The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-06-24
COCKERHLS LETTER.
A Wide-Awake Man Tells What
Is Going On in New York.
Women In New York's Journalistic Field
Their Observation-Disclosures Wood
hull Martins Latest Political
Crusade.
rCopYRIcHr. 1921

| tCOPfhlC6T, l5SI
mildly" Morgan is gone at last. When
/ first visited New York In 1870, one OF
the sights pointed ont to me was Midy
Morgan, then beginning to attract some
attention as the horse and live stock re-
porter of the Times. Amos Cummings,
of the Sun, called my attention to her
on the street one day, and | remember
that regarded her with considerable
curiosity. At that time, tho "lady
| journalist" had not made her appear
ance in the west and was really some
thing of curiosity in the east Even
at that time Miss Morgan was not q
handsome person to gaze upon. She
was fully six feet tall, decidedly mascu-
| line in appearance, and her gait was
anything but graceful have seen her
at various times since then and / have
watched her gradual decline
The last time I saw her was
some time in the early part of April,
crossing Park Row late in the after
noon on her way through Mail street.
She still wore her short cloth frock
which gave her good ankle exposure
and displayed two of the most ungainly
feet ever attached to member Of the
fair sex It was blustery day and her
little black straw hat was pulled down
on both sides and tied under her chin.
Despite the blustery weather, her thin
coat was Tapping in the breeze. She
walked with a decided limp and carried
in her hand closed umbrella which
had seen much service An odder piece
of femininity could not have been seen
in days travel, and yet this woman
was remarkably gifted and for more
than twenty years held responsible
place on the Times and number of
other eastern newspapers with which
she corresponded regularly Although
bearing an cld-time Welsh name, Miss
Morgan was born In Cork, Ireland She
received a goodly part of her education
in Italy, and while there attracted the
attention Of Victor Emmanuel by her
skill in Workmanship. She afterward
came to know him and he sent her to
purchase horses for his stables. In this
way she became familiar with horses,
and afterward with cattle, and doubt
whether there was . woman In this
country who knew as much about thor
oughbred animals as she. Her duty re-
quired q daily visit or two on her part
to the filthy stock yards in and around
Jersey City. She always commanded
the respect and good willsof the live
stock dealers, and the reporters for the
other newspapers, after having become
habituated to a woman reporter, treat
ed her with the greatest consideration.
She was very fond of races, and the
boys in the reporters stand say that
she never failed to back her
Judgment, usually with good re-
suits. She was well-read wom-
an and most entertaining converse
tionalist She seemed to care nothing
for the society of women, or the society
of anyone, for that matter. And she
took remarkably good care of her
money. She made her home at Metu-
chen, n. J., where she acted as station
agent for the Pennsylvania railroad,
and she and her sister had very COM
Portable home down on Staten island
All her tastes were masculine, but |
never heard of her troubling herself
about woman suffrage or woman's
rights When she first appeared here
in New York she said that policeman
used to follow her about under the i'm
aiding as a woman, but that was more
owing to her outre dress than anything
else. Miss Morgan was sixty-four years
of age at the time of her death Since
she entered journalism in New York with
her notebook in hand, quite number
of women have been identified with the
daily press as reporters and special
writer's Every newspaper in the city
employs from one to half a dozen
women either as writer's on social and
feminine topics or as regular reporters.
There is still much prejudice IN the city
room of the newspapers against women
as reporters, but l think 1t is dying
out. In some lines of work women are
better reporters than men. They are
always sober and faithful, but it is diff
hcult to get woman to take any view
of public question which conflicts
with her prejudices In all my ex-
perience in the employment Of women
and ithas been varied, I have
never known more than two or three
who did not look at things from their
own rather than from the newspapers
| have known them to go
along quietly for two weeks and then
slip into an article some bit of
prejudice that they have been nurtur-
ing for years. l have yet to meet the
first lady journalist who is willing
to admit that she has any fitness or ca
pacity for society or fashion reporting.
They always do that sort of work in
perfunctory way, and some of them do
it remar' ably well / have found that |
so long as woman about newspaper
office attends strictly to her own bust !
ness and asks no favors on account of !
her sex, she gets along well and is thor
oughly respected by her colaborers It |
IS not precisely the work that would |
to woman, but, where the |
talent exists, coupled with willingness
to work and endure, / suppose journal
SIN offers as much to the gentler sex as /
any Of the higher professions 1t pays |
better and IS fully as respectable as
any of than I know at least three /
connected with the press of .
New York who are as good In their re
spective lines as any male reporters on
The metropolitan press-only three
GRACE AS NEMESIS
What a marvellous man is William r
Grace, the active leade- of the snti-HiD