Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1881-05-28
children in the condition of the man and
the maiden in that celebrated nursery

|
il 1t ever we're true. In the olden time
q woman who presumed to have a
opinion OF her own, and the ability t
express It, was a novelty. The objec
OF the maiden was much the same as i
the present day. and on her marrlag
she became almost the property of th
husband. and had no thought or desir
other than the liege lord dictated. s.
we have made some progress.
Even the woman who INDUCES mucl
IN reading without dabbing in the ink
pot. is held up to rldicule at so lat,
a day as our own. Who does not remem
Der Mrs. Finch, In Wilkie Collins, wht
Is represented as In a continual tram
IN her room with book in one hand an,
baby on her armP She deserved in
Unite credit for even trying to read un.
der such circumstances The Mrs. Le
Hunter, of Dickens, is another ridiculou
literary character.
Much has been said of woman's inhu
ence, and many beautiful and tende
things have been written in prose ant
poetry OF her holy power for good in tn,
home circle. As the wife, as the moth
or OF the little band, she wields a powe
that is felt through life. The great ant
wned men OF all times owe much o
their power to woman. Washington fell
that his eventful lite dated frsm the tim,
when he gave up the wish of his OWL
heart in obedience to that OF his mother
No inner tribute has been;paidsto woman
for years than Disraeli gives in his En-,
dymion. 1t is considered a pen picture
OF his own life, and he gives great cred
tito tho famous wome en- with whom he
was surrounded. In politics, as in the
social world, they welded q mighty in
fuence. se
The tone of q newspaper with a WON
an on the staff is pdrer and more de
serving Of a place in every Household
Whe cannot call to mind dozens OF pa
pers which TEEN with items unfit fol
home reading. The newspaper is th,
medium that people OF limited mean!
and opportunities employ for learning
tho current news of the day. People
who never find time to read a book or {
magazine do manage to read paper
For their sake it should be conducted ir
such style that there is nothing to Of
fend in its columns. A woman would no
tice these things more than a man, ant
she would be careful to allow nothing
that would offend her were she simply
reader: The disgusting details of muir
ders, divorces and crimes OF all kinds il
which some papers delight to .particu
lsrlze, would not be found In them. Th,
item OF news, which, as a newspaper, i
would be bound to give, would be de
void of sensation. Can any one deub
that the effect would be in the interes
Of morality? 1t would bear fruit far ii
the future.
1t is we'll known fact, in politics, ,tha
when man finds an established pape
will not support his claims for ef1ice, tn
best thing tor him to do is to have
newspaper of his own. So newspaper
spring up and multiply, ,and having don
the work ordained by them, die as d,
the flowers OF summer. 1t is in this wa,
that many OF the undertakings of womel
in the field of journalism are established
The advocates of female suffrage Cal
never find paper that will give them
space corresponding to the importanc,
OF the subject in their estimation. Hence
new papers are launched on the broat
ocean of the newspaper wsrld, who's,
one plea is universal suffrage. wish
were fully convinced of the fact that al
women should vote. What capita
chance this would be to present the mat
ter forcibly to your attention. Politic:
is complicated enough now without ad
ding another element of discord. ga.
the husband is, the wife is" in major
ltY OF cases, and the number of republi.
cans, democrats prohibitionists and
greenbackers would be but doubled
without corresponding gain.
Women sometimes have entered jour.
nalism from very love of the power il
gives. There are always few progres.
sive women in all ages. have cleaned
from various sources some items which
may prove interesting. 1t is not gener-
ally known that the first daily newspa.
per ever published in the world was ed
tied by woman. The name OF the pa
per l cannot give, but the place was
London, and the woman Elizabeth Nal.
lett.
America is essentially a woman's 8
country. In no ether land has she the
same freedom and power to exercise her
natural ability as she has here. She is
encouraged in all her attempts to elevate
herself and the rest OF mankind. The
hrst newspaper ever published in the
United States was under the control of a
woman. Her husband was the editor,
but on his death she continued the pub
llcation OF it, giving as much satisfaction
as any man could have given. The first
newspaper ever published in Rhode Is
land was edited by woman whose two
daughters set the type for it. The first
copy OF the Declaration of Independence
with all the signatures attached, was
published by woman in Baltimore.
Her name was Mary Goddard. She was
postmaster of the city as we'll as editor
Of one OF the best conducted newspapers
of that day. In the recent celebration at
Baltimore in commemoration of the
founding OF the city, due respect was
paid her memory.
The west is the still open field for wo-
mon journalists. Nowhere else do they
seem 10 thrive and flourish to such an
extent. 1t may be on account of the
scarcity OF the sex in those states that she
is so much reverenced. There is nothing
that 80 develops ones faculties and
brings out the best inherent qualities as
the fact that we are appreciated ID the
efforts we make.
The field OF labor for woman is con-
stantly broadening, and in journalism
she finds work eminently suited to her.
Nearly all city papers recognize the fact
by employing several on their staff of
One OF the best stock reporters in the
United States is Miss MILDLY Morgan,
who is employed on one of the New
York dailles. One of the best book crit
les in the country is woman who is on
The staff Of Chicago daily. l believe St.
Louis is behind Chicago in respect to
recognizing women in this sphere, for
while nearly every Chicago paper en-
ploys woman, and that is as a fashion
and society reporter. Certainly this IS
more woman's province than a mans.
Tor what does man know of the intrI-
cacies OF fashion lore, and if he does, of
what earthly use is he? But it seems to
me that this Is not much for a woman to
accomplish. She should be able to take
charge of any of the numerous depart.
ments and bring her whole energy to
bear on her wurk
In our own state we have few WON
en- journalists with whom the work ls a
aber OF love. Mrs. Hicks, of Kansas
City, Mrs. Stone, OF the Republican,
Mrs. Jones. of Clinton, are few whose
names l can call to mind. There are
many, no doubt. who do much work that
IS never recognized, but each year adds
few names to the list. Why, some of
IS began with paste making for dong
up the mails. That is the first step, and