, 1885-01-27
A WOMAN

nemarknbie Success OF a Young Lady
with 'wavy yellow HAIR
lcronut in New York World
see an announcement that that gifted
Irish American, Alexander Sullivan, and
his brilliant wife are coming to New York to
live. Tho lady-a mere girl she seemei to
bc-first made her appearance in Chicago
some fourteen years ago. 1t was during the
fall Of 1870. l think. that she came one
morning to the Office Of The Evening Post
when / was In charge during the absence Of
It's editor in Europe. She brought a letter
merely introducing her as Miss Margaret
Buchanan.
Il would like a regular position on The
Post, she said.
There are none" I answered. News
paper properly conducted never have
vacancies The stan is the result OF evoln-
ton
suggested.
What can you dofn l asked
Anything that needs to be done, l think. 4"
she answered, with a curious combination Of
perfect modesty and utter self-conflencs.
-Havo you been on a newspaperl'
NO, never; though l have written a little
for newspapers"
/ was amused by her nonchalant ambition,
which seemed audacity. and when she an
nounced that she was recently from school in
Detroit I said, well, there's a desk AMI psns
yonder; write what you please and turned
to my work. Shs was 81 or p years old. was
neatly and plainly dressed and had a shock
OF wavy yellow hair hanging about her
shoulders In twenty minutes she brought
to me an article headed, The Michigan
Schism," treating of a serious breach ia the
Republican party on account OF a bolt
.ufua fA- .-rI.. D.-rIIE---
1t was written with the off-hand vigor OF an
experienced editor and put very concisely
tho silent points Of tina case not before pub.
lisheL 1t appeared as an editorial that
same evening.
Next day she appeared early, smilingly
said Good morning. hung up her bonnet
and shawl on a convenient nail and resumed
her desk without a word. In half an hour
she brought me an article entitled, "Th
--latest Tariff Dodge" treating the subject
from a free trade point Of view. Il was a
strong and timely article on pig iron, and
was followed by others on kindred topics.
She proved not only proficient In French
belle -lettra3 and acquainted with German,
hut she was we'll up in Latin, Greek and
mathematics, and was a thoughtful student
OF those financial and commercial questions
which women seldom touch. She could
write a better article ON the silver question,
or the Internal revenue, or our trade with
Brazil than-on any of the questions that or
dinarily engross tho attention OF women.
though she was thoroughly feminine
both in appearance and character. She
stayed on the paper three years, her salary
growing from S12 a week 10 s45. She mani
Tested an a~daptability, a quickness OF per-
ception and senno Of wit, a wide range Of
Information, the ability TO tell with spirit
what she knew on a given point and, above
all. a timeliness and readiness that made he.
a valuable workman.
From The Post she and Mr., Sullivan,
whom she had then married, transferred
their pens to Tho Times. she becoming at
first dramatic and musical critic and after
ward holding the important place OF night
editor and writer OF current editorial para
graphs as we'll as leaders. Probably no other
woman ever held such responsible positions
on the daily press Her manner, either In
writing or ~iecturing, is terse, nervous. earn
est, s~atirical, aggressive and generally in
harmony with the spirit OF the age.