The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-02-13
THE STORY OF NELLIE BLY,.

|
paper Work She Ever DId-Her Nom de
-PIume-ber Work For The New York
World.
In view of the wide reputation that
'as been attained by Miss Nellie BLY,,
IN account of her re. ent trip around the
world, it is not unlikely that the public
will be pleased to read an account of
Who and what she Is. In a lengthy des-
crIption OF her personal appearance and
'er experiences VIII lie acting as a news
paper correspondent, writer in the
New York World says: "The nature Of
ne work that Nellie BLY, has done for the
World during the past two and a half
Years has made it necessary that her
personality should be kept as much as
possible secret. But the public inter.
81 in the young lady fas become 90
great that it seems well to say something
bout who and what she is.
n II il easier to say what she is not.
/ rne World and Miss Bly, have kept the
secret well, and most Of the printed
4 natter about this yourg lady has come
antirely from heaIsay. II the fret plac1
he is not Helen FInnegan." Nor lie
'he a widow" Nor is she engaged to
marry anybody, Nor is she ANY where
rom thirty to fourty-tive years old" as
various Journals have stated. Nor is she
"brazen-fsced, masculine woman who
forces her way 10 search of news" All
Ut these things have been sail of her
and all Of them are false.
Nellie BLY, IS known in private life as
Miss Eliz ibeth COchrane. She is an un-
married woman, twenty. three years of
age. She lives quietly in an uptown fiat
With her widowed mother. She has &C
cep ed no social attentions, but among
he few people with whom she has come
IN contact she has gained liking for her
two distinctive qualities-her frankness
and her gentleness. Free from affecta-
ion and loudness, she is popular with
all who have known her.
| Miss Cochrane Is a good-looking bru-
nette, Of medium height, snd slight
graceful figure. who does not look near
~ 80 old as the re ords make her. Her
appearance is girlish, and while con.
tact with the world in her journalistic
capacity, has given her thoughts and
| manners a serious cast, and Ihe far
reaching usefulness of many of her tasks
has made her feel that newspaper women
ave earnest missions in life, still there
is CLINT of the sunshine of youth in
many of her ways and a jolly light
'rartedness at times manifests itself,
which shows that there is a strong,
bright link between her looks and the
Elrlhood that radiates through them
Her birthplace was Cochrane's Mile, a
.ettlement in Armstrong county, Pa,
iamed after her father. Mr.. Cochrane
'wn-d large Fl ,ur mills there and large
tract of land. Her father was a lawyer,
tDd for several terms filled the office of
Associate Judge of Armstrong county.
The family lived fret at the Mills and
then moved into house built for them
At Apollo, about 10 miles distant.
While Miss Cochrane was still in her
frs decade her father died
When Miss Cochrane was old enough
to leave home. she was sent to a board
ing school at Indiana, Pa, where she
from 1879 TO 1881. Her liter
airy ste was general She had o fav.
Orie study. but SEEMED to have an in-
ordinate mental appetite for all kinds
Of information. Stories of travel SEEM
ed to give her great deal of pleasure
and if she liked any one class of
books more than another, it might be
said that she preferred books OF travel.
creations she had no fond
ness for. This appears strange in face
Of the fact that wheel a ny little girl
she wrote love and ia ny stories by the
score. She wrote them on the fl \ LEAVES
of books and on loose scraps of pape
For whole hours at night she lay In bed
unable to go to sleep because of the tire
lessness of her imagination, weaving
tales and creating herOe and herOines,
simply for her own delig or he graft
ication of the young companions to
whom she would relate them. 1t was
her wont to get the girls of the town to-
gether and tell them these stories; it
was easier TO make up some story to tell
hem than to repeat an old story.
So active was the cnIIu's brain and 30
'trongly her facilities eluded sleep that
ner condition became alarming and abe
mad to be placed under the care of ply 2
,icians. She had no idea OF publishing
my thing. 1t was not until she and her
mother went to Pittsburgh at the solici,
alton of her three brothers who are
,Eere in the rubber business, that she
entered the professional field of ltera-
,ure. She was great newspaper reader
md one day she saw an article in the
Pittsburgh Dispatch headed "What 5
Urls are Good For" She wrote reply y
o the article, giving her imagination a
pretty free rein, and though the reply
vas not puhlished,a paragraph appeared
q the Dispatch the day after she sent
he communication asking for the writ
RS name. Miss Cochrane sent her
name and received letter from the edi-
or requesting her to write an article on
he subject Of girls and their spheres in
ife for the Sunday Dispatch. She did
his. The article was printed, and
he same week she received a
heck for it and a request for some 4.
hing else. He next subject was "Di-
'orce," aud at the end OF the article ap-
reared the now world famous signature
Nellie BLY," Miss Cochrane assumed q
t by the suggestion of Mr.. Geo. A. Mad z
len, managing editor of the Dispatch,
Who got it from Steven Fosters popular
oUg. The divorce article attracted at
ention. 1t was timely and contributed
o causing the salutary change which
vas made shortly after in the marriage
avs of Pennsylvania. Then Miss Uoch-
ane wrote to the editor setting forth -
he value Of q series of articles about
working girls. She was invited to the
flee and made arrangements to accept
salary and devote her time TO the Dis
dtch. Taking an artist with her she
vent through the factories and work.
hops Of Pittsburgh and described and
ictured the condition OF the working
iris. The articles made big hit and
'ere initiated by writers in almost every
urge city of the land. Later Miss Cnrh.
ane became society editress of the Dis
dtch. Next she went to Mexico 10
'ri' e about its people. and her letters
rinted in the Dispatch were full of in
rest and were widely copied. Return
lg to Pittsburgh she became dissatified
18th that field. quit the Dispatch and
anne to New York. She did syndicate
'Ork for a while.
She finally applied for an engagement
the World Office, with letter Of in
Mr.. Pulitzer personally sug-
ested the insane asylum expose. Miss
ly did this with such marked success
nd originality Of treatment and attract
70 much attention that abe was i'm
Iedlately given permanent place on
IL World ptsff. -
This was three yesrs ago. Her fame n
rev and her talks enlarged until they y
Eliminated in the wonderful tour OF the =
ofld in 70 days, 8 hours, II minutes
I'd IA seconds, which has made her the
'st-known and most widely talked of