The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-04
PLUCKY GIRL EDITORS.
Three Sisters Have Lively Times in
"a Missouri Town.

Missouri Town.
From the Boston Journal
In the little town of Maryvine. Mo,
three young women publish daily news
paper. Their names are Perl, Lulu and
Zoe Griffin. They are the daughters of
newspaper man, and have been trained to
the business from the time they were lit
tie girls.
They do ali the work connected with the
publication of the paper. The eldest, Miss
Perl Griffin, is not yet % years old. Perl
writes the heavy editorials, when there
are any to be written. collects most of the
local news, solicits advertising. and col
lects the bills. Her sister, Zoe, assists as
a reporter keeps the books, helps set type
and makes up the forms. Miss Lulu Grif-
I'm is the editor of the Weekly Advocate,
which is also published by these young
women. and when she has time sets type
on the daily or goes out on the street for
local news.
These are the only two papers in the
United States which are managed excu-
sivey by girls. The three sisters do all
the work. both inside and outside of the
Office and keep the papers on a paying
basis in competition with four other pub
lished weekly In the same town. They
support their mother In good style. have
comfortable home, and enjoy the conf
dence and respect of the good people Of
Maryville. The Daily Review is the only
daily newspaper in the Fourth congress
sional dlstrist outside of st. Joseph.
The girls have had some lively expert
ences during their journalistic career. but
have managed to hold their own against
the most violent and bitter opposition and
prejudice.
Their office has been ralded three times,
the type destroyed. their family horse
has been poisoned by enemies, and once
somebody fired into the sleeping room Of
Miss Lulu Griffin and attempted to kill
her mother a. the same time.
The girls came up smiling, however.
after every assault, and as Miss Lulu ex-
presses IT. eve have never missed an
issue nor skipped cog"
In 1890 the Daily Review and the Weekly
Advocate waded into the local campaign
and made the fur fly. The papers sup
ported the straight democratic ticket
and during the heat OF the campaign the
editors became involved In personal
fight with a certain Roman Catholic priest
who stirred up the most intense bitter
ness against them, and, according to the
young women themselves, was at the
bottom OF most of their troubles.
The Review and Advocate also made a
time. and, the election resulted In a clean
and decided victory for the young women.
On the Saturday night following the
election the office of both papers was
broken into. the presses were broken,
racks tipped over, and the forms on which
the daily had been run off we're complete
ly destroyed nothing being left but the
chases,
The girls went TO work with a grim de-
termination not to be downed, and man
aged to pick up enough type that had
been strewn over the floors to set up three
or four columns OF matter. and the Daily
Review was issued on time Monday even
ing.
The girls kept I'D their warfare on their
enemies, and a month later the office was
again wrecked. Miss Lulu Griffin worked
until midnight getting out the Weekly
Advocate. She left the office with her
mother after locking the door behind her,
leaving everything In good order There
were six forms of type on the imposing
stone. two being made up OF fine display
type, which was intended for a special
advertising edition.
When the young women went to work
next morning they found the office door
wide open and everything gone. The
wreckers did not stop 70 empty the cases
this time, but carried all the type and
other materials away. and then ran a
cnlSei INTO Lne tyllHQtT VI the pito9f ~
that it was temporarily ruined.
The girls moved their office into another
building, scraped up a little type, and
set up the paper. For press they took
a roller from sugar cane mill, fastened
IL upon dry goods box, put weights on
each side, rolled II slowly backward and
forward over the forms, and in that way
managed to print q pretty fair sort or
newspaper. They used this sugar cane
press for several weeks until their eylin-
der press had been repaired.
The type taken from the office on this
raid was afterwards discovered by some
boys at the bottom of an old well 30 feet
deep. The young women had the water
pumped out and recovered most OF their
property, but much OF II was In such con-
dillon that II could not be used.
One day i'm the following August the
Griffin sisters and their mother were out
driving In a two-seated surrey drawn by
a favorlte family horse 1t was hand
some, spirited animal. and the family was
much attached to II. During the course
OF their drive they stopped to listen to a
street concert, when some one In the
crowd threw acid upon the horse and tried
TO make Il run away. The young women
managed to control II, however, and drove
home and put Il in the barn. Thirty min
utes later the horse died from dose Of
poison
again raided. The young women locked
the office door az o'clock and went home.
During the night the door was broken
open, the type taken from the imposing
stones, and thrown into the street
The young women had no trouble until
the next spring. when, April %, an att
tempt was made TO assassinate the fam
NY. At o'clock In the morning on that
day some unknown person fired into Perl
0rlfiins sleeping room, the shot tearing
out the whole OF the upper window sash
and the bullets lodging In the ceiling.
Miss Grihin's bed was covered with brOk-
en- glass and her face was cut In several
places. Almost az the same moment n
shot was fred into another room, where
Mrs. Griffin. the mother OF the young wo-
man. was sleeping, but the aim was TOO
low and the bullets did no harm.
Before going TO Maryville the Griffin
girls ran a little weekly paper at Skid
more. Mo. One night. Just before going
10 press. the Office aecidenuy caught Ore.
and was totally destroyed, together with
al lts material. Miss Perl Griffin made
railroad journey OF thirty miles TO a
nelghboring town, got enough material TO
go 80. hrs .araF eafnrn4H homo and rho