The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-01-14
MRS. PALMER SAVED THE DAY.
World Missed n Startling Announce
ment When She Killed an Item.
ChirHgo Time g. Haraid


Chicago Times Herald
Appointmentof Mrs. Potter Palmer as nrst
of American commissioners to the universal
exhibition at Paris next year will give uni
versal satisfaction for many reasons. None
VIII be more gratifed than small number
who learned at the time droll Incident Of
the Columbian board of lady managers. OF
which, happily for the country. Mrs. Palmer
was president The story is now printed for
the first time
! IL was few months before the opening
date, Every department was busily at work
preparing copy" for the bureau OF promo
ton and publicity to promulgate. That Of
fce was necessarily limited as to the amount
OF "news' It was authorized to send out
daily or weekly. The copy received from
the departments was rigidly reduced wthia
the days or week S limit. The chief Of fine
arts, when his proof was returned, was Often
wroth TO aud that his 5000 words about thu
contents Of tho catalogue condensed to 800.
Tho newspapers all over the globe. to which
these proofs were regularly mailed. could not
exclude everything else to make room for the
Columbian exposition prospects. The board
Of lacy managers received from all over the
globe volunteer compositions, many Of which
we're unavailable, some OF them untimely aud
few preposterous One Of the committees
was concerned with the achievements OF NO
men in architecture. A carefully prepared
biography OF Sabina Won Steinbaoh arrived a
the last moment one day, when the usua
portfolio OF copy was about to go to tbs
bureau Of promotion and publicity. One Of
the industrious clerks read 1t and was sur
prised and delighted to find that 1t woult
make full column of live reading, abou
Sabina Won Stenbach and her extraordinary
genius as shown upon the Cathedral of Stras
burg of which her father, Erwin, had beer
one of the architects.
The practice was to submit all the proof
to Mrs Palmer before they were returned
approved TO the bureau OF promotion and pub
LEFTY for dissemination. There was peasGn
pride in the office of the board of lady man
ayers when the column or more about tn
renown OF Sabna Won Steinbach came back
Neatly rolled In rubber band, It was lai'
unopened upon Mrs, Palmer's desk. Til
accomplished head of the board opened
and instead OF finding column OF demon
stration that Sabina, the beautiful youn
maid. had designed important portions OF tn
famous fame on the Rhine, Mrs. Palmer rea
with something akin TO stupefaction onl
this: Distinguished woman architect com
ing TO the Worlds fair. The board Of Ia
managers expect sablna Won steinbach, archi
tect of tho Cathedral of strasbourg to b
with them during the fair
Mrs. Palmer's face as she re-read the proc
attracted the eager attention OF her assist
ants aud of the several lady managers VIII
dropped into the office at that moment Mrs
Palmer's face, habitually immobile and Ind
changed from grave to gay. from lively
severe. with unprecedented rapidity. y
trace Of irritation appeared, OF course. NC
any OF levitys Taking pencil from dant
case. the president of the board wrote on tn
margin Of the proof;
please kill this paragraph, Sabina vc
stenbach has been dead more than 500 years.
Thus the world missed an announcomer
that would have been profoundly Startling
As the cause OF the blue pencil mark OF IN
:" president became known in the office theT
c was scene Of self-restrant which thos
i who participated in it have never forgotten
5 The escape had been too narrow for cor
CALCULATIONS.
II was founo out after "eok VI wv ~
{ the catastrophe came near precipitation IN
. messenger who had taken the portfolio
u copy" to the bureau OF promotion and put
9 Iicity had presented the column about saoin
u Won steinbach to the wrong pgeophole' u
: stead Of going into that lettered architects
it was carefully deposited In that with Il
% legend distinguished foreigners expected gu
ing the fair" The copy" reader, snstcnit
II hastily. caught the name "ssbina v1
stenbach," knew Il was voman's nam
and reduced the column to paragraph
L. his own, according TO that days orde,
was fortunate that Mrs. Palmer was. a. rau'
. a, her desk when the proof reached her o
= nee,