The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-03-24
MOLLIE MAD AT JOE
MRS. LEASE SAYS KANSAS PAPERS
MUST NOT ABUSE HER.

Some Letters which Prove that the To
peka Paper Slandered MoIlie--DOgl
that Bark at Her HeeIs--No Crime Il
Failed.
Il am mad. Really mad" said Mrs
Lease pleasantly as she came into the
| HEADQUARTERS OF the reportorial staff
of the Eagle yesterday and gathered
! up her costly silks and seated herselt
in big arm chair that was pointed out
/ to her.
Mrs. Lease wore her accustomed smile
but from her manner more than from
her expression the reporter suspected
| that there was a large scalping knife
concealed somewhere in the ample
folds of her rich silk dress.
When asked in regard to her health
| Mrs. Lease said: Il am reasonably
well thank YOU with q graceful bow
but j am mad, l am real mad" and
took from bundle of papers a copy
of the Topeka Capital and added,
| there read that"
The article pointed out read as fol-
lows:
"a letter from Edward w. Box, edi-
| tor of the Ladies' Home Journal 10 a
citizen of Topeka anent the report that
| he had complimented some Of Mrs
Leases writings very highly and that
he had asked her to contribute an arti-
! Gle to the Journal, says: can only
! say in reply to your letter that as
have never read anything written by
| Mrs. Lease, it quite naturally follows
! that / have never endorsed any article
by her or complimented her upon il.
Nor have l ever offered her either a
| large or small sum TO write for the
| Ladies' Home Journal
NOW" said Mrs. Lease, that is a
low vicious thrust. 1t is intended 10
convey the idea that am not consider
/ ed worthy of consideration by the pub
fishers of the Ladies' Home Journal
Il want Major Hudson to see this
| and / want him to retract- 1t seems to
be an objectionable offense for wo-
! man to get out and succeed in field
! that very many men have failed in.
! There are a great many ours barking
at my heels and seldom pay any at
| tention to them.
Now when a paper with the standing
/ and reputation of the Capital gets down
/ to such business / do not like it,
/ What do you suppose was the object
| in the Capitals going to the trouble
Of telling people that the managers of
the Ladies' Home Journal had never
seen any of my writing. 1t was an in
| situation that l am not considered
capable Of writing to such a disting-
uished journal or that they never heard,
/ Of me.
Mrs. Lease said, to convince you that
/ they are either mistaken of trying to
miSrepresent me, just read that letter:
The letter head was as follows:
Edward w. Box, William j. Box,
! Editorial department-TheB Book Syndi-
/ York.
The following is the letter:
New York, Feb. 50, 1895.
Dear Mrs. Lease-The Coming Wo-
man. has been talked of until people
| are weary of the very words. What
she eats, drinks and wears, how she
! thinks, and her views" have been
| discussed ad nauseum. No one yet,
, however, has thought fit to analyZe
! the charm that every woman has in
, herself.
The subject Of the day should be not
! the New Woman but Woman,
meaning womankind. And the one
( vital question is What constitutes a
! lovely woman" loneliness may
! physical traits. The defining Of it
! opens up a wide range OF thought.
/ Perhaps the loveliest women are those
| to whom the word beauty" cannot
| be applied. Perhaps the reverse is
| the case. And sweetness of character
! invariably mouldS the face into shapes
| of grace.
! At all events the question opened is
! full OF fascination, and to find what the
world of letters, art, statescraft and
! science think about, We are asking a
| few of the leaders of thought in each
! of these fields to give their opinions
briefly, that we may gather them. to-
/ gether and present the verdict in a
wide syndicate Of American news pa
| pers. May we not ask you to con-
tribute? Just few words will suf-
flee, that we may get concensus of
! representative views. Very sincerely
yours, WILLIAM J. BOX.
Mrs. Lease exhibited another letter
| dated March g. from the same firm,
which was as follows:
| Mrs. Mary e. Lease, Wichita, Kan:
My dear Mrs. LeaSe-Your very kind
| note of March =, with its exceedingly
pleasant little contribution TO our
! symposium, What Constitutes a Love
| ly Woman has been received. and
! we beg TO express to you our most cor
dial thanks. Your letter is just now
| being mailed to Mr.. Edward W. Box.
the compiler of Literary Leaves who
Is now out in Minneapolis on a western
| tour This Will occasion some little
| delay. as you can well understad but
| it will not be very much of a delay, I
! sincerely trust. With renewed thanks
| for your kindness, believe me, very
! sincerely yours,
WILLIAM ]. BOX.
This seems to be all right, but il
| stated that your first contribution was
submitted to the chief editor. Was il
finally accepted
why certainly it was accepted. /
| do not have TO beg now for chance
| to earn my bread. ! have offers of 8
| great deal more work than | can do.
Here is a complimentary letter from
Frank Leslie's. And here is an offer
| for me TO write for the Commercial
Travellers Home Monthly. Il is read
by commercial travellers all over the
| country.
They ask me TO select my own sub
| ject but intimate that they would like
! to have a paper from me on .'The
Chances OF the Populist in the Next
Presidential Election in view of the
recent silver agitation.
"AS ] stated before, | have plenty of
work-more than / can do; and i can
see no sense or justice in such thrusts
as this from Kansas papers. i can see
no reason why papers like the Topeka
Capital or the Eagle, If you please,
should try to injure me. / value my
character and / intend to defend il 10
the best Of my ability"
THE WICHITA APPELLATE COURT.