The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-07-27
BRAVE MARY c. LEAWT7.
Unattended She Circles the Great
Globe in Behalf Of tho
w. {. T. u.
The Adventures tho Lady Met
With Travelling in Strange
Lands.
surrounded by savages She Tearlessly
Prosecutes Her Work aud Pounds
Many Successful Unions.

A grave, gentle face, which lights up in
marvellous way upon the rare occasion
when she smiles; clear magnetic graybrow
eyes. a digni6ed yet winning presence an,
a strong, uelodious voice in which there i
not a strident note, such is Mary Clemen
Leavitt, says the Chicago Post. Eight year
ago Mrs. Leavitt was sent out by tn
Woman's Christian Temperance Union t,
visit every habitable part OF the glob'
where ii was possible to establish it's work
Garmented in a simple though elegan'
gown of black silk, with a bit of fine lac,
about her head. as she sat in the parlor o,
the Palmer House and chatted of hel
travels, it was difficult to believe that un-
attended she had travelled among savages
and endured hardships from which most
strong men would shrink.
1T is" said Mrs. Leavitt, difficult for
any one to understand who has not under
taken it how laborious it is to accomplish
such a mission as mine was through inter
prefers. 1t Is not unlike a bird starting out
in its flight to be pulled to earth by a cord
from which it cannot escape and which is
sure of being pulled. l, of course, went to
missionaries and was introduced by them
to their people, who were thus at once fav-
OAoSAy 0AolOooAs AK AlillSAlpy III WCIh-
ing through interpreters was ut all times
very great and hard to overcome. Still, the
result of what l was able to do has been
most gratifying. l first established three
unions at Honolulu. and there are thirty
f1ourishing unions there now. This is, how
the unions | organized have not only -four
lshed, but multiplied.
During my wanderings | have crossed
the equator eight times and have had some
peculiar and trying experiences. l have
been for days attended only by uncivilized
men who could not understand a word /
said and whom l could not understand.
During these times we we're in an uninhab- i
tied country, a few bananas our food and
none of the conveniences of civilization
were possible. However. l want to say that /
during all my travels | was treated by all
classes of men with whom l came in CON
tact as kindly as if | had been their |
mother and as respectful as if I had been
their sovereign. never once felt fear, al |
though l was often in dangerous situations. |
l remember once in Madagascar I took a
public gharry to go from one point to an
other. Unframed horses had been attached
to 1t for the purpose OF breaking them. OF
course this | did not know until / was on
my way and for many miles it seemed about
an even chance whether / should escape
with my life or not. Still l experienced
no fear, although l realized the situation
perfectly.
You ask me what was the greatest incon
y%enience | experienced" said Mrs. Leavitt.
"Most decidedly ths biting and singing of !
insects. There have been months when 1
was not free from e1crutiating pain from
these causes. The natives do not seem to
mind 1t in the least. l think they are so
poisoned from this cause that they do not
seem to be affected by them. Furthermore, |
the insects Do not sesm to attack them as
they 90 re- mars. In my own case shsy |
yr1Yid + f.aor- AI-,Sn = /
swarms wLi.c the natives about me- were not |
approached. In Australia it was particular
~ trying. for there they have a kind of /
sosquito that puts in its appearance as
soon as his brother of the night has disap-
psarsd. The daylight mosquito does not
hum, but at once proceeds to business, and
between the two kinds one is in a continual
state of SIEGE"
Mrs. Leavitt states it as her conclusion,
fter having carefully examined all parts OF
the globe, that America leads the world in
its advanced moral ideas; in religion and in
ever, states that of all the numerous de-
fornaities in which women of different
countries indulge that of comprising the
waist by civilized women is not only the
most unhygienic but the ugliest of any
thing she has seen in the world, not exospt-
ing the deformed foot OF the high caste Chi
nese women.
During toe eighty years that Mrs. Leavitt
vas absent she did not more than two
months in any one place, and says that be-
constantly among strangers was one of
the severest trials of her long journey.
While in Italy she spoke in the Salvini
In Florence, where no woman had
ever been permitted to speak before, and in
many other places where women had never
admitted. Wherever she spoke she
a warm welcome for herself
she should return. Mrs. Leavitt
goes to South america in November, which
Is the only country she has not visited.