Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-19

One has not long to talk with Mrs. May French Sheldon, the famous London wo- man who has been making a study of the south, and especially of Ala bama, for the last two months, to be impressed with the conviction that the great variety of Knowledge she reveals must have been acquired only by extensive travel and wide acquaintance with men of thought and affairs.
 It would not be easy for any picture to do her justice. It seems almost incred- ible that the woman she looks could have been the leader of a successful African exploring expedition, and that she has achieved things regarded as belonging only to the masculine sphere of action, which no men before her had accom- plished even in Africa, penetrating the | widest and remotest regions of densely | ignorant and brutally savage peoples, | accompanied by large retinue, and re- | turning to civilization without the infiic- | tion of hurt to any human being as the | result of hostile conflict and without the | loss of a man, except one servant, who was devoured by wild animals. She does not look like woman who has shot lions, and with her own personality awed into respectful friendship savage African chiefs who had been wont to greet white
 men with terror or anger, which meant flight or fight. .e.. She has very blue eyes, wavy brown hair and Is so perfectly of the medium | size that, with the expectation of finding | a large woman, essentially gross in phys | ique, you set her down as soon as you | see her as rather a little woman Of | course she has sanguine temperament. | The blue eyes, the brown hair, that seem | symfathetic with light and shadow; mo- | bile features and nervous action of hands
 and figure and of every vehicle of intelli- gent expression are all immensely sur | charged with purpose and energy. She | Is indeed wonderful woman.
 Mrs. Sheldon is woman of The world without being worldly. The much that | she has accomplished could have been | only because of indefatigable patience and adaptability to circumstances Free | from either sectional or national preju- | dices, as she avows, she has been accus- | toned to judge motives rather than | deeds. Fron long training the bent of her mind has taken an executive trend that would fit a man to be president of a, | great railroad Yet she is feminine even | to the folly of leaning toward modlsh- | ness in affairs of dress. She Is strong | votary to all Chesterfieldian doctrines as | to department and social amenities. She has been thrown with leading men and | women who have figured as great fac | tors in every avenue of life, notably as r actors, authors, artists. musicians and | statesmen. She Is the sole owner and | proprietor of one of the largest publish l ing houses in England-Saxon & Co., | which annually publishes upwards of | 1000, ,0000 books, embracing a range of | publications conceived to be most adapt | ed to popular tastes at popular prices, | such as encyclopedia, educational and | domestic science works in handy volume series.
 Mrs. Sheldon was born in what is now l the heart of New York city, but was ed
 ucated broad and has spent most of her | life in England, while she has travelled | extensively in almost every country of | the world. She is of Quaker origin on | the paternal side in direct line of descent l from Sir Isaac Newton. She Is daugh- | ter of Joseph French, well-known l mathematician and engineer. Her de- scent on her mothers side Is German and | French. She has studied art in Italy, | literature in France, lived in London the 1 last twenty years, and has been writing l stories since she was 15 years old. She l has even found time to devote to medi- | cal study and research under masters i well known in Europe, such as Drs. Fer
 ries. Charcot, Fothergill and Altheus. | This course discovered In her a remark able power of analytical thought and de- l veloped an interest in anthropology and | ethnology, which led to her African ex- | ploration expedition. This experience 1 has greatly quickened and strengthened her powers and habits of observation, en-
 abling her to reach rapid consensus of | facts and a consequent possibility of
 original deduction. She is described as | fearless when once convinced, although | the side of personal conviction be un-
 popular. She intensely loves life and
 finds plenty of fun in it, even though a
 seriousframei is required in the earnest in- | vestigations which have taxed her we'll | ordered brain l Withal she Is a feminine woman, but
 holding that strength of mind and ability
 have no sex, and she denounces the Dry | denic theory that souls are sexless. There
 seem not a few fncongruous elements in
 l this woman, but upon consideration of | her varied life her mental versatility
 everything becomes fit and all are har-
 monious. She is very direct in converse
 tion. and seems to know no see-saws of
 evasion. Her yeas and nays are sentient