying nothing that one does not be
lieve, nothing that one is ashamed of.
X x»-
. Dorothy Dix would be a humorist ex
cept that she sees the serious side of
things at least half the time and so falls
to sympathizing with people and giving
them excellent advice. But she is jour
nalist all through. If any noted law
case or some event of large importance
on its psychological side is to be writ
ten about, there Dorothy Dix is on the
scene to describe the affair. To wit and
rare power of clear seeing and describ
ing Mrs. Gilmer adds tender sympathy
and the hardest kind of sound common
sense. She is the best sort of new wo
man. She says women have been an
gels about four centuries tod long. It is
( time for them to come down now to
‘hard pan and be sensible, useful human
beings. She doesn’t go in for the sub
missive, martyr role for her sex. In
stead of that, let them shake them
selves up and get busy at something
practical. Instead of the "suffer and
grow strong” act it is time now for
women to be- strong without suffering,
if they can, thinks splendid, merry
Dorothy Dix.
X X
Very different is Anna Steese Rich
ardson, who is said to earn more mon
ey than any other newspaper woman.
She is western and used to keep board
ers in a Colorado mining town. She
felt within her the power to write, and
‘she had indomitable grit and perse
verance, likewise commercial shrewd
ness. She had also good luck. There is
undoubtedly such a thing as luck.
Anna Steese Richardson went to New
York city six years ago with three chil
dren and $57. Now she conducts a
newspaper syndicate of her own and
has an office full'of clerks and stenog
raphers. Mrs. Richardson is business
through and through. Her advice on
how to earn a living is valuable to girls.
Of herself she remarks:
"I am frank to confess I did not go
into newspaper work for my health, but
for all the dollars and dimes that are in
it for me.”
X X
Quite different is Miss Dorothy Rich
ardson, of the same name, but no rela
tive of Mrs. Steese Richardson. Doro
thy Richardson has been attached for a
number of years to the staff of a lead
ing New York paper. When she was
sixteen her father died, and on her girl
shoulders at once fell part of the bur
den of supporting a good sized family
I Hard work Dorothy Richardson has
known from the start. If she has not
known actual poverty it has only been
I because her brave hands and bra if;
I have warded it off. She earns an excel-
| lent income, but her rough path up the
hill has given her infinite sympathy
with the toilers of her own sex. The
working girl, from the sweatshop vic
tim through all grades of toil, has if
Dorothy Richardson a champion and
helper now known to the world- She it
the author of- the famous working wo
man’s story, “The Long Day.” The
faintest tinge of sadness colors some 01
Dorothy Richardson’s writing and is ai
times visible in her delicate blond face
It is because she knows the sorrows
and hardships of the underpaid work
ing woman. But better, far better, that
than the purse proud arrogance of wo
men who do not know and never can
learn.
* a
Different again from all the rest is
strong, dashing, sparkling Kate Master-
son, who interviewed General Weyler
during the Cuban war. She added the
expression “matinee girl" to the Eng
lish language by signing that as a per.
name to a series of contributions to a
New York dramatic paper. She is a na
tive of Newburg. N. Y. She lias dons
some remarkable work in the way ol
getting “scoops”-on news stories at va
rious times,obtaining through her nerve
and ingenuity information that ne'.OTil
man nor,woman had been able to pro
cure. At one time she went to Denvet
to write the true story of Francis
Schlatter, the healer, and if possible ti
find whether he was fakir or prophet.
Another occasion found her away up
among the starving fishermen of St.
John, N. B. Anon she was following
President Cleveland up and down Ches
apeake bay in a tug, telling all the
world where he was when he had' triec
to get away from reporters on a ducl<
hunt, he hunting ducks, reporters hunt
ing him.
Mrs. Masterson is a dark .eyed, hand
some woman with an expressive, actu
ally sparkling face. She works and ■
laughs. She has written a famous hum
orous book, "The Dobleys.” With hei
work is the cure for all ills of the mind.
In 1900 she won a prize of $100 for writ
ing a poem in answer to Edwin Mark
ham’s “Man With the Hoe.” She called
it the “Song of Work,” and in that sin
sings:
Work! Let the anvils clang!
Work! Let us sew the seam!
Let us bind the girth of the mighty earti
With the glory of our theme.
Sing as the wheel spins round.
Laugh at the red sparks' flight.
And life will flash from the sledges’ clast
Till all the world is light!
LILLIAN GRAY.
THE NEW WOMAN AND THE OLD ONE
^ ■ ■■■>•
KJ
T HERE Is a lot of talk just now
about the way women are
changing. Some writers de
plore it and wail for the old
fashioned woman, while others pretend
to see a future of development for the
sex.
No one can deny there is a great dif
ference, but
alone for it. Does no one stop to real
ize that the men. too, have changed?
From the stern Puritan husband and
father who took himself mighty seri
ously (and didn’t he have to?) down to
the present day specimen of American
manhood is a far call.
