The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-07-21
MRS, FRANK LESLIE.
THE w.rCHING WIDOWS WotN'.

# has so often bee:t sa'eo 1ia'
women know nothing O business.
tbat ntI It has come to aocepsed as a
truism by unthinE.g people. Ct
raa.ods of bnai,5ss men owe not q
lille Of 1T their s,hess to cool-headed'
sagacious ulS, A frequent modifl-
s'"~lo e fist statement is that
cation ol eel IN small economies, but
"onlene to grasp large business
ase o'., 22es," or il they do thcy become
enseIl I.lne and lose that gracious
msEGSuitv which IS the principal
ae!fm Elm Of woman. The utter tal>ity OF.
Csc statements is nowhere more
,frikinelv shown than in the case Of
Mrs. Frank Leslie. With executive
ability, capacity for work and news
paper genius possessed by few men,
silc preserves all the charm of her
Womanhood sud is as popular IN the
social as in the 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 3 good
one toe, before she became the head OF
the great publishing house which bears
her Hame In the management Of her
ten publications, employing 500 edi-
TOYS, artists, engravers, printers and
others, Mrs. Leslie has displayed the
very highest business qualities. An
antirine 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 are
published, and approves the makeup
of every periodical before it is sent to
press. She is the head Of the whole
establishment. No woman in Amer
lea has illustrated higher aud grander
qualities-a broader capacity, a lottier
courage, or more indomitable per-
severance under the storm and pres
sure Of heavy difficulties and burdens
than she.
The story of her life reads like a
romance. Miriam Florence Follin
was born in the French quarter of
New Orleans. She began carly to
write for the magazines, her first ap-
pearance in print being at the age Of
thirteen. She was hard student and
raa accomplished linguist. She trav-
&d extensively and published several
intsSssting volumes i's i;'.:4s'7.dd'c tie Icsuifs
of 6e es.:.syhgs Nt;s.;sS y5hgs. Her literary
work was crisp, fresh and evidencing
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 coadjutor in
all matters affecting the makeup Of
him many publications. She assumed at
once the editorship of the Lady,s
Maqazine, and maintained j general
and careful supervision over the con-
tents of all the bther periodicals. To
rare literary ability, Mrs. Leslie added
unusual business capacity, and her
husband soon found her advice no less
valuable regarding The mechanical and
business departments of his establish
ments than concerning the lettcr-press
of his publications. When Mr.. Leslie
died in 1880 there was 10 time left for
The beautiful Young widow to mourn.
She was and is as dainty and refined
as the most tenderlv cherished lady
alive, yet there were before her stern,
unpleasant duties which demanded
the heroic strength that often fails u
powerful man. The Frank Leslie
business affairs seemed almost hope
lessly entangled. The high credit, the
existence itself OF the house, were
imperil!ed. \ great sum Of money
was needed, and needed at once.
BY a legal process Ina in response
to fer husbands wish, Mrs. Leslie
abandoned her Christian name of
Marian Florence and became in the
law and to the world "Frank" Leslie.
To the business world she became
even more than Frank Leslie. When
the slender, sweet-faced, gentle-voiced
woman walked into her husbands
Office, and putting back the sad an
nounciug folds of her crepe veil,
announced she had come to stay, her
gentle, gracious femininity won the
sympathy Of those about her. But
when she came the next day as early
as the earliest clerks, and the next day
and the next, something more than
respect and sympathy for the brave
little woman came into their regard
for her.
She sat at her desk like q Napoleon
over his war maps. She developed 4
remarkable faculty Of knowing news,
for seizing upon the very things that
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. All day long
she bent to her desk, and was her own
wise counsellor. The best Of it all was,
that Frank Leslie was not afraid.
Big contracts did not flighten her,
notes to pay did not cause her to get
nervous, reading interminable pages
Of proof did not fret her, thinking out
new features for her paper did not
perplex her. Always cheery in her
speech, and with considerate and hope
ful words for her employees, it is no
wonder that both men and women fell
in love with the new Frank Leslie and
gave her the best work Of which they
were capable. The dying wishes Of
Frank Leslie have been carried out,
but only after his widow has encoun-
tered and triumphed over one long
succession OF difficulties and obstacles.