The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-07-22
MRS. FRANK LESLIE.
THE w1rouING WIDOWS WORK.


Ii has so often been stated that
''womcn know nothing Of business"
that it has come to be accepted as
trusm by unthinking people. Yet
hundreds of business mon owe not q
little of their success to cool-hcadcd,
sagacous wives. A frequent modifi
cation of tue first statement is that
"womcn excel in small economies, but
are unable to grasp large business
enterprises" or if they do they become
masculine and lose that gracious
fcmninity which is the principal
charm Of woman. The utter talsity Of
these statements is nowhere more
strikingly shown than in the case of
Mrs. Frank Leslie. With executive
ability, capacity for work and news
paper genius possessed by few men,
she preserves all the charm of her
womanhood and is rs popular in the
social as in tho business world. Through
the force Of her own personality, she
is at once one OF the most attractive rs
well as most important figures in the
profession Of journalism. For Mrs.
Leslie was journalist, and good
ono too, before she became the head of
the great publishing house which bears
her Hamc. In the management Of her
ten publications, employing 800 cdi-
tors, artists, CnGravCrs, printers and
others, Mrs. Leslie has displayed the
very highest business qualities. An
untiring worker, she is found in her
office every day, from nine to four
O'Clock. She signs all the chccks and
money orders, makes all contracts for
supplies Of every sort, looks over
proofs Of all articles before they arc
published, and approves the makeup
of every periodical before it is sent to
press. She is tho head Of the whole
establishment. No woman in Amer
lea has illustrated higher and grandcr
qualitics-a broader capacity, q loilcr
courage, or q more indomitablc per-
severance under the storm and pres
sure Of heavy difficulties and burdens
than she.
The story Of her life reads like Il
romance. Miriam Florence Follin
was born in the French quarter of
New Orleans. She began carly to
write for the magazines, her first aD-
pcaranCc in print being at the are of
II irtccn. She was Il hard student and
an accomplished linguiSt. She trav-
clcd extensively and published several
interesting volumes giving the results
OF her journcyingS. Her literary
work was crisp, fresh and cvidcnciny
that editorial faculty for getting at the
root Of things which has been So re-
markably developed III her later work.
From the date of her marriage TO Mr..
Leslie she became bis most valued ad.
wiser and most efficient coadiutor in
all matters affecting the makeup o.
him many publications. She assumed al
once the cditorship of the Iuly'!
Mdgd%tnc, and maintained Il genera
and careful supervision over the con-
tents of all the other periodicals. TC
rare literary ability, Mrs. Leslie added
unusual business capacity, and hcl
husband soon found her advice no les,
valuable regarding the mechanical anC
business departments of his establish
ments than concerning the lcitcr-prcs
OF his publications. When Mr.. Leslie
died in 1880 there was no time left fo
the beautiful young widow to mourn
She was and is as dainty and rctinc(
as tho most tcndcrly cherished lad,
alive, yet there were before her stern
unpleasant duties which demanded
the heroic strength that often fails
powerful man. The Frank Lcsli,
business affairs seemed almost hone
lcSsly cntanglcd. The high credit, tht
existence itself of the house, wcr,
impcril!cd. a great sum of money
was needed, and needed at once.
BY legal process and in Response
to her husbands wish, Mrs. Lcsli,
abandoned her Christian name o
Marian Florence and became in th(
law and to the world "Frank" Leslie
To the business world she bccam,
even more than Frank Leslie. Whcl
the slender, swcct-faccd, gcntIc-voicc,
woman walked into her husband'!
office, and putting back the sad an
nouncinG folds of her crepe veil
announced she had come to STAY, hcl
gentle, gracious fcminnity won the
sympathy Of those about her. Blu
when she came the next day aS carl,
as the earliest clerks, and the next daI
and the next, something moro thai
respect and sympathy for the bray,
little woman came into their rcgar(
for her.
She sat at her desk like n Napoleon
over his war maps. She developed ;
remarkable faculty of knowing news
for seizinG upon the very things tha
caught and charmed the public mind
a thousand and one things in The
history Of illustrated newspapers
originated in her brain, and were
executed for her papers. AL day long
Silc DCIl W llcr QcSk, ana was ilSf OWL
wise counsellor. The best Of it all was
that Frank Leslie was not afraid
Big contracts did not frightcn her
notes TO pay did not cause her to gel
nervous, reading intcrninablc pages
ofproof did not fret her, thinking out
new tcatuCcs for her paper did not
pcrple& her. Always CHEEKY in hcI
speech, and with cOnsidcratc and hope.
full words for her employees, it is nc
wonder that both men and women fell
in love with the now Frank Leslie and
gave her the best work of which they
were capable. The dying wishes oil
Frank Leslie have been carried out,
but only after his widow has cncoun.
tered and triumphcd over one long
succession Of difficulties and obstacles
Her pluck and genuinciability has won
for the hearty sympathy and kindly
feeling Of the newspaper press. The