No offense to either type; only they
are vastly different.
The principal change is that the pres
ent day’ man has a sense of humor
which is with him all the time, even at
certain hours when perhaps it shouldn’t
' ' * ROSE PASTOR PHELPS-STOKES.
Rose Pastor, a brilliant young Jewish newspaper woman, who started in
life as a cigarmaker, met in New York city the millionaire slum settlement
worker J. G. Phelps-Stokes. They were attracted to each other by mutuality
of tastes and were married more than a year and a half ago. Both continued
to work among the poor of New York’s east side. Their experience in that
work finally convinced first Mrs. Stokes, then her husband, that all they could
do was no more than a drop in the ocean toward remedying the ills of poverty
and Ignorance. They resolved to attack the system which, in their judgment,
produces poverty and ignorance. Mr. and Mrs. Stokes have therefore become
Socialists and have proclaimed themselves such.
be, while his ancestor had little or none.
Indeed It must have been doleful living
for both men and women in those old
days when sermons were four hours
long and the lightest topics of interest
would put a modern drawing room to
sleep.
Men and women struggled - hard to
keep their skins from the- Indians in
this world and their souls from the
devil in the next. Between these two
occupations there was mighty little
time for anything else, and as for thea
ters and other gayeties—oh, me; oh,
my! . If our ancestresses could have
seen in visions the fun to be provided
for their de
scendants with
out a doubt it
would have gone
straight to their
heads.
Then came
the intermediate
stage in the de
velopment of
this country.
We began to
amuse our
selves.
Talk with any
good old grand
mother, and she
Keep
:g their skins from
the Indians.
rep
resentations” and the literary societies.
These were palmy days for literary
people. Just at present, let me confess
to you, they are going out of style just
a trifle.
There were waves of editorial com
ment which “stirred the nation.” Peo
ple actually read editorials in those
days and to be an "editor”—mercy upon
us! That was akin to godliness!
X X
Women looked up to their husbands
and wondered at their mighty achieve
ments. "Business” began, and, as no
woman of that age had a head for it, it
seemed correspondingly wonderful to
them all. As for the stock exchange,
it was mighty near black magic as far
as they were concerned.
Women raised large families, em
broidered a great deal and read and
committed to memory large quantities
of sentimental poetry. For a light even
ing’s recreation they would go to see
"Hamlet” and think they were tremen
dously dissipated.
X X
One woman told me—poor, dear soul—
that for four years, while her two first
children were young, she only went out
of an evening once and that was to see
’’Macbeth,” with some great actress in
the title role!
To be sure even in those benighted
days there were musical shows in their
infancy, but considered very devilish. I
dare say they would make us yawn our
heads off now. The husbands usually
went to these alone tir in bunches and
kept the fact dark.
Most of the women belonging to that
era can quote poetry by the yard. How
many of your acquaintances can do
that now, although most of them can
probably play bridge and originate
fancy figures for the cotillon?
X X
"Other times, other manners.” There
is more fun in life for a woman now
than there ever was, and can you blame
her for wanting to have her share of it?
Housekeeping and cooking may have
been all' engrossing to our grandmoth
ers, but we can think of something
more thrilling than making jellies, and
we had rather be out in the open skat
ing, playing golf and hockey or riding
horseback than embroidering in a close
room.
X X
As regards the management of chil
dren also we have changed for the bet
ter. Yes, I say it—for the better. The
American child is not the terror it used
to be. It receives less indiscriminate
maternal spoiling and a more scientific
bringing up. Mothers have found out
that it only breeds trouble for them to
coddle infants so much and that
makes nervous wrecks of them to be
tied to the house; hence a nurse takes
care of baby and the mother keeps her
youthful appearance and her interest in
life by mingling in the world about her.
I don’t mean by this that she neglects
the baby. That is as stupid as giving
It too much attention. No, indeed. She
Commuted poetry to memory.
r
sees that it has the best of food, cloth
ing and care and, above all, that its
hours are regular.
But she is first of all a bright, intelli
gent, capable, attractive woman in
stead of being first of all the baby’s
mother.
X X
The number of women who under
stand business is legion. The number of
those who "do well at it” is very great.
I don’t find anything to condemn in
that when you consider the number of
foolish specimens of womanhood who
have allowed themselves to be robbed
right and left by those brighter than
they were. I think it admirable in wo
man to be restless, if restlessness means
a reaching out for development, bodily
and mental.
I like the phrase "a strong woman,”
and, I confess the truth, I have neither
respect nor even patience with limp,
inept specimens whether “old fashion
ed" or otherwise.
So much for the subject. The world
changes, and so must we.
X X
.Have you seen the new “freak” dishes
designed to go with different vegetables
and salads? The plates have humorous
figures and
verses. For in
stance, the
cheese dish has
the old fable of
the fox and the
crow illustrat
ed. The crow
holds in his
mouth a round
cheese labeled
“Camembert.”
