, 1890-03-30

MIS- mAhtAhhl Il. oANtoIkh-
1t was with rather a ~deprecatory shake
OF the head that Mrs. Sangster greeted a
visitor recently, who went to her asking
an opinion upon the subject of Women
In Journalism"
81 am not sure that 1 have any views
to formulate upon this matter, =" she said,
laying aside, with a gesture that had in
1t nc hint of annoyance at work inter
rupted, the MS. she had been reading.
sit is fully twenty years since l began
my literary work, and although my ex-
perience has naturally peer wide and
varied, still In the great field of daily
newspaper work, with which in my
mind the word journalism is most init
mately allied, l am in n sense a
stranger.
"Who are some of the women earliest
prominent in this iel6?' repeated Mrs.
Sangster. 81 can hardly reply with ac-
curacy on SO brief consideration. That
strong and brilliant pioneer in the work,
Mrs. Swisshelm, is, of course, the name
which first suggests itself. Since her
time, however, the field has widened on
every side and her followers are legion.
The reasons for this are obvious. The
greater interest in home decoration, the
wider scope of women's lives, the many
new venues of self support open to her
sex and making this particular epoch SO
different from that in which, fifty years
ago, a woman who had her own or her
children's bread to win found, if she were
a lady, only sewing and teaching her
available arts-all this and more have
made it practicable for women to engage
= ,--.-- n1- f--Eso,, tIa l@-,o
economies, the care of babies, the educa-
ton of the older children, the ethics of
daily life, social customs, etiquette,
amusements and other topics which
equally touch life at the fountain head of
the home, enlist woman's attention.
Where forty years ago a mothers
magazine, pure indeed, but intensely
narrow and conservative, monopolized
the field. we have bright housekeeping
and home making periodicals, weekly
and monthly, which are as various in
their contents as the homes to which
they go and which carry help, advice,
sympathy and a note of cheer wherever
the swift mails carry them. To this de-
partment Of journalism, as legitimate
and as honorable as any other, the edu-
Gated woman brings her tact, her cul-
ture, her conscience and her brain.
"And the work is as much pleasanter
thar the old time methods of woman's
bread winning as its scope and opportu
mites are greater. You will rarely find
that the woman who writes regards her
occupation, though it may entail hard,
almost unremitting labor, with other
than enthusiasm. There is a fascination
about seeing one 8 ideas and opinions set
out in type that does not wear away with
repetition. A score of years has not
stated me with the experience. Why, ]
positively look forward to every issue OF
Harper's Bazaar; I study it with zest and
eagerness; its contents are familiar YET
delightfully."- fresh in their new setting,
! wish that every one of its readers may
find half of the interest and enjoyment
between its covers that l do.
"Of women reporters it is scarcely fair
for me to speak; 1 know only by hearsay
Of their branch of the work; it is differ
ent in 30 many 1 spects from the depart
ment in which I have always labored
hat / am not competent authority in the
matter. l know a number of lovely wo'
men who have made a beginning in this
way, and as many too, who are still fol
lowing it. Their large measure of sue
cess indicates the aptitude of women fol
this phase of newspaper enterprise. ]
think, however, that women like to gel
out of general reporting as soon as pos
sible. 1t is arduous work and a%pproache:
more nearly the distasteful, so some Of
my friends have told me, than any other
branch of journalistic effort.
"concerning the co-working Of the sexei
in Journalism continued Mrs. Sangstel
in reply to further questioning, ''my ex
perience is that women have absolutely
nothing to complain of concerning theil
treatment by their brother laborers.
do not know that they have done SO, al
though a lady not long ago did expires