Strawberry sets
made of clusters
of the berries
set on a back
ground of green
leaves are very
pretty, and
0 j there are also
peach and wa
termelon sets
and grape sets. Little pitchers made
out of a single huge fruit go with these
for the cream.
Nowadays the tendency in table deco
ration seems to be to have everything
odd, and this fancy for freakish designs
will be especially seen at smart country
houses this summer.
X X
Talk about the perversion of Justice
nowadays! Here is the latest, told the
other evening by a prominent lawyer at
a dinner:
A certain man was arrested for as
sault and battery. He had merely tried
to gouge out another man’s eye among
other things.
Quickly he sent In distress to his dis
trict leader. That worthy went straight
to the “boss,” and the great man sent
a note to the judge before whom the
case was to be tried the next morning.
“Hum!” said the judge, peering over
his glasses at the messenger after he
had read the note: “Assault and bat
tery is a serious offense, but—ahem!—
I’ll see .what can be done!”
Came the next morning. His honor
arrived brisk and earl}’ and called the
first case, that of our friend. The com
plainant was in the antechamber, where
he had gone for a second, and this is
run from the other end of the long
room.
“Your honor, I”—
“Lower your voice, sir! How dare
you interrupt the court like this?”
“But, your honor, I am th'e complain
ant. I”—
“Too late. Case decided! What do
him away. Ah, ugh!” His honor cou;:l:s
and looks properly indignant as the
poor man is led struggling from th'
room.
And yet, my dear friends, they say
woman is too easily swayed to act irp
partially in matters legal or politic.
New York. KATE CLYDE
QUEEN WILHELMINA IN DUTCH COSTUME.
how it was done. Imagine his honor
talking at lightning speed:
“Ah, hem—case John Jones—h’m—as
sault and battery. Where’s complain
ant. Not here! Case dismissed! Next!”
The picture shows gentle Queen Wilhelmina of Holland standing beside the
not over good looking, over refined or over good tempered Duke H ,nry Fred
erick of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, whom she married six years ago. Wilhelmina
here wears the national costume of the Holland women. She is a good ruler
and since her reign began nine years ago considerable progress has been mad*
toward removing the legal disabilities of women in Holland. The queen ha*
no children, which is a matter of great regret to her loyal subjects. Her father
the late king of Holland, died when Wilhelmina was ten. Her mother, Queer
Emma, a wise woman of strong character, was regent during Wilhelmina's
childhood.
WHAT WOMEN ARE THINKING, DOING AND SAYING.
The North American Review says it
does not believe in woman suffrage as
a right but declares editorially that the
time has come when the woman's vote
is needed.
The designing of shades for lamps
and candies and electric bulbs is work
that requires skill, good taste, ideas in
numerable and an unusual sense of col
ors and their value. The designer for a
large manufacturing concern that sup-
flies quantities of effective shades is a
little woman who has made such a suc
cess of her profession that her work is
known all over the country.
Miss Georgia A. Burns of Oklahoma,
although only twenty-five years of age,
owns and manages a ranch of 11,000
acres. She has also leased for ninety-
nine years 100.000 acres of oil and min
eral lands. She spends much time in
the saddle and can shoot and rope cat
tle with the skill of an expert cowboy.
Adelaide Reynolds Haldemane is the
editor and Mary C. C. Bradford asso
ciate editor of the Modern World, pub
lished at Denver.
It is said of homemade troubles that
they are very like homemade clothes—
they never fit well, and they generally
last longer than others. Do not there
fore create imaginary ills, for they are
not easily removed.
Turkey offers facilities for the mar
riage of infants. It is only necessary
I for the bride and bridegroom to toddle
from the cradle to the altar and under
stand something of the meaning of the
ceremony.
“Because a man is a king or a woman
a queen is no reason why they should
marry for any other reason than love,”
says Carmen Sylva (the queen of Rou-
mania). “Royalty does not destroy the
natural emotions. I consider it if any
thing more important that the ruler
should be happily married than his
subjects.”
An industrious mechanic pinched
himself in personal expenditure in or
der to purchase a piano for his two
daughters. He was asked how his chil
dren appreciated the gift. “Well.” he
replied, “I hardly know. They appear
ed to be pleased enough, but the first
piece they learned was ‘Everybody
Works but Father!’ ”
Queen Alexandra possesses a cross
which is supposed always to bring good J
luck to its owner. It was formerly the j
property of the late king of Denmark.
Lady Angela Burdett-Coutts, coming I
into a vast fortune when twenty-three
so filled her ninety-three years witt
wise charities that she alone in all his
tory was created peeress thn Agh he
own merit.
An ideal is often sought in others buL
neglected in our own lives.
Women’s Progress, a magazine, Iii
published in London and edited bj.
Lady Frances Balfour and Noil
Wynne.
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